[Raze]: Thanks to SupremeGeneralJoker, Untrustedwithscissors, DeceivingAura, sydneytrieswriting, Red Distress, DinoPower, blahblahblahcat (I love your username dude), Eka-tepac, Purifiedwate, FlyWithMeToNeverland09, KTD1928, msahurt, Isella of the wolf tribe, and kuroneki for F/F!

Reviews (Before edits)!

Cartoon(Guest): Aw, thanks :) Your review made my day! I'll do my best to keep it that way, and good luck to you too! I was worried that I wasn't integrating them well enough, but this made me feel better. Thank you!

SupremeGeneralJoker: Thank you :) Hope you enjoy!

DeceivingAura: Ahaha, sorry about that, Raze is a girl, but she's kinda sorta disguised as a boy -or a more masculine looking person- for several reasons. If you go back in chapter one, you'll see that I said she was wearing a black wig and was wearing a large hoodie that covers her face. Here's your next chapter!

(After edits)

Isella of the wolf tribe: Thank you! I've been in a bit of a slump lately, so this review gave me extra motivation!

Thanks to everyone for your patience!

Chapter Three,

Test X Of X Tests, Part 2

XXX

Recap:

Soon after that, we said our goodbyes and headed off into the tunnel. It's pretty dark in here…

"Hey, Raze," My eyes flicked over to Kurapika who was watching me inquisitively.

"Hmm?"

"I don't mean to pry, but when you were speaking to Gon, you never said anything about your mother."

"…"

"May I ask why?" I stayed quiet, making sure the others were farther ahead as I slowed down. I knew Gon would hear, but having him further away seemed to reassure me. Kurapika seemed to take my silence as a no. "Ah, you don't have to if you don't want to, I mean, we've only known each other for two days."

"I… do love her," I murmured quietly. "It's just…"

"It's just?" Kurapika prompted gently, Hiroshi, who was standing beside me started to tense up and cast me an anxious glance. Don't worry, Hiroshi, I'm not going to give us away, I thought, giving him a reassuring smile before turning back to Kurapika.

"She…" I trailed off again, feeling my throat close up. "She's not exactly what you would call a good parent." Hiroshi growled lowly, pressing close to my side.

"That woman could never admit her wrongdoings," He hissed, scowling at the memory.

"Hiroshi," I took a deep breath to clear my head, trying very hard not to let my voice crack. "Not right now." He pursed his lips and quieted down, clearly not very happy. Hiroshi hated whenever I brought up my adoptive mother. "Sorry. My relationship with my mother is a bit… Complicated. It's not really very healthy for me to be around her right now so we're taking a bit of a break from each other." Hiroshi snorted. I could easily figure out what he was thinking: 'A break? Four and a half years is a little long for a break.'. Kurapika's eyes softened at my answer.

"My apologies for bringing it up," I shook my head, negating what he said.

"Don't be, it's not your fault. How were you supposed to know?" I grinned at him. "I have Hiroshi, my siblings, you, Gon, and Leorio, right?" I grinned at him. "So I'm fine, and if I'm not-"

"We'll help you."

"-That wasn't what I was gonna say, but that works too." I punched him in the arm playfully. "Now, enough of that depressing talk, we have to hours to kill! Tell me about that book you were reading before while we were walking."

XXX

We trudged through the forest, which was mostly dry with the exception of a few puddles here or there. It was also pretty windy, I had to repeatedly check my hood to see if it shifted at all. I took note of it, not wanting to do anything to screw up the environment.

"It's totally dark out," Leorio grumbled, being the slowest of us all. Gon, Kurapika, Hiroshi and I were already at least three meters away. "'Walk two hours,' She said? It was two hours, two hours ago! Damn." I snickered, knowing that it'd only taken us that long because we had to repeatedly stop for Leorio when he kept whining about being tired and hungry. It was early night now, probably around… oh, six or seven o'clock?

Leorio's attention was directed elsewhere for a moment. "Another 'Beware of Magical Beasts' sign?" I twitched, shifting slightly away from the sign. "Are we ever gonna make it to the exam site?" Being the only other one of us without super-human hearing, I doubt that Kurapika could actually hear what the older male was saying, even though he looked somewhat annoyed with the man's constant babbling. However, we turned around anyway and waited for him to catch up, only to see him flailing his limbs every which way, his briefcase getting dangerously close to a tree. "I'm hungry!" Leorio screeched. "I need to take a dump! I gotta take a leak, too!"

