Hi Everyone! I am back with another chapter. It was sooner than I expected which is a pleasant surprise (for me) and I enjoyed writing this one (must be because its sci-fi tbh), so I hope you like reading it! (Thank you to BethxAngel and HarukoSuzaku for favoriting and following! I am glad that you are enjoying the story so far. I hope you like this chapter too.)
Ursa had not been running for long when she saw participants start to loose pace and fall back towards the pack. It was easy for her to keep up with the examiner, the light gravity made every step feel like a soft bounce and Ursa found that she had to use little energy. Her cardio was already decent due to the war, and after the nap she took she felt like she could run forever. The hopeful Hunters continued to run for quite sometime with Ursa running a couple of meters back from the examiner. She was surprised at the capabilities of this world's inhabitants. Normally the species she observed would have already dropped in exhaustion but the man in front and those that were still around her continued to run at a steady pace, no hint of fatigue in sight. Netero was also an interesting man, Ursa still hadn't figured out how he was able to dodge her scans back when she first crashed landed, but she was determined to figure it out eventually. Taking an opportunity Ursa took out her tablet and held it up to the man in front of her taking a scan. She would need a blood sample to really go in depth, but this would at least show the differences between herself and the rest of the people on this planet. Once the scan was complete she put her tablet away to continue running, she wanted to look at the results when she was able to be alone.
Before she knew it Ursa found herself outside again, boots squishing in the wet grass underneath. The fresh air a thousand times better than any space vessel could produce. Seeing as it would take a while for the rest of the participants to show up, Ursa decided to explore. Tablet in hand the young woman wandered around scanning things. A small white flower caught her eye, the delicate petals quivering in the breeze, a golden hue radiating around it. The scan showed that the stem was edible and would provide quite a bit of energy, so she decided to pick some for later. Ursa's hand firmly grasped the green stem and pulled, only to find her arm sucked into the ground,her body slowly inching deeper.
"Ah crap."
Ursa's other hand immediately dropped the tablet and pushed against the ground trying to tear herself and the flower out into the open. It was working a little, Ursa was able to get her shoulder out when the little flower retaliated in kind. The two beings continued their tug of war match, dirt starting to fly as the battle progressed. Annoyed that a little flower was getting the best of her, Ursa grabbed her gun out of its holster and shoved it into the earth, barrel positioned to point at the bottom of the stem. Not wasting any time, Ursa pulled the trigger, causing a flash of red light to escape. The alien heard a hissing sound and the flower gave way allowing for her to pull her arm and flower out into the open. Ursa was surprised to see how thick the root system was and the fact that the flower was still wiggling. Thinking that one flower was enough Ursa picked up her tablet and put it way, deciding it was time to head back. Ursa went to turn away when she felt an intense pressure on her leg. Glancing down she saw that roots had emerged from the ground and grabbed hold of her. Before it even had a chance to tug Ursa's finger had already pulled the trigger. She continued to fire rapid shots into the earth, dirt and plant parts flying in all directions. Only when she felt the pressure lessen on her leg did she stop, the root system oozing a strange substance. Taking a moment to scan it before she left, Ursa walked back towards the tunnel entrance.
"I've never seen a gun like that."
Ursa turned her head, eyes locking with the white haired child from before. His eyes were narrowed at her in distrust, but she could see that he was rather curious. Her eyes drifted, spotting another child next to him. The smile on his face was brighter than multiple suns and he seemed to be shaking with excitement.
"Yeah! That looks so cool! I never knew guns could do that!" The boy said, eyes firmly locked on Ursa's battle partner.
"Custom made." Ursa said giving a curt reply. The less info she gave the better off she would be.
"Awesome! My name is Gon, and this is Killua! Do you mind if I try it?" He asked finger raised in her direction. Eyes beaming towards her in a steady unwavering gaze.
"Ursa, Ursa Bromley. Sure you can try, but its not going to work." Ursa said, her soft spot for children showing. The risk for letting them try was minimal and making a child smile was always worth it. Besides, the less of a deal she made about its existence the better off and more normalized it would be.
Ursa handed the gun over to Gon who excitedly raised it up at a tree and pulled the trigger. A frown came over his face when nothing happened. Trying the trigger a few more times, the flash of light he was expecting to see didn't appear. Killua looked over exasperated, and wrenched the gun out of Gon's hands. With expertise Killua held the gun up at the same tree and fired, nothing coming out of the barrel. He tried a few more times before lowering it, hair covering his eyes.
"Is this some kind of joke? Is your gun broken?" Killua asked, anger simmering under the surface. Ursa took her gun back and raised it towards the tree, firing a couple of red beams that instantly tore the tree trunk apart.
"Like I said earlier, it won't work for you. It's custom made, it can only fire for me." Ursa explained once again. Every soldier had their own gun that was engineered for them. It would only activate in her hands. A precaution that was necessary with spies trying to infiltrate her military. This was the quickest way for them to figure out who was friend or foe, since the technology was classified. If it leaked then her people had bigger problems than just spies. Killua just turned away looking unamused while Gon was still staring at her with a large smile.
