Author's Note: A chapter a day keeps the worries away. Hopefully. Yeah. Thank you again, Amy and Marcus, for proofreading woooooo.

Miwaku: I don't own Hunter x Hunter.

CHAPTER 2

Ging was glad that he grew up in an island where fishing is the main source of profit. It helped him with his current situation.

Hours after embarking the ship, as Ging was lightly dozing in a little corner of the cabin, a huge storm rocked the whole boat. He immediately woke up and kept his body by the walls so that he would not stumble and flail around...unlike the other people surrounding him. It made him wince whenever a head bashed against a wall (or another person's head) and definitely whenever he saw someone vomit from motion sickness. He silently thanked his relatives for teaching him how to overcome sea storms in boats.

After the storm, it was calm. Ging stood up to stretch his muscles and to wake himself up. He wanted to sleep some more, but with the smell of vomit and the sight of mostly unconscious people, he decided to go out of the cabin. However, when he opened the door, a man ('Most likely a part of the crew,' Ging noted when he saw the red bandana that he noticed on some of the men in the ship) was in front of him and saying, "Hey, kid. Captain wants to talk to you."

Ging agreed to it but he was skeptical. He did not expect for the captain of the ship to bother talking to him, much less even know he was on board. He was then taken to the cockpit as expected.

"Ah, so this is the last man standing?" The captain was a burly man with a bottle of alcohol in one hand and the wheel in the other. "It's really a kid."

"Uh, yeah." Ging did not know what to say really.

"And pretty awkward, too." The captain muttered. Ging smiled wryly at that. "Anyway, good job on surviving that. You're the only one who passed."

"Passed?" Ging's eyes widened in surprise.

"Yup. Didn't know, huh? Rookies are too funny, I swear." The captain cackled at his surprised look. "Listen. There are a hell lot of Hunter-wannabes that want to participate in the Hunter Exams. That's why the Association hires people like us, to trim the fat per se."

"I see." Ging had to admit, he wondered how the participants were...filtered. 'And it makes sense to do that so that only qualified ones will be able to get to the exam site.'

"That's such a mellow reaction." The captain sighed. "Are you even alive there?"

"Hey! I'm very much alive, thank you very much!" Ging yelled out, face twitching in annoyance.

"That's the spirit I was looking for!" The captain laughed and went to him to slap his back. "You're a shy kid, aren't you?"

Ging got that a lot in Whale Island, especially from the men that got drunk everyday. He could not help it really. He was not much of a social butterfly.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Ging Freecss."

"And why do you want to become a Hunter?"

Ging expected the question but even so, he was not yet sure of what to answer. And so, he just said, "Because there's something I want...and it's out there."

The captain was silent before a grin appeared. "I'm gonna expect that name in the list of new Hunters."

Ging turned away to hide the embarrassed flush on his cheeks, much to the amusement of the crew.

"When we get to Dolle Harbor, I'm gonna show you the way to the exam site. Or more precisely, the ones who will take you there."

"Thank you." Ging scratched the back of his head and smiled a bit. "That's gonna be helpful."

"Damn sure it will be." The captain went back to the wheel of the ship. "So brace yourself! We're not yet done with the sea just yet!"

"What?!" Ging gawked at the suddenly large wave in front of them.

"Hang ten, newbies!"

'And it's just getting started.' Ging thought with a groan and braced himself for the wave's impact.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"We're here!" The captain announced as he walked down the wooden ramp connecting the ship and the port. Behind him was Ging who looked a bit ruffled from the intense rocking of the boat earlier. "And all you have to do is to get there. The Navigators will be there to take you to the exam site."

Ging looked at where the captain was pointing at. At the far top was a hill with a cedar tree. "Thanks again." He smiled at the captain.

"No problem, kid. Good luck!"

Ging nodded and looked up at the buildings in his surroundings. 'Tall enough.' He crouched down in front of one building then jumped up, running quickly at the walls and reaching the roof. He glanced left, right, and forward. Apparently, the way to the hill with the cedar tree involved passing through a forest. He grinned. 'Time to test my stamina then.'

