!! Disclaimer !! This contains major spoilers for Hunter x Hunter. But I guess you already knew that. !!
Fear. Anger. Sadness.
Dread.
That's all that Gon could feel while watching all his friends, family, and colleagues getting ripped to pieces by the monstrosities of the Dark Continent. He saw Killua, Kurapika, Leorio and Ging. Slowly losing their life force, as their faint traces of their Nen fade.
The expedition was a mistake. They shouldn't have left. But they had to. With absolute control over the mainland by Beyond Netero and the Kakin Empire. They had no choice. They needed to traverse to the Dark Continent. But they didn't think it would be this bad.
Gon wanted to run. But he couldn't move.
He wanted to fight back. But he can't feel his body.
After seeing all his friends and family perish. He wanted to avenge them.
After mustering up all the courage he could, he quickly formed a fighting pose, and activated his attacking move.
"First comes rock. Rock. Paper. Rock."
He hit a creature dead on. It had killed it, but it was one of many. The creatures attacked Gon. Each with a rage.
Black. All black.
It was all Gon could see. But when he opened his eyes. He found that was in a forest, stretching as far as the eye can see. Sitting on a treetop, with the familiar smell of the swamp. Tears stroke down from his face as he was there. At Whale Island. Fishing for the King of the Swamp. He couldn't process the situation. Why was he here? Is this a dream? He didn't come to his senses till the fishing rod that he had been using for years to come started pulling against him. Gon then was alert. And started to pull as hard as he could, performing the same maneuvers as the first time he did it. He succeeded. But this was his chance, he thought. I could change what happened. I can save them. This time. For sure.
Gon soon went back to his house, fish on his back. The same as always. A bright and vibrant house, clothes hanging on the wind. He held back his tears as he silently sobbed. He was home, and this was real.
"I'm home, Aunt Mito!"
"Oh hi, Gon! Dinner's ready if you want to take a bite."
It was Aunt Mito. She was alive. Gon brushed it off and tried to put on the smile he used to have.
"Look what I have, Aunt Mito!" said Gon as he dropped a giant fish on the grass outside.
"My, you actually caught it!" Mito was surprised.
"Yes I did! Can I take the Hunter exam now?" with his smile from ear to ear.
"I'll have to think about it. You go to your room now, I'll have dinner ready soon!"
"Sure!" Gon ran up the stairs, into his room.
"Now then. What was it that I had to do?" Gon recalled from previous lessons that you can forcefully activate Nen by applying pressure to your body in certain places. He noted that all traces of Nen had disappeared from his body. He forcefully initiates it. By activating each Nen node he remembered. After activating the final node, Nen flowed out from his body. It was a small aura compared to before, even microscopic, but it was enough. He activated Ten, and started to meditate.
Knock Knock.
Gon immediately activates Zetsu and starts laying on his bed.
"Come in."
"Today's the day you leave for the Hunter Exam." Said Mito in a rather worried tone.
"Alright!" Gon exclaimed in a cheerful manner.
They then had the same exchange as before.
"Are you sure you want to become a Hunter!?"
"Mhm."
"Your father left you to become a Hunter!"
"That's why I want to go. I want to see what made being a Hunter worth not raising me."
"…"
"Don't worry, I'll definitely come back!"
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Gon went to the boat, restless to see Kurapika and Leorio again. He boarded the boat when a man spoke to him.
"Hey kid, are you gonna take the Hunter exam?" Said a man while smoking a pipe.
"Yup!"
"Heh, your death wish, kid." The man then placed his hands on the boat's wheel, he was the Captain of the ship. The boat then departed from Whale Island. With Gon waving his goodbyes at Mito. He was prepared for a storm.
A few minutes after the departure, Gon went up to the crow's nest and smelled that oh so familiar scent that signified a storm. He climbed down to tell the Captain.
"Hey Mister Captain?" Gon asked while tapping his shoulder.
"What is it, kid?" The Captain put his head down to get to Gon's level.
"A storm's coming. I can smell it." Said Gon while putting on a serious face.
"Ha, how could you-" He looks at Gon.
Hold up, this kid's serious?
"Heheheheheh, alright lads! Put up the sails, we're gonna have one hell of a ride tonight!"
Gon went down to the living quarters, to meditate and practice his Ten. Leorio was there before him, reading a magazine while eating an apple. A sour one to be precise. Gon sat down on the bed and started to meditate. Kurapika entered soon after, barely noticing Gon was meditating before he sat himself down on the bed. Gon then stood up and walked up to Kurapika. "Hi! My name is Gon. How about you?"
"I-uh.. ahem Kurapika." Said Kurapika while he was still processing what happened.
