Hi Everyone, I was thinking about this story for a couple of days and had the energy to write another chapter so here it is. I hope you enjoy it! I only own my OC's (Also thank you goji3 for favoriting/following! I am happy that you are liking the story so far, I hope you like this chapter too! Sci-fi ftw!)
Ursa sat along a rock wall scrolling through a tablet to pass the time. It was easy to locate the exam site after following Netero's words, but it seemed she arrived earlier than she needed to. Glancing down at the badge with the number 12 attached to a borrowed shirt, she leaned her head back and sighed. It was a long two weeks for the weary soldier, the only consolation was that her burns and radiation poisoning was finally healed. Ursa spent part of the time trying to learn the written language with minor success. She was still not able to read much, but the number system that they used was something familiar. At least basic math did not change much from world to world, and for that she was grateful. Ursa glanced around once more, seeing more and more people arrive, but the tunnel that she was in was still pretty empty. Ursa could feel impatience setting in, which made her frown.
She was used to roughing it when she went on missions, but having to stay indefinitely in a more primitive society was getting to her. If she just had to stay out in the wilderness she would have been fine, but trying to interact and blend in with the locals was hard for the alien to handle. The morals on this world were strange to Ursa. After spending some time talking with Netero she learned more about the exam she was taking and the benefits that those who passed received. Personally, Ursa did not like the amount of power Hunter's had in society. The way the world put them up on a pedestal unnerved the young alien, since in her own world such things did not happen. Everyone and every job was equal, having someone be above or below another was a concept she only read about in history archives. Her world wasn't perfect by any means, but the problems her own society faced were on a much higher level, mainly between other alien races or the issues of sentient technology. In-fighting among her own species was pretty uncommon, sure they had debates and differences in opinion, but when comparing it to this world it was minuscule.
Ursa took a moment to glance around examining the new participants. Eyes roamed around to only stop suddenly as Ursa narrowed in on her target. A small child with white hair stood holding a skateboard, the badge 99 newly added to his chest. Ursa clenched her fists, squeezing with force so great it threatened to break the tablet in her hands. That was what Ursa hated the most about this world, about this exam.
They allowed children to participate in it.
Deep down Ursa knew that she shouldn't place her moral values on another society, and that life spans between the two species were different, but she just couldn't help herself. They let children fight against adults and get into danger. You had to live 150 years to be considered an adult where she came from, and children were to be protected. The birth rates were relatively low and any child born was considered a blessing. Even though she figured Netero to be under the 150 mark, it was obvious to her that he was an adult in this world and she could treat him as such. In this case, however, he only looked to be between 10-14 age wise. That translated to around 65 in her own species and that was unacceptable. She watched the boy zoom around on his skateboard and the look in his eyes made her heart break. Those were the eyes no child should have, she should know, she had seen it in her own reflection time after time again. Violence changes a person, and once they experienced it, contributed to it, there was no going back.
Tearing her eyes away from the boy Ursa forced herself to look back at her tablet. She had spent some time doing scans looking for any of the materials she needed to repair her ship with no luck. Ursa inwardly cursed and rubbed her tired purple eyes. If there was no naquida on this planet Ursa had no idea what to do. Even if she managed to find the other parts or potential substitutes, all that would be for naught if she couldn't find naquida. As the main power source of her 509's engine and as an important material for navigation, naquida was essential. She could only hope that somewhere on this large planet was a small amount of naquida that she could use. Only then would she have hope that she could leave this planet and find her squad. Ursa was roused from her thoughts when she saw a shadow appear over her tablet's screen. Looking up she saw a man holding out a can of some sort of beverage.
"I haven't seen you around here before, so you must be a rookie. My name is Tonpa and this is my 35th attempt at the Hunters Exam. I didn't notice you earlier since I stayed near the entrance when I came in, but if you have any questions do not hesitate to ask." The man self-proclaimed as Tonpa said still holding out the drink.
