Dolle Harbour.
"Thanks a lot captain," Gon and I shook his hands, "That was really fun!" Gon smiles, "I gotta admit I had a pretty good time myself, oh yeah, let me give you a little advice. As a small token of my appreciation," He looks at me, "Advice sir?" I cock my head, "Look, you see that big cedar tree, the one up the top of the hill, you wanna make your way there first, it's a shortcut to the exam site." He points up, "A shortcut, great! So just head up that tree right? Thanks!" Gon perks up, "Thank you very much captain but I've got my own way of getting there, take care of yourself!" I bounced up and down as the two of us ran back to Kurapika and Leorio. "Leorio! Kurapika!" I waved my arm, the two of them turned around, "The captain said we needed to go to the cedar tree up on the mountain." I pointed up at the hill, "But it's in Zaban city! The cedar tree is in the opposite direction!" Leorio points at the map, I shrug, "You guys figure it out on your own, however, if you want a ride." I raised my hand up and blew a piercing whistle, the three of them shivered at the pitch, "Oh don't call that wombat." Leorio looked at the sky, "Fine, and who said I'm calling the wombat and I'm not calling some wombats?" I grinned, three dragons were diving towards the harbour, people around started screaming, "Gon? Kurapika? Want a ride?" I sat on the of the dragons, "Hang on! What about me!" Leorio shouts, "You said you don't want the wombat to come." I grinned, Kurapika and Gon sat on the other two dragons and we started flying off, "H-HEY! WHAT ABOUT ME!" Leorio was getting smaller and smaller, I chuckled, "Go down boy and pick him up." I pet his back, we dived back down to Leorio and he grasped him in his talons, Leorio started screaming.
DING!
We asked our way around, to reach the Hunter Exam, we needed to go into a restaurant, we finally reached level B100. It was far, far underground, we walked out and we saw a sea of people looking back at us, "Is it just me or is it feeling a little grim down here." I shuddered, "We saw many other applicants at the harbour but these guys are different. Each one of them is a Master in their own right. Just like Yuki's beast calling." Kurapika looks at them, "Excuse me!" Gon steps forward, I slam my hand over his mouth, "Read the room," I whisper, he nods, everyone else looked away, "Looks like everyone is on edge down here." He says, I take my hand off his mouth and nod, "Hello! Please take your number badge thank you." A green blob handed us each a badge, "Thank you," I was handed my badge.
403 Leorio
404 Kurapika
405 Gon
406 Yuki
"Be sure to wear this on your chest at all times please and be careful not to lose it okay?" He walks off, the four of us pinned the badge to our shirts, "Don't think I've seen you guys here. Yo!" We looked up and saw someone with the number 16 badge sitting on the edge of the second level, "You can tell it's our first time here?" I ask him, "More or less," He jumps down, "It's getting easier, it's my 35th attempt so it comes with the territory," He smiles, we flinched, "You've tried 35 times?!" Leorio, Gon and I say at the same time, "I guess you could say I'm a Hunter Exam veteran," He puts his hand on his badge, "Not really something to brag about," Leorio gives him the side eye, "Indeed," Kurapika closes his eyes, "Anyway if you have any more questions I'd be happy to help!" He smiles, "Thanks a lot!" Gon smiles, "Oh, by the way the name's Tonpa." He holds his hand out, "Hi, I'm Gon!" He shakes his hand, "This is Kurapika, Yuki and that's Leorio," He introduces us, we smile, "You sure have taken the exam a lot, are there any others?" Gon asks, "I might hold the record but yeah there are others. For instance, that guy over there. Number 255, Toto the wrestler, probably the strongest one here, and he's smarter than he looks. Over there is number 103, Herban the Snake Charmer, he can really hold a grudge so try not to get on his bad side. Let's see now... Number 191 Motoro, the Kung Fu master, he's getting old but he's still the best martial artist around. Then there are the brothers, Amori, Imori and Umori, they work great as a team so they almost always do really well. And 184, Geretta the huntsman, he specialises is killing all types of creatures with his blow dart and club. There are more but those have taken it the most times." Tonpa looks around the room, "Oh wow!" Gon looks at them. A man walked past us and accidentally bumped into another man, he had red hair and had a heart and a diamond on the back of his shirt, "AHHHH!" We turn around quickly, we saw the man from before, his arms were disappearing into clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades, "My, how unusual, it seems this man's arm have disappeared into flower petals, now you see them, now you don't." The man with the red hair flaunts, I felt my breath hitch, "You should be more careful, and do apologise if you bump into someone," He smiles, "Just perfect, the psychopath is back again. Number 44, Hisoka the magician. He was the number 1 pick for last year's exam until he almost killed another examiner he thought wasn't worthy of." Tonpa looks at him, "Then what's he doing here?! Are they allowed to retake the exam after something like that?!" Leorio looks at Tonpa, "Of course they are, they change the content and examiners every year, and the examiners choose the new material. The devil himself could pass the Hunter Exam if the examiners say it's okay. It's how the whole thing works. Anyway, no one likes the guy, I'd keep my distance if I were you." Tonpa looks at Hisoka as he walks off, "Well I'd keep my distance," I nod, "Oh! I almost forgot! A toast to friendship! What do ya say?" Tonpa takes out five cans of juice, "Hey thanks! Don't mind if I do! After all, I was just riding on a glorified lizard for a few hours, my butt's sore." Leorio pipes up, "Say that one more time and I'll never let you get any privileges again. Who got you here again?" I felt my eyebrow twitch and I balled up my fist, "Sorry Ma'am," Leorio shudders.
