Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter x Hunter.
Story so far: Kurapika managed to avoid deaths thanks to Kuroro, although it was something that she had never expected before. As they continued their journey, they received a message saying that they needed to meet a certain person. They were even provided transportation, but whether it was good luck or bad luck, they just had to see it first.
Chapter 11
YOU COULD HAVE TOLD US EARLIER
They were scarcely out of the desert when suddenly the ring glowed red, and again Kurapika was the one who noticed the change due to her new habit. None of them knew what kind of mythological beast was nearby, but from Kuroro's observation, as the glow of the ring became more intense as seconds ticked by, he deduced that the beast was approaching them fast.
Sure enough, in a matter of minutes, they were greeted by a creature with lower body of an eagle, and the bare upper torso of a woman, with her arms replaced by a pair of sturdy eagle wings. Her face looked fierce, and her eyes stared at them intensely, scanning their faces as if memorising them. She folded her great wings by her sides and continued staring at them with her beady, sap green eyes. Kurapika frowned at the beast's behaviour. She knew it was a Harpy, but she had heard that Harpies were aggressive, and tended to attack whoever was on sight. This one seemed to be docile and civilised enough.
Boy, the Lady has a message for you. She suddenly spoke to Kuroro, who frowned ever so slightly upon the mention of Ishtar's name. Seeing that no reply was forthcoming, the Harpy continued.
She said that you two are to meet with Chiron in his domain, and I am to carry the two of you there.
"Chiron?" Kurapika piped in. She had heard of that name. "Chiron, as in Chiron the Centaur?"
You are a knowledgeable one, little girl. The Harpy grinned at her, baring her white row of shark-like teeth at Kurapika.
"We have no need of your help. We'll find him on our own." Kuroro said sharply and had already turned around halfway when the Harpy frowned at him unhappily. She unfolded one of her wings and without warning whatsoever, she slapped Kuroro's head hard with her wing. Kuroro stumbled and almost fell down if his balance had not recovered at an inhumane speed. Kurapika gawked at the scene.
Don't be so cocky, boy! The Harpy growled at him, offended by his crude remark. A youngling like you will take decades to find his place alone. Know your place. And whether you like it or not, I follow my orders thoroughly.
With that, the Harpy unfolded her great wings and took off. She floated a few metres above the ground, before she dived towards them and snatched each of their waists with her massive talons. Kurapika gave a yelp of surprise as she suddenly found herself air-borne, only suspended by the grip of the Harpy's talon around her thin waist. When she looked around, all she saw was blurry images as the Harpy flew across the sky with a speed unmatched by any flying devices. In several minutes that felt like seconds, the Harpy gave a loud guttural cry.
Let's see how you handle things from here. Find him on your own, like you said you would. The Harpy challenged them; or more specifically, she challenged Kuroro.
Without slowing down, she let go of her hold of their waists, and soon enough, Kurapika found herself experiencing free-fall for the first time in her life. She was falling down in a projectile manner from a distances hundred of metres away from the ground; if she was to crash to the ground, she would splat like a tomato. She had not possessed skills that would allow her to survive such fall, unlike President Netero.
"Kuroro, you idiooooottt!" She screamed as both of them obeyed the law of gravity and continued falling from the sky to the earth.
SPLASH!
Dazed and shocked, Kurapika failed to realise that they had not yet splat like a tomato like she thought they would. Instead, they were underwater. Her eardrums throbbed painfully due to the drastic change of pressure, while her head throbbed due to the hard crash with the water surface. She flailed her arms wildly, trying to orientate herself in the water and to get a bearing. The cold water stung her eyes, and she could not see anything but blue. She was losing her oxygen supply and she started to choke. She drank some of the water, bubbled escaped from her mouth as she gaped like a drown person. Suddenly, in her panic, she felt an arm encircled around her waist and whoever it was, the owner of the arm was dragging her towards the surface of the water.
As soon as her head was out of the water, she gasped for the blessed air and tried to swim her way to the edge of the water. She hauled herself out of the water and coughed badly as she tried to get rid of the remaining water in her mouth. Kuroro sat next to her and was nothing like her. He was calm, although he was thoroughly wet as she was. Kurapika scowled at him.
"You knew we were going to land into the lake." She accused him.
