Fandom HxH: Searching

[QuirkyAngel]

Hinata Raihara

A golden gleam that had shone through the fog caught Hinata’s eye—triggering her money sense. She might’ve gone to investigate it if not for the other figure that emerged from the fog to run beside her. It was the white haired boy who tried to scare away the man-faced ape with a gun. Hinata recognized him not only by his appearance, but by the aura that was masterfully contained around his body as he moved. Each person had a different one. A different amount produced. A different quality to it. From Satoz’s radiant one to Paio’s drippy one, the white-haired boy who looked to be around her age had a distinct one as well.

“Of course I know if it,” Hinata replied, her eyes occasionally darting to the golden gleam she’d seen earlier. “I grew up in a shrine where learning this sort of stuff is to be expected. There’s no way I can hunt what I'm looking for without it anyway.”

It wasn’t humans or physical beasts Hinata hunted, but spiritual ones.

Therefore while she trained diligently in all four principles and gained mastery enough to develop her abilities, what she mainly focused on in terms of techniques Gyo and En in order to sense her surroundings and find the ones she was looking for. Physical training couldn’t be neglected of course. A sound body leads to a sound mind.

And, if Paio were sound of mind, he wouldn’t be munching loudly on peanuts or picking up food off the floor. He was taking a while as well.

Did he get tricked by a Ruse Raven?

Hinata huffed. Buzzkill he’d called her. Well, he could enjoy his mushrooms or whatever wild animal that gets attracted to his nuts for all she cared. Others could appreciate her level-headedness. Was he really older than her? He looked older than Nova at least, despite the white hair. It was in the eyes.

Hinata smiled. “My name’s Hinata. Teaming up sounds like a good idea.”

Nova seemed smart—to work towards making allies in the Exam instead of enemies. She’d already had several idiots attempt to take her out in the fog as if to try to lessen the competition while the proctor wasn’t looking. At the very least, he didn’t look like a Tonpa. More easy on the eyes as well.

As she thought this, Hinata suddenly stopped, blinking in bewilderment. She could feel the disruption in Paio’s nen. Nen was, after all, closely tied to emotion—whether it was murderous rage or tranquil peace. Wherever he was, his state of mind seemed agitated. Afraid? Angry? Sad? Hinata couldn’t tell. However, her gut, and experience, told her something was wrong. No creature in this swamp should’ve been able to cause a nen-user such turmoil.

Probably. There was no way for Hinata to tell exactly what dangers lay in the swamp.

Even so, it wasn't as if she owed him anything. All they did was run through and 80 km tunnel together. If the idiot died, it was because of his own carelessness or underestimating his opponent. They were all competitors anyway. Just like the other applicants Hinata had left to die.

The 14-year-old priestess-in-training swore. "...I’m going to go check on an idiot. You can keep going without me, Nova. I’ll be able to trace you so long as you don’t hide your nen.”

And, like that, Hinata backtracked in the direction of Paio’s disturbed nen.

Lucem Castello

 

[Life.]

Zaida Allenstar​

Zaida's right eyebrow lifted when she heard Sheena's laugh and answer to her question. "Bestiality warnings? Like a warning of beasts? I mean that's rather obvious from the ape we saw earlier." With a shake of her head, she wondered if maybe the tall girl was teasing them or something. Her attention had wandered over to the sounds of unknown creatures nearby as she dismissed Sheena's words once more. But the moment her attention drifted from the boy was when the situation took a turn.

She had studied the area where she heard cries of either beasts or man until she felt the space next to her empty. Zaida's eyes returned to the spot where Sheena should've been, instead there was mist. "Sheena? Sheena?" Her voice was quivering with panic as she searched for the boy. But the rising panic wasn't from the missing presence of the boy, rather it was from the absence of any other person close by. The mist grew thicker as Zaida felt the emptiness of no familiar figures close by. The various sounds of the swamp's creatures filled the void, increasing her heart rate as the idea of the unknown struck fear to her mind.

A faraway cry, that was notably human, sent goosebumps down her back. The air around her began to feel colder, with only the fuzzy, small figures of fluttering creatures resembling butterflies in her sight. Zaida was lost. She stood still attempting to calm herself, instead, she watched as the bright creatures flew close by, sprinkling some sort of dust into the air.

