I know you already know this but then again, Hunter X Hunter is not mine. This wonderful anime story is owned by Yoshihiro Togashi
CHAPTER 6: THE SWINDLER'S SWAMP
It hadn't been five minutes since they arrived at the exit. Also, it wasn't their final destination yet.
Gon, Killua, and Sam were the first to arrive due to a stupid bet they came up with. A bet about whoever wins, he or she will buy lunch. It was stupid and pointless. But Gon insisted, nonetheless.
Minutes later, Kurapika and Leorio came out from the tunnel; both were huffing heavily.
Sam took time to observe around her. The strong scent of barks, leaves, grass, and mud, and the moistness of the forest covered in mist.
'Are we in a swamp?' Sam wondered.
"Numere Wetlands, also known as Swindlers Swamp. We must cross those wetlands to reach Phase Two of the exam. This place is home to many bizarre animals, many of them being cunning, insatiable creatures that deceive humans and prey upon them. Be careful." He faced them, giving the remaining candidates a warning. "If you let them fool you... you're dead."
That confirms her thoughts. 'Yep... They're in a swamp- a deadly swamp.'
Dread immediately wrapped them. Each looked fearful and uncertain.
"These predators will use any trick to capture their prey. Tricks and deceit ruled the ecosystem... That's why it is called 'Swindler's Nest." The examiner continued his explanation. "Be careful not to be surprised. Do your best to follow me."
'It's the Hunter Exam; there's nothing to be surprised now, isn't it?'
"Don't listen to him! He's an imposter!" Everybody whipped their heads to the owner of the voice. A man, all beaten up, showed himself beside the Exit. He was limping with his body almost covered with blood. "He's not an examiner! I'm the real examiner!"
'Well damn, I'm surprised.' Sam thought.
This caused a ruckus around. Some started to doubt the examiner they followed for hours. Everyone's carrying the same question in their mind.
Who's the real examiner?
"Look at this!" He yelled as he pulled something... that stirred the commotion even further. "It's a man-faced Ape. These creatures disguise themselves as humans to get fresh human meat. They trick humans into following them into these wetlands, where they team up with other animals to kill and devour them."
"He looks just like Satotz-san!" Gon exclaimed.
"And he intends to trap every single applicant!"
This caused another wave of uproar from the applicants. More and more are convinced that Satotz was indeed the imposter.
"Uh-huh, so are we starting or what?"
That question made all eyes fall upon the girl standing near Satotz.
Feeling all the stares, she faced back and replied with the same stare. "I can feel the spotlight on me."
"Samara! What are you doing? Get away from him!" Leorio shouted.
"Huh? Why?" She answered with confusion.
"Girl, you better get away or you'll get your insides ripped!" One of the candidates warned.
She snorted at the warning. "Really? And your basis is...?" She asked. "Just because Satotz looked like that Ape doesn't mean he's the imposter. Don't just depend on what you see. Use your other senses to observe as well. Satotz is the real examiner."
"Tch, kids... Always trust strange people easily and have poor judgments about what's going on around them." One of the examinees said.
"Or maybe she's an imposter as well! That girl is a Man-Eating Ape!"
Sam found herself frowning. 'Really? That's how they're going to interpret this case?' That would be the craziest insult she ever heard.
The rest followed suit and was convinced that Sam was an Ape...
'This is getting ridiculous.' She just sighed heavily. "Think of it, pea brains. If this place is swarmed with these kinds of creatures, why is he still out alive here? He should've been stomach food by now."
Suddenly, objects were thrown out of nowhere. It happened in a blur. The man claimed as the examiner collapsed on the ground with a thud. Satotz caught four-deck cards.
"I see, I see..." Number 44, Hisoka entered the scene as he shuffled his deck of cards. "That settles it... You're the real one." He said before laying his eyes on the girl.
Sam felt his stare and it made her step back. "You should listen to children; they tend to tell the truth than adults." His remark, before facing Satotz again. "Examiners are Hunters selected by the committee to perform this duty without pay. Any Hunter would have been able to block that attack."
