HxH: 108 Stars of Destiny [IC]

Aix · December 31, 2015

Fearsome monsters, exotic creatures, vast riches, hidden treasures, dark enclaves, uncharted lands... the unknown has always held a special sort of magic. There are many people drawn to that magic and they are known... as Hunters.

This was probably the last part of the pre-test screening. The man who called himself a Navigator led him to the highest skyscraper in Gyro City, the Desert Empress Hotel, and just left him there telling him to make his way to the Amir Alllayl VIP dining area and bar. The massive black obelisk, constructed with bulletproof one-way glass, was swarming with guards armed to the teeth with automatic rifles, sidearms, and even antique khopesh swords. With some brief inquiry, it seemed there was some event being held, as long lines of black cars drove up behind him from which extremely important people came out in droves.

In the dying light of the evening, Alexandre du Lac feasted his eyes on some of the most disgusting pigs of mankind, the kind of people who drowned themselves in their own luxury and wastefulness without an ounce of thought for the needy and the poor crushed beneath their heels. At this congregation of human filth, the former police officer smirked; such sights always filled him with an indescribable and perverse feeling, it was like peering at monkeys scratching their asses in a zoo.

Seeing that they were not doing identity checks at the door, Alex joined the swarm going in the doors. Fortunately, despite the countless trials and tribulations he had gone through to get here, he was dressed admirably as he always was, in a well-tailored black suit and tie retained from his mafia days. The guards did not even give the suave white-haired youth a second glance as he walked in right behind some oil prince with a net worth upwards of several hundred billion Jenny.

In the main lobby, Alex was able to quickly grab a floor plan brochure and locate the Amir Alllayl dining area on the seventy-eighth floor. As he stood there, a cute service girl approached him with a trolley lined with countless vintage alcohols. It seemed he had been targeted as one of the corruptible youth. He gave her the lewd smile she had been expecting and closed the distance between them in an instant. With one hand, he slid his fingers down her waist for a quick grope of her ass, and with the other he grabbed a bottle from the trolley.

"Put it on the tab of Ahmed bin al-Waleed," he said, naming off the oil prince he had followed in earlier. Most likely, the filthy rich businessman wouldn't notice or care about fifty million extra Jenny when his bill came in.

He poured himself a glass and headed promptly for the elevator. Not even sparing the guards at each side a glance, he sipped his wine and walked in.

Expectedly, he ran into a barrier as he swaggered out of the elevator, looking slightly drunk, on the seventy-eighth floor.

"May we see your identification card, sir?" asked a tall, well-built man. His partner stood ready and on guard on the opposite side of the mahogany double-doors.

At the question, Alex straightened up. His eyes cleared while his face scrunched into a mask of fury. "Do you not know who I am? Do you not know who my father is?!"

"I'm terribly sorry, sir, but I did not rec—" the guard was interrupted as Alex poured his fifty million Jenny wine on the guard's head.

"funking MONGOLOID jabroni!" The exclamation was followed by the sound of glass shattering as Alex threw the glass on the ground. "CLEAN THIS funk UP!"

Taking advantage of the guards' momentary surprise, he stormed through the doors and into the VIP room. As the doors slammed behind him, a thin man walked up to him with his eyebrow slightly raised. In an extended hand, the man held a badge with the number 333 on it.

"I welcome you to the site of the 786th Hunter Exam."

LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow · December 31, 2015

Uncomfortable was a strong understatement with how Arash felt walking through this place. The Desert Empress Hotel. Filled to the brim with the rich and powerful, the greedy and manipulative. The same kind of scum that likely ordered the attack on his village. He noticed the looks he got as he strolled through the crowd.
They knew he didn’t belong, but the glare he had on his face prevented any from saying anything. Or rather, anything to his face. Unfortunately for them Arash’s hearing was much better than they gave credit. He could hear what they were saying. Dirty, common, suspicious, him? What a laugh, these were the type that flourished in dirt, revealed in stepping on the common, and were the most suspect of them all.

But didn’t matter, he didn’t need to fit in. His goal wasn’t to eliminate anyone, though he probably wouldn’t have minded, his goal was simply to get into some VIP place. He grinned at the thought. That’s right, fancy bastards, he was a VIP here. Their petty money meant nothing in the face of the Hunter’s exam, it seemed.

The guards were a bit more of a pain, however. The looks they gave were openly hostile. They didn’t know who he was, or what he was here for, but they knew he was out of place. He entertained himself by imagining what he’d do if he were breaking into the place. The security seemed tight, but in Arash’s experience the best security was that which you couldn’t see.

The amalgamation of this was the guards at the elevator. The most obvious and tough looking of the guards thus far, looking down at him with a stony expression. To which Arash responded with a cheeky grin. “Oi musclehead, outta my way.” The guard blinked, clearly taken aback by his attitude, and that’s when Arash darted forward and hit the button that would call open the elevator door.
“Hey, you’re not supposed to...” The words were cut off in a grunt of pain as Arash brought his knee up into the guard’s gut. The man clutched at his stomach and dropped to his own knee.
The other acted quickly, reaching for a sidearm on his waist. Arash rushed him and jumped, swinging his leg in an arc and connecting with the man’s skull, sending him crashing into the wall.
As he crumpled to the ground the elevator doors opened. Arash, whistling, stepped inside. As the door closed he waved to the guests had been nearby and were staring at him. “Have a nice party, asswipes!” He called.

Once he was inside the VIP room, Arash began to laugh. That had been fun, the looks on their faces were PRICELESS. A man came up to him, smiling at his mirth, and handed him a card. And, after a generic welcome which Arash simply nodded in reply to, the cat-boy strolled into the room, heading to grab a drink. It was going to be a wild ride, better enjoy this while he could. He noticed the piano in the room, and gave it wide berth. Once he got his drink, milk “Yeah yeah I know, cat, milk, har har, funk off”, he sat down and leaned onto the counter, surveying the scene before him.

Love of Ghibli · December 31, 2015

A scrub scrub here and a scrub scrub scrub there. Here a scrub, there a scrub everywhere a scrub scurb hummed the jolly youngster who was in the back of a kitchen of the Desert Empress Hotel scrubbing dishes. Typically this was daunting task was reserved for those who actually worked for the establishment or that stereotypical form of punishment that people had to deal with when they could not pay for their meal. Lettess here actually volunteered for the position. After a daunting little mini adventure from one of his parents friends he had earned the right to attempt to go for Hunter's Exam. Of course no one actually told him what he would have to do, but at the very least he was able to figure out that he should somehow make to this hotel. Luckily his family name carries some weight in these parts and he was able to do some name dropping that got him into the VIP area.

In this VIP area it looked like it was where the true elite were dining. To be fair Lettess was pretty intimidated. He had never been to a place this fancy NOT for work. This time he was technically a guest of the establishment. After realizing he was too old to actually be in a bar area he naturally made his way back to where he was most comfortable...the kitchen. This naturally brought more unwanted attention until Lettess made his way to a nearby apron and started washing dishes like it was second nature to him. His confidence made it seem as if it was only natural that this child be an employee. Why wash dishes you may ask. Because everyone has to do something that would make them relax. While scrubbing he realized what he should do for his next move. Oh I think I should actually see where we are all supposed to meet up...somehwere. Surely there are a bunch of other people for this exam thing too! He said talking out loud to know one in particular.

After hearing his little blurt out one of the staff came to him and to kick the little lad out of the building. Hey little man...said the dude as he approached. As he got within four feet of Lettess he noticed suddenly that his pants came down to his ankles. The other dishwasher was shocked and he looked at the boy. I'm sorry. I'm the youngest of seven. Its really hard to approach me when I'm in a kitchen. But you should thank me. If I were my big brother, Kobe, you would be dead right now. I guess I've overstayed my welcome huh? I'll get going then. Lettess dried his hand on a random rag he found and walked out back into the common area.

As he exited he noticed that everyone was looking in one direction almost as if something went down and he missed it. He took it as a sign that maybe that was the right direction to actually follow. He walked down and the one guard helping another to his feet. He slowly took off his apron and folded and handed it to one of the guards. Here I think I took this by accident...are you both okay? The guards looked perplexed by this newer and more naive attitude. Lettess tilted his head as the bell for the elevator rang. The guards turned around shocked...they didn't even witness him push the button and they were just looking at him. As the door opened the guards only watched as the youngster seemed to just disappear and reappear in one spot. Lettess waved his hand as the elevator took him to the VIP room. Lettess made it through doors and saw that there were quite a few people in this area as a thin man approached him and handed him badge number 32. "I welcome you to the site of the 786th Hunter Exam."

Lettess couldn't hide the smile on his face as he was so happy about this moment! But first he bowed and politely replied Thank you for having me! He immediately took out his phone and took a selfie of him and his badge to send to his family back home. Now I play the waiting game. I should organize my backpack he thought once again out loud.

Kazooie · December 31, 2015

Cameron flounced into the main entrance of the Desert Empress Hotel, the noon sun casting a light into the hotel, a small scowl on the bird's beak. His wings fluttered behind him, a small amount of sand falling from them as he dusted off his shirt and looked around the lobby. "Waaah... Sand all in my feathers..."

He pouted for a moment before he shrugged and hefted the cello off his back, letting the base hit the ground as he looked around. He was told to get to some... VIP lounge? Fitting! I am a star, after all!~

He began to hum as he idly played a few notes, drawing the bow across the strings. The sound attracted a few people to look at him and he flashed a grin to them, his eyes shining brightly as he did. There were guards everywhere, but the little avian didn't seem to notice...

He continued to play his music, a slow, relaxing tune for the high class residents at the Hotel. His wings began to flap lightly as he watched people come and go, an excited giggle escaping him as he smirked lightly. The guards seemed to not be paying attention to him anymore, and that's when he began to take this seriously. Well, as seriously as he could. He pulled out his phone and grinned, pulling up what appeared to be a note telling him to go to the Amir Alllayl dining area. He hummed softly as he pulled his cello back onto his back and looked around, finding a guard who didn't appear too busy... Still intimidating though. He had noticed that the man had been watching him play though, seemed as though he was as good a shot as any. He bounced over to the guard with a big grin on his face, "Excuse me sir! I was booked to work here for a special event today, I'm supposed to provide some music for the refreshments. I was told I need to go to the... Amir Alllayl dining room!"