"I thought you spotted the lake down here as we fell." He shrugged and combed his wet hair with his fingers. "And what's with the 'idiot' part when we were falling?"
Kurapika glared at him with the absence of her scarlet eyes. "If you hadn't been so rude to the Harpy, we wouldn't be falling from the sky."
"Perhaps." He commented again offhandedly, which only served to irritate her.
"And thanks to that, our backpacks are soaked wet! And so are the clothes inside!" She was close to scream as she looked at her drenched backpack with distraught.
"We can dry them later." He shrugged nonchalantly.
The Kuruta girl looked away in her attempt to calm herself down, but as she looked to the direction of the lake, her eyes widened in disbelief upon spotting something there. Her mouth hung open for a moment, before she finally called out.
"Rusalka?"
You finally notice me. The siren flapped her tail happily, although her tone was faintly sarcastic. And what a liar you are. I was right all along, you ARE a girl. She narrowed her blue eyes with accusation.
"I… I'm sorry but…I was in a condition to disguise myself as a boy…" Kurapika ducked her head in apology.
I understand. Rusalka waved her hand impatiently in front of her face, dismissing Kurapika's apology.
"So this is the siren you told me." Kuroro suddenly spoke behind her. A realisation hit Kurapika hard and hastily she pulled Kuroro's face away from Rusalka, in a rather harsh manner.
"What are you doing? Don't look at her!" She hissed at him. She did not want to get into the trouble of preventing the man from plunging into the lake due to the siren's enchantment.
Kuroro blinked at her with surprise, shocked by Kurapika's treatment but mostly surprised by Kurapika's deliberate action of touching him; his face, no less. She even covered his ears; for fear that he could hear the siren's voice and was bewitched by it. A ring of pleasant laughter came from the said siren as she witnessed the hilarious scene.
You are amusing. Don't worry, he won't be affected by my magic since the two of you are well protected by those rings you have. Rusalka explained after she was done with her share of laughter.
"Rings?" Kurapika looked at her ring, and it glowed bright red like a laser. She had hurriedly detached herself from Kuroro right after she heard Rusalka's explanation. Kuroro looked at his, and it was shining brilliant red as well.
It has a protective charm against the magic of our kind. She leaned forward and looked at them with interest. The water lapped gently around her.
"But I was poisoned." Kurapika muttered to herself as she touched her neck gingerly where the snake of the Chimera had bitten her. The siren heard her and chuckled.
It will protect you against our magic, but not physical attacks. Any curses or magic, it will nullify them. Physical damages and any direct damages are impervious.
"Why are you here? I thought you were supposed to be residing in the forest near the Ryuusei-gai." Kuroro asked her casually.
Well, I'm here for a visit. The siren straightened up. Anyway, I'm supposed to deliver a message. Chiron is waiting for you. Go towards the tallest pine tree over there, he'll be somewhere near there. She said as she pointed her blue index finger towards a direction.
"Somewhere?" Kuroro raised an eyebrow at the vague direction.
The old ass likes to wander everywhere. It's too difficult for him to stay at one place for a long time. The pretty woman sighed, as if she had suffered much from that habit of the centaur. Anyway, good luck in finding him.
With that, the siren ducked into the water and did not emerge anymore. Silence fell between them until they finally got up and continued their way towards the tall pine tree. They tried to dry themselves as they walked, while Kurapika kept complaining about being wet, and the drenched clothes, and the possibility of catching a cold, and so on and so forth. Kuroro, as usual, only ignored her ranting.
They have already reached the pine tree eons ago, but as Rusalka had anticipated, the Centaur was nowhere to be seen. Instead of searching for him, Kurapika had opted to stay there and dry their clothes as they waited for the 'old ass' to come back to the pine tree. Kuroro agreed with her and stayed there.
Both tried to find any clothes that had survived their fall into the lake, and they changed their clothes. Kurapika changed behind the bushes, but when she emerged from the bushes in her new attire, she spotted Kuroro still topless. To her horror, she saw those scars all over his body. The most horrifying scar was the one huge scar around his stomach. It looked like as if something had pierced through him, and he had survived it.
Just as Kuroro turned around, Kurapika had already averted her gaze somewhere else and busied herself. She had no desire to discuss about it right then, reason being she did not want to hear the gruesome story on how he got those scars, and furthermore she was almost sure that he would not talk about it anyway.
