Hunter Village/ Town/ Emerald, Nocturn
Emerald and Nocturn at this time were walking back home after they ate their fill while Nocturn ordered a bit more to go and Emerald had some put in his backpack for later consumption.
"So think we got enough dad?" Emerald asked while he helped carry some extra food fr Pitou while Nocturn carried stuff for Helios.
"Of course, we were there for 30 minutes and if I'm remembering right, we have about 2 hours or so to kill time since we did go around to get you some things to help with your Hunter exam so why not give your mother some comfort food while your gone?" Nocturn said which caused Emerald to nod his head in agreement.
"Yeah, wonder what Mom and Pitou will like with stuff like this." Emerald said before he looked a bit worried which confused Nocturn.
"Something wrong son?" Nocturn asked before Emerald rubbed the back of his head.
"Umm… think it would be racist that I got Pitou plenty of fish?" Emerald said with a concerned tone.
Nocturn laughed a bit at that before he used his free hand to wave Emerald off.
"I doubt she would have issues with that, and if she does we can always get her something else or give her Helios's meal." Nocturn said while he grins at Emerald to cheer Emerald up.
"Yeah, just trying to make a good first impression so I can be friends with her." Emerald said with a grin on his face which caused Nocturn to chuck.
"Oh really?, Just friends?" Nocturn teased which made Emerald blush brightly before he looks at his dad.
"D-Dad!?, It's not like that!" Emerald denies which made Nocturn laugh a few times much to Emerald's chagrin.
"Sure whatever you say." Nocturn said with an amused tone which made Emerald grumble more he walked ahead of Nocturn who chuckles at Emerald's reaction before he followed a blushing Emerald back home.
Though when they got home and after some searching for Helios and Pitou, they were surprised to see Pitou and Helios sleeping in the same bed and cuddling with one another while Emerald and Nocturn were further surprised when they saw Pitou's legs and the shell like parts around her joints.
"I don't believe it… she's a Chimera ant." Nocturn said while he pinched his nose a bit.
"Err… Chimera ant?" Emerald asked with a confused tone to his voice since this was the first he heard of that.
Nocturn sighs since this would be a bit to explain before he looks at Emerald.
"Let's talk outside of the room so they can rest, I'll explain what a Chimera ant is." Nocturn said before he led his son out of the room but not before taking a picture of Pitou with his cell phone and followed Emerald out who was confused on why his father did that.
After they left, Pitou opened one eye and had a cat like smirk on her face before she snuggled up to Helios more since the timer hasn't gone off for either her or Helios.
She didn't even mind if Emerald was filled in on some things about Chimera Ants, it's not like it would backfire and it would help fill Emerald in on some things.
Emerald was then led from the room and into the dining room before he and Nocturn sat at the table near the chairs where Pitou and Helios sat earlier and set their food down.
Once they were seated, Emerald looks to his dad and asked this.
"So… what's a Chimera ant again?" Emerald asked with a curious tone before his Father took a moment to think.
"Well normally they are extremely dangerous insects that are Quarantine level one because once a Queen finds a source of food she likes she eats it, but she makes sure to eat enmasse to many times her body weight and in some cases can eat a species to extinction, Chimera ant offspring is normally made by Phagogenesis, a term meaning reproduction though devouring and the Queen can use the key traits of various animals or other insects to mix into a new offspring, hence the name Chimera Ant, and a Queen can produce 5 grunts with one meal, but normally they are a little bigger than regular ants and Humans can defend themselves from normal ones, mainly Hunters who know Nen can destroy them easily but normal ones can't, and even then a single coloney can devour a human if they all band together... but from the look of Pitou, she seems to have come from a Human sized Chimera Ant… which is worrying on many levels…. Your mother and I normally fought a few in the NGL years ago, but because of various rules of that land we can't do much because the people there forbid any kind of tech except for some kind of lobby area and normally let nature take its course so to speak so letting Hunters do their own thing is hard enough with the people in the NGL watching over your shoulder, thankfully they haven't tried to leave the NGL because the victims are normally Hunters who do stupid stunts and get themselves killed." Nocturn said which caused Emerald to get a thoughtful look on his face.
