He had been passing through a town when he heard. Some people were murmuring to each other, and he would have moved on, had it not been for the mention of his clan reaching his ears.

They said that the clan had been found dead, every single one of them. Murdered by the Phantom Troupe, they said.

He had taken off so quickly he left his bird behind, bolting out of the town and into the woods. Sensing his panic, the bird had tried to follow him, but the sound of its footfalls eventually faded.

It couldn't be true. It wasn't true. He would arrive in Lukuso and the clan would be the same as it was when he left. He ran for an amount of time he didn't keep track of, repeating this in his head.

But at last, he'd stumbled into the lush forest, his legs shaking from exhaustion, his chest heaving, his hands and knees bruised and scraped from when he'd fallen, his eyes a brilliant red.

"Oh, no…" Were the only words he'd uttered as the red eyes scanned the bloody bodies scattered every which way, each one missing their brilliant eyes. "No, no, no, no, no…" He had sunk to his knees in utter disbelief. It had to be a dream. He sat there, praying he'd wake up. Just wake up…

And when he finally accepted that this was real, he'd broken down, wailing and crying at the realization that he was now alone.

He was alone.

Kurapika's eyes snapped open, bolting upright before his sight adjusted. Pain coursed through his body, but he realized it was a lot duller than before.

He was in a bed against the wall of a small room filled with shelves of all kinds of medicine. Kurapika himself had bandages dotting his body, and his previously injured arm was wrapped in a sling.

What is this place? Where am I? He wondered, getting up from the bed and heading for the door. I suppose it doesn't matter, I should get out of here.

"Not so fast." The voice startled him. He whirled around to see someone was leaning against one of the filled shelves. It was a man, middle aged and balding. He wore glasses that glared in the sunlight shining through the window. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Who are you?"

"Me? I'm Dr. Morris Braelyn. But you can just call me Dr. Moe. The better question is who are you?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but my name is Kurapika. It doesn't matter, though. I've got to go." Kurapika said in a low voice, reaching again for the door.

"Go where? Where exactly do you come from, Kurapika? Lyra told me you came out of the woods near the beach."

Kurapika bit back a growl of annoyance at the amount of questions he was getting. "I cannot tell you where I came from. There's nothing there anymore."

"Nonetheless, you can't go back to wandering around with injuries like that, or they'll open up again and become infected." Dr. Moe said in a tone that showed no room for argument. "Now, I think it's okay for you to get out of bed, but if your arm starts bleeding again, come back to my office and I'll look at it."

"And what makes you think I won't leave anyway?"

"I just advise that you relax until your injuries get better. Then you don't have to stay here. But why don't you just go for a walk, get to know the nice folks around here? This is a seaside town, and the ocean air is good for your health." Dr. Moe said in a gentler, more chipper tone. "It might also lift that sour mood of yours."

"I didn't come here to relax, you know. If this seaside town is so nice, why don't the people here just leave me alone?!" Kurapika snarled, throwing the door open, stalking out, and slamming it behind him. Idiot! He just met me and he's acting like he has authority over me! I don't care what he- "Wha?!"

He was met with three curious faces as he stepped out of the office. Two were boys, one a girl, the same girl he'd met on the beach.

"What do you want?" Kurapika demanded.

"Lyra, you liar! He doesn't have red eyes!" One of the boys, with spiky black hair, said.

"Yeah, and they're hardly glowing, either." The other boy, whose hair was a dark shade of blue, added.

"Well, they were!" Lyra huffed. "Anyway," she turned to Kurapika with a small,friendly smile, "I'm glad to see you're better."

"Well, I'm sorry that you wasted your time on me. I'm leaving." Kurapika muttered, trying to slip away.

"So soon?" The spiky-haired boy asked. "But we want to know where you came from!"

"Use your imagination." Kurapika hissed, pushing past them. "Maybe in the next town people will mind their own business."

Lyra raised an eyebrow. "'Next town'? I hate to burst your bubble, but this is Lazuli Harbor. There is no 'next town' if you're planning to travel on foot."

"Then I'll go on one of those ships."

"Uh, I don't think any of the captains would drop someone in your condition off in some random place, unless you've got family or something waiting for you there." The blue-haired boy pointed out.

The last part was a spark on dry tinder for Kurapika. "You can't just expect me to sit here for who-knows-how-long! This is already hard enough, so just let me be!" He inwardly cursed his voice cracking with emotion as he spoke, but did not wait for a response. Instead, he took off into the street, shoving past people as he looked for an exit.

I have to get out of here… I'm not just settling into the outside world.

If I hadn't done that once, you'd all still be here now.