A x Surprising x Challenge

As me and Killua stood there, I started to get anxious and it only grew the closer we got to the end of the phase. I could tell we were getting closer when I saw Satotz looking at his watch more frequently. Finally, Killua nudged my arm and nodded in his head in a direction, silently telling me to look there. I leaned forward to look around Killua's body to see a head of dark hair and a head of blonde break through the trees before running by everyone. I smiled up at Killua and we both made our way toward them.

"Gon," Killua said as we exited the crowd of people with him in front and myself bending around him with a wide smile.

"Killua!" Gon cheered before looking at me, "Noya!" He let out a laugh as I jumped around Killua and gave him a quick hug before punching him on the arm. "Ow!"

"Talk about cutting it close, mister!" I yelled at him and raised my fist again but stopped when Killua spoke up.

"I can't believe you actually got here," his tone didn't really show any surprise rather it was kind of bland, "I thought you were done for." I gave him a look and was about to call him out on his fake cold exterior when he gave me a glare and effectively shut me up.

"I just tracked Leorio's cologne," Gon beamed at us and our brows furrowed.

"Cologne?" Killua asked.

I cut him off, "That was how?"

"You definitely are weird," we said and broke into soft laughter as Gon simply shrugged at us though before we could say anything else, Satotz spoke up.

"Excellent work, everyone," he started, "Phase Two of the exam will occur here, in the Biska Forest Park. So, I shall take my leave. Best of luck to all of you." As he spoke, I took my time in looking around, noticing that we were indeed surrounded by a forest instead of the wetlands we had been running through. When did the wetlands turn into a forest?

My wondering got cut off when the ground started to shake and the wall behind us opened up to reveal a giant area full of what looked like stoves with small, attached counters. Sitting on a tiny couch in the middle of the room was a woman with five blue top knots and blue eyes. She wore a mesh, see through shirt with a bikini top underneath and a pair of seriously short, denim shorts. Or at least that's what I hoped they were. They kind of looked like designed undies from here.

Behind the woman sat a rather large man, his yellow shirt covering about half of his large stomach. I had to bend my head back to be able to see the man's face, he had short, choppy black hair and small, beady black eyes with bushy brows shadowing over them.

"Will all applicants who passed the First Phase please enter?" the woman spoke up and pulled everyone's attention toward her instead of their surroundings and we all made our way into the building with the four boys and myself moving more towards the middle of the group as three of us were considerably shorter than the others. "Welcome, I'm Menchi, the Second Phase examiner," she greeted and introduced herself.

"Already off to a better start than Satotz," I muttered and Killua glanced at me before focusing back on the examiner with a roll of his eyes.

The man behind Menchi spoke up, "And I'm Buhara, the other examiner." Shortly after he introduced himself, a low yet loud grumbling echoed throughout the area. I assumed it was coming from the man behind the couch, Buhara, when he brought a hand to his gut and rubbed the back of his head.

"What was that sound?" a contestant yelled out from the back with a slight panic in his tone.

Menchi smirked as she looked up and over her shoulder, "You must be hungry?" The second those words left her mouth, a rock dropped into the pit of my stomach. This cannot be good. She better not say what I think she's going to say.

I listened with anticipation as he answered with a whine, "I'm starving."

"There you have it. Phase two will involve," she paused for effect and the weight in my gut intensified, "cooking!"

"No," I whined, mortified at the idea of having to cook during the exams.

"What's your problem?" Killua scoffed.

"I've never had to cook before and don't know how," I pouted and Gon looked over at me.

"Don't worry, Noya! You got this," he was so optimistic and happy that I couldn't help but smile and nod in false confidence. I didn't want to bring his mood down. Especially when I already know I have failed the exam.

"We're here to take the Hunter Exam!" I focused back on the rest of the group who had all tensed up and wanted to voice their frustrations yet only one was yelling.

"That's quite right," Menchi said, completely unbothered by the yelling, "Your challenge for the Second Phase is to produce a dish that will satisfy our palate." I am so screwed.

"Why do we have to cook?!" another contestant shouted. I didn't think everyone would be this upset about having to cook. Unless they haven't had to cook for themselves before either? I'm not alone?! I mentally started to celebrate at the fact that I wouldn't be the only one failing but then stop and pout when I notice how confident both Gon and Killua look. If they don't fail, I'm going to be so mad.

