༺♥༻

The trees were veiled in the lightest of mists, their trunks sombre brown with sable cracks that gnarl the bark.

Pink petals from the large tree in front of them, graciously fluttered to the ground like a rain of gentle snowflakes caressing the earth.

A strange figure sat amongst the fog and the four stayed where they were, unsure of the person in front of them.

'G-Ging..'

As Gon stepped forward, the dirt underneath his foot began to sink in and eyes of thunder snapped down towards the ground as her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Turning their head at the sound of the crunching dirt, the figure slowly stood to their full height and Valentine's eyes slowly widened as she saw just how tall this person was.

The figure dropped their fishing rod and rushed towards them, knocking the three off of their feet.

Being sent apart, Gon and Valentine were sent flying one way and Killua was sent the other.

Before they could roughly hit the ground, arms protectively wrapped around her frame and she was turned mid-air so the the person was shielding her from the harsh ground.

A low groan filled the air as they harshly hit the ground, landing on their back, and Valentine landed on the person's chest, their arms still caging her in.

As the two slowly sat up, the young girl looked up and seeing Gon looking her over for any wounds that she could have gotten, she gave the green-haired boy a gentle smile as her eyes shone with gratitude.

A weird clown appeared above the man's hand and started to speak.

'Inside my mouth is a roulette containing the numbers one all of the way through nine. You get a different weapon for each number on the wheel; I am the great mad clown Crazy Slots! Hope you get something good'

The roulette inside the clown's mouth spun around for a moment and then stopped, revealing the number four.

'Four!'

A large gun began to materialize and seeing the gun, eyes of the goddesses narrowed.

'Damn.. bad roll'

Instantly, the stranger turned their way and aimed the gun at them, causing Valentine to reach forward and she went to pull Gon towards her so that she could protect him.

As soon as the man pulled the trigger, Killua immediately rushed forward and wrapped his arms around his friends as he jumped towards them, pulling the two out of the way of the bullets as Zeus flew away from them; the four just barely missed getting shot.

The boys had ended up shielding the young girl once they came to a stop, their arms wrapped around one another and as the pile of dirt exploded around them, the silverette looked down at the scattered bodies of ants.

'An ant?'

'Are you hurt?'

Looking up the sound of his voice, Gon, Valentine and Killua furrowed their eyebrows as they watched the tall figure approach them.

As the green-haired boy hesitantly unwrapped his arms from around the young blonde, the silverette beside her only tightened his grip and pulled her closer to him, gritting his teeth.

This man could've killed her if he hadn't pushed her and Gon out of the way in time.

Furrowing his eyebrows together, Gon observed the man in front of him and a small frown tugged at his lips as he saw the man's features clearly when he took off his cape.

He didn't resemble the photo at all.

'This isn't Ging',Gon spoke up.

Looking towards their green-haired friend in shock, Valentine and Killua glanced at each other in confusion and then, looked towards Gon once more.

"If this isn't Ging, then who was it..?"

And why were they sent to him instead of Ging?

'Hang on, what was that all about?',Killua shouted and it was clear by his tone that he quite pissed off by what had happened,'Tell us! First, you knock us down and then, you start firing at us! Stop messing around!'

The soft fall of the man's shoes clicking against the stone as he walked towards them echoed throughout the air and his long, snow colored hair gently swayed behind him as he walked closer.

'Messing around?',The man asked,'Quite the opposite, if I hadn't opened fire, you all would've been attacked'

'Oh, yeah? By what?',Killua questioned,'That stupid ant you shot!'

Slowly standing up, the silverette was beside one of the bodies of the ants and a scowl formed on his face, before he lifted his leg to stomp on it.

However, before he could attempt to crush it, the ant jumped up and latched it's mandibles onto the skin just above his knee, causing Killua to cry out slightly.

'What is this?',He asked and tried to pull it off of his leg.

'You fool!',The man shouted and threw his gun into the air.

However, before he could even think to try and push the boy, the ant suddenly began to screech in pain, unlatching from the boy's leg.

Watching the screeching bug in confusion, the man almost flinched back as it's small body began to expand, before bursting open, blood flying everywhere as the small ant was no more.

Looking between each of the children, the man's eyes finally locked onto the one who had caused the ant's death.

There, stood the young blonde the boys had both protected and her eyes were as dark as rust, an angered glare on her face as her hand was outstretched slightly, tightly clenched into a fist.

"Stupid bug..",She muttered under her breath.

And if he looked close enough, the older man could just barely see the way her skin glowed with heat and then, it slowly began to fade away, until he could no longer see it.

'That was no ordinary ant, it's a chimera ant',The man stated and looked between the three, an impressed look in his eyes once he looked towards the only girl in the group.

