"Silent, applicant 378, is the fifth to pass. Pokkle, applicant 53, is the sixth to pass. Ponzu, applicant 246, is the seventh to pass. Total time: twenty-six hours and forty-three minutes."

Pokkle and the green-haired girl grin, high-fiving each other (they don't even attempt to do the same to her, which is understandable but still a little sad) through the blisters on their palms. They walk off by themselves to another part of the cavern, leaving Si stuck as the only one standing, with the distinct feeling of being watched by everyone else.

She looks around, examining everyone. The weird huntsman, Pokkle and his new girlfriend, Gittarackur, Hanzo, and Esu are the only others in there. What happened to Gon and his friends? Surely Leopold hasn't dragged them down enough to jeopardize their chances of passing Phase Three.

In any case, she needs somewhere to sit. There's no way she's gonna stand for the remaining day and a half of their time, but there doesn't seem to be any good spot to sit that both offers a good vantage point and isn't right next to Esu or Gittarackur. Curse them for snagging the good spots before she got there. Curse Esu for threatening her with death if she crosses paths with him again- hang on, how exactly is he defining 'crossing paths'? Couldn't being in the same room technically be thought of as that?

She chances a glance at Esu, whose eyes are closed. Even with them shut, however, she can sense his full awareness of everything that's going on. It wouldn't surprise her if he's using En, with In to cover his tracks. Since he hasn't made a move on her yet, she assumes that he's okay with being in the same room as her, at least for now. It wouldn't surprise her in the least if he's waiting for her to drop her guard, just to make killing her easier. Although he doesn't seem like the kind of guy that enjoys an easy kill.

As for Gittarackur, sitting next to him is also a no-go; he downright creeps her out. The only other person she even remotely knows is...she sighs. Hanzo.

"Hey," she greets as she walks over, sitting down a foot or so away from him without an invitation. "How'd it go on your end?"

Hanzo grins, making her wonder, not for the first time, how such a carefree look could possibly go with the same guy who effortlessly kicked her butt five plus times in a matter of minutes. "Pretty well. I didn't get below the roof for a while, but once I got in, I basically just sprinted the whole time."

She furrows her brows. "What about your other teammates?"

"Teammates?" Hanzo questions. "You had teammates?"

"Yeah, I walked in with them. We started with five, but I ended up having to eliminate two."

"Huh." He doesn't even blink at the last part of her sentence. "Guess I must've gotten in late, then. I did have to fight five prisoners, so maybe they counted me as an entire team, seeing as you said you had four others."

Given his strength, she thinks that's a definite possibility. "Yeah, we had to do everything by majority. It was a nightmare. Everything had to be three against two and I got overruled constantly." She grimaces. "But what's done is done. When did you get here?"

"Pretty early; I got in here within about twelve hours, I think. I thought I'd gotten in first but the two weirdos-" he motions at Esu and Gittarackur, who she senses are both watching them- "were already here, rendering me third."

"Damn, you've been here for half a day already, then. You must be bored sick."

"Eh, not really." He stands up, stretching, and motions for her to do the same. "Every few hours, I go through another round of my workout. Wanna join me?" She doesn't, really, but what better option does she really have? Stare at a wall and pretend she doesn't feel Gittarackur's stare burning into her skull?

"Sure, but go easy on me. I'm not nearly as fit as you are."

Honestly, she really needs to question Hanzo's definition of 'going easy'. After less than three hours of balance, strength, and endurance training, she's about to drop to the ground from exhaustion, bruised and sore all over. Thankfully, the same green humanoid she's seen several times now walks in, wheeling a trolley filled with food and water. It helps with the whole starvation thing, but it definitely doesn't cure the tiredness.

"Didn't I say to go easy on me?" She asks, dropping to the ground at what she's come to claim as her spot.

"Even an easy version of my training regime is very difficult," Hanzo says, a little bit of arrogance in his tone. It's irritating, but she lets it slide- he's not nearly as stuck-up as some people she's met before, and he has far more reason to be than they.

"How long have you been training like this?" She slides, rolling until she's lying on her stomach, looking up at Hanzo. It's an extremely vulnerable position, but if he really wanted to kill her, he'd have done it on the airship. As for the others in the room, she's willing to bet Hanzo would at least try to protect her for a short period of time, which would enable her to get to better ground. Hanzo is cold, but not ruthless. He's not the kind of person to sit back and watch someone die unless their death benefits him in some way; he'd kill her himself before he let someone else do it for him.

The ninja shifts, leaning his back against the wall before responding. "I started training from the moment I could stand, but it has taken me until very recently to ascend to this level. What about you?"

Her expression darkens. "I don't really want to talk about it."

