Chapter 1

New X Friends X Await!

A girl stood at the side of the room. She was with other participants and they were all waiting to start the Hunter Exam. She had her arms crossed and her foot rested against the wall. She had long black hair that flowed down her back, two braided strands in the front. Her eyes were icy blue and fixed on the ground. She wore a black long sleeve shirt, a grey t-shirt that had a collar and black leggings. There was a light grey tie hanging loosely around her neck. It had a light blue circle on the end with a black diamond in the middle; making it look like a serpent or cat's eye. She looked up when she noticed another three participants walk in. There was a tall man with a suit and black hair, a...boy...with blonde hair, and a boy with green hair. She narrowed her eyes as they stood in front of her, not seeming to notice the small girl's presence. A short, chubby man walked up to them.

"You four seem new here! I'm Tonpa! Here, have these," The man said as he held out drinks.

"Uh...Four?" the kid with green hair asked as he recounted his little group, finally noticing the girl.

"Oh, hello," the guy with black hair said. The girl pushed off from the wall and took the drink. Tonpa then introduces some of the other regulars, Such as Bourbon the Snake Charmer, Todo the Wrestler, The Amori brothers, Cherry, and Geretta he huntsman. The girl put the drink to her mouth, pausing for a second as she glared at the man. She turned it over and dumped it onto the ground.

"Wh-What was that for?!" Tonpa asked, slightly jumping back. The other three took the drinks and began drinking, the one with green hair quickly spitting his out. He tasted something. Tonpa apologized before walking away.

"Hey! There you are! I've been looking all over for you! Why did you walk off from me?!" A kid with white hair yelled as he walked over. He frowned at the dark-haired girl as he stood in front of her and they met eye for a second. He seemed to blush for a second before giving her a swift chop to the head. She winced as she rubbed her head.

"6That was for leaving, the white-haired boy said as he crossed his arms then looked to the other three.

"Hi! I'm Gon and I'm twelve! How old are you?" the green-haired boy asked with a grin and a wave.

"Hey, I'm Killua and I'm twelve," the boy with white hair said as they shook hands.

"I'm Leorio and this is Kurapika," the man in the blue suit said. They turned to the girl who was looking away.

"That's Nyoka. She's the same age," Killua said. The brunette turned to the group.

"Hi," she nodded before turning away again.

"Not much of a talker, huh?" Leorio asked. Killua shook his head and Nyoka rolled her icy eyes. Suddenly, everyone began moving; Killua and Gon running to the front to race. Nyoka stayed back with Kurapika and Leorio for a second before running to join them.

"Why are you running?" she asked.

"We just wanted to race!" Gon said with a smile. Nyoka sighed as she shook her head. Killua looked back at her for a second as they ran. He noticed her look up at him then quickly moved his gaze to Statoz, the examiner. They were moving through the tunnel for a long time. They eventually had to fall behind as Leorio wasn't doing so good. They waited for him then checked to make sure he was ok. Nyoka kept watching the people around them, or rather the amount of them. There seemed to have been many people dropping out early. They got back to moving as soon as Leorio was fine.

"So...Why are you two taking the hunter exam?" Kurapika asked.

"It just sounded like fun," Killua said with his hands in his pockets and a shrug. They turned to Nyoka.

"I'm with Killua. I have to go wherever he goes," she said.

"You got yourself a very loyal girl, Killua," Leorio said with a grin. Killua turned to Nyoka who was thankfully not looking. She did, in fact, hear and lost her footing, tripping but quickly recovering. Killua sighed.

"She's not my..." Killua said, unable to finish his sentence. Nyoka stayed silent, softening her eyes that were trained on the floor.

Later...

Nyoka and the others watched as they walked through the light at the end of the tunnel. Literally! They were outside, catching their breath. A lot of participants had dropped out, making it easier for the group to pass.

"The Milsy Wetlands, also known as Swindler's Swamp. We must cross it to reach phase two of the exam. This place is home to a variety of truly bizarre animals, many of them are crafty and voracious animals, so please, be careful. If you are deceived, you'll surely die," Statoz said to everyone. Nyoka rolled her eyes as many of the remaining participants gasped.

"These wetland creatures are not to be underestimated for they will use every trick in the book to fool their prey. This is an ecosystem in which all creatures hunt by the art of perception and that is why it is also known as Swindler's Swamp. Now then, please follow me closely so you won't be deceived." Statoz continued as he turned around. More gasps were heard.

"Tch. Is he messing with us? If we know they're trying to deceive us, who's going to fall for it?" Leorio said with a cocky grin.

