A/N: Sorry if the story is progressing too slowly. I just want to elaborate the changes made in the story if Renée was there. If you guys want it changed just let me know :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter x Hunter.

CHAPTER 7

Renée heard yAelling from above and wondered what might have happened. Thinking that a fight must've broken out, she walked up the stairs indifferently.

There was no fight. Gon was sliding everywhere on the ship, being pulled by his rod.

The red-head groaned inwardly as she heard him shout her name. 'Way to be inconspicuous Gon.'

Seeing that he can't handle the fish by himself, she ran after him, latching herself onto him once she reached him.

"How can you catch the Lord but you can't haul in a single fish?" she yelled in his ear as they slid past the men.

"It's heavy! Ah!" Gon yelped.

The fish had pulled, leading them towards the railings. 'If it keeps going like this, we'll be thrown overboard!'

Renée looked around for something to act as a stopper for them. She saw a piece of the floorboard slightly jutting out ahead of them and aimed their bodies at it.

She lodged her foot in between the wood, effectively stopping them from sliding around.

"Pull Gon!"

Hearing her strain against his weight, he quickly reeled in the line, revealing a very large fish that was easily their length combined.

Clapping was heard and they turned towards the man walking towards them. He was portly, with a red nose, a beard, a white hat, and a red jacket.

'He must be the captain.' Renée thought, recognizing his get-up.

"That fish is a rare saltwater bass. You don't get it much in these parts of the water. You're lucky." he complimented Gon.

The boy smiled and held the fish out to his friend so that they could marvel their catch together. Her face wrinkled in disgust and she pushed him away from her. "Ew. Get that away from me Gon!"

He only laughed at her reaction but threw the fish back anyway.

Renée proceeded to show him Tasha's gift and as they were talking animatedly, the captain watched the boy. 'He must be...'

Their conversation was interrupted by the cry of the seagulls flying above them. Gon looked up, listening intently.

"What's wrong Gon?"

"Something's coming."

Renée and the captain watched him climb up the mast and smell the air.

"A huge storm is coming! I can smell it in the air!" he warned the captain.

The man only looked at Gon, his face showed recognition. 'Those eyes. It has to be his!'

Just as Gon had predicted, a huge storm did come.

The large waves threw the ship in every direction. The crew and almost all of the passengers onboard collapsed due to sea sickness.

The captain scoffed at them all. "And to think they wanted to take the Hunter Exam." he said when he entered the room.

The floor was littered with examinees that had hurled and fainted.

"Here. Chew this medicinal herb, it'll help."

The captain was surprised to hear an unharmed voice and turned to see the boy from earlier. He was tending to all the passengers that suffered from a wild churn of their stomachs, running here and there to hand out herbs.

His gaze travelled further and he saw a blonde, much older than Gon, on a hammock, reading away despite the storm.

A sound once again alerted him to the presence of another and the captain found a man in a cheap suit that was sitting in the corner, eating a sour apple.

'There are a few tough nuts huh.'

"Excuse me sir, I'd like to pass through."

His thoughts were disturbed by another voice, a much younger one at that, and he moved aside to see a girl with red hair walk through, carrying a jug of water.

'She puts shame to the men around here.' The captain thought as he watched her hand Gon the jug irritably.

"I don't see why we should help them, Gon. They're all the idiots that mocked us." she complained.

"But they look like they need help." he told her simply.

The girl sighed and helped out anyway.

"Alright. I want you four to meet me in the bridge." the captain announced, earning four curious glances. He grinned and walked off.

"First off, tell me your names." the captain said once they were all in the bridge.

"I'm Gon!" the boy said happily.

"My name is Renée." she followed.

"I'm Kurapika." the blonde stated dully.

"It's Leorio." the man in a cheap suit spat out.

The captain took a long drag from his pipe before he started speaking again. "So, why do you want to take the Hunter Exam?"

"My father is a Hunter! I want to be one so I can find him!" Gon stated cheerily.

"I was technically forced to be here by this idiot. So I guess I'm sort of his babysitter." Renée deadpanned, amused to see her friend's face fall.

"Geez Ren." he whined.

"Hey! Why are you kids answering his questions!?" The man, Leorio, suddenly burst out, catching the kids by surprise.

"Why can't we tell the captain why we're here?" Gon asked him.

The man poked his forehead, earning him a glare from the red-head.

"Well I won't tell him why I'm here!"

"I agree with Leorio." Kurapika said.

This caught the man's attention and he removed his finger from Gon's forehead, only to point at the blonde. "Hey! Aren't you younger than me? Show some respect!"

He was ignored and this pissed him off more.

"So you aren't gonna answer me huh. Katsuo!"

One of the crew saluted the captain in response.

"Tell the board that we have two more dropouts!"

"Aye cap'n!"

Kurapika and Leorio suddenly perked at this and they stared incredulously at the portly, old man.

"Haven't you figured it out yet? The Exam already started the moment you stepped foot onto my deck. There are millions of wannabes who want to take the Hunter Exam and the Association doesn't have the time and resources to examine them all. They hire people like me to trim the fat. I pass who I like and fail who I don't. The others who were in the room with you are already out of the competition and I have notified the board about that already. If they can't handle a little storm, then they can't possibly dream of passing the Hunter Exam's later challenges. It's not too late though. You can always choose to answer my question." he explained.

