Beta:
Warning: Human and animal gore. We're in the chimera ant arc, proceed with caution from here on out, okay?
Updating 'cause it's my birthday week ^^
(≧ڡ≦*)
The journey out to NGL was long and dull. The boys shamelessly used Miwa as their pillow. That was completely fine because she used them as headrests as well. Sleeping made the long trip a lot more bearable. It had been a while since Miwa had been able to sleep for so long, Soleil had been a massive undertaking.
Upon arriving at the NGL border, the group had to go through customs. They had to remove anything metallic, made of plastic, or other similar materials that could not naturally degrade. They even had to go through physical exams to make sure nothing was hidden in their rectums.
Because apparently that was a common way to sneak stuff in.
Unfortunately, not all the members were able to enter the country. Glasses counted as bannable, as well as anyone who had implants (even dental fillings!).
Only Kite, Killua, Gon, Miwa, Stick, and Podunga were able to go inside the country to begin the hunt.
As there weren't any cars allowed, the group had to rent horses.
Which was actually quite fun!
Miwa had never ridden an animal before, so she had to sit in either Gon, or Killua's lap while they controlled the animal. It was fun bouncing around.
They rode for half a day until some wasps stopped them with a message. Kite read it, saying that it was an SOS—that someone had found the chimera ant nest.
Kite ordered Podunga and Stick to return to the others, while he and the children would make haste to the SOS. He was fast, sprinting in the direction the message had come from. Not too fast, though, as the other Hunters were able to keep up. For over an hour they ran, entering a dense forest.
"I smell blood," said Miwa as soon as she caught a whiff of that metallic tang. "Lots of it. The freshest one—this way!"
Miwa veered sharply to the left, Kite and the others turned to follow her. Into the forest they want, rapidly passing by trees until Miwa found the source of the smell.
It was a pool of blood, still warm and fresh, with shreds of clothing around it. There was enough blood soaking into the ground to tell Miwa that whoever had been there had not survived.
"I think it's safe to say they have been eating humans," observed Miwa, staring at the pilte of blood and shredded clothes.
'Are humans yummy?' Miwa wondered. For the past months, she had seen so many beings devour humans.
Depends. Some can be tasty.
She couldn't imagine it. Some humans smelled unreasonably foul, and none of them smelled good enough to eat. At best, they smelled like pleasant things—like Gon and Killua—not food.
But Kurama, cannibals, and now the ants certainly seemed to enjoy their taste...
"This is a bullet casting," said Killua, picking something metal off the ground and examining it.
Gon frowned. "Nothing mechanical is allowed here, right?"
"So the underground rulers of NGL were manufacturing guns in addition to drugs. If the chimera ants are using guns... I hate to say it, but it's possible that the NGL's underground rulers have already been fed to the queen. What will happen if chimera ants are born with their genes? NGL and chimera ants... the worst combination imaginable. This could create an unprecedented biohazard."
"Mmm... then, do you think they could talk?" asked Miwa.
"Talk?" Kite echoed. "Probably?"
'Hmm...'
The hunt continued. As the day wore on, they found few traces of the ants until they stumbled upon a desecrated village. The lingering gore had a sickeningly sweet smell that made Miwa want to gag. There was a particularly strong presence of the stench that lead them to the outskirts of the village.
As the sun began to set behind them, casting the sky in a reddish hue, they stumbled upon three horses that had been impaled rectum to mouth upon trees.
'Ouch.'
Miwa had impaled enough cannibals to know that was not an instant or easy death. If the impalement was slow, the horses would have survived the entire process and might have even lived an hour afterwards.
They were dead now, but fresh enough they hadn't decomposed.
Looks like some of them know how to have a good time.
Miwa inwardly rolled her eyes at Kurama's sass.
Gon made a hmm sound. "It's like a morning sacrifice."
"A what?" Miwa blinked.
"A ritual practiced by birds called bull-headed strikes. They impale their prey on sharp objects, such as branches—"
"Oi." The group turned around to find a humanoid creature stepping out of the forest. Its scent made Miwa's nose tingle because it was an odd combination of human, bird, rat, and something else she couldn't identify. It was tall, lean, and had long white feathers down its arms.
It certainly looked like a combination of what it smelled like.
"What the—"
"Uh—"
"Trash," growled the creature as it lifted a hand to point at the impaled horses behind them. "That's mine."
It launched itself toward them, first aiming for Kite, but Kite moved away so it shoved Gon and Killua back. Miwa had reflexively jumped back, avoiding the attack. Gon clutched at his nose where he had been smacked and let out a small whine, "Ow."