For a long time they sat on the grass, overlooking the wet clothes laid on the dry grass. Kurapika was already dozing off, while Kuroro was already blissfully napping long time ago as he lay down on the warm grass.
"Ohohoho! A human couple!" A bass voice suddenly boomed out of nowhere.
Alerted, Kurapika sprung to her feet. She looked around like a cat ready to pounce. Kuroro, on the other hand, only got up and blinked his eyes sleepily. There was no tension about him at all.
"Fresh and young. How long hath it been since the last time I ever saw a human venturing into this humble dwelling of mine?" The voice continued to say.
Soon enough, Kurapika could hear the thumping sound of a four-legged creature sauntering towards their place. She could determine, from the sound of the hoofs, that whatever creature was coming, it was definitely huge. Just as she had predicted, a massive Centaur emerged from the bushes. Its lower body, which was that of a powerful stag, walked with a confident stance. The upper torso was that of a naked man; his chest was muscular, with brown fur covering the centre of the chest. The face was that of a middle-aged man, with brown goatee and pointed ears, yet that face shone with wisdom of a hermit.
"Pray tell, humans! What business have ye brought along?" The Centaur continued, his eyes glistened with curiosity. "I, Chiron, shall aid ye with whatever is required. Venturing deep into the heart of this forest, as ye have done, would only mean that the forest hath deemed ye as bearing no harm to the dwellers of this place."
"Uh…" Kurapika, in all honesty, was flustered to suddenly face a partially humanoid creature who spoke in old dialect. She was at loss on how to answer the Centaur.
"We come here by the behest of Lady Ishtar. Surely you have heard of it?" Kuroro stood up and dusted his pants casually.
Kuroro turned around and looked at him straight in the eyes. Truthfully, he was curious about the Centaur as well. He had heard stories about his wisdom and vast knowledge. He wanted to know, and learn. Chiron cocked his head to one side and frowned. He crossed his hairy arms across his muscular chest. Then, as if something clicked in his mind, his eyes brightened.
"Ah…" He nodded. "Yes, yes, of course. Thou ought to be Milady's ward, I perceive?"
"I suppose so." Kuroro shrugged.
"And the lass over there…" Chiron turned to Kurapika, who was still at loss of speech. "I perceive that she be thy leman?"
Not understanding the meaning of leman, Kurapika stared at the Centaur with confusion. Kuroro suddenly burst out laughing, as if that was the worst joke in the world. Kurapika blinked and looked at Kuroro with the most incredulous look on her face. The Centaur himself seemed unaware on why the young man had suddenly laughed.
"No, no. That would be fallacy to assume so, I'm afraid. I'm surprised, Chiron, for I have thought that you would be wise enough not to blindly assume on people's association with others on first sight, no?"
Kuroro smirked at the Centaur, who had recovered from his confusion and was then smiling at him. His smile seemed like that of a grandfather who was listening to his grandson's youthful yet lacking wisdom remarks.
"And have thee not assumed for thy self that I hath weened of thine association with the damsel there? No, lad. I do not ween, as thou have presumed." He replied. "Just as thou have said, Milady hath informed me of thine arrival."
It was very apparent that Kuroro seemed to be taken aback by his witty reply. The Centaur won hands-down on their little game of words, and Kuroro Lucifer was not accustomed on losing in a game of words. As Chiron smiled kindly at him, he pouted slightly. Kurapika, however, was too confused to spot that slight childish expression that Kuroro rarely showed.
"And do enlighten me on what is going on here." She finally asked Kuroro. "What did he mean by leman?"
"Leman means…" Kuroro hesitated for a second. Knowing Kurapika and her knack to overreact, he tried to look for a suitable explanation. However, in the end, she would still burst, anyway. "Well, it simply means lover."
And the bomb was dropped.
"WHAAAAT?" The colour quickly escaped Kurapika's face. She turned to Chiron, her face furious. "Where did you get such terrible misconception?"
"I guess it'll be Ishtar's doing." Kuroro muttered drily.