"Leorio, we'll leave you behind!" Gon called, Kurapika turning back around with an unamused face, making me snort.

"As eloquent as always, Liorio," I got a 'You damn brat!' in return as I pulled a lollipop out from my backpack and I was about to place it in my mouth when it was snatched out of my hand. I turned to glare at the culprit.

"Raze, what did I tell you?" Hiroshi scolded, placing the candy in a pocket I was unaware of. Damn. Since when did that have pockets? "No more suckers today. You've already had six and you're going to have a sugar high," I gave him an innocent expression as I took out another and unwrapped it, the others watching our interaction interestedly. "Raze…" He warned. I slowly moved it towards my mouth, my eyes not leaving his. "Don't you dare." I glanced at my sucker, then back at him. I could have an angry Hiro and a possible sugar high, or I could have a happy Hiro and a sugar craving. Eh, screw it. I opened my mouth to plopped the candy in as he let out a groan of complete exasperation. "Why don't you ever listen to me?" I smiled sweetly at him, bouncing on the balls of my feet.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I denied, then looked at him very seriously. "I just can't stop these urges, man! They just keep coming for me!" The look on his face said exactly what he thought of me at that moment.

"Idiot," Hiroshi deadpanned as I laced my fingers together behind my head. Or I guess his words do.

"Yes?"

"I give up! Have your sugar high and pass out," Hiroshi grumbled. I grinned at Gon and Kurapika.

"All the sugar will be mine!" Kurapika sent Hiroshi a look of pity before commenting,

"Oh, I see it," He pointed behind me, Gon looking as well. As the others continued on to the cabin, I pulled Hiroshi aside, making a small excuse about having to discuss something with him - which I did.

"So-"

"They're pissed," Hiroshi cut me off before I could say another word, reading my mind. "Dad's gonna have your head when we get back." I gave him a sheepish smile.

"Well, what was I supposed to do? He wasn't going to let me take the Hunter Exam and there was no way I could just stay in the village for the rest of my life. I've got things to do and people to find!" Hiroshi gave me a wry grin, placing his hand on my head.

"Trust me, I know," He chuckled. "Either way, I tried to calm him down and hopefully he won't be completely irrational when you return. At the very least, you're going to have to do a hell of a lot of work to make up for it. On the bright side, you did tell the Maiusculus Arbor* that you were leaving, so she'll probably stand up for you."

"And at the very worst, I'll be trapped for life," I muttered, ever the optimist. "It's a small comfort." I felt my heart sink into my throat at the idea of Tsuyoi, Hiroshi's father, yelling at me. I didn't like it when people raised their voices - it usually ended up scaring me. Leorio, for some reason, found it necessary to shout at every opportunity which was why I opted to stay around Kurapika instead. Don't get me wrong, I liked Leorio, he just needed to tone it down a little so that I didn't get the crap scared out of me every time he spoke.

Hiroshi rolled his eyes as we heard the window up ahead shatter. A strange yellow creature, a woman, Gon, and Kurapika leapt from the window one by one - except for the woman, she was being kidnapped or something. "…Should we, maybe…?" Hiroshi groaned, slowly sauntering over to the stairs.

"I'll get the dumbass, you take the other two," I let out a sigh and spun on my heel to chase after the yellow creature. They couldn't've waited until I got there to make trouble, could they?

XXX

Raze rapidly swung from tree branch to tree branch, following their scent trails to an area in the forest where they sectioned off. Kurapika's stayed in the general area, while Gon's and the Kiriko's took a harsh turn to the right. Kurapika seemed like he was nearby but Gon's trail led to a far off direction.

Raze figured that Gon could handle himself and scampered down the tree trunk head-first, intending to find Kurapika instead since he most likely had to take care of the woman that was dropped onto the ground.

The brunette glanced around the forest, noting absently that her vision was much better at night when something tan caught her eye.

Wooden swords…? Raze raised an eyebrow at the two connected weapons at her feet, picking them up and running her fingers down their length. The black-eyed girl sniffed them and got a trace of citrus. Those are definitely Kurapika's… Now the question is, where is he? Raze placed her hands in her pockets, her left clutching a dagger and her right hand wrapping around a small vial. Raze closed her eyes and shut off the rest of her senses, focusing solely on her ears.

Raze could hear the birds singing, crickets chirping, leaves rustling, and- She opened her eyes, now well adjusted to the darkness, and grinned impishly; taking off in a sprint to her left.

And a Kurapika struggling.

