A big thank you to Anime lover, Rina Dragonfly and all silent readers!

Anime lover – Yes I do. You'll need to go to the bottom of the chapter for the full list as it's quiet long.

Rina Dragonfly – I'm glad you think so!
Sorry I didn't update; been busy mucking around with a Graphics tablet.

Let's get the legal stuff out of the way first. I do not own Hunter x Hunter or Hunter x Hunter 2011. All rights and ownership go to the following: Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Shonen, Kazuhiro Furuhashi, Nobuaki Kishima, Nippon Animation, Viz Media, Fuji TV, Funimation Channel, Satoshi Saga, Yukihiro Matsushite, Makoto Sato, Hiroshi Kojina, Atsushi Maekawa, Tsutomu Kamishiro, Madhouse, NTV, Yuzo Sato, Shoji Yonemura and last but not least Keiichiro Kawaguchi. Whew.

"Mishka…Mishka…MISHKA!" I heard someone say and then yell into my ear before promptly shoving me off the bed. I landed on the floor on my stomach with a hard smack, hearing only the sounds of laughing from the two people I was sharing the room with. Pushing myself up onto my knees I laid my arms across the top of the bed and glared sleepily at the two boys who were trying their best to suppress their laughs.
"…It's not funny…It really hurt." I said to them keeping the tired glare on my face. Gon smiled widely as I stood up, straightening out my training clothes as Killua kept the smirk on his face with his hands laced behind his head.
"Sorry, Sarah said to wake you up though." Gon said to me as I ran my fingers through my hair. I looked at him wide eyed and nodded my head, showing I understood. I dropped my hands by my side and followed the two boys out of the room.

We reached the downstairs and sat the table. Sarah had various cereals on the table, most of them being chocolate or something that flavoured the milk. Kimmy was very picky with drinking her milk as I had learnt yesterday when talking with Sarah. The problem was, I didn't like chocolate cereal and there wasn't anything plain; and I wasn't allowed to use the bread as Sarah wanted to use that for festival food today.
"You better eat something, Mishka. You're a growing twelve year old, not a model sixteen year old." Sarah said to me sternly, pushing an empty bowl in front of me. I furrowed my brows as Gon and Killua watched me carefully while eating their breakfast.
"But I-" I began saying until Sarah glared at me.
"No buts. You get what you're given and like it." She said. Sighing in defeat I nodded my head and poured myself some cereal, pulling a face while doing so. This wasn't going to be a great breakfast.

After my…enjoyable breakfast, I quickly got myself washed and dressed. Sarah had managed to get the blood out of my spare training shirt so now I was back at two. I finished up by pulling my dress tabard over the top of my head. I quickly exited the room me, Gon and Killua were staying in and closed the door behind me. They had suddenly disappeared after breakfast. I walked over to the bar part of the inn. Sarah was busy preparing different types of snack food for the festival that was happening later tonight. So looked over her shoulder before looking back at what she was doing.
"What's up?" She asked me, keeping her eyes down on the food she was preparing.
"Where are Gon and Killua?" I asked her. She thought about it for a second, before nodding her head remembering something.
"I sent them into town to help prepare it for the festival. Why?" She said and then asked me. I furrowed my brows slightly, looking away from the older women's back before shaking my head and looking at her once more; a wide smile on my face.
"No reason. I'm going to visit Jerome so I'll come back and help once I been is that okay?" I asked her. Sarah nodded her head in response.
"Yes that's fine dear; just stick to your word." She said to me as I nodded my head quickly.
"I will." I said to her. I turned on my heel quickly and walked out of the inn. As I closed the door; I could have sworn I heard a sad sigh. I stood at the door for a while thinking over the sound, then shook my head deciding it was better to dismiss it now then later before it bugged and irritated me.

