Droplets of blood pooled the red carpet of a small apartment. The liquid slowly dissolving into the floor material and camouflaged perfectly with the colour. On the floor where the carpet was stained with fresh blood stood a girl with waist long raven black hair and bright, bloody red eyes. What caused the blood was the ripped flesh on her lower left arm.

Who is to be blamed for this gruesome sight?

Of course, the girl herself.

Her right hand is now covered with her own blood from tearing her own flesh.

How?

The easiest way to explain is that she dug her fingernails into her skin and deeper into her tissue. With one incredibly slow pull, her skin is slowly torn apart with agonising pain. Yet, she could chuckle menacingly with gleaming eyes which held amusement.

"Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop." She giggled through her chattering teeth.

The agonising pain travelling through her nerves to her brain only brought her excitement rather than panic or horror like other humans. She finds it amusing to feel such a thing. It never ceases to amaze her as she finds many ways to bring her more entertainment.

As a few minutes passed, her red eyes deliberately loses it's glow and her lips curved into a frown.

"Uh oh.. She did it again..." She muttered with a soft and velvety voice.

She took her time to reach for her first aid kit which is located next to her bed. She set the first aid kit on her lap after taking a seat on her bed. With her uninjured hand, she opened the first aid kit and begun treating her gruesome wound.

Frequently hurting herself only made her more experienced in treating wounds which is equivalent to a professional doctor. However, she only know how to treat wounds. She has absolutely no idea how to help people with diseases, so please do not literally think of her as a doctor.

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Casually sitting on the edge of the boat while it is rocking back and forth, left and right, under the rain nonetheless, she caught the attention as well as interest of the captain of the ship. She mercilessly watched as one of the crew flew off the boat, anticipating his death after his hopeless cries of help and face of despair. However, that did not happen.

A kid she assumed is a few years younger than her threw himself to save him. Another two men each grabbed one of his leg and pulled both of them back onto the deck. Her eyes narrowed at them when they saved a life.

Ah.. Foolish. They don't know what a blessing it is to escape from this world. She thought.

With a look from the captain of the ship, she immediately got the message that she is being summoned. She quietly followed the captain with the other three whom saved the life of a crew she assumed they do not know.

The captain stopped in a room without a single presence other than them and turned around to show his wrinkled face.

"Why d'ya want to be hunters? Answer!" His rough voice boomed the area.

"Excuse me? I don't think you're an examiner." The adult in the navy blue suit asked. "Why should we answer you?"

"I'm Gon Freecss! I want to know what my father looks like!" The kid in green answered the aged captain in a heartbeat and ignoring the adult.

"Hey hey, not so fast. Who told you to answer? Don't you have any team spirit?" The man in navy blue suit pointed accusingly at the young kid.

"I joined for the sake of entertainment." The girl spoke simply, ignoring the cross of conversation between the two males.

Of course, there are more behind those few simple words.

Both the adult and the blonde haired adolescent looked at her as if they want to say how dumb she was to answer the captain's question. However, she knew they were the ones who are stupid. As for the kid named Gon, she believe it was his nature to answer questions as he seem like someone who does not think thoroughly.

"There is no reason for him to ask us these questions personally and at such a private place at that. There must be a reason behind it and I believe the reason is he is currently testing if we're qualified to take the exam." She spoke, proving that she is not who they think she may be.

The guy with blonde hair looked deep in thought as if considering her words. Finally, he spoke as if he has it all figured out himself.

"Leorio, if we want to pass, we must answer his question because the Hunters Exam has already started. This is one of the elimination rounds and I'm sure there will be more to minimise the number of candidates as much as possible."

The girl snorted silently, but it did not go unseen by the boy with blonde hair.

As if he was hesitating to answer, he clenched his fist and stared at the ground with such intensity that if looks have powers, the ground probably would have broken down.

"I'm Kurapika Kurta.. The last survivor of the Kurta clan....."

His eyes glowed red just like the girl's, but his eyes are completely different than hers. When his eyes glow, it looks beautiful like a ruby gem or even better. Inside the red colour orb, there are tiny bits of other colours twinkling around it. Whereas when her eyes glow, it is more like streak of red light are gleaming in her irises.

Those eyes only bring fear..

"Four years ago.. All of my relatives were killed by thieves. The reason I want to become a hunter is because I want to capture the Phantom Troupe."

"Becoming a black list hunter? The Phantom Troupe belongs to class A. Even the best hunters will think twice before helping you. You're chasing after sure death." The captain said seriously while drinking his bottle of beer.

"I do not fear death. What I fear most is that my anger leaves."

"In short, you want to avenge yourself and to be a hunter for that?" His friend in navy blue suit named Leorio asked.

