This is set in an AU where Gon never met Killua and is not a Hunter. Nen does not exist but both Gon and Killua never really needed Nen to be exceptionally strong, now did they? ;)

Disclaimer for the whole story. I don't own these characters. But, I do love them.

Chapter 1

Gon glanced around curiously at the battered scenery, taking in every detail he could. The city he had wandered into while searching for his father loomed around him. Every home, store, and sidewalk had been empty, with not a soul in sight.

He could tell that this wasn't a recent phenomenon either. The structures around him showed the years of apparent neglect, chipping paint, shattered pavement, piles of rubble in front of gaping holes in walls. Not to mention that every single window was broken, it was like someone had come through with a sledge hammer and attacked any and all panes of glass.

The sheer size of this ghost town was overwhelming. He felt so small and out of place here, he wished he was back in the woods he had emerged from two miles ago. But he told himself to keep going. If there is something bad in the way, there is always something worthwhile on the other side. He was assuming that it would have something to do with the large tree that could be seen on top of a distant hill.

Gon sighed and continued through the city. His footsteps would have echoed off the sides of the buildings had it not been for the fact that he was quieting them. He was highly skilled at hunting, and hiding his presence was just a small part of that. The biggest reason he hid his steps now was because his quiet footsteps reminded him of the empty space beside him. He had found himself with a sense of loneliness lately. And he did not like that feeling. His happy, childish demeanor didn't understand loneliness. He tended to feel the need to share his good nature with other people.

Not that he was alone, there were always people near like his aunt Mito and his grandmother. And he never had trouble making new friends wherever he went, it just felt as if something was missing. Like an essential part of his life had never appeared and he was only just now feeling the effects of it. He had thought that maybe if he could find the father that had left him when he was young that the void feeling would flee him.

That was one of the reasons that he had gone off in search of his father. It had taken a bit of convincing to receive Aunt Mito's blessing, but, it had helped that he was already sixteen with a fast approaching birthday. Also that he had enhanced senses from living in nature since he was young that made him stronger and more alert than your average person.

He had been left with few clues on his father's whereabouts but, if he followed this cold trail long enough then it would eventually warm. He just had to go about it quickly. He picked up the pace a little.

The day was warm and the air was crisp. The sun shone brightly, sharpening the shadows around the buildings. It gave a whole new sense of forbidding. There was something else. One more thing that seemed to be missing. Something that every other place had. Smells. The entire city was vacant of any and all scents. There was absolutely nothing. At least nothing that he could pick up.

Wait.

A cool breeze gathered itself up and ghosted by him, bringing with it the odor of blood.

Fresh blood.

With a new sense of urgency he began running towards the origin. What was it? Was someone in trouble? The scent was gathering strength as he approached a darker part of the city. He could feel a faint presence around the corner and went towards it. He found himself in a darkened alleyway but the darkness didn't faze him. He followed the scent trail directly through the side door of a large building and braved the dark maze of halls inside.

He didn't even stop once to think about what might possibly be hiding in or around the building. His only concern was finding the bleeding presence. Gon could tell that there were great amounts of blood involved. Any other person though, would not have been able to even tell that anything was off. His enhanced sense of smell excluded him from that category.

The halls had been a white color at one point, but they had not seen that shade in a long time. Now they were a faded beige-brown color with paint peeling away from the walls in thin, flaky waves. The floor boards shouted out in protest even to Gon's light step, warning that they may give out. In a few spots the floor had completely giving up and was sagging dangerously low.

The presence was strong now. He opened one last door and found himself in front of a male figure slumped down against a wall. He seemed to be about Gon's age, with shaggy silver hair and porcelain skin. His build was lanky but powerful, his clothes were dark, including a navy blue turtle neck and dark gray shorts coming down to his knees. Gon's eyes lingered on the strangers face for a second.

