Foreign Lands (BC X HxH)

19 The truth

Killua looked over at the other man. He had dark purplish hair that was slightly spiked and black sparkly eyes. Those eyes held a glint of malice that was small but visible, he gave him a smile as well. "Oh! I never knew your name, and who's this guy? Is he one of my new friends too?" The man chuckled. "Call me Volt, and this is Shen." He nodded, then bounced over to the kids. "Hello! I'm Noku! Who're you guys?" The eldest who was about 12, pointed warily to the others. The first had short blonde hair and he appeared to be about 5. "Lino" The next was a shy kid with pale brown hair and about 7. "Kessho" The third and the fourth looked like twins. They had long black hair and pink eyes, his heart clenched a little when he imagined them with blue and black ones instead. They look like Alluka and Nanika standing side by side. The hair was a little different, but they were so similar he couldn't help being reminded of them. "Mai and Mái" Their pronounced slightly differently. Killua blinked. "My and may?" She sighed. "Pretty much"

The eldest had firey orange hair, and pointed to herself. "My name's Pyr. I'm 12 by the way" He smiled. "I'm 11 and a half!" Then he held out a finger and whistled. Nero fluttered over and settled on his finger, Lino and Kessho's eyes went slightly wide in fascination. "This is Nabi! He's my pet bird!" Killua said, stroking the top of her head a little. "Woah, pet?" He nodded. "Oh sorry Mr. Volty sir, I didn't say I was bringing my bird but look at him! He's so cute!" He sighed. "No harm in it I guess, just keep it under wraps k? If it's too loud you're gonna have to let it go" Killua shook his head. "Nope! He's super quiet I promise!" Then he beamed at Pyr and grabbed her hand. "C'mon let's go climb a tree!" She blinked, then let herself be dragged by him. He scrambled up and pretended to have a harder time of it, then held a hand out. "Here!" She grabbed his hand and he hauled her up, then they both ascended until they were out of earshot.

Pyr put a hand on his and he paused, blinking over at her. "Huh?" She gave him a sorrowful look. "You shouldn't have come" He giggled, then let a flash of knowing flit into his eyes. Pyr's own widened slightly. "Nabi" Nero flitted over and perched on a branch. Pyr bit her lip. "How'd you train the bird to do that anyways?" He leaned down and Nero poked his nose with her beak. "Now Nabi's super smart! I'm super sure he can understand me when I talk" He sat back up and held out a finger. "Watch this" He said to Pyr, then turned back to Nero. "Can you tap three times?" Nero blinked, then pecked at him gently as many times as he had said. Pyr gasped. "Oh wow!" Then her eyes shone a little. "Hey, maybe he can help us get out of here" He blinked. "Why?" he questioned, Killua needed to know the full story. "I don't have any friends, that nice Volty guy said he'd bring me some and he did!" Pyr bit her lip, then lowered her voice. "They don't let us leave"

Killua blinked. "Why not?" She glanced around nervously, then whispered into his ear. "whenever one of us tries, Shen makes this mist and 5 seconds later you don't even remember the last 5 minutes" His eyes widened slightly. "Woah" He thought for a moment. I kinda want to test this. "but why you want to leave so bad?" He asked. Pyr looked slightly uncomfortable, and he started to feel uneasy. What are they doing to these kids? "they suck our magic out and into this orb thing, and when it replenishes they do it again. And...I don't like the way Volt looks at the other kids" He kept a mildly interested expression. "That sounds like not fun. Oooh maybe I could run away?" Pyr got a slightly alarmed look. "A-Are you not listening to me?" He snickered and stroked Nero's head. "Hey Nabi, you remember those nice people with the robes?" Pyr's eyes widened slightly. "You've met some magic knights?" She whispered furiously. Killua grinned a little. "Carry this to them" He said, before scribbling down a note on a small scrap of paper.

