Whispers of the Sky (Hunter X Hunter)

The Trick X Tower's X Challenge

Tricks that lie in wait,
Can you make it down the tower alive?
-*-

Rhode couldn't, for the life of her, understand where the uncomfortable silence between Yllina and Killua was coming from.

When she tried to get something out of Yllina, the girl could only begin sobbing while cursing the white-haired boy to oblivion. Killua was a no-go since his pissed off expression only made the whole group (except for the oblivious Gon) to stay a few meters away from him.

Gon had no recollection of what caused the fight, stating that he had been with the chairman the whole time after Killua left.

"This should already be a daily occurrence and we shouldn't be surprised but I can tell that this is something worth looking into since I've never seen Yllina this upset..." Rhode explained with Kurapika and Leorio, both of whom also had no clue what had started the sudden 'cold shoulder' treatment the two were doing to each other.

"A lover's quarrel perhaps?"

"They just met Leorio and they're only twelve, too young to be contemplating those kinds of feelings..." Kurapika sighed earning him the stink eye from Leorio.

"What do you think then, 'oh great Kurapika!'."

Rhode watched Kurapika pass him an irritated look before stating his hypothesis to the two children's untoward behavior with each other, "I have a feeling that Killua must have said something to upset Yllina. They usually argue, yes, but whatever Killua said was bad enough to hurt Yllina's feelings."

At this, Kurapika turned his gaze to the blue-haired girl standing alone by herself, watching the sky from above the tower the blimp left them on.

Whenever Gon would try to approach her, Killua would end up walking away from the spiky-haired teen and then it would be him who would end up alone and staring aimlessly at the contestants fumbling for a way down the tower.

Arguments should be saved for later, the three adults knew that since their challenge had a time limit on it but how were they going to do so if their own group was struggling to get along?

"I guess we have no choice..." Rhode finally said while glancing at the confused Gon who had ended up in between of his two arguing friends. "Yllina and I will split up from the group."

"It's not like it can be avoided now. I've noticed that the number of people are slowly dwindling. We also have the time limit to worry about."

"But are you sure?" Leorio spoke up after Kurapika gave his observation. "Safety in numbers is always an advantage. Just the two of you could be dangerous."

Rhode smiled wickedly at Leorio's words, the doctor-to-be gulping at her change in demeanor.

"We'll be fine. Being underestimated had always been an advantage for us. Besides, we're not even sure if we'll meet up once we get inside the tower." Rhode explained while observing two men who jumped into what appeared to be a hidden door on the ground.

"I noticed it as well." Kurapika stated before continuing, "The entrance can only be used once and can only accommodate one person. We're not even sure if which of those will be traps."

"So it's all about luck then?" Leorio joined but Rhode shook her head.

"I believe there aren't any traps. The challenge was to get down from tower within the time limit. I believe that each applicant is given a challenge based on where they end up in within the tower."

"So, assuming there are no traps, the only thing to worry about is what challenges are waiting for us?"

At Kurapika's hypothesis, Rhode merely nodded. After all, the exam itself will no doubt be difficult maybe even more as compared to the previous two. The tower alone poses an air of mystery, the rules giving away nothing of what they would encounter within it.