Part 2: An X Adventure X Starts

SECCO RASVIN

The three of them went out of the room and out of curiosity, I also followed them on the storm. The wind was blowing heavily on the ship and the waves are getting bigger and bigger in the once beautiful sea. My hair and my clothes became completely wet but I didn't care.

At last, I found Gon who was standing, watching the fight between Kurapika and Leorio. They were about to fight in the middle of the storm and I noticed that some cargos that Katzo, the weakest workers among the group, were carrying were about to fall off the ship so I immediately made my move and keep them from falling.

I did save the cargos but unfortunately, Katzo fell off the ship passing the two men on a battle. "Katzo!!" I ran towards the position where he fell and I saw that Kurapika and Leorio tried to get him up but they couldn't make it.

Katzo was one of the workers here and like what I see captain, he is also my friend. I was about to lost hope when suddenly, Gon rushed towards the corner where he fell, and the time moved in slow motion as he jumped out of the ship, trying to catch the fallen Katzo and I don't know if he successfully caught him or not. To keep away Gon from falling on the sea, Kurapika and Leorio immediately caught his two legs and pulled him on the ship.

I saw Katzo being held by Gon, all wet because of the rain and the splashing waves they have encountered down there. Katzo thanked them all for saving a helpless man like him.

The storm finally went out but I still didn't move an inch in where I stand earlier, watching the three exam participants' every move, as the two men apologized to each other and became friends, especially that Gon person. I was surprised. I was very surprised. And inspired by what they did. So my eyes began to sparkle from the sunlight, my mouth fully opened welcoming a fly to come in.

They just... saved a person...

We've reached Dolle Harbor, the town near the Zaban City, and which one of the navigators of the exam awaits. I approached the captain who was just standing, again, watching the sea who was very tremendous an hour ago.

"Captain!~"

"What is it, Secco he asked, still watching the sea and didn't lean to me.

"I want to be... a hunter I shouted as I gave him an optimistic smile and sparkling eyes, but I also gripped my hands, formed into fists, nervous of what he was about to say. Other than a friend, I see him as my father and he also treats me like his daughter, so this decision of mine is very difficult for him to accept. My heart started to beat faster and faster.

"Why?"

"Because... I want to become stronger, strong enough to protect the people who were precious to me, and at the same time, to know about the burden that I was carrying." I was deadly serious right now but still has those sparkles stuck in my eyes and a very large smirk. I want to protect my friends, my loved ones, with my own power and strength.

I also looked at my left arm, covered by bandages from my shoulders towards the tip of my fingers. And this is also another reason, so I can find more about this burden that I can't even dare to look at.

After a few minutes, he sighed in front of me and looked at me directly in the face. "I have no choice. I have no right to oppose your decision," he said which made me very happy. "But... in one condition, don't ever come back here, ever again."

It sounds very sad when he said it, but I just nodded happily and jumped over him to gave him my last big hug. I packed my things and still wearing my two-piece,waitress-like dress, and my favorite white knee socks and brown shoes. I always liked them since the captain gave it to me on my first day here on the ship. I waved at my co-workers while some cried. I also treat them as my brothers so it's also very hard to say goodbye to them. I won't be seeing them again anymore, because that's what the captain said to me. Don't ever come back.

I saw the three participants, Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio, who got out of the ship and started to walk towards the port and followed them.

"Gon!~"

I shouted as I waved my hand to him. He leaned over and finally, saw me running towards their direction. He also waved his hand and called my name.

"Secco! Over here!"

He stopped walking, including his two companions, just to wait for me to catch up with them. Because I ran as fast as I can, I gathered some air into my lungs and smiled at them widely.

"This is my friend, Secco."

He introduced me to his two friends named Leorio and Kurapika.

"Oh! She's the daughter of the captain, right?" Leorio asked but no one answered his nonsense question that requires only common sense. Although I'm not, I just keep my mouth shut. "I am Leorio. Nice to meet you."

"I am Kurapika." the blonde man smiled at me with his pretty face as I smiled back to them.

"Secco, what are you doing here?"

Gon asked as he walked closer to me.

" Me too, I also want to be a hunter!~" I said happily as I showed them my both hands formed into fists. "I was inspired by what you did earlier!~"

They all flattered because I'm saying something so embarrassing but I don't care as long as I can express my true feelings. Gon is still smiling at me and lends out his hand for me to get up from dropping.

"Then let's go, Secco!"

I nodded and accepted his hand. We started to walk deeper into the town. Making friends makes me happy, I can't help but smile widely as I watched my three companions walked.

On our way, we've encountered a very large map of the town displayed in the center of the road, causing intersection.

"Which way should we go?" Kurapika asked as he looked in both ways.

"The captain said we should go that way." Gon said as he pointed on the left intersection.

"No, no. There is a bus here, this is way faster!" Leorio pointed out the bus that looks like has been waiting for passengers for hours.

"I think I should go with Gon since the captain said so." Kurapika also pointed to the left intersection.

"Me too!~" I raised my hand to get their attention and smiled.

Later, Leorio, who tried to ride the bus, have no choice but to go with us and started to make some lame excuses, but we know that he just found out that Gon was right. We've reached a deserted town with no one else can be seen except some crows hanging in some cables above. Then, an old lady, with some masked companions, started to ask us a question and she wouldn't let us passed until we've answered the question correctly.

"If you saw your lover and your mother getting drowned, who would you save first?"

I really don't know how to answer this question. I don't know who is my true mother and I don't have any love interest, and besides, I'm too young for those kinds of things.