Her mind came to a blank. All her energy became drained. This was the first time she was truly alone. No ideas or motivation was pushing her to focus. She felt helpless, believing that none of the abilities she had now could aid her at this moment. Her breathing became shallow and the girl crumpled down to her knees. Doubts about becoming a Hunter were crawling her mind as she closed her eyes. All her training and dreams were for nothing.

Right as she was on the brink of giving in, she felt the warm touch of a hand on her shoulder. Zaida lifted her head up, "Farrah!" In an instant, the girl's mood swung over to happiness. "Where have you been? They said you were lost. Have you been here the whole time?" A flurry of questions left Zaida's lips as she stood up, a big smile appearing on her face. She was here. The one person she looked up to. The one who saw Zaida more than just another Allenstar. The older Hunter laughed, "What do you mean, Zaida? I've been here the whole time. What game are you trying to play? Are you trying to get out of training?"

"Training? No, we're in the middle of a Hunter.." Zaida's words drifted off as she looked around her.

Callum and Gemma, her older brother and sister, were standing close to their respective mentors. They were all standing on the large, open field located behind their parent's large, historic home. Zaida looked back to the Hunter next to her, "But, we were-no..." But the girl realized she couldn't finish her sentence. The rest of her cohesive thought, gone. What was she going to say?

Farrah laughed and moved to stand in front of the confused, blonde girl, "I didn't think Callum hit you that hard. But maybe we should make sure you don't have a concussion. C'mon." The tall Hunter took the lead as she began her stride towards the Allenstar home. The reality of Zaida participating in an Exam was starting to fade away in her mind, but a large part of her gut was bothering her, causing the girl to hesitate in place. Her mentor glanced back, "Aren't you coming?" Zaida opened her mouth, ready to comply but something inside her convinced her otherwise. There was something off here. This wasn't an ordinary training day. She was in the middle of something important. Something life-changing.

Zaida took a step back, "Something's not right. This doesn't feel-" The girl jumped when she felt the touch of her mentor again on her, "You're pretty jumpy today. Is everything alright?" Farrah bent down and looked over Zaida. Either she was tired from training or didn't receive enough sleep because everything was normal. Today was just another day of learning new self-defense techniques from her mentor, so what was bothering her?

Zaida released an exhausted sigh, "I guess I'm just stressed about the upcoming exam..." Her eyes looked over to Farrah then as she spoke out the last word. "What do you me-" That was when the girl reached out and touched the Hunter's arm, a crack appearing as soon as she made contact. Everything froze then. Zaida's eyes widened as her mind cleared up, the hazel hue on her irises lightening up with clarity. Despite the happiness of seeing her mentor once again, she knew then that this was a dream of some sort. Without another thought, and fueled with anger, Zaida threw a fist towards the crack and watched as the sight in front of her shattered into dust.

The strength she packed into that punch brought her towards the ground once everything disappeared, leaving her in darkness. The feeling of helplessness wanting to return back onto the teen until she felt a small warmth on the middle of her back and heard a whisper, "Remember Zaida. A Hunter is never truly lost. Breathe and concentrate." Maybe it was because some creatures had recently conjured up images of her mentor, but this instance felt different. Deciding not to further delve into the idea of what she just heard, Zaida stood up and closed her eyes. She slowed her breathing then as she concentrated on her other senses. She had explored the exercise of meditation, but currently lost in a fog-ridden swamp was not an ideal place to enact it, so Zaida felt that she needed to re-interpret the words Farrah had meant in previous lessons.

As her breathing came to its slowest point, she felt an odd sensation of something unravelling internally. The indescribable thing opened slightly and Zaida could feel a new wave of energy. That and much of her doubts disappeared. And once she opened her eyes it appeared as though the fog thinned. That or perhaps she had managed to gain control of her sanity. The sounds of cries and creatures could be heard in different directions, but Zaida repeated Farrah's words in her head. A Hunter is never truly lost. This re-solidified her goal, to find Farrah. She knew that she was not lost out there but probably trapped. The only way to find her is to become a Hunter. And what she was about to do earlier and give in was pitiful.

