I would like to say a big thank you to SpadePirate4Eva
SpadePirate4Eva – #80 is indeed a real character. She's called Siper and she is a sniper specialist. Gittarackur kills her in the fourth exam; giving her literally four seconds of screen time.

Then I realised I messed up because I wasn't paying enough attention to the ID tags so now Hanzo has two tags equalling six points allowing Mishka to get hers. I'll pay closer attention so this doesn't happen again. So! For my mess up, I made this chapter extra long.

Let's get the legal stuff out of the way first. I do not own Hunter x Hunter or Hunter x Hunter 2011. All rights and ownership go to the following: Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Shonen, Kazuhiro Furuhashi, Nobuaki Kishima, Nippon Animation, Viz Media, Fuji TV, Funimation Channel, Satoshi Saga, Yukihiro Matsushite, Makoto Sato, Hiroshi Kojina, Atsushi Maekawa, Tsutomu Kamishiro, Madhouse, NTV, Yuzo Sato, Shoji Yonemura and last but not least Keiichiro Kawaguchi. Whew.

Okay, so I went hungry for the night after getting myself soaked from trying to catch fish. But that's okay you know! I can try again and next time I'll get it. I just have to practice and think through more on the technique.

If I apply those same thinking methods to catching my target then I can do it know problem! The only problem is trying to work up the courage to hunt someone who hadn't done anything to me; that's what I disagree with.

I had been wondering around for ages, or what felt like for ages. My stomach rumbled and the fact I had no idea who I was hunting didn't help. Half the day had gone, or so I thought; at least I think half a day did. I didn't have a watch, or a phone, so it was hard to tell. The forest part I was in was thick with trees and bushes and had a single dirt path. I sighed to myself as I looked up to the sky and laced my fingers behinds my back to think to myself.
"I should have taken note on all the numbers." I said quietly to myself as I closed my eyes. Well, it couldn't be helped now and if I was going to be a blacklist Hunter then I would probably have to work on very little information at times; I couldn't let this stop me.

I heard a yell that sounded a lot like Leorio and stopped in my tracks looking everywhere for where the sound could have come from.
"Did Leorio get tricked by someone?" I questioned myself. I was passed by Tonpa and looked at him with wide eyes and a confused expression.
"Tonpa?" I asked myself and then was passed by Leorio, who was yelling something at him but I couldn't quite hear.
"Leorio?" I asked myself and watched as their backs retreated down the dirt path. The two had completely ignored me, which was fine I guess for now as I was still hunting for my target. I raised an eyebrow slightly whilst furrowing the other one and scratched the back of my head whilst placing a hand on my hip.
"That was odd." I said to myself as I continued to hear their shouting to each other. Well, I'm sure Leorio was able to catch Tonpa by himself; I mean how far could a very small overweight guy go? Then again, he did get past the First Phase, so probably quite far.

Walking a little bit more I heard gunshots in the forest. I froze in my tracks and looked around, who was firing those? As quickly as they came they also finished. Just like that. Curiosity got the better of me as I felt myself walking towards the sound of the gun shots. I was still in the more forestry part of the Island and had come to a part where there was a single tree in the middle of all the others. The trunks of the trees were quite heavily bushed up. I spotted someone and immediately ducked down hiding myself in the bush. I could smell blood and looked to my left slightly to see a body lying on the ground with blood draining from their skull. The body had long red hair with a yellow ribbon in the back tying it into a pony tail. It wore an orange jacket vest, a long sleeved black shirt with grey trousers and brown boots. Next to it was a long weapon, which must have been the one that fired. From the frame, it looked like a girl. I backed away slightly covering my mouth with my hands as my eyes went wide. She was dead, no doubt about that, but it was a shock to see a dead body. I felt something hit my arm making me clench my teeth together and press my hands over my mouth much harder to stop myself screaming out.

I looked to my arm and saw a pin sticking out of it. It was painful, a lot more painful than I would have thought. I could only see the pin head, meaning it was quite deep into my arm.
"Guess it was nothing…" I heard the pin headed man say to himself, although I'm almost certain he knew I was there and either pitied me and let me live, or generally didn't know I was there. I turned my eyes at the sound of something moving closer and came face to face with the man. My eyes widened in shock as I quickly moved backwards to get away from the man as quick as possible. My hands remained tightly over my mouth as I looked at him, terrified for my life. I could feel myself shake and my vision start to turn red making me close my eyes tightly.
"I won't kill you. There's some information that may interest you and your brother. But keep that to yourself. Am I clear?" He asked me in a robotic sounding voice. I could only nod my head as he continued to smile creepily at me. I could hear the man stand up and began turning away to walk away, until I felt another pin in my shoulder making me bite hard into the side of my hand.
"That's just a warning. Take care." He said to me. The clicking noise started getting quieter. I honestly didn't know what this information was or why me and my brother had to know it; but I had to keep it to myself and boy was I going to. Still, it confused me, why spare me when it was my brother who was stronger by a mile?

When I could no longer hear the clicking noises I removed my hands from my mouth and instantly placed them over the pins, gritting my teeth together and keeping my eyes closed tightly. I opened them slowly, noting that my vision was still red. I was still scared, very scared; that man was terrifying. Even more so up close. Taking a deep breath and grasped the pin head in my shoulder tightly between my finger and thumb and began removing it. It was painful, very painful; I couldn't think of anything anymore painful than this. I managed to get it out. The needle was incredibly long; it was hard to think these things were in his skull and didn't shatter it. I stared at the needle with my red eyes and took in a deep breath, closing my eyes tightly. I gripped the other needle head in my arm and pulled it out quickly, gritting my teeth hard. I opened my eyes slowly, noting the colours were back to normal. This need was just as long and all the way to the head of it was covered in my blood, just like the other one. I sighed slightly and turned my head towards the body next to me. The blood had stopped running from her skull, I could only assume it had finally drained. I crawled over next to her and rolled her over very gently. The needle was in her eye, so I wouldn't have been more surprise if she was still alive.

