Hunting for a way home - Shalnark x Reader

Chapter 11 - Well, At least the view is nice.

It felt so good being back in your own clothes, on the island you had a few changes of clothes but you hadn't brought any along so more stuff could fit comfortably in your satchel. The only thing you had a backup of was underwear and that was for obvious reasons. Speaking of your fresh clothes you were glad to find you weren't commando anymore, considering Shalnark hadn't given you your satchel you'd been fresh out until you got these clothes back which made you feel eternally grateful. You couldn't help but be glad none of them were underwear stealing perverts.

Upon waking up this morning Shalnark hadn't been in the room and you found yourself creeping out cautiously. For some reason you really didn't want to see the other two troupe members today. You felt embarrassed about yesterday's incident and were sure if they saw you, they wouldn't hold back on the teasing.

Thankfully they weren't around, hopefully still sleeping. Making your way around the room and to the kitchen and saw Shalnark had just finished cooking something. "Ahh! You're awake now I see good, I was worried I'd have to come get you." Motioning for you to sit at the table you obeyed as he set a plate down before sitting across from you.

These people were supposed to be evil murderous monsters. Why were they feeding you? Why hadn't they hurt you? Why were all of them especially Shalnark being so... nice? They killed Kurapika's Klan and stole their eyes. You didn't realize your grip had tightened on your fork causing it to slightly bend.

"Are you planning on killing your bacon? I hate to tell you but you're going to have a hard time doing that." You looked up and glared at him as his eyes twinkled. You couldn't let your guard down around him. Focusing on eating you made yourself relax. Hating the fact he actually was a good cook. You listened to the sounds of someone stirring from another room and looked over to Shalnark.

"Can we practice outside today?" The question came out almost in a panic. "Why?" He asked, looking quizzically, "I.. I don't really feel comfortable with the others watching.. it feels weird." That wasn't the only reason but you hoped this answer would suffice. "How can I trust you not to run away?" His eyes twinkled.

Giving him your best are you serious look you said, "I have a feeling wherever you guys took me is far enough away from anything that's worth running too and by the time I figured out the best direction to go to get there you'd already outnumber me. It'd only be a matter of time before I'm caught and hauled back here. Plus I'm injured remember, even if I could run it'll probably be seconds before I'm over your shoulder and back in this house?"

Arching a brow you met his eyes, he smirked at you. "Seems you actually put some thought into your situation, well come on. Let's go get started then." Standing up he grabbed your plates and put them to the sink and started to walk out. You stood up fast to follow closely behind him, eyeing the rest of the house to make sure no one else was watching.

When he reached the door and headed outside you had to pause for a moment. Even though you had a hunch where you guys were in a rural area, nothing put it into perspective like seeing it. You tried listening for sounds of civilization to hear nothing. You wouldn't be leaving unless one of them took you.

The plan as it stood was heal, train, get them to trust you, and then get out of here and away from them. You had tried not to think of Gon and the others but it was hard not too. A sudden lump was in your throat. Would they get past the testing gates quicker because Gon's arm wasn't broken? Would they try to come find her? What could you even tell them? You couldn't help but worry about all the 'what ifs'. This was not how you expected things to turn out, but your life had been throwing you through loops from the second you arrived on that field on the island and Gon found you.

This confirmed something else for you. If Shalnark was so comfortable bringing you out here he really knew that there wasn't much of a chance for you getting away. Not realizing you had just been standing at the door looking out at nothing but the forest that seemed to go on forever, "Hello! Earth to Y/N!.. ahh welcome back!" you're attention was finally caught by a hand waving in your face blinking you focused in on the face behind the hand.