So according to the results of the poll, the majority of people want her to end up with Killua. Sure, I'm OK with that. I can make that happen. However, should Kurapika be involved or not? That is the question. I'd appreciate more votes so I can figure out whether to involve him or not. Thanks!
Morgiana chan - Thank you! No, I didn't know. That will be interesting, if they meet. However, I don't think they will because she dies so soon, and I'm sure Basil's going to be with Killua and Gon at that point. Thank you for the suggestion on her Nen though. However, I already have a category and abilities for her, I just need to get them 'fixed up' so I don't god-mod her.
Liz - You're welcome! Yeah, Basil's pretty smart with noticing things.
"Absolute silence leads to sadness. It is the image of death." - Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Re-cap:
Eventually, Leorio and Kurapika were fighting with each other again. And what was it about this time? It was about hunters. It was about hunter's professions, and whether money or honor was more important. Soon, Crisei joined in as well, adding his own opinion about it being about bragging rights. I sighed and turned to Gon, but he was pulled into the conversation as well. And, unfortunately, so was I.
"Eh, I think you're all right!" He said. They sighed, then looked at me. My eyes widened and I flinched at their weird faces, waving my hands in front of my face.
"Er, I agree! I think you're all right too! However..." I paused. "I also think you're all wrong. Kai-san said it wasn't about the money, or the honor, or the bragging rights... He said it was about the responsibility, and helping those in need. To show respect and to care for others weaker than you."
"Basil's right," Leorio said with a smile.
"Yup, she has us beat," Crisei continued.
"Ah, I didn't mean to make you guys mad! I apologize!" The three started to laugh. I looked at them, worried. "What'd I do?" I turned to Gon, who just smiled at me.
"I'm pretty sure you made them happy!" I paused, then smiled. I made them happy. I made them happy. Soon, all of us were laughing.
The laughing stopped as soon as the elevator stopped. Everyone got ready to enter into the area unknown. The area known as the hunter exams.
End Re-cap
"Strange atmosphere down here." Leorio said right off the bat. I looked around as well at all the faces.
"Everyone here is a master in their own right." Kurapika replied.
"Ano! ... Wow everyone's all tense." Gon said as well.
"Reminds me of the boat..." Crisei remarked nervously. I nudged him.
"But if you remember, everyone like that were pussies and quitted before it even really started." I reassured him. He only frowned.
"Are you calling me a pussy?" I blinked at him.
"No! No! I was calling everyone who thought they were hot stuff then left were! You at least were able to gauge yourself and knew you weren't strong enough to brag!" Crisei narrowed his eyes at me and I gulped. Suddenly, he grinned, then ruffled my hair.
"Just messing with you, kid." I pouted disapprovingly as I fixed my hair. I turned as someone cleared their throat, then froze. In front of me stood the strangest looking frog-man I'd ever seen. Was he even human? Yes? A magical beast? I was so lost in obscure thoughts I almost missed what he said.
"Hello. Please take a number." He said. I watched as everyone grabbed a white, circular badge he was handing out with black writing, then, after the others had grabbed theirs, I grabbed mine. 406. I stared at it for a second, then turned to the others.
"What'd you guys get?" I asked them. Leorio had gotten 403, Kurapika 404, and Gon 405. I turned to Crisei, but he was nowhere to be seen. I scanned the room, then spotted his familiar mop of orange hair following after the frog-man. Probably because of his... 'Situation.'
"Hello. You must all be new." I turned to look at a cubby male who was walking in our direction. He was smiling and waving.
"Yeah. How did you know?" Gon asked.
"Eh, well, this is my thirty-fifth time taking it... I guess you could say I'm a veteran." He replied sheepishly.
"Thirty-fifth?!" Leorio exclaimed. My mouth was open as well, but I quickly shut it. Kai-san said it was hard. If this guy was still alive after thirty-five times and he was still trying it, he was stronger than he seemed, or the hunter exams weren't as dangerous as they gave credit to. Or both. I calmed my mind and saw he was slightly threatening, however he didn't know Nen.
I finally came to the quick conclusion he was a rookie crusher, and didn't care enough to actually take the hunter exams. But I could be wrong. I'd see what he would do to verify my hypothesis.
"Yeah... Hey, if there's anything you need to know, you know where to find me!" He let out a small chuckle. "Oh! Name's Tonpa."
"Well, Tonpa, is there anyone we should be concerned about?" Kurapika asked. I looked at the man, then focused out in the crowd, only half listening to him. I looked around, calming myself. Two. There were two Nen users here besides examiners. One was just sitting in silence, twirling a pin in his hand. His body and clothes were covered in pins as well.
His power must have something to do with them. Maybe a Conjurer or a Manipulator? Or he could be an Enhancer. But who knew. I just hoped to never come across him. His aura was very malicious and dark. He must be strong, and with me only at a beginners level, I wouldn't last long.
