Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was late morning. Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio were in Kurapika’s car. They were carpooling to save gas, and also because they were all going on a trip together. To be specific, a canoe camping trip. They were going to meet up with Ponzu and Pokkle at the park as well so the six of them could go on the trip together. Kurapika was driving, Leorio was in the passenger seat, Killua was in the backseat behind Kurapika, and Gon was in the backseat behind Leorio. 

“How long’s the drive going to be?” Gon asked. 

“The drive there is three and a half hours,” Kurapika replied. “We’ve been driving for one hour, so we have two and a half hours left. We’ll arrive at the park in early afternoon, so we should be able to get to our site and set up camp in time for dinner, but we’ll have to have lunch in the car.” 

“I packed us lunches,” Leorio said. “Kurapika, did you make sure to get enough gas last night so we wouldn’t have to stop for gas?” 

“I did,” Kurapika replied. 

“Great,” Leorio said. “So we should be all set to get there without any–” 

“Actually… um…” Gon scratched the back of his head. 

“What is it, Gon?” Kurapika asked. 

“I need to use the washroom…” 

“What!?” Leorio practically yelled. “It’s only been an hour and the drive is only three and a half hours! Anyone should be able to use the washroom before leaving and then not need to go during the drive!” 

“I… I forgot to use the washroom before we left…” 

“WHAT!?” 

“Gon, you’re unbelievable,” Killua said. “I don’t know if I should laugh or roll my eyes.” 

“I’ll stop at the nearest gas station,” Kurapika said. 

… 

As soon as they made it to a gas station, Kurapika pulled into the gas station. Gon jumped out of the car and went into the building to use the washroom. 

“I’ll be right back,” Killua said. 

“What? You’re leaving too?” Leorio sighed. “This is going to take us forever…” 

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back before Gon’s out of the washroom.” 

Killua jumped out of the car and closed the door behind him. He entered the building and looked around. As expected, the shelves were full of different kinds of snacks. 

Eventually, he came across what he was looking for. The chocolate robots. 

“Jackpot!” Killua thought. “Gas stations are awesome for always having chocolate robots!” 

“You want the chocolate robots?” the person running the store asked. 

Killua nodded. “Yeah. All of them.” 

“All of them? Well then. That’ll be 10000 jenny.” 

“Here,” Killua handed the person a 10000 jenny bill. 

Then, he picked up all of the chocolate robots and carried them out of the store, heading back to the car. Right then, Gon was arriving back from the washroom. 

“Killua! Did you need to use the washroom too?” Gon asked. 

“Me? No, I didn’t,” Killua replied. “I was buying chocolate robots.” 

The two of them got in the car with Kurapika and Leorio, and the four of them drove away. Killua’s chocolate robot stash sat in the backseat between Killua and Gon. 

“Wow,” Gon said. “You sure got a lot.” 

“I’ve gotten a lot more before,” Killua said. “But the gas station didn’t have as many as I would usually get. I would usually get a lot more.” 

“Killua, I swear, how the actual heck do you not have cavities?” Leorio genuinely wanted to know. 

Killua shrugged. “Hey, if poison doesn’t wreck my teeth, I don’t think chocolate will.” 

“Good point,” Leorio said. 

Later, Killua already had eaten a bunch of his chocolate robots. He was now staring out the window. 

“I’m bored,” Killua said. 

“Do you want to play the alphabet game?” Gon asked. 

“The alphabet game?” Killua asked. “What’s that?” 

“From A to Z, we look for each letter of the alphabet,” Gon said. “It can be found anywhere outside of the car, and we have to spot each letter in alphabetical order. When you spot one, you yell out the letter and the word it’s in. Or if it’s on a license plate or something like that, you just point to it.” 

“Okay,” Killua said. “I guess it sounds fun.” 

“A! Arrival!” Gon pointed at a sign with the word “arrival” on it. 

“B! Blackberry!” Killua pointed at a sign with the word “blackberry” on it. 

“C! Camping!” Leorio pointed at a sign with the word “camping” on it. 

“You’re playing too?” Killua asked. 

“Why not,” Leorio said. 

“D! Driving!” Gon pointed at a sign with the word “driving” on it. 

“E! Environment!” Killua pointed at a sign with the word “environment” on it. 

“F! Forest!” Leorio pointed at a sign with the word “forest” on it. 

“G! Great!” Killua pointed at a sign with the word “great” on it. 

“H! Hunter!” Gon pointed at a sign with the word “hunter” on it. 

“I! In!” Killua pointed at a sign with the word “in” on it. 

The three of them looked for the letter J, but weren’t able to find one for a while. 

“J is hard,” Gon said. “K probably will be as well.” 

“Yeah, they’re the most uncommon letters so far,” Leorio said. 

After a while, Leorio spotted J on the license plate of a car beside them. 

“J! The license plate!” Leorio pointed at the license plate with the letter J on it. 

It took them a while to find K, but they eventually found it as well. 

“K! License plate!” Killua pointed at a license plate with the letter K on it. 

“Awesome!” Gon said. 

“L! Learn!” Killua pointed at a sign with the word “learn” on it. 

“M! More!” Leorio pointed at a sign with the word “more” on it. 

“N! Nothing!” Gon pointed at a sign with the word “nothing” on it. 

“O! Over!” Leorio pointed at a sign with the word “over” on it. 

“P! Parking!” Killua pointed at a sign with the word “parking” on it. 

Then they looked for Q. They had to wait for a while before finding it on a license plate. 

“Q! License plate!” Killua pointed at the license plate with the letter Q on it. 

“Finally,” Leorio said. 

“R! Road!” Gon pointed at a sign with the word “road” on it. 

“S! Shut the fuck up so I can get us there!” Kurapika shouted. 

Silence. 

“Were you waiting until S so that you could say that?” Leorio asked. 

“Yes! I was! But of course S is almost at the end of the alphabet!” 

“Could we finish the alphabet? Please?” Gon pleaded. “We only have eight letters left including S!” 

Kurapika sighed. “Alright, fine.” 

Gon beamed. “Yay!” 

“S! Stock!” Killua pointed at a sign with the word “stock” on it. 

“T! Tire!” Leorio pointed at a sign with the word “tire” on it. 

“U! Ultra!” Gon pointed at a sign with the word “ultra” on it. 

“V! Very!” Killua pointed at a sign with the word “very” on it. 

“W! Win!” Leorio pointed at a sign with the word “win” on it. 

X took them a while, as they looked for a license plate with the letter X on it. Eventually, Leorio found one. 

“X! The license plate!” Leorio pointed at the license plate with the letter X on it. 

“Awesome! Now we just need Z!” Gon said. 

“Z! Zoo!” Killua pointed at a sign with the word “zoo” on it. 

“Now what?” Kurapika asked. 

“We won’t be playing the alphabet game anymore,” Gon said. “But I want to play would you rather!” 

