Running.

That's all I knew how to do growing up.

Running from people, running from my problems, running from my life.

Meteor City wasn't a place for a child to grow up, but it was where I had done most of mine. It was a cruel and mundane existence, constantly throwing a glance over my shoulder, having my guard up 24/7.

It was hell.

I was alone. I always had been, ever since I could remember.

No warm, loving smiles from a radiant mother or small pats on the head from a proud father.

I'm not sure about how I came to be alone at such a young age, it just was. And I never questioned it, never had the energy to. Or the time for that matter.

One thing I did know for sure is that people hated me. Despised me, loathed me. Wanted to see me shatter and die in the cold. Why they hated me, not sure. But it doesn't matter.

Nothing really mattered. Trudging along through the years with hisses and snarls aimed at my back. Sharp teeth bared down at me, dripping poison, menacing. Jagged claws raking over my scalp leaving imaginary cuts open and bleeding.

"Devil's spawn."

"Wicked child."

"Leach."

"Akeldama."

Akelda….

Kel.

"Kel!"

I jerked awake when a hand slapped down on my forehead. "ACK!"

"About time you woke up." A gentle but annoyed voice snapped from my left.

"Eir…." I whined and turned my head to gaze upon the taller brunette, who huffed and crossed her arms before sending a scolding stare my way.

"I called your name multiple times! We are almost to the port." She told me and sent a frown toward me when I made a disgruntled noise, "Aaah, Eir. Do we really have to take some stuuuuupid exam?"

She stiffened.

Damn, open mouth insert foot.

"Of course we do! Moron!"

I sighed, man this so called 'Hunter Exam' is becoming quite tedious. We had gone through two storms, both of them being rather violent. And I hate boats. And people. Mostly the latter.

The loud speaker on the boat is what roused me from my thoughts, "ATTENTION EXAMNEES! THE BOAT HAS REACHED PORT! ALL PASSENGERS MUST DEPART FROM THE VESSEL."

With an annoyed mutter, I stood up and raised my arms above my head for a good stretch.

"Really? You still have that bruise? You won't be any good in the exam if you're already injured." Eir gestured for me to stand in front of her so my stomach would be eye-level. Lifting my tank top with shrug to expose my abdomen, I watched with cool fascination.

I loved when Eir used her Nen.

She lifted her thin hands, each finger fitted with a silver ring, to my skin and closed her eyes in concentration. A small shiver snaked its way down my back when her cold skin touched mine and also because I could feel the iciness of her aura seeping into my purpled flesh.

Wisps of smoky fog curled around her hands, gently. My eye lids lowered as her Nen made its self-known inside my body, numbing the area with frightening precision and then a gentle heat spread over the bruise, sewing back the broken blood vessels, changing the skin back to its normal sheen.

Eir let out a low sigh when she was done, withdrawing her hands and looked up at me with a gentle smile, "All better."

A beat of silence.

Eir peered up at my expression curiously before flushing a scarlet red when she saw the wiggly grin and star struck eyes I had.

"How I do love it when you use your Nen, Eir-chan~" I cooed before a fist was stuffed in my face and I was sent flying.

"I LOVE YOUUUUUUU!"

Ten minutes later and Eir using her Nen on my face again, we found ourselves departing from the ship and walking up on a town with the other Examinees.

A very much deserted town.

"What the hell." I deadpanned and looked around dramatically.

"Kel. Look." Eir pointed down the dirt path sharply, I squinted and hovered a hand above my eyes to shield them from the sunlight.

"Ha…?"

Standing there before a small boy in all green everything, a, older teenager with glasses and suit, and a blonde (is that girl? Boy? Who knows, moving on) person talking to a woman, the leader of the village, I guessing.

"If you had to save your mother or your one true love, which would it be?"

Just as a boy in green opened his mouth to reply, another man walked up and gave his own answer, "My mother."

With a nod, the woman moved aside so that the man could pass by her.

The older teenager started yelling almost immediately and to my mild shock, moved to attack the defenseless woman but was blocked by the blonde…dude?

"We passed, Leorio! Stop!" Oh so the mystery of its gender was revealed, it was a male.

"How do you know, Kurapika?!" 'Leorio hisses back at him.

Kurapika merely looks pointedly at the boy, who seems to be listening to something before a scream shattered through the air.

The hell? His hearing is that good?

"The boy is right. The answer is silence. You may pass" The woman told us montoned.

My right eye twitched in irritation, "What the hell?" I muttered lowly and then cleared my throat.

"Kel." Eir worriedly called but with a lavish wave of my hand, I waved her off.

"Hey, kid!" I called out, the boy instantly turned with a bewildered look on his face before pointing at himself. "Yes! You!"

