I just realized that I've been calling them children, but they're all in their teens 🤣

I aged them up a year so that they were thirteen in the Hunter Exam so they're most likely either fourteen or fifteen by now...

..Hmm.. Valentine would be fourteen since her birthday passed not too long ago and as far as I know.. the boy's birthday's passed.. so they're all fourteen?

Whoops 😂

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A deep sound that resembled an amplified bass echoed throughout the air and slowly began to get louder, the vibration of the hooves hitting the rocky terrain could be felt throughout their chests.

Dinner and Kite had their own horses, while Valentine shared with Zeus; who was secured between the girl's arms as she held tightly onto the reins, and Gon shared with Killua.

But an odd sight that had caused the young blonde to snicker slightly under her breath, was the fact that Killua was standing on the back of Gon's horse and had his arms crossed over his chest, a nonchalant look on his face.

The sight of farmers tilling their fields filled their eyes as they passed by and Valentine glanced towards them for a moment.

As they reached their destination, the golden eyed beauty didn't know what to expect here and a strange feeling filled her body.

They didn't know if this Chimera Ant had developed the taste for human flesh or not and even if she didn't, she most likely would very soon.

After all, there was only so much around here that she could devour.

But what none of them knew is that far away from where they were, the Chimera Ant Queen had already begun to build her nest and was beginning to make powerful ants in order to capture humans for her consumption.

Something Kite had feared from the beginning.

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The small buzzing of a bee caught the group's attention and they all looked up, watching as the small insect descended towards them, a note held in it's small legs.

Landing on Gon's finger once Kite had grabbed the small note, it seemed as if the bee's demeanor had changed completely and it almost looked depressed as it's small buzzes slowly left it.

The note had blood inscribed on it, informing the group where the Chimera Nest was and told them to notify the Hunter Association.

It was clear to Valentine that whoever had sent the bee to them was gone and she could tell judging on the insects behavior alone.

'It'll be risky',Kite spoke up, causing the four to turn towards him,'Are you sure you want to come along?'

'Yeah'

'We're professionals aren't we?'

"We knew what we we're signing up for when we agreed"

Suddenly, the bee flew off, causing Valentine to look up and watch it fly off, a grief-stricken look covered her face and shone clearly within her eyes.

'Miss translator, I'm sorry, but we really must hurry'

'Right',The woman said and leaned forward, gently petting the horses neck,'I'm sure that the horses could gallop a bit faster if necessary'

Once she saw that Kite and her friends were climbing off of their horses, Valentine gently climbed down, causing the horse to whinny slightly, leaning her neck into her back so that she didn't slip and hurt herself getting down.

With a gentle smile, the golden-eyed beauty softly pet the horses mane and a soft look filled her eyes as she looked into the horses beautiful charcoal-colored eyes.

Turning away from the horse, Valentine stood beside her friends and heard as the gentle flap of wings headed their way.

'They still won't be fast enough. I want you two to return to the border and rendezvous with the others',Kite told the two,'Then call the Association. These things are dangerous'

'Got it'

'You be careful, okay, Kite?'

Smiling at his colleagues, Kite nodded his head in agreement and turned towards the three children, watching as they stretched.

'Keep up or I'll leave you three behind'

Huffing under his breath, Killua stretched his arms and leaned to the side, closing his eyes.

'Yup and right back at you',Killua spoke up as glanced towards Valentine, watching as her eyes gleamed in the light and she nodded at the man.

If anything, he hoped that they could keep up with her because if she wanted to, she'd be able to leave them in the dust and just teleport ahead of them, but he knew she'd never leave them that far behind her.

A harsh wind blew through the air and sand whipped around, the winds causing blonde locks to gently flow behind her.

'Let's go'

A harsh gust of wind blew up behind them, kicking dust up into the group's faces and all of them; even the horses, had shocked looks on their faces as the five of them all rushed away.

Making it to the forest, the group came to a stop and found a bloody mess laying on the grassy ground.

Scraps of torn up clothing and chunks of uneaten flesh were scattered amongst the ground, a familiar hat laying amongst it.

It was the girl from the Hunters Exam.

Just looking at the blood made her body shake and her fists clench as her teeth clamp down on one another, her jaw tightening.

Spotting a glint amongst the ground, Killua leaned down and picked it up, before fully standing it up, holding it up in the light.

'This is a bullet casing'

Snapping his head towards Killua, Gon's eyes widened and he furrowed his eyebrows together, glancing towards the casing.

'But I thought anything mechanical was forbidden here, isn't it?'

Walking towards them, Kite looked down at the bloody remains and crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes narrowing.

'It means that the underground rulers of the NGL weren't only manufacturing drugs, but weapons',Kite spoke up.

'Yeah, but judging by this..',Killua trailed off.

