Sorry about the delay!

Chapter 7

"Gotcha!" Ruka whispered triumphantly, slamming the jar over the fluttering pink butterfly.

She sealed the top and stared at the bottom of the container, watching as the layer of pink dust began to grow. Once she decided there was enough, she unscrewed the lid again and let the butterfly go, covering her mouth and nose as she did so until the butterfly disappeared into the trees. Ruka stuffed the jar at the bottom of her backpack. It was definitely worth a million jenny if not more.

She was about to continue running to find the second exam site when she felt a strong shiver go down her spine. Danger was the first thought that entered her mind. Her head turned in several directions, her senses going into overdrive. She knew what that shiver meant.

Bloodlust.

It wasn't much. In fact, it was masked very well. Well enough to where if she'd kept running she never would've detected it. But there was a certain scent that made her stop again and look back. It was the familiar, deep, earthy smell. The smell of home. She spun around in the direction it was coming from, her eyes widening.

"Gon…" she whispered in dread.

Killua squinted through the fog and came to a halt when he saw the long line of silhouettes running just ahead of him. Heck, he could even make out the guy that was with Gon's weird sister. A small triumphant laugh escaped his mouth.

"Alright! We caught up with the main group. Gon, look" he said, looking over his shoulder. A solid minute passed by, but Gon never showed up. "That's weird…he was right behind me a minute ago" he said aloud, frowning.

He shrugged and ran to catch up with the main group, positive that Gon would show up later.

Beads of sweat dripped from Leorio's chin as he tried not to flinch at the sound of crunching grass with every closer step Hisoka took. Kurapika stood there with his hands clenched and watched anxiously as the unblinking magician sauntered towards them, trying to think of a plan.

"Okay Leorio, wait for my signal and then we run in opposite directions" he whispered under his breath.

"Wait, what?" he hissed.

"He's obviously far more experienced in actual combat situations. The two of us won't stand a chance against him. We're short on time and we can't afford to waste more on a fight we can't even win" Kurapika pressed.

Leorio looked back at the bodies scattered across the open field, clenching his teeth. No, there had to be a way. He couldn't just turn his back! He heard Kurapika let out a shaky breath as a card appeared between Hisoka's fingers. Leorio swallowed, waiting for Kurapika's signal.

The magician stopped and was about to raise the hand that held the card.

"Now, run!" Kurapika shouted.

The two of them took off running in opposite directions, mud splashing behind them with every step. Hisoka's eyes darted from one applicant to the other, but didn't make any effort to chase after them. The ends of his mouth twitched upward.

"I see, a wise decision" he smirked. The magician pressed a knuckle to his lips, chuckling darkly. He watched as all the little animals that came out to prey on the corpses scurried away into the bushes in fear. "Hm?" he mused, watching a tall dark silhouette approach him. It was the one with the necktie and he had a long branch in his hand. His smirk grew.

"I just couldn't do it" Leorio said, stopping several feet away. "This might not be my fight but I can't just sit by and pretend nothing happened, that's not my style. See, the thing is I can't run away!" he declared, with hard determined eyes and lunged towards him with the branch.

Hisoka didn't flinch. He stood there as Leorio ran closer and closer. "Hmm, I adore that look" he drawled.

Leorio swung the branch downward only to have it go right through the magician, who turned into a cloud of smoke. Leorio's look of determination turned into one of shock and confusion. The momentum of the swing caused him to fall with it.

The magician had appeared behind him, stretching his long, pale fingers towards his head.

Snap!

Hisoka's head snapped to the side as a bright red ball hit him squarely in the temple. Leorio hastily crawled out of range of the magician and his eyes followed the wire that was attached to the red ball.

"Gon!"

"Did I make it?" the young boy huffed, glaring at Hisoka.

Hisoka cracked his neck and turned to stare at him. "Not bad, little boy" he smiled, turning his back to Leorio. "Is that a fishing pole? How original" he said, slowly walking towards him. "I'd like to see it, do you mind?" he asked, outstretching his long pale fingers.

Gon clutched the fishing rod tightly as if it was his lifeline.

"Leave him alone. Your fight's with me!" Leorio shouted, running at the magician from behind.

