I would just like to say that I'm so sorry this took forever to actually get out! A nice big shout out to MiharuOftheWhiteSea for reviewing and giving me the inspiration to once again start writing this story! I'll try and update more often however times are tough at the moment so please be patient!

I felt like a child again. A happy, normal, naïve child. An experience I haven't felt for a long time. The stress, the despair, the darkness and the haunting, vanished, in just those few hours that I met Gon. Gon. I'm glad to have met him.

But I was scared when I met him. I hid behind my brother for the comfort that would never leave. I was being childish and scared. I can't afford to be scared. I can't afford to be childish. It's a luxury that has vanished and one I can never get back, no matter how much I cry. No matter how much I beg. No matter how much I plea, I can never have it back.

I wonder. Do I rely on my brother too much?

The big city! The hustle and bustle of the big city! Smell that toxic city air! Hhhmmm, intoxicating. Hear the annoyed voices of people being hassled for their money on things they don't need! See the sites of people rushing about doing their daily chores. I can do this…I can do this!
"I can't do this." I said quietly hiding behind my brother as we walked through Dolle harbour, through the masses of people. I had a hold of his white sleeve, making sure to not be far away from him. I didn't think there would be this many people, although my reaction gained a small chuckle from my brother.
"Honestly Mishka, you don't have to be afraid." I heard him say looking over his shoulder to look at me a small smile of reassurance sitting on his face, but his tone was teasing. I looked up in response, furrowing my brows.
"It's not funny big brother! Besides, there are lots of people here." I said to him, giving him my best "I'm mad at you" look, it earned nothing more but a small chuckle over my childish attitude. He was right though, I shouldn't be afraid to here. I'm twelve! I'm practically an adult. At least that's what I kept telling myself. I shifted my shoulders slightly; my chest was sore and had bruised since I landed heavily on it in the rain on the boat. My brother was the one that had a look to make sure I hadn't broken anything which I hadn't. I just had to make sure I didn't bump into anything otherwise I would continuously break the veins in my chest and the bruise would never go away. I didn't want that, I'm not part penguin!

We stood in front of a huge map. I had finally decided to come out from my hidey hole and stood in between Kurapika and Gon, my arms dangling loosely by my side. There weren't many people here, nor was there much noise. It was nicer looking then the harbour. I looked between everyone. Gon, Leorio and Kurapika had a bag, I did not. Kurapika had all my belongings, like an extra dress for me in case this one got torn up, and I did not. I felt embarrassed that I didn't even have a bag with me. I would need to get one whilst I'm here….but he had my money too. This was a terrible situation I was in. I sighed defeated with myself. Hearing Leorio speak made me perk up my head.
"Huh, that's strange." He said as we all turned our heads to face him.
"Why?" Gon question him. Leorio turned to face us, a piece of paper in his hands.
"According to the notice I received, the exam is supposedly being held somewhere in Zaban city. Right now we're here." He said, pointing to where we were on the map. He then moved his arm towards Zaban city. I followed his arm with my head.
"That tree is in the opposite direction." Leorio finished up. I looked at him questionably before turning my attention back to Gon.
"Perhaps you misheard him?" Kurapika questioned him as Gon shook his head.
"No, he told me to head toward that cedar tree." He said, pointing to the tree with his hand before looking back at my brother. Kurapika placed a hand on his chin in thought with a reply of "I see." I looked at Gon with a small smile.
"I think you're right. Why would the captain lie?" I said to him as Gon smiled back and nodded his head in agreement. I mean, the captain brought us here, why would he lie about where to go next? Even more so if he's an examiner.
"Maybe because it's another test?" Leorio said making me look at him with a questioning look. Another test? This early? He turned around; his back hunched and glared at his notice.
"And this notice isn't any help! Where, exactly, in Zaban city are we meant to go?" he said, scratching the back of his head, his glare on the notice becoming less intense. I turned myself to face him fully as the other two did the same.
"Our task is to find the exam site, using a limited amount of information. Just another test before we'll be allowed to take the Hunter exam." My brother explained, making me sigh slightly but also smile. He always knew everything.
"It is another test." I muttered to myself, defeat evident in my voice. I wasn't good with tests; I wouldn't be good with this test. I had hoped it wasn't another test so early and maybe, just maybe, Leorio got given an incomplete slip. I only got through the last on because of luck. I would not be so lucky with this one. I should have prepared for defeat, but something told me not to in the back of my mind. Maybe I'd surprise myself.
"I-I knew that… I already knew that! I even told Mishka it was a test." Leorio retorted making me snap my head up at him and glare at him, well my best attempt at a glare anyway.
"Don't drag me into this!" I retorted back to him, a frown and furrowed brows appearing on my face; like a child being dragged into their friends spat between themselves, but my voice was quiet and nonthreatening.
"Anyway, I'll go have a look. The captain must have had a reason to suggest that." Gon said, leaving us three behind as we watched his retreating back. I furrowed my brows; I wanted to follow, to explore. As I felt myself begin to walk forward, I felt my fear rise again and retreated back to my brothers' side, like a puppy being scolded for wondering off too far.
"Hey, hey… You're serious? The bus to Zaban is about to leave. We should just take it. Hey! Man… He's gotta learn that you can't trust everybody." Leorio said, shifting from reasoning, to annoyance in a half a minute. Gon just waved at us, not looking back. Leorio placed the palm of his hand onto his head with an annoyed expression. I wanted to follow after Gon, my chance of socializing with someone who might have been my age; the opportunity was too good to miss. And yet, it was slipping away and I, I was doing nothing about it. That's when my brother started moving forward himself making me smile widely and follow closely behind him.
"Hey, Kurapika! Mishka!" Leorio shouted after us wondering why we were going this way.
"Gon's behaviour interests me more than the captain's advice. I'm going with him." He said as I turned around to face Leorio to speak to him.
"I think he's right, so I'm going to. Bye bye Leorio!" I said, smiling widely at him and waving my arm in the air, before jogging slightly to catch up with Gon. Once I caught up with him, I poked his arm to grab his attention, making us both smile widely at each other.

