2
Amira stood as Satotz started speaking to the remaining applicants.
"The first phase of the hunter exam has been completed. Fifty-one applicants had passed this phase. I will leave you here for phase two. Good luck." Satotz said before turning and leaving them behind disappearing into the woods.
The doors opened and a voice called out. "Step forward."
The applicants walked in and Amira looked around in confusion at the things around them.
'We're cooking? This should be interesting.' Amira thought as she followed the group.
Up front sat a woman with green hair wrapped in five points and behind her sat a man in a yellow shirt. He was huge. Amira had never seen someone that big.
"I'm Menchi, your examiner for the second phase." The woman said with a smile.
"I'm Buhara." The bigger man said.
Everyone's eyes widened as a growling sound was heard.
Menchi smiled and looked at her companion. "Sounds like you are hungry?"
"I'm famished." Buhara said with a sigh.
Menchi stood with a smile. "That makes it clear then. The second phase is cooking."
Amira sighed in relief however the other applicants were not happy.
The male contestants started arguing with the examiner and laughing at the fact the two were gourmet hunters.
Amira frowned at those laughing. She didn't understand why this was so funny. It wasn't a bad profession.
"I don't know why you all are laughing." Amira said with a frown.
All the other examinees turned to stare at her.
"What the hell are you talking about?" said Todo the wrestler.
Amira raised an eyebrow. "You all are acting like the hunters before us are the same you would see in a fast-food restaurant. It's obvious they put the hard work into becoming the hunters that stand before us today. It's also stupid to go and make fun of someone who could destroy you with a flick of his wrist."
The girl turned to look at Todo. "Kinda stupid of you to get overconfident but then again this is your third time to take this exam? Hunter Buhara, how many times did you have to take the exam?"
The man glanced at her with a raised eyebrown. "We only had to take the exam once to pass."
Amira put on a fake smile. "What does that say about the rest of you who have taken this exam before if a gourmet hunter passed on his first try while ya'll are taking it for another chance after failing your first try?"
Grumbles were heard around them as Amira smirked.
Buhara stood with a grin. "I believe we should start. Today's required ingredient will be pork. Feel free to use meat from any species of pig in Visca Forest. You will use these cooking facilities to prep and cook your pork dishes. To pass you must satisfy our pallets."
"We aren't judging just on taste alone, so take this seriously. When we have eaten our fill, this exam is done." Menchi said in a huff.
Buhara slammed his hand on his stomach. "Begin."
The others took off, but Amira remained.
"Question, 406?" Menchi asked.
"Yes. Will we be judged just on just the pork or anything we put on the plate as well as its appearance and taste?" Amira asked with concern.
Menchi smirked. Buhara's face lit up as he spoke. "It can be just the meat or a meal with sides, but the pork needs to shine as it's the star."
Amira nodded her head. "Thank you, hunter Buhara for answering my questions."
The girl turned away only to stop as he called out to her before Amira could take off.
"406, the forehead is a good place to look at."
Amira tilted her head with a huge smile before nodding. She turned and left to look for her pig.
"That was cruel, Buhara. There is only one species of pig in the forest. Why the clue?" Menchi asked with a smile.
Buhara tilted his head. "She seemed serious about this. I like that."
Menchi nodded her head. "We will see."
Visca Forest
Amira found other contestants trying to take down pigs. Looking around, she saw a runt that was half the size of the others. Picking up an apple from the ground, Amira chunked it at the animal hitting it in the side. It turned to stare at her in anger.
"Here piggy, piggy, piggy." Amira said with a big smile. She clapped her hands in a mocking way. "Come piggy. Let's play."
The pig snorted and took off after her. She led it toward the exam site. Jumping into a tree, Amira laughed as it hit the tree. She pulled out a knife and threw it at the forehead of the creature killing it.
Dropping down, Amira picked it up and carried it to a station. "I'M BACK."
The gourmet hunters smirked at her.
"I guess you better get started than, 406." Menchi said.
Amira smirked and saluted the woman. "Ma'am, Yes Ma'am."
She sliced the loin from the pig and placed herbs on the loin. She placed it on the grill cooking the loin and, in another pan, went pork loins, onions and green peppers. While they were cooking, she took the vegetables and sauteed them with some spices.
Other contestants showed up and started putting their pigs on the spikes roasting them whole.
Amira snorted. 'Idiots. They are never going to be able to cook a pig correctly and pass."
Checking the food, Amira smiled as it came out ready. She sliced a piece off and tried it.
"So good." Amira said with a smile. She pulled a small and large plate out placing more of the food on the bigger plate. She placed a covering on the food to keep it warm.
Amira shook her head at the others complaining as the hunters rejected dish after dish. She picked up her stuff and walked up to them.
"Buhara, I hope you have room for one more dish." Amira said with a smile.
The two hunters shared a look before Buhara said, "I guess I can sample one more."
The girl walked up and placed her plates before the two. Lifting it up, they stared in shock.
"Before you are a pork loin in herb encrusted seasonings with a port chop that was grilled with onions and peppers. I sautéed the vegetables with onion powder and garlic powder. Enjoy." Amira said taking a step back.