"That's because we are Gourmet Hunters," Menchi explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"So, Gourmet Hunters, what are we supposed to make?" this time I spotted the one who was speaking, it was Todo - one of the people Tonpa had pointed out in the beginning of the exam. He sounded condescending and it irked me. Whether they were Gourmet Hunters or Blacklist Hunters, it didn't matter. They were strong and good enough to pass the Exams; they deserved our respect and nothing less.

"Buhara," Menchi said after staring at Todo for a second and then turned to face the giant man behind her.

"The required ingredient is pork," Buhara stated with a smile aimed in our direction.

A few confused noises and questions rang through the air with one person being the loudest, "Pork? As in pig meat?"

"You're free to use meat from any species of Biska Forest pigs," Buhara explained and I swear he had already begun drooling at the mere thought of having pork, "You must use the cooking facilities here to prepare the pork and you only pass if we both find it delicious."

"I'm so screwed," I whined softly to myself as the realization that this is where it all ends to me fully hit. All four boys glanced at me and I shrugged which made them turn away, though that was fine. I just wanted them to be aware that I knew I wasn't passing this phase.

"And we will evaluate more than just the taste," Menchi took over the explanation, "Don't underestimate the intricacies of cooking, got it?" She paused for a moment before sighing and continuing, "When we've both eaten our fill, the exam will end."

"We get it. We get it," Todo groaned, annoyed at the idea of having to cook for the exams, "Let's just start."

"Then, the exam's Second Phase," Buhara said and with a slap to his stomach, which sounded like a bong somehow, yelled, "begins now!" We all ran out of the building in a herd that reminded me of pigs, honestly how ironic was that? I chuckled to myself as I ran slightly behind Killua with Gon in the lead, the two older boys directly behind me.

"Catch a pig and cook it. This is way easier than the First Phase," Leorio mentioned and I scoffed.

"Something tells me it won't be as easy as you think it is," I mentioned and got a look from the four boys. "Think, they're literally cooking hunters. It is their job to go hunting rare and possibly exotic things. Who knows how many of those things are dangerous or how those things actually taste. If they're as experienced as I think they are, they've probably tasted food heaven! Our cooking won't even come close and if people keep pissing Menchi off, we definitely have a challenge on our hands," I explained my thinking with a hand brought up to my chin and the boys all nodded in agreement.

"But I hope it will be as simple as Leorio said and I'm just overthinking things," I laughed and rubbed the back of my head which made them sweatdrop while Killua glared at me slightly before all of our attentions were grabbed by Gon who cheered and begin sliding down a dirt slope. We all grinned and laughed as we followed behind with Killua going first, then myself followed by Kurapika and then Leorio. Why the largest man went last, I have no clue but looking back at it now, that wasn't such a smart idea as we all came to a crashing stop. Gon had reached the end of the hill and just stopped there which caused the following train to crash into each other.

"What was that about, Gon?!" Killua and I yelled in annoyance and mild pain, our backs now hurting from the force of Kurapika and Leorio hitting us.

"Found them," Gon pointed in front of him and I looked up with a small noise of confusion only to jump at the sight of the pigs.

"Pigs!" Leorio cheered before a look of fear overcame his features and he stuttered out, "They're chewing on bones." He was correct in that statement. The boars before us were casually chewing on bones and the pigs themselves were not what I had been expecting. They were extremely large and had snouts that were about half of their body size - trust me, they were huge. I kept my focus on them in fear of being eaten if I were to look away.

"Don't tell me," Kurapika muttered in surprise, "they're carnivores?" Right after he said that, the pigs looked in our direction and my body tensed. We all stood stock still as they stared at us and about a minute later they charged which had us turn tail and run.

"I don't want to die to some pig!" I cried out as I ran ahead of everyone, fear and adrenaline helping me push along. "Move!" I yelled as we started coming towards a group of people, more contestants who were oblivious to what was coming. I whined as they didn't move and just made my way through the small group, the boys following close behind with the pigs directly behind them. As we ran past the group, the boars used their snouts and threw the random contestants into the air. "I don't wanna die like this!" I cried out again and felt something hit the back of my head, keeping my pace, I turned my head with a scowl, "Who hit me?!"

"Shut up," Killua deadpanned, "You're not going to die from pigs." He rolled his eyes at me when I gaped at him.