Kurapika sighed. “Alright. Just try not to be too loud.” 

“Right!” Gon said. “Okay, Killua, would you rather never change clothes again for the rest of your life, or never buy chocolate again for the rest of your life?” 

“Easy. Never buy chocolate again for the rest of my life–” 

“Huh,” Leorio said. “I’m honestly surprised. You have some regard for your health after all.” 

“–honestly I’d rather not buy it even as of now. I’d rather steal it. I wouldn’t have any trouble stealing chocolate for the rest of my life.” 

Leorio frowned. “I take back what I said.” 

“Uh… let me change the question,” Gon said. “Would you rather never change clothes again for the rest of your life or never eat chocolate at all again for the rest of your life?” 

“Never change clothes again for the rest of my life,” Killua said. “For sure.” 

“Man,” Leorio said. “You have no regard for your health at all.” 

They continued on their drive until they finally arrived at the park where they were going to be camping. They parked their car in the parking lot by the lake. 

“I’ll go get our canoe,” Leorio said. 

“Right,” Kurapika said. “We’ll unload the car while we wait.” 

Leorio left to go get the canoe while Kurapika, Gon, and Killua unloaded the car. 

“Just bring the stuff down to the beach,” Kurapika said. “We’ll load it into the canoe once Leorio’s back.” 

Gon nodded. “Right.” 

The three of them took multiple trips down to the beach. After a while, they had finally unloaded everything they needed for their trip. They locked the car and sat on the shore of the beach waiting. 

They didn’t plan on portaging, and so they were going to be camping on the access lake, a large lake with clear blue water known as Blue Forest Lake. The lake had tall cliffs and a thick forest surrounding it. The leaves of the deciduous trees in the forest would normally be green, just like the needles of the coniferous ones, but as it was fall, they had turned gold and were falling. A lot of the leaves had fallen on the lake as well, creating a mix of blue and gold. Combining the water, the coniferous trees, and the deciduous trees, Blue Forest Lake was a mix of blue, green, and gold. It was very beautiful. 

“Beautiful lake, isn’t it?” a voice asked. 

It was Pokkle, and Ponzu was with him as well. 

“Pokkle-san, Ponzu-san,” Gon said. “Great to see you!” 

“Did you two just arrive?” Kurapika asked. 

“Us? No, we’ve been here for a while,” Pokkle replied. 

“Yeah, we were waiting for you,” Ponzu said. She gestured to their canoe, which was upside down on the shore of the lake. Their bags were beside it on the ground. 

“I see,” Kurapika said. 

“Where’s Leorio?” Pokkle asked, looking around. 

“He went to get the canoe,” Killua said. “We unloaded our car in the meantime. We’re done now, so we’re just waiting on him.” 

“Ah, I see,” Pokkle said. “Well, hopefully he will get here soon.” 

Not too long later, Leorio arrived with the canoe. 

“Whoa… it’s big!” Gon’s eyes widened. “Way bigger than the canoe Ponzu-san and Pokkle-san are using!” 

“Of course it is,” Leorio said, placing the canoe in the water. “This thing needs to be able to fit the four of us and all of our stuff at the same time.” 

Leorio, Kurapika, Killua, and Gon worked together to load their canoe. 

Ponzu and Pokkle loaded their own boat together at the same time. 

Soon enough, they were finished. The six of them put on their life jackets, grabbed their paddles, and got in their respective canoes. 

“We have the map, so we’ll lead,” Pokkle said. “You guys just follow us.” 

“Understood,” Kurapika said. 

… 

Pokkle was in the back of the boat, steering. Ponzu was in the front of the boat, navigating. 

“Okay, Ponzu, just tell me where to go,” Pokkle said. “I’ll take us there.” 

“Got it,” Ponzu said. 

She examined the map of Blue Forest Lake. The lake wasn’t small, but it wasn’t all that large either. It was a medium sized lake. There were quite a few islands in the center of the lake. Some of them had sites on them, but the majority of them didn’t. 

The site Ponzu, Pokkle, Leorio, Kurapika, Killua and Gon were going to be staying at was a fairly large site. It needed to be, in order to fit all of them. It also had its own beach, and there was a cliff right beside it that was supposedly accessible from the site through a trail in the forest. 

The site and the access point were marked on the map, so it was very easy for Ponzu to find directions to it from the access point. 

“The site is at the back of the lake,” Ponzu said. “So straight ahead.” 

“Alright,” Pokkle said. 

… 

Kurapika was in the back of the boat, steering. Leorio was in the center of the boat, paddling. Gon was in the front of the boat, looking around to make sure they didn’t run into anything. Killua was right behind him, paddling. 

“I wonder what our site is going to be like,” Gon said. 

“I don’t know,” Leorio said. 

“Neither do I,” Kurapika said. 

“Ponzu and Pokkle know,” Leorio said. “They’re the ones who know where the site is, after all.” 

… 

Ponzu and Pokkle arrived at the site. The front of the site was up high above on a large amount of rock, so there was nowhere for them to put their boat. They went around the site to where the beach was, and got out there. Once they had brought all of their things out of the boat, they lifted it out of the water and laid it down on the ground upside down. 

Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio arrived soon after. They unloaded their canoe and then brought it out of the water as well, turning it upside down before laying it down on the ground. 

“Okay,” Pokkle said. “So… this is our site.” 

“Killua, let’s explore!” Gon said excitedly. 

“Not so fast,” Leorio said. “We have to set up camp first.” 

The six of them went to the edge of the beach where there was a trail leading up to the main area of their site. They brought their bags there and left them along the benches by the fireplace. 

“I’ll go take the canoe out to fill the water filter,” Kurapika said. 

“I’ll go find good places for the tents,” Ponzu said. “A smaller one will be fine for the tent Pokkle and I will be using, but we’ll need a bigger one for the tent the four of you will be using.” 

“I’ll come with you,” Pokkle said. “I’ll bring the tents and bedding as well so we can completely set them up.” 

“I’ll set up the tarps, then,” Leorio said. “Gon, Killua, could you help me do that?” 

Gon and Killua both nodded. 

The six of them split up to go complete their respective tasks in setting up camp. 

… 

Ponzu and Pokkle found a good place for their tent at the edge of the campsite. Pokkle set up their tent, a small blueish gray tent for two people, and Ponzu went inside to set up the inside of the tent. She had her thermarest, Pokkle’s thermarest, her sleeping bag, and Pokkle’s sleeping bag. 

Ponzu inflated her black thermarest and placed it on the left side of the tent. Then, she pulled her dark turquoise sleeping bag out of its bag and arranged it on her thermarest. 

After that, she inflated Pokkle’s gray thermarest and placed it on the right side of the tent. Then, she pulled Pokkle’s dark purple sleeping bag out of its bag and arranged it on Pokkle’s thermarest. 

