ghostgirl

A6

*t/w: trauma

The fog was really thick, more than Reniku had expected. She and the other applicants moved in silence. She listened for sounds in the swamp. It was spacious, echoes of their footsteps could be heard, but Reniku felt claustrophobic because of the mist. It left some wet residue on her skin and clothes and though it felt cool, the air was stuffy. Some dust lingered in the air; it made Reniku want to sneeze, and her arms were tingly from it. She shivered and pulled her jacket from her shoulders towards her neck.

Soon, the trickling of water could be heard. A few more steps, and Reniku saw a large but shallow lake. The fog prevented her from seeing the opposite end, but Satotz told them to either walk across it, or take a roundabout to het to the second exam site. Many followed Satotz and crossed the lake, their clothes getting soaked and wet. Reniku joined them, taking her boots off and hanging them on her drawstring bag by their laces.

Her bare feet touched the water, the gooey mud at the bottom of the waist-deep lake slowing her movements down. Every time she took a step, her foot stuck in the mud like gum, and when she raised it, she placed pressure on her other foot, which made the mud swallow her foot a little, and the cycle went on, her decreasing speed allowing for other applicants to overtake her. Satotz, who was just only in front of her the moment before, started fading away at a speed faster than Reniku wished for, and then he disappeared.

Reniku continued to walk, following the other applicants' paces. Looking around, she could see the faint silhouettes of some trees and vines hanging from their branches, hidden behind the sheet of mist. She kept telling herself to head straight.

Seeing the other side of the lake, Reniku sped up a little before stepping onto the slightly wet grass and ground, drying her feet a little on it before continuing straight on her bare feet.

The sound of Gon and Killua shouting a little reached her ears, and she almost reacted to it. Then she stopped herself, remembering the promise she made to her two trustworthy friends.

Once the mud on her feet completely dried out, she shook and dusted the remaining dry remnants of it off onto the ground, before pulling her boots back on. Now she could run and jump properly.

Reniku sighed, wondering how her friends were doing. Dod they get trapped? If they did, did they escape? Reniku hadn't encountered a single problem, and was worried for her friends, after having heard their screams earlier. She adjusted the position of her bag, and just continued to stroll on in the direction Satotz had been heading in.

And just as she thought of how uneventful her journey was, there was a rustle in the tree beside her. This made Reniku stop in her tracks, and observe whatever was making the noise.

However, when she looked closely at the bare tree with vines hanging down where she heard the rustle, there was nothing out of the blue to be spotted. "Hmm...?" Reniku decided to ignore it and continued to trudge along.

Five minutes later, she heard yet another rustle, and again observed the tree where the sound had originated from. Again, nothing special could be seen, and it was as though all the other applicants around her did not notice it. Reniku then stepped closer to the tree, still keeping some distance in case it was a trap. And then, a yellow glimmer caught her eye, and she immediately backed away, noticing how big, yet initially unnoticable, her enemy was. It had been there the entire time. It was right in her face; yet unseen.

Its skin was white with orange and red spots covering its back. Its eyes were black and bright yellow, slit pupils threatened Reniku.

She felt the unfamiliar feeling of adrenaline pump through her veins; being inexperienced with enemies was like this. She though of ways to calm herself down in the face of the enormous serpent staring her down, but to no avail. She noticed how her heartbeat and panic increased alarmingly. Her vision became so clear, and she felt her muscles twitch, ready to attack or escape. Oh, dear, she thought. What do I do?