We walked up a long hill. We followed the dirt trail. I was walking next to Gon, with Kurapika behind me and Leorio behind Gon. Leorio had decided to catch up with us after all. He said we'd be lonely without him, which made me laugh a little. He was a funny guy that was for sure. He also said it was lonely travelling alone so he'd stick with us a little longer. None of us seemed that interested though in his excuse.
"Hey Mishka. How old are you anyway?" Gon asked me, making me look at him.
"I'm twelve. What about you?" I asked him smiling a little bit. Gon smiled widely himself.
"I'm twelve too!" He said, his smile getting wider as mine did the same. I was right, we were the same age! That means, I had someone I could relate to and someone to hang around with in my own age group instead of just my brother. As much as I love and admire my brother, I missed hanging around people my own age. But we travelled a lot, so I never spent enough time with people of my age. This made me even happier to have met Gon. I looked at him properly.
"You make me feel shorter." I said to him making him look at me questionably.
"Really? Why?" He asked me with question in his voice. I glanced up the top of his head, what annoyed me more as that I came to his shoulder, whilst on my brother I came to his elbow and on Leorio, I came to his waist.
"I come to your shoulder." I said to him making him laugh slightly with a wide smile, I couldn't help but smile back widely myself.

We eventually found an abandoned like town. Nothing looked like it had been here for a long time; only the sound of our feet taking us forward could be heard. If that wasn't unsettling I could hear myself breathe. That is what was unsettled me the most. It was that quiet. The wind blew past our legs as the sound of a crow echoed for the air.
"It's creepy here…" I said trailing off and looking at my surroundings. Clothes hung on washing lines above us, but that was the only sign of life that was given here. If it wasn't for those, I would have been almost certain this town was abandoned.
"I don't see a single person." Leorio commented himself as we continued to look and walk. I had found myself between Gon and my brother once more, glad for the comfort that was there should it be needed, it most likely would.
"No, there are plenty here." Gon said making me and Leorio look at him in question. Leorio voiced his question as I kept mine in my head. How did Gon know? Was he psychic? This person was simply full of surprises. We heard doors begin to open. I jumped and as instinct took my place behind my brother once more grabbing a hold of his tabard, my head peeking out from behind his arm. People started coming out from the door in a blinding white light making me squint slightly as the figures walked away from that blinding white light. A machine followed them; I couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen. Were we going to be tortured? I could only assume the worse as my grip tightened on my brothers clothing. They stopped in front of us. A line of people dressed in white, with spiky coloured hair and masks stood either side of an elderly woman who had her fingers laced and her eyes closed. She wore what looked like either prayer beads or pearls around her neck, with a purple dress.
"Wh-what's with the freak show?" Leorio questioned in a whisper so we may hear. I looked at him my brows furrowed.
"Don't insult her; she may let us go if we're nice." I said to him, naively thinking that if we were mean to this elderly lady then she would punish us severely. But that's how my brother taught me, be nice to those who are older as they held wisdom.
"Exciting…" The lady said as I began walking out from behind my brother to have a better look at her, slowly letting go of his clothing and walking next to Gon.
"E-Exciting…" Leorio repeated back in disbelief as we three stayed quiet.
"Exciting…" She repeated once more.
"Exciting…" Leorio repeated himself, making me look between the woman and him.
"Exciting two-choice quiz!" The woman shouted at us, her eyes bugging out making me jump and take up refuge behind my brother once more; going back to my hidey hole where I knew it was safe. Music and sounds started banging about. I could feel him shift slightly to look back at me in question as I looked up at him with my brows furrowed.
"I wasn't expecting her to shout." I said to him quietly, making him sigh slightly before looking back at the woman. He mentally cursed to myself; I needed to get out of this habit. The habit of hiding behind my brother whenever something unexpected happened. I had to get stronger and prove I wasn't the weak little sister I had shown myself to be.
I took a deep breath and exhaled, slowly coming out from my spot once more and standing between Gon and Kurapika once more, my arms loosely by my sides as I watched the woman carefully.
"You boys and girl are headed for that tree on the hill, correct? To reach that tree, you must pass through this town. I shall administer a single-question quiz." The lady began saying. Me and Gon turned our heads slightly to look at each other, I sighed in relief somewhat putting one hand on my chest and closed my eyes as Gon laughed at me a little bit. If it was only one question, then that was OK. I wasn't good at quizzes, but I could at least put my thought through.
"H-hold on! What's going on here?" Leorio demanded as I looked back at him my face questioning him slightly.
"We're doing a quiz, that's what the lady said." I said to him innocently thinking nothing of it.
"You'll have five seconds to state your answer. Give the wrong answer, and you're disqualified. You'll have to give up on taking this year's Hunter exam." She said to us, opening her eyes a little bit to look at us. I could feel myself freeze. Give up? No, I couldn't do that. It felt like everyone was against us trying to become Hunters. I fidgeted uncomfortably, looking to the ground before looking back up at the lady once more, fiddling with the front hem of my dress once more, something I did out of nervousness and habit.
"I see… Then this is part of the Hunter exam." Kurapika said with confidence as I looked up to him. Leorio walked next to him, his hands shoved into his trouser pockets once more, a small smile on his face.
"I see how it is. I happen to be a quiz expert. Wait. Only one question?" He asked the confidence originally in his voice gone only to be replaced with question and slight worry. I looked back at the woman as she begun to speak, interest being held in my eyes.
"Your answer will either be the number one or two. Any other answer will be considered incorrect." She said, holding up to fingers before lacing them together once more to look at us.
"Does that mean if one of us gets it wrong we all have to quit?" I asked her, wondering if that was where she was getting at. It seemed like Leorio had the same question as I did, as he also looked at her with the same questioning look in his eyes. The other two wondered the same as we waited for the woman's answer to us. Gon looked away from the woman and poked my side making me look at him.
"But you know… This way's easier, since only one of us needs to know the answer. I'm not good at quizzes." Gon said with an embarrassed smile as he rubbed the back of his head. I smiled back widely and nodded my head.
"That's true. Leorio is the quiz expert so he should be good at this!" I said, smiling widely as Gon nodded his head agreeing and placed his arm back at his side once more. Glad we got that sorted out! He still wouldn't be as smart as my brother though.