His eyes shined brightly as he tilted his head to the guard, an air of innocence about him as he tucked his arms behind his back and swayed back and forth. The guard looked down at the boy and shrugged a bit, motioning down a hallway. "Elevators are down that way. You said entertainer, right? Go to the front desk, ask them for an identification card. The guards at the elevator will let you through when you present that."

Cammie nodded quickly as he bowed to the guard, "Thanks, mister! I appreciate the help!" He then began to make his way over to the front desk, tapping the counter for a moment as he awaited someone to come to him. When they did, he introduced himself and within a few minutes, he had an ID card to get through the guards. He sung to himself idly as he worked his way down the hallway, finally reaching the elevator and the guards in front of it. He held up the ID card as they began to stop him, his wings fluttering for a moment as he grinned wide to them. Their stern gazes seemed to soften for a moment as they motioned for him to go on through, handing him back the card as he beamed.

I've got a pair of eyes they're getting lost in.~

Cammie's eyes widened as he looked around the VIP room, his grin getting bigger and bigger as he took a look around the area. He was startled for a moment as a thin man approached and welcomed him, handing him a badge with the number 98 on it that Cammie didn't bother to look at yet. He immediately made a beeline for the food, his eyes wide as he started to load up a plate with some refreshments, grabbed a glass of water to drink along with him. He bounced as he made his way to table to sit down, his wings fluttering happily as he started to eat, his wide eyes occasionally scanning the room to see who might be there.

"Any ideas on how to get through here, Amber?"

"Aren't you supposed to be the idea one, Spinal?"

Ivory seemed to be locked in an battle with herself, the shark girl having arrived far too late for her own good. She brushed her hair behind her head as she groaned lightly, "I told you we needed to get here earlier, it's gonna be way, way harder to get through the crowd now!"

"Well excuse me! I thought we had plenty of time, personally."

She sat in the far corner of the main room, watching people come and go as she watched for an opening to get by. She scoffed a bit at the luxury these people indulged in, shaking her head a little bit as the two personalities seemed to agree on this. "I swear, these people have no idea what it's like to work for a living. I'm glad dancing didn't make us much, keeps life interesting."

She stood up slowly as she ran a hand down her side, the gems embedded in her leather armor glowing for a moment as the material began to melt down, leaving her standing in her dancing outfit. Her hips swayed lightly as she moved down to the hallway that the elevators were at, her gaze focused at the end of the hallway. She began to sway around, pulling her body as she began to twist and turn her way down the hallway, her movements swift and precise as she tried to avoid bumping into anyone who might be in her way. Once she made it past the people blocking her path, she huffed lightly and began to walk up towards the two guards at the elevator. They seemed a bit bruised and battered she noticed, a small chuckle escaping her as she walked up to them. They seemed to tense up and reach for their weapons, while she frowned a little bit.

"Come now, dears, surely you don't attack an innocent person for no good reason. I'm here for the... Special event." She stretched a little bit, humming softly as she looks at the two guards. As they glared at her, she took a deep breath, her eyes gleaming for a moment as she brought her hands to her gems, "I suggest you let us pass."

As she did, the gems began to glow, her hands pressed against them. Two large, heavy gauntlets formed on her hands as she looked at the guards, waiting to see what might happen. One of them reached for their weapons, which Amber watched as she thrust her hand forward, the heavy gauntlet hitting the guard's wrist. A loud cracking noise could be heard as she snapped around quickly, her tail sweeping the first guard off his feet as she brought her heavy hand down on the second guard's shoulder. As he cried out, she snapped his weapon out of his hand and crushed it in her arms, the gauntlets disappearing as she clapped her hands together.

"Thank you, boys. I needed to release a little... Stress." She hummed as she turned around and strode into the room, accepting a badge from the man greeting newcomers. 370. "I cut this a little close..." She listened as she heard the sounds of a cello being played, along with the chatter of various people in the room. She took a deep breath as she made her way around, trying to find a place to sit, somewhere she could relax for a moment before socializing with the others.

Maeriberii Haan · December 31, 2015

A train trip.

A violet-haired young woman stared at the vast desert just outside of the windows with a clear lack of interest in her eyes. Her expression was flat, perhaps could be said as bored, and she didn't seem to pay any attention to the people that passed around her, only occasionally checking on her belongings to make sure that it didn't get stolen on the jam-packed train. After a while, she seemingly was tired of seeing the same thing over and over again outside, and decided to shift her eyes from the scenery and start getting some well-needed rest. It was already a long trip anyway, and she hadn't slept even a minute before. However, the loud sound of the train's whistle prevented her to do so, and the woman sighed while the train stopped on a small town. It would still be three hours at least before she arrived at Gyro City, and any sort of rest might be important since she probably wouldn't get any chance to sleep once she arrived.

"Pardon, may I sit here, miss?" A female voice caught the woman's attention. Selardi turned around and stared at the blue-haired woman that had just arrived and sat right before her, and her teeth started to grit in anticipation. She could sense an overwhelming cloud of Nen around the woman - a level which Sela hadn't seen before. Like a cat finding its prey, she carefully stared at the woman before her, who didn't seem to be that bothered with Sela's thirsty look at her. Instead, it seemed that the blue-haired woman was amused by Sela's pronounced desire to fight her. Before anything else happened however, the train continued to move.

"My my, I know we're in a desert, but I haven't seen someone as thirsty as you before in my life. Want some drink?" Twenty minutes of silence and Sela staring at the woman curiously later, the woman decided to break the ice between the two.

"I'm fine. I bought my own bottles." Sela answered, didn't seem to get the woman's attempt of a joke. She continued to stare curiously at the blue-haired woman, who just now started to feel that it's getting a bit awkward.

"That is so, huh? Then, what's with that stare of yours? Sorry, but if you've fallen heads over heels on me...I'm already taken." Sela's look became a questioning one. She didn't seem to get what the woman meant.

"Geez, just stop staring at me like that. Pretty creepy, don't you think?" A slight tone of annoyance came from her, and it was a cue for Sela to stop what she was doing. The woman sighed in relief once Sela stopped staring at her, before she decided to resume the conversation with her.

"So, where are you going now? For someone that hadn't slept for a while, you seem to be really aimless."

"Gyro City."

"Ah...taking the Hunter's Exam, huh? I heard people are predicting this year's exam would be a lot harder than the previous ones. Are you sure you can handle it?"

"Yes."

"Well...that's a lot more blunt than I expected. However, for someone intent on taking the exam, you didn't seem to be that motivated. Why do you even bother on taking it?"

"I'm expecting challenges."

"And...?"

"Strong opponents."

"And...?"

"Catfolk."

"..." An awkward silence followed for a while before the woman broke out a hysterical laugh, all while the still flat-faced Sela looked at her, didn't seem to be bothered by the sudden burst of laughter. The woman calmed herself a while later, and after wiping the tears from her eyes from laughing too hard, she looked back at Sela.

"And you sure you're not seeking anything further? Like, what do you plan to do after the exam, if you passed and become a Hunter?"

"I don't know."

"And you're fine with it?"

"I don't know."

"If you say so, I guess. Now go get some sleep, you don't want to do the exams while half-asleep." With the woman's urging, Sela decided to close her eyes and sleep. Since Gyro City would be the final stop for the train anyway, she wouldn't have to worry about oversleeping and missing her station. And thus, the rest of the trip continued with silence between the two women.

"We've arrived, time for you to shine and be a legend."

As if time went on by much quicker, the train soon arrived at its terminal station - Gyro City. The woman woke Selardi up, and the violet-haired cat rubbed her eyes a bit before packing up her belongings and leaving the almost-empty train alongside the woman. Once outside, she stretched her muscles a bit first - sitting on the same position for days didn't really do it well, before she turned her gaze back at the blue-haired woman.

"You're also planning to enter the Hunter Exam?" The glint of battlethirst returned to Sela's eye as she asked the woman that question. Looking at the cat staring like that, the woman shrugged while chuckling a bit.

"Naaaaaaaaaaaah, I'm already a Hunter, so..." The woman then pulled a ID card-like thing from her pocket and showed it to Sela proudly - the Hunter's License.

"So even then, will you fight me? Your Nen seem-"

"The answer is plain no for that. If you're thirsty for fights, then go find ones that have actual meanings behind it. I'm not really keen on schooling you about why that's important right now."

"i will defeat you." Sela bluntly replied, which was responded with an open laugh.

"Big bark, wanna bite?" The woman continued to laugh, but looking at the cat again and the small spark of determination in her eyes, she ceased the laughter and smiled instead. "How about this: I'll go fight you, but that will only happen once you get the Hunter License. I can see that you're strong, but with how empty you are, a beating from me wouldn't change anything."

"I accept that term." Unfazed with what the woman just said, Sela answered her challenge bluntly.

"Ever so blunt, huh? Well then, I need to get going. You should also be going too, the gathering's going to start soon."

"Hopefully you don't disappoint me." Even if she said it still with a lack of visible expression, for once, the tone of Sela's voice was hopeful.

"Yeah, I would like to talk with you more, but I need to go. I need to cheer for my great granddaughter since she's also taking the exam. " The woman winked at her before turning around and walking away, waving goodbye at Sela in the meantime.

"So see you later, Tenko. Here's hoping you're still alive by then."

Empress Hotel, two hours later

"Move."

Fifteen minutes had passed with Selardi staring at the guards she met outside of the elevator. The guards didn't budge an inch to let her enter the VIP suite, and she didn't budge an inch too. She simply kept repeating her request for the guards to move, while the guards kept repeating their request for her ID. It would've continued for longer, but Sela realized that she needed to go to the bathroom, and did so. Several minutes later, she returned to the sight of the guards writhing on the ground in pain. Not really having any curiosity to inquire further about the cause, she walked through them and entered the VIP room, to the sight of the other would-be exam participants. She did a quick scan of the area and didn't find something that would immediately interest her a lot, so she decided to find a seat before she picked her ball of yarn from her bag, and start tossing into the air as she played with it out of boredom. A man soon approached her and gave her a badge of sort, something she took with her left hand while her right and her attention was still busy with the yarn. Noticing a waitress passing before her, she grabbed the ball of yarn and turned her attention to that young servant.

"I'd like a glass of milk, please. Don't serve it on a bowl. Even if I'm a cat, I drink from glasses."

Andx · December 31, 2015

"The desert's no place for a fish like you." Heather and others had often counseled Aduain with regards to his travels. Two years was a long time to get around a see parts of the world but due to the descriptions of them Aduain had never wandered into desert areas before. But now he'd have to see what it was like first hand as he'd come to find the Hunter Exam was to be administered in Gyro City which was in the middle of a desert. Though he had also heard of a great river nearby which he figured he'd have to visit and swim in once before his time there was done.