"I'll take this as a compliment," Satotz spoke. "However, the next time you use such intervention against me, you'll be disqualified. Am I understood?"
Hisoka turned around, still wearing that smile. "Yes, yes."
Big vulture-like birds swooped down and they started to feast on the meats of the two corpses.
"This is what happens if you let them trick you. This place is the home of vile creatures using any method of trickery to catch their prey. Be alert and be cautious. If you lose sight of me in the Numere Wetlands fog, you will never reach the exam's Second Phase. Do bear that in mind." His last warning and reminder before heading out to the forest.
The candidates followed.
The dread feeling doubled as they crossed the first row of trees. It's like any time, something awful might happen to you.
The trees were huge and gnarled, their branches twisted, and their leaves were dark green. Vines grew on some of them and some trailed along the ground.
It was an ideal habitat for deceiving and conniving creatures.
"Sam! Sam!" Gon called out. She was currently at the front.
"Sup Gon, where's Kurapika and Leorio?" Sam asked Gon.
"Somewhere at the back," Gon answered which Sam nodded.
The girls sniffed. "You're right." Leorio's scent was faint. He has this strong scent of cologne. The last time she checked, he and Kurapika were together.
"Do you always like to get people's attention?" Killua talked as he ran.
'Oh, of course, that brat is with Gon. This boy is natural in attracting people.'
"Well, if the occasion counts for it. It's fun sometimes." She admitted.
"And it's easy for you to trust people?" He added.
Gon found himself smiling with it, "Sam is friendly. She made me her friend hours after we met!" He beamed.
'Isn't it the other way around?'
"I don't normally trust people. If you're talking about earlier, I did not trust Satotz-san. His warning though, I trust. He just told us that deception in this swamp is almost regular. I just head on to his words. When I was finally near him, he smelled nothing of creatures dwelling in a swamp or forest, that's where I knew Satotz-san was the real examiner." She explained. "I bet Gon would differentiate them better, he's just too engrossed about the man-faced ape looking like Satotz-san." For a few seconds, silence filled the three until Samara opened her mouth again. "Sometimes, our eyes lead us to deception. What we see is what we'll believe, then blocking other senses, blocking our minds to access hidden details."
Killua just hummed. "You don't look blind. Gon are you sure?"
Gon panicked. Sam's head had to rotate 180 degrees to her left, giving Gon an unbelievable stare. "Oh perfect."
They need to talk, like right NOW before Gon tells the whole pool of candidates about her.
She was ready to scold him when Killua suddenly suggested going in front.
Gon felt forever grateful to Killua. He took this opportunity. "Right, we should keep an eye on the judge."
Killua shook his head. "I mean it's smarter to get away from Hisoka."
This made Sam snort. "Who wants to go near him anyway? His presence alone is choking me."
"I just say staying too close to him is dangerous! I can smell it in the air."
"Leorio! Kurapika!" Gon shouted to the back. "Killua says that we should move up!"
Gon and Sam increased their pace to catch up with the silver-haired kid.
...
The fog had started to gradually get thicker. Sam could tell, by the way it wrapped around her body. It's cold and so damp. The deadly atmosphere was still there.
It got worse when shrill screams and cries pierced through the forest, making the participants look back in fear.
"I hear people screaming all around us," Gon said.
"Just stay on guard." Killua alarmed them as he looked around every time there was a scream. The place is starting to become mayhem.
"I wonder if Kurapika and Leorio are okay..." Gon worriedly muttered.
Sam could only bite her lip, trying to get rid of the increasing disturbance piling up inside her. Leorio and Kurapika were among those groups behind them and... The screams belonged to those people.
'They're fine. They're both fine!' Sam scolded her mind.
BUMP
Sam stopped tracks when hitting someone in front. "Hey- Gaaah!" The sudden fall made her scream at the top of her lungs and landed on something squishy and slimy wet surface.
