Homeland of trash of gems

Chapter 13

Gon pov

I awoke to light chatter that seemingly echoed throughout the place I had awoken in.

I let out a groan as I sat up, the chatter was soon replaced by shuffling that came closer and closer to me.

“Good you're awake.”

I turned to face the voice and saw Kurapika looking down at me. I blinked once, then twice, before realization hit me.

I quickly jumped up, but was soon met with dizziness. A hand was placed on my shoulder, forcing me to sit back down. I turned to the owner of the hand and saw Leorio crouching on the other side of me.

“Thanks bud!” Leorio said with a smile. “But you shouldn’t get up so fast. You just woke up.” He finished with a stern voice.

“You sound like a dad.” I blurted out before I quickly covered my mouth.

At first it's silent. Then little giggles could be heard from Killua in the corner before the whole cave erupts into laughter.

“What’s funny?” I asked while uncovering my mouth. ‘What could they be laughing at? I just insulted Leorio!’

“He called you an old man!!” Killua said loudly between laughs. “Even he admits it!!”

“Hey!! I’m a teenager!!” Leorio yells in response.

The whole cavern went quiet at his statement until I couldn’t stop myself. I laughed. I laughed so hard I was wheezing on the ground. This had been the first time in years I had laughed.

“Umm guys?” Kurapika’s voice cut through my fit as all heads turned to the blond. “We might want to strategize a way out of here. We do have a time limit for this phase.”

The blond's words made him realize the situation that they were in. It also seemed the others came to a realization.

Something popped into my mind quickly along with another memory.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“You know I wonder~ How long can you hold your breath without passing out?” Feitan giggled at his own question knowing no answer would come from the petrified boy.

“Did you know that being underwater while holding breath is different from being suspended from air? You always have the choice to let out air under water but you have no air at all being suspended like you have been. How about you tell me the difference?”

With that, a child's head was being shoved into a water container and held there. No matter how much thrashing was put in, the ruthlessly strong hand that kept the head under, would not let up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was brought back to reality by a light tap on my shoulder. I turned to see Killua once again staring down at me with worried eyes.

“What happened?” I questioned as I noticed all eyes were once again on me.

“You were getting really pale and were unresponsive.” Killua explained in a soft tone.

“Oh..” Was all I could muster.

“Hey Gon, you know if there's something bothering you, you can tell us right?” Leorio's words held concern.

“Yeah, It’s fine.” Kurapika added on with the same amount of worry that a mother would have.

I soon forced a smile and cheered out. “Don’t worry I’m fine! This just happens sometimes! Now, I have an idea to get us out of here!”

The worry did not go down but was quickly pushed to the side as everyone now focused on what I had said.

“Do you still have that sleeping gas Ponzo?” I asked while turning to the girl in the corner.

“I do. But it would be useless, the sleeping gas takes five minutes to fully take effect. We would just put ourselves to sleep in the process if we use it.” The green haired girl, named Ponzo, explained.

“I can’t even hold my breath that long.” Killua muttered in defeat from my side.

-
Third person pov
-

“I can hold my breath for ten minutes and forty-eight seconds!” Gon cheered with a smile.

This caused concern to, again, center around the seemingly bright black and green haired child. Killua could only bring himself to think,

‘That's why you have that one scar around your neck. You were probably hanged till you passed out, but forced to stay awake as long as you could.’

“How did you even reach such a long time!” Leorio called out in disbelief.

“I swam a lot around Whale Island so of course I had to hold my breath for a least over five minutes!” Gon lied through his teeth.

Killua whipped his head around to his companion with eyes wide. He quickly connected the dots. Gon was drowned as well.

‘Illumi didn’t even go that far! Sure my brother did pretty harmful things but I was never hanged or drowned!’

Was the next thought that had gone through Killua’s mind.

“Wow Gon..” Kurapika said in fondness.

“So here's the plan!” Gon exclaimed.

__________________

Eight people could be seen waiting for the boat that had brought them and others to the island that they were now on.

These people were examinees that had succeeded the fourth phase, all included-

#44 Hisoka
#53 Pokkel
#99 Killua
#249 Honzo
#301 Gittarackur
#403 Leorio
#404 Kurapika
#405 Gon

They were all set for the next phase. Most of the contestants stood spaced out, eyeing each other wearily. Except for four contestants.

Leorio, Kurapika, Killua, and Gon.

They were huddled together as they had been from the start. No words were said between them, only empty silence.

They had earned suspicious glances from their other competitors but they brushed it off, too focused on who was going to break the silence. None of them could break the silence though. They just sat there, staring at the ground, when the ship came.

No one uttered a sound as they all were marked passing.