We heard someone walking towards us and turned our attention to him. He had his hands in his pockets, a smirk sitting on his face as he looked at us.
"Hey, there. Hurry it up. Or else I'll answer the question first." The guy said. He wore what looked like a torn wrap top with a green top underneath. The top and his trousers were both a dirty white colour. On his back I could see the handle of two sticks; I wasn't sure what they were just that they were made out of wood. His eyes bored into all of us as he stopped in front of us.
"Who are you?" Leorio questioned him. I couldn't help but shuffle slightly behind my brother once more as I watched this man. He was a stranger, we didn't know him, and this was the hunter exam; he could be out to ruin the chances for everyone out there trying to take it. I didn't want that to happen.
"He followed us here, all the way from the port." Gon said as if it was a normal thing that he had expected to happen. I looked at Gon in surprise, my eyebrows raised as my surprised looked turned into one of admiration and question. He had a great sense of smell and now a great sense of hearing. How did he grow up? Compared to me, he was brilliant and I, I was…simple. The only good thing going for me being that I was good at hand to hand combat but even then I wasn't the best and often lost. I was pathetic. Leorio looked just as surprised as he looked between Gon and the guy, saying something but I didn't hear. I looked at the guy again myself, my brother never took his eyes off him, nor did Gon.
"Sorry, Kid. I happened to over your conversation." He said, looking at Gon with an apologetic look on his face. I couldn't help but shake off the feeling it was fake, but I kept the thought to myself. Maybe it was genuine and I was being over thoughtful.
"What will you do?" The woman said making us turn our attention to her.
"He seems eager to take it. We should let him go first. That was we'll know what type of question to expect" Leorio said as I nodded my head agreeing. We could see what type of question it was bound to be and then work off of that. That was perfect! It worked in our favour. Leorio had a great plan.
"I don't mind." Gon replied to him.
"I have no objections." Kurapika responded.
"I think it's a great idea." I said lastly, smiling slightly as we all walked away from the older lady and her gang of masked woman and let the guy stand in front of us. Another lady had come out with a podium like wood structure and being setting it onto the ground.
"Then I'll get to it." The guy said as we stopped behind him. I came out from the safety of my brothers shadow and stood in between him and Gon, with Leorio standing behind me, suitcase in hand.
"Here is your question… Evil villains have captured your mother and lover. You can only save one. Select one for your mother, or two for your lover. Which will you save?" The lady explained, holding up her fingers as she spoke about the selections. I was taken back. That was an awful question to ask. How could you choose between that?! The others were taken back as well as I heard them gasp and shuffle slightly once she finished. I couldn't tell if the man was shocked or not, he showed no signs of gasping or shuffling. Did he have no heart? Now was not the time to question it though, that question just kept buzzing in my mind. If that was the type of question that was given, I dreaded ours.
"H-How is this even a quiz?" Leorio questioned in hushed tones to us. I furrowed my brows as I tried to think of an answer, but none came to mind. The guy shuffled as he made a sound that sounded pleased with himself and pressed something on the podium that made a buzzing beeping noise.
"The answer is 1." He said as he folded his arms over his chest. We looked at him questionably.
"Oh? Why do you say that?" The woman questioned him, her fingers laced together and elbows lazily sitting on the wooded service in front of her. I wondered the same that was something you couldn't pick between! So how, how did he get an answer?
"Because you can't replace your mother. But you can find another lover." He explained; hand on hip and the other opened pointing at her. I furrowed my brows as I looked at my brother.
