A Web of Pride and Misfortune [Hunter X Hunter]

3- two sides of the same card

ᴡᴇʟᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʜɪʀᴅ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ!

Rule 3: An enemy of the enemy is your friend.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈ Jungle before the Second Exam Venue, Jan 7

The howl turned out to be from a flock of birds that emerged from afar, nothing special, but that alerted Lin to what awaited them. A dense jungle lay in waiting a few feet away, buzzing with life. Dangerous or harmless? She guessed the former— how else would it be a proper Hunter's Exam?

Getting to her feet, she noticed a commotion. Curious, she pushed her way to the front and was met with a ridiculous scene. A man was holding a monkey with Satoz's features and pointing furiously at him, accusing the examiner of being a liar. Lin pursed her lips. After the conversation they had? Impossible. This was the ramblings of a delusional, possibly crazy man.

She was about to speak up when two cards whizzed past her ear. One hit the man, who slumped over onto the ground, dead on impact. The monkey rose to its feet and shrieked before rushing off into the jungle, leaving the corpse behind. The other card found itself intercepted snugly inbetween Satoz's fingers. Narrowing his eyes, he spoke clearly, 'Thank you for the intervention, but you aren't allowed to attack the examiner. I thought you'd learn that by now, Hisoka.'

Chills erupted up her spine when a deep voice rumbled behind her. 'My pleasure. Only a real examiner could catch my card, after all. Don't fall for what you see.'

He... he tried to kill Satoz!

Lin willed herself to not turn around and meet his eyes, hoping he would pass over her. Satoz began to speak again, informing them that the jungle was merely the only way to the Second Phase and she thought the worst had passed, but then he leaned down and whispered in her ear.

'Would you be able to catch that card, my ripened fruit?'

As he left, moving through the crowd that parted like the red sea in his wake, she could feel eyes glaring down at her, and tried to steady her breathing.

'Lin! Are you okay?' Gon cried, appearing at her side, Killua close behind.

'I'm alright,' she murmured. 'That Hisoka character is bad news, isn't he!

'Yeah, he's a total creep,' Killua frowned. 'I wouldn't want to die at his hands, that'd suck.'

Lin laughed and shook her head. 'We should get moving. I bet the jungle is just waiting to devour every single one of us.'

The jungle proved to be as deadly as Lin expected. Groups of people disappeared into thick fog that came and went; dreamy lights distracted and led participants into a bog that swallowed them whole; swarms of butterflies latched onto examinees' wounds and sucked their blood dry; at one point a few exhausted people succumbed to vines that snaked their way over their bodies and choked them to death. Still, the trio persevered on, never losing track of Satoz's figure. Until Gon suddenly stopped.

'Oh... where's Leorio and Kirapika?' he queried, gazing around expectantly.

Killua scrunched his nose. 'Beats me. Let's go, Gon. They'll be fine.'

'No, you go on ahead. I'm going to check up on them,' Gon insisted, and ran off into a clearing, leaving Lin and Killua. They exchanged glances, then shrugged and continued on, tailing the struggling pack closely.

As they manoeuvred through a patch of biting grass, Lin decided to initiate a conversation. A Zoldyck would be a good ally to have, and she'd rather buddy up with him that face him off as an enemy.

'What's your badge number?' she blurted out, thinking of Satoz's comment about him arriving right before her.

'99,' he responded, stomping on a nasty blade of grass that nipped at his ankle. 'You?'