"Are you showing compassion?" I blinked, the fear temporarily forgotten but quickly returned when he moved to the side so I caught sight of the pigs who were starting to catch up. I screamed and picked up my pace, leaving the others behind and catching up to another group of people. I stopped to catch my breath only to jump when I noticed that I hadn't gotten as far ahead as I thought I had but now I had no energy to keep running. Todo picked up a boulder and threw it at a boar who broke the stone with its snout like it was nothing. I gulped and turned my attention to the ninja who had thrown sharp star-shaped objects at it only for his hog to hit them away with its snout. I whimpered and looked towards my group of friends to see Gon get knocked away before landing on his feet.

It charged towards him and my heart jumped in fear, "Gon!" He quickly jumped out of the way and the pig hit the tree, causing a shock through its body and it turned to Gon but the hit to the tree knocked a few apples loose and they fell down and hit the boar in the forehead, rendering it unconscious.

"Just maybe," Gon trailed off before jumping into the air and landing a hit on its forehead with his fishing pole. The pig squealed as it shot up onto its back legs before falling onto its back, finally dead. Knowing Gon was safe, my body relaxed before a snort to my side caught my attention. I tensed and looked over only to cry out at the pig coming my way. I tensed my legs as I prepared myself to jump up.

"I'm so dead," I cried out as I jumped up and came back down with my leg stretched out to kick the creature in the head, hoping the harsh kick would kill the devil-spawn. With a loud thud, the pig squealed and fell to its back and I threw my arms up. "I did it! I survived!" I cheered out as I jumped in excitement before turning to my friends with a big grin to see them all staring at me with their own dead pigs. "I knew, I'd be okay the whole time," I told them with a thumbs up and a giant grin on my face.

Killua scoffed, "Sure you did. Then what was with you saying you were going to die all about?"

"Shut up," I pouted and turned my back to them as I picked my pig up, the guys following my actions and we all began our way back to the examiners. I made a small stop and grabbed a few apples, hoping to use them in the dish. Not that I knew what I was doing but maybe it would add some flavor.

We reached the cooking station with the rest of the contestants who all began to roast their pigs but I stopped and dropped my pig at my station and scratched my head. If I were to eat this thing, I sure as hell wouldn't want the organs to still be in it. I searched my area and saw a bunch of knives there. Not knowing which one to use, I grabbed the biggest, sharpest one and began to gut the creature before me with a look of absolute disgust on my face.

"Oh, I hate this," I muttered as I threw the last of its insides on the ground and quickly turned the water on to wash my hands off, "I feel nauseous now." I sighed as I dried my hands off and then looked at the pig again, "Now what do I do?" I stood there for a second, shifting my eyes between my pig and the apples I had grabbed on the way. I decided to chop the apples up and then moved to the pig again and began to cut parts of the meat off and trying to take some off from the bones, mainly sticking towards the top and a bit towards the center where I thought that the meat was best. At least it's what the meat I ate when at home looked like, think they called it the tenderloin but I could be wrong.

Having stripped the meat I wanted from the pig I began to chop it into smaller cubes and then cut the apples to match in size before standing there with small cubes of meat and apples on my counter. Should I just grill them all and throw them on a plate? I scratched my head in thought before bending and searching through the items I had. In one of the boxes I found small metal rods and tilted my head in thought. Maybe I could just stick the meat on these? I figured it would work since everyone else essentially did the same thing just with a bigger rod and the whole pig. I grabbed them and started to stick meat on it with a soft smile, feeling somewhat confident but then paused as I realized I still didn't know what to do with the apples.

I quickly took all but one piece of meat off of the rod and began to put a slice of apple on followed by a piece of meat and repeated this process until I had about 10 rods made. I quickly went over to the grill and turned it on, the flames shooting up as I cranked it. I jumped back and the flames almost touched me and quickly lowered the heat back down to where the flames barely came out of the grates. I sighed softly as I placed the food onto the grill, letting it slowly cook. I looked up to see ninja putting his food up for the judges to try.

"Okay," he said, "dive in!" Buhara started chowing down on the pig like it was a chicken leg and held up a small sign with an 'O' on it while Menchi sat back and raised an 'X' without even trying the food. "Huh? Why?"

"Charred on the outside, uncooked inside," Menchi said, as if stating the obvious. "Your fire was too strong."

"No one's passed yet," Leorio said from a few stations away from me. A few more applicants had gone and presented but Menchi failed them all and I didn't blame her. They all had done the same thing, roasted the pig until they deemed it done.

