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

Nightingale Nightmare

The glares haven't died down, even if the storm has. The waves still crashed a bit too aggressively, though.

"Hey, Killua." I nudge him, holding his head up with the back of his hand in boredom.

"Hm?" He merely replies.

I look at him, resting my head on the railing of the ship. "Why are you suddenly deciding to keep tabs on me?"

He pauses, Gon and Lian's laughter ringing out behind us from Gon trying to play twinkle twinkle little star on her flute.

"Tabs? That's not it. I'm just curious. You're..a shady person, Sienna." He replies, stretching.

I turn, facing Lian's back. "Fair enough." I reply, stepping forward as Gon took a breather once more.

"Still can't play? What's the trouble?" I ask, sitting next to Lian as Killua takes his place next to Gon.

"This flute is weird! What's this button d-" The sides of the flute clicked, two metal rods popping out slightly.

Lian snatched it away, scowling "Careful! You'll hurt yourself, usually they snap out completely."

I grab it, my brow furrowing at its weight. "Why is it so heavy? It feels almost as heavy as a hand scythe."

I mess with it for a moment, moving it away from Lian and her grabby hands. The mouth piece clicks up, and I pull the rods out on the side, and they poke out parallel. There's six little hinges, three on each, and what seems like little clamps to hold something. I turn back to everyone since Gon and Killua are struggling to see.

"Ohhhh...it almost looks like..." Gon struggles to fins the words.

"A guitar?" Killua offers, and Gon nods.

I twist the mouth piece, watching it roll up and little pegs pop out, also three on each side.

"Lian."

"Hm? Done messing with my stuff?"

"Lian why is your flute a flute and a little guitar?"

"Excuse you, see, it's a flute, violin, and a guitar."

"What do you use for strings?" Killua asks, taking it from me.

She grabbed her...instrument, and opens up her medical case, lifting the compartment that shows the medical equipment. The back was empty, except for a small spool, a collapsible violin bow, an odd quiver full of arrows, and a single tab.

"Archery doesn't seem your thing."

She rolled her eyes, holding up the spool. "This spool is just to hold the string I used for the violin and guitar part. I'm gonna leave the medical kit here, so I just wrap it with my tab and throw it in my quiver."

"Where's the bow?" Gon asks as she hands him the flute. "For your arrows."

She doesn't say anything, and a light bulb goes off in Killua's head. "You're holding it!" He laughs, and Gon merely looks confused as ever.

I think for a moment. "You said normally the little rods snap out full speed, and you'd just need a longer string to go from one side, to the middle, then back to this peg..." I murmur, and she nods.

"Exactly!"

I watch a she starts to take everything out from the back of the medical kit, and I snap and twist everything close on her flute. She places her violin bow in her quiver, and slings it on, making it rest on her hip.

"Ah, just so you guys know, I'm not just going to give you ribbons either. Have fun trying to take them." I smile, ignoring their replies and getting up as the boat lurches onto land.

"Everyone! We will now start the fourth phase of this years hunter exam! Will the ribbon holder please step forward? We're now on The Island of Seven Skies!" I do just that, facing the smiling lady with purple hair.

"Alright! Now then, you get an hour before the rest of preparat-"

"Care to make it ten?".I crack my back, rolling my shoulders, "Minutes, that is."

Her blue eyes stare at me for a moment, a stray curl blown into her face. "U-um, well, I guess that's fine. Do you remember the rules? Care to say them back to me?" She asked, glancing at her clipboard.

"They try to get a ribbon, the ribbon count is one short, any means of getting one is acceptable."

"That about covers it, well, time starts in three.." She takes out a stop watch.

I take a deep breath.

"Two..."

I put my arms up on the railing of the ship.

"One!" Tic. The stopwatch starts, and I throw myself over the side of the ship and break into a sprint.

I keep running even after 600, the mental number defining a total of ten minutes in seconds.

I spot a bare, dead tree and skid to a halt, making a quick choice of climbing it instead.

I watch as they hide, run, scan, team up, and I sigh.

I unzip my coat, lift up my shirt, and make sure all the ribbons are still on.

"Damn! The yellow one...where is- ah. Lovely." I grumble, jumping down and looking up at Hisoka.

"How careless of you, Sienna." He smirks, the golden yellow matching his eyes. It sways about in his hand and I tisk.

"Whatever. I'm not even gonna try to get it from you, buddy." I grumble, hoping the word buddy will signify friendship to...

"Hm? Why is that?" He knows. He has to know, he's not stupid. I stare at him for a moment, hoping he gets it, and he ever so subtly winks at me, and it all clicks.

He's in on it.

I take a step back, and he takes one forward. There's no wind, and the shrubs around our little clearing is moving far too much.

I can't help but grin even a bit.

"That's petty, even for you Hisoka. You already have a ribbon. Or are you just looking for fun?" I feel his bloodlust in waves, and we both stop as soon as my back is about to hit the tree. His smirk grows wider by the second.

"Aren't we all?" He whispers, and a mere flick of his wrist has an ace of hearts suddenly lodged into the bark behind me.

I duck, using my small stature to dive to the right and roll forward, laughing.

I stagger to a stop, covering my eyes in amusement. "You want games? Fine."

I pick up a stick, walking in one huge circle, dragging it around me until I face Hisoka again.

"Here's a classic, first one to step into this circle gets beaten to death."

Games, puzzles, riddles, they're all my comfort zone.