With a bit of money from Heather, Aduain had undertaken a rather long bus ride to reach Gyro City. He would have preferred to have swam there himself but was encouraged to enter the city by slightly more normal means. Aduain was restless as he often was having to sit still for very long. He sat in every seat at least once, looked out every window, said hello every other passenger and the driver and had been asked politely to stay seated or please get off at the next stop. By now he had become bored of the desert scenery as it never really changed. He sat in the back as it was the larger seat and gave him the largest window to look out. Calming down for a moment he finally sat down looking forward like a normal passenger might. Aduain rummaged through his back a little bit and produced a flier from the Johanson circus he'd once belonged to. Printed with bright vibrant colors his eyes caught hold on the next few scheduled locations and didn't see Gyro City among them.

"Guess it'll be a while before I can see 'em again..." he sighed softly to himself. The bus had just pulled in for it's last stop before the long haul through the bulk of the desert to Gyro City.

"See who?" a voice said. Aduain jolted up as he saw someone sit down beside him. He wasn't used to being approached by humans seeing as he wasn't human himself. This person was a what looked to be a middle aged man but Aduain was never too sure on age or gender of humans. The facial hair on his face led him to think it was an older man anyway. The two spoke briefly of Aduain's parents and Gyro City.

"So why are you headed out to Gyro today little fish?" the man questioned.

"Aduain. My name's Aduain. And it's cuz someone told me the Hunter's Exam was being held out there." he responded.

"I thought as much. And here I was thinking no one was gonna be taking the bus. Eh, doesn't hurt to do my job a little." the man replied with a chuckle. He explained his role as a navigator and gave Aduain information on where he needed to go. The VIP lounge of the Desert Empress Hotel. Before long the bus stopped in Gyro City and Aduain ran out, excited to greet it. The air was remarkably dry yet somehow Aduain's scale-like skin maintained appropriate moisture levels. It always amazed him how that worked, something else he'd have to ask his parents about later. Shifting his focus back to his surroundings, his destination stuck out despite the size of the city. Aduain kept practically sprinting off in the direciton of the hotel. He was getting all sorts of strange looks from crowds of people in town which might have normally made him feel uncomfortable but he was too focused to notice now.

Having arrived at the hotel Aduain took note of the crowd and fancy cars and the guards at the doors. But as he was pretty short he was able to slip by in the crowds of people. Once inside he took note of the extravagance of the place. Walking hesitantly through the room he took note of how well dressed everyone was and how expensive everything looked. While he was never one to be embarrassed about not wearing clothes he almost felt under dressed for the event. Hopefully they wouldn't hold that against him for the exam. The general atmosphere made him a bit uncomfortable. He had figured rich humans would be like Heather but he quickly learned these people didn't want anything to do with him. After enough poking around he was able to find the location of the VIP lounge from one of the staff, on the seventy eighth floor. Eager to get moving he made his way to the elevators and after a long ride full of extra stops he arrived at the correct floor.

There were some more guards here which Aduain didn't understand but then he wasn't entirely sure what a VIP lounge was so maybe it was customary. They gave him those looks that always hurt where it was like they were looking at a monster or beast. But it was brief and they asked for identification. Remembering what that was and that Heather had helped him get established in human society a little bit, he searched through his bag and produced a piece of plastic that had his picture on it and some writing about him. Looking it over the guards seemed a bit confused but it was an official ID.

"Still a minor huh... and what the heck are you exactly?" one of the guards questioned handing Aduain back his ID.

"I'm an Aquarian thank you very much!" he said with a humph as he snatched back his card. Aduain bolted off into the lounge almost hoping one of the guards might chase after him but that didn't seem to be happening. By the time he looked forward again he'd ran into someone and fell back on his tail. He shook his head a bit to get reoriented, the several tentacles on his head flopping around as he did so. The man got up and handed him a badge, welcoming him to the Hunter Exam. Aduain's eyes widened, his mouth opening into an excited smile as he held the badge and heard the welcome. His badge said seventy five on it. Excited he'd finally made it, Aduain ran off to a seat in one of the corners and excitedly stared at his number, rocking a bit in his seat. He looked around the room as more and more people began to trickle in.

"Wonder how many they let in?" he questioned aloud to himself, the lights from the room shimmering on his skin as he moved. The exam would be starting soon and he couldn't wait to get going.

The world was shaking some today. It didn't always do that. Some days it was just foggy, others it stretched out, others it compressed in, others it would spin a bit and still others were simply normal days where the world behaved as it ought to. But those were boring days not worth mentioning. It was often a fun exercise to question the world as to why it did what it did on any given day. Granted the world made for some poor conversation as it wasn't one to reply.

"What's got you worked up today world?" Xiu said, the shake manifesting in the sound of her voice. The young girl's long green hair was all over the place and the book in her hands, a History of Gyro City, was shaking enough it was getting difficult to read. But if the world wanted to shake there wasn't much she could do about it. She may as well tell it to stop being so hot out or for the sand to stop blowing through the air. Looking around Xiu realized that perhaps it wasn't the world shaking but merely her mode of transportation. She sat in the back of a pick-up truck with one or two other individuals.

"Ah that's right. I'm on a truck to Gyro City. The woman driving said she had information on the hunter exam. How lovely." she said aloud. The others with her couldn't hear her clearly but could tell she wasn't speaking to them. None of them knew what to make of the strange girl or why she would want to be a Hunter. As Gyro city came into view Xiu was sad she hadn't finished the book because now she was here and didn't know the origin of all the buildings now before her. Just before crossing into the city limits proper Xiu focused and shut off her flow of nen. The zetsu technique as it was known. She didn't want anyone immediately aware of her presence but more importantly she began to feel out towards the city. After a few minutes she opened her eyes, convinced the object of her search wasn't here.

As the truck came to a stop in a parking lot each passenger disembarked and paid the driver the cost of their trip. A few thousand jenny, nothing unreasonable for the length of the trip. Xiu overpaid some but was too absorbed in finishing her reading. She found a somewhat shady spot and read well into the early evening. Closing the book she found it was now night and she needed to get to the Desert Empress Hotel VIP lounge before much longer.

It was getting close to 6:00 PM as Xiu approached the massive structure that was her destination. This place was quite the scene and it felt like all the wealth in the world had gathered here for a night of reckless abandon. Xiu lingered oddly at the door way examining the guards and the weapons they held. It seemed a tad excessive but that's what made it wonderful. Everything about this place was excessive and wasteful. A thing of beauty only humans could conceive.

Moving through the crowd, Xiu took note of many foods she might have liked to try or games to play but given the nature of those in attendance there was no way she could have afforded any of it. It was best to let those who could play the game do so and simply move on toward her real destination. As she moved to the elevators she took note of a few men who were talking about the Hunter Exam. Casually she slid into the elevator with them figuring they knew it's location in the building. Upon arriving at the 78th floor all occupants of the elevator were grabbed out and held rather roughly by one of the several guards employed there.

"We're gonna need to see some ID right away or you're going straight back down." One of the guards said. It seemed they might have had some trouble with some of the earlier guests so they were understandably frustrated. With a quick flicker of light something cut the leg of a guard holding one of the several men and a fight soon broke out between him and the guards. Xiu smiled at her work and slipped off into the VIP lounge relatively unnoticed. That was until a man handed her a badge. The number three hundred was printed on it.

"My, three hundred. I must have read longer than I thought." she said as she moved further in. Keeping tight hold of her badge she surveyed the area. This was quite the gathering and several of those present weren't even human. Surely there would be information in abundance here. She simply had to know where to look for it.

Yui · January 1, 2016

This city never failed to surprise her. Even here, there were people that would deviate from the law and use force to prey on others that couldn't defend themselves. One thing led to another, and a man who just a minute ago was talking about how Screaming Desert girls "turned him on" was now unconscious in an alleyway with a broken arm. As usual, Razia had checked the pockets of her assailant for anything of value. A few thousand Jenny and a pocket knife Razia had buried in the nearest dumpster was all this man seemed to carry at first glance. Unlike the desert just beyond the river outside of Gyro City, the things people carried around here didn't commonly include food or water. There were places one could go to sit down and have those. A closer inspection of her assailant's pockets revealed one more thing worth noting.

A piece of paper. On it were some hastily-written notes.

Amir Alllayl VIP dining area and bar

Desert Empress hotel, 78th floor

Hunter Exam

Hunter Exam, eh? Perfect. If this mugger-or-worse couldn't even take Razia on in a one-on-one fight, there was no way he was going to pass that exam. Better she go instead of him, now that she knew where she was going. Damn convenient that she'd been attacked in this particular alleyway too. Just a glance around the corner revealed the massive black building. If she could infiltrate an ancient royal tomb loaded with traps, getting in here wouldn't be too hard.

"Identification, please," the two guards asked as Razia stepped out of the elevator.

"I don't have identification," Razia plainly and honestly answered. "What I do have is business in here. If you would please step aside." For a short moment, the two guards looked at each other, then back to Razia, then to each other again. It was as they looked at each other the second time that Razia grabbed each guard by the back of his respective head, and slammed the two foreheads into one another, with enough force to render the two unconscious. She didn't have time for trivial troubles like this; she needed power, and she needed it as fast as possible.

As Razia entered through the doors, she was handed a badge with the number 267 on it. "I welcome you to the site of the 786th Hunter Exam," said the man who gave her the badge.

"A pleasure," Razia answered.

She had been told getting in would not be an easy task. She had been told to be ready to sneak, lie, or even fight just to gain entrance. Ninsar Rabiat expected a true challenge the likes of which she had never encountered before when making her way to the Desert Empress Hotel to join the Hunter Exam. Nothing about this had been challenging at all.

When looking at the imposing building from outside, she'd been suddenly caught in the middle of a crowd moving forward into the building. Because she was so small, the guards didn't even see her as the crowd pushed her forward into the building. Once inside, people simply didn't pay any attention to her. The elevator ride was uneventful for the whole ride up to the 78th floor, and when she got there...the pair of guards she'd expected to see were otherwise occupied. One had a broom and dustpan, and was sweeping up small pieces of glass. The other had a towel and seemed to be drying himself off. The guard with the towel was drying his face, and the one sweeping was facing away from the elevator. They were talking about some young madman, with the guard sweeping saying that maybe the boy was just really drunk.

