The Hunter's Fantasia: A Never-ending Tale
By Kumatenshi
VOLUME I: THE BOOK OF PROPHECIES ** Chapter III --- The Thread of Trust **
From the memory crystal of Leorio
"What a brilliant piece of architect", I admired as I stared at the stone entrance of the cave, which shut behind us soon after we set our foot on this other world. There was not a trace of a crack, not even a fine line that would suggest a passage behind the gigantic wall. We followed a small path through the woods until we arrived at a cliff. We could see land on the other side but the gap between the two cliffs was quite huge and there appeared to be no way to cross the gap.
"Let's follow the edge of the cliff and perhaps, we would find a bridge somewhere". Killua suggested. We agreed and we not long, we came to the region where we could not travel any further. So we walked in the opposite direction but again, we came to a dead end.
"This piece of land is semi-circle in shape and it seems there is no bridge anywhere" I thought aloud. "Kurapika, can the Panorians fly?"
"No, the Panorians couldn't fly, at least nothing in the archival documents that I've read indicated they could, but Leorio, you're right, this is a semi-circle and apparently, there must be some other ways to cross gap."
"Perhaps I could swing my fishing rod hard and try to reach the other side!" Gon said and he immediately rushed to middle point of the parameter of the land and tried out his plan.
"Oh no! It wasn't long enough", Gon was disappointed.
"How about cutting down the tree and cross with the trunk?" Killua suggested, but the trunk was extremely hard and with our weapons, this simply was not feasible.
"Leorio, could you hand me the water bottle?" Kurapika asked.
"What for?" I was absolutely curious.
"You'll see", Kurapika answered with a tricky smile. It's a rare instance that the somewhat arrogant young man would wear a smile on his face but when he did, he would make me feel relieved and delighted. It was a terrible sight when I found him lying on the road three years ago, curiously at about the same place where Gon found Killua. He was very weak then and what was worse, aside from his face, his whole body was covered with wounds. I had no doubt he must have been subjected to some harsh, prolonged beatings prior to his arrival to the village. With the exception of his face, his arms, body, and legs were all covered with wounds and scars, some were fresh and warm blood was flowing from them. I tried to clean his wounds and stopped the bleeding. Then, not risking a second of delay, I carried him to my teacher, the great doctor and philosopher, Isma. Thanks to his special healing potion, Kurapika completely recovered and many of the scars also vanished but I knew only the wounds on his body were healed, not the ones in his heart. Kurapika was a genius, even the wise, old Isma could do nothing more but praise him. In fact, rather than teaching philosophy to this beautiful, blonde, teenager, Isma something joked that it was him who was the one learning.
"Oh, Kurapika, what are you doing! Why are you wasting our precious water by pouring it onto the ground?" Gon asked and his childish voice brought me back from my thoughts to the present.
"Gon, just look at the water very carefully. Concentrate and tell me what you see." Kurapika said and Gon, being an obedient boy, followed the instructions naturally.
"Hm.hm.I.I see a.a bridge, linking the two cliffs. It.it's made of rope."
"Where is the bridge?" Kurapika asked.
"It's.close to the middle".
"Lead us to the place, Gon".
"Okay."
We followed Gon and went back to the same old spot where threw out his fishing rod some moments ago.
"Ah! The bridge! That's strange, why didn't I see it earlier?" Gon pointed as he happily turned toward us, only to find three confused and astonished looks. Where he was pointing, there was nothing but thin air.
"What's wrong? Aren't you happy? We've found the bridge!"
"Gon, what are you talking about? That's nothing in front of you." I said.
"Nothing! But can't you see the bridge?" He looked at me in shock. I shook my head.
"What about you, Kurapika, Killua, can't you see the bridge?"
They shook their heads as well.
"Am I the only one who can see the bridge? But." Gon was still in disbelief; he ran over and set foot into the air. Naturally he fell. Luckily, I managed to catch him by the hand and brought him back to the cliff.
"How could this be? But I really see the bridge!" Gon was now really upset. Looking at him, it reminded me of a tragedy that happened when two years ago. One night, I saw Hans, the son of the leader of the village. He was sneaking around the house of my best friend, Kamilla. I thought he was suspicious and I followed him. He went through the forest until he arrived at the river. Then, he put a small piece of stone into the river and he left. I was curious, so I went over to the river and put my hand in the same spot where he put the stone and I found a small piece of crystal. It was extremely beautiful, clear and pure. I realized it was the diamond Kamilla's father recently acquired and boasted about. All of a sudden, I heard a cry and someone shouted "Thief!" They ran to over to me, snatched the stone from my hand, and caught me by the collar of my shirt.
