lilfluff

Title: Jaeger Test
Fandom/'verse: Adventure Science-Fantasy setting
Summary: Flech competes in a thinly disguised version of the Hunter exam from HunterXHunter
Prompter:

aldersprig's Thimbleful Thursday Prompt for 2 October 2014, Cut the Mustard
Triggers/Warnings: None noticed
Note: Barely revised, posting shortly after completing
Words: 548 words (of a target 450-550 words)

On the second day of swimming the island came into view. Flech laughed and pushed himself harder. Including the time in the balloon it had been nearly a week since he'd set foot on land. But the relief didn't make him drop his guard which meant he caught site of the bamboo stakes hiding under the water before swimming into them. Spotting those made him look closer and spot the Sandback Spines on the beach.

How many candidates missed those he wondered while pondering how to get past them. They were native to his home island chain and according to the books could not survive the winter this far south. Clearly they were planted here just for the test. Still that was fair, a Jaeger should be observant and not prepare only for the expected.

He considered swimming further down the shoreline but it had been hard enough to find this patch that had even illusionary safety. Looking again at the stakes he waited for the right moment and braced both feet and one hand against them and used his right hand to work one free from its anchoring in the sand. Using it he began flipping Sandbacks away from in front of him and worked his way to the forest beyond the beach.

The sun was setting when he finished scaling the cliff that guarded the next testing site. Nearly two dozen Jaeger hopefuls were working there way along a web of narrow beams to reach the proctor standing by the mountain on the far side. Slipping would mean at best a ten foot fall and a race to escape feral razor swine. Another look showed that the only ladders out from the pit below the beams was on the side near the cliff. Flech grinned. It didn't look much different from running the Net Trees back home. Simpler even as there were no trunks to need dodging only the other would be Jaegers. Draining the last of the water from his canteen he placed it along with his shoes in his backpack and stepped on the beam he'd chosen. Moments later he was running along having observed the others to learn the signs of the traps. Hearing the others curse at his pace he laughed and leapt from the end of the last beam several feet across the grass beyond.

The moment his foot came down Flech he knew that he'd made a mistake. With a squealch his foot sank into shallow mud he hadn't seen through the grass. Then as he started to slide the side of his heel struck a stone and turned as the weight of his body came down the length of his leg. Trying to ignore the pain he managed to crawl past the mud and climb up onto one foot hoping this would be be one of the few times they were provided transport to the next test.

Tears in his eyes as he hopped towards the the proctor only to hear the would be Jaeger cadet ahead of him curse. The man had pulled on a lever to receive his test token only to see the gate ahead slam shut.

"Sorry guys," The proctor said. "That means they've filled the seats for the final test. Better luck next time."

* * * * *

Poor Flech, but it seems he failed to cut the mustard at the second to last test.