"Please don't tell me we're in-"
"Inside a creature's stomach? Then yes." Killua answered. "It happened to be a giant frog waiting beneath the ground."
"Oh, gods... Someone do something!" She squeaked in disgust, especially after knowing the creature's identity.
"Just hold on to something, Sam," Gon suggested.
Sam looked horrified at the idea. "Like hell, I'm-"
The sudden movement of the creature made them tumble, which they thought was crawling forward. She found herself soaking wet in a spit. A spit!
Seconds later, the fluids started to rise and fill the mouth.
'Am I actually going to drown in a frog's saliva?'
Until the frog decided to throw them out.
"Eeew! This is so not cool! It's gross!" Samara said with pure disgust, trying to whisk away the slimy thing from her body.
She hated the way it made a squishing sound.
"Guess he didn't like the taste of us." Gon rubbed the side of his head as he stared at the frog walking away.
"Does that even matter?!" Sam retorted.
Killua fished out a piece of can from his pocket. "It was this."
"The can from Tonpa-san!" Gon exclaimed with recognition.
"She dropped the can while we were inside," Killua said, referring to Sam. "I found it and what happens next should be obvious. Thanks to my quick thinking."
Sam's lips curled in distaste.
"I guess he saved us," Gon said.
"Well, I could have escaped." Killua threw the can.
"Yeah, whatever." The girl dismissed him.
Gon swirled around, "I'm still worried about Leorio and Kurapika, though."
"Forget about them. Let's move on. We can still catch up to the examiner." He said before marching off.
The girl turned around, only to feel Gon's presence disappearing. Faint running footsteps reached her ears and it was heading to where the screaming was.
'That stupid-'
Great! Now Gon is adding up the anxiety level she had all along. "Gon!" She yelled and went off, hoping to catch up.
Did he hear something? Maybe something bad happened. There are so many 'what ifs' forming in her mind. She shook dismissively at her thoughts and hoped for them to be okay.
As she ran, the number of screaming increased. Another wash of fear came over. She could be next. But the only thing she can do is to run and find Gon.
She stepped into something and stumbled on the ground. Her knees and hands touched the soil.
There was a mixture of different levels of dire and fear in her current emotions. It wasn't even her first time inside a forest.
Sam swallowed and stood up.
She listened around, it was eerily silent. It feels like someone is observing her.
"So you're here to look for your friends too." A familiar voice spoke. Sam's breathing hitchhiked.
How could she not recognize that voice? Number 44, Hisoka was standing in front.
And worse, she could smell Leorio's cologne from him. Sam flicked her fingers three times, to apply echolocation- a technique she always relied on, especially in difficult situations.
And she found the current situation difficult.
She perceived an image of a tall man carrying another man on his shoulder. She only needs two pieces to connect the dots.
"L-Leorio... What happened to Leorio?"
Hisoka chuckled, "Hmmm. Interesting." He hummed with a hint of delight. "He's fine..." He gradually walked towards her, making a light rustle on the grass.
Even with cool air, sweat started to trickle down her face as Hisoka continually decreased the distance between them.
'What to do? Is Leorio dead? But I smell no blood. And I need to run. But he'll surely catch me with ease.' Sam started to panic but took out her weapon and readied a stance.
He chuckled. "Relax... Your friend is just unconscious and I'm taking him to the second phase site." Hisoka informed as he walked past the girl. "Your other friends are coming this way too, so you should wait for them." Those were his last words before merging into the fog.
Sam breathed out as soon as she sensed he was out of range. Her body shivered. She closed her eyes and held her chest tightly. What the heck was that?
She felt like death was just around the corner, hiding and waiting for her turn to go to the underworld.
"-mara!"
That Hisoka was carrying Leorio to the next site? What is he playing at?
"Samara!"
She blinked.
"Sam!" Gon called her out.
"Are you okay?" Kurapika asked worriedly. "Why did you go back? You know it's dangerous! Good thing we saw your first."
She weakly nodded. "Yes... And correction, it was Hisoka who found me first."
