The Fog and The Red Rain [A HunterxHunter fan fic]

Burning connections

"Sienna. Just do it."

"Oh hell no, okay? You half assed it!"

"You're the smallest one out of all of us, Sienna....please?" Gon smiled, lightly shoving me forward.

I stare at the square vent that we opened once we arrived in the room. We waited exactly thirty minutes before starting to look for an entrance ourselves. I feel the paint from before stick onto the palms of my hands from my fingers with sweat.

"Why are you so nervous? Me and Gon didn't make it far before we backed out because it was too small! Nothing else happened!" Killua groaned, yelling and making a show of it all.

Why am I nervous?

"Hm... I won't fit with any weapons or my bag... And I'm not sure. But this just doesn't feel right. You know? Like I feel that, it was small for a reason... They or that, wanted to fight someone small. Fightings no big deal- but.....There's something gripping at me." I say, barely above a whisper as I crouch down and poke my head inside.

"Idiot! Its the hunter exam! The hell did you expect!?" Killua shouts, and that's the only warning I get before my bag is ripped off of me and I'm pushed inside.

"What the h-" I pause, staring at the square metal plate that I'm laying on, turning it a bright blue.

"Hey? Guys what does this-"

A small beep is heard, slowly getting louder and shorter, like a bomb.

"Go." Gon murmurs.

"Eh?"

"GO! Try to speed through this but pay attention to the squares as they light up!" Gon calls as I start crawling, noticing that with each one I touch one more square then last time lights up.

The lights, are also exceptionally hot. I feel sweat drip down my face as I make a right, left, left, right, go straight, go left, and finally get met with a huge red button on a wall.

I stare at it, shifting from knee to knee as the square I'm on lights up. My skin probably has second degree burns at this point...

Ah, but what would this button do for Gon and Killua? Would they press it?

I snort, hearing the second block behind me fall. I punch the huge button as big as my hand and hear the squares around me power back down. There's shaking, and the metal beams forcing my turns crackle and slide down into the floor, giving me more space.

I hear the turning of cog wheels, and then I feel the entire thing tilting. I grab onto the only square that's left, but end up breaking away from how hot it was. I land on the ceiling, now the floor, and can stand up freely thanks to the lack of squares. The button panel slides up, revealing an exit into darkness.

I jog back over to the beginning point, leaving stray paint marks on the turns I took. I find the entrance once again, and poke my head out.

They're sitting, huddled together like old friends. I smile for a moment, then call them over.

"Hey. Lover boys, hurry up, times not exactly on our side." I call, jumping out half way and open my hands to catch my bag as a blushing Killua is about to throw it.

He stops, a frown slowly making its way onto his face. "Your hands. What happened to them?"

"Eh? Whoa! They're all burned!" I look at my hands, and sure enough the skin was red and blotchy, some of it peeling away along with the multi-colored paint.

"It doesn't exactly, hurt. And its kinda my fault, they probably added heat to make me mess up and rush but thankfully I kept my cool." I boast, trying not to hiss as Killua digs out a first aid kit from my bag.

.....Now, disinfectant, might hurt.

I slide out out of the vent completely, and they pause as they stare at my knees.

"I-I'm fine! Really, it doesn't even hurt." I shrug, smiling in assurance.

They still look skeptical, but they seem to start shrugging it off.

After Killua-thankfully as careful as posssible- cleaned and bandaged my wounds I put my leather gloves back on, not wanting to get hurt anymore. For the sake of my frien-

For the sake of my friends, though, I don't mind at all.

"Wait, Sienna what color do we follow?" Gon asked ahead of both me and Killua.

"What? There's only-"
Honestly today, my sentences are very incomplete. I stare at the multiple splashes of paint everywhere, clown-like smiles and balloons brushed on with shaky, crazed lines.

I grind my teeth in agitation and growl. "Well, these still seem wet, so follow the dryest shades of green and a little bit of rocks mixed in. Here, I'll lead." I sigh, running my finger down a smile and curving it downwards. I walk past Killua and Gon, eyeing which turn I took.

"So this wasn't on the wall before." Killua muses, and I shake my head.

"Nope, but someone who has time to finger paint in such a crappy way should really learn to not mess with people who pass their time by practicing ripping skin off with their teeth." I shrug.

I laugh through my nose a little as I hear Gon and Killua grimace. We stop in front of the door, and we stare into the darkness for a moment.

But as they say, if you stare into the abyss, the abyss also stares into you.

Getting nearly punched in the face by a freaky thin hand with manicured nails is definitely not what I thought the abyss would show me, though.