That didn't matter though. They weren't looking. This was the perfect opportunity for Ninsar to tiptoe past the two of them. Pretty convenient that they were talking to each other, or else they might have almost heard her quiet, careful steps. Quietly and slowly opening the door, Ninsar creeped in and shut it behind her. It was then that she was met by a thin man. He handed her a badge with the number 334 on it, and said "I welcome you to the site of the 786th Hunter Exam."

Emui kept her fingers tight around the badge in her hand. 56. That meant she was the 56th person to get here. How had she done it? Simple. Lying, cheating, and stealing; the stuff she knew best. More and more people kept coming in. Seriously, this place had the worst guards ever. It was already crazy enough that 56 people had gotten past them in one day, but literally hundreds of people had come in since Emui. She'd been looking over time, drinking milk - a cat's favorite drink - as she looked at the other candidates. Whose pockets were loose? Who kept their hands near their things? Emui tried to figure these out about people with each other potential Hunter she looked at.

Who had cat ears and a tail like h-wait, what? There were two nekomimi in the running for this thing? What a coincidence! Well, best to introduce herself. The other nekomimi would probably trust her, probably. That would make it easier to get away with taking their things. Or lying to them. Or otherwise backstabbing them, ruining their chances of passing the exam and guaranteeing her a spot in the process. And so, setting down an empty glass of milk and quickly swiping the badge of some stupid sucker who left it sitting out - it sure sucked to be #123 today - Emui made her way over to the counter the other one was at. A boy, upon closer inspection.

"Well well well," the girl nekomimi grinned at the boy one, helping herself to a seat next to him. "Nyaw what are the odds that there would be two of us here?"

King K. Azo · January 2, 2016

Ryuuken was astounded by how big the city was. Sometimes, the vast space of metal and concrete looked bigger than a mountain range. It wasn't his first time in a city, but it was his first in one this big. So, he had to go to a V.I.P. room at the Desert Empress Hotel, right? What did V.I.P. mean, anyways? Maybe it meant 'very important place'. Very important place room...? No, that didn't sound right, not even to the mind of a country bumpkin. Well, guess he would have to ask around.

He didn't expect people to be so rude though. Anytime he walked up to someone, they ran off like he was a monster. He was only six foot and five inches tall, it wasn't like he was a monster! Finally though, he found a sign that directed him to this... Desert Empress Hotel. What he didn't expect was how huge the thing was. It stretched into the sky like a giant black... well, not mountain, but it wasn't an ant hill either... he quietly approached the doors, walking past the the cars and guards, sticking out like a sore thumb with his height and tattered black gi. He dug into his pocket and looked at his note. The seventy-eighth floor, huh? Well, that was decent training at least. He obliviously walked past the elevators and started to climb the tower of stairs up to his destination.

It took about an hour, but Ryuuken made it up the flight of stairs. Compared to climbing the mountains back home, those stairs were cakewalk, so much so he wasn't even breaking a sweat. The mountain man opened the door to the staircase and walked into the hallway, where a tall, well-built man and his partner stood ready and on guard on opposite side of mahogany double-doors. That must have been where he had to go. He approached the doors confidently, like the two men would not slow him down, mostly because he didn't know they were going to try to.

"May we see your identification card, sir?" asked the tall, well-built man. Ryuuken blinked at him, considering his question. Finally, he answered with a honest question.

"What's a identification card?" Was it something to eat? Oh wait! A card! Those weird pieces of cardboard! Gouki had shown him those before! "Oh, wait, are we playing a game? Um... I don't know what kind of chores you guys do, so it'll be hard to bet...," The two guard exchanged looks before addressing the martial artist.

"We're going to have to ask you to leave," The one closest to Ryuuken said. Ryuuken took two seconds to think before bluntly replying,

"But I have to go in there...,"

"No," Was the blunt reply. Ryuuken waited for a minute, staring at the two before commenting again.

"But I was told to go in there," That's what his navigator told him.

"Sir, you can either leave, or we can force you to," The guards replied in unison. They were ready to fight this time, especially after the number of people that fought their way in today. Ryuuken pondered the predicament for a few seconds.

"But I really need to go in there," was the ultra intelligent reply. The guards, now being fed up, both grabbed an arm and started to drag the man away. Or, at least they would, had it not been for the fact the two felt like they were trying to pull a sleeping dragon instead of the man standing there. No matter how much they struggled, the martial artist did not move an inch.

Ryuuken saw his chance. He started to walk to the door, dragging the two guards behind him, despite their protests and struggles. He was about to reach for the handle when he realized that despite being able to move his whole body, they could keep him from moving his arms. Well, as Gouki would say... 'When in doubt... boot,'. Ryuuken leaned back while forcefully kicking one leg forward, colliding with the doors and sending them flying off their hinges. The two guards released his arms from the sheer shock.

"I'll fix that," Ryuuken said apologetically before walking into the room. Someone handed him a card that read '295' on it.

"Welcome to the 786th Hunter Exam," The man said, his voice laced with amusement.

"Ah, thank you very much!" Ryuuken said gleefully before heading to where the two doors landed. He hoped no one was hit by them...

Tesability Black · January 2, 2016

The sound of padded paws approaching became heard by the two guarding the front entrance, one of them turning towards the sound and raising an eyebrow.

"What kind of messed up dog are you supposed to be?"

The being he was speaking of, a brilliant red creature of canine build with a yellow mane of fur along the back of its neck and a pair of packs settled to either side of it, simply turned his foxlike head slightly to one side.

"I am no 'dog'," it responded with a low pitch as he barked its words, the sign of a male. "I am an Armagnis."

"Well, 'Armagnis', what are you doing here?" At this point, one could tell the pair was bored to even entertain talking to such a thing. "Shouldn't you be back with whomever your owner is?"

"I do not know what one is, but I have none." At this point, one of the guards caught sight of movement from just over the creature's back, catching sight of an orange...tentacle? reaching into one of the two packs before pulling out something thin and holding it with care with the top towards the pair.

It was, strangely enough, an identification card, identifying the being by the name of 'Taikyu Zephyr'. "One needs this to enter, yes?"

"Holy sh!t, I don't know how you got a fake id, but this is redicu...hey, is it just me or is it hot..."

And the guy just passed out, to which Taikyu gently placed the card back into where he got it and looked down towards the man that fell to the ground. "Why does everyone keep doing that," he barked in confusion, another thud reaching his ears before looking over towards the other guy and seeing him on the floor as well.

Giving a shrug, he walked past the two, unaware that he should have been concerned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a lot of beings here, though he wondered how many were here for this 'exam' he heard about. "Excuse me," he suddenly heard before lifting his head towards the source of the voice, seeing yet another human with a confused look on his face. "Are you supposed to be here?"

"I think so," he replied. "Is this not where the Hunter Exam is to be?"

"Actually, this is." With a look that clearly stated that he wasn't expecting to do so, he pulled out what looked like a card with a number before deciding to approach, pulling against the top of his shirt. "Oh, gods, it's hot all of a sudden."

"It be nice for me," was the only remark given by the hound, which prompted the man to raise an eyebrow before having a look of realization.

"Oh, you're the one that Hunter was talking about! Here." He pulled out a different card, this with a '1' instead of the '313' that the other card had. "We made one of the cards heatproof in case you showed up. Just try not to ignite it, though."

"..o...okay." With that, the Armagnis carefully reached out for it with the tip of the leathery 'tentacle' on his back, quickly placing it within one of the two packs he carried.

"Welcome to the 786th Hunter Exam," The man said, a cautious tone in his voice as he watched the Armagnis walk past him before jumping up onto one of the wooden tables...

...which buckled under his weight and sent the hound crashing into the ground. "...was that supposed to happen?"

The man simply looked up towards the ceiling after seeing the sudden collapse of a perfectly-good wooden table. "This is going to be a long day..."

LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow · January 2, 2016

Arash realized after a while that he had been pretty early. Which was fine by him, it meant he had a chance to check out who was coming in. And he had to say it was a strange bunch. He wished he could've seen how the guards down there fared with some of these, and he got a bit of a chuckle from that thought. Arash was leaning against the counter, tail leisurely swaying back and forth, while enjoying his milk. Not expecting much company.

Then he noticed someone sit down nearby, and was ready to ignore or respond with a snappy retort...but then he noticed who, or rather what, they were.

"Well well well, Nyaw what are the odds that there would be two of us here?"

His eyebrow raised at the terrible pun but he didn't comment right away. He hadn't seen another Nekomimi in...a while, and he wasn't sure how he felt about seeing one right now. Though it shouldn't be all too surprising, once he thought about it. And on top of that, a girl. Arash wasn't one to go chasing after women like some others his age but he still couldn't help but notice she was, well, quite pretty. This didn't stop him from retorting with his usual manner. "And why wouldn't there be, you so dumb to think that out of all the people taking this exam there wouldn't be a couple from our race? Don't think just cause we're both Nekomimi means I'm gonna be all buddy buddy with you, ya hear?"

Maeriberii Haan · January 2, 2016

After some minutes, Selardi decided to finally check the badge that she had been given earlier. It had the number 311 on it – not really anything special. Finishing up her milk, she didn’t bother herself with cleaning the milk on her mouth afterwards before she continued to look around for anything or anyone potentially interesting. There were a lot of non-humans there, more than what she expected, but so far, none of them gave her a similar sense of intrigue or curiosity like what she felt hours before. The thought of someone being that powerful still sent a chill down her spine, perhaps the first time in ages. If someone like her was a product of the Exam, then maybe some of these participants would also give Sela a similar feeling, sooner or later.

“Wait a second.” As she looked around, she noticed a scene that immediately took her interest, however it was not the interest she thought earlier. Not too far from her, two catfolks were conversing with each other. There were no doubts about their identity. Their expressive ears and tails, the mesmerizing waggling sent a tingling feeling down to her. The small fangs that could be seen when they opened their mouth to talk, their delicate frame, the fluffy ears and tail, Sela’s doubt was washed away into nowhere with that sight. And as if it’s responding to her thought and desire as she continued to watch, her Nen gathered around the glass she was holding and enveloped it in a spiral of aura – transforming it into a cat several seconds afterwards.

A hissing, extremely pissed off cat.

