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-Hunter Exam Round 1 Part 2-

-Renka's POV-

"The living beings in this marsh are going to do all that is possible to have fun and make a good lunch. The predators who find a prey rush at it. That's it, the ecosystem. And that's why this place is called The Crook's Nest. Take care not to be surprised. Do your best to follow me."

"THAT'S FALSE! HE'S LYING TO ALL OF YOU GUYS!" A wounded man stepped out from around the corner. "HE'S AN IMPOSTER! HE'S NOT A JUDGE AT ALL! BECAUSE THE REAL JUDGE IS ME!" He yelled pointing at Satotsu. He was spreading doubt among the candidates. "LOOK AT THIS!" He held a seemingly dead monkey with Satotsu's face. "It's a monkey man! One of those that live in Numelle's Marsh! The monkey men like fresh flesh. They have long thin limbs, but overall they're weak. They let themselves be tamed by men. They know how to use our language skillfully, and manage to trick men in the marsh, where the other monsters, that get along with them, are waiting to capture their prey alive! His only purpose is to get rid of all the candidates in one time!" He pointed at Satotsu again. By now, I knew Satotsu was the real examiner. An examiner was also a hunter, and a real hunter would never be deceived and beaten up by a mere monkey man.

Then, from out of the crowd, playing cards as sharp as daggers flew right into the imposter's face. He stared in shock, the cards dug deep into his flesh. Cards had also been thrown at Satotsu, but he had easily caught them out of the air. The one who threw the cards was... Hisoka!

"He he. I see, I see." He said with that creepy voice of his while shuffling a deck of cards.

The seemingly dead monkey man with Satotsu's face suddenly got up and fled. Hisoka threw a card after him which hit the monkey in the back of the head. He fell to the ground dead.

"With this, it's all cleared. He's really the right judge." Hisoka motioned at Satotsu. "In fact, judges are hunters that do this freely at the jury's request. So there's nothing odd about a hunter, even from second zone, stopping that kind of attack."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Satotsu said. "However, the next time you use such intervention against me, whatever the reason, you'll be disqualified. Am I understood?"

"Yes, yes."

Birds had already started to feast on the corpses of the monkey men. People stared in disgust.

"This is what will happen to losers," Satotsu explained. "It's the law of nature. No mercy! I am curious to know how many of you believed this imposter, and were ready to follow him? You have to be vigilant. Survival here is an instant struggle."

Leorio pulled a weird face. Obviously, he was one of the guys who'd believed the imposter. "How many of us...? Aren't you insinuating that we were part of these guys?" Leorio was such a bad liar...

"Let's go to the second stage of the tests!"

Satotsu lead the way. We marched after him. After a while it was starting to get foggy.

"Let's go to the head?" Killua said.

"Yep. We should keep an eye on the judge!" Gon replied.

"I just say it's more prudent to get away from Hisoka," said Killua

I knew what he meant. I could feel Hisoka's bloodthirst creeping up on me.

"He wants to kill somebody, and he becomes impatient. No doubt he'll use the fog," Killua added when he saw Gon wasn't following. He smiled at Gon's expression. "You shoulda seen your face! If I know it, it's because he and I are of the same race! I can feel it, if you prefer..."

"Hm. Of the same race? I couldn't tell..." Gon said.

"You shouldn't rely on appearances. Do you understand?" Killua grinned slightly.

"Ah. LEORIO! KURAPIKA!" Gon yelled. "KILLUA SAYS IT'S BETTER TO GO TO THE HEAD!"

The whole crowd sweatdropped. The look on Killua's face was hilarious! I couldn't resist laughing.

"IMBECILE! IF WE COULD GO, WE WOULD GO!" I heard Leorio yell back.

"They don't seem to be so stressed..." Killua said to himself.

"I bet they just can't feel it," I said.

Killua smiled a cheeky smile at me. "So you can feel it too, huh? Maybe I underestimated you a little bit. I hadn't noticed you were like me."