Leorio started to get upset and grabbed a large piece of wood he got from the ground. He was about the attack the old lady with the wood but Kurapika stopped him with his two wooden swords. Kurapika told him that he already knew the answer and it was actually 'silence' for you can't decide which person will you choose. Yeah... that really makes sense. Wow! Kurapika is really smart!

The old lady leads us into a secret passage towards the cedar tree where our navigators are waiting. Gon stuck in the question until we've reached into a house near the cedar tree.

Leorio tried to knock on the door of the house but no one answered.

"Maybe... something bad happened..." I muttered loud enough for them to hear. They can't help themselves and opened the door by force.

Inside, we saw a large creature with a fox-like face holding a lady in its arms really hard, and a man lying on the floor, injured. When we understood their situation, we immediately moved and tried to save the girl but the creature got away. We just learned that the creature was Kiriko, as the injured told us about it like they can transform into humans or copied another human.

"Gon and I will try to save the lady. You two must treat that man!" Kurapika ordered as we all nodded at the same time. They immediately left the house and Leorio and I was the only one left.

I just watched Leorio treated the man with some strange tribal tattoos in his arm. Somehow he looks suspicious, this man. Leorio was finished treating him and the man thanked him for his treatment. He was amazing, that Leorio! He has some medicinal skills! I thought he was just a good for nothing! Maybe he wasn't joining the hunter exam for money. Now, it's my turn!

"Hey, Leorio? Do you have a knife?!~" I asked as I act like a child, reaching my both hands to him and like asking for candy.

"I have. What are you gonna do about it?"

"Just some experiments! My knives are too small!~" I winked with a wide smile. He opened, again, his briefcase and lend his knife to me, curious about what I'm gonna do.

I checked the knife that I was holding as the two men watched me, curious about what I'm gonna do. It was not sharp but this is enough. Then, I suddenly jumped above the injured man so he couldn't move, and pointed the sharp edge of the knife near his neck.

"W-What are you doing, Secco?!" Leorio shouted of a surprise but I didn't listen. The man below me was also surprised because of my attack.

"Stop pretending now. I know who you are."

"W-What do you mean?"

I put the knife closer to his neck because he wasn't answering me. I let out a sigh and tried to explain. "Kurapika said that Kirikos were able to copy or transform into humans. So that means... maybe you are also a Kiriko and you're just playing with us."

After a long silence without any response to the injured men as Leorio was thinking deeply of what I said, putting his fingers and let his chin rest to them. "Now that you've mentioned it..."

The injured man suddenly formed a grin out of his lips and laughed. "Haha. I am impressed with you, little girl. Now, can you get off of me?"

I get off of his body but still pointing the knife to him, getting ready if he's going to attack, although, I'm kinda little scared while holding it.

"I am one of the Kirikos living here in the house but trust me, we won't hurt you. We have a special reason for doing this."

Since the Kiriko in front of us aren't telling everything, we just wait for our two friends to come back. I returned the knife to Leorio, scared that I might injure someone.

"You were amazing, Secco! Being able to do that at such a young age!" he spoke which made me flattered and rubbed my head.

"Hehe. Actually I'm scared when I'm holding a knife but I realized that he might attack if I can't corner him! Thankfully, one of my friends taught me how to use a knife for self-defense!~"

After an hour of waiting, we saw Gon and Kurapika walking back with a smile on their face while some Kirikos and the lady that was kidnapped were walking beside them. They explained their plan and told us that they were navigators for the exam.

"Gon, you passed because of your great observational skills. You spotted the difference between identical Kirikos."

"Kurapika, you passed because you were able to identify the meaning of these ancient symbols in my arms."

I was amazed by what the two boys did when we weren't there. They are really amazingly amazing! Gon gave Kurapika a fist bump.

"Leorio, you didn't see through our plan..." the injured man said resulting Leorio to be embarrassed and had the feeling that he might fail. "... but you have a great talent in doctoring, so you've passed."

Leorio dropped to the ground, thankful that he had passed. Gon also gave him a fist bump.

"And lastly, Secco, you've passed because of your deductive skills, you were able to identify that there is something wrong in our actions."

I smiled happily and jumped for joy because of what I heard.

"Yay!~" I shouted happily.

"Nice work, Secco!" Gon gave me a fist bump which I accepted. I was kinda embarrassed when the navigator said that I have some deductive skills. Well... my favorite hobby is deducing someone, I didn't think that that actually helped. I was actually studying court, law, and anything.

The Kirikos lead us towards the exam site the reason why I am very excited about what's gonna happen next. Maybe I was able to meet some new friends other than Gon and the others? Hmm... or maybe some amazing people that I've never seen before?

We've finally reached the exam site. We all looked at the building where the exam was being held, it was very tall and huge, that our jaws were almost fell.

"Amazing!" Gon and I said both in unison.

"You can tell that," Leorio said as he looked up.

"Guys, what are you looking at? This is the exam site!" the navigator shouted at us and pointed at a restaurant. We all dropped our heads and sweat dropped on our forehead. We didn't expect that the hunter exam was being held in a restaurant.

Maybe the test was an eating contest! Great, I'm really hungry!

The navigators entered the restaurant while we followed him. He said something to the chef about order and lead us to the back room. The order turned out to be just a password, and that made me disappointed, like Gon.

I was really hungry right now, I wished I brought some food for my stomach. The backroom suddenly starts to shake and it was actually an elevator.

When it reached B100, the door opened and on the other side of the elevator is a crowd of tough people. They all turned their heads to us as the newcomers and gave us a deadly glare. Looks like they weren't friendly at all. This is really the Hunter exam.