"What was wrong with me? If Twink saw me he probably would've laughed at how weak I looked. Speaking of Twink...I should probably try to find him." Since she nearly lost to the madness of the swamps, Zaida felt it better to speak her thoughts aloud. "Let's see, oh, it's those butterflies again," she was aware of the danger they brought now, but then she reasoned with herself that perhaps they were on the move to find another victim. With no other plan in mind, Zaida jogged after the insects, staying aware of her surroundings now for other unexpected creatures.

What Zaida found, after jogging a few meters, was a kaleidoscope of butterflies surrounding another tall girl that wore an outstanding hat. Aside from the hat, the blonde crept to a safe distance between the butterflies and herself, curious as to how the girl standing in the center was not affected by them. Perhaps she was mentally stronger than her? Or perhaps there was something else about her. Zaida stood there, conflicted on how to approach the situation since she didn't want to come into contact with the butterflies once more, but she felt the need to maybe assist the girl out of there. She started to search around for a low-hanging branch from some tree nearby to break off and swing around.

Xcelgamer


tl;dr version: Zaida became lost feeling a big sad and then was duped by hallucinating butterflies till she saw their game and said nu-uh. Returned to reality and heard a helpful hint from a whisper of an unknown source and slightly opened up her aura nodes to regain some sanity cause she a big dumb-dumb. Sees butterflies again and decides to follow them to make sure no one becomes a mental mess like she did.

an even shorter tl;dr version: Angsty-teen, mental crisis moment featuring Zaida

 

[Sen Pai]

sHENa MoNRoE

To eat or not to eat? That is the question - Whether to risk possibly hazardous side effects and partake of the mushrooms or to cower in fear and live never knowing the taste of this particular species of fungi. A war ravaged Sheena's mind. He had left the comfort of his home to experience the flavours the world had to offer. Was he really going to back out now? Then again, any negative consequences could possibly cost him the Hunter Exam. A responsible person would not eat the mysterious, though delicious-looking, mushrooms. This was the Swindler's Swamp; these mushrooms could be deceiving him. Were these even mushrooms? Could the swamp see Sheena's deepest desire? However, Sheena was curious. So curious that it physically hurt to restrain himself from slicing those shrooms up and giving them a little saute. If only he had a frying pan...

"Yo, bro! Ya' gotta try these things, they're fucking amazing, man!" In that moment, an aloof-looking guy handed him a few of the mushrooms before munching down on a few himself. Now, normally, one should not consume items gifted by strangers but Sheena was a weak man when it came to food and simply seeing someone else consume the mushrooms was enough incentive for Sheena to try the shrooms as well.

Without wasting another second, Sheena dusted off one of the mushrooms and popped it into his mouth and chewed slowly. First, the soft, spongy texture of the mushroom enveloped Sheena's mouth. The mushroom's fragile gills tore apart without discourse: almost as if the mushroom was begging, "Eat me!" The softness was almost like velvet. Then, the earthy taste of the mushroom spread across Sheena's taste buds. Closing his eyes, Sheena was dragged into the mushroom's taste by its woodsy, dirt flavour. Dirt. It tasted like dirt.

Grimacing at the taste of mud, Sheena spat the chewed up mushroom on the ground. Perhaps these mushrooms would taste better when cooked? Shoving the rest of the mushrooms into his pocket, Sheena looked at the now very suspicious man who dealt him the shrooms. Noticing the panicked look on the dealer's face, Sheena frowned when he realized the dealer had broken the first rule of dealing: never do your own supply. Quickly glancing around for his mom Zaida, Sheena found that the blonde was nowhere to be seen and cursed himself for getting distracted by the mushrooms. He had lost sight of Zaida and Satotz and was now in the vicinity of a man high on shrooms.

He should go find Zaida.

Pursing his lips, Sheena got up from his crouched position, brushed the dirt off of his pants, and turned to leave (OOC: which you should never do! Never leave someone when they're on a bad trip outdoors!). That is, until he spotted bright red approaching from the depths of Hell the forest. Glancing back at the tripping young man, guilt tugged at Sheena's heart. Was he really just about to leave this man who had been so kind as to offer to share a meal with him? Clenching his teeth, Sheena forced himself away from the man and the mushrooms.

