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As night fell the blue haze of day lifted to reveal the stars and they shone as brightly as freshly fallen snowflakes.

A dark tranquility expanded through the only darkness and the moon glistened brightly, the gentle breeze of the night softly grazing upon Valentine's skin.

Locks of blonde glistened under the beauty of the moon and eyes of gold twinkled like the stars that gleamed in the inky darkness of the night sky, her pink lips pulled into a frown of determination as she marched forward with her friends and her brother; her Ren harshly glowing around her body.

Upon seeing them, the man stood up straight and fixed his posture, his face hardening as his eyes darkened.

With sweat gleaming on his face, Gon turned towards the three beside him and watched as Valentine looked towards her brother; determination burning within their eyes.

'Do you guys think that's Knuckle?',Gon questioned.

Staring at the man, eyes of gold narrowed in calculation and seeing the small bundle of fur that ran off, her gaze softened only slightly.

'I mean, he is the only guy here so it's pretty obvious that it's Knuckle',Jaxon stated sarcastic, causing Valentine to roll her eyes at her twin's tone,'And even if it wasn't, why would someone randomly be here when hearing about some challenge?'

Staring at the four with a hard stare, Knuckle tightened his grip on his arm and looked between each of them.

He was sure that he had only challenged the three of them, but clearly he had missed one since there were four.

Noticing the way they were sweating profusely, a scoff left the man's lips and he slowly shook his head, his eyebrow twitching in aggravation.

'I can't believe this, it's you four?',The man; Knuckle, scoffed out and sent them a judgmental stare.

Noticing the way he was staring at them, Valentine glared slightly and strengthened her aura; the see through wave of power spiking up with energy.

Eyes widening slightly, he looked at their auras as the boy's quickly followed suite and Knuckle's veins popped through his skin in a throbbing anger.

'Well, well, well, I guess they don't have much respect for me',Knuckle growled out and his eyes gleamed with anger and malice, causing the three children to sweat-drop while Jaxon rose an eyebrow as his eyes widened only slightly,'If I'm being compared to a couple of snot-nosed little kids, then they must not think I'm very strong at all'

It was like they could feel the man's aura suffocating them as he towered over the four and they all shivered slightly at the wave of power that washed over their bodies.

'A duel is a battle to the death, children! It's serious business',Knuckle exclaimed with a scowl,'And the best time to fight a duel is five hours after you've gotten a good nights sleep! What the hell is wrong with you!? You're all completely worn out!'

Pointing towards the smallest of the group, Knuckle stared down Valentine and watched as she blinked up at him in confusion, causing Knuckle's scowl to deepen more.

'And this young lady looks like she could fall at any minute! I mean look at her, there's no way her tiny little body could bare to move another muscle'

Noticing the way Valentine's expression darkened, Jaxon's eyes widened and he slowly inched away from his twin as a dark aura radiated off of her body, her jaw clenching.

He knew how much his sister hated being underestimated.

'Take this seriously!',Knuckle shouted and leaned in close to their faces,'There's no way you punks can defeat me'

A growl of anger left Valentine's lips and her eyes narrowed as she clenched her fists together, her nails digging into her skin as her muscles tensed; her aura harshly bursting around her body.

But as soon as she noticed the tears forming in the man's eyes, her expression softened and the bruising grip of her fists loosened slightly.

Water lined the surface of his eyes as Knuckle's lips quivered slightly and Killua's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he stared at the older man.

'Are you crying?'

Hearing the teenager's words immediately register in Knuckles mind and he quickly wiped away the water rushing down his face, a scowl pulling at his lips.

'No, stupid! Why the hell would I be crying?',He shouted and then looked back up at the small group,'I'm not upset at all! These are just—.. They're tears from laughing too much, you fool! Don't tell anyone about this or I'll murder you!'

Stifling a laugh behind her hand, Valentine's shoulders shook lightly and she hid a smile as Killua looked down at her, a small smile twitching at his lips.

Turning back towards the teenagers, Knuckle had a hard look on his face and he grit his teeth together.

'Now, punch me!'

A confused expression fell upon Valentine's face and she tilted her head to the side, a small hum leaving her lips.

Shrugging slightly, Jaxon cracked his neck and stepped forward, but didn't get very far when his sister gently placed her hand on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.

