I lean against the wall, sketching. It was great really, never had I seen such a strange group of people all together before. I wanted to get it all down on paper as fast as I could. Beside me my friend Saber was fiddling with some machine in his hands, as always. We were both slouched in the corner of the large room, totally out of our comfort zone. When we first entered we were greeted by glares from the rest of the candidates, and we both quickly scurried to get out of the way. The whole thing was pretty intimidating, especially since some of the people here didn't even look human!

So I did what I always do when I'm stressed, I drew. Right now I was trying to get the shape of this one girls hat correctly, it kind of looked like a mushroom and was yellow, and the girl had turquois hair if you could believe it. I was relieved to find another girl taking the exam, from what I could see so far there was only maybe two or three more. Well, I couldn't be sure since some of the contestants were just so weird looking I couldn't really tell their gender… like what was up with that guy with all the pins in him?! What was this, Frankenstein?!

"I hate clowns." I mumble under my breath as my eyes travel around the crowd, landing on the tall red head clown guy. He was just plain creepy.

"Join the club." Saber mutters beside me, looking up from his tinkering. We both silently stare at the crowd, a growing sense of unease settling on us.

"We're surrounded by freaks." We both say at the same time.

oOoOo

Thirty minutes or so goes by, and I was nearly done drawing my picture. Saber had given up on tinkering for now and was trying to find a comfortable position to take a short nap, which was kind of hard seeing as he was trying to huddle on the cold hard cement floor.

A sound echo's through the room and at the same time as everyone else I raise my eyes to the elevator doors as they open. They open to reveal to my surprise, a young looking kid in green with a… fishing pole?! Behind him was a boy…(I think) who looked maybe just a little older than me with blond hair wearing a strange blue cloth over his clothes, and a tall man with a suitcase and a business suit on. They step out of the elevator, the businessman looking suspiciously around at the crowd, and the blond boy warily gazed at us. The little kid in green just looked curious.

Soon enough that annoying guy from before walks over to them. Saber and I share a look. That was the same guy from before who had offered us juice. We had both politely declined, because hey, it was the hunter exams, what's to say that the juice wasn't spiked or something? Only an idiot would take it. And for some very, very strange reason, every time I looked at the guy, I felt like I knew him. No idea why.

I sigh as I watch the three take the drinks from him. For their sakes I hope it really was just juice, even if I didn't know them I couldn't help but worry for the kid. Ah, there I go again. Sometimes I was just too nice for my own good, they weren't my problem.

But to my surprise the kid suddenly spits out his drink, startling Tonpa. I raise an eyebrow. I couldn't hear what they were saying from here but I notice the other two follow the kid's example, as the tall guy spits out his drink too and the blond one just calmly pours it on to the floor.

Quietly I return to my sketchbook, quickly starting to sketch an outline of the three to add to the picture. They seemed interesting.

The minutes tick by; the only sound between me and my friend is the gentle scratch of pencil on paper and Saber's snoring. I had to keep nudging him since he kept leaning on my shoulder, until I eventually gave up and let him use me as a pillow. Annoying gear head.

But the peace and quiet is suddenly disturbed as a horrifying scream rips through the air. Saber instantly bolts awake, slamming his head into the wall behind him. I can hear him muttering curses as he clutches his head but I ignore him, staring in horror at the scene before us. I couldn't tell what was going on at first, but the corwd parts and I soon wish it hadn't as I get a good view of a guy in pain. His arms were… turning into…petals?!

Saber stops cursing as he also catches glance of the guy.

"Ah, how strange his arms turned into petals." The clown freak says, calmly watching the poor man squirm in pain. "You should be careful, it's polite to apologize when you bump into someone."

Saber and I glance at each other, both of us sharing the same horrified expression.

My eyes trailing back to the clown guy who had a large sadistic grin on his face, a chill running down my spine. What the actual hell?!

Things to return to normal, well as normal as they can, after a few minutes and I return to my drawing, and Saber returns to busying himself with his tools and gadgets. He had a black belt with pockets full of little bit of machinery which he used to make whatever he felt like. Right now he was trying to fix a broken radio. After what we both just witnessed I was guessing he probably didn't feel very sleepy.

"Cool!"

Startled I glance up from my sketchbook, and Leo nearly drops the radio. In front of us is the green kid from before.

"That's me!" He points enthusiastically at my sketchbook where I was just finishing up the final touches. I had drawn as much of the crowd as I could, including those three, I had even added colour.

Busted.

I sheepishly nod my head. "Yah, I'm drawing the whole crowd…"

But the kid didn't look mad at being drawn, rather he looked excited. "It's so good! Can I get a better look?"

Surprised I nod, and hand over the sketch book where he excitedly stares at the page, his smile growing wider. Suddenly he turns around and yells to his two friends.

"Kurapika! Leorio! Come see this!"

"Uh…" I nervously watch as the two come over to us, confusion on their faces as the kid excitedly waves the sketchbook at them. They were numbered from 403, to 404, and 405. I was number 387, and Saber was 388. The only reason we had made it here was because we had randomly spotted these three big guys choking this poor kid. Of course we ran in to help, but turns out that the four were actually part of the hunter exam, and they were doing tests to see who would make good candidates for the hunter exam. We were lucky, the only reason we had gone down that path was because we had gotten lost…I'm really bad at reading maps…anyways they had brought us to this weird restaurant and voilo! We had made it.

"Look at what she drew, it's so good!" Gon exclaims.

…Awww…I like this kid.

"Woah, you drew this?" Leorio says, eyes widening as he stares at the paper. "It looks almost like a photograph!"

