Fearsome monsters... Exotic creatures... Rare species... Vast riches... Hidden treasures... Evil enclaves... Unexplored lands... The world unknown holds magic... and some incredible people are drawn by this force... They are known as... Hunters!
I walk with my navigator, Aritra, who leads me into Zaban City where she says the Hunter Exam will be taking place. The city is packed with people and vendors lining up and down the streets. I think about checking out the vendors, but I already have a backpack slung over my shoulder, filled with things I thought I might need during the exam. As we get further into the city, my anticipation grows. I'm so excited to see Gon again, I can't wait.
"And here we are," Aritra tells me. "This is the place."
We're standing outside of a small, rundown, old restaurant. It could easily be overlooked. "Really, this is the place?" I ask, unsure if this is another test or not.
"Yep." She nods. "You wouldn't expect the Hunter Exam to be held here, so here is exactly where it is." Well that does make sense I guess... especially with that huge building next door to conceal this place. I glance in its direction. As luck would have it, and I usually don't have any, I see my brother standing with two other guys admiring the building. One of them is a rather cute blonde who stands a little taller than Gon. He's wearing a blue tabard with a full-body training suit underneath. The other guy looks to be an old man wearing a cheap navy colored suit and round thin-rimmed glasses, carrying a briefcase.
"My first shot at the Hunters Exam... was this how dad felt when he first arrived?" Gon asks himself optimistically, eyes brimming with confidence.
"Gon!! Hey Gon!!" I call out running over to him.
He looks over at me in astonishment. "Kirahki!!!!!!!" He yells, tackling me to the ground with a bear hug. "I'm so happy to see you!"
"I missed you too, Gon." I smile, hugging him back. It feels like it's been forever.
"It's her! Kurapika! Leorio! It's her!" He drags me over to where his two friends are standing. "This is my sister!" he states proudly.
"Hey, I'm Leorio," the old man greets.
The blonde one seems to be studying me. "Kurapika," He nods.
"You don't look any older than Gon," Leorio says. "You're really gonna take the Hunters Exam?" he enquires with an eyebrow raised.
Ugh, what's that supossed to mean? "I should be asking you that question, old man," I say coolly. Kurapika chuckles.
"I'm not old!" Leorio claims lividly.
"Hey guys, over here," a guy, who I'm assuming is their navigator, calls out. He's standing in front of the restaurant.
"What? This isn't funny! Isn't that just an ordinary restaurant?" Leorio asks him in denial. "You can't possibly mean that Hunter applicants from around the world are meant to assemble here?" Ugh, did I just have the same thought as this old man?
"I do." He nods his head towards my navigator as a greeting. "No one would expect the Hunter Exam with its millions of candidates, to be located here right?"
"That's true," Leorio agrees.
My navigator gestures to me, "Make sure she gets there will ya?" she asks of the other.
"Will do," he accepts. Aritra waves goodbye as she leaves me with Gon's group.
The five of us head into the restaurant. "Welcome," the chef invites us in.
"Is the back room open?" Our navigator asks.
"What will you be having?" The chef inquires.
"The steak combo that opens your eyes to the light. For four... grilled over a low flame until cooked."
"Four? Got it. Let yourself into the back room." Great now I'm actually hungry.
Our navigator leads us to the back room. Inside, there's a circular table in the center surrounded by four chairs. "Wait here," he tells us.
"I can't wait for the steak combo," My brother declares excitedly.
"Gon, that was just the password to get us inside," Kurapika tries to tell him.
He looks disappointed, "Oh we don't get to eat?"
I reach for my secret stash of chocolate. "Want some chocolate?" I offer. He nods his head with a grin and breaks off a piece.
After Gon takes a bite, he holds out his hand for the navigator to shake. "Thanks," he says admirably.
He takes Gon's hand replying, "I would be happy to serve as your navigator next year, as well." With that he bids farewell and leaves, closing the door behind him.
Seconds after the door closes, the whole room shakes and starts to move downward. The motion knocks me right into Kurapika. He easily catches me. "Are you alright?" he asks.
"Yeah, fine," I say stepping out of his grip embarrassed. "Thanks," I utter. I can tell I have a slight blush on my cheeks. I'm not really used to being around other guys. It's just been Gon and me pretty much my whole life (well except for a few creeps back on Whale Island), but he's my brother.
"It appears the room is an elevator," Kurapika announces. The numbers above the door are increasing. B7... B8... B9...
We all take a seat. "Bastard..." Leorio grumbles to himself. "That meant he expects us to fail this year."
"Once every three years," Kurapika explains. "The frequency in which a rookie passes the exam."
"It's that unusual?" asks Gon in astonishment. I wonder how many rookies made it last year then.
Kurapika continues, "Some cannot endure the exam's physical and mental strain. It's also not unusual for veterans to break the rookies, who consequently never retake the test."