"Maybe, but if the traits of others are used to make Chimera Ants, wouldn't that mean that Pitou is a mix of Human, Insect, and cat?, and what about that devouring thing?, She doesn't seem to want to eat humans since Mom is alright." Emerald said which made Nocturn seem thoughtful from that.
"Either that or she has no need too... I can tell from a person's Aura how malicious a person is from carefully looking at their aura and though she tried to hide it, she had some moments where it slipped a tiny bit, and while Pitou's aura does have a hidden edge to it, I doubt she would cause trouble unless provoked, for now we will let her do what she wants but since she is going to be traveling with you, then you may want to keep an eye on her closely… I have a feeling she could be an enemy or ally depending on how things go from here." Nocturn said when he remembered how Pitou acted with a curious looks every now and then and felt her Aura slip a tiny bit and could get quite a bit from the bit of Aura alone.
"Well… mind explaining the part on she may not be an issue?, you said Chimera ants eat their targets to reproduce so what's so different about Pitou?" Emerald asked which made Nocturn think for a moment.
"Maybe… she's been born differently… maybe instead of being able to use Phagogenesis like most Chimera Ants, she has to use the Human method of reproduction in order to bare young... Chimera Ants normally try and produce offspring by eating their prey but it seems that from the lack of hostility, she may really be interested in you… to bare your young for a stronger Chimera Ant offspring." Nocturn said which caused Emerald's eyes to widen in shock before he points at himself.
"S-Seriously?" Emerald asked while Nocturn nods at Emerald.
"Most likely, your body's unique state does have the eye of plenty of people for your constant Ren like state, remember Ren is a power enhancing part of Nen, and its normally risky to use it for prolonged lengths of time, but you were able to hold it since you were a baby which would be impossible since A, you were a baby who shouldn't have unlocked nodes and B, until you were trained you had no need to learn how to control it, so if you and Pitou have a child, there is a good chance that the child could get your trait, unlike Hatsu or Nen in general which is a unique trait that is unique to an individual, your Aura nodes are a different matter since they are physical parts of your body that need to be opened either through meditation or by force." Nocturn said while Emerald got wide eyes from that when he never considered that.
"Uhh… I'm having trouble keeping up but are you sure Pitou is after me?, I mean there are stronger people here after all." Emerald said which made Nocturn chuckle before he gave his son a teasing look.
"What?, nervous from this possibility?, it's not an absolute and if your mom is fine enough to rest with her in bed then I don't see why not, besides it would be interesting to have her as a daughter in law… or laws if you find other ladies on your travels." Nocturn teasingly said which made Emerald blush and he gave this reaction.
"D-DAD!" Emerald yelled which made Nocturn laugh before time passed to much later with Helios waking when her alarm went off and she sat up on the bed and stretched after she moved a bit from Pitou's grip which made her wake as well and rub her eyes.
"Nya… time to get up already?" Pitou said which made Helios chuckle before she looks back at Pitou.
"Fraid so Pitou, I got to check on our clothing, mainly yours to make sure it's clean so I can get it dry before the boat leaves." Helios said before Pitou just shrugged her shoulders.
"Well I could always get some clothing from a nearby clothing store so I have no issues with letting them stay here and be back up clothing for me if I'm in the neighbourhood." Pitou said with a nonchalant tone which made Helios sweatdrop.
"I-I see… well want to go cloth shopping after I get dressed?" Helios said which made Pitou smile.
"Sure, just let me go get my sandals." Pitou said before she went to get her and and left the room for her sandals and got her phone from the nightstand while Helios watched Pitou walk out of the room and saw that Pitou had no issues with people seeing her legs and what not right now.