My cheeks are slowly turning red, not used to so much praise. "Um…"

"It is rather well drawn." Kurapika comments. I smile embarrassed and turn away, I'm not very good at taking compliments. But at least now I knew that he was definitely a guy from his voice.

Gon turns to me. "Hey, hey can you draw me a picture sometime?"

I blink in surprise. "Uh, sure."

He cheers. "Thanks! My name is Gon by the way."

I was warming up to him. It was kind of hard to tell why but this kid was just so damn likable. "I'm Talin, and mr. gear head over here is Saber." I introduce, pointing a thumb at Saber who until now had just been observing the conversation.

"Yo." He waves a hand in greeting, and Gon just smiles wider.

"What are you making?" He asks.

Saber gets a giant grin on his face and I roll my eyes, I knew that look. "A radio! I'm trying to fix it since some of it's part are broken, but I don't have the correct parts. But I can easily make them just by…" And he soon started rattling off about machine parts and different types of metal and blah blah blah. I raise an eyebrow as poor Gon's face. I could tell he was trying to keep up with what Saber was saying but I could practically see steam coming out of his ears as he brain started to fry. Both Kurapika and Leorio just stared at Saber confusion on their face.

After letting him babble for a minute, I quickly raise my sketchbook and hit him in the head with it.

"Hey!"

"You're doing that thing where you don't speak English." I calmly explain, resting my chin in my hand.

This time it's Saber's turn to roll his eyes. But before he can spit out a retort a strange screeching noise fills the room. We all turn to the back of the room where one of the walls was starting to go up, revealing a man. A really weird man. He had pink hair, and a mustache, and…

"Uh…does that guy not have a mouth?!" Saber whispers to me, and I shrug, just as confused as he was.

"I apologize for the long wait, as of now the entry period for candidates has ended. We will now begin the hunter exam!" He announces, and everyone tenses up. "A final warning, those who are low on luck or ability could easily end up injured or even dead over the course of the exam. Those who are willing to take the risks, please follow me. Anyone else can leave via the elevator." And with that said he turns around and starts to walk off. He was talking so he did have a mouth…right?

Quickly I grab my sketchbook and pencil case and stuff the things into my dark blue messenger bag. Quickly slipping the thing over my shoulder I join the others and we start to follow the weird guy into the tunnel. No one had gone back to the elevator.

"This is going to end well." I mutter sarcastically.

oOoO

FUCK. I know the exam was going to be hard but…just fuck! We had already been running for what felt like hours and I just really felt like collapsing. Either that or strangling someone.

I knew Saber felt the same way as me as we both try to keep pace with the others. We were both good runners, and we hadn't fallen behind yet, but still I really wasn't prepared for this. Ugh. We didn't know much, beside what the examiner had told us, which was that his name was Satotz and that he was leading us to the second round of the exam. Which meant that this was the first.

I kept my eyes trained on the crowd in front, making sure not to slow down. I knew that if I stopped I probably wouldn't be able to start again. I had a long, dark blue cardigan with no buttons, which was tied around my waist. I was wearing a light blue tang top, and black cargo pants, paired with green sneakers. While Saber was wearing a jean vest, unbuttoned on top of a red t-shirt, and had a pair of jeans on. He had red sneakers., and of course his black tool belt. I had lost track of where the new guys we met had gone, but I guessed they would be okay. I hope. All I knew was that I was getting sick of this stupid tunnel.

It also sucked that we didn't know how far we had to run. For all we knew it could be days until we reached the end, and I knew I would definitely fail if that happened. And I was actually bored out of my mind! I couldn't even chatter with Saber to keep the boredom at bay since we both didn't have the energy to waste on idle chatter. I was wondering if I should leave my bag behind…but I don't think I could part with it. The contents of the bag, and the bag itself had been with me for a couple of years and were actually a precious gift. No way could I leave them behind.

I glance around tiredly, and I spot someone in near the front of the crowd. Oh, it was that white haired kid. His name was…Killua I think? He was running besides Gon, his hands on his skateboard. I couldn't help but smile; at least Gon had found someone his own age, that was nice. When we first met him I couldn't help but share Leorio's annoyance at the kid on the skateboard. I wish I had had a skateboard! But after learning Gon' age the kid had decided to run too, maybe he wasn't so bad.

Not much had happened since then, besides finding out that Leorio was 19. That little bit of news had been pretty shocking, and Leorio did not seem very happy with me when I had yelled "NO WAY!" in surprise. But come on, the guy did not look like he was 19! He looked like an adult!

OoOoO

Another hour goes by, and I felt like my legs were about to fall off. Leo wasn't doing much better, I could hear him breathing raggedly behind me. We were both starting to fall back and I couldn't help the anger and despair inside me. Dammit, were we already going to fail? Wow, we couldn't even pass the first test. Pathetic. How the hell were we supposed to even look Jett in the eyes if we couldn't even make it that far?

I'm suddenly snapped out of my depressing thoughts when I hear a strange noise coming behind me. And it was getting louder.

"RRRRAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

I couldn't help but let out a shriek of fear when I see something rush right between Saber and me, nearly barreling us over. Both Saber and I stare in shock, our eyes wide as we watch Leorio of all people barreling through the crowd.

"I WONT GIVE UP! I'M GOING TO BECOME A HUNTER!"

Saber and I look over at each other, and we both smirk.

"If Leorio won't lose…" Saber starts to say.

"Then we won't either!" I finish, and with that said we both start to run fast. Adrenaline rushing though my veins I follow Leorio's example and we both rush past the other contestants, screaming.

"WHHHOOOOOOO!"

In the corner of my eye I see a flash of blonde and blue as we rush past Kurapika who is staring at us, eyes wide. I flash him a smirk as we pass him.

"See ya at the finish line blondie!"