There she was, trudging through the forest, making a valiant attempt to be quiet. She had tied and hid her hair under a jacket, bright magenta beanie hidden away, which was good - long untied hair was usually affordable only to those who weren't hindered by it.

The blackhead currently did not have enough experience nor enthusiasm, judging by her uninspired moves.

Chuu followed HeeJin lazily with her eyes, continuously sending a sour apple airborne in contemplation. 

She was confident the girl could finish by her own merit.

But Chuu was bored.. And concerned - if she was to face her own worries face to face. HeeJin was the most ordinary of the four of them and the previous day proved some alarming things could happen to the sharpest of them even on an isolated big island.

Chuu meant - in a life or death situation she wasn’t sure HeeJin could take somebody’s life.

As she mulled about it, watching the girl below get steadier and more awake as the morning progressed, she was overwhelmed by an urge to treasure that innocence. It was her own feeling, not an echo of somebody else. 

Innocence and belief in the value of a stranger's life. Sounded like an old childhood dream of Chuu’s. Something half-forgotten. Something sacred.

She couldn’t allow even a chance that HeeJin would get that stolen.

What was she running from?

Rarely runaway little princes and princesses got to get to the fourth phase of the Hunter Exam to secure their stances on their lives.

So what could threaten such determination? Place, passed down legacies, promises of violence?

Chuu knew how it felt to escape from a place. And leave a part of herself behind to die.

She wouldn’t let HeeJin end up like Wolf.

Chuu had no intention of helping the girl complete her challenge. No, she would simply be a company and watch out so HeeJin didn’t die.

Just like a Guardian Angel . Truly on the nose naming.

She swung her legs to the side, soundlessly dropping to the ground, striding towards her friend. Chuu released Zetsu and grinned at the girl’s form tensing and spinning around.

Startled wide magenta eyes locked onto her peach ones. HeeJin has forwent lenses, showing her noticeable eye color for the world to see.

“When you sense something suddenly appear behind you, better to dodge than to catch it in your face,” she informed HeeJin with a smile and offered her an apple. “Hello, pretty girl! How is the island treating you?”

“Chuu!” sighed HeeJin in relief, lighting up inwardly. She approached and trustingly took the apple, causing Chuu’s grin to turn blinding. Ah, the inside jokes. She was hilarious . “Are you finished? Lucky. Wish that was me. Oh, speaking of - you won’t believe what happened yesterday.”

“Lucky? I’ve been dying of boredom! If you’re able to surprise me, I will teach you something useful. So spill the story.” 

It won’t topple the near-heart attack Choerry gave her the previous day, bet.

“Killua gave me a tag for free!” Killua did? The one with actual fangs? That Killua? “Not my target’s, though. He threw that one away, probably by mistake, - it is likely unretrievable now.”

“Fine, you got me, it does sound like a good story,” agreed Chuu. “What happened?”

“One of the Amori brothers was following him! I noticed the brother - not the one I targeted - initially, and only after that I saw who he was after.” HeeJin bit off a loud bite and half-scrunched her face at the sourness, chewing hurriedly. “He was actually doing a rather bad job with it, on par with me. Several hours later Killua got fed up and called him out, but then his two brothers appeared at the same time! They actually gave me quite a startle!” Chuu knew. The story HeeJin told laid neatly on all the feelings she took note of yesterday. She nodded along, listening attentively.

As HeeJin continued and reached a mixed conclusion recounting the events, Chuu felt like something needed to be addressed. Two things, actually.

”You are unbelievably lucky!”

HeeJin laughed. “I guess so. I got a tag for free and it’s not like Killua knew who I was after…”

“No,” corrected Chuu.”You admitted what you thought of your stealth. But you weren’t noticed at all by the brothers and Killua went along without revealing you. And that they weren’t interested in pursuit. Those were gambles right there.” She frowned, crossing arms and cocking her head. “Or are you fond of taking risks?..”

“No! Absolutely not, I prefer peace and predictability,” waved the possibility off HeeJin, lips curled nervously. “It was risky, but I couldn’t leave Killua to fend for himself.” HeeJin scratched her neck. “Now though I know he would’ve been fine regardless…”

Chuu hummed and glanced at the treeline. She wasn’t hoping to see anyone, but that action was not for her benefit, per se. She expanded her En to its maximum range of thirty-one meter. 

There he was. The second thing to be addressed. 

She dropped her En.

“Are you aware you are being followed?” conversationally inquired Chuu.

“Not previously.” Then, “Why do you think they are after me and not you?”

Oh. Actually, a sound question!

Chuu grinned blindingly at the direction the man was hiding and waved her arms not unlike a windmill, causing HeeJin to dodge aside to avoid getting hit. “Hello! Whose are you?”

After a couple seconds of quiet, a figure dropped from the trees, eyes trained on them. The bald shinobi stepped from under the shade and slowly raised one of the palms in a universally recognized no-harm gesture, the other going to his pouch on the smallback. 