But Hisoka was ready for him. He barely had to turn his head to punch Leorio square in the jaw and send him spinning through the air. He landed in the grass with a soft thump, unconscious. Hisoka was about to turn back to Gon when an arrow shot out from the nearest bush towards the back of his head. He was too quick though and caught it between his fingers inches before it could hit. He raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder.

Gon jumped into the air and swung the rod down. For a moment it looked like it was going to connect with his head, but it cut clean through and Hisoka was replaced with wisps of smoke. Gon's eyes widened in surprise, but before gravity could pull his body down, the breath was knocked out of his chest as a flash of black and purple collided into him.

They barrel-rolled across the muddy field and Gon found himself dizzily staring at the sky. He shook his head and sat up, seeing Ruka crouched in front of him like a tiger protecting its cub. One arm holding him behind her and the other fist buried firmly in the dirt.

"Big sis?" he said in confusion.

She swiveled her head around and for the first time Gon saw alarm in her eyes.

Ruka tightly put both hands on his shoulders "Run. Run!" she commanded urgently, turning him around and pushed him towards the trees.

She turned back towards the open field, taking in the scene. Ignoring the bodies of the men in uniform, she ran towards Leorio and pressed a finger to his throat; sighing in relief when she found a pulse.

"Nfufu~"

Ruka jumped away as wisps of pink smoke started to gather around her. Not five seconds later, Hisoka was standing several feet away with his hand on his hip. She stood there in a crouched position, waiting for him to make a move but he only stood there, surveying her with a smile.

"You seem familiar. Have we met?" he asked curiously, pressing a finger to his chin.

"No, we haven't" she snapped sharply, watching as he picked up the arrow she shot at him earlier.

"So cold…" he mused, twirling her arrow nonchalantly. "Your Zetsu was impressive by the way. But if you're going to attack me, I suggest being a bit more creative"

She didn't respond and narrowed her eyes. If he wasn't going to make a move then she would. Ruka glanced down at her hand to see five long blade rings appear on her fingers which were connected by a chain to a bangle clamped on her forearm. This was her chance. She sprinted towards him and threw her arm out in front of her. The blade on her middle finger shot out like a bullet towards his head, but he simply cocked it to one side and the blade embedded itself into the tree behind him.

"Hmm. I see…" he said interestedly, staring at the long chain that hung over his shoulder. "So you're a Conjurer"

Ruka didn't reply and pulled her arm back, the blade flawlessly retracted itself back on her finger as if it had a mind of its own. She ran at him again, her eyes hard. Hisoka's smirked, his posture changing into a crouch. He was ready to lunge at her the same time she was going to punch. But she wasn't so obvious.

She jumped into the air mere inches before she reached him. Not having time to enjoy the surprised look on Hisoka's face, she thrust her hand out again and this time all five blades launched at him. With her eyes fixated on him, Ruka didn't miss the look of delight on the magician's face as the blades rained down on him.

Her blades pierced through nothing but a cloud of smoke. Ruka's eyed widened as she grabbed onto a branch when gravity started to pull her down. No! I had him! She thought.

Ruka stayed crouched on the tree, waiting for him to appear again. But he didn't.

She knew Hisoka was waiting for her move. He might've been fast, but so was she. Ruka jumped down and landed on all fours, waiting. Pink and white wisps of smoke were coming from all directions. Her heart hammered against her chest, but she didn't run this time.

An odd prickle crawled up the right side of her neck. He was on her right! Ruka spun around just in time to see a fist flying towards her chin. It made contact, but she moved away just in time so she didn't feel the full force of it.

"That was much better. You almost had me" Hisoka said as he approached her. She pressed her fist to her chin and glared. "That's a very nice look" he smiled.

He suddenly materialized in front of her and his boot was heading right for her torso. Eyes wide, her arms flew up to block it only centimeters before it made contact, but it did little good. She was slammed into a tree, her head and back taking most of the impact. She slumped on the ground, clutching her head and muffling her groans of pain. If she hadn't been using Nen, her bones would be splinters.