Sitting down, Killua watched as Valentine kneeled down beside him and held out her hand, concentrating on the bite mark on his leg.

It was clear by the way some of the blood levitated towards her hand that she was cleaning the blood of any bacteria that could've entered his body from the ant's bite, before the wound began to scab over.

Giving her a gentle smile of reassurance and thanks, the silverette looked back up at the man and furrowed his eyebrows together.

'A what?'

'An aggressive carnivorous insect that's been designated quarantine level one',The man told the four,'They even attack humans from time to time'

Shock coating his face and shinning within his eyes, Killua looked down at his knee, seeing that there was nothing more than a scab.

Thanks to Valentine.

'You guys didn't realize it, but you were standing right in front of their nest',He explained and they all looked towards the steaming piles of dirt,'If I hadn't fired the moment I did, an army of Chimera Ants would've consumed the four of you by now'

Staring up at the man, a small gasp left Gon's lips and he furrowed his eyebrows.

'I feel.. like this has happened before'

Kneeling down beside the two, the man observed the newly formed scab on Killua's leg and an impressed hum left his lips.

'It seems that your friend here cleaned the wound and made it so that it wouldn't get infected',He observed and glanced towards the blonde,'An impressive ability.'

Turning towards Valentine, the silverette gave his crush a small smile and watched as she smiled back, placing her hand on his.

Just the contact alone caused his heart to race and his eyes widened for a moment as he looked down at their hands, a small blush creeping across his cheeks.

'What!? Give me a break, is that it!?',The clown atop of the gun exclaimed in disbelief,'Come on, let's go wild, man!'

'Shut up and go away already',The man stated and the ability disappeared in a cloud of smoke,'The four of you should leave as well'

Getting to his feet, the man began to walk away and a small sigh left his lips.

'Damnit, now I'll have to start over from the beginning, well at least the nest was destroyed',The man said out loud,'Damnit, now I've got this pointless kill to my credit'

A gasp suddenly left Gon's lips and his eyes widened, causing the four to turn his way in confusion.

Tilting her head to the side, eyes of thunder glistened with question and Valentine blinked slowly, confused.

'Hey, aren't you.. back when I was younger, are you the one who saved me?',Gon questioned.

Turning around, the man looked down towards Gon and furrowed his eyebrows, looking over the boy's features; as if trying to remember him.

'Wait, when?'

'On Whale Island',Gon explained and sat up on his knees,'I'd stumbled onto a Foxbear with her cub in the forest'

Fully turning his attention towards the boy, the strange turned around completely and a small hum left his lips.

'Whale Island?'

'Remember, you said you had a pointless kill to your credit because of what I had done',Gon explained.

It seemed as if the man was thinking back to that time as a far away look formed in his eyes as he stared down at Gon.

Suddenly, a smile slowly spread across the man's lips and he stood up straighter, staring down at the boy.

'Oh yeah, I remember. I never thought I'd run into you again here',He stated,'You sure have grown up, Gon'

Eyes widening slightly, a small gasp left Gon's lips and he stared at the man in front of him.

Meanwhile, Valentine and Killua were looking between the two, confused looks coating their faces, before they looked towards one another with furrowed eyebrows.

Slowly leaning towards the silverette, the young blonde kept her eyes on him and gestured her head towards the strange man.

"How does he know Gon?",Valentine asked and she was quite confused with the situation,"Have we ever met him before?"

Slowly shaking his head, Killua shrugged and a small frown pulled at his lips.

They didn't know him and neither of them knew just how Gon knew who he was.

'But, how do you know my name?',The green-haired boy questioned.

'I heard it from your dad, Ging'

'So.. you know Ging, old man?'

Eyes widening in shock, Valentine snapped her head in Gon's direction and looked at him as if he were insane.

He was calling the person who had just shot at them, old man.

'Old ma—..',The man cut himself off and reached up, adjusting his hat with a small sigh leaving his lips,'Yeah, but my name is Kite. Ging was actually my master'

Surprise shocked throughout their systems as Gon, Killua and Valentine's eyes widened, small gasps leaving their lips as they leaned forward slightly.

༺♥༻

The night brought such a silence that the crackle of the campfire was all that could be heard, a natural music in the black-duvet night. Flames sent red sparks dancing into the breeze and the smoke  twirled heavenward.

The aroma of the fish cooking filled the air and the hawk that was currently dinning on a raw fish; freshly caught from the sparkling waters just behind them, was tempted to go and catch another.

'Ah, so the three of you are Pro Hunters, too',Kite spoke up and looked between the three,'Is that right?'

'Yup, are you one, sir?'

Chuckling slightly, the man slowly shook his head and looked between the three children, before glancing towards the eating hawk out of the corner of his eye.