"Though I had fun with her… something does worry me… I've heard rumors of a Queen having Royal Guards before a King is born… so if Pitou is who I think she is if she's not a Queen in the normal sense… then why hasn't the king been born yet?... normally the Queen would eat enmasse to make Chimera Ants and if Pitou is one of many Royal Guards or just one of a few… then why haven't we heard anything about a King from the NGL yet?" Helios thought when she had a moment alone with her thoughts but at the moment… she had no real grasp on what Pitou was and while she could admit Pitou was fun, she was no fool… she knew everything about Chimera Ants thanks to her studies and knew how they normally had offspring… but Pitou had a more… Human like version… was this a mutation among a mutation or was this some kind of evolution?
"Then again I'm not against Pitou getting with Emerald oddly enough so I wonder if I'm not right in the head or am I just so worried about Emerald not getting a normal wife or wives that I'm grasping at straws with her?" Helios thought while she scratched her head a few times before the scene shifts to Pitou walked through the house and her ears perked a few times when she heard some kind of scuffle going on and traced the source to some kind of dojo and after entering it, she saw to some surprise Nocturn and Emerald sparring intensely which caused her to get a cat like grin on her face.
"Ohhh, this is interesting." Pitou thought while she watched Emerald and Nocturn spar for a bit and examined their fighting styles.
Nocturns was more controlled and he was more calculating of the duo and mainly used a Karate style of fighting mixed with some Tai chi based moves.
Emerald was more of a wildcard who seemed to fight with a mix of styles to try and throw off his opponent, he seemed to use a mix of Kung fu, Karate, Tai chi, Judo, ETC.
All in all Pitou had to lick her lips when she saw how intense the training was and could feel the Aura emitting from the duo when they mixed them into their attacks, mainly Nocturn so he could defend himself from Emerald's Aura which was never ending in its intense flow.
Pitou in turn grins more before she lets her Aura leak a little which caused Emerald and Nocturn to jolt and stop their actions before they look to Pitou who smiles at the duo.
"Hello again, nice to see you two again." Pitou said with a grin on her face which made Emerald blush again while Nocturn blinked a few times before he chuckles.
"Well I'm sure Emerald is pretty pleased to see you if the look on his face is any indication." Nocturn said which made Pitou blink a few times while Emerald blushed more before he looks to his dad and tried to throw another punch.
"DAD!" Emerald yelled while Nocturn's eyes gleam while he stepped by the punch and a moment later, Emerald was tossed over his shoulder and thrown to his back on the ground which made Emerald groan but before he could get up, Nocturn had a foot on his chest which caused Emerald to glare at his grinning dad.
"Hehe… to easy." Nocturn said while Emerald growled and turned his head away with a blush on his face.
"Not fair…" Emerald said which made Nocturn chuckle.
"True but not everything in life is fair, sometimes you need to think outside the box and if you have to do a dirty deed or two to survive, then no one would blame you." Nocturn said while he got his foot off of Emerald's chest and held a hand out for Emerald to take.
Emerald after grumbling for a moment takes his dad's hand and Nocturn helped Emerald up while Pitou smiles at the sight since she gained some respect for parent child relationships somewhat.
When Emerald was on his feet and he steadies himself, Nocturn looks to Pitou.
"Sorry for the wait, need something Pitou?" Nocturn said before Pitou shakes her head a bit.
"Nyaoo I don't, I was about to head into town to shop for clothing and heard things going on here and came to investigate." Pitou said which made Nocturn hum.
"I see. Well why not let Emerald help with carrying the clothing while you are shopping, you got some time right so why not take the time to get to know Emerald since you two will be traveling together." Nocturn said which made Pitou's ears twitch a few times while she smirked a bit and Emerald got bug eyed when he heard that.
"D-Dad!" Emerald said which made Nocturn chuckle before he starts walking away but not before saying this to Pitou.
"Oh and we have food in the kitchen if your hungry if you and my wife worked up an appetite so help yourself… Emerald got you mainly a fish based dish just FYI." Nocturn said while he left the room while Pitou smiles a bit before she looks at Emerald.
"Nya see… so you got me some tasty snacks huh?, well mind leading me to the kitchen?" Pitou said with a smile on her face which made Emerald blush more before he walked by her to lead a smiling Pitou to the kitchen.
When Emerald and Pitou got to the kitchen, Emerald entered the kitchen and when Pitou followed him inside, she was impressed with what she saw.