Ponzu lifted up the black bag her sleeping bag had been in and reached inside. At the bottom was her inflatable pillow. She inflated it and placed it inside her sleeping bag. 

Then she lifted up the gray bag Pokkle’s sleeping bag had been in and reached inside. At the bottom was Pokkle’s inflatable pillow. She inflated it and placed it inside Pokkle’s sleeping bag. 

“There,” Ponzu thought. “Our camping beds are set up.” 

… 

Pokkle had found a good place for Leorio, Kurapika, Killua, and Gon’s tent. He had just finished setting it up when he noticed Leorio approaching him. 

“I’ve set up our tarps, but I’m not sure where you want yours,” Leorio said. “Where do you want it?” 

“I’ll do it,” Pokkle said. “But I was just about to go and find you guys to ask you about your bedding. I just finished setting up your tent, but I don’t know where you packed your bedding or how you want it set up.” 

“We can handle that,” Leorio said. “What do you say we switch tasks?” 

Pokkle nodded. “Sure.” 

Pokkle went to set up the tarps he and Ponzu had brought while Leorio, Gon, and Killua set up the bedding in their tent. Kurapika, who soon got back with their now full water filter, helped out with the bedding as well. 

Soon enough, the four of them had finished setting up their bedding, and Pokkle had finished setting up the remaining tarps. Ponzu had finished setting up her and Pokkle’s tent as well. After the six of them completed a few more tasks and successfully set up camp, they met together at the front of the site to make and eat their dinner. 

They had already worked out who was going to be in charge of dinner when. They would be alternating. Ponzu and Pokkle were going to be in charge on the first night, Leorio and Kurapika were going to be in charge on the second night, Ponzu and Pokkle were going to be in charge on the third night, Leorio and Kurapika were going to be in charge on the fourth night, Ponzu and Pokkle were going to be in charge on the fifth night, and Leorio and Kurapika were going to be in charge on the sixth night. 

It was the first night, and so Ponzu and Pokkle were in charge. They were making a rice dish for dinner. After they were finished making it, the six of them ate together. 

“Wow, it’s really good!” Gon said, his eyes sparkling. 

“Yes,” Killua said, continuing to eat. 

“I agree,” Kurapika said. “It’s delicious.” 

“Yeah, it is,” Leorio said. 

“Of course it is,” Pokkle said. “Ponzu and my cooking is the best.” 

Ponzu breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. I wasn’t sure how well it would turn out when we made it camping and all. It’s not like we were able to use fresh ingredients.” 

“It’s great nonetheless,” Leorio said. “Wait, you didn’t use fresh ingredients?” 

Ponzu shook her head no. 

“I never would’ve been able to tell,” Leorio said. 

“I am in agreement with Leorio,” Kurapika said. “Something about the way you cook it makes it taste fresh and revitalizing.” 

“That’s high praise right there,” Pokkle said. 

After dinner, they all engaged in multiple of their own activities before going to bed. 

Ponzu wrote in her journal in her and Pokkle’s tent. 

Pokkle read a book he had brought in his and Ponzu’s tent. 

Killua, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika played several games with a deck of playing cards while in their tent. 

Then the six of them eventually went to sleep in their respective tents, completely oblivious to the fact that they were being watched very closely. 

… 

From far away, atop a tree on a cliff, Hisoka looked out at the scenery of Blue Forest Lake. The majority of the campers on the lake had already gone to bed in their tents. The remaining campers were almost all gathered around campfires participating in various campfire activities, the smoke from the fires wafting up into the sky and filling the night air. 

Below the cliff, not too far along the shore, there was a particular group of campers that he was watching. They had just gone to bed. From what he could see, they were on the large site with a beach. 

“Oh, so their site is right next to ours,” Hisoka thought. “What a wonderful coincidence.” 

He jumped off the tree and headed back through the forest to his site. Or rather, to the site he was sharing with one other person. 

“You’re back,” Illumi said. “What was that all about?” 

“Their site is right next to ours,” Hisoka said. “It’s the large site with a beach.” 

“Yes, I am aware,” Illumi said. “It was easy to find out where Kil was going with them since one has to book not only individual lakes, but individual sites on those lakes. I am the one who told you where they were going to be. This is not new information. Why did you feel the need to go look for them now?” 

“I wanted to see them for myself.” 

“Hmm. I see.” 

Illumi looked up at the night sky, which was filled with stars. Hisoka followed his gaze. 

“Perhaps this camping trip won’t be as boring as I first thought,” Illumi said. “…though I suppose nothing is ever boring with YOU around.”

Chapter Text

The next morning, Ponzu woke up to the faint smell of oatmeal. She opened her eyes and saw the ceiling of her and Pokkle’s tent above her. 

However, she was alone in the tent. She looked over at Pokkle’s bed and noticed he wasn’t there. 

Ponzu slowly sat up. 

“Ow… my neck hurts,” Ponzu thought. 

There were many things she disliked about camping, and the sleeping situation was one of the main ones. She often woke up with pains– especially in her neck and back– due to it. 

“Is that oatmeal?” Ponzu thought about the smell in the air. “It must be. I guess Pokkle already got up and decided to make breakfast.” 

She put on her black sweater before going outside. Then, she opened up the door of the tent, put her camping boots on, stepped out of the tent, and closed the door of the tent back up behind her. Then she headed down to the main area of the site. Sure enough, Pokkle was by the fireplace making oatmeal for breakfast. 

“Good morning, Ponzu,” Pokkle said, smiling. “Breakfast is almost ready.” 

“Okay…” Ponzu mumbled, still half asleep. 

She sat down on one of the benches around the fireplace and looked out at the lake. It was shrouded in the morning fog. It looked as if the landscape had been previously drawn on paper, and then, at some point while they were sleeping, someone had taken an eraser and erased everything beyond a certain distance from them. 

“In case you’re wondering where the others are, Leorio and Kurapika are still sleeping,” Pokkle said. 

“I assumed they would probably still be sleeping,” Ponzu said. “Wait– just Leorio and Kurapika? What about Killua and Gon?” 

“They went off to explore the forest,” Pokkle replied. “They woke up after I did, but before I had started making breakfast. They said they had wanted to explore the forest yesterday, but never got the chance, so they wanted to do it today first thing in the morning. I told them to be back by the time breakfast was ready, so they should be back soon.” 

“I see.” 

… 

“We should head back now,” Gon said. “I think Pokkle’s finished making breakfast.” 

“How do you know that?” Killua asked. 

“I smell cooked oatmeal,” Gon replied. 

“From this far away?” Killua raised an eyebrow. “We’re nowhere near the campsite!” 

“Huh? But it’s really easy to smell! Especially since we’re downwind.” 

“Whatever, just– let’s go. If you’re sure breakfast is ready, we should get back to the site.” 

