Hey everyone! This is my second story and I hope you'll like it! :D It will mostly follow both, the manga and the anime. English is not my born language, so please have some mercy. xD Well, anyway, this will be an Kurapica x OC* story, but it'll take some time to develop. I'll reveal more of my OC's past after some time. Anyway, I don't wanna be annoying, so please enjoy. :D

(*If you wanna know what my OC, Nero Oerba, looks like, I have an account on deviant art, so just search for the link in my profile^^)

Disclaimer: I don't own Hunter x Hunter *sigh*. I only own my OC/'s.

Journey Into The Unknown 1 - Stormy Night? x The Journey Begins!

"You must learn what's important to you."

The words of her grandfather still echoed in the 16 year old girls head, as she leaned against the ships rail, watching the sky, which was coloured in a warm red, because the sun was already setting.

"Damn, this is annoying. He's telling me that since I'm 6 years old. Why the hell gives he always impossible assignments?" Nero, who had metallic, dark blue hair, mumbled annoyed to herself, trying to shrug off her thoughts. Her grandfather had told her to

'train', which was how he called it, once again, like almost every year. He wanted her to learn 'what's really important' since she was 6 years old and he had adopted her.

"Oh, and while we're on it, please do me a favour and observe the rookies, again, or anyone that's interesting. I want to hear your opinion this year, too."

"Every year… he tells me the same.. this is such a hassle… and the number of muppets increases every year, too…" Nero thought, and eyed her surrounding with he corner of her piercing, grey eyes.

Suddenly, the captain yelled, with a pipe in his mouth:

"The ship is leaving! Raise the sails!"

"Finally…" she sighed, as the ship set sail. She eyed her surrounding anew, noticing that she was the only girl on the ship, and nobody looked very friendly. Then she noticed a blond boy, who was leaning on the ships rail, too, a little bit away from her.

"Oh, there is another girl… No, that's a boy…?" Nero thought and placed her elbow on her knee, resting her head in her hand, while looking at him for a few seconds.

Suddenly, she looked up, as someone yelled:

"Wait! Wait up! I was going to ride on that ship!"

"Me, too!"

"And now I'm getting deaf…" she thought with a bored expression, then eyed the two people, that were running next to the ship on the boat bridge, waving their arms.

The younger one had spiky black hair, wore a green jacked with matching green shorts and carried an angle rod. The other one looked like he was in his 30's and wore sunglasses and a suit.

"You're too late! This ship is not going to turn back! You will have to swim over here!" the Captain shouted.

"The sails are speared wide open! You won't make it by swimming!" a man said mockingly.

"Seems like becoming a Hunter ain't what it used to be, if a kid like that is trying to become a Hunter." another man said tauntingly.

"And seems like finishing school ain't what it used to be, if a dumbass like you could finish it…" Nero thought and rolled her eyes.

The boy suddenly stopped and said to his companion:

"Follow me. I have an idea." They ran to a cliff and the boy used his angle pole to swang himself and the man in the suit on the ship. They landed in the seal, sliding it down. The young boy, not older than 12, landed on his feet, while the man in the

suit landed flat on his face.

"How graceful…" Nero snorted amused and looked at the two, like everyone else.

"Are you okay, old man?" the boy asked the man.

"Don't call me old man! My name's Leorio." Leorio answered annoyed.

"Seem like I'll have some fun until we arrive in dole." the Captain grinned.

"And it seems like I found something interesting. Maybe this years exam won't be so boring…" the girl thought and smirked slightly to herself, as she leaned back on the ship's rail, again.

~~~Later~~~

It caught her attention, when the boy with the spiky, black hair announced that a storm would be come very soon. The Captain was impressed by the boy, too, and commanded the sailors to lower the sails.

The sailors did as they were told and Leorio gaped at the scenario. Not a second later, a bucket came flying and landed directly in Leorio's face, smashing in the process.

The smashed bucket almost hit the blond boy, but he avoided it with ease.

"I'm sorry!" Some sailors shouted down from the mast, but Leorio just shouted back, arrogantly, not being faced at all:

"Yeah. Trying to test me, huh?"

"Looks like we've a lot of tough guys this year…" the Captain thought.

~~~Two hours later~~~

Like the kid had said, the storm came and it was a huge one. The whole ship shook and went up and down. Under deck meanwhile, everyone was rolling from one side to the other, crying for their mommy's or shouting for help.

The only ones that weren't faced at all were the little boy, who tried to help the ones that were seasick, Leorio, who was fixing his necktie, the blond boy, who was sleeping in a hammock, and Nero, who was reading a book,

then started to curse under her breath, because the lights had died.

Now the Captain entered, checking the situation under deck, only to find most of them half dead.

"How pathetic… And they are trying to become Hunter's? That makes me laugh…" Then he looked at the four exceptions and thought: "Looks like only these four…"

"What are your names?" the Captain asked suddenly.

