The greater portion of an afternoon had lagged wearily past before the boys finally motioned to leave the hustle and bustle of the city. Unbeknownst to them of course, a patient yet anxious Misaki was in tow, her amber eyes fixated pointedly on her young target whilst he and his companion performed routinely mundane acts of man in the form of window shopping and eating.
By the time the sun had entered in to its permanent evening custom, initiating its cycle of setting behind the trees in the far west, she was both concerned and relieved that the two were heading out in to the long stretch of forest.
'Are they truly leaving the city so close to nightfall?' she wondered in disbelief.
She studied the pair as they persisted to chat casually on and off while simultaneously following the reddened, dirt path through the mass of trees and fauna. Misaki was aware that they were too relaxed, especially considering the infamous pack of bandits that resided there. Any of the townspeople could have relayed this information, and this immediately revealed to her that clearly the two had not actually worked to gauge the potential threats in unfamiliar territory.
'Perhaps I dismissed Illumi's concerns too quickly,' she realized as she resumed following the boys in stealth.
Gon and Killua had been stalking along the path for a decent lapse of time before either of them spoke again. Each minute past claimed more and more of the faint light guiding them, replacing it with ominous shadows. Among the shadows an occasional rustling could be heard, seemingly echoing from every direction.
"Killua, did you hear that?" Gon finally asked, glancing around in an attempt to locate the source of the sound.
"Yeah, we're being followed," Killua answered calmly.
"Oh, really?"
"They've been tracking us for probably about twenty minutes," he concurred. "Their movements are pretty predictable, though, so I've just been paying attention to where they are in case they actually try something. There's only about four, anyway."
Gon's muscles eased ever so slightly and he smiled. His friend could always be counted on in situations like these, and he was both pleased and grateful to be journeying at his side.
"How long until we reach the next city?" the tanned boy questioned in a faraway tone.
Killua scratched the back of his neck thoughtfully.
"About… another hour or two maybe. Three, tops."
In an instant, a small projectile hurled its way directly toward the silver haired boy. Fortunately, he was prepared for the onslaught, and dodged it quickly, even managing to seize the object, a blow dart, between his thumb and index finger.
'Idiots…' the boy mused to himself at the sight of the poison which coated the sharpened tip.
"Which one of you threw that?" Killua asked in a fairly unmoved voice. As he spoke next, he pointed toward the directions in which he had detected the assailants from earlier. "Was it you, in that tree…you, behind that bush…you, under that fallen log … or maybe you, inside that opening in the rock?"
The response was utter silence (beyond the natural murmurs of nocturnal life).
Gon had meanwhile assumed a defensive position, his eyes cautiously circling the areas Killua had pointed out.
"Come on, I just want to know who I should give this back to," the blue eyed boy teased with a wicked grin on his face. When there was once more no reply of any sort, he added, "If no one will own up, I'll have to guess."
Without further warning, Killua lunged with enhanced speed toward the aforementioned split rock, launching the dart between the separated layers with a lightning quick hand. The former assassin, despite his comments, of course knew that the only logical source of the previous attack- taking in to account the angle at which the weapon had been propelled- was indeed from this particular hiding place. A cry of agony enveloped the night and then lessened and paralyzed, presumably as the poison took effect on its new victim.
During Killua's retaliation, Gon had also acted. The moment his friend had planted his initial step toward the boulder, the tanned boy selected the tree opposite and effortlessly relied on his acceleration to aid him in climbing it with a single leap. The man, dressed all in black with a bandana concealing his mouth, was ill prepared for such a feat and thus a single, well-placed blow from Gon's strong fist fired him helplessly from the branch. He was rendered unconscious before even touching the ground below, and Gon eagerly returned to the path to cover any possible offensive toward Killua's back.
Unfortunately this marked the end of the chain of personal triumphs for the boys, and in an unanticipated instant, a generous collection of perhaps five more similarly adorned men surrounded them, aura's flowing in a controlled rage. The only one with a band of red cloth encircling his left arm, presumably the leader, attempted the first advance alone. He emitted a fairly thick string of crescent-shaped beams, which cluttered the tight space that Killua and Gon were presently sealed at.
'Damn,' Killua cursed himself mentally, unable to locate an opening to escape the assault through.
Just as the boys hastily attempted to activate a defensive aura, still anticipating painful contact in a multitude of areas on the body, a new aura emerged from the flora around them. The sight of a horizontally angled, open black and grey parasol caught their eye, expanded many times larger than even those created to shade multiple individuals at once, and shielded them from the attack. Following this defensive maneuver, Killua and Gon then realized that its owner, standing erect and facing away from them, was the purple haired girl they had encountered in the city during the late morning.
She firmly grasped the hooked, black handle and took advantage of her grip to lift the engorged frame of the umbrella above her head with a confident arm. Immediately, the size returned to normal and the metal veins collapsed and closed easily. Without a word spoken, she heaved the unusual weapon at the still stupefied "leader", impaling through his abdomen with the protruding tip.
Fragmented organs and blood showered the greenery as the parasol proceeded to open itself once inserted, and an earth-shattering crack indicated the fatal buckling of his spine. The shell of his body caved helplessly, folding lazily on the crimson drenched ground.
"It's the 'Bandit Basher'!" one of the remaining men cried in horror, and not a single assailant wasted even a moment's time before retreating promptly in to the night.
Misaki extended her right hand gracefully, and the parasol closed and returned to her hand as if magnetized. She casually shook the bulk of blood from the material before sheathing it in the sling upon her back.
Gon rushed to her, and in an excited voice he exclaimed, "Wow, that was- "
"…Incredibly stupid," she interrupted, rotating to face Killua with her amber eyes seemingly drilling in to his depths.
Killua's eyes narrowed at her, hardly receptive to her obvious criticism.
"Do you at least see your mistake?" she asked seriously. When he did not respond, she added, "If you had asked even one of the people in that city about this forest, they would have told you that it is swarming with bandits. Some aren't experienced, like the ones you noticed right away, but others have been living this lifestyle for years and do know nen. You assumed that simply because the enemies you detected were not nen users that you were safe, and so you let your guard down."
The silver haired boy's muscles clenched and his face lowered despite his eyes remaining fixated on the girl. While he despised being lectured, especially by virtually a complete stranger, the real cause of his irritation was the truth in her words.
"Furthermore," she continued firmly, "behaving pompously in no way guarantees a win. In fact, you actually gave your opponents more time to plan their attack, in this case."
Killua clenched his fists with enough force to cause them to shake vigorously, but he still said nothing in return. Misaki nodded dutifully to herself.
"Well that settles it. I'm coming with you," she announced in a manner that indicated there was to be no questioning the matter.
"Wait a minute," Killua interjected, finally finding his voice lingering below his damaged pride. "Who says we want you to come with us? Thanks, but we don't need your help."
As though she were entirely unfazed by the malice in his tone, she replied, "Your actions say otherwise. Besides, Satotz would be disappointed to hear that you turned me away."
With a beaming grin, Gon suddenly gasped out enthusiastically, "You mean you're…?"
Misaki winked and agreed, "Yes, I am the Hunter that will take you to the Volcanic Islands."