Part 1

Change of Plans

Chapter 1

Meeting X New X Allies

Not too far from NGL, a village was blessed with a bright sun and blue skies, warming its citizens who lived in peace and prosperity. Two young boys were walking down a street while chatting, one of them playing with two pieces of wood marked with ink on one hand.

"They work as proof that you're an ally or to authenticate a document" explained the silver haired 14-year-old.

Killua remembered Netero's words as he explained what those two pieces of wood were for. He threw them up in the air as he continued.

"In this case, each of the two assassins holds one matching token". He catched both pieces with a flick of his hand. "We defeat them and take the tokens"

The other young boy with black and green hair remained silent the rest of the way while processing this new information.

When they finally arrived to their destination, they checked the chalkboard in the middle of the room. The message that was left for them yesterday, was erased.

"You must be Killua and Gon"

They turned to find a creepy woman with really long, black, curly hair and lazy eyes emitting a strange and hostile aura. Her hands were awkwardly clutching her pink dress while she introduced herself with a raspy voice.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Palm. It's a pleasure."

The boys flinched and sharpened their senses. It was clear to Palm they were confused and didn't trust her. She offered a better explanation while drinking some tea in a nearby shop.

Palm revealed she was Knov's apprentice while she added an incredibly and unhealthy amount of sugar to her coffee. She had offered her help for the mission in NGL but ultimately she was left behind since Knov assumed she would get in his way.

Gon and Killua were suddenly uncomfortable with her abrupt changes of topic and random talk about Knov and her feelings for his teacher, but finally they got the information they were waiting for: they needed to defeat Knuckle and Shoot.

"Knuckle and Shoot are Morel's students. They, too, received a condition. I don't know what that condition was, but whether it's us or them, only one group will be allowed into NGL. The deadline" she lifted her index finger "is one month."

Gon and Killua remained silent and nervous. Their victory meant the only way for the three of them to assist in NGL.

They gulped. They have to win. For Kite's sake.

That afternoon, after witnessing one of Morel's students making a fool of himself by challenging Gon and Killua and screaming in the middle of the road, Killua went for lunch with his best friend.

They analyzed their strategy and discussed the best way to increase their chances of winning a battle. Killua remembered Morel's message back at the NGL border: In a Nen battle, nothing is certain. You can't judge a fight by who has the stronger Nen.

Killua played with a meatball on his plate. That's stupid. If you are not certain you can win, why even bother? He took the meatball with his fork. You need at least 50% chance. If possible, greater than 70% chance is preferable. He ate the whole thing in one bite.

Killua proceeded to explain to Gon the two things they had to do: work on their fundamentals and learn about their opponents' abilities.

Gon frowned while sipping his drink. "I'm half agreed and half opposed."

Killua looked at him with a questioning look.

"I think we should work on our fundamentals, but I don't think we need to know about their abilities."

"That would only increase our chances of defeat" He pointed at the young Hunter with his fork. "Why wouldn't you want to know your opponent's abilities?"

"But that's what we'll be facing in NGL." He moved his body forward as he made his point "In other words, we must be strong enough to defeat enemies we know nothing about."

Killua didn't move for a few seconds as he thought. He sunk in his chair. Damn it. Can't argue with that logic. He's right.

They finished eating and left the restaurant to rendezvous with Palm at the address they were given.

After some walking, they found the place.

As Gon was opening the door to a hotel room, he frowned in determination.

"One week. In one week we'll be stronger and heading back to NGL!"

Killua looked at Gon like he was crazy.

"Go-"

SLAM

Gon was sent flying by a punch on his face and hit the wall in the back.

"ARE YOU AN IDIOT!?"

They turned to look at the young, blonde woman wearing a pink and white dress with her hands at her hips while staring angrily at them.

"EH!? BISKY!?" both of them said at the same time. "Why are you here?"

Palm appeared from the back of the room and calmly answered for her. "I asked her to come."

Since they were again confused, Palm explained she used her power to check their backgrounds and contact their former trainer. Although neither of them knew what her power was yet, they quickly dismissed their question when Palm started to darkly rush them to start training.

Suddenly, they heard another feminine voice.

"Oh, are these Knuckle's and Shoot's opponents?"

A young brunette appeared next to Palm. She looked the same age as Killua and Gon, wore a long and tight dark purple shirt with no sleeves and a polo shirt neck, khaki pants that went down right below her knees and a pair of matching color dark purple Mary Jane shoes. In her back she had two short swords she obviously uses as her weapons. Her long light brown hair was tied in a half ponytail and went down right below her shoulders. Her eyes were light turquoise.