And towards the red figure, praying for help.

"Hello," Sheena greeted with a smile. "You wouldn't happen to know how to care for a man experiencing hallucinations due to mysterious mushroom consumption, would you?"

Greeted: QuirkyAngel In the area(?): Lucem COMING BACK FOR YOU BUDDY: Castello

 

[Xcelgamer]

Lottie was one of the last few to make it to the start of the exams, in all fairness she was actually dead last, number 420 and she wore it proudly on her hat. A man who called himself Tonpa had offered her some sort of drink but for some reason it smelt off, probably a bad batch so she respectfully declined the offer. As the first test began Lottie was about the middle of the lot bouncing up and down happily as she listened for the even pace of the leader, she heard some people complain about how dark it was but she giggled at their complaining, she was used to it.

As they got to the end she was surprised she could actually make it on her first try, she listened as best as she could, this next half would be difficult as she wouldn't even if she had been turned around but she didn't falter from the name of the forest. She tried her best to listen for the leaders footsteps but soon due to the nature of the forest she soon found herself getting lost quickly as the various sounds in the forest drowned out his steps and everyone else's as they got tricked and hurt

"Oh dear, this place is quite the terrifying place and I'm not shocked this place has taken it's toll on so many people." Lottie sighed lightly to herself as she sat down on a rock to give herself a break, as she did so she felt the light touching of something landing on her finger "Well hello little one you aren't to scared of things are you? You probably have something sneaky about you don't you?" Her free hand started to pet the butterfly as more and more butterflies started flying in trying to hypnotize her but to no avail, her petting was interrupted by someone stepping on some dead leaves making a very distinctive crunching sound "Oh hello there sir or madam, I didn't notice you there, how can I help you?" She standing up pulling out her sword and tapping it against the ground causing all the butterflies to get disturbed and to flutter about and away.

Life.

 

[QuirkyAngel]

Hinata Raihara

Sheena.

It was that Sheena guy again.

She was seeing him everywhere. First when he started a fight in tunnels. Then when he hit the ‘dead’ man-faced ape. And now, he was with Paio and some mushrooms. Hinata couldn’t tell if it was some sort of curse or not, but the taller teen seemed to bring about bad luck wherever he went. Then again, Hinata might’ve only thought so because her mood was less than ideal at the moment.

She looked to Paio, who carried a horrified expression on his face, back to Sheena, then back to Paio. He obviously couldn’t continue onto the second phase in that state. What was he seeing that made him so petrified? Hallucination? That was what Sheena said. Hinata had no reason to doubt him because she had no idea what the mysterious mushrooms did either.

“So...he ate a mysterious mushroom,” Hinata repeated blankly, if not a bit incredulously.

It would be awfully convenient if she just so happened to be doctor with a cure for food poisoning. Sadly she wasn’t. She didn’t know a thing about Swindler’s Swamp. How could she? She didn’t know where the Hunter Exam was going to take place. She didn’t research the area and memorize all the plants that grew in the swamp. She didn’t know what served as a good antidote or even where to locate it given where they were. She wasn’t some sort of wild child that grew up a in forest or something. She didn’t even know what sort of mushroom he’d eaten…though it did look vaguely familiar.

She’d probably seen it in a book once.

Gas Mushroom? Goblin Mushroom? Ghost Mushroom?

Hinata shook her head. She had no time to diagnose. She wasn’t a doctor and the herbs she did know that might help didn’t grow anywhere near a swamp. There was only one thing she could do given the situation.

“Sadly, I don’t.” Hinata replied to Sheena as she approached the frozen, panicked-strickened slowly so as not to startle him further. Used zetsu in fact, so her presence couldn’t be sensed. As soon as the 14-year-old, bow-wearing, priestess-in-training got close enough, she grabbed his shirt tightly with one hand so he couldn’t escape—not that he was even looking at her. Her other hand balled into a fist as she gathered a bit of nen around it. That much, at least, was required to get through the frantic, drippy aura that surrounded him—enough for him to feel it at least. “But if he’s eaten something bad, I’m going force it out of him.”