The two of them headed back to the campsite and went to the main area of the site. 

Ponzu was sitting on one of the benches around the fireplace. She was wearing her usual camping outfit– long black pants and black camping boots with a dark turquoise shirt and a black sweater. She had already gotten her bowl of oatmeal from Pokkle and was eating it with one of the camping sporks. 

Pokkle was sitting in front of the pot of finished oatmeal. He smirked upon seeing Gon and Killua. 

“You’re late.” 

“We are?” Gon asked. “But we ran all the way here as soon as we smelled the fresh oatmeal!” 

“Well, you didn’t make it in time,” Pokkle said. “You were pretty close though. I only got time to serve Ponzu before you two made it back.” 

Pokkle served two more bowls of oatmeal and handed one to each of them, each with one of the camping sporks. 

“Here.” 

“Thanks!” Gon said. 

“Yeah, thanks,” Killua said. 

The two boys sat down on the benches beside the fireplace to eat their breakfast. 

Soon enough, Leorio and Kurapika arrived. Pokkle served two more bowls of oatmeal and handed one to each of them, each with one of the camping sporks as well. 

The two of them thanked Pokkle and then sat down on the benches as well to eat their breakfast. 

Finally, Pokkle served himself the remaining oatmeal, which was just enough for him. Not too much, not too little. 

“It looks like I calculated it perfectly,” Pokkle thought. 

He grabbed one of the camping sporks and sat down beside Ponzu to eat his breakfast. 

“So, what do we want to do today?” Pokkle asked. 

“I want to keep exploring the forest with Killua!” Gon said excitedly. 

“What about after that?” Pokkle asked. 

“Hmm…” Gon tapped his chin in thought. “I’ll think about it then!” 

Pokkle stared at Gon with a dubious expression on his face. “Right…” 

“We can go do that,” Killua said. “But only if you teach me how to go fishing later with your fishing rod, okay?” 

“Deal!” Gon said. 

“I know I certainly want to get some good pictures of this lake,” Pokkle said. “I’m planning on heading out on Ponzu and my boat after breakfast. I’ll be bringing my camera with me, of course, and I’ll probably be going to those islands in the center of the lake for a better view.” 

“Is it okay if I come?” Ponzu asked. “It sounds interesting.” 

“Of course,” Pokkle replied. “Leorio, Kurapika, either of you want to come?” 

“I’ll pass for now,” Leorio said. “But let me know if any of the islands have anything interesting. Then maybe we can all go together at some point.” 

“I agree with Leorio,” Kurapika said. 

“Then it’s settled,” Pokkle said. “Ponzu and I will be back in time for lunch. Can you both handle that?” 

“We can,” Kurapika said. “It’s the least we can do after you woke up early and made breakfast for us. What time should we have lunch?” 

“What time do you want to have lunch, Ponzu?” Pokkle asked. 

“12:00 works,” Ponzu replied. 

“12:00 it is,” Leorio said. 

Ponzu and Pokkle left, taking their boat with them. They had Pokkle’s camera in its purple dry bag, strapped to the back of the boat. Ponzu had their map, in its transparent waterproof bag. She was carrying it in the front with her. Both of them were wearing their life jackets. Ponzu had brought her paddle, but it was currently sitting in the boat, as there was no need to use it at the moment. Pokkle was the one paddling and steering from the back. 

Pokkle looked around. “It’s a nice day for photography, isn’t it?” 

“Yes,” Ponzu agreed. 

The sun was hidden behind a blanket of overcast clouds in the sky. The water was calm, with no wind at all. The only thing moving the water was Pokkle’s paddle as he moved and steered the boat. 

The lake was silent. 

Pokkle stopped them in the middle of the lake, when they were equal distance from the islands and the shore. 

“Okay, this looks like a good spot for the first few,” Pokkle said. 

He took out his camera and took some pictures of the lake, some pictures of the islands, and some pictures of the forested areas along the shore. 

“Alright,” Pokkle said, putting his camera away again. “Now let’s go to the islands. First, though, you’ll have to tell me which ones have sites and which ones don’t. We can’t go to the ones that have sites, as someone may be staying there.” 

“Right,” Ponzu said. “Okay… so… there are three bigger islands, and five smaller ones. None of the smaller ones have sites on them. Two of the bigger ones have sites on them, but…” 

“But…?” Pokkle waited for Ponzu to finish her sentence. 

“I…” Ponzu examined the map closely. “The biggest island by far doesn’t have a campsite. It’s… surprising. It looks to me like it should have everything necessary for a campsite. Why doesn’t it have one?” 

Pokkle frowned. “Hmm. That’s weird. Still, I’m sure we’ll be able to find out if we go there, so let’s go.” 

Ponzu nodded. “Alright.” 

Leorio and Kurapika had set up their hammocks by the lake and were lying down in them. Leorio was taking a nap, while Kurapika was reading a book. 

“Hmm… I wonder how Ponzu and Pokkle are doing…” Kurapika thought. 

He looked out at the surface of the lake. He saw Ponzu and Pokkle in their boat. They appeared to be heading to one of the islands on the lake. 

His thoughts were interrupted by Gon and Killua, who ran up to Leorio and Kurapika’s hammocks as fast as they could. They were both covered in tree leaves, dirt, twigs, and other things from the forest. 

“Goal!” Gon and Killua yelled in unison. Then they stopped to catch their breath. 

“I did it! I won!” Gon exclaimed. “I finally beat you, Killua!” 

“You did not,” Killua said. “Don’t get ahead of yourself.” 

“Huh? But I totally did!” 

“No you absolutely did NOT!” 

“I did!” 

“Did not!” 

“Did too!” 

“Hey, Kurapika, which of us got here first!?” Gon and Killua asked in unison. 

Kurapika blinked. He had been reading his book. He had no idea which of them had gotten there first. It looked to him like they had both gotten there at the same time, but he knew saying that would just spark another contest between them which he would also fail to resolve, and it would continue forever. 

Right then, Leorio was waking up. He sat up and rubbed his head. 

“Hey! What’s with all the noise!?” Leorio asked angrily. “I’m trying to sleep here!” 

“Leorio! Which of us got here first!?” Gon and Killua asked in unison. 

“Eh!? I have no fucking clue!” Leorio lay back down and closed the top of the hammock. “I’m trying to sleep!” 

Kurapika tried to think back to when Killua and Gon had both arrived. 

“By the time I looked at them, they were already arriving,” Kurapika thought. “Who got here first? Who was it? Was it Gon? Was it Killua? Did they both arrive at the same time? I can’t remember at all. Killua was the one who most likely won, but Gon has been catching up to him lately.” 

“Kurapika, are you going to answer our question?” Gon asked. 

“Yeah,” Killua said. “We need someone to tell us. Someone who was watching us both.” 

“I was not watching you,” Kurapika said the truth, plain and simple. 