The sight of the large pool of blood alone was beginning to make Valentine nauseous and it wasn't because of the blood itself, it was because that she knew who's blood this was.

'This wasn't a human',The man admitted.

Staring up at Kite, shocked looks were on Gon and Killua's face.

'Most likely, it was a Chimera Ant',The man told them,'If my instincts are correct and the Ants are using firearms now, I hate to say it, but it's possible that the NGL's underground rulers have already been fed to the Queen'

Hearing this, eyes of thunder widened significantly and the young girl immediately looked up at Kite.

"But then, that would mean that if—"

'If they were devoured, NGL and Chimera Ants.. are the worst combination imaginable. This will be an unprecedented biohazard'

Glancing back down at the remains, the frown on Valentine's face grew and she looked back up at Kite, watching as he looked towards her.

"Even if there is barely anything left of her.. we should at least bury her remains",The young blonde pleaded and her eyes glistened with melancholy,"That would be the right thing to do"

Even though they had to hurry, staring into the young girl's glistening eyes caused Kite to pause and a small sigh left his lips, pushing his hat down slightly as he looked down at the ground.

This girl.. her heart was too pure to be put through this and yet, here she was standing before him with an iron resolve.

Watching as the silverette looked towards her with a sorrowful look in his eyes, it was clear to the man just how much the boy cared for her and he slowly nodded his head, gesturing for them to hurry up.

Her eyes brightened with gratitude and Valentine hurriedly got to work, making a small grave to lay the woman's remains to rest so that she could rest in peace.

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Trees rushed through their eyes as hurried footsteps echoed throughout the air and small boots harshly kicked up dirt as Valentine rushed to follow alongside Kite with her friends.

'It's safe for us to assume that the Chimera Ants have taken full control of the NGL's interior. The only question now is whether we can reach the nest before the Queen has a chance to give birth to the king'

A strange feeling filled Valentine's body as her eyes widened only slightly and she began to slow down, causing the group to look towards her for a moment.

Even though she was keeping up with them, it was strange how she had slowed down a bit.

'Val, what's wrong?',The silverette asked and his eyes filled with worry as he looked at her.

Her furrowed eyebrows twitched slightly and she stared off into the distance.

"Something's.. just not right"

Glancing towards one another, the three looked away from Valentine and different emotions filled their eyes.

The two boys knew that if Valentine had a bad feeling, then something was bound to happen and it would happen very soon.

Humming slightly, the young girl rushed forward and ran towards where her body was seeming to tell her to go, hearing as her friends hurried after her.

But what they had stumbled upon, caused Zeus to quickly look away and close his obsidian black eyes.

An empty stable covered in blood and a blood trail leading somewhere, caused the group to glance towards one another, before slowly following after it.

Coming upon an open field, a horrid smell filled their noses and Valentine gagged, quickly slapping left her hand over her mouth and nose.

Three horses were skewered on three different trees and eyes of ice glanced down at the girl, watching as she looked to the ground, squeezing her eyes shut as she pushed her hand harder over her mouth and nose.

Slowly reaching toward her, Killua gently held her hand in his own for comfort and then, looked back towards the scene with hardened eyes.

'It's like what a shrike does',Gon spoke up.

Glancing towards Gon confused, Valentine and Killua's eyebrows furrowed together, curiosity painting their faces.

'There are birds called bull-headed shrikes, they often impale their prey on sharp objects',Kite explained.

'Hey!'

Hearing a deep voice speak up from behind them, Valentine's eyes snapped open and she pulled her hand away from her face, turning around to look at whoever had spoken up.

But doing that had caused her to let go of Killua's hand.

In front of them had stood a Chimera Ant mixed with the genes of a human, a rabbit, and a shrike.

It appeared to look like a thick-thighed humanoid rabbit with feathers on his arms and large feet, alongside a thin mustache, long hair and a dark spot on his left eye.

'What!?'

"What is.."

'What the hell is that thing!?'

It was strange because none of them had even heard or sensed it come up behind them.

Pointing towards them, a look of fury and utter revulsion formed on the creature's face.

'Filthy scum! Keep away from my damn prey'

Glancing away from the Chimera Ant, Valentine looked at the dead horses and then, looked back towards the Ant as it raced forward, glaring at Kite.

As the man dodged out of the way, the Ant frowned and instead, harshly pushed Valentine, Killua, Zeus and Gon out of his way with such a strong amount of force that he sent up bursts of wind that blew back the grass on the ground.

The boys were able to block the attack and slide back, Killua's hands shook and Gon covered his face with a wince.

The young girl's side slid along the ground harshly, but she placed her hand on the forest floor and flipped her body up right so that her knees dragged across the grass, her fingers roughly digging into the dirt to bring herself to a stop.

