After dying and being resurrected, I'm finally back ●_●
I'm sorry really really sorry for suddenly disappearing on you guys _ Really. I can't express the guilt I'm feeling...
The thing is, there are a few problems to why I didn't update.
Second thing is... A very classic reason, I'm a lazy bum /slapped. Well not really, it's just that I kinda lost my motivation to this story. The second time :( Not to mention, I saw my friends being inactive and that brought me down. And this fandom is kinda dead (?) (or is it just me)
But then, I re-read all the chapters I have written and realized that I wish to write their interaction again. Sora has become a character I missed writing (Her character profile was gone too to be honest). And, I have this vow that I made to myself. To never stops midway what you started.
And you guys still remember this story even after nearly a year of no updates. I was surprised when someone PM me through wattpad asking for the time of update *laughs* Thank you \('u')/
So...uh...I gathered up my motivation and tried to write this a best as I could *awkwardly scratches cheek* I'm sorry for the long author note and so...
I present you, Chapter 10
Disclaimer: I don't own Hunter x Hunter!
It's decided that I will change their age into 14! Both Leorio and Kurapika's age will still be the same though
Enjoy~
Sora ran after the figure as soon as she spotted the torch in its hand. However, the figure turned and merely disappeared in a corner.
Too bad~
"Oh, just shut up," Sora grumbled under her breath as she searched for any signs of fire. Did the person put out the fire or something? Since obviously Sora didn't see anything now. Sora tried to listen for any footsteps but she could only hear her own. Was it just her feeling but did each prisoner's footsteps keep getting more and more quieter?
The path in front of her split into three. Sora stopped running, looked at her watch and sighed in relief when only two hours had passed. She still had four more hours to go to capture the rest of the mice. With that, Sora looked back at the path and without thinking much, chose the left path.
Left, eh? Why?
"Gut feeling?" Sora answered though it came out more as a question. The girl continued her path, this time walking briskly when she felt the tip of her nose get cut, drawing out blood. Sora blinked in surprise as she took a step back to avoid further injuries. It must have been the wires that she hadn't burned yet.
Matches and sprayer immediately held in her hands, Sora readied herself to burn the wires.
I have a better idea, girl.
The voice said, preventing her from burning the wires. Sora was about to voice out her opinion when a twisted idea popped in her head.
A smirk graced her pale face as Sora put back all her things and took out her tonfa. With a tap, spikes sprang out from its body. The girl stepped closer to the wire, but not too close, and slammed her tonfa into the wall beside a knife.
You read my mind.
Sora could somehow feel the voice smirking while saying that.
"You're in my head after all," Sora said, continuing to damage the wall, slowly crumbling it to pieces. After countless of hits later, the knife clattered on the ground.
"It worked!" Sora gleefully stated and instantly turned to the other knives. More than half an hour later, Sora had successfully taken out all the knives. Her arms felt sore and her knuckles hurt from gripping her tonfa too tight. It was for the sake of their idea.
Sora carefully put all six knives she got to her bag, wires wrapped around the handle so none of it got tangled up. Her smirk only widened as she thought about the idea she would do soon.
"It's going to be fun~"
Inside, the voice cackled in agreement.
With airy footsteps, Sora walked back to the path where it split since the path she's going now would only ended in a dead end. At the splitting, Sora pondered at what she should chose. Her question was quickly answered with a small fire at the end of the right path.
Grinning like crazy, Sora sprinted after the small ball of fire with speed faster than before.
A glance at Sora's face and you could tell that she was no longer in the state to think in normal sense. Her eyes held that wild look certain people have and they seemed to glow in the darkness. An insane smile was on her face.
The next victim didn't know what fate would befall on them.
Humming the same tune as before under her breath, Sora dashed after her current target.
Seeing Sora advancing very quickly, the victim could only increased their speed slightly before something stabbed their back.
It was not the dart.
The second stab was at the back of their knee and the third one was at their heel. Those three attacks were enough to decapitate the figure. With that, the figure touch the ground. The torch that was being carried clattered on the ground not too far from there.
"Score!" Sora tugged the wires and all the three knives flew back to her.
The figure desperately tried to crawl away in an attempt to escape from their incoming doom. Once again, a knife lodged itself to their back.