She saw that the kitchen was large and stocked with the latest appliances and there was even a massive refrigerator near one wall which Emerald walked towards and he opened it to show it was packed with food which made Pitou's eyes widen, more so when Emerald brought out the food that he got for Pitou and sets it on a large table, Pitou's mouth watered when she saw plenty of fish based dishes, and there was even a few full sized fishes that she could eat while Emerald rubbed the back of his head.
"Hehe, sorry if I didn't get a lack of variety Pitou, wasn't sure what you liked so I got plenty of fish… hope I'm not a racist for thinking that." Emerald said while Pitou giggles at that much to Emerald's confusion.
"Err… did I say something funny?" Emerald asked while Pitou shook her head.
"Nope, I love fish, thanks." Pitou said while she smiles at Emerald which made him blush more before he rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"S-So… want me to heat this stuff up?, it shouldn't take too long." Emerald asked which made Pitou think on that for a second before she gave her answer.
"Alright, I'll just take a seat and let the cook get my food ready." Pitou said with a grin on her face while Emerald chuckles at that before he went to heat up Pitou's meal for her in a large microwave.
A couple minutes later and Pitou happily ate her meal while Emerald watched, from what he heard Chimera Ant's normally reproduce after eating a meal or something, purely animal based meats for it so maybe he could ask questions when he sat on near Pitou.
"Hey Uh… can I ask some questions Pitou?" Emerald asked which made Pitou blink a few times before she looks at Emerald after licking her lips.
"Yes?" Pitou asked which caused Emerald to clear his throat.
"W-Well… first off I heard from my dad your a Chimera Ant… and that you… eat things to reproduce… do you do the same thing?" Emerald asked while Pitou blinks at that, she did leave her legs pretty much unclothed so a question like that would be obvious if Nocturn knew a bit about Chimera Ants before she gave Emerald an answer.
"Well you are right if you were told that, Chimera Ants for the most part reproduce by eating others, but because of my unique mixture, I have a working womb so if I wanted to, I can get knocked up like you Human's do, however thanks to one of my abilities, I can manipulate my body and others to make them and I infertile for a short time before I restore them to normal, it helps with… testing out prime mate material." Pitou said with a cat grin on her face which made Emerald blush a bit from that.
"I see…. Well… how strong are Chimera Ants exactly?" Emerald asked which made Pitou hum for a moment before she grabbed some fish bones and ordered them from smallest to tallest.
"Well it depends on the material used to make up the Chimera Ant, but most of the time it's like this…" Pitou said before she points to the smallest bone.
"First are the grunts and the first generation are normally the weakest, mainly they are used as gatherers or hunters for the Queen's prefered prey, they are unable to use Nen normally but some can be unique but it won't have the same level of strength as the more human like and stronger second generation or the commanders." Pitou said before she points to the slightly longer fish bone.
"The Second generations are able to have Human traits and can speak fluently, and all of them can use Nen in various ways and can be a real threat to regular humans…" Pitou said before she points to the longer bone next to the second smallest.
"Then there is the Royal guard, a select few of Chimera Ants who can be counted by 3 to 5 fingers alone who are the third generation who have a power that can practically dominante the lower ranks easily." Pitou said before she points to the fourth longest bone.
"Then there is the Queen who births them all, she mainly focuses on eating and birthing new Chimera Ants and when the hive is big enough, she focuses on birthing the strongest and single most powerful Ant of the hive… the Chimera Ant King…" Pitou said before she points to the fifth, final, and longest bone before she fell silent while Emerald gulped a bit before he looks at Pitou.
"W-Wow… seems like a big family." Emerald said which made Pitou giggle before she leaned back in her seat.
"Thanks, but it can be a bit dysfunctional…" Pitou said before she gave Emerald a mischievous grin.
"I will say this though, if you put two and two together with what I did with your mother but you still don't believe I have working woman parts… I wouldn't mind letting you get a good look and test them yourself later when we are on the boat." Pitou said while she felt amused with Emerald's eyes getting so wide she actually wondered if they would pop out of his skull while his face made a good impression of a tomato right now.