'2 men are taking the kid's magic and putting it into a crystal for an unknown reason. Don't get caught by the purple haired guy's mist, you forget the last 5 minutes if you breath it in. there are 5 kids, should I tell the oldest what I came here for?' He wrapped it up into a thin cylinder and held it out to Nero. "Fly" He and Pyr waited. They waited for 5 minutes until they heard a voice from below. "Noku! Pyr! Wrap it up! It's time to go to the camp!" This peaked his interest slightly, but he giggled. "5 more minutes! I'm teaching Pyr how to-" There was a sharp irritated bark. "Now" He held a hand out for Pyr to stay, then poked his head out from between the leaves and stuck his tongue out. "No! I said gimme 5 more minutes! I'll be back down super soon Mr. Volty and Shenny Sir" he purposefully butchered the names to piss them off, one thing he was good at was being a brat. "NOKU" He giggled and threw an acorn at him, causing him to growl and point furiously down next to him. "If your not back down here within 5 minutes I'm coming up there to get you" Volt snapped. He snickered and ducked back into the tree with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Pyr's mouth was gaping open and she was staring at him with shock. "H-how-" Nero came back and settled, before chirping and dropping another paper. It wasn't folded as well, and he read it with an eager expression. 'as a magic knight it's your job to make them feel safe, tell the oldest. Also give us a signal. Two clicks means you're in danger, one means you've got the kids to safety and you need us.' Killua nodded, then dropped his childish manor. Pyr noticed his face change and was enormously confused. He spoke low and urgent. "Listen carefully because I'm only saying this once" He said, before slipping out his tag with the bull's insignia on it. He slipped it to her and her eyes widened. "I'm an undercover Black bull's member trying to figure out why the hell kids are going missing. Keep going on like nothing's changed, and speak of this to no one" He snapped his fingers and Nero hopped onto his finger. Pyr's eyes shimmered with a faint hope. "You can subtly explain things to me as we go along, but keep it to a minimum alright?"

He blinked, then shifted back into Noku. "Oooh, I wonder how quick I can burn it" He said, looking down at the paper. He stuck his tongue out a little as he zapped the paper, making it crumble and char. He giggled and grinned at Pyr, who was actually doing a surprisingly good job at acting like that didn't happen. "We gotta go down now. Hmm, maybe we could play hide and seek? Or tag? Imma go ask!" He snickered, then pretended to slip. "Wah!" He yelped, Pyr gasped and suddenly he fell onto a soft cushionlike substance. He blinked down at the fluffy cloud positioned below him, Shen's grimoire was out. "Be more careful" He said smoothly, and Killua rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish grin. "Oops! Sorry. I don't slip all that often but it happens" Then Pyr slowly climbed down as well, before dropping down and helping him down off the cloud. "Ooh, what type of magic was that Mr, it was so cool!" He said, faking a little bit of sparkle in his eyes.

Shen sighed. "Gust Creation Magic" He smiled 'warmly' at Killua with a very fake kind expression. "What type of magic to you have snowflake?" He smiled. "I got's electric!" He said, holding out two fingers about of inch apart. He let a little bit of electricity crackle between his fingertips and Lino's eyes shone a little. "Woah! Mine's water" He said, creating a small bubble in his hand. Killua glanced over at Pyr and she sighed. "I can use Flame magic" He pointed to Volt. "What about you Volty Mr?" He chuckled, patting Killua's head. "Barrier magic" His eyes shimmered a little. "Wow, like a cage? Can you make a cage for Nabi?" He asked. Volt blinked. "I mean I could but he doesn't need a cage right?" Killua shook his head, he hadn't really heard of barrier magic before so he was learning something here. "No he's really good, I was just asking."

They walked along the stream for some time, and he had chatted with a few of the other kids. Pyr kept sneaking glances at him, then he got to the Mai twins. "Hi!" He said cheerily. Mai smiled, and Mái did as well. "Hai" They said in unison. He giggled. "I've been asking 'round and stuff about the others and I haven't gotten to you two yet, what's your guy's magic? Mine's electric!" Mái held out a hand, and Mai copied her a second later. A small sprout poked up from each of their hands. Mai had a small flower, and Mái a few leaves. "Petal" Mai said, "Leaf" Mái responded after. "Oooh" Killua held out his own hand and the twins gave him their creations. Killua giggled and zapped them, causing a small spark and some smoke to appear. Both of the two girls moved to stand on either side of him, and he unconsciously held a hand out to each without really thinking about it. His breath hitched slightly as both grabbed each of his hands. Damn it, why do they have to look so much like Alluka?

He smiled, this time it wasn't a fake one. It was a warm smile, and Pyr looked away quickly as he looked up. She keeps watching me, it's gonna get her caught. They came across a house with a clear barrier around it. They passed through the barrier without an issue, and his eyes fell on the chasm on the other side of the building. Why the hell's that there? He locked eyes with Nero, then nodded slightly. She blinked, then fluttered off. "Alright, time for The Cliff" He blinked in confusion, then he saw Pyr's expression. It was worried, and kind of scared. I'm resolving this today.

1805 words

To be continued...