Hey guys!
***I've started proofreading the earlier chapters. At first I just fixed typos and grammatical errors, but then I added a few minor details to spice a few things up for the future.
The thing is, it was only a couple of sentences here or there. I don't want to make anyone go back and dig through something they already read to find a detail they might not even notice wasn't there before. However, pointing/stating the details out might spoil something in the future by saying it was important (does that make sense or am I just confusing you?).
So for those of you who read chapters 1-3 before March 26, 2015, I'll place the detail here, so you don't have to go back to find it.
Those who read this after the previously stated date, I would prefer it if you skipped the following sentences that are not bolded.
"Every week, it seemed, this eerie group of six or seven women knocked at the wooden door. Riven never got a very good look at them from behind the filthy windows of her perch, where she people watched for the majority of her free time while her sisters played tag with the other kids. But she could tell they were gorgeous."
...
"All of the infants died within three days of the loss, since no one could properly care for them. Riven had been among the few older children who at least tried to care for them, along with a brown haired boy and a red haired girl, but it was to no avail. thirteen babies died within three days."
Thanks for the help/understanding!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Hunter x Hunter.
Leorio volunteered to fight for the fifth round. Riven wished him good luck as he did so, and Karasu squawked, seemingly to do the same… or the opposite, since the raven didn't seem too fond of him.
"I'm a guaranteed win," Leorio told her. "Trust me, this'll be the last match." Boldly, the man approached the ledge and addressed the prisoners waiting on the other side of the abyss. "Oi!" He pointed to Majitani's limp form. "Drag that guy off of there so we can get this next match started.
Riven couldn't help but smile fondly at him, despite the ringing in her head that his shouting caused her. She presumed she would be 'out of it' while her concussion healed. She still had trouble focusing her eyes and concentrating. It gave her a headache.
Riven saw a garbed prisoner step forward-it was the small one, with the dainty wrists. They giggled, and Riven recognized her to be a woman. Maybe she would have noticed earlier if her vision wasn't blurry.
"We can't do that," the woman informed, referring to Leorio's request to dispose of Majitani. She padded onto the retractable bridge and knelt beside her cellmate. "This match hasn't been settled."
"Please elaborate," Riven asked, surprising herself; she was gradually stepping out of her comfort zone each and everyday.
"He's still alive," the prisoner declared. "He was only knocked out. And if you can remember, the battle will only end if someone surrenders or dies."
Riven narrowed her eyes. She should have thought about such a thing sooner, because now that it had been pointed out, she felt stupid for not seeing it.
"Damn technicalities," Leorio hissed.
Killua shrugged. "But she's right."
"She is," Riven admitted, still beating herself up. Nervously, she glanced at the watch locked onto her wrist. It wasn't like they had all the time in the world.
"Kurapika! Go finish off the worthless trash!" Leorio called. Riven jumped, her head ringing once more. Leorio noticed her wince.
"Sorry," he apologized in a much quieter voice. Riven sheepishly nodded her thanks.
Leorio returned his attention back to Kurapika when the blond didn't respond.
The minute he thought the fight to be over, he had walked back to their ledge and sat against the wall in the dark, not saying a word. At the time, Riven had felt it had been best to let him be. Now, she wasn't so sure. He still hadn't moved or spoken.
"Hey, Kurapika, did you hear what I said?" Leorio challenged, somehow managing to keep an inside voice for Riven's sake.
Kurapika finally gave a response, but from its context, Riven was still not alleviated of her worry.
"I refuse."
"Eh?" Leorio let the words think in. "WHY NOT!?"
Riven whimpered and clutched her head.
"Sorry, Riv," he muttered guiltily, before turning back to the blond situated on the floor.
"The fight it over," Kurapika continued, after silent inquisitions to do so. "He's already lost his will to fight-when I punched him. I will not fight someone who has lost," he finished resolutely.
Leorio practically jumped all over him. "Screw that! What else can we do? They're claiming the fight isn't over."
"So leave it up to him," Kurapika nodded towards the blue man lying face-down on the arena. "When he wakes up, we'll have our answer."
"Kurapika…" Riven murmured, her eyes flicking to the time on her wrist. "What if he takes too long to wake up?"
"I have no intention of killing him!" Kurapika insisted a little more loudly, making Riven flinch, though not from the pain in her temple.
"Hey," Killua interjected, calm and cool. "If you don't want to dirty your hands, I'll kill him."
"Killua…?" Gon glanced at his friend, though Riven wasn't sure what the look in his eye meant. He knew something that she didn't, but that wasn't surprising. Gon and Killua had been inseparable on the airship-were still inseparable.