"W-W-WHAT!?" Emerald shouts while he tried to calm himself and failed greatly when he looked everywhere but Pitou which made her giggle before she got to her feet and while Emerald was distracted, she whispered in Emerald's ear.
"I'm saying I'll turn you into a man if your interested." Pitou whispered before lightly licking Emerald's ear which made him jolt before he leaned away from a smiling Pitou while he covered his ear while he amused Pitou when he looked like his head would explode with how red his face was before she gave him some mercy by going back to eat her food while Emerald just sat there silent while he watched Pitou with a wide eyed blushing look on his face.
Meanwhile with Nocturn…
He went to his office to make a call after he left Dojo and with Pitou busy, and with a quick lock of the door, he walked to his desk and grabbed a special phone and hit the first number on it before it starts to ring.
Nocturn placed it against his ear and waits for the person on the other end to pick up before he heard the sound of a voice on the other end.
"Hello?" A man's voice said before Nocturn spoke up.
"Hey Beans, it's been awhile, It's me Nocturn." Nocturn said which made the Secretary with the bean shaped head blink a few times on his end, he was normally the one to call for serious Hunter based matters.
"Nocturn?, wow is has been awhile, The Chairman and I haven't heard from you in years?, How is Helios and Emerald?" Beans said which made Nocturn chuckle.
"Oh they are doing good, but I need to speak with the Chairman… it involves a Chimera Ant…." Nocturn said while getting a serious look on his face while Bean's blinked a few times in shock at what he heard… The Chairman was the head of the Hunter association and this Chairman was Issac Netero, his teacher years ago and Nocturn considers him like a father figure of sorts.
"A Chimera Ant?, oh lord did one get to your island or something?" Beans said which made Nocturn chuckle again.
"Sort of… she's in my house right now eating some fish that Emerald got for her, Mind getting the Chairman please?, I'll send a Photo to him by cell phone if his old number still works." Nocturn said which caused Beans eyes to widen before he quickly said this after he fumbles with the phone for a moment.
"O-Of course one moment please." Beans said before Nocturn was put on hold for a few minutes, about 5 or so, before he heard a different man's voice on the line.
"Hello?, Nocturn is that you?, my my it's been what… 5 years since you last called, how is your family doing?"
"Well like I told Beans, they are good, but I doubt that's why you picked up for your old Student just for a chat for old times sake." Nocturn said which made Netero chuckle before he took a moment to reminisce about old times before he was jolt out of his thoughts by Nocturn when he cleared his throat.
"O-Oh hehe, sorry Nocturn, guess I was just lost in thought, anyway Beans said something about a Chimera Ant?" Netero said with a serious tone to his voice a moment later.
"Yeah, before I explain here is a picture of her." Nocturn said before he quickly used his phone to send the picture of Pitou on her phone to Netero who got in and while Netero did blush when he saw Helios and Pitou cuddling on the picture, he saw Pitou's legs and got a serious look on his face when he brought the phone up to his ear again.
"So… in your personal opinion, do you think she is dangerous?" Netero said which made Nocturn hum.
"Hard to say, but mind doing me a favor if your going to be working with this years exam to keep an eye on her?, she doesn't seem dangerous but I get a feeling she is holding back a lot… from what I can tell she has a dangerous Aura but as long as she is amused and what not I doubt she will attack unless provoked." Nocturn said while Netero rubbed his beard.
"I see… well I'll do what I can, but I do have to ask…" Netero said which made Nocturn raise an eyebrow before he asked this.
"Yes?" Nocturn said while Netero got a mischievous look in his eyes when he grins.
"Considering the picture… you have fun with her like your wife did?" Netero said which made Nocturn facefault onto the ground which made Netero laugh a for a few seconds while Nocturn picked himself up from the floor.
"Y-You… never change with messing with people do you?" Nocturn said which made Netero chuckle more from that.
"Well what can I say, she looks interesting if I am honest, no wonder your wife is laying with her in bed, anyway… how's Emerald?, your son should be taking the hunter exam right?" Netero asked with a curious tone to his voice.