"Don't fall for it!" a man said as he walked out from around the corner. Nyoka and Killua narrowed her eyes. "He's lying...That man has lied to you!" he pointed to Statoz. "He's an imposter, a total fraud! I'm the real examiner, you got it?!" The man yelled.

"So the deceiving weasel has come out to play, huh?" Nyoka said as she crossed her arms and kept her eyes trained on the man. Gon assumed she was talking about Statoz. The others began freaking out.

"Imposter?! What's going on here?!" Leorio yelled.

"Tch..." Nyoka said.

"I'll prove it! Look at this!" The man pulled out a beaten up monster from behind the corner. The remaining participants gasped, except for Nyoka.

"Oh, woah! He looks like Mister Statoz!" Gon said. Nyoka pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"This is a man faced ape from the Milsy Wetlands. They love the taste of human flesh," the man said. He noted that their limbs were long so they were actually pretty weak.

"If that's the best that these wetlands have to offer then I don't think we've got much of an issue here," Nyoka said as she crossed her arms and glared at the man who was accusing Statoz.

"What do you mean?" Gon asked her with a confused look as Killua narrowed his eyes. Suddenly, playing cards were thrown into the mun, breaking through his skin as he fell to the ground. Statoz was holding a few in his hands and a man named Hisoka was flipping them around in his.

"That's what I mean," Nyoka said as she looked to Hisoka with narrowed eyes. He laughed.

"That settles it then...So, you are the real one?" he said. Everyone turned to Statoz who threw the cards on the ground.

"Examiners are Hunters. Each is hand-picked by the Exam Committee to this job without pay. Anyone who holds the title thereby themselves could have deflected that attack and quite easily, I might add," Hisoka said with a sly smile.

"I shall take that as a compliment. Thank you. Still, should you choose to attack me for any reason, I will have no choice but to report you for attacking an examiner and have you immediately disqualified...Is that clear?" Statoz asked as he narrowed his eyes.

"Of course," Hisoka said as vultures came down and began pecking at the body that had been pierced by his cards. Nyoka turned to the magician and he looked over at her. She quickly moved her gaze to Killua who looked at her in return. He shrugged.

"We can't let our guard down," He told Gon.

"Right," the green-haired boy nodded.

"Please be aware that you will account such deceptions on a regular basis. I must assume that a number of you were fooled into suspecting my true identity," Statoz said. Nyoka turned to Leorio who was scratching the base of his neck as his sweatdropped.

"Oh...well I..." he laughed nervously.

"Understand, I want to make it abundantly clear that if you lose sight of me while entering the Milsy Wetlands, you have no hope whatsoever of reaching the exam. You've been warned," the examiner said as he turned around and began walking. Everyone followed close. Nyoka examined their surrounding, or what she could see of it. There was a thick fog covering them. Statoz picked up his pace and everyone began running. Nyoka found that the fog seemed to be getting thicker. She watched Killua and Gon move towards the front and she followed them.

"We should put a little distance between Hisoka and us...Staying too close might be dangerous. I can smell it," Killua said. Nyoka knew Hisoka had something going on. She decided to wait to figure out what that was since she didn't know his power level yet. Gon sniffed the air.

"Huh? I don't think he smells," he said. The group kept running, hearing a some screaming as they did so. "There are people screaming all around us," Gon said.

"That's why we should stick together and be careful," Killua said. Nyoka nodded in agreement as she kept her pace.

"I haven't seen Kurapika or Leorio in a while...I hope they're safe," Gon said as he looked around. Suddenly, Nyoka stopped.

"Wait," she said but the boys didn't stop in time and they were swallowed by a Frog-in-Waiting. She watched as it began walking away. "Hey!" she said as she ran after it. It turned blue after a few seconds and spat out Killua and Gon. "That's gross..." Nyoka mumbled as she stopped, watching the frog walk away.

"Great observation!" Killua yelled. Nyoka frowned and leaned down in front of him so that her face was directly in front of his. He gave him a flick to the forehead. "Ow!" Killua rubbed his head.

"Don't talk back," Nyoka said as she straightens herself and crossed her arms. She went over and helped up Gon.

"You help him up but not me?!" Killua asked. Nyoka frowned.

"I know you're fully capable of doing that yourself," she said as she put a hand on her hip.

"We should get going," Gon said. The other two kids nodded as they started running again. It was quiet for the rest of the run. Nyoka saw the rest of the participants that were in front were still running behind Statoz.

"Look! There's the front of the group!" Killua said as he looked back but then paused. "Where's Gon?" he asked. Nyoka shrugged.

"He ran off a little while ago," she said.

