Hopeful hunters milled about in the waiting area for the 287th Hunter Exam. They either rested by the side or moved about but everyone assessed other applicants critically, mentally categorising them into those that would pose a threat and those that wouldn't. However, unknown to the greater majority of the applicants, a small figure was seated on a pipe running along the ceiling of the waiting area.

A badge labelled #38, was pinned to the front of his tattered cloak. He wore a hood over his head, hiding his features and had his chin rested on one of his hands. His leg hung over the heads of people as he gazed down at them. When he had entered roughly two hours ago, he had been quickly dismissed by the other applicants due to his small stature and he had been able to get up on the pipe without attracting much attention. After that, no one had bothered to look up and thus, few noticed him.

Only 2 people actually noticed him, #44, Hisoka and #301, Gittarackur. Hisoka had come in only a few minutes after him and, after accepting a badge from the odd green bean-like secretary, had retreated to the side of the waiting area. Moments after sitting down, he had glanced up and spotted the hooded figure looking down at him. Gittarackur had entered about an hour ago, glancing around after accepting the badge and, after nodding to Hisoka in greeting, he had moved to the opposite wall to Hisoka. Similar to Hisoka, he had glanced up moments after assuming his position, spotting him.

Hisoka was dressed like a jester, aside from the hat with tinkling bells, with a star and a teardrop below his eyes. He had bright red hair styled back and narrow eyes. Gittarackur was dressed almost as oddly, with pins sticking out all over his face and a mohawk hairstyle.

Shrugging, Falcon put them out of his mind as the elevator door opened once again to reveal a group of 3. One was a teenage blonde wearing blue traditional clothes, another was a middle-aged man wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase. The last was a young onyx-haired child, looking about the same age as #99, a white-haired child carrying a skateboard. The same green bean secretary came by, handing them badges labelled #403 to #403.

#16 then walked up to them and Falcon watched curiously, wondering how they would pass this first obstacle. #16 had approached him as well, introducing himself as a veteran of the Hunter Exam, seemingly proud over having participated 35 times for some inexplicable reason. After Falcon had milked as much information out of the guy as he could, Tonpa, #16, had offered a can of orange juice filled with laxatives to him but, thanks to his life in Meteor City, Falcon was largely immune to poison and drugs.

The face that Tonpa had made when he had cheerfully thanked the man for the drink after chugging down a can was hilarious. The constipated and disbelieving look when he had requested for more was even better. He had learned to treasure the little food and drink he managed to get and free drinks on top of getting revenge for daring to poison him was always good in his opinion. Tonpa was also aware of where he was considering that he had watched him make his way up there in smooth leaps but Falcon didn't really count him as a threat. Hisoka and Gittarackur had both looked up and spotted him without seeing him head up in the first place.

Seeing the group start to chat and Tonpa start to point at various people in the crowd, Falcon correctly deduced that he was telling the group of 3 who to look out for in the exam. He wasn't sure what to think when Tonpa had also jabbed a thumb up at the ceiling, no doubt informing the group about him. A brief showing was apparently all the incentive that Tonpa needed to classify him as dangerous.

Falcon snickered softly when #403, the youngest one, took a gulp of the juice that Tonpa offered them before immediately spitting it out. The other 2 took their lead from him, dumping the contents of the can that they had been about to drink onto the ground. Tonpa then clapped his hands together, bowing and apologising to the group before immediately taking off into the crowd.

The group of 3 turned out to be the last applicants to arrive as soon after, when Falcon was watching #99 tease Tonpa and chugging more drugged cans down, a loud high-pitched screech pierced through the air. Falcon watched as the wall opposite to the elevator rose up, revealing a lavender-haired man with a moustache and no mouth.

"Welcome to the 287th Hunter Exam. A word of warning in advance, this is not a game. Death is very real in this Exam and lurks around every corner. If you would like to withdraw, please leave by the elevator behind you now." The mouthless man said.