I began walking towards the church, that's where everybody was buried that was a no brainer. No one was cremated in this village; it was too small and the villagers saw it as a sin to do so as you weren't returning to the Earth. The weather wasn't great though, there was dark black clouds hovering over the village with a brisk, sharp, cold wind every now and again just to remind you that it may rain soon.
"Mishka!" I heard a familiar voice shout. I looked in the direction of the shout and saw Gon running over, Killua shortly behind him. They were both in just their vet tops and shorts and looked very grubby. I waved over to them as they stopped in front of me.
"Where are you going?" Gon asked as Killua leaned forward, shoving his hands into his pockets with a smirk on his face.
"Not getting out of chores are you?" Killua asked as I shook my head. I pointed in the direction of the church, a small smile on my face.
"I'm visiting Jerome before the festival. I'm coming back to help afterwards promise." I said to them. Gon furrowed his brows with an apologetic smile on his face.
"Sorry; I said I'd come to but Sarah dragged us into helping the village prepare." Gon said to me. I shook my head, keeping a smile on my face.
"That's okay. We can go together another time." I said to him, smiling widely. Gon nodded his head smiling widely back as Killua laced his fingers behind his back.
"Gon, we should go back before James starts throwing things at us." Killua said as Gon looked at him and nodded his head.
"Yeah. See you later, Mishka." Gon said as the two turned around to quickly run back to help the village prepare.

I remembered James very well. He was bald and had a big brown moustache and beard when I first met him; I wondered if it was still the same now.

Turning around on my heel I began walking to the church once more. It took about fifteen minutes to get to the church, but I was walking really quickly. If I walked at my normal pace it would have taken half an hour. I entered the graveyard and looked around. The grass was green and the headstones were clean. It looked like the groundskeeper took very good care of everything here. The only thing that bugged me was that the gates were rusted, as was the fence around the whole grounds. I swallowed hard as a cold chill ran up my spine. I couldn't understand how some people just visited these places for fun.

I stepped into the grounds, and lightly closed the gate behind me. The gates banged against each other making me jump and turn my head quickly to look at them. Furrowing my brows I backed away from the rusted metal gates and took a deep breath. I just had to find the head stone that said "Jerome Crudisk" and I would have the guy. I stepped lightly on the grounds, afraid that if I was heavy footed I would disturb the people under the ground. Looking at the individual headstones I read the names back to me. Some were really old, and some were really young. Either way it was all very sad.

My brows furrowed as I searched for Jerome. I stopped looking at the headstones and looked around. All the graves here seemed like they were dug up many years ago. There was a patch though that looked fresher and cleaner than the others here. I decided to take my chances and walked up to the slightly newer patch. I found the headstone, spotting it in between two more. It made me uncomfortable and fidget on the spot, fiddling with the sleeves of my training clothes. It was odd, seeing it and all. I swallowed hard once more and walked over to it before stopping in front of the headstone. I dropped down, balancing on the balls of my feet with my arms around my knees and chin resting atop of my knees, just staring.

I furrowed my brows and sighed slightly, wondering what to say or even where to begin. I was alone; so it wasn't like anyone else could hear me. I looked to my left and right just to make sure; suddenly feeling very uncomfortable with the quietness of the church grounds. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes. Exhaling slowly I opened my eyes, staring at the name.
"Hello, Jerome. It's been a while huh?" I said, not really sure what else to say. I removed one of the arms from around my knees and rubbed the back of my neck, looking away briefly before looking back.
"I actually became a Hunter, and I came back like I said to show you!" I said to him, about to dig through my bag only to realise that I had left the thing back in our room in the inn. My Hunter card was in my bag. I murmured to myself slightly before smiling apologetically at the headstone.
"Sorry, I left it in my bag back at the inn. Guess I'm still forgetful huh?" I said to him laughing slightly. I dug my chin into my knees slightly more, the caps touching the base of my nose.
"I made friends, really good friends. They're called Gon and Killua. We're all helping each other out and travelling together. I'm not sure what big brother is doing now; but we're meeting him and a doctor in training called Leorio in Yorknew City. Have you ever been to Yorknew City?" I said to him, smiling widely; although it was more to myself than anyone else.
"I'm getting stronger every day. I know Nen now; it's odd and a little bit scary but I know it! When did you learn Nen? Was it easy for you?" I asked him, falling quiet as if I was expecting an answer. However, an answer never came and I was just greeted by the unsettling, dead silence.