"Oh, whatever it is, this misunderstanding must be straightened up!" Kurapika turned to face Chiron, who was looking at them with amusement on his ancient face. "Good sir, if you may let me correct you, there is no way, not in a bazillion of years, that I will ever be his lover. Never. Ever."
"And why is that so, my lovely damsel?"
"Because this man was the brain behind the massacre of my tribe." Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "And I will never forgive him for that." She continued in a mutter, as if saying it to herself.
Kuroro, who was standing slightly behind Kurapika, looked at her with his dark eyes. He said nothing in his defence, nor did he make any excuses for the crime he had committed. He had no regret doing it. Not the slightest remorse in his heart. Chiron looked at Kurapika, and then to Kuroro. He hummed lowly and seemed to be thinking of something, when he suddenly approached Kurapika.
"Then, lass, allow me to read thy fortunes." He asked politely, his hand outstretched to her.
Kurapika looked up, and only then she realised the real extent of the Centaur's size. He towered over her, and her head barely reached his belly. His stag body was as massive as a stallion's. Kurapika looked at his large hand with bewilderment, not understanding what he was asking for. She hesitantly glanced at Kuroro, who was standing not far away (due to the bind) while leaning his weight on one leg.
"Palmistry. He is asking for your hand." He simply told her. He knew from her look that she was demanding some kind of explanation of what was going on.
"True, my lad. We, Centaurs, master the art of palmistry. Humans' lives are etched on their palms since the very moment of their birth. The lines in their palms hold the secret that outlines the course of one's life. The future, however, is forbidden to be told to the person."
"What can you tell then?" Kurapika asked with slight confusion.
"All about thy self, except for thy future."
"….If that is the case…I don't want my fortunes to be read." She said firmly.
"Oh? Why? Pray tell me thy reason." The Centaur looked rather disappointed.
"I don't want people to be snooping around my life." She cast a quick glance to Kuroro. "And announce it in front of others, no less."
"Hmm…That will be a difficult decision, I'm afraid, lassie." Chiron shook his head.
"What do you mean?" She asked with new bewilderment.
"Because…" The Centaur smirked at her. "I can only tell ye the crucial information after I have read thy fortunes." He turned to Kuroro. "And his, as well."
"How crucial this information you are telling us will be?" Kuroro stepped forward and faced him with serious visage.
"It involves that bind that ties yer lives together." The Centaur hinted.
Kuroro raised an eyebrow at his vague hint, but said nothing to demand more. He looked at Kurapika and gave her a meaningful look. Kurapika rolled her eyes in exasperation, because she understood what he was telling her. They had better abode by the rules that the Centaur made, since they were in his domicile, after all.
That said, Kurapika lifted her hand palm up to Chiron. The Centaur took her hand and caressed her palm. He then stretched it and stared at it with certain intensity in his eyes. Kurapika stood awkwardly before him, inwardly she was squirming uneasily. Chiron traced the lines on his palm quietly, as if tracing Braille words. After a minute or so, he let go of her hand. Chiron then proceeded with Kuroro's hand. When he was done, he took one step back and seemed to be mulling over something.
"So?" Kurapika asked expectantly.
"Ye indeed have the most intriguing fortunes…" The Centaur nodded. "I cannot comprehend why, but yer futures were as white as a blank piece of paper."
"Blank?" Kurapika blinked.
"Lives intertwined with others, roads crossed, an unwritten future awaits ye. Fear not, though, my friends, for in every unseen future, there will always be countless possibilities."
Kurapika and Kuroro exchanged quick glances. In that instant, they both seemed to be in one of those rare occasions where they had common agreement. The Centaur was really an odd creature, and overly dramatic.
"As of yer selves, would ye desire I to speak the words?" The Centaur inquired them.
"Even without you translating from palmistry, I think I know roughly by now what kind of person he is." Kurapika muttered. "Definitely a selfish person who thinks only for his interest."
"Ah, let not thy judgement be clouded by thine emotions. See with thy hearts, for one's true self can only be seen by the hearts, for thine eyes were as good as blind." The Centaur shook his head in mild reprimand.
"Are you saying that my judgment about him is wrong?" Kurapika frowned at him. She did not want her concept of Kuroro's evil self to be destroyed. She did not wish to see the good side of that man, lest she lost her hatred towards him.