"Ouch!" I cried.
"You rotten young man, trying to steal our diamond! And my sister thought you were a good guy." It was Kamilla's brother who caught me. "You're caught red-handed, see what we'll do with you!"
What followed was a series of nightmares for me. I was brought in front of the wise men in the village. I tried to explain that I was innocent and it was Hans who stole the diamond and hid it in the riverbed, but no one in the village believed me, except my teacher, Isma, Gon and Mito. But even then, I was not sure if they truly trusted me, or they just did not want to side with those heartless villagers.
"Leorio, if you tell us why you do such a sinful thing, perhaps we could give you a lighter sentence!" The leader of the village told me but I refused. Perhaps I was stubborn at the time but I could never admit to a crime I difficult not commit.
"In that case, we could do nothing but to observe the rule of the village". They took me, gave me a good beating, and put me in the little cell in the stone hut, which also served as the village's prison. I was extremely upset, because no one understood or trusted me, so I thought. For a full week, I stayed in the dim and filthy cell, befriended largely by rats, roaches, and centipedes I was released. Had Isma, Mito and Gon not visited me and brought food for me, I must have slashed my wrist and died in that cell. What annoyed me most was the fact that Kurapika never even came and said a word to me. After all, I was the one who rescued him. I really regretted saving him.
When I got out, the first thing I wanted to do was to punch him in the face, and I did.
"Leorio, what on Earth are you doing?" Mito shouted. "Kurapika was the one who saved you!"
"Eh?" I was stunned. Mito later told me that in the seven days when I was alone in the cell, completely obsessed with my ill luck and my hatred to the world, Kurapika was running around. He believed that I never stole the diamond and he followed Hans, to try to find evidence to proof my evidence. He figured that if Hans stole the diamond, he must be in need of money. In that way, he would steal again just to get hold of money. As a matter of fact, Hans did. Only this time, he aimed at the necklace of Mrs. Sivera, the wife of a rich merchant who came to visit her relatives in the village. Kurapika caught him and the two fought. Hans was pretty fragile and with relative ease, Kurapika captured him and brought him back to the village. Scared at facing punishment, Hans suddenly broke free from Kurapika and tried to seize a young girl as hostage. After some chaos, Kurapika finally managed to tie Hans up and protected the girl, but not after incurring a knife wound in a region quite close to his liver.
"Half an inch more and he's a dead man", Isma told me and I was really embarrassed and guilty because I thanked the person who risked his life to clear my name with a punch in the face. In the end, we found out that Hans needed money to repay all his gambling debts. His father was ashamed and resigned his place as the head of village. Kamilla also left the village to marry some rich merchant in town. Poor girl but I guess she just did not have the guts to turn away from the commands of her father. She was sweet but she never had any idea of her own. I only prayed that her life would be happy. After that incident, I really felt one of the most important thing in life was to trust your friend. Without trust, a human being is nothing more than a pack of bones.
At this point, I also decided to trust Gon, after all, the kid never lied, not once in the 12 years of his life.
"What are you doing, Leorio, Do you want to kill yourself?" Kurapika asked as I boldly approached the edge of the cliff, the spot where Gon pointed as a bridge.
"I believe in Gon. If he said there's a bridge here, there must be one. Just two years ago, you guys believed I didn't steal the diamond and today, I believe there is a bridge right here!"
Gon was surprised but he looked at me gratefully, as if he was trying to thank me.
"I also believe in Gon! There must be a bridge there." Killua said. He was a sullen kid, bright, but quiet and most of the time, he only chatted with Gon but sometimes, he could be quite sweet.
"Well, in that case, let's cross the bridge." Killua said, at first with a sign, and then his charming smile.
And so the four of us crossed set our feet into thin air but at that instant, an amazing thing happened. We were walking in the air! More accurately, there really was a bridge, only that it was a bridge not constructed out of stone, wood, or even rope. It was a bridge of trust. As we arrived at the other side, we found a small stone with some funny letters on it.
"What's that?" Gon asked.
"It's the letters of the Panorians", Kurapika replied, and it said: "
A bridge no traitor cross
It's trust that you've all got
To you, the brave and confident crew
May your dreams and wishes come true!"
* * *
While we were still searching for Mamelia, on the other side of the world, prince Kuroro sent his chief political advisor, Hisoka, to the land of Dentora to inform King Shiruba of his intentions of marrying his sister, the princess Ertwin, to the heir of King Shiruba, Killua. Princess Ertwin had been in a coma for three years now.