XXX

Hiroshi stood silently at the doorway, watching Leorio tend to the man using herbal remedies and medicines that he recognized. He watched with interest as the elder male quickly and efficiently cleaned the wound, treated it and wrapped it.

He's fast… Hiroshi noted, coming closer to look at the wound. It was pretty nasty. The man's torso had been stabbed and blood had been flowing out of his body with no apparent clots to stop it from worsening. Must hurt like a son of a bitch. However, Leorio had patched it up just as well as any doctor in the village he'd ever seen.

The injured man shuddered as the medicines touched his wounds.

"P-Please," He groaned, raising up a hand to touch the Leorio's face. "My wife… Please save my wife!" Hiroshi walked over and placed a hand on the man's forehead to attempt to calm him down.

"Your wife'll be okay… She's with our friends, she'll be back soon," Leorio murmured quietly, trying to be as soft as possible with the wound. Hiroshi knelt down to the smashed up floor of the cottage, brushing away the glass around the man.

"Your wife is fine. Our friends went after her and she'll be perfectly safe. I would be able to tell you immediately if she was harmed," Hiroshi assured him, gently moving the wet towel that was on his forehead to his eyes. "Now, sleep." The victim nodded and soon his pulse went down and his breathing slowed, letting the two males know that he was asleep.

"Impressive," Leorio complimented quietly. "Most people wouldn't be able to calm someone down that quickly." Hiroshi hummed and dipped a finger in one of the puddles of blood beside him and sniffed it. "W-What're you doing?" It smells like blood… But it doesn't smell like human blood, He glanced at the sleeping form on the floor, licking his lips hungrily. It smells like beast blood.

"Leorio, I'm afraid your patient isn't who you think he is."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that this is not a human," He meet Leorio's gaze, gold eyes wary. "This is a Kiriko."

XXX

A few minutes before Raze arrived at the clearing in the forest, the kidnapped girl woke up, woozily rubbing a hand against her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Kurapika asked with concern, helping her up. He leaned forward, scanning her for any signs of pain. "Are you injured anywhere?" She looked up at him worriedly, the wind tousling her bright pink hair.

"I'm okay," She said, her eyebrows furrowed. "What about my husband? How is he?"

"Don't worry," Kurapika assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "Our friend is taking care of him." The woman grabbed his tabard weakly.

"Please, take me to my husband!" She begged, her sleeve slipping down to reveal some oddly shaped symbols. They were black and swirled across her wrist and beyond her sleeve. Kurapika's eyes widened in surprise.

"Those tattoos…" Kurapika murmured, obviously recognizing the symbols. The woman pulled away and hid her wrist, turning away from the silver eyed teen. There was fear swirling around in her rose pink eyes from his words. "You're…"

"Kurapika!" Leorio's voice interrupted the conversation. "Are you okay?" Leorio called loudly, coming into view and jogging over to the two on the ground. His briefcase was missing, an odd thing to see the man without. Kurapika's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Leorio?" The addressed placed his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

"Whew, guess you guys are alright." He breathed a sigh of relief, giving a grin to the blond.

"How is that man?" Kurapika interrogated, back almost completely turned to Leorio. The brown-eyed man rubbed his head.

"Yeah, no worries," Leorio waved him off casually, glancing back over the way he came. "The wound wasn't as deep as it looked," He faced Kurapika again, hands on his hips. "I gave him some painkillers and he's asleep in the cabin." The blond gripped his weapons, his eyes not leaving the woman's face.

"I see." Kurapika breathed, his grip on his swords tightening.

Thwack!

Kurapika smoothly threw his arm back and hit Leorio in the face, sending him flying. The woman looked shocked at this act of violence and let out a sharp gasp, jerking away from the blond.

"Leorio" made groaning noises and gripped his face as the wooden sword returned to Kurapika. He laughed, shoulders shaking as he grew bigger.

"How did you know…? How did you know I was an imposter?" His form quickly became more beast-like, leaving the teen with a Kiriko in Leorio's stead. Kurapika was completely unfazed by the transformation.

"I didn't think that you were," He answered coolly, glancing up at the yellow beast to his left. "I told Leorio to take care of the injured man, and he consented. Given the magical beast is still on the loose, I attacked you for foolishly leaving an injured man on his own with only one person to guard him," He turned to face the creature. "That's all."

The Kiriko laughed again and jumped up into the air, disappearing into the night. "Now," Kurapika growled, whipping back around to the woman in front of him, "I need you to answer my question." Kurapika's expression darkened as he placed his sword against the woman's throat, voice dark and venomous as he finished. "Who are you?" As he glared, she smirked, her face starting to take on more beast-like qualities by the second.