"What?" Leorio questioned shocked at him.
"Big brother is that true? Are lovers that replaceable?" I asked him, knowing he would have the answer. He looked at me with his contacted grey eyes and stayed quieted before looking back at the guy. I frowned at him. Why didn't he answer me? He knew the answer; of course he knew the answer! He knew everything! So why didn't he answer my question? I decided to drop it for now and looked back at the guy myself. The crow crowed once more, making me jump slightly as the noise filled the tension filled air.
"You may pass." She said, pointing her thumb towards the back of her. Leorio shuffled once more behind me as Gon gasped a little from her response. I looked at her slightly shocked.
"What?" Leorio questioned once more as I sighed to myself.
"So lovers are that replaceable…" I muttered to myself. If that was the case I certainly didn't want one, nor did I want to be one. I had to know what a lover was first, but it didn't sound like something I wanted to be. The guy looked over his shoulder at us, a small smirk on his face.
"You just have to tell that old lady what she wants to hear. Adios." He said to us and jogged forward to pass the lady.
I raised an eyebrow in confusion; tell her what she wanted to hear? Did that mean lovers weren't that replaceable? I ruffled my blond hair on top of my head with my hands in frustration trying to think it over.
"Hey now! That's all bull! How was that the right answer? We're supposed to give the answers the old lady wants? And that's considered correct? Hey, say something!" Leorio outraged to her, swinging his arm as I stopped ruffling my hair in confusion and dropped my arms by my side. Strands of my hair fell into my eyes, making me look at it crossed eyed and blow on it slightly to get it out, only to have it fall again. I moved the strands away with my hand, only to have some fall back again. I decided to give up for now. I looked at Gon, who had crossed his arms and begun thinking to himself, and then I looked at my brother, who had remained quieted and kept his gaze on Leorio. The crow crowed once more making me jerk my head to look at the old lady once more.
"I won't put up with this sham. I'll find a different route." Leorio said as I heard him shuffle once more.
"It's too late. Refuse to take the quiz, and you're disqualified." She said to him. I pressed my lips together tightly and shuffled my feet and weight in discomfort, grabbing onto the side hems of my dress. I didn't like this situation, it was full of tension and it was discomforting. We couldn't leave, but we couldn't get the answer wrong either. That was it, we were going home. I could feel it in my bones.
"Th-That's just ridiculous! Different people would expect different answers! There is no right answer!" Leorio shouted at her. I heard my brother take a huge intake of air making me looked at him with question.
"What is it big brother?" I asked him, looking at him questionably from the strands of hair that fell over my eyes. He looked at me briefly in thought.
"No right answer…I see! Leorio!" He said turning his attention to him as I thought over what he had said.
"Wait! Not another word from you. Saying anything but the answer, and you're immediately disqualified." She said, lacing her fingers together as she concentrated her gaze at my brother. I thought over what my brother said once more. No right answer? Did it mean it was a trick question? If it did then that meant no matter what you answered was wrong, and there was no correct answer. I gasped slightly to myself with a small smile on my face, I had figured it out. The woman looked over at me; a small glare on her face making me recoil to myself and shrink away behind my brother's back once more, looking at her from behind his arm. I felt my brother pat my shoulder in a congratulatory way, making me look up and smile widely at him. He knew I had figured it out to and gave a small smile in response. He was proud of me. I couldn't help but feel lighter in my stomach because of it. I looked back at Gon, who was still deep in thought and furrowed my brows slightly. Was he being completely obvious to all of this?