He slowed his pace so we could catch up with, gaining untrusting looks from his companions which I pointedly ignored with a smirk. "What's your name?" I asked bending down a little for I could make eye contact with him.

A bright grin made me falter a little, "Gon! Gon Freecss!"

The boy, now dubbed 'Gon', tilted his head and looked at us curiously. "What about you two? What's your names?"

"I'm Kel. And that's Eir." I pointed to myself and then to the now scarlet faced girl that had a timid smile on her lips, "Nice to meet ya. And…what is your names?" I glanced out of the corner of my eye to the two teenagers that emitted a rather….distrustful aura at Eir and myself.

Kurapika looked torn for a second, darting his eyes between the two of us, taking our measure before deciding to trust Gon, "I'm Kurapika."

I tilted my head over to the darker haired teenager with an expectant look, who lowered his brows and turned his nose up in the air until Kurapika nudge him with an elbow. He grunted and coughed a bit before grudgingly saying, "Leorio."

"Sweet! Nice to meet all of you!" I grinned and chuckled a bit when everybody jumped from my unexpected loud voice, "Please take care of us!"

"I hate walking." I moaned in agony before stiffening when I heard a familiar giggle from the back of the group.

Whipping around, my eyes almost dropped out of my head when I saw Eir blushing and giggling like a school girl with LEORIO?!

Hot damn, never thought I'd see that coming. I wonder if the next place will have food?

Absorbed with my thoughts, I didn't notice us coming up on a house with a couple standing in front it.

"Hello!" Gon waved happily at the man and woman before gasping in shock when a….okay, is that fucking gold bug?

I deadpanned.

"After it!" Gon yelled pointing at where the bug had taken off with the woman, my eyebrows shot up under my fringe but I shrugged and bolted off in the direction of the bug.

Absently I noted that Eir had stayed behind with Leorio to guard the man. A sneaky smile curved my lips up, ooooh she was gonna be in for it later.

I shook my head, trying to clear it of thoughts and only on the thrill of the hunt. My black orbs trained in front of me as I tried to pick up any sounds of the bug or the shrieking of the woman.

Wait a minute.

A scowl marred my features as I realized the woman had not been screaming her head off, a typical damsel in destress would. And then realization washed over me in a tidal wave.

Another test? Oh, this will be fun.

My ears prickled when the sound of a branch getting stepped on echoed from somewhere nearby, I didn't waste any time in catapulting in that direction. A slightly insane grin stretched my face when the bug looked up in surprise when I busted out of the tree tops, leaves raining down around us.

Nimble fingers jerked the jagged blade I kept in a holder on the small of my back with swift diligence, and before the creature could even make a move, I had pressed the bottom of my sneakers onto its chest sending it flying onto the forest floor with my foot still firmly placed on its chest.

A startled yelp escaped the bug but it quickly quitted down when it felt the sharp tip of my blade underneath its jaw, ready to plunge it in if the bug made any sudden moves. "Where is the woman, bug?" I hissed in delight at the fear I had found in its gaze.

"Kel!"

My grin diminished as soon as I heard Gon call out my name. Well, there goes my fun.

Pocketing my blade, I got off the creature to face him with a sheepish smile which soon turned into a look of surprise when I saw the woman was beside him with ANOTHER gold bug behind them.

Before I could open my mouth to question them, Gon laughed joyfully, "They're family!"

My shoulders slumped, "Of course they are."

Kiriko, was the bug's name, I found out later that night.

The family offered us shelter and Kiriko would take us to the Hunter Exam.

Which was where we were headed at the moment. Until we walked into a restaurant.

"I'm so sick of these games. " I complained to Eir, who arched an eyebrow at me before we were lead to the back of the restaurant where Kiriko ordered something very strange.

"We came all this way….SO HE COULD ORDER A RARE STEAK!" I roared in anger then yelped when a open hand smacked the back of my head. "Owwwwie, Eir!"

"So rude! Just wait and watch." Eir calmly stated.

Suddenly, the room jerked and started to descend. "A…really? An Elevator?"

"So, Gon. What exactly are you here to accomplish?" Leorio asked the boy with a curious expression but the boy merely gave us all a smile but said nothing.

Light spilled into the room/elevator as the door opened and revealed a room full of Examinees, who all turned and gave us dirty looks at the sudden noise and commotion. I simply kept a friendly grin on my face, I'm pretty sure there was a background of flowers and sparkles behind me.

We all hesitantly made our way out of the elevator, and all jumped when the doors slammed close with what seemed like finality.

"Hey, Newbies!"