Falcon raised an eyebrow, wondering who would actually leave when they had already made it this far. As expected, no one made a move to leave although most of the applicants swallowed heavily, cold sweat already starting to roll down their faces. The mouthless man paused for a moment, looking around.

"Very well. Then, the Exam shall start with 405 applicants in total. My name is Satotz, the exam proctor. Please follow me to the second phase."

Saying so, Satotz spun around and walked off. The applicants hurriedly followed after him, moving as a stream into the tunnel, as Falcon leapt down and landed on his feet softly at the very back of the pack.

"Wait! What about the first phase?" Someone called out as Falcon scoffed silently. Wasn't it obvious that this was the first phase?

"The first phase has already started." Satotz replied as Falcon had predicted. After that, all the applicants fell silent, starting to edge away from each other.

The pace slowly picked up and soon, everyone was jogging as they tried to keep up with Satotz who was now running in a very odd robotic manner. His right foot and right hand lifted at the same time, and vice versa for his left. Falcon raised an eyebrow, trying it out for himself out of curiosity. Eventually, he stopped after realising that he had gotten too caught up in the new running method and was starting to lag behind the group.

Falcon moved forwards a little more, keeping to the side of the tunnel. He had just gotten used to the slow and steady rhythm when a loud yell from behind caught his attention.

"Hey! What're you doing brat? That's cheating!" Falcon tilted his head, watching as the suited man, #403, yelled at #99 who was riding the skateboard he had been toting around earlier.

"Why is it cheating?" #99 asked, tilting his head. "We were only told to follow the examiner."

"Are you stupid? This is an endurance test. You should be running!" The suited man yelled again. Falcon frowned, slowly moving up to remain slightly behind the group of 4. The suited man then turned to the #403. "Back me up on this one Gon!"

"But he's right… Satotz-san only told us to follow him. He didn't specify how." The kid said, replying with a confused look as he turned his head to look at the suited man.

"How old are you?" #99 asked suddenly as he caught sight of Gon.

"Me? I'm 12!" Gon replied cheerfully. #99 hummed thoughtfully before he kicked the back of his skateboard and jumped into the air, landing on the ground in a steady run as he caught the skateboard under his arm.

"I'm 12 too. The name's Killua." #99, Killua said as Gon stared at him with awestruck eyes.

"Cool! Can I try your skateboard later?" Gon asked excitedly, eyes gleaming.

"Sure! As long as you let me try your fishing pole too." Killua replied.

Falcon watched them interact for a moment before he quickly ran further up. In the short moment that he had been watching the now group of 4, he had oddly felt like going up to them and introducing himself. It was ridiculous. His years of staying at Meteor City had taught him that he couldn't trust anyone but himself, that the only way to survive was to get stronger and devour the weak. And now, these lessons that he had held close to his heart and applied in everything he did was being overwritten just by being in the vicinity of two kids.

He was getting soft. Which in turn meant that he was getting weak. And, being weak was something that he couldn't afford. The world operated like that of a bottomless abyss, it ran on the same basis as 'the law of the jungle'. If you were weak, you were dragged down by those stronger than you into the abyss, never to be seen again. If you were strong, you lived on the edge of the abyss, flirting with death in every waking moment. There was no place for feelings in the real world.

So, Falcon ran up to the front of the pack, staying by the side of the exam proctor. Satotz tilted his head as he drew level with him, assessing him without even breaking his stride. Falcon gazed back at him without blinking and the both of them ran further into the tunnel, staring at each other silently. Finally, Statotz looked away and Falcon followed suit. They ran side by side in silence for a few more hours as people slowly started to drop out. A short while after they started to jog up the stairs, someone called out behind them.

"Hey!" Falcon glanced back curiously, only to come face to face with the two young boys,. Their names were Killua and Gon if he remembered correctly. "What's your name?"