"Here is your question… Your son and daughter have been kidnapped. You can only rescue one. Select one for your son, or two for your daughter. Which will you rescue?" She asked us, putting up two fingers once more and then laced them together again, her elbows once again resting lazily on the wood in front of her. I thought over the question myself. What if I was put into that situation? Who would I save? Well you couldn't pick that was simple, but then you would lose them both, but losing only one wasn't good either. Leorio begun walking around as the lady began counting down from five.
"Five…Four… Three… Two… One… Buzz. Time's up." She said never taking her eyes off of us. Suddenly, Leorio launched himself at the woman, a wooden plank in his hands. I gasped at him, my eyes wide at his actions. Why would he do that?! You should never hit your elders! That's what I was taught anyway; if you did you were disciplined for it. He shouted as he brought down the plank. I felt my brother move away quickly. I couldn't help but close my eyes and cover them with my hands, waiting for hear the impact of wood hitting flesh. Instead, my ears were greeted with the sound of wood hitting wood. I opened my right eye and moved my fingers slightly to peek through them. My brother was leaning backwards, his wooden weapons held in his hands above his head with Leorio's wood plank slammed against them. Feathers fell from the sky as the lady looked unaffected by all that was happening.
"Don't stop me, Kurapika! I won't be satisfied until I taught this hag a lesson!" He said, pushing down on his weapon making my brother bend backwards more than he was already. I kept looking through my fingers; Leorio had disrespected the old lady! That was rude, even if she was asking such horrible questions; she still didn't need to be called such names. Kurapika pushed back himself and glared at Leorio, holding his weapons in front of his chest.
"Calm down, Leorio!" Kurapika shouted back at him, bringing his weapons down entirely from his chest as Leorio leaned forward slightly again.
"How am I supposed to calm down?" He question him as my brother moved forward more himself, getting himself all up into Leorio's face and personal bubble.
"You'll waste our correct response." My brother said back to him making Leorio stand up straight once more.
"Correct response?" He questioned him. I brought my hands down from my face slowly opening both my eyes as I watched the two talk. I quickly glanced back at Gon, who was still in deep thought; he really was ignoring everything that was happening.
"We gave the right answer. Silence was the correct response." Kurapika explained, placing his weapons back behind his tabard once more to keep them out of sight.
"Silence? What do you mean…" Leorio asked him
"You hit the nail on the head. This quiz had no right answer. However, we could only state one or two as the answer. In other words, we weren't meant to respond at all. Silence was the only response." My brother explained to him, putting a finger over his lips. I couldn't help but smile slightly to myself, feeling proud that I figured it out before Leorio. It took a bit of thinking, and for my brother to say something to give me hints, but I figured it out! I couldn't have been happier even if I tried. The light feeling soon began returning to my stomach.
"But what about that other guy?" Leorio questioned as he pointed in the direction that guy went. My brother shook his head as he began talking.
"They never said he gave the right answer. She only said "You may pass." In other words, this path is the wrong path. Am I right?" He said and then asked her turning around to face the old lady. She looked unfazed by everything that happened, her fingered remained laced and the bored expression on her face still sat there. She smiled slightly at him and placed her hands onto the table lifting herself up.
"Precisely. The correct path is over here." She said walking over to a big door that begun opening, a cane in her hand. I smiled widely to myself, we had passed again! Maybe my luck was running longer than it should have been, but at the moment, I didn't care. I was just happy to have passed.
"This leads directly to the tree. Walk two hours, and you'll reach the top." She said to them as Kurapika and Leorio blocked the way with their bodies. I frowned slightly and walked over myself, gently pushing myself between the two, wincing as he accidently banged my chest against my brother's arm to get through. I stood in front of the two looking down the tunnel; a small rectangle light was at the end.
"Oh, so that's what this was about…" Leorio said, sounding confused by the situation. The old lady began speaking once more, making us turn our heads towards her.
"A couple lives in the cabin beneath that tree. They serve as navigators. If you meet their standards, I believe that they will guide you to the exam site." She said turning her head to face us, a small smile on her face. A clang was heard as Leorio dropped the remains of the wooden blank onto the floor. If I was honest, I had forgotten he had that still.
"Gran, I'm sorry for my rudeness." Leorio said walking over to her and bowing slightly. She turned away from him a little and looked at the ground.
"Don't be. I don't mind. I do this job because I enjoy meeting people like you." She said before turning to face Leorio fully with a wide smile on her face and eyes closed.
"Do your best to become a good hunter." She said to him, making Leorio stand straight and smile at her awkwardly. He touched the back of his neck before regaining his composer once more and looked at her seriously with a smile still on his face. Gon let out a frustrated sigh and sat on the ground, his hands behind him as he looked up with defeat on his face.
"It's no use. I can't think of an answer." He said making me walk back over to him again with question on my face. He had been thinking of an answer to her question this entire time? I couldn't blame him, I was still trying to think if lovers were that replaceable or not. That's the one that boggled my mind the most. Leorio started laughing at him.
"You were still trying to find an answer? You can stop." Leorio said to him, bending over slightly with his hands in his pockets.
"Huh? Why?" Gon questioned him as I turned my head slightly to look at him.
"The quiz is over." My brother said to him as I turned my head to face Gon and nodded it, a small smile on my face. Gon sat up straight and crossed his legs slightly, his hands on the dirt between them.
"I know. But… But you know… What if I run into a situation like that and I can only save one person… What should I do then? It wouldn't be right to choose just one… But one day, I might have to make that choice." Gon said, looking down with a concentrated look on his face. Everybody stayed quiet, not sure how to respond to that statement made by Gon. I thought about it too and shook my head before offering my hands to help him up with a small smile on my face.
"I'm still trying to find out if lovers are easily replaceable. Maybe we can find the answer to both our questions together." I suggested to him as Gon looked up and smiled widely at me grabbing onto my hands and nodding at the same time. I smiled back widely at him and walked backwards helping him up. We soon waved off the old lady to walk down the two hour black tunnel. I stood next to Gon and my brother as we walked. Knowing our luck, another text would be soon. For now, we got to enjoy the darkness of the tunnel and the rest of no more tests for the next two hours.