Buhara picked it up and ate smiling while holding up a sign with a circle. Amira kept her eyes on Manchi who took a bite of everything.
The woman sat back with a sigh before looking at the girl. "Not the best I had but it will do."
She held up a sign with a circle. "You pass."
Amira smiled and jumped for joy. "Oh, thank you, Hunter Menchi."
She turned and smirked at all the other contestants who glared at her.
"Sucks to be, ya'll. Should have taken this seriously." Amira said while bouncing in place in excitement by the stage.
Menchi stood and faced the others. "Well, none of you passed so better luck next year. We will take 406 with us and you all can try again next year."
The other applicants were furious, and a few moved toward the stage. Amira's head shot up to Hisoka who was shuffling cards between his hands at a quick pace.
Amira jumped when Buhara grabbed her by the back of her shirt and lifted her up on the stage. He placed her down beside him and motioned for her to move behind him. She quickly moved behind the man as it started to get heated. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed something coming from the distance in the sky ignoring Menchi's speech.
Buhara suddenly was up and hit the wrestler into the air. He crashed down by the gate.
"Wow." Amira said in shock. "10 points in power and another 10 points in distance he landed."
Buhara smiled and winked at her.
"Buhara, please don't interfere." Menchi said with a look.
"Sorry but you would have killed him." Buhara said with a smile.
"It was a good hit though." Amira said with a smile.
Menchi snorted. "Don't encourage him."
She turned and walked to stand before the failed applicants.
"Buhara, what's that." Amira asked looking up at the approaching air ship.
He looked up and frowned. "trouble."
Amira looked down to see Menchi twirling knives in the air. It was impressive.
"Well, that said, it seems a bit excessive to fail every applicant but one." A voice said from the blimp above them.
Everyone else looked up in confusion.
"When did that get here?" Leorio asked in confusion.
"About 5 minutes ago." Amira said with a shrug of her shoulders.
A man dropped down from the sky and the air filled with dirt. Amira covered her eyes blocking the dirt from getting into them. Opening them up, an old man in white was walking toward Menchi.
"Who is that?" one contestant said.
"The head of the exam committee, Chairman Netero." Menchi said.
The man shook his head. "I work in the background and only come when little bumps in the exam happen."
His eyes raised to menchi. "Like this one. It has come to my attention you failed all but one applicant of this year's applicants because they won't try the unknown. Is that correct?"
Menchi blushed and raised a hand to rub the back of her neck. "I got upset because an applicant insulted gourmet hunters. I made the exam too difficult."
"Or they were just lazy and didn't want to try." Amira said with a huff.
Buhara placed a hand on her head and shushed her.
The chairman smirked at Amira before speaking again.
"So you understand this exam was unacceptable?" Netero asked with a smile.
"Yes sir. I just get emotional with food involved. I step down as an examiner. Please give the others another chance." Menchi said with a bow.
"I don't know where we will find another examiner this late in the game." Netero said ignoring Menchi's apology.
A few minutes went by before he opened his eyes. "I have an idea. You will remain as the examiner and will give a new exam however you must complete it to show the applicants that it can be done."
Menchi smiled, "I can do that."
Netero's eyes moved to Amira standing there watching while standing by Buhara. "406, you will not need to retake the exam as you passed the first exam."
Amira smirked and bowed. "Sweet. Thank you, chairman."
Netero turned to look at Menchi, "Where do you want to go?"
Menchi smiled. "Can you take us to split mountain in your airship?"
The group got on the airship and flew to split mountain.
The applicants followed Menchi and Netero off the plane. Amira glanced around and saw the green bean man from before still on the ship.
"Excuse me, sir?" Amira asked.
The man turned to look at her, "Yes, 406?"
"Is there a shower on the air ship for me to use while the others are all completing the new exam?" Amira asked.
The man laughed and nodded his head. "Follow me."
He led her down the hall to a room, "You can use the shower in this room. Any questions, please let me know."
He disappeared out the door. Amira smirked and disappeared into the bathroom.
30 minutes later, she came out and smiled as she was now clean. She braided her hair into two braids. She was also excited to be dressed in some clean clothes. Her black leggings with her dark green sleeveless shirt would work perfectly for the next few days. She slipped on her boots and walked out the door to see the sun starting to set.
Walking down the hall to the front lobby, she noticed people starting to crowd the lobby. Amira walked through the crowd to see Gon and the others.
"Guys?" Amira said with a smile while rushing to them. "I assume you passed."
"Yep." Gon said. "We had to boil dream eggs."
"Here woman." Killua said holding out part of an egg. "It's probably cold but whatever."
Amira smiled and took a bite. Her eyes widened in shock. "OH wow. This is really good."
She reached out and hugged the boy while kissing his cheek. "Thank you, killua."
The boy's face went bright red. "Yeah. Whatever."
He pulled away rubbing his sleeve against his cheek as if to wipe the kiss off and crossed his arms ignoring the other three guys who were snickering.
Amira finished the egg when Netero started calling out to everyone.