I furrowed my brows as I stared at her. I wasn't too sure how long I had been staring, but, I knew it was a while. There was no way I could get used to this sight, or was there? I didn't know and if I was honest I really hoped I didn't have to find out. I knew that was something that was going to happen though. My breathing became shaky. I placed the needles next to me and took a shaky deep breath.
"I'm sorry miss. At least it was instant though, right?" I asked her; well more myself as I placed my finger and thumb tightly around the needle head in her eye and my other hand over the top of her eye. I placed my thumb and the side of my hand covering her eye on either side of the needle to let it slid through. Taking a deep breath again I quickly pulled upwards, removing the needle from her eye and coating my hand in her blood. It felt bad just letting her be there with it stuck in her eye and even though she was dead I still wanted to help. I placed that needle next to her head in case anybody found the body. Hopefully they'd put two and two together and figure out it was the needle that killed her.

I sighed to myself as I looked at my blood covered hand. I'd need to wash it later. I would need to wash my arm and shoulder too as I could feel my clothing stick to the holes in them from where the needles once were. I looked back at the girl feeling something click in the back of my mind.
"I wonder…" I muttered quietly to myself as I looked back at her and furrowed my brows, frowning quite widely.
"I'm sorry, but…I'm going to search you. You may have the ID tag I'm looking for so I can become a Hunter. If I become a Hunter I can help stop things like this happening to other people." I said to her even though she couldn't hear me. I felt disrespectful searching a dead body and I didn't feel like I could apologies enough. I checked her vest pockets, there was nothing in there. I even checked the trouser pockets and found nothing there. I grimaced and placed my hand into her vest jacket. I felt something round and smooth. Pulling at it slightly I could see the jacket tug. I unzipped her jacket fully and saw the ID tag inside. Unclipping it I removed the tag and zipped up her jacket once more.

I had spent about twenty minutes pulling the branches over more and trying to cover up number eighties body as much as possible. I had finally managed to do it. I stood upside into the little open bit leaving my bag and belongings behind the bush. I nodded my head, I was happy with the work I had done. The body was completely covered, giving her at least some decency. Walking back into the covered area I bent down and grabbed my bag, flinging it over my shoulder and turned to face her.
"I tried to give you some decency. I hope you have better luck next time." I said to her giving a small sad smile and exited the area quickly.

Although what I felt was disrespectful, I managed to get both ID tags. This just meant I now had to keep myself safe for the remaining days so I could go onto the final Phase of the Hunter exam. I was so close to becoming a Hunter it felt like a dream. I had both ID badges pinned to the inside of my shorts to keep them hidden; now if only I could find somewhere to hide for the rest of the days and I'd be set.

It had become sundown, I hadn't met anybody else and in a way I was quite glad I hadn't. It hit sundown rather quickly though, maybe a bit too quickly. I looked around; maybe I should go back to where I had stayed last night? I wasn't disturbed there. But…it may be taken now, not only that but someone may find me now; after all I couldn't forget I'm being hunted to. I felt something wiz past my face making me stop in shock. The weapon landed in a tree. I knew exactly who that weapon belonged to. Besides Leorio, I only knew one other person who carried a blade.
"You're still around? Well that's a shock." The voice said as the dagger left the tree quickly and came back past my face. On instinct I ducked down, luckily avoiding any sort of injury. I stood back up and turned around to see the brown haired boy hold the dagger in his head, tossing it into the air and then catching it by the handle.
"A-Am I your target?" I asked him stuttering. He looked away from his weapon and back to me through the corner of his eyes and dug through his pocket. He pulled out a card and held it in front of him.
"Unless you're number one hundred and ninety seven I doubt it." He said as he threw his dagger into the air once more and caught it again. Kai turned his body full and placed a hand on his hip, a disapproving look on his face.
"Still, nothing in the rules about killing the other candidates; and I can do that now. What do you say? Shall we finish was nearly began in the Third Phase?" He questioned and began taking steps towards me.

I felt my body freeze, my legs glued to the ground. I watched as he got closer, feeling my fear rise. I had to control it though. I swallowed the lump in my throat and bent my knees a little and quickly rummaged through my bag with one hand as I tried my best to keep a stern look on my face. I heard him laugh slightly to himself as he raised an eyebrow at me with a wide smirk across his face.
"You honestly think you can take me on? Since when did you grow a spine?" He said to me as he continued walking closer. I could feel my legs shake as I brought one of my Sai's in front of me to protect myself. Kai lifted one of his daggers near his face and threw it at mine. Out of instinct I moved to my left and felt my cheek get grazed against the blade. Kai pulled back his hand making the dagger come back to him. It grazed my cheek once more making me wince.
"So? What you waiting for attack me." Kai said as he suddenly jumped at me and tackled me to the ground. I hit my head against the floor not expecting to be suddenly tackled; I could tell I looked dazed at what just happened. My Sai dropped to the floor and landed a bit away from me, just out of reach. Kai sat on my waist as his hands immediately went to my throat making him press down hard. My hands found their way to his wrists as I tried to pry him off.
"This is a lot easier than I thought; I honestly thought you would have tried." Kai said smirking as I felt myself becoming light headed.

I felt Kai lean more onto his hands as he sat on his knees. I was having trouble trying to keep my eyes open, my hands loosened and fell to the ground as the lack of air began taking effect. I could only just about see Kai's smirk. Weakly, I lifted up my right leg and brought it close to my body. With everything I had left I rammed my knee into Kai's groan making him let go at an instant. He jumped off, his hands flying straight to where I hit as he fell to his knees with his forehead on the ground. I rolled over and pushed myself up with my hands and sat on my hands and knees, coughing and breathing heavily with my eyes wide open.
"That…w-was…DIRty." Kai said through breathes, his voice going higher at the end. I placed a hand around my throat; it was warm, very warm. Shakily I stood up and stumbled away from Kai towards my weapon. Grabbing it I held it close to me, my breathing still laboured and began backing away from the brown haired boy.
"You jumped me! And tell Hisoka to stop going after people it's scary!" I yelled at him. Kai didn't look at me; instead he stayed on the ground. He sat with Hisoka, which must have meant they were friends, or at least acquaintances.
"Who the hell is Hisoka?!" Kai yelled back at me making me look at him questionably.
"You sat next to him after the Third Phase!" I yelled to him as he tried his best to sit up, only to fall back forward once more.
"Yeah to get away from you. I don't know who he is." Kai said. That had shocked me. I thought he knew. Without saying another word I ran from Kai, leaving him on the ground. I hoped I wouldn't have to worry about him for a while, not while he was curled up like that.