We finally made it out of the tunnel, and when we did it was dark! Just like that, pitch black. I stood between Kurapika and Gon, holding onto the back of my brother's tabard so I didn't lose him. I also had a slight hold of Gon's shirt sleeve so I didn't lose him either. I was determined to not get lost here. Leorio was once again complaining.
"It's totally dark out… "Walk two hours" she said. It was two hours, two hours ago! Damn." He complained making me look back at him slightly whilst walking forward with the two boys.
"You're going to get lost if you hang around back there." I said to him furrowing my brows slightly from a small frown on my face. He shot me a piercing look with a wide frown on his own face.
"If I was you maybe, but I'm a grown man!" He said, complaining once more making me sigh slightly to myself and look forward once more; didn't want to trip over anything now. We walked past a sign, which Leorio decided to look closely at. We looked back to him once we couldn't hear his footsteps and saw he was talking to himself. I had let go of both Kurapika's and Gon's clothing as we all turned to our sides.
"I'm hungry! I need to take a dump!" Leorio began shouting. I covered my ears at that point closing my eyes tightly.
"Don't want to hear don't want to hear!" I kept repeating to myself shaking my head slightly. I could hear Gon's muffled voice, but I had no idea what he was saying through my hand covered ears. I could hear Leorio shouting some more about something as well my brother saying something as I felt him turn. Gon turned himself and tapped my shoulder making me open an eye slightly to see him pointing up the hill. I removed my hands from my ears and opened both my eyes as I turned to face the building a wide smile on my face.
"Is that the exam site?" I questioned the two as Kurapika nodded his head. My smile couldn't get wider even if I tried, not without splitting my face open in two at least.