He began running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop until he reached the forest where he dropped to one of the sturdy tree branches and went from there. While on the run, he noticed some signs about Magical Beasts and while he had not seen one, he kept his guard up.

A few hours later, he finally arrived at the hill with the cedar tree without breaking a sweat. His travel lasted until just after sunset, which was good enough for him. 'I could be faster but there's no rush.' He knew that the Hunter Exams was still days away.

There was a wooden cottage under the cedar tree and inside, the lights were on. Ging went to the door and knocked on it.

The door opened, revealing a tall, long-eared beast with yellow fur and fox-like features.

'What?' Ging blinked in surprise. "Uh, hello?"

"Are you, perhaps, a participant of the Hunter Exams?" The beast asked.

Ging could only nod. He was shocked when he was suddenly pulled in the house and saw the beast and an identical one bow down in front of him, yelling out a "We're so sorry!"

He scratched the back of his head in confusion. "What's going on? Are you the Navigators?"

"Yes!" The beast that greeted him said. "We are Kirikos, Magical Beasts, and we were hired by the Hunters Association to help guide the examinees to the exam site."

"Unfortunately, you arrived too early." The other beast lamented. "We were supposed to test you to see if you were worthy. And we had an elaborate plan, too."

"Do I have to apologize for that?" Ging muttered, not realizing that he said it out loud.

"Oh no, no, no! It's our fault! We underestimated your speed and for that, we apologize!"

"You are definitely worthy seeing as your physical strength helped you get here in a fast and timely manner!"

"Okay, okay, I get it." Ging sighed. He was getting uncomfortable with the apologies and the compliments. "So, does that mean you will take me to the exam site?"

"Yes!" The two Kirikos smiled at him.

Ging just smiled wryly. He stared at the two Magical Beasts in front of him and realized how identical they looked. 'That must be the test. Something that will involve tricking me that there is only one Kiriko when in fact, there are two.' The next second he looked at the Kirikos, staring back at him were two ('Me?!') Ging Freecss look-alikes.

One of his look-alikes laughed loudly (and it sounded so weird to Ging because he never really heard himself laugh like that). "Surprised you, huh? We can alter our appearance into anything we like."

"We can also imitate their voices." The other look-alike added (and it still irked Ging to hear his voice like that).

"Can you stop that, please?" Ging cringed.

"We'll keep this up for fun's sake."

"Or as a test of your mental fortitude since it's affecting you."

"Ah! But we can't do this for long." One of the look-alikes glanced at the window. "It's better if we travel while it's night."

"Then, we'll ask you a question."

Ging prepared himself. He now knew that there will always be something unexpected that will come his way and it will be better for him if he tried to stay on guard.

"The question is...which one of us is the female Kiriko?"

But even if he tried, he still managed to feel surprised. "What?"

"I'm sure that you could remember our voices and appearances from earlier. If you answer correctly, we could take you directly to the exam site. If you don't, we would only drop you off about ten kilometers away from the exam site and just give you directions on how to get there."

"So, which one of us is it?"

Ging turned away from the Kirikos so that he would not be distracted by his own face and tuned out the voices (his voice, damn it) behind him. He tried to remember the differences in their appearances but could not see it. He then tried the voices and he somehow heard a slight difference in the tone. It was almost undecipherable.

'Well, here goes nothing.' Ging pointed to the look-alike on his right. "You're the female Kiriko."

There was silence until it was broken by the look-alike he pointed at who was, all of a sudden, transforming back into being a beast. "How did you know?"

"I was right?!" Ging did not expect that and refrained from patting himself on the back.

"That was a lucky guess?!"

"Not so much." Ging smirked a bit. "The one on the left is the Kiriko that greeted me at the door. When I remembered your voices, to me, his voice was a little deeper than the other. Also, I figured that since he was the one who answered the door, he must be a male that was on a lookout for predators or something while the female was inside, safe and sound. And so, that's pretty much my basis."

The two Kirikos shared a bewildered glance before looking at him, shouting, "You're a genius!"

"That's amazing!"

"One of a kind!"

"Truly outstanding!"

Ging blushed and looked away. "Shut up! You asked and I just answered, okay?"

"You're definitely worthy!" The apparently female Kiriko suddenly sprouted wings from her back. "We'll now take you to the exam site. By flight!"