"You've never killed anyone before," the white haired boy pressed, gaze still locked on Kurapika. "Are you scared?"
Kurapika didn't answer right away, but he didn't exactly hesitate. Cooly, almost detachedly, he said, "I've never thought about whether killing someone was scary. But this is a one-on-one battle, and you are not permitted to interfere."
Riven felt an underlying sense of spite in his words-did he mean he didn't have to choice to be scared of taking another's life?
She faintly remembered the day they first met on the ship, before the exams. Kurapika had mentioned why he wanted to be a Hunter…
To avenge his people.
Riven shifted on her feet, annoying Karasu into re-situating himself on her shoulder. Suddenly she felt inconsiderate.
Killua didn't seem at all affected by Kurapika's rejecting words. "Suit yourself. But," he suddenly switched to a somewhat sarcastic matronly tone, "We're working as a team here. Don't act too selfish."
That set Leorio off in an agreeing frenzy. He tried again to spur his friend into action.
"I'm sorry," Kurapika stated, not sounding at all so, "but I'm not changing my mind."
Suddenly Leorio was swearing at him. "Fine! We'll look at a majority decision. 'O' to kill him, 'X' to let him live," he gestured at his wristwatch. He didn't wait for anyone to respond before he went on. "Ready, go!"
Leorio clicked his 'O' button. Nothing happened.
"I believe the watches only work when the Examiner presents the question," Riven informed a fuming brunet.
He mumbled. "Fine then! We'll use a show of hands! Raise your arm if you want to kill him!"
Leorio was the only one to move.
"You traitors!" he glared at Killua and Riven. "I thought you were on my side!"
Riven glanced away guiltily while Killua defended himself, claiming it was pointless. Kurapika wouldn't change his mind.
"Leorio," Riven gathered her courage, "forcing someone to kill another is wrong. But," she turned to Kurapika. She had to close her eyes because she could not bare the weight of his glare. She tried her hardest to not look like she was flinching or cowering. "I need to pass this exam. So I will ask you only once; will you finish Majitani off?"
Killing was a roundabout subject for Riven. Death was not new to her-She killed animals for food all the time.
But she had never killed a human before, not directly. She honestly didn't think she ever would, or even could. But asking someone else to? That felt no different than finishing a deer snagged in her trap;it wasn't personal, and most of the work had been already done.
Kurapika bristled, albeit only slightly. "I refuse," he repeated. Riven nodded, her throat closing up from fear or hurt or shame. She wasn't sure why she felt such things.
Her injuries were really throwing her off.
She turned away. "Then we will wait for him to awaken," she declared. No one argued openly after that.
That was how the waiting game began.
That was also how Leorio began to sulk in the corner.
X
Riven spent her time doing what she alway did during awkward silences or long periods of waiting-she fussed over Karasu. There was no longer any reason to hide him, at least until their group rejoined the other examinees, so in the open he remained, enjoying a petting session from Riven. She was tempted to let him fly free, but-remembering the many numerous and impossible contraptions that had emerged from the walls-she was scared that he could get hurt. She wasn't a fan of this phase's Examiner; he wasn't kind like Satotz and Buhara, or vivacious like Menchi. She could honestly see him shooting her Spirit Raven from the air.
After a time, Riven began feeling drowsy. She leaned against the wall and plopped down, her hand tenderly dabbing her temple. Now that the adrenaline was leaving her veins, she was unspeakably sore and uncomfortable.
Her eyelids grew too heavy to hold up, but she remembered what Leorio had told her about…
...about…
...What was she thinking about?
"Riv!"
Riven jumped, her eyes shooting open. She realized that she had nearly fallen asleep.
Leorio was leaning in front of her, scrutinizing her face.
"Y-yes?" she managed.
Leorio sighed. "I would stay standing if I were you. It's too easy to fall asleep if you're sitting."
Dazed, Riven nodded and climbed to her feet. Karasu hopped in front of her, squawking at Leorio threateningly.
"Yikes! Fine, you crazy pigeon! I'll back off!" Leorio cried, returning to lay in his corner.
Karasu was very frightening when he was stained with blood.
X
Other than Leorio's mumbled complaints, not much was said between the group. Boredom was obvious on everyone's faces, and still, the clock ticked on.
Karasu took to picking his feathers free of clumped blood, which Riven was sure was heavy and uncomfortable.
Riven almost nodded off to sleep again-which was quite a feat while standing up-but Gon's concerned musings to Killua reminded her to do otherwise. Not long after, Killua approached Leorio, who laid on his back and rested his eyes.
That jerk!
"Hey…" Killua nudged the man with his foot.