XXX

I scowled at the yellow thing in front of me as I hid in the bushes. I lay flat against the ground, watching as it - I'm going to call it Sunshine- held Kurapika in a vice grip with one long paw covering his mouth.

Let's see… If I charge, there's a high possibility of Kurapika getting used as a hostage or getting injured, so that won't work. If I surprised her from above, I had a small chance of getting him out of harm's way. I could directly confront her and try to talk my way out of it but I wasn't good at words and once again- Kurapika could be used as a hostage. I'll save the talking for after I get him back.

Kurapika was seriously screwing up all of my attack plans.

I suppose I could distract her. If I throw a decoy into the opposite bush to me and then a different one, I could take her by surprise, grab Pika, and get to a safe distance. That would probably be my safest option.

I swiftly took off my bag and sifted looked through it. Aha! I grabbed a vial filled with a yellow looking dust, ignoring the others, and slipped my bag back on. I glanced around for a rock and saw a large brown one and a smaller black one. My heart started beating fast in anticipation, hoping to the Gods that it would work.

Three… Two… One… I chucked the first rock over to my right, prompting Sunshine to whip her head over in that direction. She stood warily, eyeing the area carefully. C'mon, take the bait, take the bait! I winced at Kurapika's muffled shouts and watched Sunshine turn to the right with a sense of elation but it turned into confusion when there was a blur of movement.

"Get back, beast!" To my shock, Kurapika managed to bite Sunshine, stab her in the eyeballs with his fingers, kick her, and make him release him all in the span of a few seconds. Damn, I resisted the urge to laugh in amazement. I guess I don't need to save the princess after all!

"Damn brat," The yellow creature hissed, her paws over her eyes in pain. "You'll pay for that!" And I'd take that as my cue to join. I stayed low, rapidly changing plans in my mind. Rescuing Kurapika was no longer needed and all I needed to do now was catch her off guard. I grinned down at the vial in my hand, double checking the way the wind was blowing. It was toward Sunshine. Then…

I jumped out of the bush and leapt toward Sunshine, swiftly uncorking the vial and flashing the yellow substance at her. I re-corked it as fast as it opened, not wanting to use too much of it. Sunshine let out a shriek of rage and started coughing and sneezing all over the place.

"Raze!" Kurapika exclaimed in surprise as I landed back over by him. "What're you-?" I grabbed his wrist and dragged him into the bush, running as fast as I could with him tagging along.

"No time!" I nearly fell on my face a couple of times but Kurapika helped me back up, taking me with him. After a few falls and a couple of minutes, I judged our distance far enough and slowed down.

"What… What was that?" He was slightly out of breath, poor guy. I pulled his swords off of my belt and handed them back to him with a smug smile.

"Highly concentrated Alliah pollen," Alliah was a plant that only bloomed in the summer months near my village. I let out a shaky laugh. What I just did went against all of what my mother had taught me not do.

"Don't waste your time on other people. The sweetest tongue hides the sharpest tooth, my lovely rose." I shook my head, shutting it out of my mind. Hiroshi always told me that it wasn't good to dwell on her words. My family had survived for generations using self-preservation, but I wasn't going to be like them.

I took a deep breath and returned to the conversation, making a mental reminder to meet up with my parents one last time. "It took me ages to collect that stuff, so I try to use in sparingly." Kurapika looked at me incredulously.

"You gave the Kiriko an allergy attack?" He shook his head, chuckling a little, his hair swaying with his movements. "Of all the things you could do, that wasn't exactly what I was expecting." I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting you to break out of hostage life on your own, princess," I huffed indignantly. "You completely screwed up my plans to become your knight in shining armour." Kurapika gave me an amused smile, his eyes glinting with humour.

"My apologies. I'll attempt to play the damsel in distress longer next time." I blinked in surprise, not planning on having him go along with the joke. Huh. I guess he has a sense of humour after all.

"Actually, I was kind of worried that Sunshine would try to use you," I hummed, eyeing his wild hair. It was all tousled and his clothes were rumpled. It was kind of funny to see the calm and composed Kurapika so… Disheveled.

"Sunshine? You mean the Kiriko?"

"A kiri… Kiri… What?"

XXX

The man chuckled from underneath the cloth, slowly sitting up.

"So you found out, huh?" He grabbed the cloth with one hand and grinned at Hiroshi. "Oh well, I've already learned what I need to know anyway."