I looked at the other one. He was staring at a man who was walking away from him. Before I even knew what had happened, the man was on his knees, screaming out in pain as his arms turned into flowers.
"Oh look! His arms have magically turned into flowers! No tricks up my sleeves here, folks. Next time you bump into someone you should really apologize~." The joker-dressed man said. My eyes widened. He was definitely a Transmuter. There was no doubt about it. And his aura... The feel of it overwhelmed me. I flinched back and turned away from him without triggering my own aura. I didn't want to get his attention either. I looked back at Tompa, who looked slightly in distress.
"And that's Hisoka. He's a psychopath who the examinees let back. He was disqualified last year for killing an examiner."
"And they let him back?!" Leorio said, mouth wide.
"Well, they only disqualified him last year. They haven't disqualified him this year." I said.
"Yet." Crisei, who had just gotten back, said with a grimace. "He's already started killing people..."
"Yeah..." Tonpa turned back to us, then smiled. "Well, anyways, let's toast to our new friendship, eh?" He reached into his bag, shuffling around for a bit, then pulled out some cans of juice, handing them to me and my friends. I looked at the juice with suspicion, then at him. If I were him, I'd be a fatso and keep the juice for myself. However I wasn't him, so I would give it to my friends if they were thirsty. But we just met him, so why would he give us juice?
My thoughts stayed firm on him being a rookie-crusher.
So before I even attempted to drink it, I looked at the expiration date. Still in tact. And the can was still sealed... I popped open the lid and brought it to my mouth, when Gon had already taken a sip. I opened my mouth to warn him there was something in it, when he spat it out. I blinked at him in surprise.
"Eh, Tonpa, it must be expired..."
"What? Really? No way. How could you tell?" I glared at the guy. He was DEFFINITELY on my hate list. He tried to give me and my friends laxatives. Thank goodness Gon and the others were smart.
"Yeah, I grew up in the forest. I learned all about chemicals and if things were OK to eat." Kurapika and Leorio had already tossed their drinks. Mine stayed firmly in my hands. Crisei, who hadn't had a chance to open his, gave his back to Tonpa.
"Ah. Well, I guess I'll see you later then!" And with that, Tonpa ran off. I glared after him.
"Good thing you noticed that, Gon. I wouldn't have been able to warn you." I looked at them, then smiled. "He put laxatives in them." The others looked at me in surprise.
"You could tell that?" Crisei said, looking down in the can still in my hand. I nodded.
"Ever since my-" My pulse quickened and I bit back my tongue. "Never mind." Ever since my parents tried to poison me. Kurapika gave me a look, but I just turned away and looked at the ground. I sighed, then looked back at the drink in my hand. It was an OK drink... It just had laxatives in it... I scoffed as a smile found its way to my lips. Good thing minor things like this didn't have any affect on me anymore. Darn, I was thirsty! I brought the drink to my lips and chugged it immediately. Though I wasonly halfway done with it when Crisei pulled it out of my hands.
"Hey! Didn't you just say it had laxatives in it? Are you trying to poison yourself?!" I looked at the others's worried and disapproving faces, then sighed, taking the can back.
"Unfortunately something this basic won't effect me," I shrugged, turning away and finishing the can. "Plus, I'm thirsty." Though I could've just phased over to my world and gotten a drink from the drinking fountain...
I almost laughed. I thought going back and forth from my world to this one was a hindrance, but actually, it was refreshing. Knowing I had a place I could go to to get supplies or food if I ever needed anything. The only thing was the time that passed here while I was there I had to be sleeping. I looked up at the ceiling.
Should I tell them?
No.
I'll wait.
I couldn't tell them. Not yet.
I flinched and grit my teeth as an obnoxiously loud noise rang throughout the room. I held my chest in pain as a shock went throughout my body, but made sure not to look out of place as to not alarm my friends.
Friends...
A word I never thought I'd be saying.
The pain had come from the translation devise on my chest. It wasn't enough pain to alarm me too much, but I now knew to stay away from loud noises and high frequencies. I really hoped it wouldn't be a problem for me later.
I looked up to see a wall moving down. From it, a man appeared, sitting on the ledge, holding a little device I assumed was either moving the wall, making the noise, or both.
"The Hunter Exam will now begin," the man said as he hopped down from the tall ledge. "I am Satotsu, the Phase One examiner. You must follow me to Phase Two. This is the Exam's First Phase." He said as he walked down the pipeline. Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio started after the forming crowd, walking at a fast pace. Crisei and I followedafter them as the pace chained to a slow jog. But soon, it turned into a full out run. I huffed in annoyance. More running... But I had been able to run for hours on end to get away from my parents, I could do this. And the Ten surrounding my body would help. However...