I sighed once more to myself, looking sadly at the headstone.
"I met Kimmy. She looks a lot like you, black hair, green eyes and slightly tanned skin. Did you ever meet her? I hope you did, she's really cute." I said to him, laughing slightly with a wide smile. I quietened down, staring back at the lettering. He died three years ago; and it felt odd and strange not having him around even if I just got back.
"I'm sorry I didn't come back sooner and I'm sorry me and big brother were brats before we left. We didn't mean it." I said to him, frowning widely to myself. I didn't know if it was true or not, but it felt like we were being bratty at times. I always followed what my brother did though; it was just something I grew accustomed to. After all I looked up to him and in a way I guess he was my role model.

I stayed balancing on the balls of my feet with my arms around my legs and the bottom of my nose touching the caps for a while. I began to get cold though and soon felt myself shiver. I closed my eyes tightly as I shivered on the spot; wasn't exactly the best day for a festival but it seemed really important to everyone here so I wouldn't complain. I opened my eyes and looked back at the headstone.
"I guess I should get back to the village. Gon and Killua are helping set everything up and I said I'd help afterwards. I'm lighting a lantern for you and everybody from mine and big brothers clan." I said to him, smiling widely. I stood up, falling forward slightly but managing to catch myself before I fell completely forward. I brushed off the back of my dress tabard, and smiled widely at Jerome's headstone.
"I'll see you later okay? Next time I'm dragging big brother with me!" I said to him, staring at the headstone some more. After a few more minutes I worked up the nerve to walk away and turned on my heel, walking back out of the church grounds. I did what I had to do and I was glad; now I just had to get big brother to do the same just like he said he would.

I made my way back to village; the wind began picking up to something terrible. I quickly ran to the village once I felt I was far enough away from the church. I made it back to see people running after various things that were blowing away. Gon and Killua were holding onto the lanterns tightly so that they wouldn't blow away. I raised an eyebrow, wondering why they didn't just take them inside. I jogged over to the group, removing a couple of lanterns from Gon and Killua's hands.
"Why don't we take them inside?" I asked the two, feeling myself being pushed to the left slightly from the gust of wind. Gon shook his head quickly as he shivered himself; looking like he regretted not having his green jacket on him as did Killua.
"James said it'd taint them. They have to be kept outside to stop any tainting that may come from the indoors." Gon said to me, making me raise an eyebrow slightly in confusion.
"That's so strange." I said to him as Killua nodded his head, shivering slightly himself.
"Yeah, well James got incredibly angry when I suggested we put them inside." Killua said, sighing to himself as he closed his eyes, before stiffening up straight and shivering because of another gust of wind. I was about to open my mouth to say something until someone shouted over.
"Don't stand around, put the lanterns in the stand here and help us retie the banners!" The person shouted. The three of us looked over to see a very angry looking man glaring at the three of us. He was bald and had only a brown moustache and beard. I instantly knew who he was; but he didn't seem to recognise me. The three of us nodded our heads and did exactly as he said; afraid that if we didn't then he'd beat us.

It took us a good four hours to help get everything ready. The wind had died down and turned into rain and that was it, it was just rain. The three of us were getting changed into some dry clothes in the room we shared. My back was turned to the two boys as was there's to mine. I stared out of the window as I changed, looking at the whole festival wide eyed. I pulled on my dry training shirt, feeling it stop at the bottom of my bottom and moved over to the window. The festival ground looked amazing! The colour scheme was yellow and red. The stalls looked like red tents with yellow interior. There was different kind of stands, some food, some arts and crafts and some even games for the younger members of the village. I pressed my cheek against the glass to get a better look down the festival. Right at the bottom was the lanterns, all tied to a weight and floating in the air; that could only mean there was a very slight wind in the air. They didn't melt in the rain though and it made me wonder if maybe they had Nen protecting them. I smiled widely, and looked over to Gon and Killua who were in the midst of grabbing dry shorts and jeans.
"Look! It looks really pretty from up here." I said to the two. They wondered over to the window, dry shorts and jeans in hand and stood either side of me to look out of the window. Gon smiled widely and pressed his forehead against the glass.
"Wow!" He said looking at everything. Killua smiled widely himself, leaning a hand onto the window seal as he leaned forward.
"Hmm, we did a good job." He said, smirking to himself at the work he and Gon and had done. I nodded my head, smiling widely.
"We should hurry up so that we can see everything!" I said to the two excitedly, slightly bouncing on the balls of my feet. Gon and Killua nodded their heads in response. I quickly pulled up my training shorts, Gon pulled up his green shorts quickly and Killua pulled on his jeans.