That said, Hinata’s fist shot forward into Paio’s stomach with enough force to make him throw up, while keeping a tight hold of his shirt.

“Hold still,” If he didn’t, Hinata had every intention of trying again. Her nen might not be that of an enhancer’s, but martial arts was something she’d trained all her young life. Hallucinations were all in the mind. Therefore an adequate amount of force should be enough to wake him up if no medicinal cure was available. Probably. “And be grateful I’m not leaving you to fail, Dimwit.”

Though, Hinata couldn’t deny that punching Paio felt a little satisfying as well.

Castello Sen Pai

 

[Castello]

Paio Cruntz
Paio's vision went blurry, he could feel the world close in on him, like the spikes of an iron maiden. His skin poked up in goosebumps and he could feel some sort of liquid drip down his face. The sober end of Paio believed it to be sweat but an otherworldly part of him believed it to be an army of ants climbing into his nose and into his brain. He reached his fingers deep into his nose, pulling and squirming deep within his nostrils. It just kinda looked like he was really get into picking his nose, just having a good old time--that is if it was not for his bellowing.

With a bit of himself returning, he scoured the swamp for where Twink might have wandered off to. He felt guilt, but he was also feeling a flurry of emotions, many of them he could not properly grasp. His ass plopped into the swamp, right in a nice little puddle where a frog had decided to make its perch. Paio's dilated pupils made for the tiny critter, observing as it grew in size and then shrunk again to fit nice into someone's palm. In the moment, Paio was amazed by the frog, but when the frog let out a croak, he could hear his sister's voice.

"We'll be home in a few months, ya' take good care of ma' aight?"

This perturbed Paio, his muscles jolting away from the frog that had begun to look more and more human. Then were the sounds of footsteps gliding past the swamp waters. They came from all directions but one source drew his sight. It was red, obscured by the thick fog but it was definitely human. Paio lifted himself to his feet, staggering slightly with a foot glued into a muddy puddle. Sweat glazed his shirt and a single hair that stuck out of his hat grew multiple inches and turned gray, falling to the ground. With all his might, Paio released his foot from the shoe embedded in the puddle and made his way towards to red apparition.

"Who's there!" Paio called out in an aggressive manner.

The figure became clear and it was beautiful. It was Hinata, dressed in a cheesy uniform with a bright yellow box. She had a bright, cheery smile and suddenly Paio found himself in a huge baseball stadium, surrounded by blackened faces watching a pitcher and batter stare endlessly at each other. But Paio wasn't bedazzled by Hinata but what trippy version of her was saying.

"Free Peanuts, get your free peanuts!" Her eyes made for his as she approached him. "Hey." The trip-Hinata said with a flirty smile. "I noticed you eyeing my peanuts, are you interested?"

Paio literally began to salivate, even through his nose. He was brought to tears, never had he heard words so beautiful, his head would not stop nodding. His fantasy was cut short, however. Hinata's visage went grim. She violently withdrew the box of peanuts, revealing that there was nothing inside the box.

"That's a shame, we don't give peanuts to naughty boys here. For you, there will never be peanuts!"

Paio's heart actually stopped and had no intention of starting up again. His bodily functions ceased, his brain had completely peaced out, only the liver continued to work because its a bro and was too busy dealing with actual toxins to bother with this shit. Vision went blurry, the smell of the swamp whispered off and finally his ears had sniffed their last melody.

That melody was of course actual-Hinata's fist belching his stomach.

The world bloomed again. Dreary colors of the swamp came back in a flash and adrenaline pumped into every single vein. Her punch, despite providing horizontal force, caused him to leap like six feet into the hair. When he landed, however, his stomach had finally registered the blow and while the pain externally was a bitch, those shrooms were finally recognized as something not belonging in his belly. Unfortunately right towards Hinata's dress, Paio unleashed a load of vomit.

Paio huffed and puffed.

"Thank ya' Hinata, ya' really saved me there!" Paio panted out, wiping off the sweat the drenched his face. He did not even bother to register that he might have projectile puked all over Hinata.