"And you didn't think to follow him? That's weird...You've always been the type to follow people around," Killua said with a sly smile. Nyoka's snake eyes glared down the cat.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said turning her nose up. Killua laughed. "Whatever. I'll go find him," Nyoka said as she turned around and started running.

"Be careful, Noka," she could hear Killua say quietly as she ran off. The left corner of her lips curled into a small smile. He hadn't called her that in a long time. The two were best friends as children and their family was partnered up sometimes. That's right, she belonged to a family of assassins too.

Nyoka Evans of the Evans family of assassins. She had lived with her mother, father, and her older sister for the longest time until she was sent on her first mission. That's where she met Killua. They hit it off immediately. She enjoyed the company. Her older sister was always on missions and her parents argued a lot. Her mother often went on trips with her sister, leaving her with her father. He wasn't the nicest when he was drinking. So when Killua offered her the chance to run off with him, she accepted.

She kept running, remembering the last time she saw Gon. She stopped, looking a few feet in front of her and found Gon being held up by his throat by Hisoka's hand.

"So that serpent has found me," he said. Nyoka narrowed her eyes and walked out of the forest.

"What do you-" Gon looked over from his one open eye and saw her. "Nyoka!" he said.

"Hello," Nyoka said as she walked closer. Hisoka looked up to Gon who was still being held up.

"I love that look," he smiled. Nyoka was unfazed by the comment but Gon falling out of consciousness made her go into a sort of alert mode. She ran up and caught him when he fell down. She was fast. Gon used her for support. Hisoka's smile faded.

"Don't worry, I didn't kill your friend. He'll be just fine. That's because he passed," Hisoka said as he looked to Leorio. Nyoka hadn't noticed the man lying on the grass behind them. Hisoka laughed. "And yes, you passed as well," he said looking back at Gon. Something beeped, causing Nyoka to jump slightly. She was so alert that the sudden noise spooked her.

"Hisoka, you should get back here. We've almost reached the sight of the second phase," a distorted voice said. Nyoka thought part of it sounded familiar but it was too messed up to tell.

"Ok, be right there," Hisoka sighed as he walked off. Gon's eyes were wide. "It's good to have friends, isn't it?" Hisoka said, picking up Leorio and eyeing Nyoka who frowned. "Can you find your own way back?" he asked.

"We'll be fine," Nyoka said.

"Good girl," Hisoka said. Nyoka felt like kicking him or something as the magician walked off into the fog. Gon looked to her as her grip around him tightened. She seemed mad.

"Nyoka, are you ok?" Gon asked, snapping her out of her trance. Her grip loosened.

"Yeah..." she took a deep breath, calming down. "Can you make it back?" she asked as Kurapika ran up. Gon nodded and she let go of him.

"Are both of you ok?" Kurapika asked. Nyoka nodded.

"Let's go," Nyoka said as she began running. Kurapika noticed Gon was sniffing the air as they ran.

"What are you doing?" the blonde asked.

"Using the scent of Leorio's cologne to lead us back!" the green-haired boy said as he stuck his nose in the air. She gave him a slightly shocked stare. He could smell from so far away? They found the remaining participants and began walking through them, trying to find their friends. "Where's Leorio?" Gon asked as he got a chill down his spine and stopped. Nyoka looked over and noticed Hisoka pointing to a nearby tree.

"There he is," Kurapika said as they ran to the beaten man.

"That stings...How the hell did I get beat up so badly?" Leorio asked. The three others were confused.

"We probably shouldn't tell him what happened," Kurapika whispered to them.

"Right," Gon and Nyoka said in unison.

"Gon, Nyoka," a certain white-haired boy with a skateboard said as he walked over.

"Oh, hey, Killua!" Gon said.

"Man, I thought you guys weren't going to make it in time, or even make it at all," Killua said as he hugged Nyoka. She could tell he really worried. She returned the hug.

"Have some faith in your friends, Kill," Nyoka said. Killua noticed that she didn't say his full name and instantly knew she heard him say her nickname earlier. He also noticed that they were still hugging and they quickly pulled apart. Gon chuckled.

"Whatever," Killua said as he crossed his arms. Nyoka walked closer to him. They locked eyes for a second before she flicked him hard in the forehead once again. "Ow, ow, ow! What was that for?" Killua put his hand on where she hit.

"That was for losing track of Gon, you stupid cat," Nyoka said with a glare. "It's all thanks to him that we got back in the first place. He's got a strong sense of smell," Nyoka said, looking back at the green-haired boy.

"Thanks!" Gon smiled.

X

Hey guys! Let me know what you thought of chapter one! I hope you enjoy my story so far! What do you think of Nyoka? Leave some comments and please follow me and the story if you'd like! Thank you!

~DoesNotCompute