Killua looked at her curious face, watching them and he wondered who the heck was she. For some reason, he felt uncomfortable in her presence... but he didn't know why and it bothered him.

Gon, curious and surprised as well, had a completely different reaction.

"Yeah, that's us. I'm Gon. Gon Freecss"

She blinked. "Eh? Freecss?" asked the girl while she widened her eyes in surprise. "No way! Are you related to Ging Freecss?"

"You know my dad!?"

"Your DAD!? Ging is a father?". She just couldn't believe it. That useless moron has a son!?

While both of them chatted, Palm was in the back of the room, playing with her fingers impatiently.

"How come you know him?" He raised his arms to exaggerate his next statement. "He's supposed to be really hard to find."

She made a bored expression as she recalled her previous interactions with Ging. "Oh, I've actually met him several times."

She realized she hadn't even introduced herself. "I'm Kaala Netero. I'm always at the Hunter Association Building and I usually meet many Hunters every year. Including your dad."

It was Gon and Killua's turn to look surprised.

"Netero!? Like in Chairman Netero?" asked the silver-haired boy.

Kaala rubbed the back of her head while looking a little embarrassed.

Bisky placed her hands on her hips. "She's the Chairman's granddaughter." She shook her head in disapproval. "Mattaku, you two really don't know anything of your own organization do you?"

Killua rested his hands on the back of his head "I don't care much for that stuff".

Gon scratched the side of his cheek with a guilty face "I'm sorry hehe"

Palm was now shaking and her eyes turned to red dots behind her thick hair. But no one noticed her change.

Kaala turned to Killua with a smile. "And you are?"

Killua turned and eyed her suspiciously, still wondering why he still finds something is off with her. His instincts were telling him she wasn't to be trusted, even as the Chairman's granddaughter.

Or maybe that's the very same reason he shouldn't trust her.

People too deeply involved in such powerful organizations, such as the Hunter Association, always get involved in complicated issues.

Some of them public, many of them secret.

He knows that. He's done assassination jobs for powerful people that have paid incredible amounts of money for secrecy or for following very specific instructions to make it look like an accident or even worse, make look the client's enemy did it.

Killua can proudly say, he has never failed on those kinds of jobs.

He didn't think the Hunter Association needed to hire assassins, but that doesn't mean they don't have any dark secrets. Assassinations are just the tip of the iceberg.

All of this went through the former assassin's mind considering her very powerful name. He still wasn't convinced that was the reason though, and decided he would dwell on it later. Right now, he should focus on training and getting to NGL.

Kaala could feel his untrusting aura towards her. She was about to give up on him introducing himself when he suddenly spoke.

"I'm Killua" He looked away. "Killua Zoldyck".

Taken a little by surprise, she smiled and replied "Nice to meet you then." She turned to Gon. "Both of you"

Something snapped inside Palm. She had had enough. She lost her patience. No one knows where it came from but she suddenly had knife in her hand and started to emit a very dark aura.

"SHOULDN'T YOU TWO BE TRAINING!? AREN'T YOU SUPPOSE TO DESTROY MOREL'S STUDENTS!?"

Everyone in the room sweatdropped and shook in fear at Palm's rage. Bisky nervously spoke first.

"S-saa! Everyone! Le-let's start training!" Followed by a nervous laugh.

Kaala decided to just observe since that is the only thing she could do right now. At the end of this month, a team would be chosen. She didn't really care who won but she wanted to make sure the strongest Hunters were the ones to assist her grandfather.

What really matters to her is to get to NGL if the Queen gives birth to the King,

Despite her best efforts to foretell his birth, she found no way to confirm it without exposing herself to her grandfather's snitchers.

She had to wait for the right moment to act since Netero-jiisan can't know about her intentions of participating in the extermination of the Chimera Ants.

Kaala frowned as she remembered their last talk. She usually follows his orders and instructions...

But not this time. This time, she will not sit and wait or do what she's expected to do.

She remembered where she was when she heard Gon's cry of pain. She shook her head and left that matter aside for now to focus on her grandfather's prospects.

Let's see what they've got.

Right after Biscuit hit Gon, this time on the head, she continued where she left off with her lecture.

"That old man is famous for his nasty nature. If he tells you to do something in a month, it probably should take an entire year"

Kaala had a hard time containing her laughter towards that comment. Biscuit was right. Her grandfather can be such a bully sometimes, just to have some fun out of other people's struggles. She felt a weird mixture of happiness and sadness at the same time when thinking about him.