I remember doing that to Kurapika once. He was thirteen and I was still eight. My big brother decided it was time to teach me how to defend myself so he began teaching me martial arts. He stood in front of me after showing me how to kick properly. He decided it was time to try and spar to see how much I had learnt and if I picked it all up. I remember just kicking blindly and hitting Kurapika in the groan. I never said sorry to my brother so much in my life. It looked painful, really painful. He decided to call it a day after that. I remember I ended up crying because I thought I had hurt my brother forever and just kept apologising. All he did though was pet my head and told me he would be fine after a few hours and that I should never kick someone there unless I really had to. I guess some things just stick.

It had gotten dark quite quickly. I had been trying to find somewhere to sleep for the night for a while. I could try sleeping in a tree I guess. But it wasn't that comfortable. My neck still hurt from earlier when Kai was strangling me. It was pitch black and I couldn't see anything no matter how hard I tried. I squinted my eyes as I tried to look for anybody, even if it was to tell me I was still on the path of not. I bumped into somebody and stumbled back, it felt like their arm.
"Who's there?" The person said hostilely.
"Mishka?" I heard someone else question making me squint my eyes slightly more. I finally saw the two figures and smiled widely launching myself at the shorter of the two and burying my head into their waist. I was glad to see them. I felt my back being rubbed and smiled widely and happily to myself. After a few more seconds I pulled myself away and smiled up at the two.
"If it's okay with you two can I team up with you? I already got my ID tags so I don't need help but I can help you two if you still don't have them." I asked my big brother whilst nervously rubbing the arm that had a pin in it.
"Y-you already got your ID tag?!" Leorio asked me shocked making me look at him and nod my head with a smile on my face.
"I found it, so I was really lucky. But can I please team up with you two?" I said then asked the two again. I saw Kurapika nod his head.
"It'll be safer to work as a team." My brother said making me smile widely and jumped on my toes a little bit.

Kurapika had said we better start moving again so Leorio and I followed him. We stopped a few times to have a look around for something or somewhere to stay the night, but we found nothing most of the time; the other times it looked too stay there. It began getting lighter as we headed into the area with fewer trees covering the ground. My cheek didn't sting anymore from Kai's dagger and the holes where the pins had been had stopped aching too. They just felt…open. It was a strange feeling as I could feel the cold air get into them making me shiver; I was just glad that Kurapika and Leorio hadn't noticed them and I planned to keep it that way until I could think of a reason for them to be there.

We climbed down a cliff edge. I was behind between my brother and Leorio. I used the hand that I didn't bite into to grab a hold of the rocks behind me, slowly making my way down. Leorio had slipped down on his bottom and fell like that to the bottom. I couldn't help but giggle slightly to myself as I reached the bottom safely along with my big brother. We continued down the forest path, listening to only the sound of the crickets rubbing their legs together to make sounds.
"So I've figured out who my target is, but how am I supposed to find her on this huge Island? Isn't walking around aimlessly a waste of energy?" Leorio asked my brother as he looked around. I looked up at Leorio and thought to myself before looking up to my brother for the answer. He looked annoyed with Leorio's whining and closed his eyes before turning his head slightly to talk to Leorio.
"Constantly whining would be an even bigger waste of energy." He said to him, bored with Leorio's constant whining about us walking around.
"I don't really mind it; it's nice walking around at night when you're with other people." I said smiling up at Leorio with a wide smile. Leorio started waving his hand backwards and forwards at us.
"You two already have six points, so you're finished. But if I don't find my target…" Leorio began saying until the three of us stopped and took in a gasp of air.

Standing in front of us was Hisoka. He leaned against a tree with a card in his hand and that same smirk on his face. I could feel myself shake slightly, mostly my knees as my feet glued themselves onto the ground. I saw my big brother stand in front of me slightly, if he moved any more it would have been obvious that I was there.
"Hey." He said simply, flicking his hand with the card between his fingers. I heard my brother mutter his name as he gritted his teeth together. I stared at the magician with wide eyes, trying to keep my fear under control. I was getting better at it but only because he was that far away. Any further away and I think my eyes would turn red.
"Imagine meeting you here…" He said to us in that simple voice of his. Leorio laughed slightly, making it sound awkward.
"I keep running into people I don't want to encounter." He whispered to us. I nodded my head in agreement to what he said. I had ran into that pin headed man and then Kai. Hisoka was not someone I wanted to see today and yet, there he was; standing in front of us.
"You see, I need two more points. Could you give me your tags?" He asked us as he began walking towards us.

I wanted to turn around and run, I knew that's what my brother wanted as well; but I couldn't my legs wouldn't allow me that luxury. Instead I stood glued to the spot looking at him in fear. I could feel my vision turning red and closed my eyes tightly and looked down as if trying to ignore he was there. I couldn't let him see, Kurapika would get mad if he did. Gon and Killua not so much as they were my best friends but definitely not Hisoka or anybody else outside our little group. Hisoka stopped walking towards us as he finished his sentence.
"What was that?! Screw that! I'm not gonna…" Leorio began saying until he was cut off.
"Leorio!" My brother shouted making Leorio stop talking. Kurapika turned his head back towards Hisoka.
"You said that you need two additional points. Which implies we're not your targets, correct?" Kurapika asked him. I couldn't help but open my eyes a little to look up to my brother. Hisoka could have been after any one of us, I just really hoped that wasn't the case. My brother was so calm though, and here I was, scared. I felt terrible, it was as if I hadn't learnt anything whilst going on this journey to be a Hunter and if anything; it made me feel terrible.
"I'm the one who's asking questions here. Will you give me your tags or not?" Hisoka asked as he placed one of his cards near his mouth.