We had ran the rest of the way and stood on the porch of the house with Leorio knocking on the door. No lights were on in this little wood cabin and it didn't sound like there was any sort of life inside. I had once again chosen my spot between Kurapika and Gon as I looked around the place. It felt…..strange, I didn't know how to put it but something didn't feel right.
"Hello, anyone home?" Leorio asked as he continued knocking on the door.
"Are they out?" Gon asked as I looked at Leorio for an answer as well. It was then Leorio took a brave choice and opened the front door. That meant they weren't out, who left the door open for all to invite themselves in when they go out? I certainly wouldn't, it's not safe! He opened the door slowly as we began peeking in
"We're coming in." He said as we began taking steps inside the wood house. Gon had opened the other door. What we saw couldn't have shocked us more. I covered my mouth with my hands my eyes going wide and body going stiff as I took a step back slightly. I could hear my breath caught up in my throat. There was this tall yellow or brown beast, with slit red eyes and an odd cackle looking at us with a big smirk on his face.
"It's a magical beast!" Kurapika and Leorio exclaimed as I stayed quiet frozen to the spot. The three of them had all drawn a weapon to protect themselves. I had nothing but my hands. Swallowing the caught breath, I removed my hands from my mouth putting them into fists and holding them in a protective stance in front of me.
"A magical beast!?" Both me and Gon questioned as we looked at this tall, two legged creature and its smirk.
"A transforming magical beast, the Kiriko! They can take human form! That's an extremely intelligent creature!" Kurapika explained making me shake slightly. I didn't like the sound of that. The creature begun turning slightly showing us the figure he was holding. It was a woman being held by her neck by the creatures arm.
"There's a woman in his arms!" Gon exclaimed as I looked to his side slightly and gasped.
"There's a guy there bleeding!" I exclaimed as well, my eyes staying wide.
"That guy needs medical attention." Leorio said quietly, mostly to himself although we could still hear him. After all, he was not the quietest of talkers. It was then the beast took off through the window. Kurapika and Gon ran to the window as I followed Leorio to the guy on the floor.
"P-Please. Please safe my wife..." The bleeding man said as Leorio knelt down beside him and started opening his brief case. I sat on my knees next to the guy watching Leorio closely. Kurapika begun taking off his bag and dumped it onto the floor.
"Leorio, we'll leave the injured man to you! Mishka, do everything Leorio tells you!" Kurapika said as him as Gon jumped out of the window too.
"Got it!" Leorio shouted back as I nodded my head understanding. Leorio began filling a syringe.
"Mishka, lay some pressure onto his shoulder to stop any bleeding." He told without looking at me as I nodded my head and pressed down both my hands onto his shoulder. I noticed he didn't flinch and looked at him questionably.
"Hey, mister… can you feel anything in your shoulder?" I asked him looking at him questionably still. I don't know why, but I found it odd that he didn't flinch. Or maybe I was just too sensitive to pain.

It was chaos, and confusing! Gon and Kurapika had brought back two creatures plus the girl and the man, he wasn't even injured! We only found out after treating him. When I asked him if he could feel anything in his shoulder he simply said no. Leorio said he probably had nerve damage and even began treating him for that! My brain started hurting from all this confusion. We all stood in front of the two magical beasts, me in between Kurapika and Gon whilst standing in front of Leorio.
"Hmm… How many years has it been since someone was able to tell us apart?" The first creature asked the second, turning his head to face him slightly.
"I'm ecstatic!" The second creature said turning back to face us. I looked at them oddly; they looked exactly the same to me. I couldn't help but furrow my brows slightly trying to find even the slightest bit of different between the two. Gon stood there rubbing the back of his head. Gon turned to face all of us as he began telling the tale of the two creatures.
"You see, the one Kurapika and I beat up is the husband." He said with a wide smile on his face. That was good and all, but, which one was the husband. I looked at him and the creatures even more confused.