"It wouldn't be good if the prey escaped, eh?" Sora said cheerfully as she now walked closer. The knife was back in her hands.
"P-please s-spa-are me!" The figure cried out in pure horror. A male. A scared one. He quickly sat up and dragged himself further in vain. The maroon haired girl only replied to him with a smile before crouching down beside him.
Let's do it~
Swiftly, Sora wrapped the wires around the male's body, stabbing the knives to the wall either side of them. Idiotically, the male tried to move, resulting the wires to cut him slowly.
He screamed in pain as the wires sank into his flesh, blood staining the ground even further. Sora chuckled darkly as she fished out a bottle with yellowish liquid inside. The prisoner could only stare in pure terror as the liquid was poured over his body.
"Now for the highlight," Sora grabbed the torch from the ground and slowly inched closer to the victim.
"N-no, pl-please n-no," The male trembled in fear when his hood was flicked off and he could finally see the demon clearly. A girl, no older than 14 stood there, smiling and waving.
The infamous criminal, Hellfire.
"Arios, you lied to me."
And those were the last words he hissed out before he combusted in flames and his screams full of agony echoed in the maze.
Sora stared at the dazzling things in front of her, completely mesmerized by its beauty. Her hand swept across the flickering fire, but she didn't feel any pain nor burn formed on her skin. Hands clamped to her cheeks, soft giggles escaped Sora's mouth before it quickly turned into a laughter. A laughter that would put anyone on edge. A laughter that is so dark, it wasn't supposed to be possible for a fourteen-year-old girl.
Gradually, the laughter died down and so did the fire. What remained of the prisoner was merely a lump of black. A skeleton clothed in black. Smoke coiled around. The smell of burnt meat filled the air. Sora stared dully at the corpse before her.
Quietly, Sora stabbed the third dart into what was left of the body. Surprisingly, it stuck albeit weakly.
"THREE HAVE BEEN ARRESTED! THREE HAVE BEEN ARRESTED!" Again, the alarm rang.
Shortly after the announcement, a hole opened like before and swallowed the corpse.
Sora blinked as if she didn't realize what had happened or to be more precise, what she had done. Her mind had been cleared with her last act. Her eyes turned back to their normal color, leaving no trace that they had ever changed. That burning had surely vented out all her frustration and annoyance for she felt nothing but lightness and relief.
She was aware that the "voice" inside her head had quietened down. That was fine, she could think in peace at least for several moments now. A frown replaced the sick smile on her face.
Arios, a name that sounded oddly familiar to her. But she couldn't remember where she had heard it. Sora shook her head quietly. She shouldn't pay much attention to that name. Now, she had a more pressing matter in hands. The "voice"
Why did he appear after years she had successfully buried him deep inside her?
Did her resolve waver?
While Sora was busy raking her brain for answer, deep inside the darkest pit of her mind where her consciousness couldn't even reach, a certain "voice" chuckled maliciously.
Soon...very soon...
An hour was the remaining time she had left. Unexpectedly, the fourth and fifth target had been easy to catch and find. The fourth one had been fast like a cheetah, Sora even had a hard time trying to catch up to her. Sadly, the target was immediately knocked out when a frustrated Sora threw her tonfa at the target - a female unfortunately - with full force. Sora was pretty sure that she heard something crack.
The fifth one was slightly more difficult to catch because the prisoner - again another female, an aggressive one - put up a fight to avoid being captured. Sora's right eye had a close call of being ripped out during the fight, due to the metal claws worn by the prisoner. She managed to subdue the vicious female by slamming her tonfa into the female's chest. Again, another crack.
Her body was covered in wounds and her jacket was torn in various places. Regretfully, Sora didn't bring any bandages and her jacket will be in tatters if she ripped it any more. She needed to pass this third phase quickly and take a long rest to make up for her lack of sleep this past few days, hopefully increasing her recovery speed.
That was her plan at least before she slumped down to the ground.
'This is bad'
Sora groaned, irritated when she nearly didn't have any energy to stand up. She wasn't even sure if she could walk. And running seemed to be impossible. The energy sucker depleted more energy than she speculated.
And she still has one more prisoner to catch.
The sounds of new footsteps alert her for the incoming prisoner. Sora looked at a cloaked figure at the other end of the corridor and steadied herself to the wall, preparing herself to throw the dart with every ounce of the energy she had left.