I took deep breaths to calm myself down and could see my vision going back to normal. Kurapika put his head down a little, looking at Hisoka with a glare.
"That depends. We currently have six tags. Mine, my targets, Leorio's, Mishka's, Mishka's target and a tag worth only a single point to us." Kurapika said, suddenly bringing me into the conversation. If there was one thing about him; he couldn't lie. He felt lying was a sin and I didn't blame him for that. I wouldn't want my brother to lie on my behalf anyway and as much as it scared me I would have mentioned my tags as well. My brother held up six fingers.
"Of these, three could be the number of your target. Mine, Mishka's, or the tag only worth a single point. Leorio's number is number four hundred and three. He was the target of number sixteen, Tonpa. And my target was sixteen. Mishka's target was number eighty." Kurapika said putting his hand down by his side again as he continued explain things to the magician, who interestingly watched my brother with interest at his explanation. I watched between my brother and Hisoka carefully as Leorio did the same. It was…amazing, simply amazing how he was keeping calm whilst the person that could end other people's lives with one sweep of his card stood in front of us.
"Each person was assigned a different target, so number sixteen, number eighty and number four hundred and three are out." My brother explained.

Hisoka stepped forward, making me step back a little bit behind my brother some more out of natural habit and instinct. My brother stepped back himself, keeping the distance between himself and Hisoka. I couldn't help but grab onto his tabard tightly as I watched the magician from behind my brothers arm.
"Indeed… Neither of those is my target. So?" Hisoka said to us as he continued to watch us. I think he was beginning to get impatient with my brothers explanation.
"That leaves the other three tags. If you're willing to take the tag worth only one point to us and leave, you can have it. But I will not let you have mine or Mishka's. And the same goes for the other three." Kurapika said as he took off his bag. I removed my hands from his tabard and did the same, quickly taking out my Sai's and then throwing it over to where my brothers landed. Leorio dropped his suit case as we stood in front of Hisoka. I could feel my breathing get heavier, even though I was standing behind my brother, it was still terrifying.
"If you insist on taking them by force, you'll have to fight me!" Kurapika said holding his weapons out in front him in his hands. I shakily stepped out from behind my brother and held my weapons in front of me, trying my best to glare at him; I stood close to my brother. Leorio took out his knife and held it in front of him, getting ready himself.

Hisoka continued to look at us, smiling that same smile. It was like a smirk, he was just so calm about everything and I didn't know why. Hisoka's eyes narrowed as he smiled widely at us. He placed a hand over his eyes and began laughing making us look at him in surprise. He's shoulders jumped up and down as he laughed at us. He moved his fingers so he could watch us with one eye.
"Out of curiosity, what are yours and the child's numbers? Let her speak for herself." He asked us.
"Number four hundred and four." Kurapika answered. I took a shaky breath and answered Hisoka.
"N-number four hundred and seven." I said to him, stuttering my words out as I tried my best to glare at him once more; although this was failing. Hisoka closed his eye once more and removed his hand from his face.
"Very well." He said and flicked his wrist, making the card he held in his hand disappear. He promptly stuck his hand onto his hip.
"You have a deal. I'll only take the one tag." Hisoka said, watching us all once more. Kurapika walked over to our bags, his weapon still in hand and picked up his bag. He rummaged through it keeping his eyes on Hisoka and took out the tag only worth one point to us. He placed it into the crack of the tree, keeping his eyes on the magician at all times.
"I'll leave it here." He said watching Hisoka. Hisoka put his head down as he watched us.
"Don't worry. I'll be standing here for a while." Hisoka said to us as he crossed his arms and looked at us once more. I walked over to my bag and picked it up, holding it tightly in between my hands and walked backwards, my back pressing onto Kurapika as Leorio walked sideways. We headed behind the tree so he couldn't see us, that way we could get out of his sight.

We fled through the forest getting enough distance between us and Hisoka. Something felt strange about him but I couldn't place my finger on it. We got ourselves a good distance away from him, enough so that horrible off feeling about him was no longer there. I opened my bag and slid my Sai's into it then closed it up again after putting my bag around my shoulders once more. Leorio was huffing next to me as were Kurapika and I really.
"Don't pull something like that off again! Next time we might not be so lucky." Leorio yelled at my brother. Kurapika looked at Leorio sternly.
"It was better to try and talk it out then to fight him. Fighting Hisoka should be a last resort." He said to Leorio, making him click his tongue in annoyance. I looked between the two and sighed a little bit; just glad we got away from him.
"You know what the strange thing was? He seemed different, really different when we were walking away. He's normally really scary but this time he seemed even scarier than normal!" I said to the two as Leorio nodded his head in agreement and crossed his arms across his chest.
"He had a near uncontrollable blood lust. It was good we left when we did." Kurapika said as I looked at him questionably. The feeling was bloodlust? It was a scary feeling that's all I knew; but I knew I didn't want to be around Hisoka when he was feeling that.

"Why didn't you run Mishka?" Kurapika asked me sternly with his arms crossed making me jump slightly and look at him furrowing my brows. I couldn't help but look at the ground afterwards.
"I wanted to. But my legs wouldn't allow me. And if Hisoka was feeling bloodlust like you said then maybe it was good I didn't. It would be like a cat chasing its dinner." I said to him, looking back up to my brother once more. I felt my brother rub my head and smiled widely at him; at least I did something right this time. I heard Leorio click his tongue again and looked at him, my brothers' hand still on my head.
"What is it with you and cats?" He asked, bending down to my level and stuffing his hands into his pockets. I tried my best to glare at him and frowned at him before smiling widely to myself.
"Cats are cute! And they're really soft." I said to him proudly, making him raise an eyebrow. I couldn't help but smile widely to myself and hid my face slightly behind my enclosed hands. Cats are adorable, and I really wanted one when I younger; but we travelled a lot so I wasn't allowed one. I couldn't help but giggle slightly to myself at the thought of even owning a cat. After a while we all found suitable places to sleep in the area we ran to.