Miwa's eyes narrowed. She lowered herself in preparation to leap upon the thing that hurt her friends—
"Gon, Killua, Miwa... you three must deal with him yourselves," said Kite. He stepped back and leaned against a tree. Kite gestured to the creature. "That is a chimera ant soldier. We will encounter many more like him. I won't be able to help you during combat. If you can't defeat it, you'll have to leave.
"In that case... Miwa go stand back with Kite," said Gon.
"Ehh—?"
"Shoo," said Killua.
"But—"
"She should test herself, too," said Kite.
"She can kick our butts, the heck she should," snorted Gon.
"Yeah, it'd be over in a second if she joined," argued Killua. "Go away Miwa."
Kite frowned, but didn't say anything as Miwa begrudgingly went to stand beside him.
"Eat me," she muttered reproachfully, which made Gon slip out a restrained giggle.
Kite had a point, though, and Miwa was impressed he considered it. Like at Heaven's Arena, Gon and Killua had to fight strong opponents in order to grow. Babying them would only hurt their progress. That being said, throwing them into a needlessly dangerous situation should be avoided at all costs.
If they couldn't handle encountering a soldier in a 2v1, they shouldn't be there. Gon and Killua's auras flared to life as they channeled their nen in preparation for combat.
"They have a lot of faith in you," Kite told Miwa.
"Wanna arm wrestle?"
"No, thank you. I'll trust their judgment."
Gon and Killua threw themselves at their opponent, and the ant batted them away.
Killua leapt high into the air above the ant, lightning crackling around his right hand—
Miwa's vision blurred.
For only the briefest seconds, it was not Killua in the air, but another shinobi with silver hair and lightning crackling around his hands. Her heart clenched painfully, a shot of pain piercing her.
Killua launched the lightning bolt at the ant, electrocuting it as Gon condensed his nen into his fist. Flames erupted around his hand, and Gon punched the ant hard in its stomach with his enhanced fist. The creature went flying into the air, only to be grabbed by another ant with wings that promptly flew away with it.
(≧ڡ≦*)
Kite was satisfied with their performance, and the group continued on their hunt for the nest. As they journeyed, Kite explained a bit more about the chimera ants—namely their hierarchy. The queen was at the top, followed by royal guards, then squadron leaders, then captains, then soldier ants. Once the queen gave birth to a king, the royal guards would leave to serve the king while the king went off to find a mate.
Surprisingly sophisticated for bugs, but, well, the chōmei bijū was also a bug and it had quite the talent for poetry.
The group carried on into the forest and as the sky grew dark they stumbled upon a few mountains with dug out caverns.
Gon asked, "Is this the chimera ant nest?"
"No. They don't make their nests in holes, they use mud and feces to build them." Kite stepped forward. "Let's go. You'll understand once we're inside."
The quartet moved silently, entering the first cavern they found the entrance to.
Miwa clutched at her nose. "Urk..."
"You going to be okay?" asked Gon.
"Yeah, just... kind of nauseous," she mumbled. The cavework reminded Miwa so much of the cannibal dens. Although there was no visible blood, enough living creatures had been repeatedly slain inside that the gore soaked into the rocks. Miwa reflexively hid her nose behind her kimono sleeve.
The long rock tunnels emptied out into a wide cavern filled with odd machines.
"Is this...?"
"Yes, it is NGL's hidden side," confirmed Kite.
Killua glanced around at the blood-stained machinery. "A drug factory."
Kite nodded. "Yes. This factory produces the drug, D2. There are probably nearby bila trees which produce its main ingredient. Ironic given their claims as preservationists."
Killua opened one of the crates. "They're making more than drugs. Look."
Inside the crate was a stack of guns.
Kite frowned. "I assume that only the NGL leaders know the truth of this place. The other members joined because they honestly loved nature."
Killua put his hands in his pockets. "So this facility is the center of NGL's underground. If it's empty..."
"Then the chimera ants have wiped out the NGL underground," affirmed Kite. "A bunch of amateurs with guns won't suffice to deal with them."
"Think the boss was taken care of?" asked Gon.
"Probably. Either way it's—"
"Shh!" Miwa hissed out. "I hear movement. Something is coming—middle tunnel."
She couldn't smell anything but the gore, but her hearing hadn't dulled inside the cave. It wasn't as potent as her sense of smell, but it was better than the others'. At the far end of the room were three tunnels, and Miwa could distinctly hear something(s?) walking in the middle tunnel. There were more in the left and right tunnels, but the thing in the middle was closer to approaching them.
It arrived a scarce minute after Miwa gave her warning. She could only assume it was a chimera ant because it was clearly not human.