“So we need to race again?” Gon asked. 

“Yeah, we do,” Killua said. “We’ll go back to where we started. And Kurapika, make sure you’re paying attention this time!” 

Gon and Killua ran back into the forest. 

Kurapika sighed. “Why…” 

… 

Ponzu and Pokkle arrived at the biggest island in Blue Forest Lake. It was almost entirely forested, and there was only one entrance. It was at the end of the island, which had a beach for them to park their boat. 

They got out of the boat, bringing their life jackets, paddles, and Pokkle’s camera with them. Then they lifted their canoe out of the water and turned it upside down before laying it down on the ground. 

Where the beach met the forest, there was a stone tablet beside the trail leading into the forest. 

There was something written on it. It read: 

BLUE FOREST ISLAND 

Ponzu examined the map. According to the map, the island was unnamed. There was no name for the island listed on the map. But there was a stone tablet indicating one. 

“This is unusual,” Ponzu said. 

“Yeah,” Pokkle said. “This is REALLY unusual.” 

They walked past the stone tablet and through the forest, leaving their canoe, life jacket, and paddles on the beach, but bringing the map and Pokkle’s camera. 

As they were walking through the forest, they found out that this forest looked… different. It didn’t look at all like the forests surrounding Blue Forest Lake. The trees appeared to be coniferous. All of them. Because of that, there were no leaves on the ground. Only needles. The ground was covered in their needles. The needles of the trees weren’t green, and the trunks of the trees weren’t brown. Or rather, if they were, it was very dark and/or faint. The tree needles appeared dark gray, while the tree trunks appeared black. It was unusual. 

Pokkle took out his camera and tried to take pictures of the trees, but that was when he noticed something VERY strange. 

Through his camera, the trees looked the exact same as the ones that made up the forest surrounding the lake. It was the same when he used binoculars, which was undoubtedly why they hadn’t noticed this about the island sooner. From a certain distance, as well, they looked like normal trees. It was only when viewed up close and with one’s own eyes that they looked this way. It was like the trees were otherwise playing tricks on them. 

“Just what in the hell is going on here anyway?” Pokkle thought. 

… 

It was almost 12:00. Leorio and Kurapika were making lunch. They were making sandwiches, and they were doing it by the fireplace. They had brought plenty of sandwich ingredients on their trip and were using some of them to assemble the sandwiches. 

They had just finished when Ponzu and Pokkle got back to the site. They parked their boat on the beach, got out, laid it on the ground upside down, and went up to the main area of the campsite. 

“You’re back,” Kurapika said. 

“Perfect timing,” Leorio said. “We just finished making the sandwiches.” 

Kurapika gave Ponzu and Pokkle each a sandwich. The two of them then sat down on the benches around the fireplace to eat their lunch. 

“How did it go?” Kurapika asked. “Did you get some good pictures?” 

Ponzu and Pokkle exchanged glances. 

“Yeah,” Pokkle replied. “Yeah, we did.” 

“What about the islands?” Leorio asked. 

“Are any of them a good place for us to go together?” Kurapika asked. 

“Yes, a few of them,” Ponzu explained. “The bigger ones have campsites, but we could go to some of the smaller ones.” 

“I see,” Kurapika said. 

Kurapika heard noises coming from the forest. 

“They’re back,” Kurapika thought. “I have to pay close attention.” 

Gon and Killua burst out of the forest into the main area of the campsite and ran up to where Leorio, Kurapika, Ponzu, and Pokkle were. 

“Goal!” Gon and Killua yelled out in unison. “So, Kurapika, which of us was here first?” 

“It was Killua,” Kurapika thought. “I’m sure of it.” 

“Killua did, though not by much,” Kurapika said. “If I hadn’t been paying close attention, I never would’ve known.” 

“I knew it!” Killua said. “I won!” 

“I have to get better at this!” Gon said. 

“Better at running?” Killua asked. 

“Yeah!” 

“Gon, you’re great at running.” 

“But you’re still beating me!” 

“Ow. Do you think I’m bad at running or something? That not being able to beat me makes you bad at running? Gon, once again, you’re great at running. I’m just way better. That’s all there is to it.” 

“Lunch,” Leorio said, giving Gon and Killua each a sandwich. “Eat it.” 

Gon and Killua sat down on the benches around the fireplace and ate their sandwiches. Leorio and Kurapika then made their own sandwiches and ate them as well. 

“So, Gon, now we have to go fishing,” Killua said. “You promised.” 

“Okay!” Gon said. “After lunch I’ll teach you how to fish with my fishing rod!” 

“Can we go to the cliff for it?” Killua asked. 

“Of course!” Gon replied. “Sounds awesome!” 

“The cliff?” Leorio asked. 

“When we were exploring this morning, we went to the cliff,” Killua pointed at the cliff high up above their campsite. “It’s the one that has a trail leading through the forest to it. The one that was in the site description.” 

“I see,” Pokkle said. “I walked up there this morning myself but just to take a look at it.” 

“I kind of want to check it out,” Leorio said. 

“I do as well,” Kurapika said. “Is it alright if I go with you?” 

“Yeah,” Killua replied. “You can both come. Just don’t expect me to share the fishing rod with you. I’ll be fishing all afternoon as soon as Gon teaches me.” 

As soon as they were finished eating, Gon, Killua, Leorio and Kurapika prepared to go up to the cliff by their site. 

Gon turned to Ponzu and Pokkle. “Do you guys want to come?” 

“I’ll be staying here,” Pokkle said. 

“Me too,” Ponzu said. “I’m going to go rest.” 

“Alright,” Leorio said. “See you guys later.” 

Gon, Killua, Leorio, and Kurapika left and headed up to the cliff. 

Ponzu and Pokkle stayed back at the campsite. They went to get their hammocks so they could set them up. Ponzu’s hammock was dark turquoise, the same color as her sleeping bag, while Pokkle’s hammock was purple, the same color as his sleeping bag. They set up their hammocks near their tent, but still in the main area of the site. There, there were good trees for putting up hammocks, but still open space for them to swing back and forth. 

From where they were, they could see the others. They could see Gon, Killua, Leorio, and Kurapika up on the cliff. Gon and Killua were sitting at the edge of the cliff, their legs dangling over the side. Killua was holding Gon’s fishing rod, and Gon was teaching him how to use it. Leorio appeared to be trying to bring them back and stop them from sitting on the edge, but they were not listening to him. Kurapika appeared to be observing the scene without doing anything, though it was also possible he was saying something to them. 

Ponzu and Pokkle were lying down in their hammocks. They were silent for a while, until Pokkle spoke up. 

“That was crazy,” Pokkle said. “What the– shit, what the fuck was that!?” 

Ponzu looked out at the island on the surface of the lake, and Pokkle followed her gaze. From a certain distance, the island certainly looked completely normal. 