"That, Leorio, is the stupidest question I've ever been asked. If I do not become a hunter, I won't have access to certain places, information, and displacement. It's probably a detail that your little neurons missed." Kurapika, the adolescent with blonde hair explained.

In respond to the humiliation, Leorio fumed silently while glaring at Kurapika. A tick beating on his forehead as if there is a time bomb about to explode. His face painted red in anger and the smoke escaping his ears were clearly evident.

"Well, what 'bout you, Leorio?" The old man asked.

"Let's speak openly, shall we?" A wicked grin appeared on his face. "MONEY! With money, we can have everything! A great house.. A classy car.. The best alcohol..!"

"Unfortunately, we can't buy manners with money."

Leorio again, glared at Kurapika and tempted to jump on him.

"Fortunately, life can't be bought with money." The girl happily stated.

Everyone in the room stared at her bewilderedly, stunned at her words. Nobody has said that before. Especially thinking that it is fortunate.

Who is this girl? Leorio asked himself.

How can she say it's fortunate?! Kurapika's eyes turned red at that thought.

"Hahaha! Alright, I'm in a good mood t'day! Now listen closely and do not let anyone else know 'bout this 'cause other than y'all, everyone else have failed."

The captain took a sip on his alcohol before continuing.

"On the next port, get down from the ship and head for the tallest tree on one of the mountain. That is the shortcut to get to where the exam is held!"

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The four of them walked together through a deserted town with scattered papers and cloths everywhere. Broken glass bottles and empty cans were found thrown all over the place like a dumpster.

"Hey!" Gon called to the only girl of the group.

"Yes?" The girl answered with her hands kept in the pocket of her hoodie.

"What's your name?" He asked enthusiastically with a huge smile on his face.

The girls smirked at his question.

"I believe there is no reason for you to know."

"Hey! What kind of attitude is that? You're even worst than Kurapika!" Leorio slightly yelled at the girl angrily.

Kurapika silently glared at Leorio when his name was mentioned.

"Why don't you want to tell me your name?" Gon asked with a frown on his face.

"There is no need for names. Names are just a start for someone to know each other, a word to represent us, the main information of our identity. By then, the other person must already have a name for him or her. Some already have a name for them before knowing their name. What are the use of names if we are already named differently by each and everyone?" She casually answered with a smile never leaving her face.

"Eh?" Gon stared at her with an obvious clueless expression.

"What?" Leorio stared at her with a ridiculous expression.

"For example, before I learned all of your names, I call you old man." She directed at Leorio.

A tick appeared on his forehead and glared at her with gritted teeth.

"Y-" He was immediately interrupted the moment he started speaking.

"...Raven." Kurapika voiced out.

"Raven?" Gon and Leorio spoke simultaneously and looked at Kurapika which they thought is random for him to say.

Kurapika turned to the girl and repeated that word.

"Raven. If you say everybody already has a name for the people they meet, then I would call you raven because of your hair."

"Ah, I see we have a smart one here. If you name me that way then call me that. Anything in your favour." She spoke simply.

"Very interesting..." An old lady spoke out of nowhere with a crowd of people around her.

"THE EXCITING QUIZ OF TWO ANSWERS!" The old lady shouted, revealing two big ugly tooth of hers and her large eyes which seemed like it was going to come out from her eye sockets.

Kurapika and Leorio sweat dropped and the girl just..

"..."

The rest of the crowd clapped at the old lady.

"You're heading for the tree on the mountain, aren't you? First, you have to succeed in getting out of this town.. The other paths that could lead you there are labyrinths, in which reign terrible bloodthirsty monsters."

She raised her hand and pointed a finger.

"So I'll ask you one question. Since you're a team, you'll all share one question. You'll be given only 5 seconds to discuss your answer."

"So I assume we'll all be disqualified if one of us answer wrongly?" Asked Kurapika.

"Correct. You'll answer with 1 or 2. Any other answer will not be valid."

The old lady slightly open her eyes to look at the faces of the four participants.

"All of you are captured by an incredible powerful enemy. If you can only save one pair from the rest of you, who would you choose? One, the girl and the blonde. Two, the kid and the man in the suit."

I would choose to let myself be captured, but Leorio is my pair! Gon thought. But maybe I can save him..

WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THIS?!? Leorio fumed in his head.

Tch. I wouldn't choose a single pair. The girl thought.

The answer is neither of them. Kurapika concluded.

He then looked at the whole group and spot Gon slowly raising his hand.

NO! Kurapika shouted in his mind.

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Dedicated to Anime_Girl_024 for your votes and comments!

~Joelle

Published: December 2015