Wild Afflictions

Chapter 3

Sitting at the dining room table, Gon stared straight at his hand. His mind was racing through the encounter he had with the.... Beast? Monster? Animal? Spirit? Maybe a person? He couldn't tell. With all of the hair in the face, the dirt on their skin, and the overall scarring across their skin. It was hard to tell just what they were.

But even if it was a person, which was the most likely option out all of his theories, it was hard to believe. How long could a person have lived within the forest, especially so far in? He couldn't fathom how someone could live long enough for their hair to reach past their waist and to gather enough dirt on themselves that their skin color wasn't visible.

It was all just too confusing.

Mito walked into the room, spooking herself at the sight of Gon barely moving, barely even breathing. It wasn't how Gon normally was.

"What's wrong sweetheart?"

Gon looked back at Mito, offering a smile and rubbing the back of his neck, snapping out of his trance.

"Oh, there's nothing wrong, just thinking."

"Okay then, what are you thinking about?" Mito asked with a raised eyebrow, moving to sit across from him.

Gon laughed, before smiling down at his hands. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me,"

"Well, I went back out into the forest to see the clothes, because I was really curious and I just couldn't let it go. When I went back and found the clothes, I met something..."

Gon trailed off, looking back down at his hands. Mito noticed this, leaning back into her chair and crossing her arms.

"And just what did you meet Gon? I'd prefer this not to be some wild animal you're going to bring home... again." Mito sighed.

"No... well, maybe. I think it was a person. I mean, it was the only thing that makes any sense. But what doesn't make any sense is this person had super long dreadlocks and was covered in dirt. Just absolutely covered. The way they acted was like an animal, but they stood on their legs and moved like a scared kid. They squeaked instead of talking and their chest was heaving like their heart was going a mile a minute. But the most shocking thing was their eyes. They were so blue and bright, like the sea meeting the blue sky... but they were so scared and so lonely... so lonely.

"And they were hurt. There were three scratches across their thigh and... I tried to help, I really wanted to help them. But as soon as I walked towards them, they were gone."

And like that, the two of them were quiet. Mito watched Gon as he continued to look at his hands with great conviction.

"So... what are you planning?" Mito asked softly, leaning forward and reaching her hands out to hold Gons.

"I think.... I think I'm going to try to help them. You know, bring them here so that we can help heal them up. They looked like they were in so much pain and the limp they had was no joke and.... I wanna help them."

"Gon, I understand where you're coming from. You have such a big heart and it's so sweet of you to care so much, but is it really the best thing to do? I mean, from what you've told me, this person, they've become one with nature and what would it be like to be ripped from it? You don't know what it could do to them. So how about you stop worrying about it and just leave it alone?"
With that, Mito stood up and walked out of the room, but looking back at Gon for a quick second.

Gon waited until she was gone before he stood up from where he was sitting and started to walk towards the front door. He pulled on his shoes before looking back down the hallway.

"Sorry, Mito, but they really need help."