Hanzo frowns. "I've revealed much about myself. I think you owe me at least that much."

"The only reason you said that much is because you can't stop yourself from talking," she retorts coolly, "I don't like giving away vital parts of my life in casual conversation, unlike some people."

"You would insult me, after I've selflessly agreed to teach you, asking for nothing in return?"

"Not an insult, just an observation."

Hanzo glares at her, and-

It happens so fast, she doesn't even realize it's happening until there's a card embedded in the wall and Hanzo is holding his hand, blood spurting from a deep cut at the back of it. "What the-"

"Careful, now." Esu looks just as amused as he always does, but this time he licks his lips. "I can usually hold myself back, but you two...excite me." The way he says the last two words hangs on the borderline between creepy and scary. "Don't count on me being able to do that again. Next time, I'll hit you straight in the head."

Maybe she's reading into things a little bit too much, but why does Esu only look at Hanzo when he says that? Isn't she the one the magician wants to kill?

Esu turns away, and the others who'd been watching their little altercation do, too. "That was close," Hanzo whispers, staring at his bleeding hand. "If my hand had been at a slightly different angle, he would've cut it off."

She stares at him for a second before her eyes widen in realization. "You were going to hit me. That's why he threw the card." She facepalms, groaning, "That took me an embarrassingly long time. I swear, I'm a downright idiot!"

Hanzo laughs, surprising her. "You're smarter than you give yourself credit for. I was going to hit you- not to kill you, of course, just to send you unconscious- but Esu threw right as I was raising my hand. He must've been watching us this entire time."

"Yeah, he was. He still is, actually."

"But..." Hanzo looks at her carefully, then looks over at Esu, "His eyes are closed. You're saying his powers of observation are that good?"

"Easily. I'm not sure how, exactly, he's doing it- if his senses are superhumanly good or if it's something else- but he's definitely aware of at least everything within a twenty foot radius of himself."

"Does that mean he can hear us?"

She shrugs. "No clue. I'd say probably not; he can probably only get the general gist of our emotions and actions, not so much our words, but anything is possible. I wouldn't underestimate him."

"Goz, applicant 371, is the eighth to pass. Total time: thirty hours and four minutes."

An older man walks in, inspects the room, and goes to sit down nearby the huntsman and Pokkle. "Not very smart," Hanzo mutters. "He didn't even seem to notice my injury, or the card sticking out of the wall."

"Or he just didn't care," she says, shrugging. "I wouldn't really care if I walked in and saw a bunch of applicants bleeding. After all, Esu has several injuries and he doesn't seem to be in a hurry to mend them."

"Yeah, isn't that weird? You'd think his first priority would be to dress his wounds, yet he's done nothing. Does he not realize he's bleeding?"

She thinks for a second. It's a definite possibility, and she tells him as much. "The few times I've seen him get hit or get into a fight, the only emotion he's ever expressed is, as weird as it sounds, pleasure. I'm pretty sure he's a masochist, or else just completely unaffected by pain."

"I've met a few people like that in the course of my travels, though none of them were ever quite to Esu's extent of pain tolerance. He's definitely one of a kind." She makes a small noise of agreement, taking a huge gulp from her water bottle.

"Well," Hanzo says, standing up, "Ready for round two?"

"Sommy, applicant 118, is the thirteenth to pass. Total time: sixty-one hours and fifty-four minutes."

A monkey? That's certainly an interesting thing to bring along with you to the Hunter Exam. She's never much liked monkeys, to be honest. Too much mischief, not enough loyalty. Cats and dogs are so much better, in her opinion.

It's now been over a day. She's lost count of the amount of times Hanzo has beaten her, whether it's in combat, amount of push-ups, or seconds of balance. However, even though her soreness has rendered her almost unable to move, she can steadily feel herself growing stronger. If she manages to keep up this training after the exam ends...

Hah, who is she kidding? She doesn't have the discipline to do that by herself. "Hey, Hanzo," she says casually, "What do you plan to do after the exam ends?"

"Well, that depends on if I pass or not. If I don't, then I'll train so that I can try again next year. If I do...there's this scroll I've been seeking for many months. With a Hunter's license, it'll be much easier to find."

"Oh." She doesn't know why she feels strangely disappointed. She decides not to read too much into it.

"What about you?"

"Me?"

Hanzo gives her a look. "Don't tell me that's forbidden information, too."

It isn't, but she decides to string him along, just to see his reaction. "Well..."

"Come on, at this point I've basically told you my whole life story!"

"That's because, for a ninja, you're really talkative." He huffs, but a cautious look at Esu, who looks as calmly amused and peaceful as ever, ensures he doesn't start trying to beat her up again.