"And Menchi hasn't even taken a bite," Kurapika trailed off as he began to think.

"Hey!" Menchi yelled, "Can't anyone out there satisfy me?"

"That's it!" Kurapika chirped and hit his fist to his palm, "This phase of the exam is a cooking test, but they're judging us on originality and powers of observation." I couldn't help but facepalm when he said this phase was a cooking test, we knew that after all but nodded in agreement at the rest of what he said. It made sense in the end, everyone did the same thing and they failed. "Unfortunately, it seems that Nishinoya was right about their tastes being exotic. We need something to really impress them."

"I see," Leorio said and brought his dish up a few moments later. "How do you like my cooking?" Leorio, in fact, did not see what Kurapika had meant as all he did to make it 'original' was put a Hunter's Association flag on the top of his roasted pig.

"Is this supposed to be a kiddy meal?!" Menchi yelled as she threw his dish behind her and Buhara quickly grabbed it before practically swallowing it whole.

"I'm next!" Gon grinned as he placed his on the table, resting his hands on his hips as he proudly puffed his chest out. I facepalmed as once again, Gon also didn't get what Kurapika had said. He had decorated his roasted pig with flowers and bows as if trying to make it pretty would suddenly make it also taste good.

"It's basically the same thing!" Menchi yelled in annoyance as she also threw his only for Buhara to grab that one as well. I sweatdropped in slight nervousness. She was getting more and more aggravated as we went on and I already knew my food wasn't going to pass with how mad she was getting. I plated my food as Kurapika made his way up and I put some raw apples on the side in the hopes that presentation would get me a few points. I stood behind Kurapika as he placed his dish down on the table. His resembled a sandwich with the pork being the bun or bread and it had lettuce, cheese (I think), and baby tomatoes in between each slab of meat and was four tiers tall.

"I am next!" Kurapika announced as he stepped forward, "Please judge my creation."

Menchi hummed as she examined his dish, "Finally, something that resembles an actual dish." She took a fork and took a bite from it, taking a moment to chew it before she threw his dish into the air. "Yuck!" Buhara again grabbed the meal from the air and ate it with no problem while Kurapika looked at Menchi in shock.

"Huh?"

"Appearance is important, but only if it also tastes good. You're no better than #403!" Menchi explained and showed him the 'X' sign causing him to leave with a dejected look.

"Too bad!" Leorio snickered.

"No better than #403," Kurapika muttered, looking absolutely devastated.

"Okay, I'm next," I said as I stepped up and placed my plate on the table, my nerves making my heart beat super fast.

Menchi hummed and grabbed one of the sticks and inspected it, "Skewers? Interesting choice." I blinked, I didn't realize that's what they were called. I was just going with what I had. She took a bite off of the rod and the time it took for her to chew it felt like forever. "This is tasteless!" She slammed the skewer back down and Buhara ate the rest of the food. I sighed and walked away, I wasn't too mad since I figured I was going to fail from the very beginning anyway. I smirked as I reached my group at the realization that we all failed.

"I guess we'll see each other next year," I softly laughed and Gon stared at the examiners who then began to speak.

"That was so much food, I'm stuffed!" Buhara said as he patted and rubbed his stomach which I felt had grown a size or two.

"Yeah, I'm stuffed, too," Menchi said and then stood up from her seat and rested her hands on her hips, "Therefore, no one passes. We're finished here." This made the crowd rowdy.

"It's over?"

"What the hell?"

"Zero people passed?"

"Are you serious?"

"Does she really mean it?"

"The exam is over?"

"This isn't funny!"

"I saw this coming," I sighed and made my way over to Gon and Killua - who hadn't even finished cooking his pig.

A loud bang caught my attention along with loud yelling to see the small kitchen setup that Todo had been next to was now broken with water spewing out of it, "I won't accept it, I absolutely refuse to accept this!"

"In the end, you've still failed," Menchi shrugged.

"Stop screwing around! You asked for pork, so we risked our lives to," Menchi cut him off.

"I said to prepare pork in a manner we both found delicious, and none of you made anything remotely delicious." Menchi was getting angrier, I could see it in her body language so I made my way behind Gon and Killua so if anything were to happen, I would be safe from any splash back. "You all did almost the same thing. There was no effort made," she turned and looked at me and Kurapika, "just when I thought someone actually tried, they only changed the appearance. No one attempted to emphasize the flavor. I'm positive that none of you took cooking seriously!"