Though his eyes were closed, Gon could see dark eye lashes that would outline whatever color that lay hidden underneath, it would make the color pop, directing the eye to them. His porcelain skin looked as if it belonged to a china doll that had never left the safety of a display shelf. It was clean and glowing despite the place it was in. The couture's of his face were soft and gentle, unlike the usual sharp and angular face's that gave the wearers a masculine look. Gon was a bit taken aback by the soft feminine beauty of the male.

But it didn't last long. He had come to find the origin of the blood and he did. At the male's sides lay his arms. At each wrist long deep gashes had been made, severing the major blood arteries. Puddles of blood had formed under the wrists and were gradually growing. The nails on the hands were caked in blood that was quickly drying in the crisp air.

Gon rushed to the male's side, his foot kicked something and he struggled to un-shoulder his bag quickly. Time rushed by faster than he could handle. Every second counted as crimson life leaked from the person. He violently ripped the zipper of his backpack down and tossed things out frantically. He threw them on the ground, unconcerned of the state they landed in.

"Yes!" He said out loud as his hand grasped what he had been looking for. It was a small, palm sized sewing kit. His aunt Mito had given it to him for his tenth birthday and shown him how to sew up his clothes. The reason being that every time he would come home from the woods there would be a new hole to repair in his jacket or shorts from an exceptionally sharp thorn bush. At some point Mito had stopped waiting for Gon to ask and would just have her own kit ready when he returned. He would have to thank her again for teaching him. It might just save a life.

He opened the kit and his heart sunk. There were three kinds of needles but not a single thread in sight. It took him only a moment to recover. He redirected his attention to his bag. He dug around for about five seconds more before stopping abruptly. He had completely emptied his bag. He must have thrown his extra fishing spool out when he was looking for the sewing kit. It was hard enough to tell the rubble from his shoe and he didn't have time to look for it.

He ripped the seam in his shorts and pulled out some thread. He had previously added to the length of them, making the legs just reach his knees. He hadn't been fond of the length anyways. He would have ripped his jacket, had he not have let a much more needy orphan boy from the last town have it to keep warm at night. Now all he wore was a black tank top and previously long shorts.

He threaded the chosen needle with the green thread and got to work repairing the broken skin and tried his best to stop the bleeding. He applied pressure above the wound as he poked through the skin and pulled the thread through. He finished the first wrist and moved on to the other. He quickly sealed that gash too.

He did not let go of the wrists though. He held them tightly to hopefully stop any further bleeding. He must have sat there for ten minutes, fully concentrated on the task at hand. He didn't know if he had ever been that focused before. In that time he noticed that, despite the hot blood leaking from the wounds, his skin was cool to the touch. Not unpleasantly so, more like refreshingly cool ice on a summer day. It was most likely from blood loss but Gon felt that even if this person was in good health his skin would be pale and chilled.

When the blood had ceased for five minutes straight he released his iron grip and sat back on his heels. His hands were caked in blood now. Both of their hands were. It was obvious to Gon now that this boy had slashed his own wrists. He must have felt down right miserable to have made such a bold choice. He must have thought death to be a refuge and refused to live in this world any more, yet Gon had taken that choice away from him and saved him.

Or did he?

Gon tentatively reached up to the male's throat and felt for a pulse, at the same time he listened intently for a heartbeat. Seconds passed when a weak pulse and a faint thump rewarded his efforts. He was still alive. Thank god. His aunt Mito had once told him 'Life is precious.' He felt that if he had left this person to die then he would be wasting a precious life. He could never let someone do that, especially with their own life. He would find a way to make this person value their life.

Gon pulled his hand away and saw the bloody mark he had left there. He looked at it curiously for a second and then grouped around the floor, replacing items in his bag as he went. He threw a few pieces of rubble into a distant corner so that he wouldn't mistake them for his things again when he found what he was looking for.