"You have to hold tight though." The male Kiriko, who was still in his Ging-Freecss look-alike form, winked.

Ging shuddered at that. "Please turn back into Kirikos. Please!"

After some grumbling of 'spoilsport kid' and 'no fun', the Kiriko turned back to his beast form, took out his wings, and with Ging holding on to his and his fellow Kiriko's feet once they got outside, they started to fly up.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Okay, we're finally here." The male Kiriko said as they gently landed in front of a building that looked to be used as a warehouse. "Just go through that door and wait for further instructions."

Ging stretched his muscles a bit before looking at the Kirikos. "Thank you for taking me here."

"Oh, it is no problem. You've really impressed us by managing to differentiate us." The female Kiriko smiled. "We bid you good luck at the Hunter Exams." Then, they were flying off.

Ging watched them go until he could not see them anymore. He then went to the door, opened it, and braced for an attack. When nothing happened, he went in and saw several people looking at him. It made him wary and uneasy. 'Do they have to stare at me? Sheesh.'

He went to a corner and made himself scarce, not wanting to attract anymore unwanted attention. In return, he did not look at the other examinees (especially at the suspicious-looking fat man who was giving away soda cans).

"Excuse me. Here is your number plate."

Ging blinked when he saw a green creature in a black suit holding out a circular plate with a number on it. 'I have to get used to seeing weird creatures like this, seriously.'"Oh, uh, thanks?"

"My name is Beans." The green creature smiled. "I'm part of the Hunters Association and in charge of greeting the examinees and giving them their identification for the exam." He gestured to the number plate he was holding. "Here, take it and keep it with you at all times."

"Right." Ging watched Beans walk away to greet the other newcomers. 'What kind of Hunter is he? Is he even one? Can you be a part of the Hunters Association but not be a Hunter?' The questions only made his head hurt and so, he decided to rest his mind. He figured he had some time before the exam starts. He made sure that he would not fall into a deep sleep or he would not sense if an attack comes at him.

After what felt like a day of resting, Ging woke up hearing an alarm. Eerie silence dropped in the participants as all of them stared at the man that just came in, wearing a white polo shirt and black pants.

"The number of examinees is two hundred seventy-nine. Too many, too many." The man clicked his tongue. "It's hard to keep track of that many people. Luckily, I'm the examiner they picked for the First Phase of this year's Hunter Exams." He then took out a button from his pocket. "This is a button. I have seven of these with me. The goal is to get one."

Ging was shocked at that. 'Seven? Which means only seven could pass?'

"Seems simple enough, right?" The examiner laughed. "All you have to do is catch me to get a button. But then, I'm not your only opponent. All of you two hundred seventy-nine examinees will have to go against each other in order for the other to not get a button. You can attack me and your fellow examinees. I will not attack you, don't worry. I'll just be running around in this warehouse. Once all seven buttons are claimed, the First Phase will be over. Ready?"

'No wonder only few people become Hunters. The examiners really pick the best of the best in the litter.' Ging saw the others raise their weapons and some were subtly (and failing to be subtle) going towards the examiner. He smirked as he felt his heart pump loudly. 'This is exciting. I can't wait to start.'

"Ready. Set. Go!" Then, the examiner disappeared.

Ging ignored the shouts of outrage from the other examinees and quickly glanced around the room. He saw the examiner at the other end, laughing and flicking the button up and down. 'He's fast. Too fast. I didn't even see him move.'

"Catch me if you can!" The examiner taunted and dodged a bullet that lodged into the wall. "How rude. But really, you should've done that earlier." And he disappeared again.

Ging tried to track him while at the same time, moved out of the other participants' ways and dodged the attacks that came from everywhere. He noted that there were some like him - trying to look for the examinee - and there were others who were focused on attacking the examinees, taking them out one-by-one. 'You could really see which ones are dedicated here.' He thought wryly.

"Come on! These are the supposedly next Hunters? I'm getting bored here!"

