𝑩𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔-𝑲.𝑲𝒖𝒓𝒕𝒂

7|𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒊𝒍𝒔𝒚 𝑾𝒆𝒕𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔

Fog rolled in from every corner as the participants finally made it inside the swamp, heavy panting and the slushing sounds of the terrain overtaking silence as their feet hit the wet ground one by one. 

"Now everyone," Satotz started, "please make sure to follow closely behind me." 

The panting continued as the group kept running, the miserable cries of crows shadowing above them. The fog was getting thicker the deeper into the swamp they got which made it harder to breathe for the already tired crowd. 

(Y/n) was still further back from the crowd with both Kurapika and Leorio but still close enough to see the people up front. (Y/n)'s vision, however, was on Hisoka. She didn't trust him, not one bit, she knew what he was caple of or how far he was willing to go for the things he wanted, even if that mean brutally taking the lives of others. 

She had also caught on that the other applicants around weren't quite fond of him either, earning dirty looks and whispers from them.  

"Hey, Leorio! Kurapika! (Y/n)! Killua thinks we all should move upfront of the pack!" Was heard loudly by Gon who had been ahead of the other 3 teens. 

"You idiot! If I could reach the front I'd already be there!" Leorio responded equally as loudly. 

"Go ahead we'll meet you there!" was added by Kurapika.

The three continued running as usual however unfortunately for them, they were the very last ones in the back and the fog concealed the crowd in front, reducing them to mere shadows. 

"This is bad! With this fog, we can't tell where we're going!" A concerned Kurapika commented to the other two beside them. 

"It's okay as long as we can still see the guys in front of us we should be good." Leorio tried reassuring himself as well as the rest of the trio. 

(Y/n) concentrated her vision on the moving bodies running in the lead but suddenly one of them collapsed, and then another, and another. 

"Uh, Guys!" (Y/n) called out to the two boys beside her 

Leorio and Kurpika looked over at (Y/n) before slowly tracing her gaze to the front where all the leading applicants started falling to the ground like dominos. 

"What the hell is going on now?!" 

a group of strawberry-like objects began to levitate to them becoming more clear the closer they got. A group of men had caught up to the teens, one decided to step closer to one of the berries, instantly getting dragged onto the ground that was when the screams of the man led everyone's eyes upwards, revealing what seemed to be a giant-sized turtle, the berries I'm the air being plants growing out of its shell. The creature reached out its long neck causing havoc to break out as everyone began frantically running around. 

Kurapika, (Y/n), and Leorio stayed in their place, moving closer to each other as the number of creatures grew around them. 

"There's more of them." (Y/n) said as the teens quickly found themselves surrounded, long necks slowly finding their way closer to them. 

Participants from all around the swamp started to find themselves in front of multiple different obstacles which ranged from magic mushrooms to birds that could lure humans by imitating their voice as they moved deeper into the tortuous land and once again quickly starting to reduce the number of applicants. 

• • • • • • •

Leorio, (Y/n), and Kurapika had found themselves fighting the creatures around them, each taking turns to inflict damage as it moved around trying to catch the teens.