"Lass, palmistry do not lie. Truth to be spoken, thy companion is not a selfish man at all. He—"
"Enough of this dilly-dally." Suddenly Kuroro spoke up, his voice stern. He frowned at Chiron with displeasure. Kurapika looked at him with wide eyes. It was very obvious that Kuroro had no wish for his true self to be revealed to Kurapika. That just served to make her more curious, though.
"So, what's about the crucial information you've been talking about?" Kuroro asked, trying to refocus to the initial aim of their visit to Chiron.
"Aah, yes of course. How far have we strayed from our true objective? Forgive me for my digression." The Centaur bowed slightly at them, politely apologising.
"The information." Kuroro said again. He had lost any appetite for small talks with the Centaur.
"Pray be patient, my lad. Impatience may bring disaster in the course of thine actions." The Centaur told him wisely. "As for the information, I am obliged to inform you that during every new moon, you will attain temporary freedom."
"Temporary…freedom?" Kurapika frowned in confusion. She was getting tired of being confused with the Centaur's manner of speech.
"For every new moon, Hasamunnin will lose his prowess, his magicks depleted from him. At that moment, only then you will be freed from his curse."
"Simply put, every new moon the bind will be non-existent." Kuroro simplified his information.
"Thou may put it that way." The Centaur nodded in agreement.
Kurapika looked at the Centaur, and then to Kuroro. She blinked several times, her brain tried to process the information.
"You mean I can get away from him as far as possible on new moons?"
"Even if you go to the end of the world, it won't matter; on that night only." Kuroro told her, amusement on his face. He could see the Kuruta bursting into fury.
Kurapika gawked for five long seconds, before she screeched.
"You could have told us earlier! Then I can at least spend a blissful night away from him!" If she was alone, she would have pulled her hair in exasperation.
"And I can spare myself a moment of peace, away from her ranting." Kuroro added with monotonous voice.
The Centaur laughed good-naturedly upon seeing them bickering. "Well, I shall leave the matter to your hands. In addition, Milady also desires to share her wisdom. She perceives that it will be best for she and I to handle the matter of seeking out thy mythical creatures. As kinfolks, we will have better chance to find what you seek."
Kuroro frowned at this. If Ishtar had really wanted to help, she would have done so much earlier. Deriving from the Centaur's manner of speaking when addressing her, Ishtar would be in a post equal to the Centaur, in terms of age and knowledge.
"In the meanwhile, hence, ye art best to make peace with whatever conflicts ye presently hath." Chiron continued.
Kurapika went rigid for a second. The first thing that flashed into her mind was the Scarlet Eyes and the massacre of her tribe. She could feel her eyes stinging, threatening to turn scarlet that moment, but she held it back.
"I hath delivered my messages to you, and hence finished art my task." The Chiron looked up to the sky. "The sky hath darkened, dusk is falling. Do spend a night here, my friends, for it is safer here than out there. The forest will protect ye from any harm."
Without much to say, the two consented to the Centaur's invitation to spend the night in the forest.
Kurapika stared at the humble fire of their temporary camp. She remembered Kuroro telling her that the more powerful the creatures were, the harder it was to find them. Common humans like them would take decades to find one powerful enough the break a genie's spell. She had been grateful that the Centaur and Ishtar were kind enough to offer a helping hand in finding those creatures. She did not want to travel the world aimlessly with Kuroro Lucifer, of all people.
Speaking of which, she recalled Kuroro's hasty interruption when Chiron was about to say something about his personality. He seemed unwilling to let her know of his true nature, or so she deduced. Kurapika pondered over it for a while, before she shook her head to rid herself of such thought. Whatever that man wanted to do with him self, she ought not to have anything to do with it.
Kuroro, meanwhile, was staring at his palm for quite a while. He remembered the slightest change of expression on the Centaur's face when he was reading his fortunes. Something extraordinary was written in his destiny, or so the Centaur would say. He was curious, yet he felt uneasy that someone else knew about himself more than he did. He felt somewhat insecure.
"While we wait for them…" Kurapika suddenly spoke. "Shouldn't we collect the Scarlet Eyes?"
Her voice was small, but audible enough for Kuroro to hear. He did not turn to look at her, but he merely shifted his attention to the fire.
"I suppose so. After all, we are to take care of our current problems first, the bind aside." He responded flatly.
