Spider’s Web of Night

The man turned to them with a smug look and began, "You just have to tailor your answer to what the old woman wants to hear."

Under her breath Mary whispered to herself, "but did she really want to hear anything?"

Without giving even a glance for a second he ran away before saying, "later."

"You got to be kidding me! How was that the right answer?! We're just supposed to give the answer the old lady wants?! And that's considered correct?! Hey, Say something! I won't put up with this sham. I'll find a different route."

"L-Leorio, there isn't another route that we can take, as rookies we have no real idea where the test would even take place, it could be under ground, it could be in a shopping center, it could even be at a restaurant! Besides we've come this far and I don't believe any of the-"

Before she could finish the old woman cut her off, "You there, girl you say another word and you're disqualified. And you, refuse to take the quiz and you're disqualified as well."

"Th-that's just ridiculous! Different people would give different answers! There is no right answer!"

Just them something clicked in Kurapika's mind, "no right answer... I get it! Leorio!"

Once again the old woman cut off another one of them, "wait!" She thought to herself, "looks like the little girl and the cat-eyed boy have figured it out." "Not another word from you either, say anything but the right answer, and you're immediately disqualified."

"Figure it out Leorio... It's a simple trick..." thought Kurapika. "Though I'm more worried about Gon, he hasn't said a word yet."

"Here is you're question," said the old woman, "you're sibling and closest friend have been kidnapped, you can only rescue one, 1. your closest family member, 2. Your closest friends. Who will you rescue?"

Clearly in rage Leorio seemed to begin to walk away as the old woman began to count down.

"Five."

"Go ahead and count down." Thought Leorio while picking up a large wooden stick nearby.

"Four."

"Three."

"Two."

Getting ready to do something rash Leorio began taking a few practice swings with the stick.

"One."

"Buzz. Time's up."

All of a sudden Leorio jumped over towards the old lady attempting to hit her with a downwards hit with the stick. However, he was stopped by both Mary and Kurapika, Mary had used her wires to changed the angle of the strike in an attempt to not hurt Leorio and Kurapika had used his wooden swords to block the attack entirely.

"Don't stop me you two! I wont be satisfied until I teach that old hag a lesson!"

"Cut it out Leorio!" "Calm down Leorio!" Said Kurapika and Mary respectively.

"How am I supposed to calm down?!"

Letting Kurapika explain she signaled for him to talk using her right hand.

"We passed the test. You want to put that in jeopardy?"

"Huh? We passed?" Asked Leorio.

"We gave the right answer. Silence was the correct response."

"Silence? What do you mean...?"

"Y-you yourself said it earlier, there is no right answer. But the old woman would only let us state 1 or 2. So, in other words we weren't supposed to respond at all. Silence was the only way we could answer correctly." Mary further explained.

"But what about that other guy?" Asked Leorio.

"She never said he was right she only said, 'you may pass.' In other words, this path is the wrong path." Turning to the old woman Kurapika continued, "Are we right?"

"Precisely," standing up she walked to the doors she previously exited, "the right path is over here. This leads directly to the tree, walk two hours and you'll reach the top."

"Oh, so that's what this was about..." Muttered Leorio, still processing what was told.

"A couple lives in that cabin beneath the cedar tree. They serve as Navigators. If you meet their standards, I believe they will guide you to the exam site."

Walking over to the old woman Leorio apologized, "Grandma, I'm sorry about my rudeness from earlier."

"It's quite alright." Said the old woman, "I do this job because I enjoy meeting people like you."

"Huh?" Asked Leorio.

"Do your best and become a great hunter." She said with a smile on her face.

Breathing out exasperatedly Gon fell onto his back, "It's no use, I can't think of an answer."

Laughing Leorio asked him, "You're still trying to find the answer? You can stop."

"Huh? Why?"

"The quiz is over." Explained Kurapika.

"I know, but... what happens if the time ever come where I need to make that decision? What should I do? It wouldn't be right to choose just one. But one day I might have to make that choice."

Silence filled the area for a while before Mary said something. "I-if the time ever comes when you need to make that decision, we'll help you make a third option, on where we can save everyone."

With a serious air around them the four continued onwards past the doors and through the dimly lit building.

The old woman turned to her assistants, "those four will make fine hunters. Now back into position everyone! We still have one more day."

Unbeknownst to anyone the imprint of her own nails was deeply rooted in the palm of her hand with droplets of a black-red liquid dripped onto the floor. "Number 2." She muttered. "I swear on my life I will never let you wrap your webs around me ever again, sister."

"Is something wrong Mary?" Asked Gon.

"O-of course not Gon! Hey do you want to have race over to the tree?" Asked Mary.

"Sure, loser buys the other person lunch!"

Like lightning the two dashed towards the tree.

"Hey! Wait for us!" Shouted Leorio.

"Looks like you're going to be paying Leorio." Whispered Kurapika as he caught up with the other two.

"Hey!!! At least give me chance!" Yelled Leorio while sprinting just to keep pace with the others.

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Author's thoughts

This is just a question, but would u guys like me to use something to indicate when someone is thinking? For example I could do something like *Oh no!* Mary thought. Just wondering. Also, I changed up the question the old woman asked for two reasons, as a corpse Mary wouldn't be able to have kids so the question wouldn't have any impact on her, and 2 Mary would be more affected by a "family" question anyway (since Bloody Mary is the only family she has left). Let me know about any mistakes I made with spelling and all of that.