"Is there anything you can tell me?"

"It's not really a question of can, more of do I want to. And the answer is no, I don't." He gives her a look and she half sighs, half laughs. "Okay. Um...I first started training when I was seventeen. I didn't really have a formal teacher, but I begged my closest friend at that time to teach me. He reluctantly agreed, even though he didn't know all that much more than I did."

Neither of them notice the strange look that comes over Esu's face as she speaks, twenty feet away. Neither of them notice as Gittarackur looks over and makes eye contact with Esu, mouthing something mockingly that makes the red-haired man glare at him.

"'At that time'?" Hanzo questions. After a few second's silence, he heaves a sigh. "I figured it was worth a try."

She stays silent, frowning. It's been over sixty hours; why hasn't Gon appeared yet? Did Leopold screw up their chances entirely, or was it someone else on Gon's team? She doubts it was Gon himself, or Killua or Kurapika. All of them seem fairly smart, capable, and rational, although she supposes any of them could make a dire mistake if put under enough stress.

Another applicant is announced. Concern begins to build in her stomach for Gon- why didn't she go with them? She should've tried to help him instead of selfishly looking out for herself. There is more than just you in this world, idiot, she thinks, grimacing, and suddenly she doesn't want to worry about them any longer. "Hey, Hanzo, how about another round of training?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

"One minute remains."

The three brothers stand up, glancing briefly back down at the body on the ground. "Looks like it'll just be the nineteen here."

Dammit, Gon! She clenches her jaw in frustration, already feeling the boy's disappointment as he fails the exam. If you'd just thought of someone other than yourself for one single instant... She thinks, wanting to hit herself.

She looks over at Esu. His lips quirk up.

As if on cue, a door slides open. She looks up, eyes wide, as Kurapika, Killua, and Gon step in. All three look dirty, tired, and sad. She purses her lips; they must've had to make the same decision she did.

"Kurapika, applicant 404, is the twentieth to pass. Killua, applicant 99, is the twenty-first to pass. Gon, applicant 405, is the twenty-second to pass. Total time: seventy-one hours and fifty-nine minutes."

Her sigh of relief is loud enough that it attracts Hanzo's attention. "What, you got a soft spot for them?"

"You could say that." She stands up and starts towards them. For three kids who just had to beat up one of their friends and tie him to a wall, they definitely seem in high spirits.

"My butt hurts..." Killua complains.

"I didn't expect a slide for the short and easy path," Kurapika groans, turning over and examining his blistered hands.

"You guys made it! I was really worried for a while there," she says, walking over to them.

"Si! I knew you'd make it through," Gon says happily, grinning.

"Leorio, the idiot, wasted us fifty hours. We're very lucky we made it at all," Killua grimaces.

"Hey, I heard that!"

Her eyes widen. Leopold? How? She turns and sees Leopold and Tonpa struggling through the door together, elbowing each other for first entry. "You took the short and easy path with five people? How?"

Kurapika looks over at Gon fondly. "You know how the X and O doors are side-by-side, separated only by a wall? Gon figured out that the walls are very soft and easily breakable. We all chose the door for the long and difficult path, then cut a whole into the wall to sneak into the short and easy path."

"Gon, that's brilliant. You figured that out on the spot?" She's clearly underestimated his intelligence; Gon doesn't seem very smart in some things, but his instinct and ability to think under pressure are apparently superb.

"Well, we'd gotten that far all together. I wasn't gonna let something like that separate us!" And that's where you and I are different, Gon. She looks down. I didn't even have to think about it; I had no qualms knocking out two of my teammates in order to ensure I got through Phase Three.

"How'd you do, Si?" Killua asks. "Did you have a team, too?"

She nods, reluctantly. Now that Gon's idea is out in the open, she wants to kick herself for not thinking up the same solution. Could you honestly get any more self-absorbed?You killed someone, then knocked two more people out, just to get what you wanted. "Yeah. They're over there, somewhere." She gestures vaguely about in a circle, hoping no one will question her on where, exactly, they are, and how many made it through.

Of course, things just don't seem to be going her way today, because Kurapika asks, "How many made it through?"

"All five of us are still alive," she answers guardedly. Understanding flashes in both Kurapika's and Killua's eyes in a heartbeat, and she's unable to look them in the eye. As much as she wants to think she isn't like Esu, as much as she'd like to believe the green-haired girl's words, a part of her wonders how correct Pokkle was with that comparison.

Deep down, she has a bad feeling the answer is more than you'd like.

"Who were your teammates, Si?" Gon asks, eyes as curious and cheerful as ever; he obviously hasn't figured out what Kurapika and Killua did.