"W-What're you talking about?" Leorio stammered, raising his hands as he realized something. "Wait, you shouldn't be sitting up, you might reopen your wound!" Hiroshi rolled his eyes, not surprised at the denseness of the man.

"He's not injured, Leorio,"

"What are you talking about? Of course he's injured!" He argued, pointing a rude finger at the man. "You were right there when I bandaged him up!"

"He's a Kiriko, you idiot. They heal incredibly quickly. He probably just injured himself to see what you would do." Leorio looked to his right to see a giant yellow creature towering over him, before it switched back to the man, now with no blood or injury on his clothes.

"Oh," He squeaked, jumping away.

"I knew you were stupid, but that was impressive," Hiroshi commented, tugging on his purple hair. "Most people would figure it out easily but even after me, your comrade, pointed it out, you still didn't notice." Leorio flushed in embarrassment and scowled.

"Shut up, you damn fish," Hiroshi shot a glare Leorio's way.

"And you can't even tell what kind of animal traits I was blessed with," He muttered while shaking his head, much to the Kiriko's amusement. "What a dumbass," Leorio growled as a vein pulsed on his forehead in irritation.

"You're a lot ruder when Raze isn't around, brat!"

XXX

"Do we have to fight?" I asked the Kiriko with a reluctant groan, my knives poised and ready to attack in my hands. "I mean, I'd really rather not hurt anyone tonight, but I will if you continue to attack us," I warned, shifting in front of Kurapika protectively. The Kiriko smirked, her rows of sharp teeth glinting in the moonlight. Sunshine'd caught up with us and initiated a sneak attack - which Kurapika managed to thwart.

"I don't think there's a way out of this, Raze," My blond haired buddy took up a defensive stance, watching the Kiriko's movements. Sunshine nodded in agreement. It looks like I'm gonna have to fight, I sighed internally and walked forward just out of the Kiriko's range.

She lunged toward me, claws extended and dangerous. I dodged to the left, having the advantage in speed over her and sliced part of her cheek open with my dagger in my left hand. Growling, she punched me in the gut, making me wheeze for a moment before recovering and blocking her next attack thanks to Kurapika shouting to me in warning. Her attacks left my arms shaking.

Crap, if this becomes a test of strength, I'll lose! I had to find a way to turn it around so that I would be able to use my abilities to my advantage.

Sunshine hissed and swiped at me with her other arm while I flipped back several feet and sheathed my knives, reaching in my pockets for a bumpy vial.

"Oh? And what're you going to do without your big hunks of metal, dearie?" She taunted. I smiled as the wind started to pick up, rustling my clothes and moving my hair. I closed my eyes, letting myself analyze the trajectory and speed of the wind. I took a deep breath in and out, controlling my breathing as a memory of the past came back to me.

"Forcing something to bend to your will, will not make you strong. Move it gently, using minimal power, and you will see how much you improve."

I could hear my mother's voice ringing in my head as the wind became more powerful, causing the leaves to rustle and Kurapika to gasp as my hood fell off. It revealed two small, round ears on top of my short brown hair, the moonlight giving a better illumination to my features.

"What am I going to do?" I repeated, the words rolling off my tongue. I grinned, pulling out several vials and daggers within my fingers. "I'm going to win." With that, I sprinted at the beast, ready to kick some butt when-

"WAAAAAAIIIIIIIT!"

XXX

It turned out the Kiriko themselves were some kind of examiners. I looked at the house with the smashed up windows and lined up along with my friends, who had all gathered at the front.

XXX

"Hey, you can stop now!" I stumbled and screeched to a stop and glanced to my left where Gon was running towards us with a huge grin on his face, the larger Kiriko behind him. I spared a glance at Sunshine, who had relaxed out of her fighting stance when she saw one of her companions. "We're friends!"

When he reached us, the doe-eyed boy let out a noise of surprise.

"Your hood's down!" He gawked, making my eyes widen and I sucked in a gasp. "You have ears on top of your head!" He exclaimed and I felt my heart drop down into my stomach. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap, that wasn't supposed to happen! I moved my hands to yank up my hood again when they were stopped. Behind me was the Kurta who spun me around and looked closely at my face for the second time.

"Uh…" I could feel heat rising up in my face from being stared at that closely, my eyes darting around, attempting to find a safe spot to look. Kurapika blinked, then released me.

