Juice immediately bolted awake from the awful dream she had just experienced, tears streaming down her face and her breathing ragged. The pain in her ankle was abominable, and her entire body felt as if it was made of lead. But she couldn't move. She was stuck, and all she could do was frantically move her eyes across her surroundings.
She noted that she was still in the same niche of the tree as she was when she fell asleep, so nobody had found her. This state of her's was common, and she was honestly surprised it hadn't happened in a while. However, just because it hadn't occurred in a while didn't mean she missed it. This sensation she experienced, sleep paralysis, it was awful.
Attempting to calm down, she tried to slow her breathing and convince herself that she was okay. Though, the pain shooting through her leg didn't make her feel any better. She slowly tried to move the toes on her uninjured foot, but she couldn't. She felt so helpless, she just wanted her brother.
After a few minutes, she was able to move her toes, then her fingers, and soon she was able to move freely again, and she wiped the sweat from her body. "Of course that would happen, now of all times," she muttered to herself, glad that the awful dream wasn't real. Shifting her position so that she could see the outside from her niche, she analyzed her surroundings.
The grass a few meters away seemed trampled, and that was enough to put Juice on guard. It was likely that someone was near her or had just left, and she didn't want to take any chances of being found by an enemy in such a vulnerable state. She crouched in that cramped space for a half-an-hour until she was absolutely sure no one was around, and did her best to stumble out.
Ignoring the throbbing pain in her right leg, she allowed herself to be washed in light emitting from above the treetops, the heat calming her since she just came out of a dark and cold niche. Laying on the grass, she couldn't help but stay there for a few minutes as the pain in her leg slowly eased.
"How am I supposed to pass this stupid phase now?" she mumbled, spreading out her arms out onto the grass. Mumbling her thoughts aloud, she crawled to the bushes for a suitable cover. She lied there for hours, until the sun went down again, and then it came back up. Only a few more days remained.
Looking down at the splint and bandage on her leg, the blanket a horribly bloody mess. Groaning, and trying not to throw up from the sight, she used the other half of the blanket and replaced the bandage, doing her best to clean and tend to the wound. In that moment, she felt a twinge of pity for anyone she had ever shot with a real bullet.
"I need to pass, so clean the wound. I need to pass, so clean the wound. Get better. . ." Her ankle was messing with her mind, and she quietly chanted while sitting by the river. Eventually, she'd have to get back on her feet again and steal some tags, but today was not that day. She hazily vowed that no matter what condition she was in tomorrow, she would go tag hunting.
[~~ \ / ~~]
The next day, despite the condition of her ankle, she dragged herself around the island to look for her target. She thought that if she used the same technique she had when she stole the other man's tag, she would be good. As long as she could escape quickly, she would be set. However, that might turn out to be a problem.
A good Hunter can make it through any tough situation, Juice thought, gripping tightly onto her gun. Despite me being alone and hurt, I can totally do this! Kurapika can, so I can too!
For about an hour, she wandered around, staying away from any paths she saw and sticking to the trees. She hadn't encountered any applicants or seen any sign of them, and she was starting to get anxious. The fact that she might not pass started to get to her head, and her movements slowed, and she became less careful. Loudly stumbling through thickets of branches and bushes, she wondered when she would find somebody so she could take their tag.
A rustling sound came from the bushes near her, it was obviously a person. She crouched in her position, ignoring the throbbing pain in her ankle. Whoever it was, they didn't notice her yet, despite how loud she previously. As they were about to emerge from the bush, she shot her gun, and after a second, her target fell to the ground.
It was a young woman, and inspecting her further, Juice got suspicious. The woman looked shocked, and she dropped the object in her hand. A rifle.
"You! You're the sniper!" Juice yelled, shaking her head frantically and pointing to the woman. Unable to look anywhere else, she stared at Juice's bandaged foot, and winced.
"You tried to kill me!" she continued, resisting the urge to kick her jaw. With her injury, that would hurt her much more than it would the sniper. Juice heard faint ruffling a few yards away, and quickly realizing the mistake she made, she searched the woman for her tag and quickly limped away.
Cursing under her breath, she turned her head behind her after a mile or so to make sure she wasn't being followed. Luckily, there was no one close enough to her that she should be worried about.
The face of that woman burned in Juice's mind, and she was upset that she couldn't at least beat her up a bit. Trying to calm herself down, she found another niche to rest in and sat there, letting her ankle rest.
After a minute, she inspected the tags that she grabbed from the woman, she had more than one. One of them was the one she was looking for, and she sighed in relief. The other was random, and she didn't need it, but she held on to it, placing it in her backpack with the other extra tag she had.
"Tomorrow is the deadline, maybe then Leorio can treat my foot. . ." she mumbled to herself, staring down the inconvenient wound. She closed her eyes, and feeling somewhat self-satisfied, she fell asleep, hoping that she would be able to see her brother and friends the next day.
haha just kidding, @Noctturnal I told you I wouldn't kill Kurapika off
when I get bored I hurt my characters :)
Word Count: 1134
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Fanfikce━━━━ ❰ ♕ If you lived a life where you were constantly judged and shunned by your own family for your hobby, and simply mistreated in general, would you leave? Some might bear it, others wouldn't. When this happens, only a select few are chosen to...