VOLUME I: THE BOOK OF PROPHECIES ** Chapter III --- The Thread of Trust **
From the memory crystal of Leorio
"What a brilliant piece of architect", I admired as I stared at the stone entrance of the cave, which shut behind us soon after we set our foot on this other world. There was not a trace of a crack, not even a fine line that would suggest a passage behind the gigantic wall. We followed a small path through the woods until we arrived at a cliff. We could see land on the other side but the gap between the two cliffs was quite huge and there appeared to be no way to cross the gap.
"Let's follow the edge of the cliff and perhaps, we would find a bridge somewhere". Killua suggested. We agreed and we not long, we came to the region where we could not travel any further. So we walked in the opposite direction but again, we came to a dead end.
"This piece of land is semi-circle in shape and it seems there is no bridge anywhere" I thought aloud. "Kurapika, can the Panorians fly?"
"No, the Panorians couldn't fly, at least nothing in the archival documents that I've read indicated they could, but Leorio, you're right, this is a semi-circle and apparently, there must be some other ways to cross gap."
"Perhaps I could swing my fishing rod hard and try to reach the other side!" Gon said and he immediately rushed to middle point of the parameter of the land and tried out his plan.
"Oh no! It wasn't long enough", Gon was disappointed.
"How about cutting down the tree and cross with the trunk?" Killua suggested, but the trunk was extremely hard and with our weapons, this simply was not feasible.
"Leorio, could you hand me the water bottle?" Kurapika asked.
"What for?" I was absolutely curious.
"You'll see", Kurapika answered with a tricky smile. It's a rare instance that the somewhat arrogant young man would wear a smile on his face but when he did, he would make me feel relieved and delighted. It was a terrible sight when I found him lying on the road three years ago, curiously at about the same place where Gon found Killua. He was very weak then and what was worse, aside from his face, his whole body was covered with wounds. I had no doubt he must have been subjected to some harsh, prolonged beatings prior to his arrival to the village. With the exception of his face, his arms, body, and legs were all covered with wounds and scars, some were fresh and warm blood was flowing from them. I tried to clean his wounds and stopped the bleeding. Then, not risking a second of delay, I carried him to my teacher, the great doctor and philosopher, Isma. Thanks to his special healing potion, Kurapika completely recovered and many of the scars also vanished but I knew only the wounds on his body were healed, not the ones in his heart. Kurapika was a genius, even the wise, old Isma could do nothing more but praise him. In fact, rather than teaching philosophy to this beautiful, blonde, teenager, Isma something joked that it was him who was the one learning.
"Oh, Kurapika, what are you doing! Why are you wasting our precious water by pouring it onto the ground?" Gon asked and his childish voice brought me back from my thoughts to the present.
"Gon, just look at the water very carefully. Concentrate and tell me what you see." Kurapika said and Gon, being an obedient boy, followed the instructions naturally.
"Hm.hm.I.I see a.a bridge, linking the two cliffs. It.it's made of rope."
"Where is the bridge?" Kurapika asked.
"It's.close to the middle".
"Lead us to the place, Gon".
"Okay."
We followed Gon and went back to the same old spot where threw out his fishing rod some moments ago.
"Ah! The bridge! That's strange, why didn't I see it earlier?" Gon pointed as he happily turned toward us, only to find three confused and astonished looks. Where he was pointing, there was nothing but thin air.
"What's wrong? Aren't you happy? We've found the bridge!"
"Gon, what are you talking about? That's nothing in front of you." I said.
"Nothing! But can't you see the bridge?" He looked at me in shock. I shook my head.
"What about you, Kurapika, Killua, can't you see the bridge?"
They shook their heads as well.
"Am I the only one who can see the bridge? But." Gon was still in disbelief; he ran over and set foot into the air. Naturally he fell. Luckily, I managed to catch him by the hand and brought him back to the cliff.
"How could this be? But I really see the bridge!" Gon was now really upset. Looking at him, it reminded me of a tragedy that happened when two years ago. One night, I saw Hans, the son of the leader of the village. He was sneaking around the house of my best friend, Kamilla. I thought he was suspicious and I followed him. He went through the forest until he arrived at the river. Then, he put a small piece of stone into the river and he left. I was curious, so I went over to the river and put my hand in the same spot where he put the stone and I found a small piece of crystal. It was extremely beautiful, clear and pure. I realized it was the diamond Kamilla's father recently acquired and boasted about. All of a sudden, I heard a cry and someone shouted "Thief!" They ran to over to me, snatched the stone from my hand, and caught me by the collar of my shirt.