…make peace with whatever conflicts thou presently hath.
Kuroro snorted inwardly. What a smart-mouthed fellow the Centaur was, he bitterly thought. He knew that the Centaur did not only mean problems like the Scarlet Eyes. He knew that the Centaur was referring to something else; things more personal and deep. He had no idea whether the Kuruta girl understood it or not, but that aside, he had no intention to touch that subject.
"We can do it every new moon." He suddenly said.
Kurapika turned to look at him, her gaze asking him to elaborate.
"Every new moon, we are not tied by the bind. We'll have more space to move about. It will be easier for us to get our hands on those Scarlet Eyes." He explained.
"Oh…" Kurapika mumbled and looked at the fire again. She said nothing for quite a while as she thought of it. Truthfully, she wanted to get away from him. She was getting too comfortable with him around, and it alarmed her. However, he did have a point in saying that. Priority-wise, Scarlet Eyes would be on top of the list now.
"Fine then…" She said without averting her gaze from the flickering fire.
They fell into peaceful silence. Most of the time when they camped, they did not really talk much, so it was already a routine for them to be in such silence, that they respectively found a kind of peace for themselves in those moments.
Suddenly, they both heard the soft rustles of the bushes nearby. Both not alarmed, since Chiron had assured them that the forest had no intention on harming them, they kept themselves in their spots, and merely looked towards the bushes. They waited for whatever behind the bushes to come out. Not a moment later, something glowed from darkness of the forest, behind those bushes. A Unicorn then emerged to the clearing where they were camping.
Kurapika gawked at what she was seeing. She had heard of unicorns in fairytales, and she had once wished she could see one. And here she was looking at one right then. The Unicorn was the most beautiful thing to behold, the most graceful horse she ever saw in her life. Its body was pure white, and it glowed softly and subtly in the darkness of the forest. The golden horn protruded from its forehead, glittering like gold dusts. Its mane glistened like silk, each strands the pale colour of platinum silver with faint tint of pale blue. Its beady eyes stared at her with equal curiosity as she held for it.
"A Unicorn? How quaint." Kuroro mused, his mouth upturned into a small, amused smile. He had heard of the tales of unicorns from Ishtar during his childhood, of course. He looked at Kurapika, and as he had expected, she was curious about the animal.
"You will do better not to approach it first. Unicorns are very wary of strangers, and they are surprisingly belligerent, for something that looks so docile. One thrust of the horn, and you are a goner." He told her automatically; a new habit he picked during his journey with the younger girl.
"So we can only wait for it to approach us?" She asked, her eyes still glued to the horse.
"If it is going to approach us at all." He shrugged, but nevertheless he looked at the Unicorn again. He was Kuroro Lucifer, someone who greatly appreciated beautiful things. The Unicorn was one of such things; if not more, and he was going to appreciate it as much as he could.
After a minute or so, the Unicorn started to saunter towards them, its eyes still glued on Kurapika. When it walked, the hoofs made no noise as it stepped on the grassy ground. Silently, it approached them until it was only a pace away from the girl. Kurapika looked at it with marvels. It was such a once in the lifetime opportunity; to see a Unicorn with her own eyes. Gingerly, she lifted a hand and reached out to the mythical horse, while observing the Unicorn's reaction.
Instead of backing away, as Kurapika anticipated, the horned-horse inched closer and nuzzled the tip of its nose against Kurapika's small hand and licked it. It breathed softly against her hand with pleasure as Kurapika proceeded to stroke its nose gently. Her face shone brightly with delight, for the Unicorn seemed to accept her.
"You know, Unicorns only allow virgins to touch them." Kuroro suddenly told her, as he anticipated for her usually exaggerated reaction.
Kurapika spun her head to glare at him, and he could see the faint blush on her face.
"There is no need to tell me of such embarrassing information." She protested.
"What is so embarrassing about it?" He asked as he smiled with amusement. "I thought it is a good thing?"
Just as he finished his sentence, suddenly the Unicorn averted its attention to the man and approached him. It nuzzled its nose against Kuroro's shoulder and even licked his cheek. Kuroro seemed greatly taken aback with it, for he had not anticipated that the horse would even get near him. What more, the harder he tried to push the horse away, the more it leaned towards him.