The day before had gone by quickly, we were looking for Leorio's target but nothing as remotely as eventful as the night with Hisoka happened. In the end we ended up calling it a day and sleeping by a big tree that had its roots showing and was covered in moss. There was only today and tomorrow to get the ID tags and we still had no clue where Leorio's target was. My brother stood at one side of the tree, I stood in the centre and Leorio stood on the other side. We were still in view of each other. Leorio hopped over a root and stood walked over to Kurapika with me following behind him closely. My brother turned around at the sound of us getting closer.
"Six days have passed. Only one day left…" Leorio said trailing off.
"It's been four days since we ran into Hisoka." Kurapika said as I looked up at the tree behind us, looking at its branches with wide eyes. How did it even get this big?
"I really hope we don't run into him again." I commented, furrowing my brows slightly and looking at the two once more.
"We haven't seen anyone else." Kurapika said making Leorio put his hand to his chin to think to himself with a very small sigh. I crossed my arms over my chest slightly and thought to myself; where could his target be? We know it's a girl and there weren't many girls left at this Phase, excluding the girl I found with the pin her eye.

Leorio looked at the both of us, removing his hand from his chin.
"Wanna head back to the starting point?" He asked making me and my brother look at him questionably, wondering why he would want to do that. I thought he wanted his tag? I furrowed a brow and raised my other one, looking at him questionably. It was an odd request.
"It's possible that people have already finished." Leorio said as I nodded my head slightly.
"That makes sense." I said quietly to myself, thinking it over. If I didn't run into Kurapika and Leorio then I would have started heading back there and waited there myself. So, maybe Leorio was right.
"No, we won't find anyone there. This Phase is unique because you have a chance to recover your tag if you lose it. On the other hand, you might have six points in tags right now. But that doesn't guarantee you'll have them when the Phase ends. You can't finish early." He said making me sigh a little bit. Maybe it was a good idea I didn't go back to the starting area after all. If I ran into Kai again there was no doubt in my mind that I wouldn't have my six points anymore and I'd possibly be either dead or unconscious until the end of the Phase. That meant I could have been stuck on the island forever! I couldn't help but shiver slightly at the thought, I was dead either way; my fish catching skills weren't great, good or even okay and I had no idea if the fruit was edible.

Leorio looked away and glared at the floor.
"I see." He said quietly to himself, just enough for us to hear.
"But it's worth a shot." He said making Leorio look at him in slight shock. Kurapika smiled at him in return.
"Only one day remains. People who already have six points will be inclined to wait near the goal. I would do the same." Kurapika admitted making me smile widely. I looked over to Leorio continuing to smile at him widely.
"I would have too if I didn't run into you two." I said to him, laughing slightly at the end of my sentence. Leorio looked at us seriously.
"Okay, let's go." He said to us as he began walking back to the goal. I walked next to my brother as we walked quietly towards the goal once more.

We reached the goal and none surprisingly we found no one there. The smell of the sea made my nose tingle and left a salty taste in the back of my throat. It was actually a little bit gross. I pulled a face slightly, not enjoying the taste or the smell. The waves were nice to listen to though. We could see the boat in the distance waiting for the day to pick us up. At least they didn't abandon us entirely. We kept hidden in the forest and looked through a gap that was just big enough for us to walk through. My brother and Leorio balanced on the balls of their feet with their knees on the ground as I sat on my legs.
"Well? Anyone here?" Leorio asked the both of us. I looked around and shook my head sighing slightly to myself. I wanted to go over to the edge and check there, but at the same time wondering into the open didn't seem like the best idea.
"No… No one that can be easily spotted." Kurapika said, making Leorio put his head down.
"Damn…" Leorio said with disappoint. I furrowed my brows slightly as I looked at Leorio and began digging through my shorts, unpinning the two tags I had attached to the inside. Once I pulled them out and placed them into my brothers' lap and stood up, patting off my bottom.
"I'll go and look over the edge. It's a slim chance, but maybe someone's there." I said to him smiling slightly.
"I'll be fine I promise." I said to my brother and began making my way to the goal. I looked either side of me and couldn't see anyone coming, or see anyone even present and quickly made a dash for the edge. I could just about hear my brother talking about splitting up after sighing to himself.

I reached the edge and sat on my knees. Grabbing onto the edge I looked over; no one. Just the waves. I quickly pulled my head up before it got soaked by a wave that leaped up the wall. I sighed to myself after seeing no one was there; at least it was worth a try. I began standing up until I felt something sharp land into my arm. I gritted my teeth tightly. I felt whatever land in my arm being yanked out and instantly slammed my hand over the hole. I could feel my blood seeping into my shirt; saving grace I had another but it really hurt. I looked over to where it came from and saw a person I didn't want to run into. Kai stood a few meters away, flipping his knife up and down into the air, a small look of disbelief on his face.
"You really are as dumb as you look. Just waltzing into the open. And you want to be a Hunter? But damn you're hard to track when you want to be." He asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at me in disbelief. I heard him click his tongue as I began walking backwards to where I had originally come from.
"What's your problem with me? Ever since we met you been really mean and I don't know why." I said to him furrowing my brows as I pressed my hand onto my arm tighter, trying my best to stop the blood flow.
"Why? People like you tick me off. You're weak. Pathetic. You cry and someone comes to help you that's not how the Hunter world works. You don't deserve to even breathe the same air as us." He said as I continued backing away from him, only to have him follow slowly.

