Leorio yells at the boy "Why are you using a skateboard? That's cheating!" Leorio points at the skateboard.
"Why?" The boy questions flatly. Leorio starts to sweat, blowing up in anger soon after "HUH?! Why... This is an endurance test!"
"No, it isn't." Gon yells out, making Daniel turn to him with a questioning look.
"Huh?" Leorio freaks out in disbelief. He turns to look at Gon yelling in completely shock "Gon, what are you saying?"
As Leorio is yelling, Daniel realises that his captured the boy's attention. The white-haired boy looked at Daniel weird, and then turned to focus on Gon instead.
"The examiner only told us to follow him."
"Whose side are you on, eh?"
The boy slows down, passing Leorio so that his side by side to Gon. "Hey, how old are you?"
Gon looks confused at the boy "I'm twelve years old."
"Hmm..." He turns to look at Daniel next "What about you?"
"Twelve." Daniel smiles as the boy turns to look at someone behind him "Who's the old lady?"
"OLD LADY...?" Zaikaria yells as white-haired kid continues "You know her?" Daniel nods "That's my sister. Don't pay any attention to her... She's over protective of me..." he says the last bit flatly as the boy smirks "I can see that..."
Killu smiles, thinking about the two boys next to him we're the same age.
The raven-haired boy in green smiles as Killua turns to stare at the woman. What's her problem?! She's staring at me like she's ready to protect this kid in front of me if I even sneeze funny...
Killua twitches his nose, kicking up his skateboard up. "Guess I'll run too."
Daniel and Gon stare in awe after seeing that trick.
"Wow! That was cool!" Gon beams as they surround the boy side by side.
Daniel has an unshakeable feeling to want to be closer to the boy. He hides his flustered cheeks away from his sister, worried that she might tease him later for it, or get angry.
The white haired boy looks at Gon without giving him his complete attention "I'm Killua."
"I'm Gon."
Daniel scrunches his face, trying to figure out where his heard Killua's name from. Killua breaks his deep concentration "What yours?" Daniel blinks, realising he has Killua's complete attention "I'm Daniel."
Daniel looks at Killua as Killua turns to look in front of him. He cannot shake this feeling that his met the kid somewhere before "Where...?" Killua and Gon turn to look at Daniel "Hmm?"
Daniel shakes his hands, trying to explain his last comment "Nothing... It's just... Killua, have we met before, or run into each other by chance?" Killua lifts an eyebrow, trying to recall his memories "No. Not that I'm aware of... why?"
Daniel looks forward "No reason..." I just feel as though I've met you somewhere before... My body is screaming to remember, but my mind is drawing blanks...
Time flies by as the two of them keep silent. Gon stops suddenly, making Killua and Daniel stop too in-turn to look behind them.
Leorio stands hunched over, breathing heavily.
Killua tilts his head slightly, cocking his head in Gon's direction "Hey, forget him. Let's get going." Daniel looks at Killua, and then turned to look at Gon standing still as if his waiting for something.
Killua lifts an eyebrow, looking quizzically at Gon, then towards Leorio as if his waiting for something to happen.
Leorio suddenly yells out "Screw that..." He bolts off, running past the three as he screams "I'm gonna become a Hunter! Damn it all!" Daniel raises an eyebrow in confusion. What just happened?
Zaikaria stops suddenly, looking back behind her.I just lost my connection to Daniel... He must have fallen out of my ability reach...She sees Daniel stopped, still otherwise safe. She shifts an eyebrow as the man in the suit run's straight past her.
Huh? I forgot the guys name... Damn it, I forgot to memorise his name! Zaikaria pouts running back ahead "As long as Daniel's safe! He'll catch up just fine..."
"~"
Gon smiles, flinging his fishing line to pick up the suit case Leorio had dropped. Daniel whistles at the achievement as Killua exclaims in amazement "Cool!" The three bolt off after the group as Killua speaks up "Let me try that later."
"If you let me try your skateboard, okay?"
Killua eyes dart in Daniel's and Gon's direction "Gon, Daniel, wanna race to see who finishes first?"
"Sure." Gon smiles as Killua looks at Daniel "What about you?"
Daniel shakes his head, looking in the direction of Zaikaria "I can't. I promised my dad that I would stick like glue to my sister..."
Killua frowns, sighing in disbelief "Ehh...? You're no fun!" Gon smiles "That's a shame. The loser has to buy dinner."
"Okay, you're on!" Killua smiles like his already won.
They yell together "Ready... Go!"
Killua and Gon run up the stairs, leaving Daniel for dust.
Daniel suddenly feels incomplete; feeling like a part of him was just lost. Killua turns around, smiling at Daniel with a cheeky grin "See you at the top slow poke." Daniel smiles briefly, for a moment before running to at least catch up to Zaikaria.
As he catches up to her, Zaikaria taps Daniel on the shoulder "You should be keeping as close to me as possible!" Daniel smiles "Sorry... I just felt like being closer to them..." Zaikaria nose twitches as she motions to Daniel to move faster "So you made friends already?"
Daniel shakes his head slightly as he picks up the pace "I'm not too sure... I like being around them... They seem cool!" She nods in understanding, turning to give Daniel complete focus "Well, see if you can make friends with them by the end of this exam..."
"Even Killua...?" Daniel asks cautiously. Zaikaria blinks in disbelief "Killua...?" Daniel nods, smiling as he looks up at his sister "That's the name of the white-haired boy, Killua... Although... I feel like I've met with him earlier..."
Zaikaria shakes her head "In public I've always been with you. And I've never seen him before..." Daniel shifts an eyebrow "Oh... Zaikaria..."
"Hmm...?"
"How you able to run up the stairs in high heels, or even this long for that matter...?"
