Killua sprinted to his room, threw all his belongings into a satchel as neatly as he could (moving at the pace that he was), and then sprinted to the kitchen. Morel handed him a sac of dried food, which Killua took and then sprinted back to his room. There he changed clothes: donning a navy blue turtleneck with a white t-shirt over it and some black fingerless gloves. He then threw on a pair of baggy black pants, his ninja shoes, and slung his stuff over his shoulder.

He tucked his tail neatly around his waist, and sprinted for Gon's room. He busted through the door, and then rushed up to the bed, dirty sheets still neatly folded at the foot of the bed where Gon had left them.

Putting his Valkyrie senses in full throttle, Killua inhaled deeply against the sheets, imprinting Gon's scent into his nose.

Pine, citrus, and the scent of freshly cut earth.

His hunter's instincts took full control, and Killua ran out the door so fast he was nothing more than a blur of white hair and dark clothing. When he exited the building he scented the air, Gon's scent was dull, and fading fast, but still there! Killua sprinted to the right, and then took off after his friend.

…

The sun was setting on the horizon, the view from the top of the cliff was glorious. The sky was all deep oranges and pinks, reflecting off the blue-green leaves of the forest and giving everything a buttery glow. The enormous trees of the forest spread out as far as the eye could see, and in the far, far distance, a mountain range could be made out, faint and blueish on the horizon line.

Killua stumbled up the steep incline, he had been sprinting all day and exhaustion was starting to get to him, however he couldn't stop now. Now when he was so close. He reached the point where he could see the top of the hill, and there - silhouetted against the golden orange sunset - was Gon.

"Gon!" he cried out in victory, and ran the rest of the way, clearing it in a split second.

"Killua!" the other boy yelled, turning around and meeting him in the middle.

Killua had only meant to walk up to him, but Gon slammed into him and lifted him up, hugging him and swinging the two of them in circles. The Valkyrie's stomach gave a heave of anxiety, but luckily Gon had grabbed him around the rib cage rather than around the waist, so his tail remained hidden.

Gon laughed in sheer joy, and Killua couldn't help but join him, though he could hardly breathe. "Killua! Killua you're here!" the boy kept yelling. Finally he put the silver haired Valkyrie down, and the two stumbled about for a second, dizzy from all the spinning, then steadied themselves by grabbing onto the other's arms. They met each other's gazes and laughed at themselves.

"What changed your mind?" Gon said, with the happiest and most awe filled grin Killua had ever seen, his orange eyes were wide and sparkling with joy.

"Well I couldn't just let you search for your dad on your own, could I?" Killua asked, dodging the question, then changed his mind: "Besides. I really wanted to go with you." His face went hot with the last statement, and suddenly Gon's expression changed into one of happy tears.

"Awwwwwww," he squealed, and squeezed Killua to his chest in the tightest and most enthusiastic hug he had ever experienced.

"G- Gon, I can't- breathe!"

The tan boy released him, "Sorry Killua!"

"Idiot," Killua jabbed, but not meaning it. He was grinning like a fool. "Well, what do we do now? Where are we going?"

Gon's smile did nothing but grow, Killua hadn't even known that was possible. The green haired boy pointed towards where the sun was setting on the horizon. "Past those mountains!" he declared, "On the other side of that mountain range there is a city called Yorknew! I've heard that it is the largest city in existence! And that it has man-made mountains made of glass and iron that scrape the sky itself! There are millions of people living there, at least one of them has to know something about Ging! Even if it's just the tiniest of hints, I'll still take it!"

Killua stared off where Gon was pointing in amazement, Yorknew sounded like a dream, too fantastical to actually exist. "Wow, that sounds so cool!"

"Are you ready for your first adventure, Killua?" Gon asked with another widening of his grin.

Killua grinned right back, fangs sparkling in the sunset, "Always!"


AN: chapter 10 is pretty short so I thought I'd post it at the same time