"I mean, I tried," I called out, not liking the fact that she thought I didn't try. "I've just never had to cook before! Don't say I didn't try when I gave my all!" She glared in my direction and I knew I just irked her more. I yelped and hid behind Killua and Gon again, poking my head up between their shoulders as they stood beside each other. They both side eyed me before Gon looked away with a chuckle and Killua rolled his eyes at me - how rude.

"Pork dishes are all the same," the ninja called from the crowd, not even caring when she turned her glare in his direction.

"Just say that once more," she warned and when he gave her a look, she jumped forward and grabbed him by the neck of his shirt and began to yell in his face, "Any more crap from you, and I'll shove my arm up your ass and knock your teeth out! Don't you mess with me! I don't want any lip from a bunch of amateurs who can't even roast a pig!" The bald ninja made a noise and she shook him harder, "Hey! What did you just say? Why don't you repeat it to my face?!" She let him go and he dropped to the floor with swirls for eyes. She made him too dizzy to focus on anything other than the spinning room, did she have to go that far? I looked over at her to see she had sat back down when she began to talk again, "In other words, you people don't have the guts to try anything new."

"Shut up! I'm not trying to become a cook or gourmet, I want to be a Hunter!" Todo yelled and I rolled my eyes as I pushed through the boys, gaining me an ugly look from Killua but at that moment, I really didn't care.

"Yeah, yeah!" the rest of the contestants started to cheer and I scowled.

"Hey, moron! Use your head for a second," I yelled at Todo, catching his attention easily and the rest of the crowd quieted down as I continued, "They are Hunters. Just because their jobs have something to do with cooking, does not make their Hunter's Licence any less legit! They had to go through the exams too!"

"My goal," Todo started as he took a step toward me and from the corner of my eye I saw Killua and Gon also step closer to me but I kept my attention focused on the wrestler in front of me, "is to become a Black List Hunter. I refuse to let a mere Gourmet Hunter decide my fate!"

I began shaking in anger but Menchi spoke up before I could say anything, "Too bad you got stuck with a mere Gourmet Hunter as an examiner, better luck next year?"

"Why, you," Todo growled out as he turned his attention to Menchi who was sitting nonchalantly on the couch. "Don't mock me!" he yelled as he charged toward her with his fist raised and I took this time to move back towards the boys. As he reached near her, Buhara moved quickly and swatted the man away from them and sent him flying into the pillar near where we had entered.

"Buhara, don't interfere," Menchi said.

"Well," Buhara started as he looked over to where she sat, her hands now holding a set of sharp knives as she glared ahead of her, "If I hadn't intervened, you'd have killed him, right?"

"Probably," she said as she stood up and began to walk down the stairs with the knives still in her hands, making me hide back behind the two boys again who just sighed at me - probably getting tired of my antics but she genuinely scared me. "Let me clarify this, we frequently venture into the dens of ferocious beasts, searching for ingredients," at this point in her speech, she shows that there were actually a total of four knives in her hands and begins to juggle them, "Every Hunter knows some form of martial art. You lack focus and the willingness to experiment." Menchi paused for a moment to catch all of the knives by the handles in one hand to which I felt my mouth drop open, and then she pointed them at us as she yelled, "That alone disqualifies you from becoming Hunters!"

"She's so cool, but scary too," I muttered in awe of the show she just pulled in front of us.

"That said," a voice echoed around us and soon the sound of an airship entered my ears and we all looked up to see it coming to hover over us, "it would be excessive to fail every single applicant."

"That's the symbol of the Hunters Association!" a contestant yelled out from the crowd in shock.

"Is it someone from the Selection Committee?" another questioned and shortly after I could see someone had jumped out of the ship and was headed straight for the empty spot between Menchi and the rest of the contestants. The person landed with a loud thud and dust billowed out with the rush of air that followed his landing. The man before us had white hair that he had pulled into a high ponytail and a long, white beard that appeared to be gelled to a weird, gray upward point .

"Who's that geezer?" one of the contestants stuttered out.

Menchi walked forward and stopped a few steps away from the man as she spoke, "The Chairman of the Selection Committee. He's in charge of the Hunter Exam, Chairman Netero."

"Well, I work behind the scenes. I only take action when there's an issue, like now. So, Menchi," Netero said and Menchi straightened her form.