"You want to know my name?" Leorio asked, yelling.

"That's correct." the Captain answered, calmly.

"I'm Gon!" the boy with the spiky black hair introduced himself cheerfully.

"My name is Kurapica." the blond haired boy said, sitting up in the hammock. Now the girl finally gave up to try to read her book in the dark room, stood up, and walked over to the captain.

"Oerba. Nero Oerba." the girl said calmly and the Captain seemed to be a little surprised.

"I.. I'm Leorio." Leorio said, rather unwillingly, then he turend to Nero and said, wiggling his eyebrows:

"Hey, you're a hottie, so how about we-"

"No." Nero interrupted him coldly, with a blank face.

"You don't even know what I was gonna say."

"Still no."

"Gon, Kurapica, Nero, Leorio, why do you want to be a Hunter?" the Captain asked, interrupting the both if them.

"Hey, who do you think you are, asking something like that?" Leorio asked annoyed.

"Just answer the question." the Captain said, something intimidating hinting in his voice.

"Are you listening to me?" Leorio shouted at him.

"I hope he can swim.." Nero thought and raised an eyebrow, but then said, sighing:

"I don't have to become a hunter in particular but.. I want to catch up to the Chairman."

The Captain eyed her for a second, noticing her black flower tattoo on her neck, then thought:

"That girl… could she be…?"

Nero noticed that the Captain had probably figured out who she was and grinned slightly at him, placing a finger on her mouth, telling him to keep quiet. He nodded briefly, then Gon said:

"My dad is a Hunter, so I'd like to know what my fathers work is like."

"Hey, don't answer him." Leorio scolded the boy.

"Why? I'm only telling him the reason…" Gon said innocently.

"I don't want to! I'm never gonna tell him!" Leorio shouted.

"I agree, Leorio." Kurapica said, jumping down from the hammock. Leorio turned his head to him and asked annoyed, raising his voice:

"Hey, how old are you? Put in some respect when you say my name!" But Kurapica ignored him, and said to the Captain:

"I prefer not to answer your unpleasant question, rather than lie to you. I think lying is more shameful than being greedy."

"Call me Leorio-san!" Leorio hissed angrily, but Kurapica continued talking, ignoring him completely.

"Speaking honestly in front of people I just met… The reasons that make me wish to become a Hunter are mine, and are personal. That is why it is impossible for me to answer you in this place."

"If you don't wanna answer, get off this ship." she Captain said, taking a pull on his pipe, then added, kind of angry: "Don't you get it? The Hunter Exam has already begun, when you got on this ship." Then he showed them his Hunter Licence Card, proving that he was a Hunter.

The three males seemed surprised, only Nero grinned slightly.

"As you know, there are tons of people who want to become a Hunter. Unfortunately, the inspectors don't have enough time to examine everyone. So, guys like us are hired to shift through the applicants. Then, except for you four, all the other applicants have been registered as failures for the grand jury. Even if hey can get to the place the exams are held, the door will stay closed to them." the Captain explained.

"I am the only survivor of the Kuruta tribe. Four years ago, all of my relatives were killed by thieves. The reason I want to become a Hunter is because I want to capture the Genei Ryodan." Kurapica answered now.

"Genei Ryodan? Gramps told me about them..." Nero thought and rubbed the tattoo in her neck slightly, unknowingly.

"Becoming a Black List Hunter? The Genei Ryodan belongs to Class A criminals, even the best Hunter will think twice before helping you. You are casing after a sure death." the Captain said, slightly surprised.

"I'm not afraid of death. What I'm afraid of, is that the anger will fade away someday." Kurapica said with a serious face.

"So in short, you want revenge, and you need to be a Hunter for that?" Leorio asked annoyed.

"That, Leorio, is the stupidest question I have ever been asked." Kurapica said calmly, but before he, or Leorio could say anything, Nero explained briefly:

"When you become a Hunter, you have access to certain places, information's and displacement's." They looked at the girl, that had been mostly quiet until then.

"Thank you, Miss. It was probably a detail his little neurons had missed." Kurapica said to Nero. She saluted briefly and said:

"No problem, but please don't call me Miss. Nero is fine."

Both of them ignored Leorio, who now was completely pissed off.

"What about you, Leorio?" the Captain now asked the man with the suit.

"Me? I don't want to give a made-up answer, so I'll be honest. MONEY! I want to be a Hunter to make a lot of money. If I have money, I can get anything. A large house, a good car and even woman." Leorio answered excitedly.

"Unfortunately, manners can't be bought, Leorio." Kurapica remarked calmly.

"That is the third time. Follow me to the deck. Let's spill a little 'noble' blood of the Kuruta clan, or something." Leorio said angrily.

Kurapica snapped, but tried his best to stay calm, then he said, with a very dark expression:

"Take back what you just said, Leorio!"

"Leorio-san. Come on." Leorio said now.