My head turned to look at a rather….overweight individual, with a big honker too. But hey, I won't judge.

"You guys thirsty? I'm Tonpa by the way!"

"Sure! Thanks!"

Oh, Gon. You can't just blindly trust people. I sweatdropped a little as Tonpa handed Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika a can of soda. He tried to give Eir and I one but one quick look from Eir had him reeling back in caution.

Gon took a sip but then looked down at can with a tilt of his spiky head, "It takes kind of old, Tonpa. It might have gone bad."

Kurapika and Leorio had just opened their own cans before giving each other a look and tipping the drink out of their cans and onto the floor. Tonpa flushed a glowing red color before stuttering open apologizes that I didn't buy for one minute, I think he drugged those drinks.

"So, you've taken this Exam before?" Gon's voice dragged me out of my thoughts.

"Yep!"

Don't sound so happy about it, bastard. That's not a good thing.

"That's Bourbon the snake charmer, Todo the wrestler, The Amori Brothers…" Tonpa continued to list off a couple Examinees before a pain filled scream echoed throughout the room.

"Hm?" I blinked and turned to look at a man that was slumped to the ground, this usually wouldn't seem weird but this time his arms were slowly turning into small red flowers. Now this was curious.

"Ne, Eir. Check it out." I nudged her with my elbow, turning her attention from making small talk to Leorio to gazing over at the man.

"Now that is particular." A smooth voice chuckled.

My spine straightened in shock when the voice came from right behind me.

How?!

Turning around in place, I found the owner of the voice to just be inches behind me. And boy, was he something.

He was very tall, much taller than myself, which wasn't a big feat considering I'm 5'4. Super pale skin covered him from head to toe, or from what I could see since he was dressed in odd clothing, a white crop top with card suits stretched over broad shoulders and stopped just before his abdomen would begin. Pink bands wrapped taunt around his stomach and ribcage, showcasing defined abs and a muscular back. White, baggy pants covered his lower body with a yellow fabric tied around his waist. And he had clown shoes on, the ends of them curling up. He even had face paint on!

"Strange…" I muttered softly but choked up when molten gold eyes locked onto me.

A self-satisfied smirk twisted his thin lips when he saw a smudge of pink starting to glow on my cheeks.

"You really should be more careful of bumping into someone without apologizing.~" The Jester purred at the fallen man that was now sobbing openly when he finally turned his heavy gaze away from me.

"That freaks back again…" I heard Tonpa stutter out.

"Who is that?" Leorio asked in a slightly creeped out tone.

"Hisoka the Magician. He failed the exam last year when he all but killed an Examiner he didn't like."

Haaa?

I was bored of this conversation. Ooooh, I bet I could find a vending machine in here.

"Eir, I'll be back." I threw over my shoulder before merging into the crowd.

I had indeed found a vending machine, lucky me!

Snatching the package of pretzels from the slot, I tore it open and popped a couple in my mouth.

"Hmmmmm~" I hummed in content, closing my eyes at the saltiness.

"That good, hm~?"

A dry piece of pretzel lodged itself in my throat before I hacked and spit it out. "What the..?"

Spinning around, I came face to chest with none other than Fucky the Magacian.

He was leaned up on the side of the vending machine, shuffling cards in his hands that were tipped with sharp claws. An amused grin slide its way onto his face when my mouth floundered open and close. "Use your words, dear~."

Fuck, I hadn't caught his name when Tonpa-fatass said it.

Slowly but surely the gears in my head finally started turning when he said this, "Oh, shit. Hello?"

We stood there in silence for a few moments but then, "What some pretzels?"

I extended my hand out that held the small plastic bag and shook them a few times.

The Magician stood still for a second with a blank look on his face, his eyes flickered across my person.

All I asked was did he want some pretzels, geez.

He was dangerous, I had always been taught to ward off potential enemies with my Nen….so I did what came natural. While my mind was busy, I had subconsciously started to let my Nen leak out, not a lot. But apparently just enough someone that was trained in Nen, would notice.

And notice he did.

I sensed the change in him as soon as it happened.

My heart beat quickened as already narrowed eyes slanted even farther, those cat like eyes were trying to figure me out. Trying to rip me apart by just looking at me, dissect my very inner being. A smirk curled the edges of his mouth, taunting me.

"Well…this has become an interesting day….for me.~" He chuckled tucking a loosely fisted hand underneath his chin and the other arm perched on his hip.

"Interesting? Me? T-That's crazy talk" I laughed nervously, Shit Eri told me to be careful with my Nen.

"Hm. As you say….Rini-chan~" And he just walked away. WALKED AWAY.

Wait a minute….

"I'M NOT A RABBIT!"