Chuu bent from side to side to determine who was the target of his stare.

Huh. She put her arms on hips. Chuu dared him to whip out a projectile after displaying a non-confrontational signal to HeeJin!..

He held out a tag, the number facing them. 

199.

“Barter?” offered the serious-looking shinobi, eyes displaying none of his pre-exam goofiness.

Chuu snapped her head and hissed at bewildered HeeJin. “So lucky.”

---

HyunJin clicked her tongue. There was a body laying on the ground on its stomach. A body very similar to her recounted mental image of a tall man with short green hair and a beige cloak.

Her image had the cloak unbloodied and not as mud-covered, but those were minute differences.

What were the chances he still had a tag?

Ha.

HyunJin dropped down from one of the trees that harbored cuts from the fight with sturdy sharp weapons. The forest floor, too, had signs of a recent forceful battle and several blood splatters around. Was she too late?

As the girl came closer, she saw the chest ever-so-slightly raising in ragged breaths.

She was glad her target was alive, but HyunJin had to admit - it would’ve been easier if he was dead. She could’ve just tracked down whoever his opponent was and get her goal from them. But in this situation she couldn’t.

HyunJin took a moment to commit the scent of her new target to the memory, before getting down to business.

Nudging a somewhat bloodied scimitar - Ponzu was correct - into coppice, she rolled the limp body over, mindful of any possible internal damages.

There was a deep cut across the abdomen, blood turning earth to mud beneath him and sticking to the wound. He lost enough of it to cause a concern even without a danger of infection settling in.

HyunJin was glad of her cumbersome habit of carrying a first aid kit everywhere. It was even more essential in her daily life back home than a phone.

She dropped it down. Lets see if half a liter of hydrogen peroxide would be enough.

HyunJin generously used water from her flask to get rid of the mud before using the contents of her first aid, focused on the task. She never knew when exactly a wound demanded stitches, but in this case the cut was made cleanly and deep enough to warrant them. Feeling generous, HyunJin repeated the procedure on his leg’s slash too.

As far as she knew, Leorio was a medic student wannabe and would have likely done a better job, but there was no time to spare searching for him. This man would have to do with her field-acquired skills and a lot of ointment.

Given how many tourists proved to heal well in the hospital long after she got them there, this examinee’s chances were good. Steep mountains ensured this was far from the first time HyunJin had to do this sort of thing. Far from the most gruesome too.

There were always people who thought the signs were wrong or they were good enough for wilderness in the mountains. 

They weren’t.

Other than dressing the main slash, there were no other dangerous wounds. HyunJin covered the rest with the ointment and moved on. Her quick check on fractures had him breathing forcefully, almost grunting, when she tried to ever so slightly bend his right humerus along the length. HyunJin tore the sleeve off - the area was noticeably warmed up and swollen.

It must’ve been a nasty broken bone, to get a reaction ever through unconsciousness.

Judging from his calluses, it was his dominant arm, which explained the crushing defeat the man had suffered. Blood splattered around meant he fought with that wound for a while.

There was nothing else for HyunJin to do aside from tightly bandaging the arm and immobilizing it. She tore a wide piece of cloak and fashioned a sling out of it, careful to not cut off the circulation.

As she worked the time away, first hints of approaching rain appeared in the air.

In an hour it would pour. HyunJin had to hurry before her new target’s scent got washed away.

By the time she ended, the wind picked up considerably, rolling clouds speedily in the darkened sky.

HyunJin glanced at the man’s pale face and, as the last act of kindness, half-raised him and poured what was left in her flask down his throat.

There was nothing more to waste her time on.

HyunJin left him laying by a tree.

---

She came to a skidding stop at the river bank, feet slipping on the moist earth enough to almost put her shoes in water.

HyunJin scowled, fists curled in helpless bitterness.

First raindrops dusted her arms and all she could do to a person who crossed the river, losing the trail, was to send muttered curses.

She stood there, soaking and seething in anger.

When rain wet her shoulders enough, HyunJin filled her flask in jerking motions and set her way back to her previous target, gathering as many logs and twigs as she could fit in her backpack before they became completely unusable.

Her walk back seemed longer and not only because of lack of haste.

By the time she returned to the scene of the battle, HyunJin was drenched. Clouds overhead weren’t getting any lighter and from what she heard of rains on islands, she prepared herself for a rainy night.

The man didn’t move since she left him.

She found his scimitar where she kicked it and relocated his scabbard to her waist just in case.

HyunJin picked the man in a bridal carry and headed away to where she remembered were rocky hills, hoping to find if not a cave, then some rocks large enough to build a shelter. She sacrificed a precious hour helping the man, she wasn’t going to need permission to use his cloak for a roof.