"I'm right behind you." Kurapica said and both walked outside, much to the Captains dismay.

"H-Hey you guys! I'm not finished!"

"Che, males…" Nero snorted annoyed, then Gon suddenly said:

"'Let them fight. 'If you want to know someone, start by finding out what makes him mad'. My aunt said this phrase a lot, From my point of view, both have a good reason to be angry, so let them fight."

"I think I would like your aunt. My gramps says that a lot, too." Nero said and hit his shoulder lightly, in a friendly way. He smiled at her and she added:

"Let's go and watch out that those two won't fall off the ship." Then both went outside, only to find Kurapica and Leorio fighting already.

"If you take back those words now, I'll forgive you, Leorio!" Kurapica said.

"You first, Kurapica! I don't intend to take back what I've said!" Leorio said.

Then both of them attacked the other, clashing in the air. Nero raised her eyebrows, eyeing the fight, until something else caught her attention. One of the sailors tried to fix the mast, but suddenly, the mast was hit by lightning and the sailor

named Gatso fell down, being about to fall in the ocean.

"Che!" Nero didn't hesitate for a moment and tried to catch him, same as Kurapica, Gon and Leorio.

Gon caught his feet, Nero Gon's, Kurapica Nero's and Leorio Kurapica's. Now all of them hang onto each other, trying to pull themselves up.

"Sorry for the trouble and thanks.." Gatso said, still in shock.

~~~A little later~~~

The sea was calm again, and the sailors tried to fix the ship.

Meanwhile Nero, Kurapica, Leorio and Gon were sitting next to each other, leaning on the ship's rail and said nothing, until Leorio said:

"Ho can you do something so reckless?"

"Yes it was foolish." Kurapica agreed.

"If we wouldn't have caught you, you would've dropped into the ocean with that guy!"

"But… you guys caught me!" Gon grinned.

All three looked surprised at him, then Nero joked deadpan:

"I just didn't want to see two nasty looking, drowned body's."

They looked at her with wide eyes, then started laughing and then Gon added:

"What happened to your duel?" Leorio thought for a second, then answered:

"Duel? Oh yeah, we were doing something like that."

"Forgive my rudeness, Leorio-san" Kurapica apologized.

"You can call me Leorio, Kurapica. I apologize, too." Leorio said, rubbing the back of his head.

Now the Captain laughed and said:

"You four pass!"

"Huh?"

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'll take you to Dole Island." the Captain answered.

"I'm flattered, but will this wrack take us all the way to Dole Island…?" Leorio asked, a little worried.

The Captain laughed at his face and said:

"Don't worry, trust this ship."

"Why do I doubt that…?" Nero grimaced, being way to lazy to swim all the way.

~~~ at Dole Island~~~

They got of the ship, seeing a huge crowd.

"There sure are lots of people." Leorio said, staring at the crowd.

"Most of them are probably here because of the same reason as us." Kurapica pointed out.

"So, they're all candidates for the Hunter exam, from around the world."

"I don't care why they're here. I hate crowds…" Nero sighed, starting to feel sick.

"Well, anyway, let's see… Which bus can get us to Zaban City?" Leorio looked around. Then they heard Gon saying:

"Captain, thanks for everything. It was a fun trip."

"Well, said, Gon. Although you've arrived at Dole Island's harbour, there are still more obstacles ahead."

"Yes, I understand." Gon said and bowed slightly.

"Not another lecture. We've heard enough on board." Leorio complained, yet joked, walking over too them.

"Fine, but I'll tell you one last thing. It's a special service." the Captain said and shot Nero a short glance, then pointed at a tree, that could be seen from where they stood.

"Look. Head for that tall tree. That's one of the shortcuts to get to the exam centre. If you understand, then get outta here." Then the Captain walked in direction ship again.

"Alright. Take care!" Gon waved after him.

"You too." the Captain answered.

~~~A little later~~~

They stood in front of a map, looking for the right way.

"Something's wrong. The exam centre's location is Zaban City, is in the opposite direction of the tree." Leorio eyed the map sceptically.

"You are right…" Kurapica said.

"We'll probably just waste time. It's not a shortcut. We should head directly for Zaban City." Leorio pointed out.

"That's a stupid idea…" Nero thought.

"It doesn't matter, I'm going that way. I'm sure there's a good reason for this." Gon said and started walking.

"You know, Gon, you should learn to be more suspicious of what people tell you. I advise you to go to the bus." Leorio told him.

But Gon went in the other direction, anyway, and Nero said, walking after him:

"That is a good advice, but I advise you to listen to what other people tell you from time to time, too."

"Hey, wait!"

"He said 'special service'. That's why I'm going." Nero called over her shoulder, waving her hand briefly.

The other two eyed Nero on Gon for a second, then Kurapica started walking after them and said:

"More than the Captains words.. It's what this boy does that interests me. I think I'm going to stay with them for a while."

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! :D The next one will probably be up tomorrow. ;)