"Yes, sir."

"You failed all of the applicants because you disapproved of their reluctance to try new things?" he asked and I cringed when I noticed that about halfway through his sentence, his eyes had moved down to Menchi's chest.

"Pervert," I mumbled and glared at him slightly.

"No, sir. I lost my cool when one of the candidates insulted Gourmet Hunters," she paused and closed her eyes, "And I made the exam harder than necessary."

"I said she would when she got mad," I shrugged when the boys looked at me but then paused, "Wait, does that mean I could have passed if she hadn't been mad?" I was stumped. If Todo had kept his stupid mouth shut, would I have possibly passed? I mean, she didn't give me as bad of an insult as Kurapika and Gon so maybe I could have.

"In other words, you're aware that this exam was unacceptable."

"Yes, sir. When cooking is involved, I lose control. I'm unqualified to be an examiner. I will resign as examiner, so please redo the Second Phase!"

"But it would be difficult to find another examiner on such short notice," Netero said though he didn't actually seem that worried about it - almost like he already planned for this.

Menchi bowed, "I apologize."

"Very well. How about this?" he said with a raise of his finger, "I'd like you to continue serving as an examiner. But you must also participate in the new test you propose." Menchi let out a soft gasp of surprise as I blinked, I thought we were for sure done for. But a second chance has been given? How interesting. "Is that acceptable? I'm certain that will help the applicants to accept the results."

"He has a point," I thought aloud as I brought a hand to my chin, catching the others' attention as well as the Chairman and Menchi, though I really hadn't meant to. "If some of the contestants were just told to do something without seeing you do it, they would think you're just a coward and that Gourmet Hunters aren't actually anything to be proud of but if you were to do it they may have more respect for what they do and won't cause any more trouble," I said while rubbing the back of my head, my face growing increasingly more red the longer I talked and the longer they looked at me. As soon as I finished speaking, I jumped behind Killua and hid, my fists bunching his shirt within them as I shook slightly.

I seriously hate attention on me and I really didn't mean to grab their attention. I didn't even mean to say it aloud. Why did I do that? Maybe because I wanted to share my thoughts with Gon and Killua like I had been since the beginning? Or maybe I just don't know when to stop talking. Either way, my nerves were all over the place and my shaking wouldn't stop. My ears felt hypersensitive as I began to hear the shifting of peoples clothes as they shuffled their feet or shifted their weight and I could even hear Hisoka playing with his cards though he was on the other side of the group and nowhere near me. I jumped when a hand touched my arm and snapped my head to the appendage and traced it up to the person it belonged too only to see Gon staring at me as he held my shaking arm with Killua looking at me over his shoulder.

"Nishinoya, are you okay?" Gon asked, his voice both serious and concerned. I took a moment as I stared at them, my eyes flickering between the two as I sighed and slowly nodded.

"Yeah," I stuttered out, my voice barely above a whisper, "I'm okay." I took another second as I looked around to see everyone had started to make their way towards the now landed blimp, Leorio and Kurapika were a few feet away but had stopped and turned to look at us. I looked back at the two boys in front of me and quickly let go of Killua as I averted my gaze from him and muttered, "Sorry."

"It's fine. Let's just go," he said and turned and walked away with Gon and I following behind him.

After a bit of a ride, the blimp finally landed on Mt. Split-in-Half as I found out that's where we were going from Kurapika and the others when they explained what had happened during my little episode. We all exited the airship and crowded around Menchi who stood near a crevice in the mountain. True to its name, the mountain had a split straight down the middle of it with an unseen bottom due to the large amount of fog and spider webs within it.

"Now, everyone, look down there," Menchi said as the contestants near the front all leaned over to peer down.

"What is that?"

"A Spider Eagle's Web," Menchi said with a smile.

"They build webs down there?" Gon asked with a grin of excitement on his face and soon after a strong wind blew at us from the bottom of the crevice, it even knocked Todo over.

"Look below the web."

"Those are," Killua muttered.

"Those are Spider Eagle eggs," Menchi explained.

"Spider Eagles build their webs in deep ravines, to protect their eggs from predators. This makes their eggs one of the most difficult ingredients to obtain. The eggs are also known as dream eggs," Netero explained as he stepped forward, passing Todo who gasped and looked at the old man.

"Wait a minute, you don't mean we," Todo stuttered out, fear oozing from every word.