Gon thinks for a moment, "So I guess candidates are willing to risk everything to become Hunters."
"But of course, my friend!" Leorio starts shouting. "Hunters make the most money in the world!"
"No!" Kurapika argues. "Hunters are the most noble in the world."
They get up in each others faces. "Glory hog!"
"Money grubber!"
*Gon and I both sweat drop* My brother's new friends, where ever he met them, start going at it, arguing with each other. I try to drown them out by placing a headphone in one of my ears and turning up the music. Departure by Masatoshi Ono plays. The guys continue arguing back and forth.
"Gon! Kirahki! What do you think?" They both yell at us. "Which kind of Hunter do you want to become?!"
Gon and I look at each other both hoping the other will answer. He's the first to react, "Well when you put it that way..." The elevator dings reaching floor B100. Finally. I put my headphones back in my bag.
"I think we've arrived," Leorio says. "We'll continue this later."
Gon and I both breathe a sigh of relief as the elevator doors open. Everyone turns to look at us. They're all glaring as we step out of the elevator. The air feels thin. Wow tough crowd. Everyone's so tense. There are a lot of people packed into this place. None of them were really what I was expecting. Then again I'm not too sure what I was expecting.
"Strange atmosphere down here," Leorio points out.
"They certainly differ from the Hunter applicants we saw at the port and in the city," agrees Kurapika. "Each a master in his own right." They definitely appear to be more skilled then anyone I ran into on my way here.
"Excuse me," Gon tries to call out to the other contestants. They all glare back at him before returning to their conversations. "Everyone's really tense," he says to himself.
A green colored bean shaped man was the first to greet us. "Hello, I'm Mr. Beans. Please take a number. Be sure to wear it on your chest at all times. Be careful not to lose it." He hands me a badge with a number on it.
"Number 406," I say casually, glancing at it before pinning it to my shirt. Leorio is number 403, Kurapika 404, and Gon 405. I can feel someone's eyes on me and look in the direction it's coming from. A chubby man with a boxed shaped nose is heading our way. He's wearing the number 16.
"Haven't seen you guys around before... hello," he greets.
"You can tell we're new?" Gon asks him.
"More or less. After all this will be my 35th attempt."
"35 times?!" Gon and Leorio yell in shock.
"Well you could say I'm an exam veteran," number 16 says smugly.
I chuckle, "That's not something I would advertise."
"Indeed," Kurapika agrees.
He ignores my comment and continues, "If you have any questions feel free to ask me."
"Thanks," Gon accepts happily.
"My name is Tonpa."
I roll my eyes. If this guy has failed 34 times already I don't really care what he has to say. I decide to take a look around, maybe see who's here. Hopefully it's someone more interesting than this guy. I make my way through the crowds of people looking at all of them trying to get a feel for the competition. I hear a few of them talking amongst themselves saying things like "What is she doing here?" "She's just a little kid." "She doesn't belong here." and "Easy pickings." Well whatever, joke's on them if they think I'm going to be that easy to get rid of.
A boy with spiky snow white hair carrying a skateboard catches my eye. He looks to be about my same age and he has a can of juice in his hand. Hmm... he's kind of cute. "Where did you get that?" I ask gesturing to the drink in his hand.
He eyes me suspiciously. "Number 16."
"I wouldn't drink that if I were you," I warn him, not trusting the box nosed loser.
He shrugs and says, "I'll be fine." As if to prove his point, he takes a big swig of it. "I'm thirsty." He licks his lips.
"Well don't say I didn't warn you. I don't trust that guy."
He scoffs, "But you trust me?" he points to himself.
"Hardly, but so far he's my least favorite person in the room."
"I think he's pretty boring."
"He's no one to be worried about, that's for sure," I nod. "I'm Kirahki by the way."
He still seems uncertain, "Killua."
"Cool skateboard."
"Thanks," he mumbles under his breath. "I'm gonna go get some more juice."
"You're really okay?" I ask. "There's nothing wrong with it?"
"What made you think there was?"
"I just had a feeling..."
He thinks for a moment before replying, "It's only okay if I drink it." He hops on his skateboard and rolls away.
What's that supposed to mean? Number 99, Killua... I make a mental note of it. I'm not sure about him yet. I continue walking around, lost in thought. I end up bumping into a magician guy with red hair. He has a tear drop painted under his left eye and a star under the other, with the number 44 pinned to his chest. "Oh, I'm sorry," I apologize with a nod of my head. He just gives me a disturbing smile and I back away slowly. Okay so maybe the creepy clown is my new least favorite person. This guy sends shivers down my spine. After meeting him, I decide to head back to Gon.