“Blue Forest Island,” Ponzu said. “Why didn’t you tell them about it?” 

“I could be asking you the same thing,” Pokkle said. 

“I just… I don’t know why, but I feel like we should keep it a secret for now. I feel like that island holds many secrets, and nothing good will come from trying to expose any of them. If we learn anything else about that island, we shouldn’t try to tell them about it either, and we definitely shouldn’t bring them there.” 

“I feel the same way,” Pokkle said. “So, we keep it a secret? At least for now?” 

“Yes,” Ponzu replied. “We do.” 

… 

Gon had taught Killua how to use the fishing rod, and Killua was practicing. It took him a while, but eventually, he managed to catch a moderately sized fish. 

Gon’s eyes widened upon seeing the fish Killua had caught. “Oooh! This is an edible one!” 

“What?” Killua asked. 

“Killua, you’re amazing! You really are the best!” 

Killua blushed and turned away. “What– what’s with this all of a sudden!? What’s so special about that fish!?” 

“We can eat this fish!” Gon replied. “We could have it as part of our dinner!” 

“Part of our dinner?” Kurapika asked. “Well, Leorio and I WERE planning on making fish… perhaps we could cook this fish as well.” 

“Sounds awesome!” Gon said. “All you need for that is a fire!” 

“Okay, here’s what we’ll do,” Leorio said. “Gon, Killua, you two get as much firewood as you can and put it under the main tarp. Kurapika and I are making dinner today, so we’ll start making the other fish, and then we’ll cook that fish over the fire. It’s possible you’ll have to build and start the fire too, and on your own. Can you do that?” 

“We can,” Killua replied. 

“Of course we can,” Gon said. 

“Well then, let’s do it,” Leorio said. “We still have more than an hour left before dinnertime, but we’ll need all of that time and possibly more, so work as fast as you can.” 

The four of them went back down the trail leading to the main area of their campsite. There, they split up. Killua and Gon went to gather firewood while Leorio and Kurapika went to get started cooking dinner. 

Soon enough, Killua and Gon returned with the firewood. 

“Okay,” Leorio said. “Now could you build the fire? We’ll light it when we’re ready, but just build it for now.” 

Killua and Gon nodded, and then got to work building the fire. By the time they were finished building the fire, Leorio and Kurapika were almost finished making the rest of their meal. 

“Leorio, you keep making the rest of our food,” Kurapika said. “I’ll light the fire and cook the fish Killua caught.” 

Leorio nodded. “Yeah.” 

While Leorio continued cooking, Kurapika took out his lighter. 

“Did you get birch bark?” Kurapika asked. 

“Yeah,” Killua replied. “And we already put it in the center of the fire we built.”

“Okay, good,” Kurapika said. 

He used his lighter to light the birch bark on fire. The fire spread to the rest of the wood and it wasn’t long before they had a proper fire going. 

“Leorio, do you have that roasting stick?” Kurapika asked. 

“Yeah,” Leorio replied. 

He handed Kurapika a roasting stick he’d whittled himself with his camping knife. Kurapika then used it to cook the fish Killua had caught while Gon and Killua watched. 

Soon enough, they were finished preparing dinner altogether. 

“Gon, Killua, could you let Ponzu and Pokkle know that we finished preparing dinner?” Kurapika asked. 

Gon and Killua nodded. They went to get Ponzu and Pokkle and soon came back with them. 

Kurapika served six plates of food. Each one had some of the fish he and Leorio had brought, and was topped with a slice of the fish Gon and Killua had caught. He gave one plate to Ponzu, one to Pokkle, one to Gon, one to Killua, one to Leorio, and kept one for himself. Then, the six of them ate dinner together on the benches by the fireplace. 

The fire was still going. 

“Should I put the fire out?” Kurapika asked. “We finished cooking the fish a long time ago.” 

“We have plenty of firewood,” Leorio said. “We can keep it going, so I think we should.” 

“Why not save the firewood for tomorrow?” Kurapika asked. 

“Right, because we’re running so very low on firewood,” Killua smirked, the sarcasm in his voice evident. “There is only a limited amount of this stuff lying around. It’s not like it grows on trees.” 

“It’s not limitless, technically true,” Leorio said. “But yeah, I get what you mean, and I agree with you. There’s a lot more where it came from.” 

“I suppose you both make good points,” Kurapika said. 

“Plus, I want to roast marshmallows,” Killua said. “I’ve barely gotten to do it before in my life but roasted marshmallows are SO GOOD!” 

“What about s’mores?” Pokkle asked. 

“S’mores?” Killua asked. “What are those?” 

Gon dramatically gasped. “You have never had s’mores before?” 

“No…?” 

“I’ve never had s’mores either,” Kurapika said. 

“Both of you!?” Gon almost yelled. “Now we definitely have to have them!” 

“Alright,” Pokkle said. “Let’s have s’mores. For that, though, we’ll need marshmallow roasting sticks.” 

“Gon, Killua, if you two can get the sticks, I can whittle them and turn them into marshmallow roasting sticks,” Leorio said. 

Gon and Killua went into the forest and came back with five sticks. 

“This is all we could find,” Killua said. “Finding straight sticks is hard…” 

“It’s okay,” Ponzu said. “I don’t want to make any, so I don’t need one.” 

“You sure?” Pokkle asked. 

“Yes, I am.” 

Leorio took the sticks and got to work whittling one of them with his knife. When he was finished, he gave it to Gon. 

“Here,” Leorio said. “Teach Killua about s’mores.” 

Gon took the stick. He grabbed a marshmallow from the marshmallow bag and speared it on the end of the stick, which Leorio had whittled for him. 

“Killua, you know how to roast marshmallows,” Gon said. “That’s the first step.” 

Killua slowly nodded. “Okay…” 

Gon roasted the marshmallow while Killua watched. Soon enough, he showed it to Killua. 

“So, if you were just roasting marshmallows, now you’d take it off the stick and eat it, right?” 

“Right,” Killua eyed the now roasted marshmallow. 

“But what we’re going to do is this.” 

Gon reached for the bag of graham crackers and the bag of chocolate. 

Killua’s eyes widened upon seeing the chocolate. 

“Chocolate!?” Killua asked excitedly. “Why didn’t you tell me chocolate was involved sooner!? I already know this is going to be amazing!” 

Gon placed a piece of chocolate on one of the graham crackers. Then, he placed it under the marshmallow, and placed another graham cracker on top of the marshmallow. With the marshmallow sandwiched between them, he carefully pulled it off the stick. The marshmallow was melting, and the chocolate was melting as well from the heat of the marshmallow. 

“There,” Gon said, handing Killua the now complete s’mores. “Dig in!” 

Killua held up the s’mores and took a bite. 

It was… 

“How is it?” Gon asked. 

