Itsy Bitsy Spider

55. Sneak Attacks

When the group left Greed Island, Shalnark took the nen exorcist, Abengane, claiming he would go meet up with Shizuku and Nobunaga to look for a lead on Chrollo and try to bring him back as soon as possible. They wished him luck and he was off. Phinks left the rest of the main group as well, but it seemed he didn't have any solid reason for doing so. He only turned on the rest of them and left without a word, with nothing else but a narrowed glance back to offer.

After confirming everyone else was going to stick to the group, Rein announced she was going to meet up with Killua at Kiken lodge.

It took a while, largely because Rein had agreed to the meeting place without actually knowing where it was. They left Greed Island in the morning, but by nightfall, they were still wandering around somewhere in the woods. This would have worked out perfectly for Rein—there were so many wonderful pebbles by the riverbed—but she was in a hurry. Though everyone else was as equally clueless as to where they were supposed to go, they followed as best they could, and Kalluto was maneuvering through the brush just fine even with his long sleeves.

It was Lucky that was having the most trouble. His arrow wound had already started to heal and he could move about normally, but he had never been the most coordinated. Without Machi to lean on this time, walking through the woods had left his shoes sloshing in mud, countless scrapes across his exposed skin, and a bite from a thankfully non-venomous snake.

He tripped over a tree root in the failing daylight, and braced himself for another impact before Machi caught his elbow and hauled him up.

"Come on," she said, setting him on his feet and giving him a small push forward. "Don't get hurt now. I only have so many medical supplies."

"We're almost there, just about twenty more minutes!" Rein called from the front.

"That's what you said last time," he stated, trying to keep his frustration from bubbling out.

"I'll say it again if you dare mock my navigational skills" Rein replied absentmindedly, turning the map upside down in a futile attempt to guess where they were.

Lucky merely chuckled as he tried to keep a hold on his aura and simultaneously move. But as stated before, Lucky did not did have the best hand-eye coordination. He didn't have the best foot-eye coordination either, because right after Machi had saved him from tripping, he went face first into the dirt again. In the moments that followed, he gave up and lost his grip on his Nen, causing a nearby tree to tip over.

Machi looked at Lucky, who clearly had no intention of getting up at this point. With his earlier wounds, maybe it would be better if she helped him walk. She didn't mind, really. His upper half was rather light, though she supposed that was just an excuse to say she was still fascinated with how... squishy he was. No hard muscle, just a softness about him that made him more pleasant to—'touch' wasn't the right word here—interact with. Aid. Yes, she would have to help him like she always did. She bent down with that intention.

A gunshot cracked through the air, and warm blood splattered onto Machi's cheek.

In the blink of an eye Feitan was at the front of their entire group, nails sharp and eyes scanning for where the attack had come from. A flash of a barrel gave away the sniper's location, but as soon as he moved forward to incapacitate them, his eyes widened. It wasn't just one or two, he quickly realized. He couldn't tell in such a dense area, but his senses were picking up odd sounds one after another. Thirty? Forty?

He hadn't even noticed their presence. Was there someone masking their aura? He took out the first sniper and the second one he came across, but he wasn't fast enough to stop the snipers on the other side from firing at him. He could avoid them, but at this rate, every time he tried to advance another round would sent at him, forcing him to pull back just to avoid it. He wouldn't be able to make any moves.