"You're a demi-human as well?" He murmured in surprise, eyes still locked onto my ears. "But you don't have a tail," Kurapika mused mostly to himself. SHIIIIIIIIIIIIT. Don't recognize me, don't recognize me! I hissed inside of my head, aiming toward the blond. If he figured out who I was, it was all over.

"Woah, Raze, you're a Nakamura too!" Gon bounced in excitement. "That's so cool!" I let out a resigned sigh. Gods, I knew I should've just pinned my hood down. I supposed there was no use trying to hide anything now, it was too late.

"No, Gon, I'm not a Nakamura even though I've lived there for a few years. I'm a demi-human," I corrected. "And… I do have a tail." I lifted up my sweater slightly and revealed the long, muscular tail wrapped around my waist.

"Oh!"

"I was trying to hide it," I grumbled, stretching out my muscles. "You know, with the whole prejudice some people have against demi-humans, I figured it'd be easier just to hide it from everybody." Kurapika and Gon looked mildly offended and curious respectively.

"You have two pairs of ears, so can you hear out of both of them? How do you move your tail? Do you have superhuman senses? What do you mean you only lived with them for a while? What's that silver thing on your ankle?" I held up a hand to stop the barrage of questions from Gon with a laugh.

"Yes to the first one, my tail moves like any other part of my body, I have horrible daytime eyesight and my sense of taste is awful but other than that, yes, and the last two are long stories that I'm not going to go into right now." I glanced downward with a grimace, noting that the silver anklet had been exposed since my pant legs had gotten caught in it. Shoot, I leaned down to fix it, mildly annoyed. Kurapika still looked a little miffed about my previous comment.

"You thought that I would have prejudices against you?" I shook my head.

"You would be surprised how fast people change when they find out about demi-humans," I pressed my lips together. "I've had too many friends killed, poached, or sold to slavery to be overly relaxed with that kind of thing. It had nothing to do with you personally," I assured him with a small smile. It doesn't seem like he recognizes me yet… Probably because I'm not wearing my usual clothing. Good. Kurapika returned the favour and looked somewhat mollified by my explanation.

"How strong is your tail?" Gon wondered, leaning to the side to look behind me at it. I twisted it around his waist and lifted him up into the air above my head, grinning at his surprised squeak.

"Does that answer your question?"

"Your tail is very long for a cat," I twitched and shot Kurapika a glare.

"I'm not a cat," I hissed in annoyance, crossing my arms. "I'm a fossa, thank you very much!" The Kiriko rolled their eyes, probably used to the weirdness after being navigators for so long.

"Whatever you are, could you all please come back to the house?" I shrugged and released Gon, following after the magical beasts. I didn't want to get lost, after all.

When Kurapika, Gon and I got to the house - after much chatter between Gon and the magical beasts-, Leorio stared at me in confusion.

"Who's this?" He asked, waving a hand in my general direction. "Where's Raze?" My eyebrow twitched.

"This is Raze," Hiroshi sighed, walking over and pulling the hood of my sweater over my face. I swatted his hands away and gathered the sweater in my arms once more. "See, you moron? She's still wearing the same clothes on too. She just has her hood off, dumbass." He lowered his voice so that only I could hear it as he nuzzled my cheek. "Tell me what happened later," Leorio looked on in disbelief.

"Eh? Say something!" He commanded. I raised an eyebrow.

"Something," I responded amusedly, wincing at his volume in the next sentence.

"It really is you!"

"No, I'm just an alien from outer space coming to suck out your brains," I stated sarcastically, turning to look around at all the different types of plants around us. Nothing I can gather and use later. Sad.

"But you have a tail," Leorio hissed, staring at said body part.

"Why are all of you so fixated on my tail?" I wondered absently. "Hiroshi has gills and several rows of deadly teeth which is much more odd than fuzzy ears and a tail." Hiroshi gave me an offended look.

"Hey!" Leorio continued to stare at me in utter bafflement.

"And- And you're a girl!" I gave him a funny look.

"Why is this such a hard thing to grasp? Do I really look so much like a guy?" I ran a hand through my roughly cut hair. "I mean, I realize that my hair is really short and I'm not super curvy, but still." Kurapika leaned over toward me.

"I don't believe he was there for that conversation on the way here," The blond commented. "He was attempting to take the bus to Zaban city at that moment." I made a noise of understanding.

"Riiiiight," I recalled, turning to Leorio and placing my hands on my waist. "Hey, by the way, I'm not a dude."

"No crap!"