"How did they do that?" He asked, eyes still lit up like this gun was the most interesting thing in the world.
"I don't know." Ursa said shrugging her shoulders. That was a lie though, Ursa knew how it worked, but no way was she going to tell that to these children. She would humor them a little but not give away her secrets.
"That's too bad, but maybe someday you can have one made for me." Gon said, accepting the situation with grace. Killua perked up a little at the thought of having his own, which just made Ursa smile.
"Yeah maybe. We should probably head back to the group, they seemed to be huddled around something." Ursa motioned behind them. The group was standing around a corpse that was covered in small rectangular objects, small symbols and numbers on each one. Ursa only heard the tail end of the conversation as they arrived back, something about being "reported" and "disqualification". A few conversations later and the group was following the examiner once more.
Killua and Gon separated from Ursa to go speak with their other friends while Ursa took her position behind the examiner once again. The grass continuously made sloshing noises as she ran but Ursa found it strangely comforting. Ursa continued to run while listening to the sounds of her feet, only being disturbed by the random screams she heard in the distance. She really hoped those kids were ok, wishing she followed them instead. What's done is done though, and Ursa couldn't take back her choices so she just had to continue on. The examiner began to slow down signaling the end of their run when Ursa felt the ground rumble under her feet. Her hand quickly went to her gun as she jumped backwards. Roots barreled out of the ground slapping her in the face mid flight.
"Oh, its personal now." Ursa said in a snarky tone, a small cut made on her face. The roots looked to be the same ones from earlier, the strange ooze still flowing from the open wounds. Ursa was surprised to see it still alive, but more so to see that it followed her all the way to the 2nd exam point. They charged at Ursa who rolled to the side out of the way firing shots. Pulling out her tablet Ursa ran a targeting scan to see if she could find a weak point to put this plant down once and for all. Roots grabbed her arms and her legs once more but Ursa just shot them off. Pushing her foot deep into the ground Ursa dashed forward with incredible speed towards the opening in the ground. Turning a dial on the side of her gun Ursa increased the power output. She heard a small ding from her tablet as the targeting scan finished up, and glanced at the results while weaving. A victorious and somewhat crazed smile appeared on her face.
"So that's where you were hiding you piece of sh-" Ursa said only to be cut off with another smack to the face. More upset at herself for the lack of focus Ursa finished her curse inwardly and pulled the trigger at the plant's weak point, a small golden crystal poking out of one of the wounds. Upon impact the crystal shattered creating a shock wave greater than Ursa expected. Dirt flew everywhere as Ursa crouched down to the ground in an effort to keep herself upright. A piercing scream echoed into the air, as the plant crumpled once more. Not making the same mistake as last time Ursa ran another scan on the plant looking for signs of life. Fortunately for the alien the plant was dead. Deciding to take some spoils from the battle Ursa placed her tablet onto the root. A metal piece extended from it and pierced the flesh. After a bit of time it retracted and began its processing. Ursa stood and glanced around at her surroundings. The other participants were luckily still in view as Ursa headed over, trying to wipe plant gore from her body. It took her quite a bit of time to spot Killua. He was standing off to the side staring off into the distance, motionless. She walked towards the boy who glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. Not understanding the look Ursa stood next to him and looked out trying to spot what he was looking for. Killua rolled his eyes at a lack of response and resumed his original position. The two stood for a time in comfortable silence.
"Where's Gon?" Ursa asked. She was surprised to not see the two boys together since they seemed to be close friends.
"He went to find his friends since he was worried about them, he hasn't shown up yet." He said, hands in his pockets while his eyes continued to sweep around.
"Hmm, hopefully he will arrive soon." Ursa responded, slightly worried.
"Yeah...anyways what happened to you?" He asked, eyeing her clothes.
"It's a long story, but for the record... I won." She responded, a triumphant smile returning back to her face.
"I see." Killua half believed her but didn't really care enough to press for more details.
"Ah, there's Gon" Ursa said, spotting some figures running in the distance.
Killua glanced at her in surprise. He looked back into the fog, unable to see anything. It took a few seconds to pass before he could see the moving outlines. Killua narrowed his eyes once again at the girl, unable to fully comprehend whether she was dangerous or not. He didn't get the same feeling from her that he felt from his family, but she didn't exactly seem normal. Ursa didn't look that much older than him but she had some weird things on her. Killua debated asking Milluki about the gun and that weird tablet she was always carrying, but the distaste of talking to his brother trumped Killua's curiosity. Deciding that he would rather talk to Gon than stand next to this weirdo covered in who knows what, he left Ursa who was just staring out into the fog, an unknown emotion in her eyes.
That's it! I tried to add a little more action in this one, I hope it turned out ok. I always find it hard trying to write the the MC's accurately, so I hope the boys seemed natural. Like usual I try to proof read and grammar check but I may have missed some issues so I apologize in advance. Anyways, I hope everyone who is reading this has a lovely day/night. Until next time!