"You're awfully cute, and I'd really like to play with you, but your life is short and I don't want you to give up on everything you want."
I'm not worth it.
"Now everyone" Satotz called, "Please make sure to follow close behind me."
Everyone was running at almost the same pace, some panting. Everything was silent, save for the few crows cawing every now and then. The swamp was chilly. Not warm, but not exactly cold enough to flat out say it was cold.
The air felt thin and it was getting hard to breathe. Maybe the fog? The fog around us is what kept my mind from fogging up. Very grounding for some odd reason.
"The fog is getting even thicker as we go," Kurapika observed.
I nodded, and we all continued running.
"Hey, guys!" Gon called from up ahead, "Killua says we should all move up to the front of the pack!"
Leorio fumed, "You idiot! If I could reach the front I'd already be there!"
"Go ahead," Kurapika said.
"Just make it to the end and we'll find you!" I yelled as well.
The fog began to settle around us even more. The air felt even thinner and it was to the point where we couldn't even see a few feet in front of us clearly. Kurapika said something about the fog as well.
"It's alright, as long as we don't lose sight of the guys in front of us," Leorio stated.
Suddenly, the heads of the people in front of us fell off their shoulders. Their bodies disappeared as well. It made us stop running.
Leorio yelped, "What the hell is going on now!?" Big strawberries began to float towards us, surrounding the group of people we were around. "What is that!?" Leorio demanded.
A man stepped forward and towards the floating fruit and fell. He was suddenly yelling in the mouth of a weird creature that looked like a mix between a dinosaur and a turtle. Giant strawberries pierced by thorns adorned the shell of the creature.
Everybody began to yell and run as more creatures appeared. Leorio, Kurapika, and I remained still as the creatures began to surround us.
"Oh fuck..." I mumbled.
Leorio grabbed a big tree branch and Kurapika held up the wooden nunchucks he had. All I could do was raise my fists but it was something. We all got back to back, looking around us warily. A yell caught our attention. Leorio had placed the tree branch vertically in the creature's mouth as he was lifted up.
"Leorio!" Kurapika yelled.
The branch Leorio was grabbing onto was cracking. Once the creature realized the branch wasn't going to snap easily, it began swinging its head around. Leorio flung around along it, not having much of a choice.
"Kurapika! Go for its eyes!" I yelled, running to get closer.
Kurapika jumped up abnormally high and stabbed the creature in the eye. It roared loudly and dropped the branch. Leorio fell along with it.
I was close enough so I managed to catch Leorio. At least for a few seconds. The momentum knocked us both over. Kurapika dropped down after a few seconds.
"You two! Now's our chance, come on!" Kurapika yelled.
Leorio and I stood up and began to run away. It was pointless though, we were alone and had no idea where we were going.
"It looks like we lost sight of the front-runners," Kurapika stated.
Leorio cursed, "Which way should we go?"
I saw a shadow of a person a bit to our side. "There!" I called.
Leorio pulled me back though, "Hold on, look."
A group of people surrounded Pink Hair, all pointing weapons at him. "That's it then?" He asked the group, "You failed so now you want to play examiner? Hunters require prey, so why don't I play the examiner? All of you gentlemen claim to be hunter material, well I'll be the judge."
Pink Hair held up a card and the group surrounding him flinched back. Then, they all charged, all yelling and shouting. However, with one flick of Pink Hair's wrist and card, they all fell to the ground. All except one.
"Now then," Pink Hair said as he calmly walked to the remaining one. The remaining guy's knees gave out and he began to crawl away, fear more than evident on his face. It didn't last long, however, as Pink hair threw the playing card at him and embedded it into his head.
"Well?" Pink Hair said, turning and looking right at our group, "How about you three? Care to play examiner?"
Leorio and Kurapika were tense as Pink Hair made his way toward us.
"Alright you two," Kurapika said, "wait for my signal, then we run in opposite directions."
"We what?" Leorio questioned.
"The fact of the matter is," Kurapika explained, "He's far more experienced in actual combat situations. The three of us won't stand a chance against him. We're short on time, and we can't afford to waste more on a fight we can't even win."
Pink Hair continued to calmly walk towards us. A menacing aura surrounded him, making the atmosphere tense. The wind blew annoyingly as he walked to us. Pink hair propped a car between his fingers.
We waited for a few more seconds, then Kurapika yelled, "Now!"
We all ran. Leorio went left, and Kurapika went right, so I had no choice but to go backwards. I quickly lost sight of Kurapika and Leorio, but I heard shouts behind me.
One of them engaged in combat. Most likely Leorio, that bitch can't take no for an answer.
I was smart though. I kept running. If I had stayed or turned around to help, I would've only gotten in the way. I trust Leorio and Kurapika to take care of each other. All I have to do is make it to phase 2.
So I ran. I ran through trees, odd clearings, and more fog. Everything was quiet, which was unsettling. The fog certainly didn't help. The quiet only served to try and push my grasp of consciousness away.
I often felt like I was going to slip away and just start dissociating. I barely managed to pull through every time. To dissociate here would be awful. I likely wouldn't make it.
The fog was unbearable. Even though it didn't directly hurt me, it inconvenienced me greatly. It was a struggle to see. I tried to think of other things while running, but the fog kept seeping into my thoughts as well.
Eventually, the grass faded into a solid path and the fog began to clear. I was thankful, even if the change was small.
Further up the path were these two big gates connected to a wall. A group of people was already there, just like when we exited the tunnel. I looked around to see if everyone else was already there.
No Gon, no Kurapika, no Leorio. Gon's friend, Killua, was there though. I decided it was better to just talk to him.
"Hey, where's Gon?" I asked him.
"Dunno," he replied, arms crossed behind his head, "he was here, and then he wasn't. Who are you?"
"Another one of Gon's friends."
"Gon attracts new people like a flame attracts a moth."
"Tell me about it." I mumbled.
Pink Hair caught my eye. He sent a small wave and pointed toward a tree. Leorio was resting against the tree Pink hair pointed to. He seemed to be unconscious.
"You know Hisoka?" Killua questioned, sounding weary.
"Is that his name?" I asked, gently moving my head in Pink Hair's direction.
"Yeah," Killua sighed, calmer than before. With that, I made my way toward Leorio.
He had an ugly bruise on his jaw. It was the size of a person's fist.
So it was Leorio who stayed behind. An absolute idiot.
There wasn't much I could do for him, aside from just being there when he woke up. Which wouldn't be anytime soon by the looks of it. I sat down against a different part of the tree. Just waiting. I couldn't even work on my roller skates, Kurapika had the scrap.
I was really useless here. There was nothing I could do. Just like back in the swamp. I couldn't help my friends then either.
I was useless.
It was annoying.