Selardi’s concentration on the two catfolks was broken as soon as she felt a sensation of pain from her right arm. She turned around to see a cat was meowing in anger there, clawing her arm furiously as rashes started to form on her arm out of her allergy. Still with a flat expression as if it’s just a routine for her, she didn’t waste any time to grab the cat by its tail, and threw it away at the general direction of the conversing catfolks. She then grabbed a bandage from her pocket and wrapped the wound with it, before returning her focus back to the catfolks without missing any beats.

“There you go. A gift of cat for the cat, by the cat.”

"The matriarch sure looked like she's in a very good mood today, wasn't she? I wonder what had just happened with her...maybe she's getting another boy for tonight or something the likes, knowing her." The old bespectacled old man said it as he washed the back of a teenage girl that sat before him in the bathroom. The teenage girl had a less than amused look on her face, but aside from sighing, she didn’t do anything else. It’s pretty clear, however, that her mind was on somewhere else entirely instead of the steamy bathroom.

Not even responding to her servant’s words, Miaris reminisced on her great grandmother’s earlier visit to her hotel room, where the two shared a small conversation before the old woman hurriedly left. Aside from all the flowery words of encouragement taken straight from a self-help book, the matriarch also mentioned about the challenges that she would face – vaguely, at that. She only mentioned about how some of the exams the previous members of the family had taken, and despite it’s meant to encourage her with her elders’ past achievements, all that it did was discouraging her and made her doubt her own capabilities even further about whether she’d be able to complete the exam in a satisfying manner. Mia knew she had to go through it with as much determination as she could muster whether she liked it or not, but the exam would still be far out of the league of the previous challenges she needed to pass. To add to this, aside from needing to win the race so she could keep her status, family, and perhaps neck, she would also start hunting down something that could cover her shortcomings as soon as she could. No matter how good her performance here would be, it’d be just stalling for time at best until her secret’s out, unless she could find a way to just plain ensure it wouldn’t happen. As much as the girl tried to hide it, the pressure from the two really did put quite a toll on her.

“I’m sure you’ll be alright, Young Mistress. Everyone knows you can do it. Just don’t let the pressure get to you and take it easy, milady.”

A grumble could be heard from Mia when she heard about her servant’s insensitive attempt to encourage her, even though she’s aware that it’s simply just an attempt from him to mess with her a bit. As if confirming that thought, the old man simply chuckled a bit before continuing to clean Mia’s back. He had been serving the girl since she was still very young, and even the secretive Mia trusted him a lot, aside from one thing. Teasing the kid like she was still six years old was something that happened quite a lot, somewhat like a routine by now. Though, Mia was really not in the mood for jokes, and her servant realized it quite well.

“Young mistress, it’s time to wash your front so please turn around.”

“Yeah. Just do it quickly this time, Stefan.” There wasn’t much reason for her to still need his help to wash herself. But he’s been doing it since she’s little, and Mia thought that it’d be a way to say thanks to him if she still let him help her wash herself now. Though, he shouldn’t even be here in this hotel room with her in the first place, since there shouldn’t be any need for her to get babied this much before the exam. Yet, her family insisted on having him accompany her during the preparatory days – no doubts to watch over her and report her progress to them. Of course her family would like to keep track of every single one of her performance here – especially since she’s already going far below their expectation, which would’ve cast some doubts on them regarding her legitimacy.

“Don’t try anything funny this time, please.” Mia said with a sigh as Stefan started to wash her front, knowing full well it probably wouldn’t be heeded. As the rough texture of the washcloth touched her skin, she closed her eyes in an attempt to divert her own attention. As it started going however, it slowly became better for her, as the tension from her face started to be lifted off. As much as she find it as awkward, perhaps the reasoning why she kept allowing him to wash him was because it’s quite relaxing. It was like a massage – taking the pressure off her shoulders even momentarily, and allowed her to enjoy herself for once. The neighboring rooms shouldn’t hear anything coming from here anyway. And after fifteen minutes that felt like just a moment, he’s done with her.

“It’s all done now. I presume Young Mistress would like to use the bathtub now, in which case I shall take my leave and finish packing up your belongings for the exam.

And…I’m sorry for once again overstepping my boundaries.”

“Yeah, I’ll handle myself from here.

…And thank you for that, Stefan. Despite everything, I really appreciate it. You just don’t want to see me distressed like this, so you tried your best to lift up my mood.

It is something I really need right now.”

Giving her servant a weary but genuinely warm smile, Mia then dismissed him with a gesture before heading to the hot tub. She knew it wouldn’t be his only motivation, but as always, she just let it slide. There was still one hour left before the time would be up, which meant she would only have thirty minutes left to relax. After ensuring that the temperature of the water was right, she stepped in and took a dip, and once she started to be comfortable with it, she closed her eyes to enjoy what was left of her leisure time.

“ID, please.”

One hour and half later, Miaris arrived in front of the VIP room of the hotel she’s staying in; as she had been informed before that the very first stage of the exam would be held here. She got a bit late due to passing out on the bathtub to the point of needing Stefan to drag her out of there and wake her up. She hadn’t dressed up as well as she had hoped due to being in a big hurry, and she still felt a bit weird after she passed out, even though she’s unsure of the cause. But back at present, at least she didn’t seem to be too late, however her progress was stalled by two guards. They seemed to be trying to hide an expression of pain due to something, but it’s probably not her business to delve in.

“Here you go, I’m from room 105 on the seventy-fourth floor.” She flashed her hotel ID to the two guards, and while they seem to be loosening up a bit after seeing it, they still looked at her weirdly, so Mia brought up her clan’s emblem to their sight. The two seemed to be enough for her to pass, and Mia didn’t waste any more time to enter the place. The inside of the place looked like a party already, and a thin man soon approached her with the number 399 on it.

"I welcome you to the site of the 786th Hunter Exam."

“Thank you for your warm welcome, sir.” She bowed at the man after taking her number, and immediately went to find a place she could sit on. She soon found a weird-looking long red seat that still hadn’t been occupied yet, and without thinking about it much, Miaris sat there as she began to look around to see the people that were competing against her. However, soon she felt a warm sensation coming from below her, and while it started out as tepid, it grew and grew in intensity rapidly, to the point of Mia almost jolting out in pain due to the heat. She still rapidly getting away from the so-called seat however, and checked if she accidentally burned her behind or not. Thankfully, it’s just charred for now, so she turned around to see what the hell the thing she sat on was. Apparently, it was an exotic fiery beast of sort, though why would it be here in the first place was a mystery for her. Not really seeing anything else that she could do that time however, she decided to approach the beast.

“So uh…hello there…why are you here?” Miaris asked. She considered that the beast might be a fellow exam taker…but she immediately discarded that thought. She thought that it probably was the pet of someone else here. So for all intents and purposes she might’ve just talked to a silent beast, but who knows?

Kazooie · January 2, 2016

“There you go. A gift of cat for the cat, by the cat.”

Cameron's ears perked up as he heard those words, his wings giving a light twitch before he started to scour the room for the source of the words. His hands moved fast, quickly packing his cello onto his back as though he had practiced the movement thousands of times. Truthfully, he probably had, but that was the least of his concern! His eyes scanned the room until he eventually caught sight of Selardi, and just a fair bit away from her...

"Kiiiiitty!" Cameron wasted no time as he began to sprint towards the feline on the ground, scaring the already angry cat. Of course, he didn't seem to care, and so the bird ran over and scooped up the large cat, ignoring the hissing that had been coming from it just moments before. His hand ran along the kitty's body, his eyes wide as he looked down at it and grinned, "Hush kitty! No hissing now, you're safe! Mean kitty tossing lady can't hurt you now!"

He beamed as he started to calm down the freaked out animal, a small rumble escaping him as he sat down between Selardi and the catfolk that had been conversing, his attention span sufficiently distracted now. Eventually, he calmed down the kitty, his hands rubbing along its body as he churrs happily, grinning up at Selardi, "Thanks for the kitty!"

Ivory glanced around the room, letting out a small sigh as she rubbed her forehead. "Come on Spinal, it's gonna be fine! We got this silly little contest in the bag, they can't beat us! Everyone here is single, they're fighting one on two, we can't lose!"

"Do you really think it's gonna be that simple, Amber? These people have more experience then us!"

"I doubt they've ever fought anything like us."

Ivory seemed to be conversing quietly with herself ever since she arrived, but her gaze cast across the room seemed to catch something of interest to her. The shark's eyes narrowed for a moment as she caught a small figure bouncing across the crowd occasionally... Or maybe the crowd was moving around it, it was hard to tell. "I know I've seen that before..."

Her hands moved to the gems on her clothing, giving them a slight tap before she began to weave her way through the growing crowd, making her way to the small figure in the corner of the room. She crossed her arms for a moment as she got closer to it, her eyes widening as she realized what she was seeing, "You..."

"You're an Aquarian!" Amber seemed to take the leading role her, her body getting visibly more relaxed as she started to make small, half-circles around Aduain. She held out a hand as she seemed to gauge something, her grin getting wider as she clapped her hands together. Her tail swished around behind her, sweeping some poor unlucky soul off his feet as she looked down at the small fishy male.

"I thought your kind were all extinct! I've seen some of your old cities! They were amazing! The construction was top notch, I can't believe how well you were able to construct the underwater cities! My kind refuse to advance that way..." She grumbled a bit at the last part, crossing her arms before she looked away for a moment. She trailed a finger along the gems on her outfit again, before smiling back to Aduain, her personalities seeming to meld together once again. Her demeanor got a bit more tense as she smiled gently, though a look of caution appeared in her eyes as she looked to him.

"Sorry, I suppose I should introduce myself, yes? My name is Ivory, and it's a pleasure to meet you."

Love of Ghibli · January 2, 2016

Lettess was having a great time looking at all of the people who were at this amazing event. In fact there were actual not people here too. There were dog people, cat people, fish people and more. To thing that this many creatures would all apply to become a Hunter. This made him wonder though. How many people were actually going to become Hunters. Surely they do not just let anyone get this prestigious title...or maybe they do. That's why his brothers and sisters forced him to take the taste even though they are clearly more qualified. Nevertheless, this looked like it would be a pleasant experience. ADVENTURE! He shouted by accident.

It looked like things were starting to liven up though. A cat was tossed across the room and then he laughed as a "bird" maybe snatched it right out of the air. So cool all of this was. That was when he looked around and noticed that out of the some 400 odd participants that there...OH MY GOD A FIRE DOG HORSE THING! Lettess exclaimed as he literally jumped off the walls to get close to the creature. Upon landing he could only stare at it with large looming eyes as he was amazed that a creature like this existed. Lettess wasn't sure if the creature could speak human tongue, but he then noticed that there was a human female conversing with it. Maybe she was the master or owner of the creature. Lettess waved at the lady and made sure he made eye contact. Hello! My name is Lettess! What is your name? Is this your pet? Is he friendly? Lettess said eagerly awaiting an answer.