'I'll show you just how much stronger I am',Knuckle gritted out,'And once I do, you'll see that I don't even need to dodge your punches'

As Knuckle was about to start his rant, a hand fell upon Valentine's shoulder and pulled her away from the group, causing her eyes to widen slightly as she slowly blinked, registering what had happened.

Once they were far enough away so the three couldn't eavesdrop, Jaxon let go of his sister and watched as she looked up at him with a confused expression, causing his blank face to soften.

'Are you sure you can handle this?'

Confused by what he was asking, Valentine tilted her head to the side and a small frown fell upon her lips as her eyebrows furrowed, her forehead creasing with question.

But seeing the look on his face and the worry in his eyes, the young Nitsune instantly understood what her brother was trying to say causing her to look down at the ground, lightly kicking at the dirt with her shoe.

"I'll be okay, Jax",Valentine reassured and looked back up at him,"I won't let that side of me rear it's ugly head"

Seeing the emotions that she hid deep within her eyes, Jaxon sighed slightly and a small smile twitched up at his lips as he placed his hand on her shoulder, a soft look in his eyes.

'I know you won't',Jaxon stated and lifted his hand, gently messing up her hair,'After all, you're much stronger than I am'

With a soft chuckle leaving her lips, Valentine lightly hit her brothers hand away and gently pushed him, causing a laugh to leave his lips as he softly pushed her back.

With a small smile on his face, Jaxon gestured his head to the side and the two headed back towards the group, listening in.

'You're all insane if you think you can pick a fight with me at your age!'

With an annoyed look on his face, Killua looked down at Valentine and his gaze softened as he gently bumped her with his arm, causing the beautiful girl to look up at him with a small grin.

Staring the man down, Gon wanted to say what was on his mind, but he stopped himself and could tell that they were nowhere near Knuckle's level.

Watching as Gon walked towards Knuckle, Jaxon nodded slightly at the bravery the young boy had and he cracked his neck, getting ready for the fight that would soon come.

'Just so you know, I won't stop hitting you until you move, alright?',Gon spoke up.

Looking down at the boy with an incredulous look, Knuckle rose an eyebrow and sneered down at him.

'Less talk, more action. Do what you gotta do'

Getting in position, Gon rose his fists and his Nen powered up, an orange hue glowing in his attack.

'Show me rock!'

A look of shock formed on Knuckle's face and he seemed to shiver at the amount of power that radiated off of the boy's body.

Letting out a noise of impression, Jaxon rose his eyebrows and gazed at the boys power in curiosity.

The man was frozen in place as he stared at Gon's face and the light from the boy's power shone on his face.

'Jan! Ken! Rock!'

As soon as the hit had landed, the man's body slid across the ground and left a streak in the dirt, the man laying flat on his back.

Blinking slightly in shock, Valentine slowly walked towards the man and watched as he lifted his head, staring at them with a weak gaze, causing her to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

'Hey Mr. Knuckle, are you okay?'

When he didn't answer, Killua looked at the man with a slightly concerned gaze and glanced towards Valentine as her eyebrows furrowed.

'I knew.. I could count on you..',Knuckle stated in a weak voice,'And you didn't.. let me.. down. Thanks..'

His head fell to the ground as he passed out and Valentine crouched down, tilting her head to the side as she slowly blinked.

Reaching forward, Valentine lifted her hand and harshly brought it down, smacking the man across the head.

Watching as Knuckle only flinched at the pain and kept his eyes closed, the young girl's face went deadpanned as she stared at him before looking up at the boys.

"Well that was dramatic"

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The brilliant glare of the suns rays gleamed in the sky and the soft chirping of birds echoed through the air as Knuckle shifted among the soft mattress.

Slowly peeling his eyes open, the man looked around the room in confusion and slowly sat up, the damp towel that was on his forehead slowly fell onto his blanket covered lap, noticing that the teens; even the blue hawk that was beside them, were practicing their Ren.

'Hey, look who's awake'

A small sigh left the man's mouth and he slowly shook his head, looking towards the teenagers.

'You're stronger than I realized, I'll give you credit',Knuckle stated and looked down at the blanket covering his lap,'I guess I really should've before'

Reaching into his pocket, Knuckle pulled out his token and looked down at it with a confused look on his face.

'Why didn't you take this?',The man asked, causing Valentine and Gon to look towards him,'I don't get it. You should've taken the tile for yourself and ditched me'

A frown pulled at Valentine's lips and she slowly shook her head, her eyes gleaming with pity.