"Ouch!" I cried.
"You rotten young man, trying to steal our diamond! And my sister thought you were a good guy." It was Kamilla's brother who caught me. "You're caught red-handed, see what we'll do with you!"
What followed was a series of nightmares for me. I was brought in front of the wise men in the village. I tried to explain that I was innocent and it was Hans who stole the diamond and hid it in the riverbed, but no one in the village believed me, except my teacher, Isma, Gon and Mito. But even then, I was not sure if they truly trusted me, or they just did not want to side with those heartless villagers.
"Leorio, if you tell us why you do such a sinful thing, perhaps we could give you a lighter sentence!" The leader of the village told me but I refused. Perhaps I was stubborn at the time but I could never admit to a crime I difficult not commit.
"In that case, we could do nothing but to observe the rule of the village". They took me, gave me a good beating, and put me in the little cell in the stone hut, which also served as the village's prison. I was extremely upset, because no one understood or trusted me, so I thought. For a full week, I stayed in the dim and filthy cell, befriended largely by rats, roaches, and centipedes I was released. Had Isma, Mito and Gon not visited me and brought food for me, I must have slashed my wrist and died in that cell. What annoyed me most was the fact that Kurapika never even came and said a word to me. After all, I was the one who rescued him. I really regretted saving him.
When I got out, the first thing I wanted to do was to punch him in the face, and I did.
"Leorio, what on Earth are you doing?" Mito shouted. "Kurapika was the one who saved you!"
"Eh?" I was stunned. Mito later told me that in the seven days when I was alone in the cell, completely obsessed with my ill luck and my hatred to the world, Kurapika was running around. He believed that I never stole the diamond and he followed Hans, to try to find evidence to proof my evidence. He figured that if Hans stole the diamond, he must be in need of money. In that way, he would steal again just to get hold of money. As a matter of fact, Hans did. Only this time, he aimed at the necklace of Mrs. Sivera, the wife of a rich merchant who came to visit her relatives in the village. Kurapika caught him and the two fought. Hans was pretty fragile and with relative ease, Kurapika captured him and brought him back to the village. Scared at facing punishment, Hans suddenly broke free from Kurapika and tried to seize a young girl as hostage. After some chaos, Kurapika finally managed to tie Hans up and protected the girl, but not after incurring a knife wound in a region quite close to his liver.
"Half an inch more and he's a dead man", Isma told me and I was really embarrassed and guilty because I thanked the person who risked his life to clear my name with a punch in the face. In the end, we found out that Hans needed money to repay all his gambling debts. His father was ashamed and resigned his place as the head of village. Kamilla also left the village to marry some rich merchant in town. Poor girl but I guess she just did not have the guts to turn away from the commands of her father. She was sweet but she never had any idea of her own. I only prayed that her life would be happy. After that incident, I really felt one of the most important thing in life was to trust your friend. Without trust, a human being is nothing more than a pack of bones.
At this point, I also decided to trust Gon, after all, the kid never lied, not once in the 12 years of his life.
"What are you doing, Leorio, Do you want to kill yourself?" Kurapika asked as I boldly approached the edge of the cliff, the spot where Gon pointed as a bridge.
"I believe in Gon. If he said there's a bridge here, there must be one. Just two years ago, you guys believed I didn't steal the diamond and today, I believe there is a bridge right here!"
Gon was surprised but he looked at me gratefully, as if he was trying to thank me.
"I also believe in Gon! There must be a bridge there." Killua said. He was a sullen kid, bright, but quiet and most of the time, he only chatted with Gon but sometimes, he could be quite sweet.
"Well, in that case, let's cross the bridge." Killua said, at first with a sign, and then his charming smile.
And so the four of us crossed set our feet into thin air but at that instant, an amazing thing happened. We were walking in the air! More accurately, there really was a bridge, only that it was a bridge not constructed out of stone, wood, or even rope. It was a bridge of trust. As we arrived at the other side, we found a small stone with some funny letters on it.
"What's that?" Gon asked.
"It's the letters of the Panorians", Kurapika replied, and it said: "
A bridge no traitor cross
It's trust that you've all got
To you, the brave and confident crew
May your dreams and wishes come true!"
* * *
While we were still searching for Mamelia, on the other side of the world, prince Kuroro sent his chief political advisor, Hisoka, to the land of Dentora to inform King Shiruba of his intentions of marrying his sister, the princess Ertwin, to the heir of King Shiruba, Killua. Princess Ertwin had been in a coma for three years now.
