So I was asked about a flashback chapter and I was trying to think "Where could I fit this?" Well…I found where! Anyway, hope you enjoy! Also! I honestly can't remember if it shows you what Kurapika did after the clan massacre, so I apologise if it does!
Side note - Two chapters in one day! Woo! (This one was actually written up for a while)
"Make sure you come back so Pairo can get his eyes and legs back OK?" I shouted out to my brother, standing next to Pairo.
"They're not gone they just don't work. Well my legs work but they're getting worse" Pairo said back to me as I looked at him. Pairo had dark brown short hair and dark brown eyes. I looked away from him and back at Kurapika who was walking away.
"Oh…Make sure you come back so Pairos eyes and legs work again OK?" I shouted out back to my brother as he turned his head slightly and nodded then waved his hand. Kurapika wore a blue tabard with gold hem, he had white training clothes underneath and wore brown boot like shoes. Pairo wore a maroon coloured tabard with gold trim to; he also wore white training clothes and brown boot like shoes. I wore a blue dress with red trim, unlike the older girls who wore tabards with white training clothes, girls my age generally wore dresses or skirts and a top. Only a few of the older girls wore dresses or skirts. I smiled back and waved back to my brother as he continued walking forwards, towards the outside world.
"We should get back before the elder gets mad." Pairo said making me look at him and put my hand down. I nodded my head and turned around only to have a sudden weight on me. I helped keep him up and smiled widely.
"Sorry Mishka." He said looking away slightly as I shook my head continuing to smile widely.
"That's okay! While big brother is gone I'll help you!" I said to him cheerfully as he smiled and nodded back, he rubbed my head with his hand in an older sibling kind of way.
It had been an odd day not being with Kurapika and only playing with Pairo. We didn't do much; we mostly read or played tag if he was up for it. We were both excited that Kurapika was allowed outside to get the medicine Pairo needed to fix his eyes and legs. Pairo told me some of the things him and Kurapika did in the outside world, including saving a lady who gave them a book! I didn't know what the book was, but it sounded so cool!
I sat down with my parents to eat dinner. My father was a man with black short hair. He wore a black garb that had bluish grey lining. He wore white training cloths underneath. My mother had blonde hair with grey eyes. She wore a maroon coloured tabard with pinkish lining. She wore golden bangles on her wrists and her underclothing was white to with maroon patterns. It was my mother who had made my dresses. The dinner was odd without my brother there and quiet to, my father seemed annoyed by the fact that Kurapika left for the outside world whilst my mother was pleased that he did; thinking it would be a good experience for him.
The night went quickly, I couldn't sleep. I hoped out of my bed and walked out of my room quietly, trying not to let my parents hear me wondering around. I could hear them arguing and stopped, listening to the conversation behind the wall by the stairs.
"The outside world is dangerous. Kurapika shouldn't have been allowed to go." I heard my father say. I listened closely, I could hear my mother sigh, slightly annoyed by my father's actions.
"It'll be good for him. He's helping his friend and he can share his experience with Pairo and Mishka when he gets back. I'm sure they'd love to hear it." She said as my father sighed himself, annoyed by the fact my mother stood by her standing of this was a good idea.
"He's our only son! Would you think the same if it was Mishka going? The clan village is safer than out there!" My father said making me flinch slightly at his tone of voice. He rarely got angry, but when he did, he really got angry. I was confused though, he waved off my brother with a smile when he left the house, so I didn't understand why he was so mad.
"Of course I would. It's a great experience for them. Just let him do this, he'll be fine; he's a smart boy for his age." My mother said making my father sigh one more time. I drifted to my eyes to the ground before quickly tiptoeing back to my room, trying to think over the conversation that they had. It was confusing for me; I didn't understand.
It had been six weeks since I was helping Pairo. He was getting worse, a lot worse. His eyes and legs weren't working as well. It was raining when I got over to his house. He gave me a towel to dry my hair so I wouldn't get a cold. We spend the day reading a book and playing games inside. Pairo's parents had gone out to visit a few friends leaving just me and Pairo inside the house. I sat next to him reading a book by his bed side. He liked reading a lot and I said I'd help him while big brother was looking this really good doctor that could cure Pairo.
We heard screaming drawing our attention away from the book we were reading. I stood up and adjusted my dress. I patted off my bottom.