Hisoka watched with a raised eyebrow as she struggled to stand up. Did she still think she could fight him after suffering a blow like that? He didn't know if he found her interesting or not. He supposed that remained to be tested.

Smiling, he picked her up by the shirt and held her neck against the dented tree trunk. Her fingers curled around his wrist, trying to pull his hand away. It was obvious her eyes were still struggling to focus and his fingers around her neck were only making it worse. Yet, he loved how quickly her angry expression turned into one of alarm when a card appeared between his fingers.

"Ruka!"

Hm, seems the boy was back. Hisoka smirked.

Gon swung his fishing rod and the red ball flew towards Hisoka's head. He expected to hear a loud crack, but the rod sailed right through him. Ruka slumped on the ground as the magician released her. She breathed heavily as her eyes slowly began to focus again. Gon was sprinting towards his sister when the clown appeared between them.

"Did you come back to help your friends?" he asked. Gon jumped back several feet, skidding on the slippery ground but Hisoka managed to appear behind him and murmur "Such a good boy…" Gon spun his rod behind him, but Hisoka turned into smoke again. "I adore that look" he said, appearing in front of the boy

With every step he took forward, Gon jumped back and swung his fishing rod at him. Hisoka simply evaded the red ball by tilting his head away.

"Well done. Very nice…" he murmured nonchalantly as the red ball sailed past his head again and a wide smile appeared on his face. "I'm beginning to get excited"

Gon's eyes flashed as an idea came to him and he swung the fishing rod downwards this time. The red ball splashed the mud in front of Hisoka's feet and while his attention was temporarily on the loose earth in front of him, Gon appeared from behind, shouting as he swung down his fishing rod.

It was the gagging noise that made Ruka's head snap up. She watched in horror as Gon's small legs flailed several feet above the ground, Hisoka holding him by his throat.

"NO!" she screamed. Red clouded her vision, she didn't know what she planned to do but in the next moment she was lunging towards the magician. Hisoka didn't turn to face her but she felt his fist bury in her gut all the same. Ruka's eyes widened as the pain coursed through her whole body; she couldn't even cry out it was so painful. She felt like she was going to cough up a lung as a hard cough escaped her mouth and she slumped in a fetal position at Hisoka's feet, clutching her stomach.

"I love that look" the magician said as Gon's face contorted in a glare. Taking his eyes off the boy when he felt a tug at his boots; he looked down to see the young woman, still trembling in pain and glaring up at him. "Hmm. You don't quit, do you?" he smirked, pulling his foot away and pressing it on her neck. She struggled to fight him off and a delightful shiver passed through him. She wasn't very interesting, but her perseverance was something to be admired.

Hisoka turned back to the boy, feeling him go limp in his hand. His ecstatic expression became an alarmed one and he let them both go.

Ruka rolled over, massaging her neck and gasping for air. Gon fell on his hands and knees, coughing.

Hisoka crouched down in front of him, paying no mind to the woman. "Don't worry…" he drawled as Gon looked up to him questioningly. "I haven't killed your friends, they're going to be just fine" he reassured. "And that's because they passed" he chuckled. "And yes, you passed as well. Now go and become a good Hunter"

The chirping sound of a walkie-talkie made her head spin around. Consciousness still threatening to leave her if her body didn't rejuvenate oxygen.

"Hisoka, you should get back here. We've almost reached the site of the second phase" a garbled voice spoke.

"Okay, be right there" Hisoka replied almost boringly and stood up, walking over to Leorio and threw him over his shoulder. "Can you find your own way back?" he asked.

Gon nodded stiffly and Ruka took the chance to crawl closer to him protectively.

"Good boy," Hisoka grinned and disappeared into the fog with Leorio on his shoulder.

"G-Gon" she coughed, shaking his shoulder. "Gon, look at me. Baby, look at me, are you hurt?" she asked worriedly, holding his face in her hands and turned him to her.

His breath was coming out in short shudders, but he managed to shake his head. Ruka's lower lip trembled as she pulled him in her chest tightly and swallowed back the sob the threatened to leave her mouth.

She could've lost him.

She almost lost him!

The image of Gon struggling to breathe was still fresh in her mind and she tightened her arms around him. In that moment, she felt more like a mother than she did a sister.