'Just call me Kite',He stated,'You're my masters son, so don't be so formal'

'Okay. So, you're one too, Kite?'

'I am'

Sitting by the fire, Valentine's face was gently alit by the soft glow of the flames and her eyes glistened in the light of the fire, her hair softly tucked behind her ears.

'Master Ging's the one who made me a first-class Hunter, he was my teacher and my benefactor',Kite explained,'See, if I'd never met Ging, I'd be dead now; rotting in the back alley of a slum probably'

It was clear to Valentine that this man thought very highly of Ging and she rested her chin in the palm of her hand, staring into the beautiful flames of the fire.

He went on explaining how the two of them had met and a small smile slowly spread across Gon's face.

'That was it? That's how you met Ging?'

'Yeah, Ging told me once that every single Hunter is well liked by animals',Kite explained and looked towards the young blonde sitting between the boys, realizing that the hawk was now sitting on her shoulder, itching his left wing,'He also told me I had potential, so that piqued my interest'

Looking towards Valentine, a small smile spread across Killua's lips and his eyes softened at the way she hugged the hawk close to her, a bright smile alighting her face as Zeus let out purr-like chirps, nuzzling into her cheek.

'So, you were his student?',Killua asked and hesitantly took his eyes off of Valentine to look at the older man.

'Once I forced him to teach me. He's not very fond of anything that causes him too much hassle, so I was never his student in any official capacity',Kite explained,'But, I suppose I can be a little stubborn, so I just hounded him until he caved. A while after that, I started to develop my Nen and he started teaching me to hunt'

Standing up, he picked up one of the sticks with a fully cooked fish on his and handed it to Killua.

'As a result, I passed the Hunter Exam without much trouble',He stated and handed fish to Valentine and Gon,'But Master Ging still wasn't satisfied. There was another hurdle I had to clear'

Sitting back down, a small smile formed on Kite's face and he looked between the three children.

'Can you guess what that hurdle was?'

Gently tearing off a piece of the cooked fish, Valentine lightly blew on the steaming meat and then placed it into her mouth, gently chewing it as the taste seemed to melt onto her tastebuds.

Gripping the stick tightly within his hands, Gon looked up at the man and his eyes glistened under the flames glare.

'I think I might know'

'Yeah?'

'No, I definitely know',The boy stated and a small smile spread across his face as he slowly looked up at the man,'If I know Ging, he probably told you that he wants you to try and catch him'

A low chuckle left the man's lips and a small smile slowly spread across Kite's face as he nodded softly.

'Right, that's it exactly'

A small cheer left Gon's lips and Valentine chuckled softly, glancing at her brother figure.

'I knew it! I thought that was it'

'But as far as I knew, Ging was the absolute greatest Hunter in the whole world. It would be the most difficult hunt ever and there were no clues or leads to start with',Kite explained,'Not only that, there were no rumors of his whereabouts or sightings of him either. It seemed like he'd managed to completely erase his existence'

Blinking in shock, the silverette slowly turned his gaze towards the man and still had the fish he was eating currently in his mouth; which caused Valentine to let out a stifled chuckle behind her hand.

'And then!?',Gon exclaimed excitedly and leaned forward, his eyes glistening with fascination as he listened,'What happened next?'

'I was struggling, grasping for anything that might help me find him. So I went to his hometown, to Whale Island and that was when I first met you, Gon',Kite explained and looked towards Gon with a small smile on his face,'But back then, I didn't realize you were Ging's son; I had no idea. I didn't learn that until I had finally found Ging'

Hearing that this man; Ging's student, had actually found him, Valentine's eyes widened and she looked back towards the man, her lips parted in surprise.

"Wait, you actually found Ging?"

Looking towards the young girl, the small smile remained on his face and Kite slowly nodded, a hum of agreement leaving his lips.

'I had told him about what had happened on Whale Island. And the fact that I had gone there; or that I met you there, didn't even seem to surprise him',Kite stated,'It was almost as if he expected it. Looking back now, I think everything that's happened has gone according to Ging's plan'

'Are you saying that he set all of this up?'

'Well I can't prove it'

A light yawn left Valentine's lips as she stared into the flames and she lifted to her hand to gently muffle it, her eyelids drooping slightly as her head slowly leaned to the side.

Feeling a small weight softly fall upon his shoulder, Killua hummed in surprise and looked down, before his eyes softened at the sight, a gentle smile spreading across his lips.

Eyes of thunder were fully covered by her eyelids and small eyelashes softly caressed her skin, gentle breaths leaving her slightly parted lips.

Looking back towards Kite, Killua slowly leaned his head to the side and gently laid it atop of Valentine's, his arm resting around her to bring her closer to his side as she slept.