Kurapika was first to answer, changing his mind immediately. "I'm the sole survivor of the Kurta Tribe. My kin was massacred by a band of thieves called the Phantom Troupe. I want to be a Hunter so that I can avenge my people!" he said, failing to mask the anger beneath his voice.

The captain contemplated his answer, looking at him grimly at the mention of the thieves' name.

"So you want to be a bounty hunter. The Phantom Troupe is a class A bounty. Taking them on would be suicide." he warned Kurapika.

"I do not fear death. I only fear that my anger will fade over time."

'Talk about grudges.' Renée thought absently.

She heard Leorio scoff beside her and all turned to him.

"So basically you want revenge right? I don't see why you need to be a Hunter to do that."

The Kurta turned away from him angrily. "That's probably the most stupid thing I've ever heard, Leorio. Places accessible only to Hunters, information that are otherwise unobtainable, a wide variety of connections, these are only some of the things that a Hunter can access. Though I doubt that your tiny brain even thought of that." he snapped.

Leorio could only grit his teeth.

Before a war broke out between the two, Gon intervened and asked the older male his reason for taking the Hunter Exam.

"Me? Well to put it simply, I want money!" Renée stared at him incredulously. "Seriously?"

"Well of course little girl! Money can get you a big house, a nice car, and good liquor!" he explained animatedly.

"Money can't buy class, Leorio." Kurapika stated smugly.

The said man stopped his explanation and glared at the blonde.

"That's the third time. Let's go outside and I'll end the filthy Kurta bloodline."

This got the other riled up and he turned to the dark-haired man by the door. "Take that back Leorio!"

"I told you to show some respect." was all he said and the two were already out of sight.

"Geez those two are so uptight." Renée sighed, glad that the tension has left the room.

"Aren't you two going to stop them?" the captain asked, curious as to why Gon didn't intervene though it was in his nature to do so.

"Aunt Mito said that, to understand a person, we must understand first why they are angry. I'm sure they'll be able to sort it out for themselves."

"Captain! A waterspout is up ahead! If we get caught up in it, it'll break the ship in half!" the man behind the wheel warned them. The captain immediately took over and barked out orders to his crew.

"Let's help too Ren!"

The red-head nodded and followed the men heading towards the deck.

They separated and helped out different groups of men that were raising the sails. The wind was strong and Renée was glad that she had some practice with these kind of situations from working on the cargo ship.

She saw Kurapika and Leorio standing near the railings and she was surprised that they haven't been thrown over yet.

Her group finished pulling up the sails and one of the crew secured the rope.

She heard a man shout for help and saw that one of the thinner crew members, Katsuo, was being carried by the wind. He was flicked overboard and a blur of black and green passed by her, catching her attention.

"GON!"

Renée ran after the boy that jumped off the railings. She leapt after him, grabbing Katsuo's other leg while Gon had the other.

'Now we're both going to fall off. Stupid Gon.'

Before the waves could swallow them, Kurapika had grabbed hold of Renée and Leorio managed to catch Gon. Together, they pulled the kids, and an unconscious Katsuo, back to safety.

The storm had passed and they were sailing once again on smooth seas. The sun hung bright and warm in the sky, drying up the ship and its passengers, making it seem like the night before had not happened.

The crew tiredly mopped up the deck, constantly complaining about the heat.

Among them were two men that were scolding two kids that had their head hung low.

"What were you thinking, jumping into the sea like that!? If we hadn't caught you both, you would've been shark bait in seconds! Did you even realize the consequences!? Geez!"

Leorio yelled at them, occasionally spraying some saliva, much to Renée's displeasure.

"Honestly. You two are so reckless! You should always think before you act!" Kurapika butted in as well, thankfully without the spraying.

"But you still caught us!" Gon reasoned out.

The red-head laughed seeing their dumbstruck faces.

Leorio muttered a small "Well yeah." and she laughed even harder.

"That's Gon for you!" she smiled, explaining their non existent question regarding her laughter.

It seems that her joy was contagious and everyone started chuckling to themselves.

Katsuo clumsily made his way towards them, making Gon stand up in recognition.

"Ah. You're okay already?" The crew member only nodded sheepishly before bowing to all of them.

"Thank you for saving me! If it weren't for all of you, I wouldn't be here today." Leorio looked away, slightly embarrassed for being highly praised.

"Ah well. Just keep doing your best and work hard and be careful next time."

Katsuo took his advice and nodded before walking away enthusiastically.

Kurapika cast a knowing smile towards him, making the man look more embarrassed.

"What is it?"

"Sorry for my behavior. I don't know what's gotten into me, sir." the blonde apologized.

Leorio was taken aback by this and he felt ashamed of what he had done as well.

"What's with that? Leorio is fine anyway. I'm also sorry. I take back all that I've said."

Gon smiled toothily at their exchange. 'More friends!' he thought to himself.

The captain guffawed, ruining the touching moment. "I like you four! I'll pass all of you and I'll take full responsibility of taking you to the nearest port to the Exam site!"

Gon and Renée high-fived, happy that they made it, while the two older males just watched in amusement.

END OF 7.

A/N: I put up another chapter just cause I had time. Please review!