"I will now introduce myself properly to the remaining 43 applicants. I am Netero, the chairman of the selection committee for this year's hunter exam." The man said.
The green man smiled at the applicants. "I am his secretary, beans."
Amira placed a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing at the secretary's name.
"I was originally not going to introduce myself until the end however things change. I will be sticking around. Nothing better than tension in the air to make the blood flow." He said while glancing at the contestants.
Mr. Bean stepped forward, "We will arrive at 8:00 A.M. You will find dinner in the dining hall. Feel free to use the other facilities including getting rest in the chosen rooms. We will contact you upon arrival."
"Come on, Gon. Let's explore the air ship." Killua said with a huge smile.
"Ok." Gon said.
He turned to Amira, "Want to come?"
Amira sighed and shook her head. Leaning down she placed a hand on both boys' heads. "No thanks. I'm getting food and rest. Make sure you eat and get some sleep, ok?"
"Ok, Amira." Gon said nodding his head.
Killua frowned and looked away crossing his arms.
Amira frowned and leaned closer to his face trying to catch his eyes. "Killua, I'm not saying you can't have fun, but you do need to eat and get sleep too before the next part of the exam. We haven't had a rest for quite a while. Promise me? Please?"
He moved his eyes to her with a put out look on his face.
"Please? For me?" She said with a sad look and sticking her lip out trembling it.
Killua's mouth twitched before he sighed, "Ok. We will make sure to get some food and sleep after we explore a bit."
Amira smiled big and pulled the boy into a hug. "Thank you, Killua."
Killua tensed but let the girl hug him. Across the air ship, the person from before was watching in shock. He had never seen the boy give into anyone except for two people. It was a puzzle he would need to investigate eventually.
Amira let the boy go and the two kids took off.
"They have so much energy." Leorio said with a huff.
"They're kids on an adventure. It's all fun to them." Amira said with a smile. "Let them enjoy it while they are young."
"Not me. All I want to do is crash." Leorio said with a sigh.
"As do I." Kurapika said with a look.
"I'm going to eat and fill my water bottles up first. I will find you both later with some food." Amira said while starting to walk out of the room.
"Bye Amira." Kurapika said with a wave and smile.
"Bye." Leorio said while stretching.
Amira walked down to the dining room to see food galore. She went through the line and picked up some steak and a serving of vegetables.
"Some exam, huh?" a voice said. A boy with a yellow turban sat down across from her. "I'm Polky."
"Amira. Yes, it's crazy. I have a feeling it's only going to get harder." Amira said with a nod of her head.
The two spent the next hour talking before he got up to leave. Looking around the room, Amira found herself alone.
She stood and took some roles filling it with meat. She wrapped them in some napkins. She walked over and opened her backpack before placing a dozen apples in the bag.
Zipping up her backpack, she turned and left the dining hall to go to the bathroom to fill up her water bottles. Who knew when she would be able to do this again. She wandered to the sleeping quarters to see Kurapika and Leorio sitting against the wall. The two were sleeping.
"Here's some food." Amira said after waking the two.
"Thanks, Amira." Kurapika said with a smile.
"Thanks." Leorio said.
Amira grabbed two extra blankets for the other two boys for if they showed up to sleep. She covered herself and relaxed as Leorio and Kurapika ate.
The two fell asleep as soon as they finished eating. Amira smiled before curling up beside Kurapika resting her head on his shoulder and going to sleep. It had been a long day and hard work to make it this far. Kurapika blushed but didn't say anything.
Several hours later, the door opened, and Killua walked into the room.
Amira sleepily opened her eyes and motioned to the boy. "Come get some sleep, kiddo. I grabbed a spare blanket for you and Gon. Where is Gon?"
Killua took the two blankets and rolled up one placing it on Amira's lap before laying down and covering up with the other. "Playing a game with the chairman."
Amira smiled sleepily. "That's nice."
Amira frowned studying him before slowly started to sing quietly while running her hand through the boy's hair to sooth him to sleep. She was tired but she noticed the tension in his body.
"Be brave little one.
Make a wish for each sad little tear.
Hold your head up though no one is near.
Someone's waiting for you.
Don't cry little one.
There'll be a smile where a frown used to be.
You'll be part of the love that you see.
Someone's waiting for you.
Always keep a little prayer in your pocket
and you're sure to see the light.
Soon there will be joy and happiness.
and your little world will be bright.
Have faith, little one.
Till your hopes and your wishes come true.
You must try to be brave, little one.
Someone's waiting to love you."
(Someone's waiting for you – The Rescuers 1977)
Amira sighed as Killua became still and his body became heavier. She didn't know what upset him but at least he was getting some sleep. She smiled and closed her eyes to go back to sleep. A few minutes pasted before Killua opened his eyes looking up at the sleeping girl.
"You're going to be a good mom someday." Killua said before snuggling into the blanket and going to sleep.
Across the room a figure was leaning against the wall thinking about what he witnessed with the boy and young woman. It was another thing to put in his mental file about number 406. Maybe she could be of use after all. He really wasn't looking forward to having to kill her. It seemed like an unnecessary task.