'And there's the one with the annoying commentary.' Ging glared at the examiner who disappeared once again. He was getting used to following where the examiner will go next and hoped there will be a pattern. And to his surprise, there was. Eyes following the examiner, he began counting, 'One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Seven points. Seven places in the room. Those are the places he would appear to. He has some sort of teleportation skill - could he be a Magical Beast? - and he uses that to appear and disappear quickly. The only flaw is that he only has seven places to go and it has a sequence, like following a certain shape - a heptagon perhaps?'

"Hey, kid! Get out of here!"

Ging's eyes widened at the sight of a club coming towards him. He immediately dropped down to the ground to prevent getting hit.

"Boss, you missed him!"

"Tch. Cocky kid probably thinks he can pass this test. As if he could be a Hunter!"

"Beat him up, Boss!"

Ging could not help feeling angry at their words. He was being underestimated, just because of his age and size. He would not lose to some meatheads who think they are big shots just because they beat up others. 'They don't even deserve to be Hunters!'

"Is that so?" Ging grinned as he stood up and dusted off the dirt on his clothes. One second, he was just standing. On the next, he was punching the guy that almost hit him with a club.

"Boss!"

"That damn brat!"

"This damn brat will take all of you on!" Ging took the club and started swinging it around. "Taking me off the competition, huh? Try me!" He was pissed off, big time. And when he was pissed off, he would not hold back. So, he attacked.

Anyone who went near him went down with a blow on the head. He did not kill - he was not ready for that - but he knew that his blows packed some power enough to knock someone unconscious. He now changed from the examinee who was watching the examiner to the examinee that removed the others one-by-one. He did not realize that the examiner stopped teleporting until he dealt one last blow on the last one standing.

After that, Ging was panting and let the club fall to the ground. Surrounding him were the unconscious bodies of the examinees. It almost looked like a massacre with no blood. He shook away the morbid thought.

"What a surprise. You actually took them all at once and did not even get a scratch."

Ging glanced at the examiner who was staring at him. "I was pissed off. Just because I'm only twelve doesn't mean that I don't belong here."

"True, true. But it isn't over yet. You haven't caught me and gotten a button yet."

Ging hid a smile. The examiner had no idea at all that he knew already. "Oh really?"

"Yes." The examiner disappeared but Ging knew where he would be appearing. He went to that place as quickly as he could and when the examiner appeared right beside him, he held on to the arms and twisted them to the point that one wrong move could break them. "How?! How did you know?!"

"Your teleporting has a pattern. I just followed it." Ging answered and took the button from one hand. Then, he let go of the arms. "Simple as that."

"I didn't realize that someone could follow it while there was a stampede-like event happening." The examiner huffed and rotated his arms. "But anyway, congratulations. You passed this year's Hunter Exams."

Ging was stunned. "Huh? What? Wait, you said this was the First Phase."

"Yeah. There should've been a second one but somebody knocked out his competition." The examiner gestured to the unconscious bodies.

"That's it then?" Ging scratched the back of his head, still feeling stunned. "Huh, that was easier than I thought."

"Pfft. You're just lucky, kid. You just wait here while I go make a call. The Chairman is gonna have a laughing fit, I swear."

'The Chairman? Whoa, wait, I just passed the Hunter Exams...just like that.' Ging could not stop the grin that stretched his face. 'This is awesome! I can't wait!'

"Hey, kid! The Chairman wants to talk to you in his office." The examiner jutted a thumb at the door where Beans was waiting. "Just go with that guy. He's the Chairman's secretary after all."

Ging went towards the little green creature who smiled at him. "Hello again."

"Hello again to you, too. I must say, I'm very surprised that the exam ended so quickly." Beans chuckled. "The Chairman will be the one giving you the orientation. He said so himself."

"Okay then. Lead the way." Ging smiled. He followed Beans out of the building and saw an airship with the logo of the Hunters Association parked in front of them. 'This is real. This is really really real.' He could not believe that in that short journey, he became a Hunter, just like that. And it would become more real when he gets his Hunter license. Excitement filled him up and it could not remove the smile on his face. 'I really can't wait!'

TO BE CONTINUED

Author's Note: Quite a long chapter but that was only like a week or so in the timeline. Much more talk here than monologue, that's for sure.

Expect in the next chapter: Heart, Whack, Rat

See you next time!