Dépaysement (indefinite hiatus)

~9~

"Dammit!" Gon exclaimed, pretty much sprinting along the river he was beside. He'd massively misjudged how far away the capital was due to the type of map he had and was going to be extremely late if he didn't hurry. He and Asta had mapped out a route previously, but there wasn't time to go by it. He had to take as straight as a course as possible. After three days of travel at breakneck speed, through forests and deserts, he finally caught sight of the capital.

Gon huffed, picking up speed as he ascended the mountain it was on. Man, it's a lot more sophisticated here. He observed, as he walked past vendors selling various items. Gon couldn't stop to wander around, he was late! Gon pushed past several people, mumbling apologies over his shoulder as he weaved through the crowd. "Sorry, excuse me- let me just-" Gon darted over to the large stadium, there was barely anyone outside and most of the employees had already left. Gon stopped in front of one of them, winded. "Hey! I'm sorry I'm so late I'm here for the exam!"

The man let out a deep irritated sigh, then rubbed his temples. "Alright, present your grimoire please." Gon pulled his grimoire out of his bag and set it on the wooden ledge between them, with a friendly grin. "Here!" He waited in anticipation as the man inspected his grimoire. Gon bounced a little on his feet, he was getting so close to his goal! "Sorry kid, can't let you in." Gon's body stilled, and his excitement gave way to confusion. "Huh?" The man slid the book back over to him with a skeptical look across his face. 'I mean it's obviously fake. Come back when you have a real one."

Gon felt his stomach twist in a knot, he'd wasted so much time waiting for this goddamn exam! "No you don't understand, it is real! Look I know it only has three pages, but-" The man crossed his arms. "I know what a real grimoire looks like kid, and that aint one. Pretty ballsy to try to fake a four leaf grimoire too. Now scram before I call security." Gon's fists clenched, this couldn't be happening. Dammit... Gon snatched up his grimoire and stormed off, frustrated. I can't just give up! But...how else will I get in a magic knight squad?

Gon sat down heavily near a random stall, head in his hands. He was in the middle of seething when he heard a soft voice from nearby. "Oh dear, what's the matter boy?" Gon slowly looked up. Wiping away the tears he hadn't realized he'd shed. "Hm..?" There was a short old woman inside of the stall he'd decided to sulk next to, beside her seemed to be these grilled snakes. "Nothing you can help with" He grumbled, glaring down at his grimoire. Why did I have to get such a weird looking grimoire? Why couldn't mine just be normal like everyone else's? "My my, that sure is a very unique one." The old woman croaked softly, peering curiously down at it.

Gon let out a frustrated sigh. "I know, they refused to let me in the exam because they thought it was fake. But it's not, it's just..." He gripped onto the book even harder, the wood creaking under his hands. "Oh ho ho, an aspiring magic knight?" Gon looked away. "I need to get into a squad. I don't care which one. I need to find him, and I can't do that when I'm poor and have no influence. He could be anywhere on this continent!" Gon exclaimed, his frustration starting to bubble into genuine anger. "I waited six months just so I could take this stupid exam and they wouldn't even let me in!"

"Oh dear, that must be so frustrating," The old lady said, as she pitied him. God he hated being pitied. You know what? No. I'm going to find my own way in! Gon wasn't taking no for an answer, not this time. He got to his feet, shoving his grimoire in his bag. Gon straightened his hair as he took a deep breath, then clenched his fist with a determined look. "I'm not giving up. Killua needs me, I can't just sit here and feel sorry for myself." He said, more to himself than to the old lady. Gon had made up his mind, he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

He activated zetsu and snuck over to where the exam was going on, Gon heard the noises of battle from inside. Shouting, heavy impacts, it excited him. He slowly snuck inside, only to be met with a spectacular sight. A blast of fire cut straight through by pelting shards of ice. Both combatants were focused on their match, determined and focused. Gon's eyes shined as he walked forward, coming up behind Asta and Yuno as they were also spectating. "Man, these guys are crazy good fighters." Asta was whispering. "I know right?" Gon whispered back, watching the fight with awe. Suddenly Asta jumped with a yell, head snapping over to him. "WHERE'D YOU COME FROM!?"

Gon blinked as several heads turned in his direction. "Huh? Oh I was here the whole time." He lied, with a cheeky grin. Gon didn't like lying but he didn't want to make it obvious he'd snuck in late. After their bought was over, Gon deactivated his zetsu and stepped forward. Everyone else seemed to have fought already, he had no idea how he was going to go about getting an opponent. The squad captains observed him as he stepped onto the flat open clearing. "Where is your partner?" One of them asked, if Gon remembered correctly it was the leader of the Golden Dawn. Gon glanced up at him, with a slight laugh. "Well, I don't really have one. Everyone's already in pairs you see, maybe you could pair me up with the person you'll think I'll struggle the most with? I'm mostly a mele fighter." He explained, stomach still in knots.

The captains quietly discussed amongst themselves as Gon waited anxiously, pretty much every eye was on him at this point. I hope I don't get kicked out. He thought nervously. "Number 64, step forward." The Golden Dawn squad captain said. Gon's eyes shined as he scanned the crowd, waiting for them to emerge. A girl walked forward, appearing to be around 19. She had dark pink hair and purple eyes. The girl walked forward and grabbed her grimoire, preparing to fight. "Ready to start!" Gon grabbed his fishing rod out of his backpack and tossed the bag to the side, gripping onto the rod as he nodded. "Ready when you are."

1121 words

To Be Continued...

I would like to apologize in advance if I made this new character ooc, she's an actual character from the anime but I found like nothing on her except what squad she got into so I decided to make some stuff up :3