{Captured}
In all of her life, Aurora had done a lot of stupid things. When she was young, she ventured into a lair of poisonous snakes. She heard rumors that the receipe for a panacea lay here. Naturally, she had to confirm it herself.
She ended up severely poisoned and in a coma for a few days after this experience.
A few months after she woke up, Aurora found a dark cave at the beach. She spent the rest of her youth researching this old cave that gave way to a ruined, abandoned underground temple. It had become her own little project and homework, as she called it. One day, her homey cave no longer felt that homey. The stench of blood rafted from the inside, and the path was muddied with a trail of red. Despite the obvious signs of danger, Aurora only felt curiosity towards it. She followed the unknown trail into the dark solitude.
A few years later, during one of her first jobs as a professional journalist, Aurora, now a young woman, had smuggled herself into another country. Said country was a raging warzone with its borders closed off. Aurora only managed to survive through the help of some influential individuals.
Her hunch always led her to the most ridiculous of places, and the list of stupidly reckless deeds she had done had no end in sight.
Today was another event, she could commit to her cognitial book of misdeeds.
Aurora looked at the man in front of her. His unruly hair was grizzled and long. He was tall, scarily tall in comparison to her. He resembled a wild gorilla with the way he glared at her.
Uvogin glared. Aurora smiled at him with a distance of about an arm-lengths apart.
"Uh, hello!", she said, "That was quite a spectacle."
The woman crouched down calmly. Once she finished taking a proper look at him. she then looked towards where the rest of the Troupe were and waved her arm.
"Hello, you over there too!"
If Aurora was scared by them, then she didn't show it. In her mind however, she was going through all the possible dangers, her random behavior could cause her in this situation:
Getting caught and threatened. No problem. Her intention was to talk to them anyway. A close proximity is better for building trust!
Getting scammed and used. Well, Aurora prided herself in her intelligence and negotation skills as a journalist. If she played her cards right, maybe she could get the information she wants... perhaps even more.
Getting killed. ...
Aurora sighed at the worst possibly scenario crossed her mind. Although her actions may beg to differ, Aurora adored life. But not having her curiosity satisfied, was something she could not handle at all. Stuck in this stallmate, Aurora pondered with a frown.
"Listen..." Aurora said, "I really don't want to die and am here of my own interest." She raised her hands up in a non-threatening matter.
DUUUUN.
Enter the awkward silence.
"AHAHAHA," a loud laugh interrupted the quiet, "I feel like I haven't laughed like this in a while. This girl is hilarious!"
One of the Troupe members, later to be revealed as Nobunaga yelled.
Uvogin just stared her down with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
"Then what DO you want?" He asked. His smile growing more and more ferocious with each second. The adrenaline from his earlier fight still filled him. His Nen flared and Aurora used her own one to protect herself from it. He was paralyzed but that didn't mean that his Nen was useless.
'How terrifying," she thought, 'just a second later, and I'd be spitting out blood from the damage on my organs.' Having felt it for herself, she was no longer surprised at the amount of dead bodies that lay on this wasteland.
"GREAT! So you're a Nen-User, too," she heard him say. "I was getting bored of this small fry."
Aurora shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. She sighed in defeat.
"I don't want to fight. Besides..." she glanced at the wound on his neck and calf. "You should get treated first. If I'm not wrong, these slugs will lay eggs inside of your testines. Then use your body as a fertilizer and soil for their babies. Your organs will split open, the nourishments will be drained from your veins and vessels. The pain shall be enough to kill... Even you."
When she finished, she shrugged. Naturally, she knew a way to cure it. She might have even offered it for free was he a kind person. But this person in front of her, just slaughtered the majority of the people here... and he enjoyed every second of it.
She shook her head. 'I shouldn't condemn him for it. The mafia aren't exactly good people either. But...'
Snaring teeth, shattering skulls, even cannibalism. The scene of total power and pleasure. The way Uvogin toyed with life, and squished these lives beneath his heels like they were mere ants, was so utterly cruel.
The ferociousness of his actions left behind a sour taste even for her.
Hearing this, Uvogin's fighting spirit ceased. Instead, he turned towards Shalnark to request his assistance.
Aurora watched quietly as the platinum-blond head jumped down the wall and grabbed one of the slugs nearby.
Shalnark comfirmed Aurora's observation. Seeing how he knew this much already, she wasn't surprised that he knew the cure as well. In terms of knowledge and adaptbility he might be just as quick-witted as she is.
'How nice...'
Aurora watched their dynamic with a smile.
She couldn't believe it. Without a doubt this was the Phantom Troupe! The people she had always wanted to meet were right in front of her! She could barely contain her excitement, and was about to ask for an interview when suddenly- !
The tall bulky man was lifted up high into the air. His helpless scream echoed throughout the little canyon. Aurora watched with widened eyes as a subject of her interest disappeared towards the far beyond horizon.
"WAIT-! Where are you go-" Aurora couldn't finish her words as something sharp cut through a strand of her hair and ended at her throat.
She glanced to her side and saw the narrowed eyes of a masked man.
"Don't talk, " he whispered darkly, "Don't move. I will kill you."
Aurora closed her lips and looked at the direction her subject of interest had disappeared to. Her disappoinment was clearly reflected in her lilac-colored eyes.
'Ahh... I wanna cry.' Aurora thought as she stared at the dark night-sky.
Notes
Sometimes, I can't tell whether Aurora is being crazily optimistic, opportunistic or just mad... but I love her either way lol^^
Sarcasm and irony are such powerful tools, sometimes...
- DawnAsterism
I wrote this chapter from memory, THEN rewatched the anime and realized that a few details did not match up T-T My apologies. I don't think it's anything major, but I understand if you don't like it. I still like it (ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ).
Are you enjoying the chapters so far? Feel free to leave behind a comment/review, and I'll do my best to work harder ٩( 'ω' )و
Thank you for reading!
Please continue to love & support Yoshihiro Togashi and HxH for a long time!
