A big note before digging into this story:

12 main characters and each of them has to have a character arc?! Pfffft, what a fool would bring such a curse upon themselves! Haha! Ha...
That said, each girl will have time to shine and a character arc. It will take A While, but we will get there. Their arcs don't begin nor end at the same time, so focal characters and plotlines would take turns shining in each act
I do not write this with any ships in mind, except the… thing that chuuyves dynamic is. I am not interested in shipping, so don't expect anything (my own hxh ships are impossible here, so, whatever, if you see what you want to see - have fun)
Loona characters are mainly based on their mv and loonaverse representation, but there are also differences
Gon and crew are certainly great and important, however it’s not about them. But hoo boy, are they trying to weasel in. And, partially, succeeding
Also, none of the girls replaced any characters from the canon. They aren't living in a vacuum, but no sticking to known families and backstories
This is based on the 2011 anime version with heavy lean on manga - some tidbits were lost in adaptation (and I am going to weaponize them)

For all orbits, who are desperate for a non-shippy fanfiction, but do not yet have time or appetite to watch hxh - I see you. I know how it feels to settle for crossovers with completely unknown fandoms just to get some crumbs. So here you go! Wrote some basic information about Hunters here, no spoilers and not too detailed, just to roughly get what the title means But, seriously, hxh is good, go watch it when you have time
 
Spotify playlist! It is for the fic in general, no spoilery songs, no specific character or relationships songs. Some of them are for the mood they creating, some are there for the text
(DAY6 - WARNING! is a song for both readers and characters for the beginning of the wabrw, hehe)

 
Title is inspired by a quote from my favorite Richard Siken poem "War of the foxes" but taken from the second one (not as favourite, but somehow fitting):
"He knows that when you snap a mast it's time to get a set of oars or learn to breathe underwater."
"If the window is on your right, you are in your own bed. If the window
is over your heart, and it is painted shut, then we are breathing river water."