Kira ~
I woke up to daylight streaming into my room. Wait, my room?!
I looked around and realised I was in my cabin on board the airship. How did I get here? Last night's events came flooding back to me. I must've fallen asleep.
While with Hisoka? At this point, I couldn't believe my own stupidity. How could I have let myself fall asleep beside someone I barely even know? Especially a psychopath who was more or less likely to slit my throat without blinking.
Except he didn't. And he isn't really a psychopath, is he?
Recalling from last night, he was capable of feeling human emotion. Maybe not like most people, but he certainly did, in his own way.
Wait... if he brought me back here...
That clown, he better not have tried anything... weird.
I pulled aside the covers, revealing that I was still in the same black shorts and tank top from yesterday. I looked up and saw my leather jacket draped over the chair.
My knives!
Quickly, I checked for the knives strapped to my waist, left thigh, and right ankle, then the ones hidden on the inside of my jacket. To my relief, all thirteen of them were there. Thank god.
But as I reached my hand into my jacket pocket, I found something else. A single playing card. Ace of Hearts. I smiled, recalling last night's phenomenon. Taped to the back, was a little note, with a weirdly drawn smiley face. Right underneath it, was what I presumed to be Hisoka's phone number, signed off with a "H" and a tiny heart. I scoffed. Seriously? I slid the card and note back into my pocket. Who knows? It might come in useful one day.
I glanced at my cellphone, realising we were about to land soon. Hurriedly, I flung on my jacket, laced up my combat boots, and headed out towards the meeting room. Phase Three of the Hunter Exam was about to begin, and I was keen.
Hisoka ~
The airship dropped us off on top of a tower. It seemed the objective of this task was to reach its base within seventy two hours. Doesn't seem too hard. But I do hope I get a couple good fights.
Pathetically, within seconds I was hit with my first challenge. How do I even get into this tower?
I looked around at the other candidates for clues. Then I noticed Illumi wasn't among them. Then that must've meant... he found a way in! That sneaky bastard! Wouldn't even spare a minute to help a friend! But how? How did he get in?
Feeling a light tap on my shoulder, I turned around to see Kira smiling cryptically at me. "Watch and learn."
With that, she took a step back, and the tile she stood on gave away like a trapdoor. I gaped dumbly as she disappeared into the tower.
Oh, so that's how you get in.
Kira ~
In the first hour of wandering through the tower, I didn't encounter a single person, not even another candidate. That's strange.
Shrugging it off, I kept walking, keeping an eye out for traps or enemies. Soon enough, I reached the first obstacle. Upon entering through a doorway, I heard an eery cackle echo through the vast chamber. At that, I considered turning back, as I already had an evil clown in my life, and wasn't in desperate need of another. Annoyingly, the heavy stone door grated shut behind me. I guess that limits my options.
Proceeding further into the room, I noticed that the only sources of light came from the torches on either side of the doorway behind me, casting dim blue glows. Anything beyond that point was pitch black. I tried to hack the torches off the wall, but they wouldn't come off. That left me no other choice than to navigate in the dark. I concluded that whatever creature was waiting for me in the shadows was likely nocturnal, so it was safe to assume that its eyes must have been fully adjusted. This complicates things a bit. Realising my disadvantage, I treaded onwards with more caution.
"Come catch me..."
I spun around towards the voice.
"Come and play..." I turned again, the voice coming from a different direction. How did it get behind me?
I didn't hear any footsteps, so how was this thing getting around?
"Behind you..." The taunt came again. I spun and threw a knife in the direction of the voice. To my satisfaction, I heard the sound of steel piercing flesh, followed by a shriek of pain.
Carefully, I approached my target, finding it lying motionless, milky white eyes wide open in shock. It's blind... so that means... it relied on sound. What is it exactly? This creature seemed somewhat human, though its gangly, disproportionate limbs, gnarled claws and sickly grey skin told me otherwise. I pulled my knife out of its chest, the inky black blood staining the blade. Perhaps it was a hybrid of some sort...
I gasped as I felt a sharp pain rip through my lower leg. Gleeful cackling filled the chamber. What the hell? I glanced down and saw deep red gashes along the side of my calf. Scratch marks.
So there's more than one. That's annoying. Two? Three? No, that would be too simple. I'm guessing there are more than five of them, at least.