Astolfo · January 2, 2016

Nanika

"Nnn… Are others finally here?" Rising from her slumber, Nanika rubbed her bleary eyes. Looking around, there were a lot more people than when she had first gotten here. Probably almost an even four hundred or so by now? Shaking out her joints to restore proper feeling to them, she nearly glowed with energy at that point, well-rested. Wandering around to observe what kind of people would be here to take the 786th Hunter Exam, the badge pinned to her chest labeled '28' drew a slight amount of attention. It seemed as if most of these other people had just arrived, but for the life of her, she couldn't figure out what would've taken them so long. Looking around, there were beings of all shapes, colors, and sizes. Lifting an eyebrow, the girl continued on her merry jaunt when she noticed something unusual out of the corner of her eye.

Peering back, Nanika's eyes lit upon what seemed to be a short girl who looked about fourteen. What caught her eye though, was that despite the girl seeming lively as any kid her age would be, Nanika couldn't feel any life from here. It was quite unusual, to say the least. Nanika was used to feeling at least some sort of sensation from the presence of most, but not her. A thought crossed her mind. That girl couldn't be… dead… could she? The green skin and bandages wrapped around the little girl's body didn't help. Intrigued, Nanika made her way over, crouching slightly to meet the other girl at face-height, offering her hand and a smile.

"Hey there, want to be friends? What's your name?"

Yui · January 3, 2016

"Hey there, want to be friends? What's your name?"

The sudden pair of questions came from a girl who was crouching down to meet Ninsar at face level. Looking at the girl who had approached her, Ninsar saw light skin, blue-green eyes, and hair in some shade of pink. Whoever she was, she had a badge with the number 25 on her. That meant she was one of the first few people to get here. She must have been powerful! An adventurer, maybe? Or even...a hero? Ninsar's imagination ran wild for a brief moment, picturing this girl boldly facing off against dragons and worse with nothing more than a sword in her hand and a cliff at her back. Such amazing people this world had!

"Aye, we shalt be friends!" Ninsar exclaimed. "I am Ninsar Rabiat, daughter of...ah, twas ages since the Rabiat family was of importance, it would seem. Old habit." Finding a pair of seats that weren't yet taken, Ninsar brought her new friend along and sat down. The exam hadn't even started yet and she'd made a powerful friend. This whole thing was turning out way better than people told her it would be. "Pray tell, friend, what is thine name? Where art thou from? There is much about the world of today I know not." Judging by her new friend's appearance, she wasn't from the desert. Somewhere else, then. Faraway lands Ninsar had only heard of in stories. Or maybe she really was from the desert and just had an abnormally pale complexion for desert folk. The wonders of today were things Ninsar thought impossible back in her time. Somebody not getting a proper tan wasn't out of the question by this point.

"And why wouldn't there be, you so dumb to think that out of all the people taking this exam there wouldn't be a couple from our race? Don't think just cause we're both Nekomimi means I'm gonna be all buddy buddy with you, ya hear?"

"Hmph. And here I came to off-fur mew an extra chance at the exam. Guess mew don't want my help, then. What a pity." Well, this hadn't gone at all how Emui was imagining it. She was certainly expecting to get brushed off, but not that bluntly. So much for the plan of easily getting this guy's trust. That just meant she'd be keeping her second badge for herself, then. For a moment, she considered swiping this guy's badge as she turned to leave. No way she'd get away with it though; he wasn't stupid. A fellow Nekomimi shows up, acts friendly, gets turned down, then suddenly a badge goes missing? Way too obvious that it would be her.

Scanning the room for new targets to potentially backstab in an emergency, Emui caught quite the scene. Some lady tossed a cat their way. Then some bird-looking person ran by and intercepted the cat. Her attention was on the cat-tosser. Emui could recognize a focused set of eyes easily. This girl was definitely paying attention to Emui and the boy. Emui, in turn, had found her new target. With a flick of her ears, the thieving girl made her way over toward her new target. Once in speaking range, Emui moved on to her introduction.

"I couldn't help but notice mew've been looking at my furriend and I. Could it be mew also wanted to talk?" Extending a hand, Emui wrapped up with "Emui Valentine, at your service."

Andx · January 3, 2016

Much like the main floor of the hotel before, Aduain had occasionally tried mingling with people and trying to strike up a conversation. But due to a mixture of his own apprehension in approaching them and their disinterest in speaking with him he hadn't so much as gotten to shake hands with anyone let alone really talk. With each attempt he would wander out from the corner he'd initially sat down in, look to try and talk and then ultimately wander back over to his seat. With a bit of a sigh he removed his bag from around his shoulder with the trident still attached and set it down on the floor next to him figuring that at this point he should just try to wait for the exam to start. This didn't stop him from sitting close to the edge of his seat, hands pressed down on the seat ready to jump up. He tapped a bit of a rhythm out and looked around room, marveling at the work that the humans who made it had put into making it look nice. As more and more would be hunters poured in Aduain took note of some other distinctly non human entrants, a large canine like creature across the room perhaps standing out the most.

As his eyes continued wandering Aduain began getting that sort of indescribable feeling that someone was watching him. People often glanced just to make sure they weren't seeing things but this definitely felt like someone was staring his way. As he began moving his eyes in said watcher's directions he was caught off guard by an exclamation.

"You're an Aquarian!" a feminine voice said excitedly.

"Wah!" Aduain yelled out as he hopped out of his seat and back a foot or two. As he got over the initial shock he looked back to the source of the sound. To his surprise Aduain saw a fish like woman standing nearby and she seemed to be looking him over. He wasn't sure what to say she looked like. He didn't think she was Aquarian at the least based on what his mother looked like. Whatever she was he was slightly confused at what he was feeling looking at her. It felt sorta like something his dad had once told him about. Something about when he was older he'd start feeling different things about girls he'd meet. Given the lack of experience Aduain had in this regard he tried to brush it off. But he did think she was pretty and he really liked her tail as it swung behind her.

The woman continued to speak about seeing the ruins of Aquarian cities and it seemed to confirm that she wasn't in fact an Aquarian herself. And while she had initially seemed fairly relaxed now she seemed to be tensing up a bit, perhaps just getting over the excitement. Meeting an Aquarian seemed to be a big deal to her. She introduced herself stating her name was Ivory. Still a little flustered Aduain tried to respond but instead blurted out what had initially come to his mind.

"You're really pretty..." he half mumbled. Realizing what he had just said sort of sent him back into panic mode. "Sorry! I didn't... but I... uh..." he blubbered out. He started blushing a bit over how badly he'd handled that which due to the blue nature of his skin resulted in a sort of dark purple color setting under his eyes. On top of that he didn't know where to look. He briefly made eye contact but quickly broke it, then looked at the rest of her and eventually went back to her face though not directly at her eyes. With a bit of laugh he shifted focus to actually talking to her hoping to just forget about that.

"M-my name's Aduain. And yeah I'm an Aquarian! It's really cool you knew that. Heather always told me most people didn't know what we looked like or what we were." he said getting a little more comfortable. His curiosity about Ivory was finally showing itself too which helped him over the initial embarrassment a little more. "I didn't know there were other people like us though. And I definitely didn't expect anyone like me to be here. What are you? I really like your tail! It's so long and cool. Makes me wish mine was that long." he said looking back and forth between their tails to compare, his own beginning to wiggle slightly as he got more excited.

Maeriberii Haan · January 3, 2016

Heavy breathing.

Selardi noticed that the cat she summoned had been taken care of by a birdfolk that sat not far from her now, but what she felt to be more important was the fact that one of the catfolks saw the cat-throwing, and the violet-haired cat started to shake in anticipation. Would the catfolk notice her, would she approach her? Those questions started to flood her mind as she continued to stare expressionlessly at the same direction.

A yelp.

She noticed that the catgirl actually noticed her, and soon afterwards, continued to walk towards her. She at first tried to dismiss it as the catgirl just going to the general direction – not specifically towards her, but soon it’s clear that she clearly was approaching her, and Sela’s heart starting to throb – the beats were intensifying as each second passed. And soon, the catgirl had been in front of her, greeting her. It’s just like a dream.

"I couldn't help but notice mew've been looking at my furriend and I. Could it be mew also wanted to talk?" Even before Sela could answer at the adorableness before her, the catgirl extended her hand towards her. "Emui Valentine, at your service."

“E-er…hello there, Emui.” Sela answered with stutter, her expression still flat. She was conflicted on whether she should approach the catgirl’s offer for a handshake or not. In one hand, rashes would be annoying and it could get worse, in other hand, it’s a real catgirl. Unsure on what to do, Sela froze in her place, still staring at Emui without moving anywhere.

"S-so, what are you doing here?"

"Hello! My name is Lettess! What is your name? Is this your pet? Is he friendly?"

"Hello there, Lettess. Myself, I am Miaris and...nah, it's not mine. Still looking for its owner. I don't know whether it's friendly or not, but it did just scorch my bum."

Miaris answered the boy's greeting and question to her while she waited whether the fire dog would respond or not. The boy seemed to be quite friendly, and seemed like he's around the same age as her. Maybe talking with him would be nice for later.

LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow · January 3, 2016

"Hmph. And here I came to off-fur mew an extra chance at the exam. Guess mew don't want my help, then. What a pity."

Yeah sure, help, doubt that. Arash waved the girl off. "Good riddance." he said, returning to his drink. Despite this he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed she left so soon. Of course only because he hadn't met a Nekomimi in so long, and that's it, nothing more than that. Still, he kinda wished she wouldn't have reacted so badly to his response.

Finishing off his drink, he forcibly ignored Emui and the girl that had attacked him with a cat. They were nothing but trouble, and he didn't want to bother with any trouble. Realizing the longer he sat here alone, especially given how early he had been, the more attention he'd attract. And so Arash decided to get up and walk through the crowd. It would give him something to do and who knows, might find something worth finding in all this.

Without realizing, at first, he had started on his way towards the piano at one end of the room. As soon as he became aware of this he stopped, scolding himself. No, that wasn't what he was here for. He kept on going, this time away from the piano. There was a multitude of oddities in this room.