"Ahem," The Kiriko family cleared their throats, catching our attention with a grin. "How many years has it been since someone was able to tell us apart?" The one on our right wondered.

"I'm ecstatic!" The other smiled at us happily. Did they just entirely change the subject? "To think, all these years, and then three of you show up!" Leorio leaned over towards Kurapika.

"Can you tell that their faces and voices are different?" Leorio whispered, trying to discern between the two.

"No, not at all," Kurapika admitted. I looked over at them in surprise.

"Really? It's almost obvious to me."

"Says the person who lived in a half animal village…" Leorio huffed, crossing his arms. "You can probably see the difference." I shook my head in a negative.

"I can't see it, I can kind of smell it and hear it," I corrected. "And it's only slightly different. I'm not much better than you two. Hiro has a really strong sense of smell so he could probably smell these guys from miles away." My best friend bumped his shoulder against mine.

"Perks of being a shark," Hiroshi grinned, wrapping an arm around my waist. Gon turned to us, pointing to one of the Kiriko.

"You see, the one Kurapika and I beat up at first is the husband," The two teens looked at him in exasperation.

"Like we said, which one are you talking about?" The husband stepped forward on his birdlike feet.

"Allow us to introduce ourselves," He said. "We're navigators for the Exam. Our family provides support for the Hunter Exam." The redheaded girl from before raised her hand.

"I'm their daughter!" Oh, it's Sunshine. The man on her right did the same.

"I'm their son!" Leorio stepped forward, raising his arms in a shrugging gesture.

"Man, you had us fooled," He marveled, shaking his head.

"You mean, they sure had you fooled," Hiroshi smirked. "The rest of us figured it out easily." Ara? Did something happen while I was gone? Hiroshi's gotten a bit… Vicious. I exchanged looks with Kurapika and Gon who both looked somewhat worried.

"What was that, you brat?!"

"The Hunter Exam changes site every year," The Kiriko continued, ignoring the commotion. "It's quite difficult to locate it."

"So we Navigators help by guiding the applicants to the Exam site," His wife finished.

"Oh, so that's how it works," Gon broke in, looking at the Navigators in awe. The daughter shook her head and waved her hands in front of her in a negative.

"But we don't help every candidate." Her brother took over from there.

"We test the applicants to see if they're qualified enough to take the Exam." Leorio straightened nervously and tugged on his tie.

"Kurapika-dono," The girl beckoned him closer.

"Yes." She smiled at him kindly.

"You successfully used the most vague of hints to determine that we weren't spouses." She pulled down her sleeve from her arm and rubbed the "tattoos" which rubbed off easily. "The hint was these tattoos which, in this region, mark a woman as single for life." So that's what those are, I hummed, having noticed them when we walked back. "You also managed to escape from me after you were captured and prevent a sneak attack from behind, protecting you and our friend. Kurapika-dono demonstrated that he is very knowledgeable and kind… Therefore, he passes." Relief was evident on his face as he breathed out a sigh. Gon grinned at him and held a fist out.

"Way to go, Kurapika!" He crowed, excited for his friend. Kurapika smiled and fist bumped him while I pulled out a piece of hard candy and grabbed his open hand.

"What're you…?" I pried his fist open and placed the candy in his palm and grinned at him.

"Your reward!" I cheered, bumping his shoulder with mine. "You did good, so you get a reward," I insisted. He sent me a strange look.

"I'm not a child."

"Yes you are, you're only seventeen, that's still a kid!" I protested. He rolled his eyes but gave me a small smile in return.

"I suppose. Thanks,"

"Leorio-dono," The husband called this time, making Leorio swallow hard and stumble forward.

"Y-Yeah!"

"You never realized my true identity," His sister giggled, causing him to flush sheepishly. "However, you dressed my injuries faster and more thoroughly than any doctor." He smiled at the tense black haired man. "More importantly, you continued to reassure me that my wife was safe." I turned and grinned cheerily at him along with everyone else, making him blush.

"S-Stop it…" He looked away, ears red. "It's embarrassing…"

"Your kindness makes you worthy to take the Hunter Exam. Thus, you pass." Leorio collapsed on the ground, stretching out to get rid of the tension.

"R-Really?! Thank goodness…" I chuckled at that, and Gon held his fist out to Leorio as well.

"Raze-dono, I have a question for you," The wife interjected.

"Hmm?"

"Why didn't you follow Gon-dono through the forest, or stay with Leorio-dono and Hiroshi-dono?" I placed a hand on my chin.