This was one of the things I dreaded the most. Running. Fighting, tournaments, even a written test. Anything was better than running. I had to stay awake while I ran. I couldn't cross over while I ran. And I would never ask Crisei, or any of the others, to carry me while they ran.
Hopefully this wouldn't last long.
"Hey, you OK?" I looked up at Crisei, who looked worried. I blinked at him as I ran, then smiled.
"Yeah. I'm fine, why?"
"You just seemed lost in thought. You're an interesting person, I was wondering what was on your mind." I shook my head, then looked forward.
"It's nothing."
"Nothing is still something. Space is still matter. The world is always turning. It's never 'nothing'." my mouth twitched into a smile for a second.
"I guess." He was right. "I was just hoping this wasn't going to be long." I looked forward, squinting my eyes to gaze ahead.
"Yeah," Crisei agreed. "I hope so too." Seconds passed in silence.
"Hey, we should move up to the others. I think it's easier to run when there's people around to keep you focused and interested." Crisei nodded. He and I jogged even faster to catch up with the three in front of us.
"Hello!" Crisei said.
"Hi!" Gon replied joyfully. The two started to chat. I sweat-dropped. How could they run and chat like that without getting tired? I sighed.
"So... You feeling better?" I looked over at Kurapika.
"You too?" Kurapika gave me a weird look. I just smiled, hanging my head. "Yeah, I am. I'm definitely feeling better. Why?" Kurapika just shrugged.
"Just wondering." I nodded, turning away from him, but turned back, staring at him for a second, eyes wide. He glanced at me, but i turned away, eyes squinted in suspicion. "What?"
"Nothing." He sighed, clearly annoyed.
I could have sworn he was blushing...
It had been two hours. Or around so, according to my time measurement. I was pretty accurate on these things. It had been silent for a while, which, honestly, I was happy about. I liked the silence.
Plus it kept them from asking questions. It wasn't that I didn't want them to know, no, I did, it was just I was worried about how they'd react, how it would affect my life. I knew there were some things I couldn't say, and I was worried for the future. Worried that if I died in my world, or here, how that would affect me, others.
I didn't want to make my friends sad or worry. I wanted to make them happy. And if I were to die, I'd want to die for them, for something I did, for helping. I'd want to make sure I did something positive, that, unlike what my parents had done to me, use me, that I could use myself to help others. To give my life meaning.
"HEY! Wait up, brat! You should show the Hunter Exam some respect!" Leorio yelled, snapping my attention from my thoughts to who he was speaking to. My dull brown eyes met with brilliant blue ones, staring at me with a burning intensity that made my chest burn. i glared back at the silver-haired boy, but he decided to ignore me and turned back to Leorio.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"Why are you using a skateboard? That's cheating!" I stared at the skateboard the boy was using. It was actually quite smart of the boy to use it. I mean, there wasn't any rules against it. Luck must've been on his side when he decided to bring it to the exams.
"Why?" The boy asked, never loosing or gaining speed as he continued to stare blankly at Leorio.
"WHY?! This is an endurance test!" Leorio yelled back.
"No it isn't." Gon and i said. We looked at each other, then passed a smile.
"Huh? Gon, Basil, what are you saying?" Leorio asked, seemingly offended.
"The examiner only told us to follow him." Gon replied. I nodded.
"There's no rules against it."
"Who's side are you on?" Leorio yelled unhappily. He turned to Kurapika and Crisei, who had paused their conversation, but they just shrugged.
When I looked back at the silver-haired boy, he was now skating alongside me and Gon. "Hey, how old are you?" He asked.
"12!" Gon replied.
"13," I said, trying to smile slightly.
"Hm, basically same as me... Guess I'll run too." He shifted his weight, causing the skateboard to twirl up behind him. Gon and I stared at the trick in amazement as he caught it in his arm.
"Whoa! That was so cool!" Gon said. I nodded, amazed as well.
"I'm Killua."
"Gon. And this is Basil." I nodded. Killua just glanced at me, looked back at Gon, then back at me. He finally nodded. "Nice to meet you."
"Yeah, you too," I replied, smiling.
"Why are you so pale?" Killua asked. I almost tripped in place.
"Wh-what? Why are you so pale? Why is your hair white?" Killua's eyes narrowed in annoyance.
"It's silver."
"Oh, sorry. Why is your hair white?" Killua grit his teeth. I honestly didn't mean to be rude, but it was the best way I could change the subject without making it seem like I was changing the subject. Honestly, I normally gave no thought to my skin color anymore. But the reason I was so pale...
My fists clenched. It was because of my parents.
"Whatever." Killua turned away, letting it go. I could tell he too was agitated.
This was going to be a very long run.