"I'll go see what's happening." I said to Pairo smiling widely as he nodded and went back to his book. Walking over to the door I felt the cool wood flooring hit the soles of my bare feet. I opened the door slightly and shut it almost instantly. Spinning around I placed my hands over my mouth, I could feel my eyes went wide and my body shook as I slid down the door keeping my hands over my mouth so I wouldn't be sick. I could hear Pairo get up from his bed and walked over. He quickly went to the door and attached the lock on it before grabbing one of my wrists and pulled me up.
"Come on we should hide." He said as I nodded my head and followed him. We ran through the house only to be stopped when the back was suddenly slammed open. We both stopped in our tracks as the man smirked at us before turning his head over his shoulder.
"Even the children have scarlet eyes when scared; it seems to be a birth thing." He said as he turned his head again and started walking towards us. Pairo and I walked backwards to get away from him until her back hit something else. Looking behind us we saw it was another guy.
The man ducked down grabbing both me and Pairo the back of our clothing and lifted us in the air. I could feel Pairos hand leave my wrist as he was pulled away from me.
"You know, I think the younger eyes will get more money on the market." The first man said. He suddenly looked shocked and I and Pairo were dropped to the floor after hearing a gasp behind us. I felt my wrist grabbed again and being pulled by Pairo so I followed.
"Get back here you stupid kids!" The man shouted after us as we ran to the outside through the back. There were bodies everywhere and it smelt awful. Pairo pulled me somewhere outside our village and pushed me into the bushes and came in himself.
"I'm going to see if I can find anybody to help us. Stay here and don't come out until I say so OK?" He said as I nodded my head. Pairo smiled back and rubbed the top of my head with his hand.
"Good girl. I'll be back okay?" He said as he stood up and bolted out from the bushes. I brought my knees to my body and buried my face into them. I closed my eyes tightly hoping for it all to be a really bad dream, hoping I'd wake up from this nightmare. I could smell burning and more screaming; it had to be a dream, just a really bad dream. Please be a dream. The rain didn't help as it slammed against the back of my head and on my shoulders.
It had been several hours since Pairo went to find somebody. He hadn't come back yet. The burning smell remained but there was no more fire and the screaming had all stopped. The rain continued to fall from the sky which only added to my present misery of being alone. The people who came had left long ago but I waited in the bushes for Pairo to come back and tell me it was OK to come out like he said. I looked up slightly from my knees and sniffed to myself. Standing up I came out from the bushes and looked around. It was quiet, really quiet. My eyes went wide as I began shaking again once I reached the main village. There were bodies everywhere, they were covered in blood. I walked towards one of them and instantly moved backwards covering my mouth once again. Their eyes were gone. I turned around and threw up through my hands and fingers, finding it impossible to keep it in anymore. I took deep breaths trying to get my head around everything. Everybody was dead and their eyes were gone.
Straightening back up I looked around on the spot I stood.
"Pairo! Pairo where are you! Pairo!" I shouted and listened but no sound came. I looked around, turning on the spot once more facing behind me.
"Pairo!" I shouted again but nobody answered my calls. I could feel my eyes get wet and rubbed them with my arms along with my nose and ran from the body I stood next to. My bare feet began feeling sticky from the blood that covered the ground. I ran back to my house hoping my parents would be there. Opening the door I looked around panicky.
"Mummy! Where are you! Daddy! I'm scared!" I shouted out but heard nothing in return. Looking around on the spot again I ran through the house and up the stairs hoping they would be there. The smell of burning was still fresh. My feet made holes in a couple of the stairs as I ran up; it was probably not the safest thing to do.
Flinging open the door to their bedroom I found them. They laid on the ground covered in blood and had their eyes missing. My face felt wet as I ran over to them and fell to my knees shaking them, hoping they'd get up.
"Mummy wake up! It's not funny!" I said shaking her. She didn't move though, instead my hands just got covered in blood. I shook my head and grabbed it with my hands, getting blood into my blonde hair. I couldn't help but cry and brought my knees up to my chest to bury my head into them. It wasn't happening, it couldn't be happening, it was just a horrible dream; a really really horrible dream. That's what it had to be.
I don't know how long I was crying for but I knew I hadn't stopped. My face felt soaked and my throat felt dry.
