A Worthy Opponent (HunterxHunter)

Chapter 54: Learn and Let Go

I screamed inside, fighting to get up.

Ten minutes. I can't--

"Raine! Don't panic, concentrate on your legs first. One limb at a time instead of all at once." Bisky instructed carefully.

My legs had skimmed the web. Paralyzing toxins swarmed my body though I was familiar with the feeling. My heart raced in anticipation. I could hardly see Riv in my view. He retreated on the other side of a mossed log, reaching out for Ahmad.

My arms slowly lifted, tingling sensations shooting through my nerves.

"RIV! Stop it!" I could feel eyes on me. Eyes on the battlefield. I was supposed to finish him. The vivid buzz of Ahmad's Nen caught my eye. Full blast, yet he still didn't move. His eyes were glowing in concentration.

Riv ignored my call and picked up Ahmad by the throat.

"HEY!" My heart leaped. "I said don't touch him!"

Then nausea seethed my stomach. My vision was disoriented. My heart had plummeted too far. My body emptied as if it drained of blood.

The future played a scene of Ahmad dying. His neck snapped.

Not again.

Not again.

Not again, please...PLEASE!

I cried to the moon. To somebody. Anyone that could hear me. But everyone around me had been subdued.

Riv grumbled bitterly. His hand still clutching Ahmad's throat. "I just need one. You can hardly move. Finally-

Kurapika had speared a branch at his head, though it had done nothing as his hand stopped it. Riv's eyes flashed that hellish red and speared it right back to Kurapika who caught it while slamming back into a tree. Blood spurting from his mouth.

But it was enough time for me to speed up my recovery. My body moved on instinct and I ripped myself from the ground, against gravity. The blood rushed through my veins, my power wanting nothing more than to tear him apart.

In a blink of an eye, I loomed over Riv. My blades spun in my hands as I brought it to his throat. Riv pivoted away, missing by a hairbreadth, before dropping Ahmad and belting away.

I had him on the run again. But this time, I wouldn't slip up.

He chuckled as he dashed through the webs. "You're very consistent though you're cutting it close. You just never stay down do you?"

Something else consumed my eyes. A sudden passion to kill. I was on the hunt.

I chased him down to the brink, covering every inch of the field, but he was just as quick. Every swipe, he dodged. Every kick I was sure I landed, he dodged. His speed suddenly became too quick for my visions, allowing him to return fire by slinging web after web at me.

"RIV!" I screamed. My mind counted down the time until he gained unstoppable power. An internal clock rapidly flashed in my head.

I shot branches to counter, my legs fueling with the new energy Kurapika supplied me with. Our movements created sharp sounds as our speed only increased.

Five minutes...

I clenched my muscles harder. This wasn't working.

Why can't I--

Riv suddenly collapsed cursing.

I pounced on him immediately. My fist connected with his jaw, knocking out a few teeth as his head snapped back.