Dust flew up as Valentine slowly came to a stop and she looked up, strands of hair falling in front of her face as her golden eyes glared at the creature.

Small prickles of pain spread up her arms and she gently shook out one of her hands, watching the creature for any other moves it would make towards them.

But it's eyes were locked right onto Kite.

Although, the long silver-haired man lowered his Nen and backed away, leaning up against a tree.

'Now, Gon, Killua and Valentine, this one is all yours. You three, take care of him and Zeus-'

Letting out a short shriek, the hawk turned his obsidian eyes towards the man and watched as he gestured for him to come over.

'-Leave this to them'

Leaning down, Zeus rubbed his beak against Valentine's cheek for good luck and spread his wings, flying over to Kite.

Once he was gone, Valentine's eyes darkened as she turned back to face the Chimera Ant and saw that he was staring right back at them.

'That's a Chimera Ant soldier',The snow-haired man explained to the three,'There are bound to be plenty more like him from here on out, I won't be able to rescue you during combat. If you guys can't defeat him, go home. You'll just be in my way'

Straightening their postures, the three turned towards the ant and their aura's formed around their bodies.

Feeling their strength growing stronger, the Chimera Ant's eyes widened slightly and a hum of confusion left it's lips.

'I've already told you, Kite'

'We're all professionals, too'

Walking towards the ant, Valentine saw the boys walking alongside her out of the corner of her eyes and all of their auras suddenly spiked, the three of them ready for a fight.

"So don't treat us like kids!"

Noticing the way the teens had seemed to grow stronger, the ant wondered just what kind of trick they were doing to grow stronger in just mere seconds.

The boy's rushed forward and a harsh ring pierced the air as Valentine vanished, before the Chimera Ant blocked Killua and Gon's attacks, knocking them both to the side.

The ringing grew stronger and the Ant's ears perked up as it looked behind it, but it was too late as a harsh kicked slammed into the side of it's face.

The force of the aggressive hit made the creature stumble slightly, before turning it's head towards the girl with a fierce look and eyes of thunder widened in shock.

It recovered that quickly!?

She put almost all of her strength into that hit.

A hand wrapped around her ankle just before she could land on the ground and jump away, causing a small gasp to leave Valentine's lips, before she was thrown to the side.

Two groans of pain filled the air as her body slammed into someone else's, the both of them flying a bit further from the fight and hitting the ground harshly.

Arms were around her waist to hold her against them so that instead of her hitting the ground, they did instead and looking up, Valentine sent a grateful smile as chocolate and the sun clashed, a nod being sent her way.

Turning around, the two watched as the Ant raised his hand to strike Killua and eyes of thunder darkened.

Just as the creature was going to bring it's arm down, they wouldn't move on command and a confused look formed on their face as their eyes turned.

And there, stood the girl from before but this time, weird tendrils of blood were coming from her cut up hands and they were wrapped around his wrists, sharp spikes digging into the flesh.

Seeing that she had given them the perfect opportunity, Killua jumped up into the air and used his Thunderbolt attack to electrocute and paralyze the Ant, but was careful to not hit Valentine as she pulled away her ability; the blood quickly retreating towards her.

As the Ant was unable to move, it gave Gon enough time to charge up his attack and punch it into the air.

Landing on the ground, Killua looked up at the sky and a smile spread across his face.

'Alright! A perfect shot!'

As the Ant was in the air, another swooped up his comrade and began flying away.

Slowly waking up, the Ant looked down at them and then, suddenly started screaming.

'You little bastards! I'm gonna eat you! I swear on my life, you three are dead, do you hear me?'

Realizing that their attacks didn't work, the three grit their teeth and sweat slowly rolled down their temples.

It wasn't enough to take it out.

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Moving on, Gon and Kite were at the front of the small group as Killua and Valentine weren't too far behind them.

Looking down at her bloodied and scratched up hands as well as her fingers, Valentine paid attention to one deeper cut running down her palm; figuring that it was from when she stopped herself while sliding across the ground.

With a frown on her face, she watched as blood still rolled down her hand and dripped down her wrist, slowly leaving a line of crimson.

'Let me see it'

Looking beside her, eyes of thunder and ice connected, before she looked down, seeing that Killua was holding out his hand, a ripped off piece of his shirt's sleeve held in his other hand.

Slowly, the two came to a stop and Valentine slowly held out her hand, placing it in his own.

Looking at the silverette as he carefully wrapped her hand in tight enough bind to stop the blood flow, pink lips parted softly as a slow breath left her, before a small smile spread across her lips as he tied the cloth together.

"..Thank you"

It came out as a gentle whisper, but it rang loudly in his ears causing the silverette to look up at her and a smile gradually fell onto his lips as well, softly rubbing his thumb across the skin just below the cloth.

'You're welcome'