"I sure do," Menchi said casually as she took a step forward.

"Huh?" Todo said and we all watched as Menchi dived into the ravine, easily catching one of the strings and just hung there with her eyes focused on the eggs.

"Even if she can grab some eggs, how will she climb back up?" Leorio questioned and a few seconds later, she jumped down off of the web making us all gasp in shock. We watched as she fell down the crevice and grabbed an egg along the way and Leorio yelled out, "Hey! She jumped down! Is she trying to kill herself?" Menchi disappeared in the fog below.

"No, she's not," Kurapika said and Leorio gave a small 'huh?' as the strong wind came back with Menchi coming up with it.

Gon, Killua, and I all gasped and Killua grinned, "That looks fun."

"This ravine has updrafts that help the hatched chicks fly up to the web," Netero explained.

Menchi used the updraft to move above the mountain before landing next to Todo with a grin and showed us the egg as she spoke, "There. Now I just need to boil the egg."

Todo flinched away, "You must be joking. No reasonable person would jump down there."

"I've been waiting for this!" Gon yelled out and I joined him in laughing as we all jumped down the crevice, joined shortly after by the bald ninja then a few others who gained the confidence after seeing him also jump in. Everyone hanging on the same web section made my nerves a little flighty but I stayed put as the idea of letting go too soon scared me more. After a few seconds of waiting, a contestant jumped off the web with a yell which made Leorio antsy.

"Let's go!" he yelled, ready to drop from the web but Gon shook his head and stopped him.

"Not yet."

"Why not?" Leorio practically whined.

"There's no wind," Killua and I said at the same time with him still looking down at the eggs while I stared at Leorio like he was the dumbest person I'd ever met. Which honestly, he probably was.

"There isn't always an updraft," Kurapika explained and I moved my attention down to the eggs as I tried to focus on feeling any wind, ready to get this over with now.

"When's the next one?" Leorio asked impatiently and I wondered if his arms were ready to give out.

"Wait," Gon said and everyone turned their attention to him as we waited for his go ahead.

"What?" Leorio yelped when the web suddenly dropped down slightly, part of its structure coming loose and my heart dropped as my nerves kicked into full gear, my hands gripping the web like it was a life line.

"The web won't hold us all!" Kurapika yelled out,

"Gon," I whimpered as my breathing became more labored as the realization that I can and will die if this web drops fully registered in my head.

"Gon, not yet?" Killua asked and stared at Gon who had his eyes shut and didn't even acknowledge our panic.

"Damn, I can't wait for an updraft!" a contestant yelled and let go along with a few others as I closed my eyes, my heart beating so loud that I could hear it echoing in my ears and it felt like it was about to jump out of my chest.

"Oh god," I yelped when the web slacked again, "I don't wanna die."

"It's gonna snap!" Leorio yelled and I let out a cry.

"Shut up, Leorio!" I yelled with my voice shaking, tears gathering in my eyes.

"Now!" Gon yelled and I snapped my eyes open, letting go of the web and held my breath as I dropped through the air and grabbed an egg on the way down. The further we dropped, the more I felt panicked and tears began to roll up the side of my face and into my hairline. I kept my body stretched out and closed my eyes as the panic continued to grow when suddenly a blast of air knocked me back up towards the top of the crevice once again, forcing me to let out a gasp and to open my eyes. Once we reached the top of the updraft, I followed Gon and Killua's lead on getting back onto land and ran behind them to place my egg into the giant pot along with them.

Once the eggs were done, we pulled them out and peeled them - to be fair, I only knew they were done thanks to Buhara making a worrying noise and how he began to chew on his nails.

"This is so good!" I cheered out as I took another bite, closing my eyes in bliss.

"I can see why they're called dream eggs," Kurapika said in amazement and I finished my egg in a matter of seconds. I must have been hungrier than I thought and I looked at my friends to see they all were still eating theirs. I grinned and jumped on Killua's back, reaching my hand toward his egg.

"Give me the rest!" I yelled out and he stretched his arm away from me.

"No way! You had your own!" he shouted out and pushed me off of him before jumping up.

"Give!" I yelled and jumped towards him only for him to run away with the egg.

"No!"

"Hey! Get back here!" I yelled and chased after him with a grin on my face, a small smile on his own as he began to devour it while he ran away from me.

Sure the exams had moments where I thought I would actually die but these moments make it all worth it.

6804 words