Ursa stared at the man unsure of what to do. The last time she drank something that was native to another planet her body rejected it, so she hesitated to take it. The past two weeks she was able to get by on what her suit produced for her, but this was the first time she was offered any sort of consumable. She wanted to blend in with these people but didn't want to accidentally hurt herself either.
"Thank you, I am not that thirsty now but I will drink it later." After those few words Ursa placed the can next to her and resumed looking at her tablet, pulling up a different screen to scan the contents on the can to see if it was ok for her body.
Tonpa stared at Ursa for quite a while unmoving from his spot. He waited to see if his presence would force her to take a sip, only to be sorely disappointed. Unknown to Tonpa, Ursa was unable to pick up on this unspoken social cue and continued to ignore him. He took the moment to stare at the young girl. The clothes she wore were strange. Underneath a common white tshirt was a black undershirt that seemed to pulse with a blue color similar to her hair. A pair of green cargo pants seemed to cover the matching pants and the boots she wore were of the same type, also radiating that blue hue. There was some sort of gun attached to her hip that he couldn't recognize, but overall he didn't deem it too much of a threat. His eye caught the strange device in her hands, unable to understand the weird symbols he could see flashing across the screen. He had met some pretty eccentric people over his time in the different exams, and just wrote her off as another one. Turning to walk away he deemed her overall an easy rookie to crush, even if she didn't drink the juice now. He didn't get the same feeling of danger like being around Hisoka so he found himself unconcerned. Tonpa headed back towards the entrance, looking to see if her could spot another easy target.
Keeping her head down Ursa raised her eyes to follow the man that just left. Her scan was in the finishing stages but so far she was not happy with what she was seeing. The overall contents of the drink were fine, but there was one ingredient that would cause severe dehydration and spots to appear all over her body. That was enough for Ursa to open the can and dump the contents of the drink next to her.
"Aww I was going to ask you for that." Ursa heard a little off to her left.
She turned her head to spot the familiar white haired boy she spotted earlier.
"It was bad, so I had to dump it. No one should get sick from it." She responded in a calm tone. She wasn't quiet sure if that would be the case for him, but it was true for her at least.
"I know, but poisons don't work on my body, I trained for it. I'm pretty thirsty though so I am going to go ask Tonpa for another can. " He said with a wide but somewhat sinister grin on his face. Stepping on the skateboard she watched the young boy slowly skate away singing the other man's name.
Ursa somewhat unable to contain herself grabbed the empty can next to her and crushed it. Poison, the boy trained with poison. Throwing the can across the room Ursa slumped back covering her face to hide the rage she was feeling. She didn't know what kind of family unit that boy came from, but she was livid at the fact that they allowed their child to be subjected to that, and the fact that the drink would have hurt him too if he wasn't immune made it worse. Letting out a low hiss Ursa slowly regained control of her mental state. As much as she hated it, she couldn't do anything. As much as it made her insides squirm, her need to get off this planet unnoticed was of higher priority. The damage that could be done to this world if her existence was publicized would be astronomical. She had seen enough mission cases in the past to believe it. Not only would that child be at risk, all the other children on this planet would be as well. Even though Netero got under her skin at times, she was grateful that he kept her presence a secret. Ursa just wasn't sure if she would be able to stop herself from stepping in if anything were to happen to that white haired child in front of her. Deciding that now would be a good time to sleep, Ursa tucked her tablet away and drifted off. An unknown amount of time had past when Ursa was woken by the rumbling of the wall behind her as it slowly started to lift, there she spot a weird looking man standing behind her.
The first phase of the exam seemed to have started.
Well that was the next chapter! I know there wasn't a lot of action in this one, but I thought it was important to get to know Ursa a little bit and see what she believed in since it would affect how she treats the other characters. I can already see some conflicts happening due to her morals, but we will see how long she holds out. For those of you that made it this far I would like to say thank you for reading! If you have any questions feel free to ask. I am not sure when I will get to the next chapter, we will see.
I hope you all have a lovely day/night!