Once dressed and presentable to the rest of the village, the three of us ran down the stairs, trying to be the first out of the door. Neither Sarah nor Kimmy were anywhere to be seen and I could only assume they were at the festival. As we drew closer to the door I could hear the laughter and cheering of people, as well as the loud talking and gossiping of people walking to the festival. I guess, because they were celebrating life, it was something to be happy about. We quickly exited the inn and closed the doors behind us. The rain was light, but it was the stuff that got you soaked before you could go anywhere or do anything. Me and Gon stared at the amount of people walking past. I never knew there was actually this many people in the village; I thought there was only one hundred and yet this festival was proving to be double that.
"Let's go, Gon, Mishka." Killua shouted making the two of us snap our heads into his direction. He had begun walking off without us, his hands shoved into his pockets. We quickly followed after Killua, not wanting to lose him in the crowd.

The festival grounds were even prettier when up close. The tents and stands had different things that I could now see clearly. There was a guy getting people to come over. He was very skinny. He had brunette hair and very pale skin; almost sicky.
"Learn how the life cycle works! You won't be disappointed!" The man shouted, waving his arm in the air, grabbing people's attention. The three of us wondered over ourselves, interested in what the man had to say. Killua laced his hands behind his back as me and Gon stood with her arms by our sides. We stopped in front of the guy in the stall. There were a few tables and a lot of chairs. A few more people began gathering round; most of them were kids around our age or slightly younger. The man leaned on the table and eyed us all carefully, before putting on a cheery smile and stood up straight; his hands on his hips.
"So, you're all here because you want to know how the cycle works, right?" He asked us.
"Yeah!" We all shouted at the same time. The man continued to smile widely and leaned back on the table.
"Right, grab a seat and I'll tell you about the cycle." He said to us. Each of us sat down into an available seat; the man watching our every move.

Once seated he looked over us all one more time, before leaning on the table.
"It's very simple, the cycle. One life lost, is another gained. When a loved one or someone very close to us dies we will mourn. The body becomes empty, nothing more than a shell. However, the soul is realised." He said to us. I didn't understand, and could hear the confused mutterings of others who didn't understand themselves. The man laughed making people snap their heads back to him. He looked at us kindly as he continued to lean on the table.
"The soul chooses to stay here with us or to watch us from above. If it chooses to stay with us then it's reincarnated into a different person. That's why you feel attached to some people more than others. If the soul chooses to watch us from above then it'll do exactly that. Ever felt a sudden chill up your spine?" The man explained. Some of us nodded our heads, me including. I always felt them. He continued to smile at us and stood up straight, dropping his hands to his sides.
"That chill is the spirit of a loved one being near to you. If you're sad, anxious, frightened or even just lonely, that chill up your spine is their way of telling you that they're there for you. Of course, we don't usually acknowledge this." He said as he walked over to one end of the still. We wall watched him carefully, some of the children standing in their seats. He took out a mock-up lantern with the name "Lisa" written on it.
"These lanterns let them know that we are always thinking of them. Even though the festival only happens once a year; these lanterns will tell them that we miss them and we're still thinking of them. It asks them not to leave us alone for another year. You don't need a lantern though to tell them that. They can feel your thoughts; feel your emotions; feel everything you're feeling if the bond is strong enough." He said as he walked around the table. He dug through his pockets, holding the mock-up lantern with one hand. He found what he was looking for and pulled out a small thin lighter. Lighting the middle and stepped outside the stall, the man threw his arm gently into the air, letting go of the mock-up. All of us watched in great interest at what he was doing; watching the mock-up fly away into the sky.
"If the soul thinks it's time to leave they'll ride that lantern with their name on it. It'll carry them to the afterlife to live there forever. In return, the person who lit the lantern will always be protected by them no matter what. That is how the cycle works and that is why we have the festival of life every year." He said to us, never taking his eyes off the lantern as it continued flying away. I watched with wide eyes as it continued floating to the sky. I couldn't help but wonder, did this man lose someone really close to him?

