The plan was to travel to Yorknew City, the journey would take at least a month, however depending on the situation up in the mountains it was entirely possible that it would take longer. Killua, personally, was having a great time. He hadn't been one for wandering during those 3 long months after he ran away from home, however something about having Gon as a traveling companion made things fun rather than horrid.
They had been traveling for three days now.
After they reunited (reunited, Killua laughed at himself, they hadn't even been apart for a day) they had made camp on that cliff, then the next morning had hiked down the hill and begun their journey. They were going off-trail (there were no tails anywhere near the nameless oasis) until they made it to the mountains. Gon had purchased a rough map in the market, and had recently informed Killua that the decision to travel to Yorknew had been made impulsively and quite literally the day before he left.
The forest was huge, the trees shot hundreds of feet into the sky, with those enormous trunks and blue-green leaves. The tree trunks were a deep brown, and the soil under their feet was reddish in hue with little to no underbrush. It was impossible to tell the terrain from above, due to the fact that these trees all grew to a set altitude, rather than set height. So no matter how uneven the ground was, from above, the upper canopy appeared to be a pristinely flat sea of leaves.
The ground of the forest was uneven, stock full of hills, ravines, and dips. There were no caves, but there was the occasional outcropping. The fantasy-like landscape made Killua feel like he was in a world of his own. The forest was completely devoid of any humanoid life, even the flora and fauna were scarce. Sunlight trickled down through the dense canopy, and the air was cool and comfortable. Everything smelled like nature, and the scent of the fresh, unmarked earth was intoxicating in the most wondrous of ways.
At night the forest stayed lit, for millions of fireflies would emerge from their homes in the blue green leaves, and would fill the atmosphere like the stars filled the sky. Honestly it was hard to sleep when the night ended up just as well lit as the day, but Killua managed.
Between the two of them they had quite the stash of dried food, however they had agreed that they would save that for their journey through the mountains. For now, the two boys were living off the land. It was true that there was limited animal life, but that did not mean that there was none at all. Gon had demonstrated his prowess with a fishing rod in using it to swipe birds out of the sky.
The two of them would climb to the top of the canopy and do what Gon referred to as "sky fishing" to catch the species of large raptor that prowled the skies here. They were similar in nature to hawks, but behaved and lived in a similar manner to any common bird. It was like this forest was populated by giant blue birds… just… blue birds that looked like hawks. Killua had been skeptical about eating them, even though Gon had assured him that they tasted just like chicken. To the Valkyrie's surprise, they really did taste just like chicken!
A multitude of clear watered streams and creeks wound over the forest floor, so there was always plenty of fresh water. Occasionally they would stumble across a berry bush or some not-poisonous-mushrooms, but Killua - the carnivorous humanoid he was - much preferred eating the birds to eating plants.
Currently Killua and his horned companion were traveling through some particularly interesting terrain. There was a rather large dip in the ground, Gon had explained that it had used to be a ravine but over time had gotten worn down to the V like dip in the ground that it was now. Killua had to admit it, the other boy's extensive knowledge about all things nature was very impressive.
Though it contrasted heavily with his jarring lack of knowledge on any other subject.
Namely math and knowing when not to commit arson.
The idiot in question was currently skipping along a fallen tree that lined the left edge of the dilapidated ravine. Killua was walking across the tree like a normal person. Gon was leading the way (he was better at reading natural landmarks… as well as maps in general). The Valkyrie was always taken aback by the sheer amount of energy he possessed.
"Why do you skip all the time? Walking normally too mainstream for you?" Killua retorted.
"It's fun!"
Killua's face contorted into one of exasperation. "'It's fun?' What an incredible reason."
"But it is!"
Killua rolled his eyes.
"You should try it!" the hyper 18 year old said as he glanced over his shoulder at Killua.
Killua choked on air. "Wha- no! I will never be caught dead skipping!"
"You sure say that a lot, Killua."
"What? That you're an idiot? Cause you are," Killua smirked as Gon stuck out his tongue at him.
"That's not what I meant and you know it!"
Killua quirked a silver eyebrow.
"You always say 'I'll never be caught dead,'" Gon said in a terrible impression of Killua's voice. Killua laughed and told him as much.
"Come onnnnnnnnnnnn~~~~~~~" the tan boy prompted.
"No."
"It's funnnnnnn~~~~~~~~~"
"You've already said that multiple times, and my answer is still no."
"Kiiiiilllllllluuuuuuuaaaaaa~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"
"Gods, your so annoying-"
"-skip with meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~~~~~~~~~"
"For fuck's sake, fine!"
"Come and ski-"
"-I already agreed!" Killua exclaimed, then began pouting as Gon did a little victory dance complete with excited whoops and cheers.
"You ready?" Gon asked with way too much enthusiasm.
"Unfortunately," Killua said, dragging his hands over his face, bracing his ego for the upcoming embarrassing display.
"Let'sssss GOOO!" Gon then took off skipping.
Killua scoffed, and then joined him.
To any outsider, they would look like two 18 year old boys skipping across a fallen tree.
Killua felt as if he looked like a clown.
I feel so stupid! What the hell!
Gon looked over his shoulder at Killua, and burst out laughing.
"Shut up, idiot! Ya want me to stop?!"
"No, no! It's just," Gon trailed off into giggles. "You look so out of character right now!"
"Well yeah, I'm skipping. I'm supposed to be the reserved, brooding one! You're supposed to be the enthusiastic ball of energy!"
"But isn't it fun?"
Killua sighed. "Well… maybe a little-"
"-I TOLD YOU IT WAS FUN!"
"Hey! I said a little! No need to get your panties in a wad," Killua trailed off towards the end, unable to stay grumpy when Gon was radiating such intense rays of happiness.
"Bet I beat you to wherever the next fallen tree is!" Gon suddenly exclaimed.
"Like hell, you will!" Killua called out, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
The race was on.