"Mum! Dad! Mishka!" I heard someone yelling and knew that could only be one person. I brought my head up and stood up, feeling wobbly and slowly made my way over to the door and towards the stairs. I stood at the top of the stairs still hiccupping to myself as the person looked up. He quickly ran up the stairs, his feet falling through the stairs occasionally. When he got up he hugged me tightly, keeping me close. I couldn't help but cry again, my brother actually came back!
"Are you Okay? Where's mum and dad? Are they okay? Where's Pairo? Is he okay?" Kurapika asked as I pointed to the room where our parents were. Kurapika grabbed my hand and walked back slowly to their room only peaking in before bringing his head out again himself. He looked scared; I had never seen him look scared before; it worried me a lot.
"I-I don't know w-where Pairo w-went. H-he told me t-to hide and c-come out w-when he came b-back but h-he didn't c-come back." I said to him through my crying and hiccupping. Kurapika looked at me shocked before holding me close to him once more. I didn't know what was happening, but if it made my brother scared it wasn't good.
We had stayed in our house for hours and even through the night. Kurapika kept looking out of the window every now and again to see if Pairo was coming, but he never saw him and eventually gave up coming to the conclusion he wasn't coming back. I had my head rested on my brothers' lap holding onto his trousers tightly as he had his back leaned against the wall staring at the open door to our parents' room.
"We need to leave." He said quietly making me turn around slightly so I could look up to his face. I furrowed my brows, burying my head slightly into his lap.
"But where would we go?" I asked him in an equally quiet voice. We hadn't moved since he stopped getting up to look out of the window.
"The outside world. It's not that bad, we can learn a lot of things." He said. I looked away slightly, I didn't know anything about the outside world; I had never been, only Kurapika and Pairo had ever seen the outside world.
"It sounds scary." I said to him as he placed a hand on my head rubbing it slightly. I looked back up again; he was still looking at the open door.
"You'll get used to it. And I'm there to, so it won't be really scary. Besides, we can't stay here. Whoever did it might come back again." He said looking down at me. I looked away slightly but looked back up again and nodded my head. Kurapika looked determined and moved his hand from my head allowing me to sit up straight again. He straightened out my hair, seeing as I made it messy; the blood was still there.
"Come on, we'll find some clothes and leave." He said as I nodded my head once more. My brother stood up first and I followed behind him grabbing onto his hand tightly as he led me down the stairs, trying to be careful not to make more holes.
We had packed a couple of bags for our trip. They were filled with clothing and a weapon that Kurapika said was needed for protection. Kurapika said the outside world required money to do anything so doing things to get it was the best idea. I stayed close to him throughout the whole thing not daring to leave his side in case he vanished. We took one last look at our massacred and destroyed village. Kurapika said we couldn't bury anyone because if we did and got caught we would end up like them, so we had to leave it untouched. I couldn't help but hold his hand tightly as we turned away and left the place we had played in. It was hard to think that about this time yesterday I was reading with Pairo and now, everybody was gone. Everybody but us.
We had gone to the river that was about a mile away from our now burned village. Kurapika said I needed to wash the blood out of my hair, but it was too dangerous to do so at the village in case those people came back. He didn't want me falling in because I couldn't swim, so I held onto the bank tightly whilst he washed the blood out.
"Okay I got it all out, you can sit up now." He said as I sat up. I felt a towel over my head and began rubbing it against my hair.
"Make sure to dry it off probably. You'll get a cold otherwise." He said as I nodded my head and rubbed my head harder to get the water out. My hair was quite long, it fell to the middle of my back but I was able to dry it myself. It was my fringe that was the most annoying as it was choppy in places, so it was always hard to get right again.
I watched as my brother walked away towards our bags again and started packing everything up. I followed him quietly and knelt downside him still rubbing my head and watched him closely.
"Are our bags going to be able to carry everything?" I asked him as he looked at me slightly and shook his head.
"No, but when we get older we won't have all of these with us." He said as he folded some of the things up. I decided to help him although my folding wasn't as good as his. He looked at him questionably when I handed him one of the tabards his packed.
"Is your hair dry?" He asked simply as I nodded my head and took the towel off my head. I folded it up carefully and handed it back to him receiving a nod as thanks. I walked back over to the river bank again and picked up my red and blue ribbon. I began tying it back into my hair.
"We should go now. There are buses in the next town, we can get one and find somewhere to sleep for a little while." He spoke over to me making me turn my head and nod at him.