"GIRL POWER!"
"~"
Everyone mostly stands around, puffed out after the marathon run. Daniel and Zaikaria look around taking notes of the area. Zaikaria notes the large swamp in the background "Oh... I think we are going to have to run through that..."
She sighs, unzipping her duffle bag to pull out a pair of white sneakers. Daniel looks at her funny as she changes her shoes putting her high heels in the duffle bag.
He notices something wrapped up in the bag, choosing not to question it as she zips it back up, tapping her shoes on the floor so they sit comfortably.
"If you had a pair of sneakers... why didn't you put them on earlier?"
"I couldn't run and do that... and, I'm not about to stop to put them on!"
Daniel sighs in disbelief as he waits for the exam to continue on. He notices Gon, the boy waving for him to come over, and join Killua and himself.
Daniel looks up at Zaikaria for permission. She sighs, nodding towards Daniel to let him go join them.
"Hey you made it slow poke." Killua grins cheekily at Daniel. "Yeah... I guess I did." Daniel smiles at Killua, feeling that sense of completeness around the two again. As Daniel sits down, Kurapika and Leorio come running up the steps.
Leorio breathes heavily as Gon yells out "Hey, Kurapika!"
"Hey." Kurapika takes a few deep breathes as he notices Gon "Is this our destination?"
"No, it isn't."
SERIOUSLY, we are going to be running through a swamp...?Daniel takes off his vest, placing it in the bag as Kurapika muses "I see. The fog is fading."
Daniel turns to look at the horizon. The fog slowly beginning to lift as Gon smiles "Oh, really?" He gets up slowly, continuing to smile as he looks at the swamp.
Satotz stands in front of everyone, looking towards the swamp as he speaks "The Numere Wetlands, also known as Swindlers Swamp. We must cross these wetlands to reach Phase Two of the exam. This place is home to many bizarre animals, many of them being cunning, insatiable creatures that deceive humans and prey upon them. Be very careful."
He turns, looking seriously at the entire group "If you let them fool you..." He pauses, lifting a finger up to the sky to add a dramatic effect "...you're dead." The group freaks out as the gate behind them shuts, leaving those who have already failed behind them.
"These wetland creatures will use every trick in the book to fool their prey. An ecosystem in which creatures obtain food through deceit..."
Satotz pauses for a moment to let it sink in "Hence the name Swindlers Swamp." He turns back around, looking towards Numere Wetlands "Stay very close to me so you won't be deceived."
"What a joke. How can they fool us, when we're expecting it?" Leorio smirks.
"Don't let them fool you!" A man yells out.
Leorio groans as he turns slowly to the man screaming "I just said that they can't."
The man, who yelled, stumbles out of the shadows as he's dragging something along "D- Don't fall for it..." He points at Satotz as he yells "He's lying to you! He's an imposter! He isn't an examiner..." He throws out his arm, pointing at himself next "I'm the real examiner."
"An imposter? What's going on?" Leorio freaks out in disbelief.
Daniel shrugs, pointing towards Leorio "And just like that, we've been fooled."
Zaikaria speaks up "Do you have proof?"
The examiner nods, pulling out the body of a dead ape with Satotz's face on it "Look at this..." The group freaks out in disbelief as Daniel frowns after seeing it.
"He looks just like Satotz-San!"
The new examiner nods, explaining what the creature is "It's a Man-Face Ape, one of the creatures that dwell in the Numere Wetlands!"
"A Man-Faced Ape?"
"Man-Faced Apes love the taste of fresh human flesh. However, their limbs are long and thin, so they're quite weak. That's why they disguise themselves as humans. They trick humans into following them into these wetlands, where they team up with other animals to kill and devour them. He intends to trap every single applicant!" The man points at Satotz, after laying out the assumed plan of action.
"Bastard..."
"He certainly doesn't-"
Zaikaria cuts everyone off "Rather than point fingers everywhere..." The area noise drops to dead silence "There's a really quick way to figure this out. You there! The guy that says this examiner is a lie... Prove it! Show me something that every examiner has..."
"Me...?"
Daniel blinks as he looks up at Zaikaria "What are you talking about?"
Hmm, how do I point out Nen, without exactly saying it...?Zaikaria murmurs as she tries not to give it away "It's something every Hunter holds it close to them, as well as on a daily basis..."
"I um..."
"His lying..."
Daniel thought for a second, wondering what exactly she was referring to. Then it hit him, Nen. Every Hunter can use Nen and while the same amount of Hunters has a license, not all of them still has it. But he couldn't really say anything, he kept his mouth shut, assuming his sister was talking about Nen.
"I- I'm not!"
Zaikaria smirks as the fake examiner yells out "He stole-"
The sound of cards embedding into flesh echoes throughout the participants, the fake examiner falling silent. Hisoka smirks, his sinister expression accompanying the sound of the body dropping to the floor, dead, after getting hit by some playing cards. A deck of cards gets shuffled as Hisoka laughs lightly, an amused tone accompanying his voice "That's an even faster way of telling..."
He giggles, though the sounds of excitement echoes throughout his voice "That settles it... You're the real one."
Satotz stands still, holding the very cards that Hisoka had thrown at him. As Satotz throws the cards on the floor, everyone freaks out as they look in disbelief at Hisoka "You had the right idea, miss... But I like my idea better. Examiners are Hunters selected by the committee to perform this duty without pay. Any Hunter, bearing the title we seek, would have been able to block that attack."
"I shall take that as a compliment. However, should you attack me again, for any reason, I will report you for turning on an examiner. And you will be immediately disqualified." Satotz says the last part dryly, narrowing his eyes at Hisoka "Are me clear?"
"Sure."
