Aurora

(flash back)

"tag, you're it!" 9 year old Draco taps the shoulder of a brown haired girl then turns around and starts to sprint away down the hall of their school. School had ended an hour prior but both their parents took a bit to come pick them up, so they would play together until one or the other had to leave. The girl was gaining on him, she had always been faster then Draco, not by much, but enough to make tag out in open spaces an easy game for her to win. She reached her hand out to tag him when she tripped on her shoe, sending her body motion into Draco, and causing him to trip and slam his forehead into the door knob of his English teacher's door.

He was rushed to the hospital after he passed out. After that incident the girl would call him door knob anytime she saw him. That girl's name was Aurora, she left school after her father passed away and her mom moved their family.

(Present)

Draco couldn't help letting the name that came to mind fall off his lips. "Aurora." the sides of her lips moved up ever so slightly. Then her eyes flickered above his head and held it for a second, before drifting to his neck where the silver and black collar sat snug under his hoodie. He took a peek at her bare neck which was being shown off by a simple t-shirt that read U-DO-U. He glanced up at her face catching what looked like amusement in her eyes then looked above her head to focus on the area about 2 inches off her head.

There floated as if it was suspended on a shelf, a small window pulsed with blue light. And in the window read the word's "known to the shadows." Aurora and Draco's mother spent the rest of the day sitting around catching up. His mother asked multiple questions, effectively making Aurora recap what she had been doing since they last saw her after she moved away.

Turns out she got her collar unlocked 2 years prior and her title was ranked (D), so she got an offer to join one of the top 10 guilds called ouroboros. Draco hadn't noticed it before but on her left collar bone just peeking from under her shirt was what looked like a tattoo. Draco didn't realize he had been staring when Aurora followed his eyes and smiled. She pulled her shirt down to show him a tattoo of a snake eating its own tail. The symbol of the Ouroboros guild was continuously eating itself just rotating there on her skin.

Draco was awestruck, the Ouroboros guild was number 7 on the rankings for guilds. It was getting late so Aurora left after hugging his mother and suggesting they go raid a Door once he gets his collar off. Draco closed his door behind him as he walked into his bedroom. He flopped onto his bed and started to close his eyes, it taking him a while to fall asleep as he thought about everything that had happened and everything that could happen in the near future.

He awoke to his alarm that he had set the night before for 10:30, today was the day he was getting his collar off and could decide. Would he go into the three year program to join the military, take the one year course to learn his crafters abilities, or just go it alone by himself and maybe join a guild to help him grow. He flew out of bed, just missing the bar by a hair's breadth.

He grabbed the t-shirt and dark blue pants he made sure to wash and hang up the night before. He grabbed his birth certificate and left his house to head to the S.A building that was on the other side of town from his house. Known as the better side of town, where all the richer families and higher level hunters lived. He made it to his destination by noon, walking into the door with a sheen of sweat matting his brow.

The lady at the counter told him to go take a seat and wait for his name to get called. The building he was currently in was the one designated for collar removal. It was a large warehouse looking building that was separated into different rooms each with a doctor and a Technician waiting to remove the collar and help with the side effects of having metal strapped snuggly around one's neck for more than a year.

A short male doctor walked out from a swinging door with a clipboard in his hands. "Draco?" Draco's eyes looked over to the man, standing up he wiped his clammy hands on his pants legs trying not to seem like a complete amateur. The doctor let out a chuckle "there's nothing to worry about, we have been removing them safely since long before I worked here." "How long have you been working here?" The doctor only smiled, then proceeded to have Draco stand under a machine that was supposedly able to get a rough gauge of an individual's title.

The doctor explained while the oldest you can get your title is 19, some have it from much younger. And while it was rare, some of those abilities instantly manifested when the collar was disengaged. Causing harm to people in a given area of affect. The technician looked over at the doctor and shook his head. "Alright, so it looks like you're not going to have a strikers pulse" "strikers pulse?" Draco asked with a look of questioning gaze. "A nickname for those instances when a Striker's ability manifested on disengagement of their collars."

Draco couldn't help feeling sad, though it was a dangerous and disastrous instance that usually hurt people, it was a guaranteed confirmation that he had a title. He felt bad but he didn't let it show on his face. The doctor gave him a recovery potion which happened to be of the lowest Rank, and although it wouldn't save anyone with a mortal wound, it did help speed up the body's healing. Although it made your metabolism go haywire while it was active, to most people that was easily dealt with and anyone would gladly take the time having to eat a bit more then have permanent markings on their necks.