"Okay." I said back to him and put my arms down then jogged over to him. I picked up my bag as Kurapika took the two bigger bags. With that we started travelling to the next town to catch this thing called a bus.
Me and Kurapika had travelled far from our village in the one day we had been walking. I didn't know where we were, and neither did my big brother; we just continued walking. My feet were sore and I was tired. Kurapika wasn't much better, he was tired to. We waited at a bus stop to take us somewhere else. I sat close to my brother leaning on his arm as I could feel my eyes getting heavier. Kurapika shook me slightly making me look up at him slightly.
"Stay awake for just a little longer. When we get into another town and find somewhere to sleep you'll be able to sleep then." He said as I nodded my head slightly and sat up, yawning loudly. I covered my mouth with my hands as I did so.
"Mishka, can you describe what the people looked like?" he asked me making me look up to him before looking away slightly.
"They all looked really different. But they all had a tattoo of a spider with more legs then spiders really have and a number in the middle. The numbers were different too…" I said to him, feeling tears come to my eyes again.
I felt my brothers' hand on top of my head making me look up to him. He looked angry, really angry. I had never seen him angry, it was a first for me and if I was honest it scared me.
"I'm going to become a hunter and catch the Phantom Troupe." He said making me look at him oddly as I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand.
"Who are they?" I asked him as he turned his head to face me.
"The bad people. I read about them in a book, they go after beautiful things. Our clans' eyes are one of those things." He said as his hand left the top of my head and instead went around my shoulder bringing me closer to him.
"I'm going to become a hunter and avenge our clan. I'll get their eyes back and give them a proper burial." He said making me furrow my brows at him.
"I'm going to be a hunter too!" I said to him making him snap his head to look at me. He shook his head, giving me a stern look.
"No way. It's too dangerous and you could get badly hurt." He said as I tried my best to glare at him. It took him back slightly as his look softened slightly.
"I don't want you being killed too, Mishka." He said as I shook my head again glaring at him once more. I could feel my eyes water once more and this time tears leaving my eyes.
"What if you never come back? I don't want you to never come back! I'm becoming a hunter too because then I can help you." I said to him, determination on my face. It probably looked silly as it was streaked with tears. His looked softened once more. He used his thumbs to wipe the tears away from my eyes and sighed slightly.
"You have to promise one thing. As soon as it gets too hard for you, you have to quit. As soon as you can't take it anymore you have to quit." He said giving me a serious look and putting his hands on my shoulders. I nodded my head keeping the determined look on my face.
"I promise." I said to him receiving a smile in return. Kurapika pulled me in giving me a hug as I hugged raised my arms and hugged him back.
The bus journey was quiet and bumpy. My and Kurapika were the only two people on the bus. The bus driver looked at us oddly as we had three bags with us. It probably didn't help that Kurapika was only twelve and I was only eight and we weren't travelling with an adult. I was sitting on my knees by the window watching the world pass by. I could feel Kurapika watching me carefully. I had pointed at several things and asked him what they were. We finally got off at a little town. It was the last stop the bus was going to. I hoped off after my brother and stood by the bus stop with him as he looked at his wallet.
"Okay…I got enough money for us to get food and have somewhere to sleep for a couple of night. But after that we need to do some work for money." He said as I nodded my head. Although it confused me. We didn't use money in the village as it was just us, so everything was internal.
"What's money?" I asked him. Kurapika looked through his wallet again and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to me. It said "One Jenny" and had a picture of a face on it. I looked at it questionably.
"That's what people use here. We need more of that from now on." He said as I nodded my head and handed it back to him. He placed the paper back into his wallet and shoved it back into his bag. Afterwards he grabbed my hand and pulled me gently in the direction of the town centre so we could find somewhere to sleep.
We had looked around for hours. It was dark now. Looking up at the town clock I saw it said "10:34". So it was ten at night. I stayed close to my brother grabbing onto his shirt tightly. He placed a hand onto my back as he looked around on the spot he was standing on. There were a couple of places that said "inn" but they all smelt really bad and there was really loud people in there acting really strange. I scared me. I looked up at my brother, he looked unsure and swallowed heavily.
"Come on." He said gently as he began walking. I followed beside him, grabbing his hand tightly with my free hand. Kurapika opened the door hesitantly and looked inside, before walking in and holding the door open for me to go in as well. I followed in after him.