I felt my back hit something and looked behind me to see I had hit the wall leading up to where I came down from. I looked back at Kai, watching as he stood just a few feet away.
"Do you know why I want to be a Hunter?" He asked as I shook my head slightly. If I was honest I didn't want to know the reason why.
"To get rid of people like you. When you're a Hunter you can practically get away with murder. I plan to use that privilege to get rid of people like you who do nothing but cry whenever you need help. Only the strong will live, that's how the world is meant to be." He said as he raised his dagger above his shoulder, gripping the hilt tightly.
"And you will be the first to go." He said to me making me close my eyes tightly and winced waiting for whatever to happen. I heard Kai yelp and heard the blade drop onto the ground. I opened my eyes slowly coming face to face with a blue and red tabard. I knew exactly who it was. I saw someone out of the corner of my eye and turned my head slightly to face them. It was Gon, I didn't know when he turned up, but I was happy to see him.
"Are you okay, Mishka?" He asked me. I nodded my head slightly and turned my head back to watch what was happening. Kai stumbled to pick up his weapon and looked between my brother, Leorio and Gon before looking back at me and glaring. I heard him click his tongue and put his blade away behind his back again.
"Exactly what I mean." He said simply before glaring back at the others and running off.

We watched as he ran off. My brother still had his weapons held tightly in his hands and a stern glare on his face. He looked angry, really angry. The angriest I had ever seen him for a while. Leorio kept his weapon out. I could feel Gon peel my fingers away from my arm and took my hand away smiling at him, although it was pained.
"I'm beginning to think his stalking me." I said to him laughing it off slightly. The thought disturbed my though. Did he already have his six points or was he on this island just to get rid of me? His reason to become a Hunter scared me even more. He had an odd view on the world and it was terrifying.
"We should go back to where we were." My brother said sternly, he sounded angry as well as looked it. I nodded my head and began following after Gon.

The four of us got back to the covered part of the ledge once more. We were out of sight from people. I looked at Leorio as he was checking my arm and cleaning it up. He managed to find the bite wounds on my other wound from nearly a week ago when we were in Trick Tower. He said it was infected, which is why it wasn't healing; but the infection wasn't bad enough to cause pain. He injected some antibiotics to clear it up and stitched the other arm where Kai had managed to puncture me with his knife. The pin hole wounds had luckily healed up nicely. Gon looked at me worried as I smiled over at him, wincing as Leorio put on some gaze to keep the stitched protected.
"Who was that?" Kurapika asked me sternly making me snap my head up at him. I furrowed my brows slightly. I know I told him about Kai when we met up at the bottom of Trick Tower but I didn't exactly tell him who he was.
"Kai. He's the guy I was in Trick Tower with." I said to him, hearing the click of Leorio's suitcase being put back together. I pulled down the sleeves of my shirt gently so I didn't rub anything.

Gon had stayed quiet with Leorio, it made the silence uncomfortable and I couldn't help but fidget on the spot, moving my legs more into the dirt then they already were.
"You should have said who he was. He's clearly very dangerous and not all that stable. Why didn't you tell me who he was?" Kurapika asked me sternly making me look away from him. I didn't like him being angry at me, even though I knew he was right and had every right to be angry about it.
"I didn't want you to worry. You always do, so I didn't want to add." I said to him, concentrating hard onto the dirt. I heard my brother sigh slightly to himself as it fell silent once more. I heard my brother walk over and placed a hand on my head as he sat down on his knees.
"It's my job as a big brother. You should tell me if someone like him comes about so I can be on the lookout." My brother said to me gently making me nod my head. I couldn't help but look at him and smile a little bit; I'm glad I did as I got a small one in return along with his hand rubbing me head. I looked over at Leorio, smiling widely at him.
"Thank you for stitching me." I said to him making him look away embarrassed.
"Yeah, no problem." He said back, although embarrassed to do so. I guess he didn't like being recognised for his work, or it didn't happen very often. I looked over at Gon and smiled widely, receiving one in return.

I looked between the three, remembering that I heard Kurapika speak earlier about splitting up.
"Are we still splitting up to look for Leorio's tag?" I asked them as Gon smiled widely.
"I've been watching from up above, and a number of people are nearby. That's how I spotted you being cornered by Kai." Gon said smiling as I laughed nervously. He was like a hawk and a bloodhound all in one. That was actually something really amazing. I shuffled over slightly once my brother removed his hand from my head and sat in between Gon and my brother so I could look at everyone better.
"Really? I see… We should search from above." Leorio said, looking down at the ground thinking to himself.
"That won't work. It's only possible if you have eyes as sharp as Gon's." Kurapika said, making Leorio's eyes widen in annoyance. I couldn't help but laugh slightly and looked at Leorio apologetically for doing so.
"Gon. Do you have the tags you need?" Kurapika asked him as Gon furrowed his brows a bit and looked away, as if he was disappointed. I furrowed my brows to thinking he hadn't got them.
"Yeah, I guess…" He said trailing off. He quickly looked at me after trailing off.
"Do you have your tags, Mishka?" He asked making me nod my head and smile widely at him.
"I found mine though." I said, furrowing my brows myself with a small smile. I saw Gon smile a little bit himself; I guessed I cheered him up slightly with that.

I watched as Kurapika rummaged through his back and pulled out my tags handing them back to me. I took them gratefully and smiled widely at him.
"Thank you." I said to him and proceeded to pin them back into the inside of my shorts. Leorio looked somewhere else on the ground thinking to himself once more.
"Damn, so I'm the only one without enough points." He said disappointed with that fact. I began thinking to myself, wondering how we could help Leorio get his tag with only one more day.
"Who's your target?" Gon asked looking at him questionably.
"Number two hundred and forty six, a woman named Ponzu. I heard that she uses chemical weapons." Leorio asked making me feel a chill run up my spin. That didn't sound pleasant, and I think I had an idea of what it was. I looked at Leorio with a serious look on my face, hoping I was right.
"Is that where she uses things like the flu against you?" I asked him seriously. Leorio looked at me annoyed with my question.
"That's biological. They're not the same." He said making me nod my head a little. Now I felt stupid.
"Gon, did you see any women when you were up there?" Leorio asked Gon.
"Nope." Gon said to him making Leorio look away.
"I see." He said.