Including a pair of fish people. Arash's stomach growled and he remembered he hadn't had anything to eat in a day. Shaking off the thought he moved on past them.

Over there was some kind of...fire elemental? Did that woman summon it? Whatever it was, it seemed to have destroyed a table and was laying in the remnants like a victorious monster laying claim to his spoils.

But to Arash the most interesting was one of the more common looking people he saw thus far. A woman with long green hair. There didn't seem to be anything spectacular about her, which to Arash just made her stand out more. She wasn't bragging or manipulating or forming alliances. She was simply walking around, seemingly taking in the scene and learning what she could. Much like Arash. The cat-boy smiled, here we go, someone worth talking to.

"Hey, you, no not you ya freak, over...Hey greenie!" He pushed past the guy who had been getting in his way, and reached the girl and touched her shoulder to get her attention. "Somethin' about you feels weird, different, and I wanna know why."

Kazooie · January 3, 2016

"Good riddance."

Cammie's ears perked as he watched the seemingly angry catboy walk away... He needed to be cheered up! The small bird quickly jumped to his feet, still holding his acquired cat in his arms. He grins as he runs after Arash, trying to keep up with the larger catboy as he laughs softly. "Hey, mister! Mister wait up! I wanna talk to you!~"

Cammie continued to flounce after the grumpy looking cat, not seeming to care that he was being ignored. Or maybe he just didn't notice, it was hard to tell. The boy seemed to be lost in his own world as he ducked his way through the crowd of people, though the cat in his arms seemed a bit annoyed at the sudden movement. It mrowed loudly in his arms as it looked up at him and started to wriggle around, his grip on it loosening as he adjusted it, "K-Kitty no! We need to go talk to the bigger kitty!"

He regained his hold on the smaller cat, which he nuzzled against softly before resuming his march towards Arash. His wings spread out as he jumped up into the air, taking a quick look around the room... Until he saw the familiar boy moving to talk to a green haired woman. He beamed as he began to descend towards, gliding down towards with his cat in his arms, "Mister big kitty! Hey, wait up!"

"You're really pretty..."

Ivory seemed to pause for a moment as she heard that, her eyes widening for a moment before she laughed gently and nodded, "Aw, well thank you, dear. I would hope that I am, I spent a relatively large amount of my life on stages. I hoped I picked up a few tricks." She winked to the little fishy dude as she shrugged a little bit, humming softly as she listened to his stuttering for a bit.

"Calm down, calm down! It's alright, it's alright! Really, it's nothing to worry about." She smiles as he started to talk in a more understandable manner, a grin crossing her face as he seems to open up a bit to her. She hums softly as she nods, "I understand, even my own people don't really... Know that much about your's. I'm a bit of an oddball among my kind. They don't care about learning about your culture... The savages..." She paused for a moment and sighed, rubbing at her neck softly.

Thankfully, she didn't have to continue that thought, because Aduian seemed to be distracted by her tail at the point. The appendage twisted around, the tip of it brushing against his face lightly as the two fins split to either side of him. She laughed a bit as she nodded, "There are a few water based races, I believe. I... Didn't think there were any Aquarian left though. All the cities I've seen are... Abandoned. Seeing you is like seeing something from the past, something precious!"

Laying it on a bit thick, aren't you Amber?

Hush!

She beamed as she tapped her chin for a moment, "Hm... Well, I'm a shark. Some people claim we're descended from ancient Aquarian, some people say we're an entirely different thing. I'm not entirely sure myself. Genetics are weird and I don't question them." She laughs for a moment and nods when he mentions her tail, "It's very useful too. I can use it to help my balance, along with using it during combat. They almost never expect it."

She kneels down a bit as she looks at him, "What about you dear? What brings you here? Your kind has... Been so rarely seen, so reclusive. What brings you to the Hunter Exam?"

Andx · January 4, 2016

Xiu had been spending her time wandering around the room, taking inventory of the others present. With each she saw she would briefly review whatever history she knew of their race in the event there was anything of particular interest to her in it. After reviewing human history for about the twentieth time it seemed this was going to take a long time. Not that Xiu wasn't committed to finishing now that she had started but there were so many humans and so few of them ever had the information she desired. Still there was always the chance one of them did know something so none of them could be discounted.

While once again reviewing historical events in human society in her mind Xiu began hearing something call out to her. It wasn't totally unusual to her. Things often tried to get her attention and more often than not those things were books wanting to be read. Though it had been some time since a book last spoke to her and she couldn't recall one ever having called her a freak. As she wrapped up the review of human history again she felt something on her shoulder. This book certainly wanted to be read and was much more forceful about it than others. Xiu could only think it was due to some amazing secret it held that it simply couldn't contain any longer. Turning around to begin reading the book she was surprised to hear it start asking about her.

"Somethin' about you feels weird, different, and I wanna know why." the book said. "This is a surprise. Books don't tend to ask me questions." She said now coming face to face with Arash. This was a strange book. It looked almost human. Something wasn't quite right about that statement though. Thankfully something else provided the answer. A large bird was busy moving towards them and said something about a kitty.

"Why of course, you're not a book at all. You're a Nekomimi." she said calmly as she grabbed and shook the hand Arash had put on her shoulder. Letting go of his hand her own wandered to the ends of her hair and began twirling it around her index finger. "Hmmmmmmm..." she let out audibly. She seemed to be both studying Arash and thinking about something else at the same time. "Yes I thought so. While fascinating your race's history is rather unhelpful to me. Thank you for presenting yourself for review though it was most helpful to think about something other than humans." she said with a soft smile on her face. Turning her attention to the bird approaching she thought some more.

"Such wonderful creatures here and yet nothing what I'm looking for." she said as she began to walk off. Abruptly she turned back. "That was you who wanted to know about me wasn't it and not the book? No wait there was never a book. My name's Xiu Min Rong. Xiu will do fine. And if you must know what's different about me is I don't have the ears or tail." she said gesturing to her head and waist as if to prove she didn't have the described features. Whether Xiu understood his questions and was mocking him remained unclear. In fact Xiu herself was now seriously considering if there really had been a book and it was just reminding her of Nekomimi's existence for some reason.

Thankfully for Aduain, Ivory had been very kind about his little blunder. He internally justified it had to be his nerves due to waiting for the Hunter Exam because he was never one to mess up first impressions like that. Ivory assured him everything was fine. She spoke a bit more of her own race though not very favorably and even mentioned some others that existed in the world’s oceans. Never having taken his existence as anything particularly special it was interesting to hear her describe him like he was some precious window into the past. She then went on to describe herself as a shark which after hearing her say that Aduain began to notice the similarities to regular sharks he’d seen throughout the ocean. She then lowered herself as she began to kneel to look at him closer to eye level no doubt. He felt a bit awkward again as he in turn looked at her. She shifted focus to him and his purpose to being there. Helpful for alleviating the awkwardness on one level but also helpful for creating some more. A look of sadness quickly flashed across Aduain’s face as his thoughts turned to his parents.

“Oh… nothing too special!” he said smiling again. He casually itched at the back of his head with one hand as he did so. Ivory had been so nice to talk to and take an interest in him, he didn’t want to trouble her with his sad little story. “My parents are in a bit of a pinch ya know and well some human friends of mine said that this might be the best way for me to help them out. Becoming a Hunter that is. And the job sounded really cool too. I’ll get to see all sorts of places all around the world I’ve never been to! I’m not even an adult yet, just imagine how many awesome adventures I’ll get to have through my life if I make it now!” he continued his enthusiasm growing a bit as he went on.

A thought occurred to him and he quickly went over and unstrapped his trident from this back and brought back over to Ivory. Holding the weapon that was longer than he was tall in both hands he held it out towards her for her to examine. “Like check this out! I found this in one of the old cities of my people. I’ve barely been anywhere and what I’ve seen already is amazing. And I’ve only been free for three years!” he finished energetically, unaware of how what he said might sound.

Tesability Black · January 4, 2016

Still among the remains of the collapsed table, Taikyu was just laying in his spot, forepaws crossed over each other with his head resting upon them. There was much that seemed to be going on, and so he was content to just watch the madness.

It had been like this for a while, until he felt a sudden pressure upon his rump, prompting him to lift his head and look towards why. Someone was sitting on him. Wondering if this was normal, he quietly watched the stranger until she suddenly jolted forward with a flash. Watching as she checked the area that had once been against his fur and looking towards him, he watched her walk back to him quietly.

“So uh…hello there…why are you here?”

He had gone to open his maw to 'speak' before...

"Hello!"

...another decided to approach, this time towards the first stranger. "My name is Lettess! What is your name? Is this your pet? Is he friendly?" He lowered his ears at the word 'pet', unhappy with its use, before turning his head towards the second being, a minor muted growl escaping his maw upon another interruption.

"Hello there, Lettess. Myself, I am Miaris and...nah, it's not mine. Still looking for its owner. I don't know whether it's friendly or not, but it did just scorch my bum."

"I am not this thing you call a 'pet'," Taikyu barked out, a slight snarl of annoyance escaping as he did. With that he turned his head towards the first one. "I am here for the Hunter Exam I was told about. After I saw you also be given a number, I think you are here for the same."

Dad · January 4, 2016

Day 1

An annoying buzzer and loud ringing went off on his bedside nightstand. Grabbing his axe from the pillow beside him where a mistress normally lay, he flipped over, smashing the fifth clock this week into pieces of metal, glass, and plastic. He stood up straight, stretching, yawning, as he got out of bed topless. He stumbled over to the shower, keeping his axe close by as he dropped his pants and trousers. He washed carefully, grabbing every nook and cranny he could think of, before stepping out and wrapping a towel around himself. After washing his face, and brushing his teeth, he could look himself in the face at last.

"Hello there, handsome," he said with a wink. He left the bathroom and hurriedly dressed, leading his axe now to the kitchen island counter-top where he prepared his morning coffee.

"Did you sleep okay?" he asked, turning to his weapon. "Yeah I didn't hear you snore a bit," he joked. "Tell me something, Harriet. How long have you and I been seeing each other like this?"

She didn't answer.

"It's okay, if you're embarrassed. I can understand if you don't wanna be caught out in public with me. My name would cause a lot of trouble. And most people in these parts know me," he said flicking his hair back. He poured himself a cup of hot coffee at last, gesturing towards his axe. "But I mean, I think I'm ready to take the next step," he said sipping his coffee slowly. He walked carefully over to the still standing axe which was propped against the refrigerator. "I think I'm ready for--" and that was when his eyes landed on the poster.