But something was weird.
The prisoner, who has caught sight of her is the one that was approaching, not the opposite. Also, they didn't show any movement of fleeing from her. Noticing this, Sora put her guard up and eyed the figure warily.
The figure stopped right in front of her and Sora threw out her arm to stab the prisoner with the dart.
The figure's hand caught her wrist easily before applying pressure to her injured wrist and almost conveniently, her dominant hand. Almost instantly, the dart fell off.
'Shit, I completely forgot it hasn't fully healed yet' Sora gritted her teeth angrily.
"You should take better care of yourself, Sora," The figure spoke softly while releasing her wrist.
"How do you know my name?" Sora frowned darkly. He chuckled as he pulled his hood back, revealing a pair of blue eyes with messy dark green hair.
"It's me, Arios."
Sora has been travelling for a while after she left the custody of her guardian. Of course, she had mentioned to him that she would be taking the Hunter Exam when she was old enough. And boy, she kind of missed him during her wandering. How he would cover for her after she went on her spree, scolding her when she came back with bruises and cuts because of her escape. Even teaching her how to cook. The latter she found quietly amusing.
The girl mentally shook her head.
Now is not the time to think of her happy memories. She needed to deal with the prisoner who seemed to know her.
"Do I know you?"
The teen boy chuckled again and Sora saw something flash in his eyes. Amusement and worry. What's there to feel amuse for? And worried for what?
"Well yes, of course."
Questions ran through her head. Sora tried to recall if she had met him somewhere before but to no avail. He can't be one of the Hunter who tried to capture her before, right? Or is he a secret Examiner? Or maybe the victim of one of her burning spree and tried to get revenge? She eliminated the first question and chose to ponder the second and third questions. Her hand gripped her tonfa tightly but no strength was there to lift it.
''Why did you tell your comrade to lure me with fire? Aren't you supposed to help him?" Sora asked the questions that have been nagging her.
"You needed something to lash out on after not burning anything for days, right?" He replied smoothly and easily as if he was talking about the weather.
Right, that wasn't something that is supposed to be known to public. The prisoner is dangerous to know that information. He couldn't be possibly neither a Hunter or a victim. Then who?
Sora inhaled sharply when the figure inched closer and whispered something in her ear.
"It has been a while, Aym."
With that, her sclera turned black.
And that ends chapter 10, I'm sorry if it seemed very crappy and very short. It's been a while since I last wrote. I didn't steal the eye thingy from Tokyo Ghoul if you wonder. There will be explanation later and besides, those kinds of eyes are cool xD
Umm...I hope this chapter satisfy you?
And regarding the character Sora was slightly inspired by, some people have guessed it correctly. He is Hibari Kyōya from Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
While about the reason Sora could resist the poison, it doesn't have any connection to flames actually xD.
Here are the hints:
1. It was in one of someone's fight in early chapters (you know who)
2. Think of her name meaning.
3. Determination
That should be enough :3
Review my reviewers:
NekoNyapii: Thank you so much And I'm glad I got your interest at peak :D Well the anime was correct but unfortunately not the reason, flames in KHR doesn't have any connection to this unfortunately xD but I like your reasoning :3
Stellar Nymph: Yep, you are correct :D her name is purposely not made to match Hibari's name. Some of his resolve yes.
Keelan1210: Yes I will change their age and nope, she doesn't have Sun flames or flames in KHR xD
Crazywordsmith: Thank you so much for your compliment ^^ and yes they'll be around 16-17 years old at Chimera Ant arc. I'll try to write them more badass xD
Guest: Thank you for your review and I hope you enjoy this chap :D
Thank you so much for all of those who have reviewed, favorite, and follow. I mean look at that amount (OwO) Honestly, I'm shock and beyond happy ^^
And to ellaur-san, her previous pen name Mayagi, thank you for betaing my chapter. I don't know what I would do without you :O
To say sorry for my lack of updates and activeness in here, I'll open a Q&A section in the next chapter. There will still be story with Q&A at the end.
So, send in questions guys (｡'w'｡) You can ask weird things or general things about me, Sora and the story itself. Beware of slight spoilers though :3
Hopefully I'll be able to update soon
Don't forget to click the buttons below *points downward*
And be sure to pay attention to the cover from now on ;) You may find something if you do
Bye then!