"Ha. So you are a virgin as well." Kurapika said with mock in her voice. Inwardly, though, she was quite surprise that the man, of all people, was still a virgin.
"What a sight!" A booming voice greeted them. "I'm quite surprised, truth to be said, that the foal will be so attracted by ye."
"This is only a foal?" Kurapika asked as she turned to see Chiron, who was ambling down the path towards them.
"Indeed, lass. A stubborn one, with the tendency to rebel against the mother." The Centaur barked a laugh.
"And how can I get it away from me?" Kuroro tried to inch away from the Unicorn, but the horse would not budge.
"Ah, my lad. Hath my words not reached thine ears? This foal is strong-willed. She listens not to her mother, thereafter how am I to command her to pray be away from thee?" Chiron shook his head dramatically.
"That's very helpful." Kuroro rolled his eyes and muttered sarcastically.
After a minute that seemed like eternity of 'harassment', the foal finally seemed to be satisfied and she averted her attention back to Kurapika. She stroked her head gently, as if she was rightfully her pet.
"I bet she will straight away love Gon." She muttered with small smile tugging her lips.
"That naïve little friend of yours?" Kuroro chuckled, remembering the intrepid boy he had encountered back then at the streets of Yorkshin City.
"Naïve? Well I suppose you can call him so."
Kurapika closed her eyes and recalled the faces of her dear friends. She wondered how Leorio was doing; she hoped that he was doing fine with his medical studies. Gon and Killua, she was sure that they were getting along well as ever. They were the best illustration of best friends that she could come up with. She sighed softly as she remembered the violent reaction that Killua had given her when he knew of her journey with Kuroro Lucifer. She could only wish that the young Zoldyck would understand her situation one day.
The Unicorn licked her face and peered into her oceanic blue eyes. Those beady eyes seemed to reassure her that her problems would be solved. Kurapika smiled and leaned her head against her nose.
She could only hope that the Unicorn was right.
"Greetings, Milady! How thou art always as beautiful as ever. Long hath it been since the last time we saw each other." The Centaur bowed his head in respect to the reflection in the fountain water.
"Greetings to you too, Chiron. It's been decades since the last time we met, true." The reflection of Ishtar in the water smiled at the ancient Centaur.
"I hath seen thy ward and his companion. Truly they art unusual humans."
"Is that so? Where are they now?"
"Send them to visit the Lady in Red, I hath done. Worry not, Milady, for a Unicorn foal hath insisted on accompanying them in their little voyage."
"A Unicorn foal? How unusual." Ishtar raised an eyebrow. A Unicorn approaching Kuroro? Now that was something highly remarkable. Moreover, Unicorn foals were famous to be especially picky.
"And the foal seems to be fond of the damsel."
That was not too surprising, Ishtar thought.
"Milady, there is something that must be told of thy ward and his companion." The Unicorn suddenly said with solemn voice.
"Is it good or bad?" Ishtar asked warily.
"I'm afraid I can't tell, Milady, for I do not fathom it myself. I almost could not believe what mine eyes showed me, Milady, for the eyes sometimes delude me. For a human, such is the lad, an extraordinarily long life is very rare. What more, their futures were entirely unwritten."
"Unwritten future?" Ishtar thought out loud with a deep frown. It was extremely rare to find a human with unwritten future. Kuroro having a long life was not too surprising, considering his remarkable survival skills, although she knew that the boy would not be very pleased to hear that.
For Kuroro's and Kurapika's case, it could only mean that their relationship could develop into anything possible, and their futures depended on it. Supposing so, the decision to send them to meet the Lady in Red would be very wise, indeed.
Author's Note: Truthfully, I have slight problem in writing this chapter. Chiron is a famous Centaur, although in the legend he should have died in a kind of accident. Anyway, I think he should use the old kind of dialect, so I try using Old English. But dear me, how hard it is. I don't even know whether what I'm writing is correct or not, but oh well… I hope you all understand what they all mean. And for those wondering who the heck is the Lady in Red, just keep reading this story, and you will get to know it in the coming chapters. Hehehe, it won't be too long, no worries.
Next: They were sent to meet a person called the Lady in Red, but alas, they could not reach the destination in straight path. They had business to take care along the way, and something interesting was bound to occur.