After Gon's anecdote about Kite and the Chimera Ant incident, Kaala had a small understanding of their personalities. Gon is rather impulsive and naive, but honest and strong-willed. Killua is composed and calculating but he may over analyze the situation and get agitated easily.

Biscuit told them to keep their Ren active for 3 hours straight. Kaala made a disgusted face. Ah. I remember when I had to do that for the first time. It was not pleasant. Another memory came to her mind, and the sad-happy sentiment with it.

Mou, stop doing that to yourself!

While Gon and Killua focused on their task, she decided to distract herself by analyzing her encounter with the silver-haired Hunter. His intuition is good. He doesn't trust me.

She didn't mention anything when she heard his last name but she knows who the Zoldycks are. Why there is a Zoldyck out in broad daylight, befriending people and risking his life unnecessarily, she had no idea. They are famous for being cold and strongly loyal to themselves and themselves only.

That made him very interesting. She wanted to know how the heck a cold-blooded assassin ended up close friends with such a soft natured Hunter like Gon.

Gon Freecss. He was interesting too. She never knew Ging had a son. That moron. Who could ever be with that impulsive, arrogant idiot? She raised her eyes to look at him. He really looks like him now that I think about it.

She sighed. The were indeed interesting, but not even close to Knuckle and Shoot's level.

They won't win.

Time passed by and Gon faltered, followed not too long after by Killua. They didn't even last an hour.

Biscuit just told them to keep working and she kept on reading.

Gon glanced over Kaala while gasping for air and then turned to Biscuit with an innocent, curious face while pointing at the brunette with his index finger.

"Why isn't Kaala training with us? Isn't she here to train for the mission too?"

Biscuit was about to answer but Killua was faster. "Gon, can't you tell?" He said between shallow breaths.

Gon looked at Killua confused.

"She doesn't need training." He closed his eyes while pointing at Kaala with his thumb. "Her Nen control is incredible.."

"Eeeeeh? Really? I can tell she is strong but I didn't think there was such a big gap between us". He turned to Kaala with an admiring face.

Kaala placed her hands behind her back and made an apologizing smile. "Sorry Gon, I'm just a spectator for the time being. I do intend to go to NGL though but please" she raised her index finger to her lips "keep it a secret. At least for now."

"A secret? Keep it from whom?"

She straightened and answered with a serious face. "Anyone who isn't in this room."

Killua's expression darkened. Is this it? Is this why I don't trust her? He took a moment to check on his instincts. No. It's something else.

Even so, he decided he wanted more information on the matter. "What about them?" He pointed at Bisky and Palm.

Kaala turned to the black haired woman. "Palm said that as long as I don't intervene in your training, she won't say a thing." She turned to Bisky with a guilty face. "She...well..."

"It's not my place to mess with family matters." She simply finished for her.

Gon and Killua were surprised by her rough statement. Was Bisky mad at her? After a few seconds, Gon broke the silence. "Alright. I promise I won't reveal your secret."

Kaala sighed in relief. She looked at Killua.

"It's not my business either so… I won't say a thing."

Kaala looked pleased and thankful. She turned to Gon. "Thanks." Then to Killua. "To both of you, thank you"

Killua felt his cheeks get hot and looked away.

Biscuit clapped twice and then placed her hands on her hips ". Ok ok. Enough chatting! Get back to work". She took her magazine while Gon and Killua resumed their Ren training.

Kaala didn't have anything better to do and so she placed herself right next to Killua.

"You know what? I could use some training too. We'll be here for a month. I better not get rusty or lazy while we're here".

She activated her Ren and Killua wondered if he could last as long she could.

Many hours later he realized how wrong he was while lying on the floor, gasping for air next to Gon who was even asleep. He felt a breeze and opened his eyes to find himself being fanned by Kaala. Too tired to even talk, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the gesture until he also fell asleep. Damn it.

kigamin: Thank you for your support! I'm so happy you found it interesting! I checked out your profile and found your Poisined Amaryllis story. I'll definitely read it sometime! I read the first chapter and you write like a pro so I'll try to pick up some good stuff for myself!

Vere: You are good with endings!? I'm not sure I can say the same thing! If you got any tips for me I would love to hear them :) I feel flattered that I impressed you! ^/^ I hope I can meet your expectations!

That was chapter 1! Hope you liked it and want more. Please review :)

BTW! I forgot to mention this story is only based in the 2011 anime. Maybe a bit from the manga (DC arc) but I'm not even sure I'll be going there since the manga it's on hiatus…. Again.

That's it for now. Thank you for reading and I hope you're hungry for more!