Hi Everyone, I hope you are doing well. The next chapter has arrived. Enjoy!
(Also a big thank you to Wowfam, needsumluvuwu, and riveramyra50 for the favorite/follow. You guys are awesome!)
Disclaimer: I only own my OC's
Ursa found herself in a standoff, alien versus pig, in the middle of a forest. It took a little bit of time to find it, considering she had to ask the examiners what a "pig" was. She had been burned too many times in the past by different species definition of animals, and after the plant fiasco she had earlier she would rather not make any assumptions. Her pride was wounded enough as it is. Ursa's hand dangled above her gun fingers slowly moving as the pig stared back eyes focused. The two lifeforms stood like that, ignoring the other sounds of battle raging around them. After a long moment Ursa saw the snout on the pig twitch. Not wasting any time she fired off a shot. The red beam of light hit the snout and burned through it, going right into the brain. The effect was instantaneous as the pig immediately collapsed to the ground, blood beginning to pool around it. Running a scan Ursa confirmed it was dead before approaching the pig. Reaching down to her boot Ursa placed her finger on a tiny scanner causing a small compartment to open up by her fingertips. A knife extended into her hand, the metal blade pulsing with the same blue as her suit.
"Ugh, I always hate doing this part." Ursa muttered to herself as she cut open the stomach of the pig to gut it. After removing the necessary parts, Ursa picked it up and brought it back to her station, fully aware of the blue eyes from a certain child that was staring after her.
Back at her station Ursa took the time to cut up the pig in long strips. She put it on a plate to be served when she paused, looking at the other examinees a little confused. It seems that they cooked their meat on this planet. Ursa's physiology allowed her to eat meat both raw and cooked, but her society would usually just eat it raw to save time and resources. Only at special occasions would they cook it, but Ursa had always preferred it raw herself. Going back to her station Ursa pulled out a grate and placed it over the fire. Looking at the ingredients around her she pulled out the salt and pepper and sprinkled it on. She flipped the meat for a while before deciding that it was good enough and placed it back on the plate bringing it to the judges. The man took a bite and passed her without a second thought but the woman observed it more thoroughly. Taking a fork she poked at the meat and flipped it over. She took a bite and chewed it carefully before putting her fork down.
"I like the fact that you tried something different with your dish, but you put too much salt. Its also a little under cooked and the presentation is bad. Its better than the others but sorry, you still fail."
Nodding Ursa took her dish back and took a bite. She had already scanned it earlier and saw it was safe to eat, so she was a little excited. To her it tasted pretty good so she was a little surprised it didn't pass, it must be a species thing. She continued to eat it as she walked away, only to be stared at by the woman with a confused and disgusted expression. Ursa began to eat the rest of the pig at her station, watching the rest of the contestants fail one after another. So far no one passed and she wondered if the exam would end right here. Ursa was disappointed to say the least, especially since she couldn't go search for the parts for her ship herself. She just hoped Netero would uphold his end of the deal otherwise Ursa would just have to figure it out. Lost in her thoughts, Ursa mused different ways she could get around the planet when she heard a large impact hit the earth. Looking to the source she saw a large amount of dust billowing in the air, and at the center was Netero.
Ursa was happy and surprised to see the younger man. They were not quite friends but Ursa considered him an ally to her cause, though quite confused at his presences. Ursa watched as Netero talked to the examiners, her eyes lighting up in understanding. After some small talk between the three the examiners decided to do a retest. Spotting Gon and Killua standing around Ursa walked over. Gon smiled upon her arrival and Ursa patted him on the head, just like she would have done at home. Ursa moved her hand over to Killua to do the same when glared at her, slapping her hand away from his head. Ursa frowned at his reaction. She couldn't help compare him to a cornered animal and wondered what exactly he went through to respond that way. Her eyes frosted over at the thought. Ursa removed her eyes from Killua, reigning in her anger and looked back at Gon. Seeing him still smiling brightly at her she gave him another head pat, relaxing once more. At least he seemed to enjoy it.
"It's nice that we have another chance right Ursa?" Gon said.
"Yep, I was wondering if the exam was going to end right there, but luckily enough it can still continue."
"Gon, who is this?" Ursa heard from behind. Two young men walked up, one with a swollen cheek and the other with blonde hair.
"Ah, this is my friend Ursa, we met earlier in phase one. The shorter one is Kurapika and the taller one is Leorio."
"Ursa Bromley, nice to meet you." She said in response to the introduction. Leorio moved closer, standing next to Ursa, one hand on his hip and the other gripping his shirt.
"Hey Ursa, how about after this exam, you and I go out for some drinks, maybe some dinner?" He asked leaning down, doing his best to let his eyes smolder which looked funny with his swollen cheek.
Ursa just stared at the man, wondering if this was their idea of a mating ritual. Unfortunately for him Ursa was not in the mood for a relationship, especially one on a planet she was going to leave soon.
"I am not interested, thanks anyways." Ursa responded, rather blunt like always.
"Oh come on, I am sure you can make some ti- OUCH! What was that for?" Leorio grumbled, mad that he was interrupted by a punch to the arm.
"She already said no, can't you see you are making her uncomfortable? Seriously what is wrong with you? Ursa, I apologize for his behavior." Kurapika said eyes focused on the woman across from him.
"It's fine." She responded waving it off, though Ursa found it laughable that Kurapika thought she was uncomfortable. Maybe it was the age difference but she wasn't phased in the slightest. Noticing that Netero was alone now Ursa headed over to him. As she left Ursa was able to get a head pat in for both Gon and Killua, the former smiling while the latter scowling. Glancing back Ursa gave a small smirk at the children causing Killua to growl before turning his head away from her view.