This was beginning to make searching for his tag a whole lot more difficult. We had no idea where she could have been, she could have been anywhere. Kurapika looked at Leorio after looking at all of us.
"We can assume that there are four possibilities." He said holding up four fingers to help him represent each point.
"She's in good shape, and still has her tag. She's in good shape, but lost her tag. She's out of action, but still has her tag. She's out of action, and she doesn't have her tag." Kurapika said explaining to us making me frown to myself.
"How dark." I said quietly to myself as Gon nodded his head agreeing with me.
"Is it really likely that she'd still have her tag if she's out of action?" Leorio questioned my brother as me and Gon watched the exchange go on between them. My brother put his hand down as well as his head a little bit. Gon and I looked at him, waiting for his explanation.
"If she were caught in a sudden accident, or is she were defeated after hiding the tag. If she died after concealing her tag, we won't be able to find it." Kurapika said making Leorio look at him annoyed and with a slight glare.
"Sounding grimmer by the second." He said annoyed with Kurapika's facts. It was grim, I couldn't help but agree there; but at the same time my brother was right. I began thinking to myself once more, trying to think how we could find it.

Gon looked at my brother putting on a serious face.
"Hey, do you know anything else about Ponzu? Does she wear a special perfume, like Leorio with his cologne?" Gon asked him. I wondered how my brother knew more about this target, or seemed to know more about her than Leorio did; but I didn't question it my brother was just very smart like that. It clicked in my mind that if Ponzu wore anything like that, then Gon could track her down easily just by smelling her like he did with Leorio when we were catching up in the First Phase.
"Oh, that's right. Gon can follow her scent!" Kurapika announced making me smile widely at the fact Kurapika had forgotten something.
"But she might not wear perfume." Leorio said raising his hand up in defeat.
"What about the chemicals?" I asked my brother as he nodded his head, smiling at me.
"He can smell the chemicals she uses." Kurapika said making me smile widely to myself at the fact I said something helpful. Leorio looked at my brother confused.
"She's known for using drugs, right? Some of them must have strong scents. Well, Gon?" Kurapika said raising a finger before quickly putting it down and looking at Gon, wondering if he would be able to follow the scent of the chemicals she uses. Gon nodded his head, his posture and face unchanging.
"Okay, I'll give it a shot. That's why I'm here." He said to my brother looking determined. Leorio looked at him slightly shocked by his words as my brother kept the same stern look he had been holding for a while. I smiled widely at Gon, just glad that he was here whatever the reason.

We walked back to the tree we slept last night. Gon jumped up, jumping onto the branches with ease. I looked at him in amazement; I knew he could jump high but I never really saw it probably; the airship didn't really count because he smashed his head on the ceiling.
"That's amazing!" I said amazed by his jumping height with my eyes wide. We all waited patiently for Gon to come back down. He jumped back down to us and pointed in the direction from where he could smell the scent coming from. The four of us started walking in that direction, putting our complete trust into Gon's nose. We came to a field with very long grass. Gon poked his head up from it and began sniffing around. There were a few creatures I had never seen before. I smiled widely at them and wanted to try and pet one; but I knew that was silly and instead held my excitement over them to myself. It felt like I was going to explode. We eventually came to a small lake with a very small water fall. I looked around in amazement; I hadn't been to this part of the island. It was actually surprising how far Ponzu had travelled if Gon's nose was telling him she was here or at the very least came through here. Gon jumped down to the pond as I followed him and looked at my reflection. It was really clear, it looked really clean too; but I wouldn't trust drinking it. We came to another piece of the island with very long grass. I saw what looked like rabbits poking their heads out and smiled widely to myself. It was as if I just saw my first ever animal. I was really excited.

The sun was starting to set by time we stopped walking. I stood next to Gon and Kurapika. We looked at a cave entrance. It was pitch black on the inside; I couldn't see anything at all. On top of the cave sat two trees with their roots growing downwards towards the entrance. Leave it for another few hundred years or so and the cave entrance would probably be covered up completely.
"Is she in there, Gon?" Leorio asked, balancing on the balls of his feet.
"Yep, definitely." Gon said answering Leorio's question.
"It's so dark; I can't see anything after the entrance." I said to them as Kurapika knelt down beside me. My brother was just a little bit taller than me when kneeling down; making me fell shorter than I already was.
"What do you want to do?" Kurapika asked with a serious tone in his voice.
"I'm going inside. You guys, wait here." Leorio said placing his suitcase next to him. The three of us looked at him in slight surprise as he picked up a stick and held it up, looking at the three of us with a serious expression. Leorio stood up and began making his way over to the cave mouth and eventually disappeared into the darkness.

Leorio had come back over to us. He had explained how he didn't think there were any traps about. He picked up his suitcase, holding onto it tightly.
"I'll head inside. Don't enter until I give the okay." He explained to us.
"Thirty minutes. If we don't hear anything from you after thirty minutes, we're coming in." Kurapika said as Gon and I nodded our heads at the same time looking at him with a serious expression on our face.
"Yeah." We both said to him.
"Unacceptable." Leorio said making us look at him with wide eyes.
"If that happens, you guys should return to the start." Leorio said seriously to us. I shook my head quickly at him, giving him my best attempt at a glare.
"I can't do that. Since we've teamed up, I won't abandon you now." My brother said to him. That was just how Kurapika was, he was always loyal and sometimes it could be seen as a fault; but at the same time I admired him for being that loyal to someone, even to someone we had only known for maybe just over two weeks.
"Then I quit the team." Leorio said, turning around and walking away from us.
"It's selfish, considering all the help you've given me, but I'll do this alone." Leorio said as he continued walking away.
"No." Gon said making Leorio stop suddenly.