Sen Pai QuirkyAngel Lucem

 

[QuirkyAngel]

Hinata Raihara

The grip on Paio shirt loosened when the baseball-cap wearing man regained consciousness. Or rather, he’d broken free of Hinata’s hold and leapt six feet in the air. Hinata frowned. Geez, what part of hold still didn’t he understand? Still, at least that meant he was awake now. Hinata recognized the signs of wanting to puke before it happened. The contorted face. The way vomit gathered in his mouth. Therefore, since she wasn’t holding onto his shirt, it was very easy for the priestess in training to step to the side, dodging whatever contents had been in Paio’s stomach.

Peanuts and mushrooms, no doubt.

“Sure,” Hinata replied to the other Hunter Examinee’s gratitude. She peeked curiously at the mushroom remains Paio spat up before deciding that he sight was too disgusting for her eyes and looking back at Paio’s sweat-drenched face.

Throwing up couldn’t have been comfortable. The disgusting taste. The dehydration. Hinata wasn’t a doctor, but even she knew that a person loss water when they threw up. Added to the fact that they’d been running non-stop for 80+ kilometers now, perhaps a break was a good thing. Not like she couldn’t find where Nova was anyway. So long as he didn’t step outside the range she could sense nen.

Besides, there was more than one way to track the location of targets.

Foot prints, sense of smell, prediction of the examination site based on data…leaving a tracker on the proctor or a trust-worthy ally worked just as well. There were plenty of ways to get past the fog and the swamp’s many tricks that didn’t involve the things she knew. On the contrary, if she’d been stupid enough to pick up and put in her mouth something dangerous, there wouldn’t anyone there to save her if she got lost in the mist. Hinata was beginning to see why her father told her knowing nen wasn’t necessity for getting a Hunter License.

There was a lot hunters had to know to survive out in the unknown.

“I can boil you some water if you want,” Hinata offered in a moment of kindness. They were in a swamp so there was plenty of water to go around. “But we should hurry as I’ll lose track of Nova’s, or the proctor's, nen should they get too far. Unless, of course, you’ve got a better way of finding them.”

Punching Paio had, oddly enough, released some of that pent up tension she’d been feeling since the start of the main exam and she could see the first phase of the test in a much clearer view. It wasn't very hard at all. Perhaps she could even pick up a couple of those mushrooms along the way. If they were potent enough to incapacitate a nen-user, then they were bound to be useful if she boiled them and use them against her opponents for the later parts of the exam or something.

"Oh, and Sheena, it's nice of you to stay by Paio's side while he was being stupid. I'm Hinata Raihara."

Better to make friends than enemies during the exam as well. Who knows what sort of tests they would end up having to do. And, if they ended up becoming Hunters, it would be better to make allies with them down the road in her quest to find Bakkan. She had to focus on the long term goal.

Castello Sen Pai

(mentioned: Lucem )

 

[Sen Pai]

Sheena Monroe

Yikes.

Sheena watched in disgust as the young man, whose name he later learned to be Paio, threw up the contents of his stomach, narrowly missing the little shrine girl who punched him. Side stepping away from the acidic mixture that spewed from Paio's mouth, Sheena looked down at the little shrine girl as she mentioned something about nen and introduced herself as Hinata Raihara.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hinata." Sheena nodded his head in her direction and glanced around the vicinity. "Is nen a way of tracking someone?" Seeing as how he couldn't smell anything other than the typical wetlands and Paio's half-digested peanuts, Sheena raised an eyebrow in curiosity. In his brief moment of distraction due to the appearance of the dirt-tasting psychadelic mushrooms, Sheena had lost sight of both Mr. Satotz and Zaida. However, if Hinata had a way of finding Mr. Satotz, Sheena was sure he'd find Zaida there as well.

QuirkyAngel Castello

 

[Castello]

Paio's core felt weak but he managed to stumbled up onto his feet, though they wobbled as he stuck his hands into the mud. Drenched in vomit, sweat and mud--Paio was a complete mess. He brushed the vomit remains from his cheek, holding his hand up to reject Hinata's offer for water. He took a deep breath, taking a snack of peanuts to revitalize his senses.