Leorio cracked his eye open, irritated.
"It's possible that he's already dead," the boy pointed to Majitani on the arena.
That piqued everyone's interest.
Leorio rose to his feet, the realization that it was a possibility dawning on him. He hurried to the ledge to get a closer look at the prisoner. The others followed him, even Tonpa.
"Damn," he swore, "we're too far away to tell." He addressed the distanced and silent prisoners, yelling, "Hey! We want to check the body!"
The woman prisoner from before stepped forward.
"What's that?" she purred.
"He could actually be dead," Leorio glared.
"I told you, he's just unconscious," she insisted.
"How many hours has it been!? I won't take your word for it," Leorio countered.
"Then let's make a bet," the woman offered, "on whether or not he's still alive."
Riven barely noticed at the time, but Leorio had taken charge of the situation; he'd become the leader.
"What would we wager?" Leorio asked suspiciously.
"Time," was the answer. "We will determine the winner of our match by gambling. Gambling with time, rather than chips."
The monitor on the arena flickered on with a chime. Each side was appointed a number fifty.
"We each have fifty hours," the woman went on, "but we can only wager multiples of ten. We will continue to place bets until one of us has zero hours."
"Here comes the kicker," Tonpa whispered into Riven's ear, making her shiver and back away. Karasu fluttered his wings in warning, a feather flying loose. Tonpa backed up and eyed his talons warily.
Well? He shouldn't have invaded her personal space.
"If you lose fifty hours, you time limit will also be shortened by fifty hours."
Boy, was Tonpa right about the kicker. Riven gasped aloud, looking to her comrades' faces for confirmation. They were all serious and stone faced.
'This could be bad. If we lose this one, it might not matter if we win the very last match,' Riven worried.
"And if you lose fifty hours?" Leorio bargained.
"Then we will extend our sentences by fifty years. Are this terms acceptable?"
"Jeez," Leorio mumbled under his breath. "This chick is whack."
"Consider your answer carefully, Leorio," Kurapika advised, returned to his former level-headed self. Not that he was ever not.
"You're one to talk! This is your fault for not finishing him off!" Leorio growled.
"If we lose fifty hours," Riven interjected, "that'd only leave ten for us to finish the tower. The winner of this match determines whether we pass the third Phase."
Leorio gulped, but grinned at her determinedly and patted her in the back.
Karasu didn't even try to peck him this time, although, that may have been because Tonpa was still on her other side, and he was a much bigger threat.
"Don't worry, Riv, like I said before, I'm a guaranteed win!"
Riven watched as he approached the arena, Majitani, and the woman and the arena. She really hoped he was right. She held her breath as Leorio cracked the blue man's eye open and examined them, doing the same to the other, before finally rising to his feet.
"So? What would you like to bet on?" the woman in front of him baited.
Leorio smirked, delivering the 'kicker' himself.
"Let's bet on whether or not he's really unconscious."
X
The woman bet 2 hours that Majitani was, in fact, truly unconscious. Soon after, she questioned how such a thing would be proven. Leorio responded by carrying the 'man' to the edge of the abyss and dangling him over it. Riven could tell that, while she tried to hide, the woman was shocked.
"Nice, Leorio," Riven murmured, smiling fondly. It had been a good game so far; the prisoners were trapped.
The woman attempted to decline the terms, under the claim that Majitani's match was still not over.
Leorio countered again. "Don't worry about that. If he falls to his death and dies, we'll forfeit that match."
"Alright," the woman accepted without hesitation. "But I'm changing my wager to forty hours that he isn't unconscious." It was all she had left.
So Leorio let him go. Majitani didn't hesitate to reveal his true status, and Leorio tossed him back into the center of the arena.
The whole thing was just…
'Was Leorio always this cool?' Riven thought. Or was he just transforming, like she was?
Majitani dismissed all of them as crazy and forfeited, and the digital scores above their heads switched to 3.
They only needed one more win. But now they were down to twenty hours left to bet, and it was the prisoner's turn to decide the wager.
She flung her ragged garbs off, revealing a cute, well-endowed figure and face. "Let's bet on whether I'm a man or woman," she purred in a very feminine voice. "You can check every inch of my body until you're satisfied to make sure," she added.
"Leorio will bet she is a man," Kurapika dead-panned.
"Uh-huh," Killua dead-panned.
"Huh? Why?," Riven asked, completely oblivious.
"Isn't it obvious she's a woman?" Gon asked, completely innocent.
Killua patted Gon on the shoulder and Kurapika patted Riven on the shoulder.
"Okay, I've decided," Leorio spoke up. "I bet ten hours that you're a man!"