I returned the smile. "I have plenty to hide."

After a while we heard some screams coming from the fog somewhere behind us. Some of the other candidates must have been tricked by the local fauna.

"What are those noises coming from behind?" Gon asked looking over his shoulder.

"They might have been trapped," Killua said.

"It's probably the local wildlife. Or maybe Hisoka is on a major killing spree," I said.

Gon kept looking behind him. He was worried about Leorio and Kurapika. It showed on his face. He contemplated falling back.

"Gon!" Killua said, but Gon didn't hear him. "GON!" he said again.

This time Gon heard him. He turned around. "Yes? What?"

"Don't act stupid. It's not the time to be worrying about them."

"Yeah," Gon muttered.

"Look! Even the guys that are just in front of us are in the fog! Take your eyes off them for just one second and it's over! The best you can do is pray you don't hear your friends crying!"

Right when he said that we heard a familiar scream. Gon immediately dashed off. "LEORIO!"

"GON!" Killua screamed after him.

"Don't worry," I said. "He'll be alright." Gon was a special kid. He was going to be just fine.

"Hmm..." Killua just gave me a look.

We arrived at the spot of the second test. There was some kind of warehouse with big double doors and a clock suspended above them.

"Congratulations to those of you who managed to get out of the marshes alive and well!" Satotsu said. You are now in the Biska Woods, the place where the second round will take place. On that note, I wish you luck for the next part of your trials." With that, Satotsu left.

I sat down under a tree. Killua followed me and leaned up against it.

"Looks like we can't go in yet," he said.

I looked up at him and for a moment his eyes met mine. They were a pretty blue. I liked it. They reminded me of the Lost Sapphires of Erronan which were said to have mystical powers.

I heard something rustling in the green beside me. A bunny jumped out of the bushes and hopped right next to me. "Ah! Killua! Look!" I pointed. "It's a bunny! He's so cute! Look at that cute little nose and those floppy ears and that fluffy tail! I shall name you Mr Fluffykins! Nyaaaaa~ I'm gonna take you home with me!"

Killua snickered. "You sure love bunnies."

"Only when they are alive," I replied.

Killua gave me a weird look. "You're very... unique..."

"I'll take that as a compliment." I focused on the bunny again. "Here, Mr Fluffykins! Here!"

Then all of a sudden someone snatched the bunny by his ears. It was Hanzo. "Lucky! I was getting hungry!" He twisted the bunny's neck and walked off with it.

My jaw had dropped. "My Mr Fluffykins..."

"Don't sweat it. You can buy yourself a new pet rabbit after the hunter exam," Killua said.

"No, I'm not very good with pets anyway. I usually forget they even exist."

"Hmm. You think Gon is okay?"

"I hope so. It's been a while now. Oh! There's Leorio!" I pointed at Hisoka who was carrying Leorio under his arm. He put him up against a tree and then mixed with the crowd. Leorio had a nsaty bruise on his face. It looked kinda funny. "But where are Gon and Kurapika?" As if on cue Gon and Kurapika entered from the forest. They went straight to Leorio.

"There they are!" Killua said. We walked up to them.

Gon saw us coming. "Killua! Ren-chan!"

"Yo!" said Killua. "You use some kind of special attack, or what? I thought I'd never see you again!"

"Yeah, even I was getting worried!" I said.

Gon explained how he had found his way by sniffing out Leorio's aftershave. Wait... Aftershave? Was he like, part dog or something? Though I had to admit it was impressive.

"Thanks to his aftershave?!" Killua yelled.

"Yes."

"You're no ordinary guy..."Killua's expression showed both surprise and awe.

"Ah? You think so? So why can't we get in?" Gon asked.

"Look." Killua pointed at the sign above the door that said the next trial would start at noon. "All we can hear are some weird groaning noises. All we can do is wait."

"It won't be long."

"Yup."

It was a short wait. At noon exactly the double doors slowly creaked open. The second test was going to begin.