Whispers of the Sky (Hunter X Hunter)

Flashback (Rhode's PoV)

Dreams and memories are but connections to our once forgotten past...
-*-

The memory was vivid as always in my dreams.

My eyes were staring aimlessly at that familiar expanse of sky. How long has it been since I last ate? Three days ago probably. I could hear people pass me by but it's not like they could help me.

Only the strong survived in this world I lived in.

To live alongside filth, we were considered nothing more but trashes of society. Or so the people of this place whispered to each other. To have deserved such a brand on me, I never really knew the reason why.

I was told that I was abandoned as a baby, left to die alongside garbage had it not been for a group of kids who took me in. We were a small group of children who lived off of stealing from unsuspecting victims.

We were forged not with bonds but with necessity. Each had a job within the group and if you were deemed useless, you were left to fend for your own. The only reason I was taken in back then was out of mercy from one of the children. She was warned that mercy and kindness wouldn't be enough to save her sorry excuse of a life but still she let me live.

She cared for me like a sister and yet when the time came that I would return the favor- I killed her.

Which was probably why I was left dying on the ground right now, my body aching from the bruises inflicted upon me from a failed attempt at stealing. I guess people would call it karma.

But would it really be such if I killed her because she told me to? Because she begged me to save her and I did it with killing being the only method I had in mind. Even if we do escape this cage, the outside world had no use for us. We we're rejected from the moment we were born, something of such worthless value would only take up space.

'But unlike her, I want to live.' I could hear my mind tell me. My fingers twitch at the words, my weakened body trying to rise up and look away from the blinding blue sky. Even if I cannot leave my cage, I still refuse to die. No matter how terrible my life is here, I still want to live.

Because I want to live to 'exist' not just 'survive'.

I want to let people know that someone like me existed. Even if it's within this cage, I wanted them to know that I had a face and a name. To leave a living proof that will sear itself into one's memory- I aspire that future.

A large wish for a five-year old child that is upon death's door.

'Not yet!' My mind begs, my limbs shakily doing its best to get me to my feet. I cling to a nearby wall like a life-line, my body heaving at the mere effort of getting up. My throat is dry and in pain, my stomach painfully clamoring for something to eat.

I am a despondent child amidst fellow beggars but my eyes burn bright with a future I can exist in. I will live-

And people will remember me, I will have meaning.

"I'm surprised. You stood up," The voice commends me, my eyes quickly darting amongst the old crates to see a hazy figure sitting atop of it. "But I doubt you can see me seeing as you're only managing on pure will alone."

I hear footsteps on gravel approach me, my vision darkening to signal that his shadow loomed over me. I could tell that he was male, probably a boy of about sixteen.

"Where did you get that scar?" He asked me, my body flinching at the memory of the brand on my back, "I see. Even speech is impossible. Here."

I was expecting him to leave after I refused to answer him. Imagine to my surprise when the scent of bread wafted into my nose. Instinctively, my hands lurched to grab the food, my mouth instantly consuming it hungrily. Several footsteps echo around me, my eyes squinting to stare at several figures from across us, their silhouettes the only thing I can see given my current state.

"Picking up strays again?" One of them asked with humor in his tone to which the boy next to me replied as he stood, "She has fire in her eyes amidst this decaying world. I find it intriguing and so I wish to see with my own eyes how she will fare if given another chance."

"You and your human philosophies."

The boy next to me doesn't reply to his 'supposed' friend, merely turning back to me as I did to him. "Now tell me, where did you get that scar?"

It was at this moment that I answered.

--*--

I gasped when I opened my eyes, the dark room of the makeshift bunker greeting me when I did so. I scanned the dimly lit room to see several of the participants still either asleep or have left the room.

That dream... I thought I had long since forgotten it ever since Yllina's family had taken me in. The life I had before Soevenia... It was all a hazy past and yet that specific memory would always stay. Even though I never saw them again ever since I told the boy the reason for my scar, I could never forget them.

Although the boy merely saved me then out of curiosity, I still considered it a saving grace nonetheless. In a way, I owed him my life. Had it not been for him then I would have never met Yllina, I wouldn't even be here right now. He gave me an existence beyond the cage, something I never expected was possible given my status.

'When we next meet, you will become part of a big change as you have always wished.' He once told me that when we parted ways after I told him about my scar. It never happened though because it wasn't long before Yllina's family had found me and took me in.

I owe him, yes, but Yllina and Soevenia are my whole world now. If ever we meet then I'd only end up declining him. Although, I would thank him nonetheless and I hope he understands.

"Rhode? Did something happen?" Somewhere in the dimly lit room, I turn to see Kurapika eyeing me curiously from his position. It looks like I ended up waking him up when I jolted awake from my dream.

With a shake of my head, I reply. "Nothing. Just a dream..."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"There's no need. It was merely a memory of long ago," I reassure him to which he merely gives me a long look before nodding at my answer. "Alright, of course if you want to talk about it then don't hesitate and I'll listen."

"Thank you for the offer," I reply and watched as he bid me a quick 'good night' and went back to sleep.

As I watch his figure along with Leorio's, I can't help but be thankful for all that's happened to me. To meeting that man, Yllina's family taking me in, and then coming across Gon and his friends... Could it be that somewhere along the way, Yllina's parents are giving us the push we need to find a future for ourselves?

I chuckle to myself at the idea. Even from the heavens they still worry constantly for us.

"But... This warm feeling is a good thing right, Yllina?"