"Um...I only know the name of one of them, Pokkle. He's over there." She curses herself as soon as she motions to the archer. Now that she's admitted she doesn't know them, there's no way Gon won't ask her to show him the other three so he can see if he knows them. But it seems that God is finally on her side, because the door to the outside opens, streaming light into the darkened cavern.

As one, the twenty-four applicants stream out, blinking in the brilliant sunlight. She realizes it must be eight in the morning- after all, seventy-two hours is three days, so it should be around the same time as when they first went in. That's a sign of just how much her sleep schedule got messed up; she didn't sleep the entire twenty-six hours it took to finish, and then after that, she and Hanzo slept in shifts, not wanting to risk anything sitting in the same room as Esu.

As she steps out, she looks around, smiling a little at the fresh air and sunlight she'd spent what feels like years without. In the distance, a small island sits, lush and green. Seeing as Phase One and Two were right next to each other, she thinks it's a fair guess that that island is where Phase Four will be held.

A man with a mohawk and glasses steps in front of them. "Ladies and gentlemen, congratulations on having escaped Trick Tower. Only the Fourth Phase and Final Phase remain. The Fourth Phase will take place over there, on Zevil Island. Let us proceed." She smirks a little smugly. Called it.

He snaps his fingers and another man wheels along a cart holding a weird-looking box with arrows protruding from it. "I will need you to draw lots."

"Lots?" Someone asks, another putting in, "For what?"

The examiner smiles. It's in that moment that she realizes just how, and why, he was put in charge of a tower full of death row criminals. "To determine who will hunt and who will be hunted." He waves his hand over at the box, and continues, "In here are twenty-four numbered cards. In other words, your ID numbers are on the cards. Now, I need you each to draw a card in the order by which you exited the tower. Will the first person come forward?"

Esu steps forward and reaches into the box. With his back turned to her, it's far easier to see the extent of the damage he'd taken; a bloody, fairly deep cut to the shoulder, and one on his side that looks like it only pierced through his clothing. Apparently there are benefits to dressing like a clown, after all.

Gittarackur goes next, moves as disjointed as ever. As he reaches in to get his card, however, she thinks that his movements look rather over-kill. She's seen robots move before, and none of them looked quite that bad. Even though he seems, in every other respect, to imitate a machine perfectly, she wonders if maybe it's just that- an imitation. But why?

Hanzo goes next, then the huntsman. Then it's her turn. She walks up, reaches in, and grabs a card, passing Pokkle on the way back. "Wow, Si, how'd you make it through so fast?" Gon whispers when she returns.

"I did whatever I had to do to ensure I succeeded, that's all." She examines her card, hoping that by doing so, she can ignore any other questions he might have about her team. It has red backing on it; she really wants to cheat and peel it off, but figures she'd probably get caught and maybe disqualified if she did so.

"He said something about hunting and being hunted. Does that mean we'll be fighting each other?"

She opens her mouth to respond, but Killua beats her to it. "Probably." Kurapika goes up and Killua follows shortly after, whistling. Either Killua is that confident in his abilities, or he's very, very good at faking it. She's not sure which one is scarier.

Gon, then Leopold, then Tonpa all grab their cards; as Tonpa walks back, the examiner speaks up again. "Everyone's taken a card?" When no one disputes him, he continues. "Then, remove the seal from your card. The card indicates your target."

She stiffens in horror, instinctively covering up her ID badge with one hand even as she looks to see who her target is. She recognizes the tag after a few second's thought: it's the huntsman, Geretta. As she looks around, she notices Gon's face pale, but he angles the card in a way only he can see it. Everyone seems in varying states of fear, satisfaction, or confusion. What do these cards mean? Are we expected to kill our targets?

"The objective is to steal your target's ID tag. Naturally," the examiner continues, a sadistic gleam appearing in his eyes, "You're free to use any method you choose to steal the tags, including killing your target and taking the tag off the corpse."

Esu looks way too happy with this, she thinks with disgust. Then he looks down at his tag (what? He hasn't even checked yet?) and his smile fades. He probably got Gittarackur or something; from what she's seen in the past two days, they at least seem to be buddies. Surely even Esu would hesitate to kill a friend.

"Listen carefully! Your target's ID tag is worth three points. Your own ID is also worth three points. All other ID tags are worth one point. You need six points to advance to the Final Phase, so while on Zevil Island, you must gather enough ID tags to total six points."

Six points? That shouldn't be hard. Geretta is stealthy, but given enough time, he's bound to slip up at some point. She just needs to make sure she doesn't lose sight of him the entire Phase.

Gripping her card tightly in one hand, she starts towards the boat.