The creatures soon stood up and took steps forward.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves. We are the navigators. Our family provides support for the hunter exam." The creature on the left said.
"I'm their daughter!" The girl with the pink hair said, lifting her hand up with a smile on her face.
"I'm their son!" The boy with blue hair said lifting us his hand and putting on a smile himself.
"Man, you had us fooled." Leorio admitted as I kept looking between the two Kiriko's trying to tell their difference. I shook my head slightly, deciding to stop before I confused myself even more.
"The hunter exam changes sites every year. It's quite difficult to locate it." The creature on the left said, holding up a finger as he began explaining. Soon the one of the right started doing the same.
"So we navigators help by guiding applicants to the site." He said. Gon smiled widely and stood up straighter at that point.
"Oh, that's how it works." He said. Soon the pink haired girl began speaking.
"But we don't help every candidate." She said, waving her hands in front of her slightly.
"We test candidates to see if they're qualified to take the exam." The blue haired man begun saying. I felt myself froze at that point. I knew I wasn't going to pass this time, last time it was luck, this time all I did was follow instructions. No, I was going to fail and would have to try again next year. But what would I do until then? So many questions were running through my mind it was unreal.
"Kurapika." The girl said as he nodded his head slightly.
"Yes."
"You successfully used the most vague of hints to determine we weren't spouses. The hint was these tattoos which, in this region, mark a woman single for life." She said as she held up her arm and begun rubbing it, rubbing away the ink marks on her arms. I looked at it surprised, I wouldn't have been able to pick that up, nor did I have any idea that that tattoo here meant a woman was single forever.
"Kurapika demonstrated that he is very knowledgeable. Therefore, he passes." She said as I smiled widely at my brother. My brother let out a sigh of relief.
"Way to go, Kurapika." Gon congratulated him as I smiled widely at my brother getting a small smile back.
"Leorio. You never realized my true identity. However, you dressed my injuries faster and more thoroughly than any doctor. Most importantly, you continued to reassure me that my wife was safe." He said as Leorio began adjusting his glasses with a hand on his hip as we looked at him.
"S-stop it…it's embarrassing." He said turning his head slightly away. I had to stand on my toes, but I could see he was blushing from the praise.
"Your kindness makes you worthy to take the hunter exam. Thus, you pass." He finished off as Leorio looked at him shocked before falling onto his knees.
"R-really!? Thank goodness." He said as I smiled widely at him as well. So far, two people had passed.
"You did it!" Gon said to him holding out of the back of his hand as Leorio touched the back of his hand with his own.
"Mishka." The blue haired man said making us look at him once more. This was it; this was him telling me I failed. I was preparing myself, but I couldn't stop shaking. I just knew I was going back tonight.
"You followed every instruction preciously as it was told to you. When you noticed I didn't flinch you asked if I had any feeling in that part of my body. You picked up on the small details that could save or break someone's life. You have an excellent attention to detail and for that reason, you pass." He said, making me smile widely. I could feel my cheeks turning slightly red as the compliment and the fact I was now going forward with the hunter exam. I couldn't help but jump excitedly on the spot.
"That's great!" Gon said to me smiling widely as I stopped and nodded my head quickly. My stomach felt light and I felt happy, extremely happy. Things were looking great! Now all we needed was for Gon to pass and then we could all move forward as a group.
"And finally, Gon. Your superhuman physical ability and powers of observation make you worthy to take the hunter exam. You pass." The Kiriko said, putting his hands on his hips with a fox like smile. Gon smiled widely as I moved back slightly for him to tap the back of his hands with both Leorio and Kurapika. I quickly jumped up slightly and hugged him from behind, wrapping my arms around his neck as I stood on my toes smiling widely. I was glad he passed as well. We both couldn't stop smiling at what had happened with the results.

"We will now take you to the exam site." The creature said, as the boy and girl turned to their true identities and opened their wings up. They were almost like flying squirrels, the way their wings were tucked into their arms. Gon was holding onto one of them by his legs as was Kurapika. I had wrapped my arms tightly around Kurapika's neck with my legs around his waist as if I was getting a free piggy back ride. I wasn't going to hold onto one of them on my own! I didn't have great upper body strength; I would certainly fall to my death. Leorio was holding onto the two smaller ones and kept wiggling about.
"Isn't it great that we all passed?" Gon shouted over to us with a smile on his face. I nodded my head quickly.
"Yeah!" I shouted back smiling widely back at him.
"It's too early to celebrate. We merely earned the right to take the real exam." Kurapika said making me frown at him slightly as I turned my head forward. It didn't hurt to be happy about it, right?
"What's wrong with celebrating a little? We're making progress." Leorio said voicing pretty much my thoughts.
"Honestly, you people really should think." Kurapika said making me frown at him some more.
"But who knows if we pass the real exam! We can still celebrate a little now for getting the right to do it." I said to him furrowing my brows slightly as Kurapika sighed slightly. I loved my brother dearly, but sometimes, I did wish he would lighten up slightly. Still, I couldn't blame him for the way he thought. He thought logically.
"Hey! Why must you be such a smart-ass?" He said, kicking about as the Kirioko's began tilting slightly. I couldn't help but in instinct hold onto Kurapika that little bit tighter.
"Hey stop moving!"
"If you fall, blame yourself!" The two said to move in a hope that Leorio would stop moving and kicking about. Gon couldn't help but laugh at him making me smile widely at him and giggle slightly to myself.

Today, was a good day.