I drew more knives, preparing for another attack. Now that I knew these creatures relied on sound, I used Zetsu to muffle my footsteps and conceal my aura, before proceeding. I just have to make it past them, to the other door.
After what seemed like hours of fumbling in the dark, I collided into a cold hard surface. My spirits soared, as I realised it was a door. Except, much to my disappointment, it wouldn't open. What did I expect? Then, I noticed a line of script etched into the stone, glowing faintly, slowly lighting up in blue. "Collect all twelve dog tags to proceed."
Dog tags? No way... Do I seriously need to kill all of them? And there are twelve?
Sighing, I turned back, annoyed to be heading in a rather counterproductive direction. Back we go again...
"Come play with us!" One of the creatures called out enthusiastically, yet in the creepiest way imaginable.
"I'd rather not, but it seems like I have to," I replied, intentionally revealing my location. I closed me eyes, and focused my En. As I couldn't see in the dark, and these things seemed to move without making sound, my only option was to detect their auras.
Shortly enough, I felt a malicious aura approach me at an rapid speed. It's on my right. In one swift movement, I drew a knife and slashed at the creature. Judging from the hissing, choking noise, I had successfully slit its throat, and it was now quite literally drowning in its own blood. I felt a strangely pleasant, but evil elation course through me. So this is hunting.
More of them started coming at me. One to my left, and one in front. I swung my blades in the respective directions, bringing down three more. Four down. A wicked sensation engulfed me, as I began to enjoy this task more and more, with each monster I killed. Soon I found myself dancing in a blood storm. Nine, ten, eleven. Sensing another presence behind me, I released a knife.
Headshot. That makes twelve.
Hisoka ~
As I entered the chamber, green candles lit up along the circular wall, illuminating a scar-faced man sitting before me. I think I might know this guy...
"I've been waiting for you, Hisoka." The man slowly looked up at me, grinning. He seems to know me. Where do I know him from?
"I'm not an examiner this year," the man continued, "I'm here for revenge."
Huh? What did I do to him?
"Ever since the last exam, all I've thought about is killing you."
Damn, this is one unforgiving fellow.
"And today I get payback, for all the scars you gave me!" He bellowed, brandishing his blades.
Then it hit me. Ah, right! He was that unworthy examiner from last year. I thought I had already killed him. Oh well, more fun for me.
"Those scars are but a symbol of your incompetence as an examiner." I chuckled lightly. "Don't blame me for your inadequacies."
Those words seemed to anger him. "Now prepare to die!"
Out of nowhere, he drew another two blades, throwing them, before charging towards me with another two. That's funny, he upgraded. I flipped backwards, dodging the first knife, but the second one clipped me along the shoulder. At that, he became more fired up, hurling his knives at me again and again. I swerved and jumped in various angles, avoiding the spinning blades. Another knife made a gash in my side. That's annoying.
"Up! Down! Left! Right! You've got nowhere to run!" The man gloated, clearly too happy with himself. "You're gonna be cut up from every angle by my endless barrage of blades! You can't dodge my attacks forever. I'm gonna have you writhing in pain, and I'll savour every second!"
This man really overestimated himself. How utterly foolish.
He hurled two of the blades towards me, before charging in with the other two. "And then you'll die, Hisoka!"
Immediately, the smugness was wiped from his face, replaced by an expression of shock, as I caught the two knives he threw. That's more like it.
"Dodging your attacks would've been difficult, you're right." I grinned, licking the blade. "Stopping your blades however..."
I slowly advanced on him. Ah, is that fear I sense?
"My, my, that was easier than expected." I smiled. "Nice try, but it wasn't good enough."
The man bellowed in anger. Don't worry, this time I'll finish you off for good. So you won't have to live with the shame anymore. With that, I sliced off his head with a clean swing of his own blade. I guess karma's a bitch.
~~~~
Hi guys, thanks for reading! Honestly I don't expect anyone to have read past the first chapter, so I don't know why I'm even writing this.
* Zetsu is a Nen technique to conceal your aura, and En is to expand the perimeter of your aura, allowing you to detect anything that comes within it.
I'll try updating more often though, now that my assessments are over, and I've got more time. I'm actually really keen to get into the backstories of Kira, and especially Hisoka.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and hit the vote it you did. Always open for feedback and suggestions :)
~ krypto