"Hey now, what are kids like you doing in here?" A man said walking towards us. I hid behind my brother holding onto his shirt tightly as the man got closer. He was bald but had a brown beard and moustache. Kurapika stood defensively, glaring at the man and placed a hand onto my back.
"Hey kid no need to get defensive. This is a bar, you shouldn't be here. Go home to your parents." He said to us. I held onto my brothers clothing tighter as he stood his ground. The man groaned and turned around, stomping off to a counter.
"Sarah, tell these kids to get out." He determined to the woman behind the bar.
A woman came out from behind the bar. She had brown hair to her shoulders and light brown eyes. She was a little chubby but other than that she looked kind. I hide behind my brother, burying my head into his back. I didn't know this woman and although she looked kind she could have been quite mean. I heard her stop walking.
"Where are your parents dear? It's dangerous this time of night." She said kindly to my brother. I could feel him stiffen but he remained quiet. I peeked my head a little bit from behind my brother and brought it back into my brothers back once more when I caught her watching me. I heard her sigh to herself.
"I can't help you if you don't tell me." She said to him kindly once more. I could feel Kurapika fidget slightly trying to think of something before he stopped.
"They were killed. We're just looking for a place to stay for a few nights and then we'll leave." He said to her sternly. I heard her gasp slightly.
"That's terrible dear. Tell you what; you and your sister can stay here for as long as you need free of charge. I only ask that you help with chores does that sound good to you two?" She asked us. I could feel Kurapika shift slightly and move making me look up at him. He had turned himself slightly so I could look at his probably.
"What do you think?" He asked me quietly as I nodded my head. It sounded like a good idea, it meant we had somewhere to sleep for a few nights until big brother decided it was time to move again. He turned around once more and nodded his head quickly at the woman's request. I watched her carefully as she smiled at him and stood up.
"Wonderful. Come on, make sure yourselves at home. Jerome, can you show these two to a spare bedroom?" She said as she walked back towards the bar slightly calling out to someone called Jerome.
I looked up at my brother as we sat on the bed in the room we were given. We had to share it because all the others were booked; but Kurapika said that was fine. Our shoes laid on the floor in a messy little heap next to the door. He looked down at me when he caught me staring and raised an eyebrow slightly in question.
"How did you know that lady wasn't bad?" I asked him, taking him back slightly. He looked away and stared up at the ceiling as if in thought to himself before speaking.
"She didn't seem like a bad lady. I think we can trust her." He said as I nodded my head. I looked at the clock on the wall. It read "12:00". Another day had passed since our parents and clan was killed. Another day we had survived without them. This was the first day I was ever on the outside world and it was scary. I could feel my shoulders beginning to hunch together as I gripped the seam of my dress tightly. The thought of it scared me, I wanted to go home, sleep in my own bed and wake up to my parents yelling at me and Kurapika to get up.
"What's wrong?" I heard my brother ask. I couldn't answer him and shook my head feeling droplets of water fall onto my hand.
"I…I want to go home." I said to him rubbing my eyes with my arms. I felt arms around me and pulling me towards the person who owned them.
"We can't go home. They'll find us. But…I'll do everything I can to avenge our clan! I promise." Kurapika said as I looked up to him.
"I'll help too!" I said to him with determination through a tear soaked and streaked face. Kurapika nodded his head and used his thumbs to wipe the tears from my eyes again.
"I know. But remember our promise. If it gets too hard you have to stop." He said I nodded my head in his heads. He gave me a small smile and looked at the clock once more before turning his head to me.
"We should go to bed." He said as I nodded my head again and hoped off the bed then walked towards my own one. I climbed onto my bed and hid myself under the covers ready to face the night.
I tossed and turned. No matter how much I tried I couldn't sleep. I turned myself to face my brother in his bed, but his back was towards me. He was sleeping on his arm. He didn't snore, so it wasn't that that kept me awake. Furrowing my brows I lightly and quietly climbed out of my bed and tiptoed over to Kurapika's. Careful not to wake up my brother, I climbed onto his bed and slid myself under the covers. I couldn't help but grab his other arm and pull it towards me. He turned his body slightly so that he was sleeping on his back instead with the arm he was leaning on over his stomach instead. His face still faced away from me though. I wondered how he never got cold as he never slept with a shirt on, but I pushed the thoughts out of my mind and held onto his arm tightly while curling into a ball afraid; afraid that if I let go he'd go to and I'd be all alone.
I didn't want him to go away.