Ship’s Cargo

4 years had passed since that day. The day her uncle had died had stuck with Mary, and in order to fulfill his wish she had done all the training she could with the limited resources she had. By remembering the training her "sister" had she was able to move almost completely silent, along with being able to use some of the easier Assassination techniques including: flash step, clothesline (non lethal technique, made to apprehend the opponent using metal wires), and some more simple martial arts. The martial arts themselves were fluid, being able to use one move after the other in a continuous stream. However, Mary did not wish to learn any killing moves. Call her naive, she knew she may have to eventually kill, but she couldn't bring herself to face the idea of taking another's life still had not stuck with her. Other than training her body she had learned to read, her favorites to read were fairytales, stories of princesses trapped in a cell and being rescued. They all felt familiar to her, stories of animals and toys coming to life and playing. And the last act of the stories, the ones she would never read as most ended with a tragedy. She had decided that hers would not end in such a way, yet in her mind there was a feeling of unease she simply could not escape.

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An hour later a little girl with platinum hair and blue eyes boarded a boat. She wore a simple shirt and skirt, her body was that of an 8 year old in both height and appearance, yet her skin was a sharp chalk white. On the back of her left hand was a symbol of pair of beautiful wings and in her right hand was a golden teddy bear with the letters U.B.L. engraved onto it.

Raising her left hand to the sky she said to herself, "I did it Uncle! I'm finally here!"

"Hey little girl, this place isn't for kids, so why don't you just run back home to your mommy?" said a large burly man while laughing.

"I'm sorry sir, but I don't have a mom. A-and! I'm here to become a hunter!"

The man was about to talk again before being cut off by a young looking boy with blonde hair, "Hey leave her alone, we all have our own reasons for being here."

"T-thank you, sir."

With a slight smile on his face he answered, "Don't worry about it."

"Can I Please have your name?"

"Kurapika."

And like that she had unknowingly met the last of the Kurta Clan.

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A few days had passed when the boat had stopped by an island shaped very strangely, it was as if it was a giant sea creature. The name of the island was ,fittingly, whale island. There only one person had boarded, he was a little boy of about 11 years of age. He had long spiky black green tipped hair, and brown eyes that gleamed with happiness and excitement. He wore a green jacket with reddish edges that covered a white tank top underneath. Green shorts, and green, laced boots finished his outfit with a fishing rod and light brown backpack hanging on his shoulders. Because of his young appearance Mary felt compelled to talk to him, that was until he began to wave back to the many sending him off.

"He probably already has more friends than he needs." Thought Mary to herself. Turning towards a door she headed down to the cabins where she decided to rest.

Not even 4 hours pass by when Mary is awoken by a rude trip to the floor. "Just my luck, I-I just try to take a nap and someone pushes me off my bed." Cried Mary to herself.

"Hey are you alright?" Asked the boy from earlier.

Wiping her tears away with her hands she answers, "Y-yeah I'm fine, thank you for asking."

"Don't mention it, what's your name? My name is Gon and I'm going to become the best hunter in the world!" He said with a smile on his face.

"My name is Mary, I'm going to become a hunter for my uncle and myself! He told me that he always wanted to see me free and this is my chance to finally grant his wishes!" Smiled Mary as she spoke fondly of her uncle, "by the way, if you don't mind me asking how old are you?"

"I'm 11, what about you?"

"I'm 13! Turning 14 next month!" Answered the 8 year old looking girl. "Also do you know who pushed me off from my bed?"

The boy looked visibly confused, "Don't you feel the boat being rocked by the storm?"

"Now that you mention it, the boat does seem to be rocking quite a bit..."

A few moments later the rocking stopped almost entirely and most of not all the other applicants were on the floor or crates incapacitated. Seeing that one of them was still moving a bit Gon went to help him. He left as quickly as he went to go ask for some water and returned while giving him some herbs. Mary was to far to hear what they were saying, but she did notice that the captain of the ship was looking through the doorway. He looked directly at her for a moment making her put her head down.

