The Amazing Technicolor Hairdo
Notes: Usual disclaimer and all that jive :P
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Chapter 5
They reached the border of the jungle as the sun beat down on them. "This would be the perfect place for you to wear your panther outfit, a pity you did not bring it along." Hisoka dipped his head as the assassin tossed a branch at him. "I thought you had to mind your manners around your employer?"
"Only if the behave themselves," Illumi shot back, his normally expressionless face grew icy. He thought of a way to temporarily distract the magician, "You should worry less about what I wear and more about certain reptiles that may be lurking behind the nearest tree."
"Gah, don't you even kid about that." Hisoka moved closer to Illumi to avoid coming within reach of the trees around them as they moved on. The assassin was thankful for the magician's silence as Hisoka peeked around for snakes.
Half an hour into the jungle Hisoka was emboldened by the lack of scaly horrors and insisted on leading the way. He guaranteed it would be more exciting if he did so. Although Illumi was not particularly looking forward to the exciting time Hisoka promised, he relented and allowed the magician lead. The assassin silently followed, enjoying the sight of lust vegetation all around. With his workload he rarely had time to take in the sights of places he had been.
After traveling through the jungle for three hours, Illumi was convinced Hisoka did not have the faintest idea where they were headed. Judging by his flawless sense of time, they should have been there one hour and twenty-three minutes ago. His suspicions were confirmed when he snatched the map back and saw the magician had been looking at it sideways. "Do you even know how to read a map?" Illumi asked, reprimanding himself for letting someone like Hisoka lead. As a professional, I should never have let someone else be the guide even though it gave me a chance to take in the view.
"The map looks pretty." Hisoka beamed at Illumi, obviously not caring to have something direct his actions. He preferred to rely on his instincts, which had a tendency to get him hopelessly lost, as Illumi was unfortunate enough to find out.
Illumi resumed leading when Hisoka heard an unusual bird call and tried to follow it. Illumi felt the beginnings of a headache. Even my younger brothers were not this much trouble combined. Hisoka's my age, no, he's even slightly older. Why is it I feel like I am dealing with a 5-year-old? He grasped Hisoka's collar in one hand, map in the other, and set off on the correct path to the shrine.
The assassin assumed Hisoka had undiagnosed AAD when the magician once again tried to wander off, this time to poke a large green beetle. Tightening his grip on the other man's shirt, he continued dragging Hisoka behind him to their destination.
Half an hour later they arrived at the shrine thanks to Illumi's unfailing sense of direction. The assassin believed that if the magician went by himself he would have lost himself in the jungle long ago. Illumi was surprised to find the shrine peaking through the foliage, not really expecting the place to exist once they arrived. If the shrine exists, the gel might too. And maybe the magician's lack of sense is rubbing off on me.
They walked into the mouth of the ruins. Inside the structure they found a statue greeting them. Directions were as follows: 'A strand of hair is required from each traveler, place the strands into our idol's palm.'
Illumi unceremoniously plucked out a strand of Hisoka's hair and did the same with his. Hisoka rubbed his scalp, "I could have just cut some off with a card."
As instructed, the assassin laid the two strands in the opened hands of the statue and stood back. There was the sound of grinding as the hands slowly retracted into the sleeves of the statue. A few moments past before a passage way was revealed beside the sculpture.
Hisoka looked at the statue in curiosity, "What was that all about?"
"I do not know, I do not belong to a culture which worships hair." Illumi self-consciously swept his hair back and entered the tunnel.
Hisoka snickered, "Oh really? Then explain how your hair is so perfect." An assassin shouldn't have time to keep his hair so flawless.
"Messy hair can get in the way of a job when kept long." Illumi replied, his tone revealing nothing of how he viewed his hair.
Hisoka knew the assassin kept his hair long since his youth to emulate his father, Silva. The magician thought it was adorable that the assassin so looked up to the man.
Following the assassin into the path ahead of them they descended into the broken down temple. What greeted them were a series of traps which they were accustomed to from past experiences. The blades were dodged and Illumi simply sidestepped any trapdoors Hisoka would have tripped just for the fun of it. The magician would have set off more traps if Illumi did not threaten him with the thought of snake pits.
Eventually they came to an area where part of the path appeared to have broken away, giving them a view of the empty air below. Nudging at some rubble with his toe, Illumi doubted the validity of the article considering the state of disrepair the place was in. "Are you sure what you are looking for will still be here and intact?"
"Aw, we are already here, might as well keep looking. With all these traps around there has to be something interesting inside." The chasm gaped before them and Hisoka held out a hand to the assassin. "I can swing us across using my nen," which he attached to the ceiling as he spoke. "We could be like Tarzan and Jane, I'll even do the yell." Hisoka grinned as he said so.
Ignoring the offer, Illumi responded with, "I can jump it." Probably. He certainly was not going to accept the magician's questionable assistance.
Shrugging, Hisoka smoothly swung himself across the ravine. He gave off the familiar ululating yell characteristic of one of Tarzan's own and waited Illumi on the other side.
Judging the distance to be just right for someone of his physique, Illumi inched backwards to get a running start. He gracefully leaped and not-so-gracefully missed the opposing edge by an inch. As he reached out a hand to grab the ledge it crumbled and he was reminded of once again how things happened to spite him.
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End Note: As usual, hope you all enjoyed :P