We left the stall, thanking the man for his explanation on how the cycle worked and why they had the festivals. I heard Gon and Killua's stomachs rumbling and smiled widely at the two. Gon rubbed the back of his head as we looked around the different stalls.
"I'm going to get something to eat. You two coming?" Gon asked me and Killua. I shook my head, I wasn't that hungry and I wanted to explore around the festival some more before eating. Killua nodded his head quickly.
"Sure, I'm starving." Killua said, his stomach rumbling once more.
"I'm going to have a look at the stands a bit more; so I'll meet up with you guys in a minute." I said, smiling widely at the two. Gon frowned slightly but nodded his head smiling widely.
"Okay. We'll meet you over there." Gon said, pointing to a snack stand. I nodded my head, watching the two take off in that direction. I smiled widely to myself and began walking over to another stand that caught my interest. I had come into the beginning of the explanation as the woman giving the talk was looking around.
"Oh, I only just started so come join us." She said to me, indicating for me to take a seat. I nodded my head and sat down next to another girl who was younger than me by quite a bit; I think she was about nine.
"As I was saying; have there ever been times when you felt as if the world was against you and nothing you did was right?" She asked everyone. Most people nodded their heads; it seemed to be the older kids that did so. She nodded her head, smiling at everyone.
"It's to test you, to see if you can make a beautiful and colourful place for yourself. The harder the canvas, the harder it is to paint; but surrounded by the right people who can achieve a colourful painting, shaping the world to how you want it to be." She said, holding her arms out to either side of her as she looked up to the ceiling of the stall. We all watched her closely as she looked back at us smiling widely.
"The world is a cruel and dark place; and sometimes the brightly coloured and beautiful painting is not always clear in the dark, unlit room. But it's the people around you that make it a beautiful, bright and colourful place." She said, pausing and looking at all of us, a kind smile on her face. In a way, I guess it kind of made sense; but it was going to be a while before I could get my head around it fully.

It had been a few hours since I visited the "speech tents" as we were called. I actually found them to be quiet interesting and in a way make me look at things in a different light.

It was time for the lighting of the lanterns. I wrote Jerome's name on lantern and then "Kuruta clan" on another. Me, Gon and Killua had agreed to release Jerome's together. Each of us held a corner of the lantern, starring at it. Killua was the one who was given the lighter by one of the adults to light our lantern. He lit it, making us stare at it some more.
"One, two, three!" All three of us said, throwing our arms gently into the air and realising the red and yellow paper lantern. I smiled widely as we watched it float into the air; the rain nor the wind destroying it as it continued to float up. Me, Gon and Killua looked at each other after watching the lantern float away and smiled widely at each other. Now, it was realising the one dedicated to mine and big brother's clan. I took a deep breath as I held the lantern in both hands. I carefully took the lighter out of Killua's hand and lit the inside of my lantern. I then threw my arms gently into the air realising the lantern into the sky. It began floating away into the seemingly endless sky, joining the others to its destination. I smiled widely as I watched it leave. I couldn't help but think; at the beginning of this journey, I believed that when everyone you know dies around you and you along with your sibling become the only survivors, you learn that the world is a cruel and dark place. The world is not brightly coloured and beautiful like it was painted to be by those around you. No. No it's much different. This festival though, it taught me differently; and I felt like I had learnt a lot by listening to the people tell their stories on how life worked.

The world is yes, a cruel and dark place; it'll always be that way. Yet, it's also beautiful and charming. It was brightly coloured like the people around you painted it to be. It was beautiful, the only thing you have to do is find people; those people are the ones that make the world a beautiful and colourful place. I smiled wider at the thought as the lantern disappeared from sight. While the world I knew was gone, I had to make a new one and make it just as colourful and beautiful like the last. This is the world I wanted to show everyone in the clan that I can create.