"... Falcon." He answered after a moment's hesitation. The two boys had potential and if he offended or crossed them, he would surely come to regret it sooner or later. Usually, he would just cut them off here, kill them and prevent them from getting in his way in the future. But, the exam proctor was quite literally right beside them and he didn't think he could get away with killing another one of the applicants, at least in plain sight.

"Falcon? Like the bird? Cool!" Gon shouted excitedly, eyes gleaming brightly with innocence. Falcon couldn't help but be mesmerised by the young boy. His innocence was something that Falcon had never seen before, dull and dead eyes or narrowed hardened eyes the more common sight in Meteor City. He wasn't really sure how to react to it. There was also something about those eyes that made him want to befriend the child before him, that made him drop all thoughts of ridding himself of a future enemy and want to nurture him instead.

"How old are you?" Killua asked. Falcon glanced over at the other kid, almost sighing in relief when he saw and recognised the hardened look in his eyes. This, at least, was familiar ground, much better than the innocence and brightness that Gon held. This one though, Falcon wouldn't mind killing the first chance he got. If he could get over the damned feelings of guilt he was experiencing for thinking of killing one of Gon's friends. The exam proctor was pulling ahead of them now but Falcon couldn't see a way to extract himself from the conversation politely.

"12." He replied, trying to sound confident in his answer.

"Cool! We're 12 too. Do you want to race with us? The loser buys the winner dinner." Gon offered. Falcon paused for a moment, thinking it over before he shrugged. It was a good way to assess their abilities as he highly doubted that they, children as they were, would know to hide their true abilities.

"Great! Let's start now. 3… 2… 1… Go!" Gon cheered and counted down. The moment he said 'Go', the three boys took off, charging up the stairs with a single minded intensity. Falcon glanced over at the two boys, easily keeping pace with them. They were hardly breaking a sweat, a testament to their physical conditions. Killua's darker side seemed to have also taken a back seat as the boy raced with Gon childishly.

It was almost as if Gon had somehow converted Killua, turned him away from the bloody path that he had walked beforehand. But that was impossible. They had only met for a couple of hours at most. Still, Falcon made a mental note to watch out for Gon. He had no doubts that Gon could, and was already starting to, make Falcon trust again, make him step into the light.

But, the moment he did so, the moment he got used to the light, Falcon had no doubt that he would shatter and break once again, just like he had so many years ago when he experienced his first betrayal, when he had been less naive. He could not stay next to Gon, and subsequently Killua, for the rest of his life. He would have to return to Meteor City or separate from them and explore the world on his own one day. The moment he did so, Falcon held no doubts that he would return to the darkness once again.

"What about you Falcon?" Falcon was brought out of his musings, glancing over at the two boys beside him in confusion.

"Sorry?" Falcon asked sheepishly, not having paid attention to the conversation.

"I'm taking the exam because I want to look for my father. Killua's taking it because he was bored and heard that it would be difficult. Why are you taking the exam?" Gon helpfully summarised the conversation for him. Falcon hummed, trying to think about why he was taking the exam. It had mostly been a decision he made on the spur of the moment after hearing from one of the new Meteor City citizens about a hunter that had caught him, causing him to be exiled.

"I guess… I'm taking the exam because I want to find out who I am." Falcon said. The two boys tilted their heads in confusion at the odd answer.

"Who you are?" Killua parroted.

"Yeah. I have amnesia you see. I don't remember anything beyond waking up in a room injured and wrapped in bandages a couple years ago." Falcon slowly explained, a sad and wry smile plastered on his face. Gon looked at him sadly, causing Falcon to flinch. He quickly looked away, avoiding eye contact with the two boys as the three of them slowed down slightly, minds no longer on the race. Falcon cursed at himself mentally, unsure why he had just suddenly divulged his entire life story to two boys he barely knew.

"I'm sure you'll get back your memories one day Falcon!" Gon cheered, trying to lower the tension that had sprung up between the three of them. Falcon turned his head, looking at the onyx-haired boy beside him as, for the first time in years, a true smile sprung up on his face.