"Gon! Ruka! Are you guys alright?!" Kurapika yelled out.

They both turned their heads to see the blonde boy sprinting across the clearing. Gon pulled away from her and stood up, pressing a hand to his chest. He gulped and stood there until his breathing was normal again. Ruka stood up too and brushed the mud off her pants. Kurapika glanced briefly at Gon and then turned to Ruka.

"Where were you?" he questioned.

"Where was I? I was here trying to fight off Hisoka" she replied, massaging her neck.

"I meant before. One minute you were running behind me and Leorio and then you were gone"

Ruka blinked and stared at Kurapika as he waited for her to answer. "Oh, guess I was separated" she said, not meeting his eye.

Before Kurapika could ask, Gon shouted for them to follow.

"This way!" Gon shouted, sharply turning right.

"So you can really tell by the scent?" Kurapika asked in amazement.

"Yeah, Leorio's always wearing this unique cologne"

Kurapika's eyes widened in amazement and the edge of Ruka's mouth twitched upward. The blonde boy turned to look at her.

"Has he always been…well, like a bloodhound?" he whispered curiously.

Ruka shrugged her shoulders. "As far as I remember he's always been that way. But it looks like his sense of smell's gotten keener since the last time I saw him" she explained.

"Hey, you guys?" Gon called curiously. "What do you think Hisoka meant when he said that we all passed?"

The question slightly threw her off guard and she turned her head away before replying "I have a hunch, but I hope I'm wrong"

Kurapika lowered his head as he tried to think. "If I had to guess, I'd say he was playing judge" he said.

Gon glanced at him. "Judge?" he asked curiously.

The blonde boy nodded. "He must have his own benchmarks for evaluating a person's power, it's possible he was measuring the strength of each applicant. Apparently, you three met his standards, whatever those are"

Ruka felt like her heart dropped to her stomach. That was exactly what her hunch was telling her. They were nothing more than test subjects for him and she played right into it just to get Gon out of harm's way.

"That makes sense, but I was powerless to do anything to stop him" Gon said.

"You landed your first hit on him though, right?" Kurapika pointed out.

"Yeah, but that's only because I surprised him. Besides, Leorio and Ruka didn't win their fight against him, but he passed them anyway"

"He could've sensed that the three of you were kindred spirits" Kurapika voiced.

Gon stared at him out of the corner of his eye. "He sensed it?"

"It's possible that Hisoka could qualify as a Hunter, but I doubt it. However, I have to admit I was impressed by his superhuman agility and the gracefulness of his technique. Those who are gifted with unique talents are often drawn to others who have unique gifts of their own" the blonde boy explained.

Ruka could attest to the latter, there's certainly an attraction that draws unique people to each other. But it was the former she disagreed with; while his gracefulness and technique can leave people in awe, it didn't change what kind of man he was. She's seen Hisoka fight and whatever Kurapika saw, or thought he'd seen, was nothing compared to what he was really capable of. He was a freak.

The scariest part was that when Ruka was fighting him in the field, she knew he was holding back. And she still couldn't beat him.

"So, from his perspective, killing you three now would be a waste" Kurapika finished. Neither of them said anything and he backtracked. "Oh, sorry, that must sound horrible"

Before Ruka could reply, Gon shook his head and said "To be honest, it was a little exciting back there" he admitted.

"What?" Ruka asked, bewildered.

"Huh?" Kurapika said at the same time.

"I was so scared, all I wanted to do was run away, but I couldn't because I was excited at the same time. Isn't that weird?" Gon asked cheerfully.

Kurapika smiled but Ruka only sighed sympathetically, running a little faster so she was alongside him. "Sweetie, that's not excitement. That's called an adrenaline rush" she explained softly.

Gon looked up at her. "Whatever it was, it felt great" he smiled.

She sighed again. Sometimes he really was too naïve for his own good, but right now wasn't the time to talk about it. Up ahead she could see the group of applicants standing outside a big gate. Looks like they finally reached Phase Two.

End of Chapter 7.

I would really appreciate it if you guys reviewed! It really does motivate me to write more and not give up on a fic :)