“IT’STHEBESTTHINGI’VEEVERTASTEDINMYLIFEGONEVENBETTERTHANCHOCOLATEWHYWASINOTINFORMEDOFTHEEXISTENCEOFSOMETHINGLIKETHISBEFOREHOLYFUCKINGSHIT–” 

“Hey, calm down,” Leorio said. “Take a breather.” 

“–HOWTHEFUCKAMISUPPOSEDTODOTHATLEORIOYOUCANNOTCOMPREHENDTHEDEPTHSOFWHATIAMFEELINGRIGHTNOWIAMFEELING–” 

“I GET IT!” Leorio yelled. 

“I think we broke him,” Pokkle laughed. 

“Broke him? Oh no!” Gon shook Killua vigorously. “Killua! Come back to us!” 

“–OKAY,” Killua said. “I’ve calmed down now. Pretty much, anyway. Point is, I need to have more of those s’mores so gimme some marshmallows and a stick.” 

Leorio handed Killua his own stick. 

“We match!” Gon said. “Now we can roast marshmallows together!” 

“Leorio, are you sure this is a good idea?” Kurapika asked. 

“Eh… he’s never had s’mores before,” Leorio said. “This was going to happen sooner or later. It is good for it to happen now, since we’re here with him.” 

“Good point,” Kurapika said. 

“I just finished whittling another stick,” Leorio said, holding up another stick. “Would you like to give s’mores a try?” 

“Sure.” 

Kurapika took the stick from Leorio, grabbed a marshmallow, and began roasting it himself. When he was finished, he followed Gon’s instructions in making s’mores with the graham crackers and chocolate. 

When he was finished, he took a bite. 

“Wow,” Kurapika said. “It’s really quite good.” 

“Yeah,” Pokkle said. 

“Okay, I finished whittling the last two sticks,” Leorio said. 

“Great,” Pokkle said. 

Leorio gave Pokkle one of the sticks and kept one for himself. He then began roasting marshmallows as well. 

Pokkle grabbed a marshmallow from the marshmallow bag and speared it on the end of the stick Leorio gave him. Then, he roasted it in the fire until the white of the marshmallow had turned golden brown. 

When it had turned golden brown, he grabbed two graham crackers and a piece of chocolate. He placed a piece of chocolate on one of the graham crackers. Then, he placed it under the marshmallow, and placed another graham cracker on top of the marshmallow. With the marshmallow sandwiched between them, he carefully pulled it off the stick. 

“Ponzu, take this.” 

Pokkle gave Ponzu the finished s’mores. 

“You’re giving it to me?” Ponzu asked. 

Pokkle laughed. “I don’t think there’s anyone else here named Ponzu.” 

Ponzu slowly nodded. “And you want me to eat it?” 

“You at least have one, before they eat them all,” Pokkle motioned to Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio. “At this rate, we might not be able to have s’mores again on this trip.” 

“Okay.” 

Ponzu took a bite of the s’mores. The chocolate and marshmallow melted on her mouth. 

“How is it?” Pokkle asked. 

“It’s great,” Ponzu replied. 

Pokkle smiled. “Good.” 

Ponzu continued eating her s’mores. She was soon finished eating. 

Pokkle made himself a few s’mores which he then ate as well. 

Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio, sure enough, were eating s’mores after s’mores after s’mores. 

Mainly Killua. He was eating more than everyone else combined. 

Ponzu looked up at the trees surrounding them. There was something that caught her eye. Above the trees surrounding their site, she could see smoke going up into the air. It was the kind of smoke that would come from a campfire. And it looked really close, as if there was a site located right beside them. 

When she checked the map, she noticed there WAS a site right beside them, just further down the shore. 

“What are you looking at?” Pokkle asked, looking at the map over Ponzu’s shoulder. 

“You see the smoke in the sky?” Ponzu pointed at the smoke. 

“I do,” Pokkle replied, looking where Ponzu was pointing. 

“It’s really close, so I was just checking to see if there’s a site right beside us,” Ponzu said. “As it turns out, there is.” 

“Huh,” Pokkle said. “Well, people must be there, I guess.” 

“Maybe they’re making s’mores like us,” Killua said as he stuffed more s’mores into his mouth. 

“Killua! We’re gonna run out!” Gon said, frantically trying and failing to stop his boyfriend from eating all the graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows. 

Eventually, they ran out of chocolate and graham crackers, and only had marshmallows left. By then, Killua was the only one left eating. Everyone else had long since finished. 

“Killua, can’t you save the only remaining marshmallows for another time?” Leorio asked. “We’re going to be here for multiple days.” 

“Leorio is right,” Kurapika said. “We already aren’t going to be able to have s’mores again, but we could at least have marshmallows again.” 

Killua wasn’t listening to them. He continued to eat the marshmallows until there were none left. 

Leorio stared at Killua with a dubious expression on his face. “I think that’ll damage your teeth more than poison…” 

“Yes,” Kurapika said. “Killua, make sure you brush well tonight.” 

“And get rid of the taste of s’mores? No way!” Killua said. “I can still taste them, and I want it to stay that way! I’m not gonna ruin it with some lame toothpaste taste! There’s no way in hell!” 

Leorio sighed. “Yep, definitely gonna damage your teeth more than poison…” 

“Alright, well…” Kurapika sighed. “Let’s just go to bed.” 

“I’ll put out the fire,” Pokkle said. 

Pokkle went to fetch water from the lake, and soon came back. He dumped it on the fire, extinguishing it. 

Then, he went with Ponzu back to the tent they were sharing to go to sleep. Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio went back to their tent as well to go to sleep. 

… 

“What is THAT?” Illumi asked. 

“What, this?” Hisoka held up the stick with the marshmallows he was roasting on the fire. 

“Yes. That.” 

“They’re marshmallows. I’m roasting them on the fire so I can make s’mores.” 

“What is s’mores?” Illumi asked. 

“Marshmallows and chocolate sandwiched between graham crackers,” Hisoka said. “You want some?” 

“No thanks,” Illumi replied flatly. “I don’t see the point.” 

“Well, I recommend it.” 

Hisoka held up his finished marshmallows. Using graham crackers and chocolate, he turned each one into a s’mores. 

“Here,” Hisoka handed Illumi a s’mores. “Take it.” 

Illumi took it, then he hesitantly took a bite of the s’mores. 

“Huh,” Illumi said. “Not bad, I suppose.” 

“You want another?” 

“No, I’m fine.” 

Hisoka ate the rest of the s’mores. After he was finished making s’mores, Illumi went to fetch water from the lake and soon came back. 

“What’s that for?” Hisoka asked. 

“Putting out the fire,” Illumi replied. 

“Oh, so NOW you care about the camping safety?” 

“I won’t let us be discovered just because you wanted to make a snack.” 

Illumi dumped the water over the fire, extinguishing it. 