"Yeah. Now come on! The race is still on isn't it?" Falcon coaxed, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. He suddenly accelerated without waiting for their reply, causing the other two boys to yelp in surprise and chase after him. They continued to accuse him of cheating all the way as they raced up the stairs. Falcon laughed freely as the three of them emerged out of the tunnel, brushing past the exam proctor as they did so.

Falcon watched on as the other two started to argue over who was faster, even going as far as to bring in the exam proctor. Maybe, just maybe, he could let go a little and start to trust others, these two boys in particular. He would watch them a little longer, make sure they really wouldn't betray him but Falcon somehow knew that they wouldn't backstab him. Even Killua who had tread the same bloody path just hours ago.

Finally, after a brief rest where they waited for more applicants to stagger tiredly out of the tunnel, Satotz caught their attention again. Falcon absentmindedly listened to him, not really paying attention as he looked around at the crowd and assessed who would likely be failing based on their current state after such a small marathon.

"... You're being tricked!" A loud yell pierced through Falcon's absent minded daze. He looked up, eyes quickly falling on the speaker, an injured man who was staggering out from behind the trees in the swamp.

"Don't believe him! I'm the real examiner. He's a fake!" The injured man claimed, inciting a round of hushed whispers from the gathered applicants.

"Do you have any proof?" #403, the blondie that had entered the waiting area at the beginning with Gon spoke up, eyes narrowing suspiciously at the injured man.

"Yes!" He said, pulling out a monkey from behind his back. The monkey's eyes were rolled back and his tongue was hanging out of his mouth. The most damning thing though, was the fact that the monkey looked suspiciously like Satotz, even donning the same lavender hair and moustache. The injured man then started to explain, voice increasing in volume as he talked over the murmuring applicants . "This is a man-faced ape. Their limbs are long and thin which makes them very weak. So, they mimic and disguise as humans in order to trick people so that they can feed on them. He surprised me and stole my Hunter's license earlier. He's planning to lead all of you into the swamp and eat all of you!"

Falcon couldn't help but scoff when he heard the explanation and the mutters of the other applicants who seemed like they were starting to believe the injured man over Satotz. There were many loopholes in what the fake man had just said, enough that if you spared enough a single moment to think about it, there was no way you wouldn't spot them. He wasn't exactly subtle about his disbelief though and drew both Gon and Killua's attention.

"You know who is the real one?" Killua asked curiously. He himself knew but he was curious as to what reasoning that Falcon would give. Falcon seemed like a very logical person and could likely give some very good reasons. At least better than his own reasoning that the fake looked and seemed too weak to be a hunter.

"Yeah. Satotz is the real one." Falcon confirmed confidently.

"Really? How did you know?" Gon interjected. The other applicants nearby paused in their discussions to hear his reasoning.

"Because we just ran for almost half a day in that tunnel. If a man-faced ape's limbs are that weak, I highly doubt that he would be able to lead all of us through that tunnel. Besides, there was no one else in the tunnels. If Satotz was really a man-faced ape, he would have already tried to devour us." Falcon explained as both boys gasped in realisation.

"How do you know that? He could just be leading us to his other buddies."

"Yeah. And his running method earlier was odd. It could just be a way to put less stress on his weak limbs."

The other applicants started to bring up points to argue against Falcon's deductions. Falcon raised an eyebrow at the random and utterly nonsensical reasons that were being thrown at him. None of them were even remotely logical and if you just paused for a moment to think about it, would already start to sound ridiculous.

Before he could even start to argue back however, Falcon froze as his hands instinctively rose in front of his chest and he caught 3 playing cards between his fingers. A brief look around the area revealed Satotz also holding 3 playing cards between his fingers and two man-faced apes lying dead on the ground with playing cards stuck in their bodies.