It had the lower half of a massive white horse with a vibrantly red tail. The upper half of the body was a muscular human with gray skin. In its right hand were two chains that lead to two half-starved and plainly tortured naked human men. They were forced to walk on their elbows and knees, whimpering and crying. Their sunken in bodies were painful to look at.
"Shut up," snapped the ant, raising the chains on the humans to choke them. The ant flicked out a tongue, then noticed the group. "Who are you guys? How dare you intrude on my turf?"
"Help... Please help us!"
"Shut up, Spot! You're just a damn dog," snarled the ant right before he stomped on the human's head, popping it like a tomato. It lifted its blood-soaked hoof, chuckling. "Oops, didn't mean to do that. Oh well. I'm getting bored with these guys. Guess I should get rid of Rover, too—"
The man remaining let out a panicked whine, turning quickly around and starting to bark and beg as tears spilled out of his eyes.
Shameless.
It amused the ant, however, because a wide smile stretched over its face as it proceeded to stomp on "Rover" as well. The sound of the bones crunching and blood gushing made Gon wince.
"I got it," said the ant as two more chimera ants stepped out from the tunnels beside it. "You four will be my new dogs."
"Chimera ants have always been aggressive, but it seems consuming malicious humans has made them even more evil," observed Kite.
'Does that mean if they eat kind humans, they would be kind?'
It's likely the ants are developing individualism through their unique method of reproduction.
"Capture them!" ordered the horse-ant.
"I will deal with the one in the back. You three deal with the two rushing us."
"Miwa back!" Gon said
"But—"
"Miwa back!" said Killua.
"I wanna fight too! Kite, I'm sorry but I'm kill stealing," said Miwa, already dashing forward. "Watch over Killua and Gon."
To Miwa's delighted relief, Kite agreed to watch. It wasn't fair that Gon and Killua got to do all the fighting.
"Entertain m—" chortled the horse-ant right up until Miwa ripped its head off, somersaulted in the air, and slammed it down onto the ground where it exploded like a smashed watermelon.
"Ta-da!" said Miwa, stepping out of the blue blood to take a bow as the rest of the body of the horse-ant crumbled to the ground.
Killua, who had already killed the ant he had been fighting, applauded her with a smile.
Gon finished up with his own ant shortly afterward, and Kite gave each of them an approving smile. "Well fought. Their nest should be nearby, so we'll continue to move out."
"Mn!"
(≧ڡ≦*)
Miwa sent out a clone to search the facility for the maps Chrollo wanted, while she, Gon, Killua, and Kite headed back out into the forest to hunt for the nest. Night had descended upon them, the moon climbing into the sky. It was pitch black except for the stars and moonlight, but the trees shielded most of that light. Miwa and Killua were completely silent as they walked through the forest, but Gon kept stepping on every twig and branch along the way. More than once he tripped and had to have Miwa catch him.
Miwa could hear a lot of creatures throughout the forest. Kite must have sensed them as well, because he warned the children that they were surrounded.
Suddenly, many of them converged upon the group, and a frog-ant jumped down from a great height in front of them.
The frog-ant said, "Let's decide order and methodology. As for our targets, you have three choices. One, decide the order in which you fight. Two, attempt ot escape. Three, give up and let us capture you. If you choose option one, you will fight one-on-one battles with us for a chance to survive. I don't recommend the second option. You'll anger us, resulting in a brutal capture and prolonged suffering for all of you. Option three is out of the question. That would anger us even more than option two. So what will you do?"
"We literally could not have asked for a better deal," said Kite. "One on one fights with their captains. We'll start with whoever is prepared to fight."
"I'll go," said Killua at the same time Gon said, "Me."
The two boys glared at each other, immediately starting a game of rock-paper-scissors that Gon won. Killua stuck his tongue out at Gon who gave him a cheeky grin.
Gon stepped up to the chimera ants. One of the ants said, "Well, we need to decide who to send from our side—"
Another ant shook some kind of wooden box and out popped a piece of paper with the number six on it.
"Six... Who's six?"
"Eheheh, lucky," chortled an armadillo-ant that waddled over to Gon.
Gon asked, "How is the victor decided?"
"Eh? That should be obvious. Whoever dies first loses."
Gon frowned at that. "We can't surrender?"
"What?! Are you crazy? If you lose, we'll feed you to our queen. If you don't defeat me, you're guaranteed to die."
"Yeah, I'm okay with that," said Gon. "But there's no need for you to die. If I beat you, I can't eat you. If you surrender, you'll live and have a chance to grow stronger. Then we can fight again."