Tonpa was still there talking to them. Great. He was telling them about the other contestants there, "The three brothers, numbers 197, 198, and 199: Amori, Imori, and Umori. They preform consistently well thanks to their excellent teamwork. Number 294: Hanzo the ninja... Number 384: Gereta the huntsman. He specializes in all manner of creatures, by blow dart and club..." Tonpa may not be very clever but he has some good information.
In the middle of his speech, a man suddenly starts screaming nearby. I look to where the screams are coming from and to my surprise one of the contestants is turning into flower petals. How the hell did that happen? The red haired clown is standing next to him. "Oh, how peculiar... his arms seemed to have become flower petals," he says in a deep voice. "No smoke and mirrors here. Do take care. When you bump into someone you really should apologize." All the color drains from my face. Well I'm glad I apologized. I grab on to the bottom of Gon's shirt. Noticing my unease he puts an arm around my shoulder and pulls me into a one armed hug.
"...Number 44, Hisoka the Magician," Tonpa informs everyone. I do my best to block him out, but I do catch him saying something about how last year Hisoka killed an examiner and was disqualified, or something along those lines. Tonpa starts to reach for something in his bag. "Shall we make a toast to our new friendship?" he asks handing all of us a drink. I shake my head in refusal. I don't accept drinks from strangers. The other three guys accept his offer. I tense up. Don't fall for it Gon. It's almost as if he hears my thoughts because as soon as he takes a drink, it comes right back out like a waterfall.
"Tonpa-san, the juice must have expired. It tastes funny," Gon explains. Kurapika pours his drink out on the ground without even taking a sip, and Leorio spits his out like a water gun.
"H-huh? That's strange..." Tonpa says nervously. "I'm very sorry." He bows apologetically with his hands together. "I didn't realize the juice had gone bad."
"It's okay. You don't have to apologize. Is your stomach okay?" Gon asks. I sigh. He's still as trusting as ever.
"Y-yes... I'm fine," Tonpa stammers.
"My sister and I, we've sampled all kinds of mountain grasses and plants. So I can usually taste when something's gone bad."
"R-really? I'm sorry about that again. I'll see you around." Tonpa walks anxiously away from us. I'll have to teach him a lesson about messing with my brother. I glance back in Gon's direction before running after him.
"Oi, Tonpa!" I hear the white haired boy from before shout. "Could I have more of that juice? It must be my nerves, I'm really thirsty." What's he doing? I know he doesn't mean that. I curiously observe them.
"Eh? Oh sure..." Tonpa timidly hands him another can. He watches him down it in astonishment.
"Worried?" Killua taunts him. "I'll be fine, I've trained. Poisons won't affect me," he says before running off. He's definitely interesting... I'll have to keep my eye on him.
"Hey Tonpa," I call out to him. "I don't care what it tastes like... I'm really, really thirsty. Could I have one?" I ask as innocently as possible.
"Certainly," he takes out a drink and hands it to me smiling. "You can have as much as you want."
I force back a smile. As soon as the juice is in my hand, I shake it as fast as I can and point the top towards him. Before he realizes what's happening, I pull the tab, opening it and juice spews out all over him. "That's for messing with my brother," I stick out my tongue. I walk away casually tossing the can over my shoulder back at Tonpa.
A really irritating high-pitched bell can be heard echoing off the concrete walls. One of the walls starts to rise, causing the whole room to shake. I face the direction of the noise to see a tall man standing there. He has purple hair and a thin mustache, but for some reason he doesn't seem to have a mouth. Which is weird because somehow he starts talking, "I apologize for the wait, the entry period for the Hunter applicants has ended. The Hunter Exam will now begin!" He makes a long dramatic pause. "A final caution. If you are short on luck or ability you could very well end up seriously injured or even dead. Those who accept the risks please follow me. Otherwise, please exit via the elevator behind you." No one left. That's not surprising. I doubt anyone would come this far just to turn around now. "Very well all participants will participate in Phase One." He turns around and starts walking down the tunnel with everyone following behind him.
"I'd hoped a few might withdraw," Leorio says, causing me to roll my eyes.
The man with the purple hair picks up the pace and everyone starts running. "I'm Satotz, the Phase One examiner," he explains. "I shall lead you to the exam's Second Phase."
"What about the First Phase?" some people question.
"It has already commenced. You must follow me to Phase Two. This is the exam's First Phase."
"Follow you? That's it?" Hanzo the ninja asks.
"Yes. I cannot tell you were or when you must arrive but you need to follow me."
"I see how it is," Kurapika states.
"I expect it's an endurance test. Fine by me, I'll be right behind you!" Leorio says confidently.
"But there is also the mental stress of not knowing how far we'll have to run," Kurapika explains. "He's testing our mental fortitude as well."
The Exam's First Phase Begins, amidst a mix of warriors and Knaves. One candidate is disqualified before it even starts. The total number of Hunter applicants is 405.