"Tha's kind of ya' Hinata, but we need to do some catching up to do. I can't be holding ya'll back."

But what could he do, they were deep in fog with only an idea of the right way. One simple detour could mean the difference between passing the exam or failing, perhaps death. Paio's eye made for the area around him, his eyes settling on an bird of prey that stood atop a tree branch, he identified it as a Fog-Raven. The bird was designed to scout through conditions like this, their eyes able to cut through and pin point subtle colors and movements through harsh conditions. He could waste anytime for an easier option to catch, he had to think fast. With the energy from the peanuts, Paio caught his bearings, the world around him finally completely clearing up. He turned to Sheena to answer his question.

"Nen's not just a way to find somebody, ya' can use it for other things as well." He smirked at Sheena. "Just keep an eye on the expert, aight?"

The aura around Paio began to thicken, drip profoundly and he started coating his hands in a glove of it. He took out an explosive baseball and his bat, engulfing the ball in his sludge. Paio had one shot at this but he knew there was not a bird who could outrun his strike. He threw the ball into the air and walloped it at the body of the tree near where the bird was perched. The ball exploded against the tree, blowing his aura in a 360 degree radius, coating the bird from beak to feet. Slowly, Hinata and Paio could see his aura slowly take over the bird. From his feet, Paio dropped limply and he entered the conscious of the bird.

With control of the bird, Paio flew up and scouted each direction. In the far distance he could see vast amounts of movement and colors of many different kinds of clothing--it had to be the next phases area. It was green and far more lush than here. He could even catch onto the purple of the mustached man's shirt. With confidence, he returned to his body, waking up lying down in the mud.

"They're this way!" He pointed. "No time to waste! The second phase is about to begin."

Sen Pai QuirkyAngel

 

[QuirkyAngel]

Hinata Raihara

“Heh, not bad. You must be a manipulator.”

Hinata used gyo the moment Paio said to keep an eye for his aura, drawing her own aura to her eyes and watching as the peanut-lover coated his own drippy aura to a ball, touch it to a bird, and took control of it. It wasn’t necessary for her to use gyo exactly. Paio wasn’t subtle and used no In, or other methods of hiding his nen. However, she had been trained to always use gyo whenever she sensed something was off.

Nen beasts, like nen-users, could be very tricky.

“I guess we better get going then.” Hinata started to sprint in the direction Paio pointed, knowing it was the right way. Her opinion of Paio had risen a little after seeing the usefulness of his hatsu. After all, while knowing how to manipulate nen was one thing, developing a technique in which it could be used was much more advanced. Granted, his technique seemed to leave him vulnerable while in usage. Her eyes darted to Sheena. “Keep up if you can.”

Given what she’d seen in the tunnels, Hinata had little doubt Paio could keep up even with his injury. As for Sheena, he seemed pretty fast even without using nen to enhance his legs. Not that it was needed exactly. The distance that separated her and the other examinees wasn’t so great that she had to over-exert. Hinata rolled her eyes. She wasn’t sure how Paio expected Sheena to see anything given he didn’t even know what nen was. His explanation was lacking too.

Then again, there were cases of people being able to sense things without knowing about nen as well. People who were born gifted could probably feel something unnatural in the air even if they couldn’t see it. People who have trained in combat or were experienced fighters could probably feel bloodlust when it was exuded in the form of ren. There were even cases of people who unconsciously use In while learning how to properly hunt.

Nen wasn’t some otherworldly power, after all. It was the extension of all living species—something that naturally developed as one trained to hone their 6th sense.

“Nen is the aura all living beings possess,” Hinata explained as they sprinted through the marsh. The secrets of nen weren’t actually supposed to be explained to those not worthy. Her mother told her how horrible it could be if used in the wrong hands. If murders or homicidal maniacs got a hold of that knowledge. However, Hinata liked to think she had good intuition about people. Besides, if he weren’t a good person, he would’ve left Paio to rot. “Life energy if you will. When learned to manipulate, it can be used to produce all sorts of wonders. For example--”

Hinata summoned her Book of Spiritual Contracts so it floated to her side. Since she was a conjurer, all things she made were real and visible even to those who could not see nen. "Make things out of thin air. In Paio's case, he controlled the bird using his aura."