By the time HyunJin found a small cave, the man's lips turned blue. He was as alarmingly cold as someone anemic and stuck under the rain for a long time would be. HyunJin used the cloak to partially block the exit and switched bandaging on the wound for a dry one.

It took some time to get a lazy flame going and by the time it wasn’t at risk of going out, she felt cold too. 

There was barely enough space for her, a little under two meter tall man and the fire. HyunJin, for lack of options, added her own outer shirt as the small addition to the barrier at the exit, hoping to save at least some of the heat. She put both pairs of shoes closer to flames.

Her day had not gone well .

HyunJin slouched by the wall and prepared to feed the fire until the sleep claimed her.

---

Waking up to a damp cold air after spending the night trying to dry the clothes on your own body as the rain poured outside was unpleasant. 

Usually, when HyunJin was subject to the weather’s antics, she pushed herself to get home faster to the fresh bread, dryness and hot shower… Or lost grip on rocks and fell down. But mainly the first solution. That fall wasn’t planned. There were many caves on the mountain at home to sit the rain out, but her house was relatively close. HyunJin found it difficult to agree to cooping in a rock hollow for - sometimes - a dozen hours when her home was so close.

That experience was feeble.

The man, who by dawn didn’t look like a sheet of paper anymore, finally opened his eyes when she feasted on a small, barely-not completely raw (there weren’t enough twigs left for proper heat) game. HyunJin caught it in a trap she set before the first sunray shone, right after rain stopped.

Despite the man being unconscious, she found it hard to fall asleep.

HyunJin saved him not because she was fond of him or thought he was a fine person. She had zero trust in him.

Her poor sleep did not add any goodwill on top of the non-existent pile, so when her voluntary temporary charge woke, she wasn’t jumping in joy.

HyunJin lifted him enough to push a suitable inclined rock under his back and shoved the flask she found in his own bag to his mouth instead of greeting.

The man drank water for a while, in small gulps. She waited. After he weakly motioned he didn’t want more, HyunJin began tearing little pieces of her breakfast and feeding them to him one by one.

“I hope you remember who got you downed.” HyunJin counted on looking rougher than usual right now and added, “Do not make me think I wasted my time and resources for nothing.”

The man breathily chuckled, still partially out of it. “I must be your target. How was it finding me bleeding out of the ground?”

Worrisome. “Annoying. I still need your tag. Did your opponent get it from you?” HyunJin thoroughly checked his equipment. He did not have it somewhere well-hidden.

“Must’ve.” The examinee coughed after forcing down another measly bite. 

“How did they look?”

“Like a half of a ,” spat the man to the side. HyunJin waited out his quiet grumbling, occasionally giving him more meat.

Turned out, the man lost at the hands of his own target after an unsuccessful ambush. It was a short elderly man with a ponytail and dark monotone clan clothes hanging like a two-layered cloak. He was a swordsman as well. Her patient’s tag must’ve been taken off of his body after he lost consciousness.

The wounded man also confirmed what HyunJin already knew - the elder was slightly wounded. If she sets out as soon as possible, she might have a chance of finding him.

She eyed the man. He stared in kind.

Sigh. 

HyunJin threw the trash from their breakfast some distance away from the cave, wiping hands on a torn sleeve she repurposed as a rag. The man would need a new shirt after this. Cloak too.

“I’ll return in ten minutes, wait here.”

The man huffed sardonically as HyunJin picked both flasks, her backpack and the rag. He was watching her every move until she left his field of vision.

She returned after refilling and cleaning everything in the river.

The man laid there, his eyes closed again, breathing in short, rapid breaths. His face was covered in a sheen of sweat.

A quick check confirmed that the man had a start of a fever. Upon her touch he opened his eyes, unfocused for a split second. HyunJin watched him for a moment, then put a finger under the bandaging on his abdomen, close to the stitches but not directly onto them. The area was significantly warmer. She didn’t see the area that well at dawn when she re-bandaged him, but the conclusion was easy to reach.

Infection did set in. Dammit.

“You have an infection.”

“I’ll live.”

HyunJin hummed. “Hope so. There are still three days before the phase ends. I’m going to mark the way to the river, but I will try to return before you run out of water.” HyunJin talked as she wet the rag anew from her flask and laid it on his forehead. She took both garments off of the exit, pulling her own on and laying the other over the man’s body. “What is your name?”

“...Shefqet.”

“HyunJin. I am leaving some antipyretic medicine with you. Disperse it, I have only so much.”

He frowned and eyed her dismissively.

“Why do you bother?” 

Shefqet’s stare bore into the side of her head as she positioned meds, his flask and some jerky from his backpack by his left side.

“I see some sentiment in you - you remind me of someone overconfident back home.”

If the man felt any better, the expression he made might’ve been a sneer. “Do what you want.”

She would do exactly that even without his prompting. HyunJin looked around, checking everything for the last time and untied the scimitar she kept all this time by her side to hand it over.

“Hold onto this. I will return.”