"Well, when Hiroshi and I noticed the commotion, we agreed on me going in the forest because I'm faster and him staying behind to help Leorio. I trusted him so I continued on." I explained. "When I reached the fork in the trails, Gon's went off far away and Kurapika's disappeared, although his weapons were left on the ground." I got a few nods. "Kurapika's strong — probably,"

"Oi."

"But assuming it was another magical beast, it would be difficult for Kurapika to protect your daughter and himself at the same time without his weapons. Gon was fine and I thought that he could handle one of you easily- no offence." I added.

"None taken."

"Besides, I don't have the greatest of vision, as you can tell," I gestured to my glasses. Although it's better during the night. "So I stayed behind to help the damsel in distress escape and to potentially beat someone up." Kurapika twitched but didn't say anything in his defence. The Kirikos, however, found that hilarious. "Plus, Gon could've just called for me if he needed me. I'm pretty fast!" I told them proudly.

"Then, Raze-dono, your observational skills and natural strength when fighting my daughter earn you the right to go to the Hunter Exam. Therefore, you pass." I grinned at them, delighted.

"Thanks!" I skipped back over to the group, a feeling of relief loosening my tightened throat. I didn't even realize how worried I was.

"Good job!" Gon praised me, and I ruffled his hair in response, bumping fists with him. "Thanks, squirt!"

"Hiroshi-dono…" The shark-boy looked up to the large yellow beast. "You stayed with Leorio-dono at Raze-dono's request and stayed there to guard us. You also assured me that my wife was safe and calmed me down, making me rest. You alerted Leorio-dono as well when you realized that I wasn't human by the smell of my blood, rather than just attacking me on the spot and possibly injuring your friend in the process. Your kindness and intelligence makes you a great candidate." He smiled at the purple headed boy. "You pass." Hiroshi smiled at me and I smiled back. I wasn't too worried about him passing, I was pretty certain that he'd be fine.

"Kindness?" Leorio snorted. "He called me a dumbass." Hiroshi shrugged, a ghost of a smirk on his face.

"It's true,"

"Hiroshi," I scolded, elbowing him.

Once again, Gon held out his fist, Hiroshi hesitating for a moment then slowly and gently placing it against the spiky-haired boy's hand.

"And finally, Gon-dono." Gon came closer to the family, not unnerved at all by the pressure.

"Yes!"

"Your superhuman physical ability and powers of observation make you worthy to take the Hunter Exam. You pass!" Gon's face lit up and he held out his fists expectantly to bump with everyone, Hiroshi and I being last. He's so cute. I tousled his hair again for good measure.

XXX

Afterwards, we all got to ride on the Kiriko, Gon and Hiroshi sharing one, while I shared with Kurapika, much to Hiroshi's annoyance. He wanted to sit with me but the daughter of the family had taken a liking to Kurapika and I, and she wanted to know how I planned to fight her the rest of the way. I was more delighted by the fact that they had wings hidden underneath their arms.

"Isn't it great that we all passed?" Gon chirped cheerfully over the wind.

"It's too early to celebrate," The Kurta in front of me answered, holding onto the Kiriko's fur, while I held onto his waist. "We've nearly earned the right to take the Exam." I poked his cheek, one arm still wrapped around him, the wind ruffling my hair. I didn't bother putting my hood back up, since it was quite a while until the next town. The chances of someone spotting me were highly unlikely.

"Way to be a party pooper, Kura," He blinked.

"Kura?" He questioned, trying to look back at me.

"You needed a nickname," I reasoned, shuffling forwards.

"Didn't you call me Pikachu earlier?"

"Yeah, but that's too long… Maybe Pika?" He chuckled and shook his head at my antics.

"What's wrong with celebrating a little?" Leorio called from down below. He was much heavier than the rest of us, and needed to have both the adults carry him which was why we were all sharing. "We're making progress." Kurapika sighed.

"Honestly, you people really should think," Leorio started kicking at him, flailing wildly.

"Hey! Why must you always be such a smart-ass?" I gasped in mock horror.

"My word, such foul language! Gon, cover your ears!"

"Stop moving around!" The two Kirikos shouted, frantically trying to keep their balance. "If you fall, blame yourself!" We all laughed, Hiroshi making faces at the black haired man. This is gonna be a fun Exam, I thought to myself.

XXX

Maiusculus Arbor* = Great Tree

[A/n]: Well, that only took me a couple weeks to finish, lol. This time for sure I should have the chapters up much faster. Thanks for reading!

[Raze]: Please review, and F/F if you liked it!