'The Hunter Exam!' it read in bright, bold, red letters. He tossed his coffee cup behind him, directly into the sink and magically managed to not spill a drop. He wasn't prepared to foot more for a hotel bill anyway. "The exam! I forgot! Come on, you!" he said grabbing Harriet by her handle and dashing out of the room.

"I hope I'm not late!" he said leaping over the third floor balcony and rolling as he hit the ground. "Aye! Think I pulled something. Man, I'm gettin' old," he said darting out of the hotel.

He had opted not to sleep at the Desert Empress as to not draw attention to himself. But now he was out in public, with his face uncovered. He thought about it at the last minute, throwing his heavy coat hood over himself as he and Harriet raced to the exam site.

"Well, this isn't how I planned to start the day!" he said as he realized he was extremely late. He dashed through an alleyway, around a corner, and through traffic. As he narrowly avoided death, he could see the Desert Empress from his current location. "Almost there," he said to himself. He continued his persistent race towards the Hunter Exam.

Raine · January 4, 2016

The day always broke slowly for the magnanimous Tinman. The rays like outstretched arms of the morning sun pried their way into the excuse of a rented room. Not that his memories as a child were in tact, but if they were, he was positive no version of himself would ever be a morning person. As his barefeet struck the aged split wood flooring, he spied around for his limited possessions, to his name, he possessed only his wallet, side-bad with various utilities, and an opened letter; each placed neatly alongside the nightstand, the only real furnishing in the small room. His reprieve was broken by harsh rapping at his door, it screamed with annoyed passion, "Check out time is past, get up and out." Tinman could hear the footsteps lead away, he doubted he would have a second courtesy.

Tinman took himself into shape, stretched momentarily, a necessary exercise. Aging is one thing, but mental, and physical health are the dominion of another devil entirely. His vigor was coming back to him, his feet were falling softer below him, so he gathered his things and left through the same door which had yelled at him.

Tinman felt alive again, the woman upfront said surprisingly little, probably just thankful that her guest left. Tinman supposed it wouldn't be all too uncommon for some drifter to find a bed on pennies and milk it for a few days before someone bothered the civil protection. The city was hot, Gyro City, specifically, was always hot. He had learned once that normally this latitude would be more temperate but the mountain ranges to the East cause long periods of high pressure in the summer, preventing moisture and cooler low pressure systems from coming near the region. The same man he learned that from was also a lunatic who wanted to blow up those eastern mountains, so Tinman took his knowledge with a grain of salt.

Tinman rubbed the envelope from his bedside in between his fingers, he had received this letter from someone named Nasty Terminator, or something like that. The Hunter Exams are grim and arrogant ordeals that attract usually the worst people, so he took it as an insult the first time, but, after enough people start telling you that you have a tail, you should probably turn around. The jist of the message was go to the big black phallic looking thing in the sky and to some floor on it. Tinman loathed directions, maybe it was the subconscious bit of being talked down to or the thrill from just getting it done like it was on accident. Either worked

From the poor part of town to the Dessert Queen Hotel, plus a few roadside stops, took a good part of the day walking... well, strolling. Tinman felt no real rush, so the sun was low on the eastern sky, probably late 5-ish, early 6-ish. The place seemed packed enough, but it was a borderline military facility with enough guards to occupy Es Marques... okay, bad example. Tinman stood firmly, gazing up and down the black stain on the city, "It really is phallic."

A guard entered Tinman's eyesight, a too big a man in a too small of a suit; clearly he was hired based on appearance, but there was little doubt some natural athleticism would be enough for 99% of problems he'd run into. He seemed quizative, "Do you need something?".

Tinman was stunned, such disrespect! How could an employee speak to a potential customer with such- oh. Tinman was dressed inappropriately, clad in dusted worn fabric pants, and traditional garb top that was loose enough to be useful but far too odd and worn to be seen as "a person of wealth". Too bad. "I'm thinking about going inside," he replied pleasantly, turning his gaze back to the front door.

The guard clearly expected a lie, or some excuse, or something brazzen, or an order, or something offensive, or- clearly, something else. Who can say what another man might expect. The guard lowered his guard just a bit, the man looked brutish but seemed to be no villain, "This hotel is for the rich, clearly, we don't let another one in who can't pay for themselves."

Tinman made an odd expression, he tried to make it a thoughtful one but it didn't quite come out on his face right. "That's not the problem, I can do that. My problem is that this door is a choice. One I haven't determined to make yet, and the fact this building look like a pe- piece of work? Makes me stop and wonder if it's all just a joke."

The guard didn't get the jist but heard the money portion, "This hotel is for the riches-"

"Says who?"

"The rich people who live here," the guard said trying to force any action out of the man so he can return to his post. He must have been sent to talk to Tinman because of his loitering

"The rich people decide this is for rich people because they live here? I've heard worse arguments," Tinman stepped forward up the marbled steps and through the main doors, and the guard returned to his post.

The lobby was something of a spectacle, he had heard once that people who build places like these go to great effort to make everything in the lobby and connected look as luxurious and exquisite as possible, because it's a status symbol that draws in people. Sorry, the desirable kinds of people, the one's with heavy pockets and rich daddies. He made no opinion of the people who live here. He had no interest in condemning others based on wealth as many he is normally around might have. Such grand battles were outside his scope to be effective in the first place.

Fate would have it that Tinman at some point after found himself on the 76th floor, as the letter requested and faced with yet another obstacle. There was some club or gathering protected, this prompted his curiosity. A particularly frustrated guard, another one at that, though his day has seemed very rough. "This is VIP Room, ID is required," he said hastily.

"VIP room? It's an acronym? Victorian-Impressionator Party? Vagrants Incinerate Plums? No, no, I'm afraid, I don't know any such thing."

The guard's eye twitched, "Very important persons, ID is required."

"Persons or people? Is it for very important people or persons?"

"Do you have ID?"

"I knew this story once about a young man living in Darales, you know the place? It's seaside, gorgeous in autumn, anyways. This man worked in the dock, for the military, not a soldier, such a supply clerk. He's sitting in the sun, watching a door, allowing some trucks and personnel by until one day, late in the afternoon, it's dead quiet and this girl comes by. Gorgeous thing, he comes to his stands and goes, 'Excuse me, can I go by?'. He's on job so of course, he has to say, 'No, ma'am, unless you got an ID.'. The girl groans sadly and struts away. The guy talks about her butt quite a bit, but I'll spare you. Not 10 minutes later, this other girl shows up, she's something like twice as beautiful, the evening sun glistening on her, you'd swear she's a mirage and comes up saying, 'I need to get by, can you do it. Please, just for me...' the boy's flustered but knows his duty, 'I can't unless you got an ID'. So she strolls away. Now, that's bad, but it happens again, the same day, a girl twice as pretty as once before, and the same story happens. The boy's out of his mind thinking I could have let one of them in and maybe... you know, young men thoughts. So late that night, end of his shift, he goes to clock out and to his sergeant and hears something. He goes to his Sergeant's office and it's louder, opens the door and his Sergeant with some unknown woman nearly fully naked. The Sargent grabs the young man and orders the man to never tell a soul, the boy says, 'Yes, sir, but she better f*cking have an ID.'"

The guard doesn't say a word.

Tinman pulls out his envelope and hands the guard the ID. He goes into the VIP room, and collects a #241 badge without saying another word.

Dad · January 4, 2016

He huffed and puffed, as the Desert Empress appeared on the horizon of his brow. Warden slid to a stop, electing to take a breather, panting with his hand on his knee, and the other on his axe. A guard approached him silently, as he tried to catch his breath. Before the uniformed man could speak, Warden held up a finger. The guard raised an eyebrow, and prepared to speak again, only to be cut off by Warden.

"I'm here for the uh, Hunter Exam. Wanna point me in the right direction, chief?" Warden asked right away.

The guard, in a higher raised eyebrow and more confused state, nodded to Warden. "I don't know anything about any Hunter Exam, sir. But your face looks familiar," he said approaching Warden. Warden immediately began to cringe, hoping he wasn't called out as some sort of celebrity. "Yeah! You're the guy who slept with my wife!"

"Huh!?" Warden said taken aback. He began to backpedal slowly, as the guard took out his cellphone. "My wife had your picture in her phone, you little sheet! C'mere!" Warden leaped into action, sliding under the guard and using Harriet's flat handle to trip the guard as he slid. Making a break for it, he darted inside, forcing himself to a stop as he sneaked out of sight of the guard in pursuit. He rushed to a nearby elevator, paying no attention to his surroundings, and slipping inside.

Now, alone in the elevator, he noted the flyer from before. "Blah blah, Hunter Exam. Blah blah, Desert Empress. Blah bla-ha! Seventy-sixth floor. Okey dokey," he said to himself with the press of a button. Surprisingly enough, it was a short ride to what was near the top floor.

With a ding, the doors opened, and Warden found himself staring down two muscle bound doe-doe brained guards on the opposite end of the hall. Slowly, he walked towards them, noting the atmosphere around them. As he approached, he was greeted with, "VIP only. Identification, please." Slowly, he took his id out of his wallet from his back pocket, and handed it to the guards.

Without incident, he was allowed inside. He entered the VIP room, where he was immediately given a number upon the doors closing behind him. "One-o-one, huh?" he said with the big 101 in his hands. He clinged to the piece of paper as he quietly began examining the room.

"There's quite a few people here," he mumbled to himself. Warden took this opportunity to play a bit of a guessing game with himself, as he silently propped up against a wall, with Harriet beside him.

Yui · January 5, 2016

“E-er…hello there, Emui."

The girl didn't extend her hand back. Nervous? Shy? Just didn't like shaking hands? No doubt there was some reason for her action (or rather, lack thereof). And following the awkward introduction was a question. She didn't even tell Emui her name in exchange!

"S-so, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to become a Hunter, of course~" That was to be expected, right? This was where the exam was, wasn't it? The guy had even said this was the place and everything, and was handing out badges. If Emui was getting caught up in some grand elaborate scam, she swore to herself she'd find the guy behind it and take everything he's got. But that didn't change the fact that she needed an ally right now. This girl was awkward, but she didn't seem in any way unfriendly like that oh so rude boy Emui had flopped with.

"Hey, how would mew like a backup shot at the exam?" She needed an ally right now. All this social dancing around wouldn't cut it when the thief was in a rush to get someone to fall back on.

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HxH: 108 Stars of Destiny [IC]

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