"I knew it…!" Kurapika groaned.
"Dirty old man…!" Killua cringed.
"But how did you know?" Gon questioned. Killua took him aside and whispered in her ear, so Riven leaned forward to listen as well.
"Leorio…!" Riven exclaimed, sounding like a scolding mother. Her cheeks grew warm with embarrassment as Leorio's grew warm with… something else as he 'examined' the prisoner.
It was determined that she actually was a woman, and Leorio lost another ten hours to bet with.
"It hurts just to watch," Kurapika sighed, rubbing his temples at the formation of a headache.
Riven, who was still flustered and twitchy, voiced her agreement.
"He's gonna lose," Tonpa declared suddenly.
"Oh?" Gon cocked his head in curiousity.
"The opponent has seen through his strategy-he's been betting conservatively to minimize his own damage, and a gambler who focuses on avoiding loss will never win," Tonpa explained. "Leorio just doesn't have what it takes."
This angered Riven, because even if Leorio had just wasted ten hours, he'd also helped her get to where she was now. He had saved her from an icy ocean death, he had stuck by her side in moments of danger, he had given the team three wins instead of two, and he had taken care of her injuries. He had become her friend.
So Riven glared at the round man known as Tonpa and snidely remarked, with such cleverness and maturity, "Shut up, Tonpa-san."
Tonpa shut up like he was told, but that may have been because he noticed Karasu still picking dried blood flakes from his feathers on her shoulder.
The next problem that approached the group was what Leorio would bet on next. He seemed to be having a tough time in the creative department, so Gon helped him out.
"Hey, Leorio, why don't you bet on whether or not you're still in your teens?" the boy suggested.
"That's perfect, Gon!" Riven praised, happy that they now had a great trick.
It was ruined when Leorio said, "That won't work, I'm obviously still a teenager!"
Riven sighed in defeat.
'Did I really think Leorio was cool earlier?'
"I know!" the brunet exclaimed, "A bet on who'll win a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors!"
"Sure," the woman giggled.
Kurapika tensed and sighed, murmuring, "Why did he have to pick such a difficult wager?"
Riven cocked her head and peered at the blond. "Is Rock-Paper-Scissors that difficult?"
Riven herself had never played it, but she was certain she'd at least heard of it. Kurapika blinked at her, thought about how her question was worded, and gave her a smile smile of amusement.
Confused, Riven examined her previous words. Was she that strange?
She thought back to her earlier altercation-if one can even call it that-with Kurapika about killing Majitani. It was a nice thought that they had gotten past it so easily.
The prisoner bet eighty-hours on her victory, catching Riven, and Leorio, off-guard.
"While Rock-Paper-Scissors has simple rules, the game itself is quite complex," Kurapika began, in response to Riven's inquiries. "If you consider it from a probability standpoint, there's only a one-third chance of losing. However, if your opponent can predict your reasoning and control your reactions, defeat becomes much more likely."
"In other words," Killua interjected, "simple-minded Leorio is at a disadvantage."
"I see," Riven mused, concerned, "so it's a mind game."
The woman won before she and Leorio even cast their choices. The score was 2-3.
Killua couldn't afford to lose. Worse yet, they had lost fifty hours.
Leorio walked back to the group, offering a simple apology.
"That was a pretty pathetic show," Tonpa whistled smugly. Leorio took a step towards him with a glare, but reluctantly backed down.
"I can't argue with you on this one," he admitted.
Riven wanted to be mad at him, and maybe she was, but all she could do was smile at the man and pat him on the shoulder. She couldn't give any other comfort, because now she wasn't sure if they would make it. Ten hours to complete a task others had two days to do? And only if they managed to pull out the majority of wins?
Riven's heart sank.
But she wouldn't have even gotten this far without the brunet, so she held her criticism. She let it go, and soon she wasn't even all that angry anymore.
Killua was next.
"Good luck," Riven nodded to him. He acknowledged her with one back.
Leorio seemed to comprehend something. "Killua's next!?" he suddenly cried. "Aw man! I really should have won mine!"
Killua glared at him. "Gon," he whispered to the boy next to him, "he's really pissing me off."
Laughing nervously, Gon waved him off.
Killua continued, "Anyway, don't freak out before we even know what the match will be like."
"That's right," Leorio agreed with renewed hope. "We still have a chance, depending on the next opponent!"
The group peered across the chasm to catch a glimpse of the new prisoner.
Suddenly Riven was scared for more than just their victory.
X
So I've noticed how much Leorio had grown on me; he used to be my least favorite character, but now… He's really Cool!
~Mao