"That old man over there is Leorio. Treat him nicely, he gets angry easily."
"Noted." Replied Kurapika.
"For the last time there, kid. I'm not an old man. I'm 19!" Shouted Leorio.
"19!?" Both Gon and Kurapika backed away a little in surprise, though Gon was faking it, and was even hiding a giggle.
"And that's Mister Leorio, to you." Stated Leorio as he flipped back up his magazine.
"I'm gonna go get some water and herbs, because a lot of people here are sick."
"Yeah sure kid, do whatever."
The Captain walked down to the crew's quarters. All these people knocked out already. If they can't handle this, then they have no hope of passing the Hunter Exam. "Huh?"
"Here you go, and drink it up slowly, it will help." Said Gon while helping up a man. With Leorio and Kurapika in the corner.
"Hey, you three, come up here for a second."
"I'll ask you this. Why do you want to take the Hunter Exam?" asked the Captain.
"Hah? And who are you to ask? I'm not telling." Said Leorio.
"Me neither." Followed Kurapika.
"Ooh! I'll go!" Gon raised his hand.
"So what is it, boyo?" asked the Captain.
"I wanna meet an old friend and was hoping to see him at the exam."
"Hoh? And who is this 'old friend'?"
"Killua Zoldyck."
"I see." 'A Zoldyck?' "Oh, and I ought to inform you that the Hunter Exam has already started. And I will be in charge of whether you can attend or not. Due to the sheer amount of candidates each year. So tell me, why are you taking the Hunter Exam?"
"Revenge." Answered Kurapika.
"Revenge? Well that's a pretty weak reason to take the Hunter Exam." Leorio mocks Kurapika.
"I need to, as Hunters have access to information that otherwise normal people can't know. It's important if I want to take down the Phantom Troupe that massacred the entirety of the Kurta clan. That is why I need to become a Hunter." Replied Kurapika, a bit irritated.
"And what about you? Leorio?"
"Fame, Money, Ladies, a Hunter has an infinite supply to them all!"
"Talk about a weak reason." Kurapika made a retort.
"You call that a weak reason? And that's Mister Leorio, to you!"
"I guess money can't buy character."
"Why- you…"
"Let's take this outside. I'll show you how to finish off the last of the Kurta clan."
"You take that back!" answered Kurapika.
"I don't take anything back." Leorio walked out the door. Kurapika leading close behind.
…
It's a stormy night. Boat rocking back and forth. Kurapika on one side, and Leorio on the other. Wooden swords on one, and a pocket knife on two. "HWAAAAAAAAH-"
A sailor then flew between both of them. Falling off the boat. Gon couldn't miss this chance, and jumped off the boat to grab the sailor's legs, knowing that he would be saved too. He felt a grip on either of his feet. And got pulled back to the boat.
"Jeez, kid do you know how much danger you could've gotten yourself in?" Leorio scratched his head in confusion.
"Yeah, I envy you, Gon." Kurapika followed suit.
"Hehe." Gon pulled up his grin from ear to ear.
Shortly after, they all started to burst into laughter.
Gon hasn't felt like this in ages. For once he can enjoy some time with friends.
These are certainly interesting candidates. Especially the boy, I can detect traces of Nen in him using Gyo. He's amazingly skilled for his age, and has nearly mastered Zetsu. Thought the Captain to himself.
"Well, here we are at Dolle Harbor, you can go now. And take this note." The Captain handed each of them a note to head to Zaban city.
"And take my word of advice, head to the big, line pine tree. That'll take you to Zaban city."
"He said to go to the big pine tree right? But it's on the other side of the…"
The Captain dials a number.
"Hey, I have an interesting candidate here. He can use Nen and has a near perfect control over Zetsu. Description? He's a kid wearing green clothes and has a fishing rod. Yeah. Mhm. He's got the potential, I'll give him that. Yeah. Gotcha." The Captain closes his phone. And heads back to the ship, giving Gon a glance before departing.
"Hey! Wait for me! I'll come with you guys!"
"I thought you were taking the bus?"
"I just thought you'd be lonely without me, heheh."
AN. This is a slight parody if the well-received Trip x Through x Time fanfic go read it, it's a really good fic. It has similar plot elements and what I made can even be said to be plagiarizing. I'm just pointing this out, as people may think that. As such, this was also heavily inspired by that fanfic, as this started out as Gon attempting to save Kite, and turned into a friend saving quest. Similar to the Victory Lap fanfic for the Shield Hero. Anyways, thanks for reading and please leave a review. Thank you! Again, credit to the author of Trip x Through x Time.