"That settles it I think." Falcon's head snapped to the side where Hisoka was shuffling playing cards. Falcon glanced down at the playing cards, snorting before he threw them back with deadly accuracy at Hisoka. Hisoka caught the cards without looking, only glancing at them when he had caught them. He glanced over at Falcon briefly before he turned his attention back to Satotz, returning the cards that Falcon threw back at him to the deck.

"Examiners are hunters who do this without pay at the request of the hunter committee. They should be able to dodge my attack with no issues." Hisoka said, catching the cards that Satotz threw back at him. Satotz frowned slightly at HIsoka but didn't make a move.

"I'll take that as a compliment. However, you'll be disqualified the next time you attack me or any other examiner." Then, Satotz turned to address the rest of the applicants as Hisoka hummed absentmindedly. "I'm sure many of you were doubting me. Please be careful and stay close to me. A single misstep could spell your deaths here. Well, let's go then."

Satotz spun on his heels and jogged off as the other applicants hurriedly followed after him. Falcon, Gon and Killua stayed around the front of the pack, easily keeping up with Satotz. #403 and #403 were lagging behind a bit, staying around the middle of the pack. Mud squelched underneath their shoes as they jogged, the other applicants grimacing at the feeling while the three boys took it in stride.

Suddenly, a fog rolled across the marsh, quickly covering the applicants. Soon, they could barely see their hands in front of them when they stretched it out fully. Falcon glanced behind as a wave of killing intent washed over them from behind. He frowned, shuddering slightly under the feeling. It felt… familiar for some reason, just the intense killing intent..

"Hey. Let's move up further." Falcon started slightly when Killua suddenly spoke up.

"Ok. We need to keep the examiner in sight." Gon agreed.

"That, and it will keep us away from Hisoka." Killua said. Falcon hummed in interest. Clearly Killua had also felt the killing intent.

"You're wondering how I know? It's because we're both similar. I can smell it on him. And you, Falcon." Killua smirked as he turned to Falcon. "Makes me wonder just what your past is."

Falcon hummed, faking disinterest although he was internally fighting with himself. Killua was right however. There was something dark about his past. And not just him life in Meteor City but also his life before he woke up seriously injured in that room in Meteor City. Unconsciously, his hand strayed to his back, pressing against the rough and raised skin there.

"Kurapika! Leorio!" Falcon jumped, spinning around to face Gon who was shouting back into the fog. "Killua says we should move up!"

"We would if we could idiot!"

"Just go on ahead without us. We'll catch up later."

Two distant shouts came back to them and Gon finally turned back around. He ran up to catch up with Killua and Falcon, having slowed down slightly when he had turned to shout to the other two. They continued on for a while more, following Satotz closely before screams started to ring out around them.

Falcon disregarded them, making small talk with the other two boys when Gon suddenly stopped and dashed back. The two of them watched him go coldly, shrugging before they continued on their way.

"Digging his own grave." Falcon muttered quietly, chest clenching oddly. Killua grunted, displeasure colouring his tone. As soon as they reached the clearing where the applicants were resting and waiting for the start of the second phase, the two of them headed to the side, leaning against a tree each. For all intents and purposes, they were simply waiting like the other applicants but their eyes were trained on the entrance to the clearing.

"He's weird. He's too soft, too naive for our world." Falcon spoke first. Killua started beside him, eyes darting over.

"Yes. Yes, he is. But yet…" Killua agreed, a small smile spreading across his face.

"There's really no way to describe it is there?" Falcon asked softly, closing his eyes and turning his face up to the sky.

"He just... I can't help but want to stay around him." Killua said hesitantly.

"I hope he manages to comes back." Falcon said finally. Killua hummed in agreement and the two of them fell silent.

They leaned against the trees, alternating between scanning the applicants that had made it through the first phase and looking out for Gon. A new bond had been made between the two of them, one forged by their similar experiences, their bloody childhood, as well as their respect for each other and their craving for a friendship with Gon.