Hinata continued her explanation until, ducking a tree branch, they made it to the second exam site.

Castello Sen Pai

 

[Sen Pai]

The Hunter Exam applicants gathered in front of a towering stone wall, many exhausted by the demands of the exam. 50 applicants remained from the original 420.

"Excellent work, everyone!" Satotz called out from in front of a metal gate. "The Second Phase will take place here, in the Visca Forest Park." The gate the separated the applicants from the next phase of the exam stood over 20 feet tall and each gate door was decorated with two large X's. What challenge stood behind the gates was a mystery to all but the examiners. "So, I shall now take my leave and I wish you all the very best of luck." Satotz then began to march back into the Swindler's Swamp.

At that very same moment, the gates slid apart, revealing an impressive mansion in a vast courtyard with multiple...cooking stations? The remaining 50 applicants murmured in confusion.

"Will all the applicants who passed the First Phase please enter?" At the top of the steps to the manor, a fit green haired woman sat with her legs crossed in front of a human Snorlax. "Welcome! I'm Menchi, your examiner for the Second Phase." Ah, we get to know the examiners' names immediately!

"And I'm Buhara!" The human Snorlax exclaimed. However, that was most likely his regular speaking voice. Considering the sheer size of this man, his vocal cords probably couldn't produce a sound with an amplitude lower than 70 decibels.

The crowd went silent, wondering what task they would have to complete.

This silence was quickly broken by the rumbling of Buhara's stomach.

"Oh dear, what was that noise...?" A couple of the applicants looked around in concern. Could some of the creatures from the wetlands have made their way inside the courtyard?

Menchi chuckled lightly and looked up at Buhara. "Looks like you're getting hungry." Turning back to the group of Hunter applicants in front of her, Menchi stood up and placed her hands on her hips. "Well, that settles it! The Second Phase of the Hunter Exam will be cooking!"

The applicants burst with incredulity.

"Are you serious?"

"We didn't come to take the Hunter Exam just to cook!"

"Cooking is for chumps! That's why they both start with C's!"

"Maybe I could use some of the mushrooms I found earlier..." Sheena wondered quietly to himself.

Menchi, displeased by the obvious disrespect towards cooking, frowned. "That's correct! The Second Phase of the exam will be to cook a meal that'll satisfy our palates."

"Why do we have to cook?!" A gruff voice called out from the crowd.

"Seriously?" Menchi raised an eyebrow at the question. "It's simple! Because we're Gourmet Hunters!"

The crowd of applicants instantly burst into laughter.

"So, you're Gourmet Hunters. What kind of meal do you want us to make?" One of the applicants asked, mockingly.

Buhara stood up and stepped forward, shaking the entire courtyard. "The required ingredient in today's dish is pork!"

One man scoffed. "Pork? You mean like pig meat?"

Menchi rolled her eyes and muttered quietly to herself. "Yes, that's what pork is."

Buhara, with a permanent carefree smile on his face, nodded his head. "Feel free to use any meat from any pig in the Visca Forest." Buhara then gestured to the cooking stations set up around the courtyard. "You may use these cooking stations to prep your pork dishes."

Each station was set up with a sink, several different types of knives, a carving fork, spices, dishrags, and a large bowl of assorted vegetables. Beside each station was a large metal grill, fit with a large spit.

"You must satisfy both of our palates to pass this phase," Menchi, clearly pissed out, crossed her arms, clearly not expecting much from this year's group of applicants. "But we won't just be evaluating taste alone so take this seriously, alright? When we've both eaten our fill, this phase of the exam will be finished."

With the Second Phase's instructions given out, Buhara raised a large hand. "Let the Second Phase of the Exam," And clapped it against his colossal stomach. "Begin!"

As the applicants hurried into the forest in search of a pig, little did they know that the only species of pig in the Visca Forest was the Great Stamp, the world's most ferocious (though delicious!) pig.

Castello Life. QuirkyAngel Lucem Rantos HerculePyro Xcelgamer