He came running back to us and lowered himself to be that little bit taller than Gon however still able to maintain eye contact probably.
"What did you say?!" Leorio shouted at him as the three of us looked at him keeping our serious expressions.
"We're staying here, no matter what you say. Still got a problem?" Gon asked him. Leorio looked between the three of us as if taken back by what Gon said. We stuck our ground, which I think put him off guard. Leorio turned around slightly and shoved his hand into his pocket.
"Do whatever you want." He said pulling out a lighter.
"Leorio smokes?" I asked a confused expression on my face. Kurapika and Gon's expression became confused as Leorio chucked his suitcase over to us. Gon caught it easily. We watched his retreating back going into the cave once more as he waved his hand dismissively.
"Hold onto that for me." He said making us smile at him. The three of us looked at each other and smiled to ourselves, happy that Leorio saw it from our point of view; or gave up trying to argue with us either way we were happy he accepted the help even if he didn't say it that way.

We had been waiting for what felt like hours. Gon had given Leorio's suitcase to my big brother to hold. We just stared at the entrance of the cave waiting for Leorio to come out.
"He's taking too long. Is Leorio okay?" Gon said and asked at the same time. I thought about it for a second trying to decide for myself.
"Yeah." Kurapika sighed as his shoulders dropped.
"He's really tall and can act really scary, so maybe he's just trying to stop her from running about." I said, coming up with my own reasons as to why he could be taking long.
"It's been nearly thirty minutes." Kurapika said as I nodded my head.
"Kurapika! Gon! Mishka!" We heard Leorio shut and instantly started running towards the entrance of the cave.

We ran into the darkness. At the end of the tunnel I could see a light shining, was Leorio's lighter really that powerful? We ran as quickly as we can and made it to the end of the tunnel. The light was actually a fire.
"Leorio!" Gon shouted as we got to the end. We stopped and looked shocked at the body on the floor. Leorio was covered in bite marks. All around him was bits of long chopped up things that leaked blood. Sitting at the back was the snake guy.
"They're snakes!" I exclaimed, pointing slightly at the bits of chopped up things scattered across the floor. Sitting on the side of the cave was a girl with blue hair, a big yellow hat, orange long sleeved top and yellow trousers with orange shoes. I could only assume she was Ponzu. She sat calmly at the wall of the cave, just watching us.
"Leorio!" Gon yelled both of us ran up to him. My brother followed us shortly behind. Gon and I dropped down to our knees, getting a closer look at Leorio. He struggled to life his head up.
"You fool. Why did you enter the cave?" Leorio said, struggling to get his words out. My eyes went wide, feeling bad for doing so.

A couple of the bits of snake started wiggling. It made my stomach churn. I quickly looked away and looked back at Leorio's wounds.
"They're vipers. Their poison isn't that strong. But he's been bitten too many times!" Gon said looking between me and my brother then looking back at Leorio. Gon lifted up Leorio's arm and started sucking out the blood. I looked at him wide eyed, wondering how he could just bring up the courage to do that. He turned his head and spat the blood, probably mixed with poison, out onto the ground.
"S-Stop it! If you have any cavities or open wounds in your mouth…" Leorio began saying, his struggling to get any sort of word out becoming greater. Gon turned his head and smiled widely at Leorio.
"No problem!" He said, smiling widely to show all his teeth. They were very white and didn't look like if he had any tooth problems.
"Leorio, do you have any serums in here?" Kurapika asked, kneeling beside him and placing the suitcase onto the floor. Leorio looked up to my brother as I looked between the three, feeling a bit on the "not so helpful" side of things.
"If I did, I could have saved you guys…" Leorio said before closing his eyes and dropping his head. I quickly caught his head so it would slam into the ground causing any more injuries than he already had.
"Leorio!" Gon said still holding onto his arm. I furrowed my brows, panicking on what to actually do. Kurapika looked at us both.
"Anyway, we have to stop the bleeding." He said as me and Gon nodded our heads.

We managed to wrap Leorios chest as that was where he seemed to be most bitten. We also wrapped his arms as well all the way up to his shoulders. He was breathing heavily and laid flat on the ground. He was sweating a lot to.
"That should do it." Kurapika said as me and Gon looked at him.
"We need to take him to a doctor!" Gon said as I nodded my head quickly agreeing with him. Kurapika nodded his head and went to grab on of Leorio's arms. He placed it over his shoulder a Gon did the same with the other one. I quickly picked up the suitcase and stood up myself. The three of us with an unconscious Leorio started making our way towards the exit of the cave again. I walked in front of the three boys as I didn't have anything heavy to carry.
"I would stop if I were you. You cannot leave." Ponzu said making us stop and look at her.
"What do you mean?" My brother asked her.
"When someone tries to exit this cave," Ponzu began saying. We heard something come up the cave and turned her heads towards the sounds.
"Snakes attack them." She said as we saw a bunch of snakes starting to come towards us. They hissed as they slithered their way up the cave towards us.
"Bourbon, the snake charmer, set this trap. If you're bitten, you'll end up paralyzed like he is. And then you'll die." She said to us. I walked backwards first, getting myself away from the snakes as my brother and Gon did the same.

The snakes completely blocked the entrance to get out of the cave. My brother turned himself slightly to face Bourbon, who sat unmoving at the back of the cave with his legs crossed.
"Bourbon! You're looking for tags, right? We'll give you every tag in our possession. So let us out of here!" My brother shouted over to him. I furrowed my brows as I looked at Bourbon.
"He's not moving." I said looking between him and the snakes.
"It's no use. He's already dead." Ponzu said as we looked at her in shock. Looking closer at Bourbon I could see a little bit of dribble coming from his mouth, his eyes looked blank. I could feel my stomach drop that meant we were stuck here, possibly for good.
"D-Dead?" My brother stuttered, which made my stomach drop even more. If it made my brother stutter, then it must have been bad. Snakes started surrounding Bourbon as we continued to look at his corpse. This wasn't good, if we didn't get out soon; Leorio could die. That was what made my stomach drop the most, a friend dying because we didn't wait to listen.

Author note: I shouldn't listen to the Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni OST when writing up some parts to this story.

Fun fact: Kurapika is 5"7, Killua is 5"2 and Gon is 5"1. This makes Mishka 4"7 as she comes up to Gon's shoulders. I have no idea how tall Leorio is, but I can imagine him being at least 6"4-6"6.