"Wow thanks, I was almost dying of thirst," I take a can, "Yeah thanks a lot!" Gon grabs one, "Thank you," Kurapika grabs his, we cracked the cans open, I was about to drink mine but, "Well there he goes," "Playing the nice guy even though he's the nastiest guy here," "Tonpa the rookie crusher. He's going for the laxative spiked drinks again," I heard a group of guys mutter, it's a strange trait the Nariko clan's always had, heightened hearing, some say it's legend from all the beasts we've charmed and called, they've passed their gifts to us, it's only a legend the island believes though, "Cheers!" We all clink cans, Gon, Leorio and Kurapika were about to drink it, "Say, Mr Tonpa, why don't you drink it? After all, you were the one who offered it to us." I grinned, "No, no, I insists, bottoms up!" He cheers, I lift the can up and pour all the contents out, "That was rude Yuki, you should've drunk it," Gon looks at me, "Some say it's only a legend, the Nariko line's always had heightened hearing. Tonpa the rookie crusher. Nice try but spiking a drink it laxatives and everyone knowing about it. Rumours spread like wildfire and if you want it to be kept a secret, maybe get people to keep their mouths shut." I pretended to zip my mouth closed and I had a glint in my eye, "What the heck?! What's wrong with you!" Leorio spits his out, Gon places his can down and Kurapika pours his out too, "Please forgive me!" He gets on his knees and claps his hands together in front of me, "Sorry again, I'll see you later." He walks off, "I swear, I thought he was never shut up." Leorio sighs, I nodded and giggled.
Everyone was staring at the door, "FWINGGG!" We saw an alarm go off, the large wall moves and showed a corridor leading out, "I apologise for the delay thank you for waiting. The entry period for Hunter Examinees is officially closed, so with no further ado, the Hunter Exam will now begin." We saw a man standing there, he must be an examiner, "One final word of caution, if you're short on luck or ability keep in mind there's a very real chance you could end up seriously injured, death is another distinct possibility. If you're willing to accept the risks involved, I'll ask you to follow me now. But! Those of you please exit in the elevator behind you." He says, no one budged an inch, "Right then, very well, 406 applicants will now participate in phase 1." He turns around and everyone follows him, it was a comfortable stroll, "Yeah I didn't think anyone would leave but I hoped a few would duck out." Leorio looks around, I heard the sound of his shoes pace change, "He's speeding up," I look at Gon, he nods, we were now at a brisk jog, "How rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself! I am Satotz, your examiner for the first phase of the exam. It's my responsibility to lead you to the second phase," He says, "Second? Whatever happened to the first?" Someone up front asked, "The first phase is already underway," He says, people started murmuring, "The first phase is quite simple, all you need to do is follow me to the second phase, so try to keep up." He turns his head around, "Follow you? So that's it? Nothing else?" Someone asks, "That's right, I cannot tell you where or when we will arrive you need only to follow me." Satotz says, "I see how it is, this is an endurance test. Not knowing how far we're going to run is mentally stressful, so say nothing of the physical strain, this is a test of our mental fortitude as well," Kurapika looks at us, "Endurance test? That's right up my ally," Leorio grins.