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"Not even one of them can stand, pathetic, and they're supposed to be taking the Hunter Examination. What a joke!" He thought while placing his hand on his head, hearing Gon talk he turned to look at him, 3 others also caught his eye, the young blonde boy who was currently reading a book, an older looking man in a full tuxedo eating a green apple, and a little girl with platinum hair and blue eyes who looked at him directly with a strange book in her hands before turning her head to face the ground. "Cute, but at least it looks like there are a few passable individuals."

One of the workers came running before shouting, "excuse me!" To the captain. Nearly knocking him over he went over to Gon before handing him a mug. "Here's your water!"

The old captain laughed to himself before pointing to the four, "you four follow me!" He lead them to the captains room before saying, "First tell me your names."

Gon answered first, "I'm Gon!"

Then the young blonde boy answered, "I'm Kurapika."

"It's Leorio." Answered the man in the tuxedo with a hint of annoyance.

"M-my name is Mary." She said shyly with a golden teddy bear that seemed to come from nowhere.

He thought to himself where the book went and where the bear cane from before simply ignoring it and asking. "Why do you four want to become hunters?"

"Hey! If you're not an examiner you can't boss us around!" Leorio said with annoyance.

"B-But this is his ship sir."

"Ehh?! Whose side are you one kid?"

"Just answer the question!" Shouted the captain.

"My dad is a hunter, I left whale island because I want to know why my dad wanted to be a hunter so much." Gon said with determination.

"Whale island, so this is Ging's son. So the day has finally come, huh?" Thought the captain.

"Hey kid!" Shouted Leorio.

"Huh?"

"You're not supposed to answer his question."

"Why can't I tell him why I'm here?"

"So just like her you aren't team player, huh?"

Before he could continue Mary cut him off, "I-I think it was alright to tell him Gon, since he is the captain so he could probably kick us off at any time he wants, the hunter exam committee would never hire a pushover."

"Well I don't want to reveal why I'm here." Said Leorio.

"Sorry Mary, but I agree with Leorio, besides one could simply dodge the question."

"Hey kid aren't you younger than me? Show some respect!"

Kurapika continued from where he was interrupted, "with a plausible lie."

"Hey are you listening to me?!"

"But I consider lying to be despicable. Even so, if I were to tell you the truth I would be exposing my deepest secret. That is why I can not provide an answer."

"Hey you.. Don't ignore me!"

"So, in other words, you refuse to answer my question?"

"Well I want to become a hunter for my uncle! You see it was his last request for me to be free! I know it's childish, but I want to live my own story! A-and I have something sinister that I need to defeat, my sister." Shouted Mary abruptly. "I also want to make some friends." Muttered Mary inaudibly.

Taking a moment to recollect his thoughts the captain called to one of his assistants. "Hey Katzo, tell the exam committee we have two more failures."

"What? What do you mean?" Asked Leorio.

"What? You still haven't figured it out? Even after that little girl there told you already? The Hunter Qualification Exam has already begun."

"What?" Asked both Leorio and Kurapika.

"As many people want a Hunters License as there are grains of sand in the sea. The examiners don't have the time or resources to review them all. So, they hire people like us to screen the applicants. I've already notified the committee that everyone else on the ship had to withdraw." With those words the two's faces were filled with a momentary shock. "If they couldn't handle a little storm, they'd stand no chance in the later parts of the exam. In other words, I decide wether you move onto the main exam or not. So think hard before you answer my question."

Feeling like he had been deceived Leorio complained, "he should have told us sooner."

"B-But I told you two that the hunter association wouldn't hire a pushover, so why didn't you listen to me?" pouted Mary.

"Well, little girl why should we listen to an 8 year old, huh?!" Asked Leorio.

"I-I'm not 8 I'm 13!"

"Huh!?" Shouted Gon and the rest.

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(Some extra authors notes, updates are slowing down significantly because of irl stuff like school. I'll try to get at least one chapter out per week though.)