"What?" Kurapika gasped. "Then-"
She broke out of a trance. "Hisoka just passed by carrying Leorio. What happened?"
"We'll explain later, for now, let's follow him." The blonde assured.
Both kids nodded and began to run.
Along the way, Kurapika filled her everything happened. It seems Hisoka is playing judge and kills anyone he sees as not of worth. He told them to grow up and become good Hunters.
Gon leads the way to the Second site of the exam. He is currently tracking Leorio's smell.
"I was powerless against him." Gon opened up.
"Gon we all know Hisoka is at a different level. All of us can't fight him." Sam assured Gon.
"You managed to hit him Gon." Kurapika tried to lift Gon's spirit.
"Only because I surprised him."
"Most likely, Hisoka's instincts and experience told him that you had the skill and potential to become Hunters. Killing you now would have been a waste..." Kurapika explained.
Does that mean, Hisoka thinks she has potential? That seemed like... a compliment.
It was weird receiving such from a veteran killer.
The blonde teen sensed the silence Gon and Sam shared and quickly apologized. "Was I being insensitive?"
"I was pretty excited," Gon said. "I was so scared, I wanted to run away. But I couldn't. And at the same time, I was excited." He looked back and smiled at them, giving a positive aura. "Isn't that strange?"
Kurapika and Sam smiled. Well, at least he's not as troubled as they think. Maybe in his entire life, it was the first time he felt mortal fear but the excitement he felt was there. His mind is getting more curious as to what lies ahead of him.
Out from the grassy fields, they were following a dirt path between the trees. It led to the top of a hill. Even afar, the boys can see a tall and thick wall. It stood there as if it came out of a child's storybook. Every stone was even and squared sturdy and well made- to protect the inside from the outside.
The three eventually arrived at the site. In front of those thick metal gates, were the candidates. They were sitting, standing, or lying on the ground to catch their breath.
Even if they also wanted to rest, they still had to find Leorio.
Sam suddenly felt a chill. Gon seemed to sense it as well. He saw Hisoka standing not too far from them. He gave them his signature grin and pointed over a tree. Leorio was there- sitting against it.
They jogged towards him.
"Leorio!" Called by his two friends. Gon placed Leorio's briefcase beside him.
True to his words, Hisoka did nothing to him. Though his left cheek was swollen- disfiguring his face, but still he was in one piece.
"Man, that stings..." He winced. His voice sounded like he swallowed something.
"Except for your arm, everything seems fine..." Kurapika stated while checking some injuries.
He scowled. "Are you mocking me? What about my face?"
"I don't see any problem with it. I think your face is still the same for me." Sam remarked with her face as neutral as possible.
"Coming from you, that sounds like an insult," Leorio uttered.
The girl just rolled her eyes and took a small pouch from her jacket pocket and took some sort of a pill. She crushed it and rubbed Leorio's swollen cheek. They asked what it was but she only vaguely answered them that it just helps to lessen the pain. It can't be taken orally though.
"When did you get conscious?" Asked Gon.
"Well after getting here, probably. This still doesn't explain this thing on my face. I don't remember anything except entering the swamp."
'Oh boy... Sow what to do?'
Should they tell him?
Kurapika leaned over to them, "Maybe it's best not to tell him."
Both agreed.
If he remembered what happened- the worst-case scenario- he'd stupidly charge Hisoka because of his stupid pride. Leorio did that a while ago and he'll surely do it again.
"Until when are we going to wait here?" Sam suddenly asked as she'd taken in the surroundings.
"It's been like that since the first batch arrived."
"Killua!" Gon cheerfully greeted the approaching boy.
Samara had a smug expression on her face and crossed her arms. It's quite obvious these two boys had gotten close after a short period.
Satotz's voice caught all the applicants' attention. "Excellent work, everyone!" He greeted- he was now standing in front of the gate. "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." With his strange strides, he was fast to leave them, following the same path they followed.
Right on Satotz disappeared into the forest, and the candidates swirled around upon hearing the grinding noise of the gates open.