"Netero, I wasn't expecting to see you here." She said, holding out a hand towards the man. The other man grasped her forearm in a brief greeting.
"Hmm, well it seems it was necessary or we wouldn't be able to continue the exam, and we both know that wouldn't be fun. Well, it seemed like you ran into some excitement." He said motioning to her appearance, his eyes twinkling.
"We both know that you were watching and enjoying it, so don't even try that on me." Ursa said as she ran a hand through her short blue hair.
"Indeed, later on you will have to show me your things, I am very interested. For now, lets head on to the new exam site." He responded turning back towards the aircraft that landed earlier. Ursa walked in step with the man, ignoring the curious eyes of the other examinees.
The ride was uneventful and soon the participants found themselves on a cliff overlooking a ravine below. The female examiner gave a quick demonstration of the task which made Ursa a bit concerned. Removing her gun and knife from their respected storage locations Ursa moved to the edge of the cliff with the others. After watching Gon and the rest of the participants drop down Ursa moved herself away from them approaching a thread that was isolated. She jumped down to a spot hanging right above the eggs and grabbed the thread in her hands. As Ursa deduced earlier it snapped under her weight. Coming from a planet with more gravity, Ursa's mass as a whole was denser than the people on this planet, so she expected something like this to happen. As she hurtled down she grabbed an egg and switched a setting on her gun. Firing a shot in front of her Ursa felt her body pushed by the force in the opposite direction, heading back towards the cliff she just came from. Knife in hand she stabbed it into the rock, sliding down a few feet before coming to a stop. Making sure that her egg was secured, Ursa climbed the wall one knife stab at a time. Once she reached the top she spotted Netero watching her. He gave a small wave that made the alien flip him off in her own customs. The other participants soon resurfaced, eggs in hand with smiles on their faces.
"Ursa what happened? I saw your thread snap." Gon asked as he approached her.
"Maybe she just weighed too much Gon." Killua muttered snickering, eyes lit up in defiance as he looked at her, hands placed behind his head.
"Hmm, you're right, I did weigh too much. Good job figuring it out." Ursa said walking over to him giving him a head pat and a small smile. Killua froze in surprise for a moment, not expecting that reaction or praise. He jerked his head back and turned around, a light red hue appearing on his ears.
"Tch... Whatever, lets go Gon, we should cook our eggs."
"Ok! Bye Ursa!" Gon said, but not before giving a quick hug to the alien before dashing off. Ursa watched the two go, happy that she received a hug from Gon and made some headway with Killua. They seemed like good kids. Ursa turned to head back towards Netero who was still watching her. Settling in the spot next to him the two stood in silence.
"It seems you have attracted the attention of others." He said motioning to a man with red hair and golden eyes, and another with weird pins sticking out of his face.
"That would happen when you almost fall to your death. Why, you concerned?" Ursa asked, hoping to get a bit of intel.
"Perhaps, those two are not like the other participants so I would watch your back. I can't have you being killed when there is so much for you to show me. It also wouldn't do for you to kill them, considering we would have a bigger mess on our hands." He replied, eyes glazed over in thought.
"I will keep that in mind, but if its me or them, I choose me. If I need to go into hiding afterwards so be it."
"Either way, try to avoid it ok? Now, time to leave. Grab your things." He said, flicking his sleeves around while heading towards the airship, sending dirt to fly towards the young woman.
Ursa muttered swears under her breath as she followed the man, vowing that she would do the same and see how he liked it.
Heeding Netero's words Ursa found a corner on the airship to sit down in, away from the other examinees. She had taken a shower earlier and was feeling pretty refreshed, but knew that she should get some rest before the next exam went underway. Ursa set a detection scan in place before she went to sleep, to alert her if anyone got too close. Its range was decent for what it was, but it was nothing like the one on her 509. Confirming everything was in place Ursa turned in for the night.
Killua was in a foul mood. Even though he let off steam by killing those idiots who bothered him it still didn't do much to make him feel better. The game of ball he played with the old man left a bitter taste in his mouth. Killua spent some time wandering around the airship when he spotted Ursa sleeping in the corner, lying on her back with her tablet in hand. He wondered if he should kill her. It would be easy to just walk up to her and rip her heart out. She wouldn't even feel it. She was only dangerous because she had those weird weapons, but she was asleep now. Killua continued to debate his choice as he walked closer to the sleeping alien who suddenly sat up and stared at him. Killua froze in place as her purple eyes swept over him. He saw her teeth clench and eyes narrow.
"Who hurt you?" She asked as she quickly walked over to the young boy, touching a streak of blood that was on his shoulder. She crouched down and eyes darting around as she looked for injuries.
"It's not mine." Killua said eyes lowered, not understanding why this girl cared about him. Ursa stared at him for a few moments before breathing a controlled sigh.
"Good, I am glad you are ok. You should get some rest." Ursa said rubbing his head before going back to her corner. She made a few motions on her tablet and settled back down into her original position. Killua stared at her before placing a hand on his head. He was still confused about her behavior but it didn't seem like she was his enemy. Maybe she wasn't that bad after all. Feeling a little bit better he headed to the opposite corner of Ursa, not letting his eyes leave her. Seeing that she was actually asleep and not going to do anything, he closed his eyes to get some rest, still feeling a faint bit of warmth on his head.
That is it! I don't care what Ursa says, her and Netero are friends lol. As for Killua, I feel like he needs a mentor, an Uncle Iroh so to speak. Obviously Ursa won't be on the same level as awesomness as Uncle Iroh, but I think she would fit that role well, or at least a big sister role. As per usual, please excuse any grammar or spelling mistakes that I missed. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and that you have a lovely day/night!
Until next time!