"Gon," Miwa admonished.
"Shh. Let him have his fun," said Killua.
"What?" asked Gon, confused. "Don't you want to talk to them, Miwa?"
"I mean—yes—but—ugh—"
"If you surrender," Gon went on, "you have to promise to never eat another human."
The ants laughed.
"This guy isn't taking us seriously."
"What a joke!"
"He has more pep than any human I've seen."
"I'll kill you!" howled the armadillo-ant, curling into a ball and rolling at Gon. Gon jumped over it. The ant rolled again, but when Gon dodged again, the ant used its tail to alter its trajectory and body slammed Gon into a nearby tree. It stopped rolling, laughing as it taunted Gon. "Why are you so tough? By this point the rest were vomiting organs."
'Ew.'
"Heh. Doesn't matter, a few more rolls and you're done for," mocked the ant. "Kid, listen up. The main reason we kill humans isn't to eat them or feed them to the queen."
"Then why?"
"Because it's fun. I love the sound as humans vomit their organs with a plop! It's hilarious because it looks like barf."
"That's nasty," Gon politely told the ant.
"I'll make you vomit your own organs with a plop, then I'll do the same to your friends, hahaha!" The ant curled into a ball, rolling at Gon again, but that time Gon caught it.
"It's really gross," said Gon, squeezing the ant. "But if you like it so much—"
Gon popped the armadillo-ant, its organs and blood belching out of every orifice in a slimy drudge, effectively killing it.
Gon dropped the body. "Blech."
"Ewww, you've got ant blood on your shirt now," said Miwa.
"Aww man, I liked this shirt. Miwa, do you have any extra—"
Miwa was already pulling out one of her storage scrolls as Killua stepped up. Gon beamed, taking out an extra shirt.
"So much better," said Gon appreciatively after swapping shirts. "Thanks."
"My turn," said Killua, walking forward. "Who's fighting me?"
"Me," whispered Miwa.
"Eat," added Gon.
"Shut up," Killua said, scowling at both of them. The two friends just giggled.
Killua's fight with the next ant was over within minutes. Killua didn't even get a drop of blood on him, which he gloated about to Gon. Kite decided to fight third, but he used the opportunity to eliminate all the ants in the immediate area, satisfied the group could handle whatever came their way.
(≧ڡ≦*)
Killua sighed. "Gon if you trip on another branch—"
"Argh," said Gon as he tripped on another branch.
Miwa decided to just pick Gon up and carry him bridal-style. Gon pouted, putting his arms around Miwa's neck.
"You walk so loudly," Miwa scolded him.
"I'm not an assassin," Gon muttered petulantly.
"Kite isn't one either, but he's not tripping over every branch," Killua snorted derisively.
"He's an old man, he's got more experience than me!"
"... I'm not even thirty."
"Shh, shh," Miwa soothed. "There, there. Isn't it nice to be carried?"
Gon considered it. "Yeah."
"Do you want me to toss you?"
"Yes."
"What?" Killua's eyes widened. "I want to be tossed, too!"
"Perhaps," Kite hesitantly cut in, "we shouldn't toss anyone while we're trying to sneak through enemy territory on a time limit."
"Boo," said Gon. "Toss me later?"
"Okay," Miwa agreed.
Gon affectionately bumped his forehead against Miwa, then rested his chin on her shoulder. He peered at Killua walking behind them, an amused twinkle in his eyes. "Don't forget about your punishment, Killua."
"I haven't. I will," Killua grumbled.
"Punishment?" asked Miwa.
"Nothing," they said.
(≧ڡ≦*)
After a few more run-ins with other soldiers, the group finally found the nest. They reached the edge of a cliff, and overlooking that cliff was another forest. Further into that forest was a giant construction that stank of shit and mud.
"That's it," said Miwa, recalling that Kite said the ants would build their nest from feces. "That disgusting abomination is it."
"Gross," said Gon, pinching his nose. "I don't want to have to fight in that."
"What if our feet sink into it?" Miwa's face twisted in disdain. "Ugh, what if it's soft and warm...?"
"I doubt it'll be soft," scoffed Killua.
Gon cocked his head. "Maybe the fresher parts of it—"
"Ewwww!"
"Shh," scolded Kite. "Do you sense—"
He abruptly fell silent, his eyes widening.
"M-Monster," whispered Kite. "Killua, Gon, Miwa... run away."
"Huh?"
Miwa's ears twitched, she heard something whistling in the wind hurtling towards them—
"Get away—"
Miwa flickered forward, catching the clawed hand that had aimed for Kite's arm. There was enough force behind the swipe that Miwa was forced to dig her heels into the ground. It still knocked her back several feet, but she hadn't let go of the hand she had caught.