The festival soon ended. I hadn't eaten all day but I didn't feel that hungry. I exactly felt as if something had given me inspiration. The three of us had gone to bed early so that we could wake up early enough to get the boat back. We laid in our beds, staring at the ceiling; none of us able to get to sleep.
"Those speeches were really weird." Killua commented. I looked over at him, leaning up onto my elbows.
"You think so? I thought they were…special." I said to him, trying to think of the way to put it. Killua raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at me through the corner of his eyes before looking back up to the ceiling in the dark room.
"Hmm, I guess someone had to like them." He said, smirking slightly. I glared at him and stuck my tongue out at him, before flopping back onto my bed and staring at the ceiling. I knew he was pulling my leg; so it didn't bother me that much really. I heard lightly snoring coming from the bed in the middle and looked over, to see Gon had fallen asleep. I actually wondered how long he had been asleep for. Deciding that was for the best I crawled into my own quilt covers and curled into a small ball, wrapping myself up warmly into the quilt. Once comfortable and warm I closed my eyes, letting myself fall asleep.

We had ran to the dock to catch our boat. We were nearly late. All three of us had slept in and it was Sarah who had woken us up. Gon and Killua quickly walked onto the boat as I stood in front of Sarah, who was holding Kimmy by the hand next to her.
"When do you think you'll come back to visit again?" Sarah asked, a kind smile on her face. I fidgeted on the spot slightly, playing with the sleeves on my training shirt.
"I'm not sure. I'm helping Gon find his dad and afterwards I want to try and drag big brother here to see you again; but that may take a while…" I said to her, furrowing my brows and giving her an apologetic smile. Sarah kept the kind smile on her face as she nodded her head.
"I understand; you two have something you need to do." She said to me. I was about to open my mouth until I heard shouting.
"Mishka the boats going to leave!" Gon shouted down, making me look over my shoulder to him. I nodded my head and quickly looked back at Sarah smiling widely.
"I'll come back with big brother again as soon as we can." I said to her, keeping the wide smile on my face. Sarah nodded her head and let go of her daughters' hand. She bent down to my level and dragged me into a very tight hug. I hugged her back, enjoying the feeling.
"Just stay safe." She said to me, making me nod my head against her shoulder. Once she let go I looked down at Kimmy and smiled widely.
"Sorry I didn't spend much time with you." I said to her. Kimmy stood there, just staring at me. I fidgeted slightly and turned back to Sarah, smiling widely. Opening my mouth to speak once more I heard more shouting.
"We'll leave you behind!" I heard Killua shout. I looked over my shoulder once more wide eyed and nodded my head, quickly running over to the boat. I would have to shout my goodbyes from there like Gon did with Mito.

Once safely onto the boat, the sailors took the ramps down. I had made it just in time. I waved my arm in the air as the boat began moving away from the dock, smiling widely at Sarah who waved back. I smiled widely at Kimmy but she didn't seem that interested really.
"I'll come back with big brother so we can visit!" I shouted over to her.
"Give him a hug from me! I'm sure he's working hard and could do with it!" Sarah shouted back as I nodded my head and continued waving, watching S'rin-ya dock move out of sight. This was it; our next stop was going to be Yorknew City. That was going to take a while to get there. I felt excited, I was going to meet my brother once more; I could show him how strong I had gotten and make him proud.

Song list for Custom Content: NO Thank you! (Piano) – K-On, 4-bit Bad Apple – Touhou, Omoi Daite – Higurashi OST, Kikai – Higurashi OST, Takurami – Higurashi OST, Shizuka Naru Kougi – Higurashi OST, You – Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni character song, Katayoku no Tori – Umineko no Naku Koro Ni opening, To The Same Heights – CLANNAD OST, Parting at the Foot of the Hill – CLANNAD OST, Dango Daikazoku (Non vocal) – CLANNAD OST, Lift – Poets of the Fall, Lost My Pieces – Toradora!, Remnant of a Dream – Kanon OST, Natsukage – AIR OST, Distant Years – CLANNAD OST and last but not least Beaming Sunlight – Fullmetal Alchemist OST.

Sorry the chapter isn't that great, had trouble thinking.