"Ah, he is, doing good, the boats a bit delayed so we're just waiting for Pitou and Emerald to finish clothes shopping and they leave soon after." Nocturn said to Netero.
"I see, well I'll keep an eye on this Chimera Ant woman, she got a name?" Netero asked which made Nocturn sigh.
"Yeah, she is called Neferpitou or Pitou for short." Nocturn said which made Netero hum.
"I see, I'll remember that, and I'll see how good Emerald is in the exam later, if he picked up how to use Nen then he should pass with flying colors, though just a reminder, he still has issues if he tries to use basic Ten and Zetsu right?" Netero said which made Nocturn hum in return.
"Yeah, if that happens you will have to have someone knock him out." Nocturn said which got Netero to think for a moment.
"Right, anyway thanks for the info Nocturn, I'll be hanging up for now so I can focus on getting things ready… good luck with Helios after Emerald leaves the nest for a bit Hohoho!" Netero said before he hung up before a blushing Nocturn could stop him which caused his eyebrow to twitch while he looks at his phone.
"Damn old man getting the last word and annoying me as well." Nocturn said before the scene went to much later in the evening with Pitou in a new outfit after her small shopping spree with Emerald carrying a few bags, granted not all would be going with her and she would get them when she comes back to the island but she did pack a few outfits to take and a little secret weapon for use later and had Emerald stay outside of the shop for that one much to his confusion.
The outfit that Pitou currently wore had sandals like last time.
She wore fashionable Cargo pants that had ties at the ankles this time to keep the pants from tripping her up.
And her shirt was a tanktop with a pair of long sweatbands around her arms to cover the joints of her arms while the image of a Cat on on the front and she had a new had that looked like a cute cat was the main image for the hat to make it look natural for her cat ears to show without issue.
Helios in the meantime had cleaned Pitou's old outfit and Pitou just gave it to Helios much to her surprise and tried to return it to the Chimera Ant.
Pitou just told Helios to keep the outfit, she could get it back later when she was back on the island if she tagged along with Emerald which caused Helios to blink at that.
Nocturn the entire time had a close eye on Pitou while they all walked to the boat, but when Emerald walks up the plank to get on the boat, Nocturn stopped Pitou by placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, I need to say something first before you go." Nocturn said which made Pitou blink before she looks at Nocturn with a curious look in her eyes.
"What is it?" Pitou asked while Nocturn leaked a bit of concentrated killing intent at Pitou much to her confusion.
"Just a warning in advance… I don't care if you are hiding how strong you are or if you can kill me in one move… harm one hair on my son and you'll see how deadly a pissed off parent can get… more so with two of them…" Nocturn said with a warning tone to his voice and his body emits a surprising amount of power while Helios got a serious look on her face as well and did the same which showed that besides their fun together, Helios wouldn't tolerate Pitou harming her baby boy.
Pitou just scratched her cheek a little before she wondered what to say.
"Nya… well… I won't be trying to harm him if that's what you mean, he seems to interesting for me to do that, got anything else to say because I think the boat is about to leave in a minute." Pitou said which made Nocturn sigh before he calmed himself.
"Well fine, can't say I didn't warn you in advance though." Nocturn said while he rubbed the back of his head which caused Helios to sweatdrop when Pitou laughed a bit after that, granted they were not going all out with that show of power but Pitou just thought of it as a simple bluff before she turns to the plank.
"Right well see you two later, I'll make sure Emerald is in one piece when he comes back here." Pitou said before she walked onto the boat before the plank was by some of the captain's men while Emerald went to the edge of the boat to wave to his parents, seems he took a quick glance around the deck first.
"Don't worry Mom and dad, I'll make you proud and be a powerful Hunter." Emerald called to his parents while the boat starts to leave and Nocturn and Helios wave to Emerald while the boat starts to pick up speed and a few minutes later they saw the boat leaving the Island of Hunters and it heads towards Whale island while Pitou looks at Emerald with a cat like smirk when she would have some interesting fun soon.