Kite sucked in a sharp breath from behind her, realizing exactly how close he had been to losing that arm... or worse.
The creature that had attacked yanked its hand away from Miwa, leaping back and crouching low.
"P-Pretty," Miwa whispered, her eyes widening at the chimera ant that appeared before them.
The ant had a humanoid shape like many of the others, but they were smaller and more refined. Indeed, had Miwa's nose not told her otherwise, she might have mistaken the chimera ant for a pretty human. The ant had wide, shiny red eyes that reminded Miwa an awful lot of Kurama's own red eyes. They had short, soft-looking, curly white hair, and two cute kitty ears on top of their head.
A cat tail waved lazily behind them, and a coy smiled curled their lips.
Miwa had been fond of using the word cute, but she thought pretty did that chimera ant more justice.
The hair on the back of Miwa's neck stood up as she felt Killua move. With frightening speed he rendered Gon unconscious and looked up at her.
Miwa hadn't seen Killua look so utterly frightened before since the Hunter Exam when he first fought his brother. There was a manic gleam in his eyes, a pale flush to his skin, and a sharpness in his movement. It only took one moment for her to see and understand.
She needed to get them out of there.
It didn't matter if she thought she could win the fight. Killua was afraid and he was her priority. She flickered to Kite, knocking him out from behind as she summoned hundreds of shadow clones to harass the new cat-ant.
Killua, with Gon over his back, reached for her and she held out her hand. He grasped it tightly, squeezing it as if to stop himself from trembling.
She hadn't placed many markers in the new country. She settled on the one just outside the country, teleporting the four of them to the tree she had marked. Kite was dropped down and Killua sat Gon down. He struggled to even his breathing out, his hands trembling.
Miwa held his hand, squeezing it to reassure him.
"It's okay now," she said quietly, moving closer. "We're out of the country."
Killua looked around. "Good."
"I'll stay here. If it can chase us this far, I'll teleport us to another country, but it'll be good to know how fast it can move," she said. "Do you want me to teleport you three someplace else?"
Killua swallowed roughly, straightening up but not letting go of her hand. "N-No. I'll stay with you."
"Don't push yourself—"
"I'm not."
"Okay," she said. The two stared out at the entrance to the country, the night sky their only source of light. There was no sound aside from the wind blowing through the leaves, and Killua slowly evening out his breathing.
His hand was sweaty, but it no longer trembled inside of Miwa's. Despite such, he didn't let go.
Miwa softly asked him, "Do you want to sit down?"
"Yeah. We'll be here a while, won't we?" he murmured, and the two carefully sat on the grass.
Miwa patted her thigh. "You can rest your head on my lap. I promise I'll wake you up if anything happens."
Maybe it went to show how tired Killua was, or how exhausting it was to be terrified, but the white-haired boy made no protest. He leaned down, placing his head in her lap. She soothingly began to play with his hair, slowly and methodically running her fingers through it.
'There, there,' she thought. 'I'll keep you safe, I promise.'
(≧ڡ≦*)
(Alternative)
'Kurama... I know they've sparked your interest, but they might be a danger to my dear ones. Would you be... opposed... to a bijū bomb?'
What? What kind of bullshit question is that? OF COURSE BOMB THEM.
'What—? But don't you sympathize with them because they're similar to you?'
FUCK SYMPATHY. Who the hell needs that? BOMB THE ENTIRE PLACE. FLATTEN IT. ANNIHILATE EVERYTHING WITH MY POWER. Let it rain fire. Let the ground split open. Let them quake in terror as we inflict a genocide unlike this world has ever seen.
'Uh—D—Do you want to take over?'
Yes. YES.
'Okay. Have fun.'
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. YEP. HERE WE GO. This is what life is about.
(Aaaaand the entire chimera ants are wiped from existence. End of arc. RIP best Beauty&Beast love story and best waifus Pitou&Pouf. T^T)
(≧ڡ≦*)
Killua's fight with that mosquito ant lady is so satisfying to watch. Episode 84 for anyone wanting to see it, or just YouTube it after this chapter. It's *chef's kiss* lovely.
Also, I'll be using gender neutral terms for Pitō per the manga. Pitō is one of my favorite characters in the series, so I'm very excited to finally include them. Prepare to see more of them in the next chapter. :)
Answer: Saeran Choi because I have been thrown into Mystic Messenger hell and I cannot escape. Send help before I buy the body pillow ;-;
Question: Who would you name as your loyal heir?
Reviews are love!