It was a small towel no bigger than his hand. He realized now that he could have used it to help stop the bleeding earlier but it had previously slipped his mind that he had even owned one. He took it now and wiped away the crimson mark he had left on the male's throat. He then wiped the male's fingernails and wrists. A black rectangle of rubble had found its way under the long finger nails but Gon simply wiped it away. Finally he wiped his own hands on the soiled cloth. He rid himself of the majority of the blood, and discarded the used cloth.

He returned to repacking his things when he happened across a phone. Gon did not own a phone. It was flipped open and the screen was black, so he pushed a random button, bringing the screen to life. Light poured out from it and he knew that he shouldn't but the black on white text jumped up and pulled his attention to itself. Before he could stop himself he was already halfway through the message.

Stop running, I see your every movement. Not only was there a tracker in your discarded phone, there is one in your person. Give up and come home. I will be there in two hours to take you home whether you want to come or not.

Gon looked at the time stamp and saw that it had been received about an hour and a half ago. He had thirty minutes to escape with the pale stranger.

He snapped the phone shut and shoved it deep in his pocket. He took the last item to be packed (his fishing pole) and pushed it down the side of his bag as far as it could go. He hoisted the green bag over his shoulder with the fishing pole sticking up a foot or so into the air.

He looked down at the silver haired boy. He was still unconscious so Gon would have to carry him. He could have carried him on his back had it not been for his fishing pole, but there was another solution. He leaned over and slid his hands under the boy's knees and shoulders. He stood and couldn't help but notice how light the boy's body was. It was like he was carrying a sack of feather down. But, even though he was light, Gon could feel the lean muscles of his shoulders and legs. He suspected that the he was actually incredibly strong.

He walked to the doorway, turned sideways, and edged out slowly and carefully so as not to bump the pale boys legs or arms against the wooden door frame. Without incident he made his way around the most dry-rotted parts in the floor that also served as a short cut to the basement. When they finally made it to the alleyway they had already wasted nine of their thirty minutes.

Twenty one minutes to go.

Gon retraced his steps to the forest he had come from as quickly as he could without jostling the male about too much. He knew that the text had said that there was a tracking device on the silver-haired boy but he didn't care. He would not abandon him. If he could maybe hide him somewhere and just confront the enemy then he might be able to save him.

He didn't take the time or speed to silence his footsteps. One reason was that time was of the essence. Another was that he didn't need to. He had someone with him that would temporarily chase the loneliness away. Even if he was unconscious. The echoes now were almost like music as his feet thumped on the broken pavement.

At the pace he had set for himself he could probably have loped on for the rest of the day, but he only needed to reach the forest which was beginning to loom in to sight.

Ten minutes to go.

After only being able to smell blood for so long the scent of nature seemed more wonderful than it had ever been. Birds sang, animals foraged for food. He took a deep breath and let the scents gather. After the brief respite he directed his attention to the trees. He needed a good spot to hide the male.

He doubted that in a tree was a good spot. He might fall out in his unconscious state. So he needed a good safe spot to leave him. He looked around some more as he jogged through the brush.

Suddenly he felt a shift in the air and he immediately hid his presence. The birds had stopped singing and the squirrels had stopped scurrying. He felt a sinister aura approaching from in front of him. It hadn't even bothered trying to hide its presence as it rushed through the brush. Gon felt a jolt of fright spin through him. He needed a place to hide, now.

He looked around frantically for a spot. He spotted a large hollowed out dead tree. He had seen it earlier but the gouged markings of a bear had warded him off. It was mating season and they were especially viscous at this time. But he was desperate.

He dashed silently over to the tree and carefully pushed the boy in upright (he wouldn't be able to fit any other way) but he was having a bit of difficulty. His limp body refused to go into the tree. The presence was almost upon them, they had no time for this!

Gon, still holding the pale boy upright by holding him under his armpits, pulled himself into the hole first and then pulled the boy in and pushed him into the side so that he wasn't in front of the hole. They were squished into the tree with their noses practically touching.

The presence was only a few feet away and was quickly closing the distance. Right at that moment the other male's eyes fluttered open.

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