"We wouldn't do that",Valentine spoke up, causing Knuckle to look towards her,"All we actually want is to fairly beat you in a battle, the tile is only an added bonus"

Staring at the young blonde with a shocked look on his face, a small smile twitched up at his lips and Knuckle chuckled slightly, slowly shaking his head as he sat up straighter.

'Can I ask you something?'

Looking towards the boy, Knuckle nodded and his raven colored hair moved along with him.

'Sure, so what is it you want to know?'

'Why did you want to become a Beast Hunter?'

Furrowing his eyebrows in thought, the man grunted slightly and glanced down at the blanket.

'It's a pretty long story.. one that brings back a whole lot of bad memories',Knuckle admitted.

'In that case, why did you volunteer for the extermination team?'

'Simply put, it's to not get them exterminated'

Raising her eyebrows in confusion, Valentine hummed slightly and tilted her head to the side.

Raising his arms, the dark haired man crossed his arms over his chest and he closed his eyes, tilting his head down slightly.

'I despise this blanket policy of getting rid of misfits. My master says I'm naive, but I don't care. If you've never seen something, then you don't have the right to pass judgement on it'

Seeing where the man was coming from, Jaxon glanced at the ground and furrowed his eyebrows slightly.

That's true, but just because you may think something is aggressive or not just because you haven't seen it, doesn't mean that you should assume one or the other, you should be prepared anyway just in case it goes wrong.

'To start, you've gotta exchange a couple of blows',Knuckle stated and tightened his hand around his tile.

The silverette's eyes narrowed as he stared at the older man and knew that it'll end up getting someone killed that way.

Turning towards Gon, a small smile formed on Knuckle's face and a soft chuckle left his lips.

'You're a real good kid. I knew it the moment we started duking it out'

'You too, Mr. Knuckle'

When a confused noise left the man's lips, Gon pointed towards the edge of the bed and Knuckle looked towards where he was pointing, before he noticed the lump that was moving underneath the blanket.

As the unknown lump began to crawl closer, a hum of uncertainty left the man's lips as he scooted back, but he stopped as the blanket lifted and the small, chocolate colored puppy from before popped his head out.

'It's you!'

The puppy wagged his tail and his tongue stuck out as his eyes glistened.

"Ever since you passed out, this little guy wouldn't leave your side no matter how many times we tried to get him to eat something"

As the dog whimpered and barked, placing his paws in Knuckle's hand, Valentine's eyes softened with light as a small smile fell upon her lips.

'I've heard it's said that good Hunters are well liked by animals'

As Knuckle stared down at the puppies glistening eyes, water began to well up in his eyes and he quickly reached up, hastily wiping at his face.

'I'm not crying, so don't go telling everybody I am, okay?',The older man whimpered out as he wiped at his face,'I'll have to kill you'

A soft laugh left Valentine's lips and she lifted her hand, trying to cover her smile as she looked down at the ground, slowly shaking her head.

But what she didn't realize was that the silverette beside her was staring down at her with a soft look in his eyes. He watched the way the sun's rays seemed to gravitate towards her and brilliantly shine down upon her, capturing the essence of her beauty and purity.

The way her skin seemed to glow in the light made it like she was a goddess sent from above and the way the rays of light beamed through the window to make it look as if a halo had formed above her head only reminded him of how she was like an angel sent from above.

She was the stars that brightened up the darkest of nights and she glowed so beautifully that he didn't want to look away.

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Once they were finished with their training, they all sat around one another and were currently eating the food Palm had made for them; and considerably enough, she had gotten a little plate of mice for Zeus, who was currently scarfing down the rodents.

'Wow, this is delicious!',Knuckle exclaimed through a mouthful of food and he continued to shovel more into his mouth, a pleased smile on his face,'Fight me whenever you want'

With a soup dipped piece of bread in between her lips, Valentine froze and the four teenagers turned towards the man with shocked looks on their faces.

'You can take all of the tries you need',The man told them and a confident smirk formed on his face,'But we only have twenty days left now, so it's not like you can beat me'

As the man raised the mug to his lips, Valentine and Jaxon turned towards one another, small scoffs leaving their lips.

If that were the case, the Nitsune twins would train until they perfected their techniques.

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I made a closing banner 😊 What do you guys think?