“So why did you come along with me, anyway?” Illumi asked. “This is my mission.” 

“I wanted to,” Hisoka replied. 

“Yes… you always do everything just because you want to…”

Chapter Text

It was morning. Ponzu woke up to the sound of rain. The rain was hitting the tarp above the tent she was in. Pokkle was nowhere to be seen, so she assumed he had already gone to make breakfast. 

“He always wakes up first,” Ponzu thought. 

She put on her black sweater, opened up the door of the tent, put her camping boots on, stepped out of the tent, and closed the door of the tent back up behind her. Then she headed down to the main area of the site where Pokkle was by the fireplace sitting in front of the pot of oatmeal he made for breakfast. Gon and Killua were there as well. They were sitting on the benches around the fireplace, each with a bowl of oatmeal they were eating with a camping spork for breakfast. 

“Good morning, Ponzu,” Pokkle said. “Breakfast is ready.” 

“Good morning Ponzu-san!” Gon said. 

“Yeah, good morning,” Killua said. 

Pokkle served a bowl of oatmeal and gave it to Ponzu with one of the camping sporks. 

Ponzu then sat down on the benches around the fire to eat her breakfast. 

Leorio and Kurapika soon joined them as well. Pokkle served them their oatmeal, and the two of them sat down on the benches around the fireplace to eat as well. 

Finally, Pokkle served himself the remaining oatmeal. It was just the right amount, again. He sat down with everyone else to eat his breakfast. 

When Ponzu finished, she slowly set down her now empty bowl and the camping spork down on the bench beside her. Then, she looked out at the lake. 

“Huh,” Ponzu said. 

“What is it?” Pokkle asked. 

“I think the rain’s going to pick up later,” Ponzu replied. “As of now it’s just a light rainfall, but it might intensify later.” 

Gon sniffed the air. “Yeah, you’re right! It’ll probably intensify here in about an hour.” 

“You know this how…?” Leorio stared at Gon. 

“I can smell it!” Gon replied. 

“That makes less sense, not more sense!” Leorio argued. “How can that be a thing?” 

“It’s certainly a thing,” Pokkle said. “I can predict the weather by the smell of the air as well.” 

“Huh,” Leorio said. “Weird.” 

“It’s something among other things that you get from having to survive in nature,” Pokkle explained. 

Sure enough, just about an hour later, the rain intensified. 

Pokkle, Killua, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika sat under the large tarp playing cards. 

Ponzu was going to join them when she noticed something very strange. 

Blue Forest Island. 

It was… 

…floating? 

… 

Killua set a card facing down on the ground in front of him. “One seven.” 

Leorio set a card facing down on top of Killua’s card. “One eight.” 

Kurapika set a card facing down on top of Leorio’s card. “One nine.” 

Pokkle set a card facing down on top of Kurapika’s card. “One ten.” 

Gon set a card facing down on top of Pokkle’s card. “One ja–” 

“Cheat,” Pokkle said. 

Gon’s eyes widened. “Huh? How did you know? You didn’t even get to hear what I was going to say!” 

“No, but I didn’t need to,” Pokkle said. “I knew you were going to cheat.” 

“Pokkle,” Ponzu interrupted their game. 

“Hey, Ponzu,” Pokkle said. “Do you want to play?” 

“I want to talk to you. Could you come with me for a moment?” 

“Alright.” 

… 

Ponzu led Pokkle to the lake. 

“Look,” Ponzu said. 

Pokkle looked where Ponzu was pointing, at the island known as Blue Forest Island. 

The island looked like it was floating above the surface of the lake. 

“We need to investigate,” Pokkle said. “Everything in my brain is telling me to go to that island right now.” 

“Yeah,” Ponzu agreed. “I don’t know why, but I feel the same way.” 

Ponzu and Pokkle went and informed Gon, Killua, Leorio, and Kurapika that they would be leaving. 

“Lunch at 12:00 again?” Kurapika asked. 

Pokkle nodded. “Yeah.” 

“Understood,” Kurapika said. “We’ll be sure to have it ready by then.” 

Killua, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika went back to playing cards while Ponzu and Pokkle took their boat out onto the lake. Pokkle brought his camera, just like the day before, when they had been going to take pictures. The two of them told the other four that they were leaving to take pictures again, though this time during the rain. 

… 

“One ace,” Killua set a card facing down on the ground in front of him. 

“One two!” Gon set a card facing down on top of Killua’s card. 

“One three,” Leorio set a card facing down on top of Gon’s card. 

“One four,” Kurapika set a card facing down on top of Leorio’s card. 

“One five,” Killua set a card facing down on top of Kurapika’s card. 

“One six!” Gon set a card facing down on top of Killua’s card. 

“Cheat,” Kurapika said. 

“Are you a mind reader like Pokkle?” Gon asked, turning the card over. Indeed, it was not a six. It was a seven. 

“Pokkle and Kurapika aren’t mind readers,” Leorio said. “What happened with Pokkle was that he most likely knew the locations of all the jacks. Whether it was because he had them all, or because he had played them all, or because he knew someone else had them or someone else had played them, something like that. The same goes for Kurapika right now with the sixes. Neither of them are mind readers, Gon. I know that much.” 

“Yes, Leorio is right,” Kurapika said. 

Gon took all of the cards in the pile. Then, they continued playing. 

… 

Ponzu and Pokkle headed to Blue Forest Island. 

Upon arriving, they noticed the island was not floating. As usual, it came up from beneath the land and above the surface of the lake. 

However, upon arriving, getting out of their boat, and stepping foot on the island… 

…everything changed. 

The trees were not normal, as they knew. However, they did not even look the way they did before. They weren’t colorless either. 

They were BLUE. 

GLOWING BLUE. 

“Holy shit,” Pokkle said. “This certainly isn’t what this place looked like before.” 

“No,” Ponzu said. “There’s no way we didn’t notice it from that far away. It could only mean…” 

The stone tablet was by the entrance of the forest, as usual. However, the writing on it that said “BLUE FOREST ISLAND” was blue. The letters were glowing blue just like the trees. 

They entered the forest and walked down the trail through the forest. 

In the forest, the glow of the trees was even brighter. 

Pokkle tried to take pictures, but once again, through his camera the trees looked completely normal. 

“This is unreal,” Pokkle thought. 

… 

After playing cheat, Killua and Gon went off to play other games together and Leorio and Kurapika worked together to make sandwiches for lunch. By the time Ponzu and Pokkle got back, lunch was ready. The six of them ate lunch together while sitting on the benches around the fireplace. 

After lunch, Gon and Killua went back to playing cards, though this time just the two of them. Leorio and Kurapika went to lie down in their hammocks instead. Leorio to take a nap, and Kurapika to read the book he brought. 

Ponzu and Pokkle headed through the trail in the forest that led up to the cliff. Up on the cliff, they sat together watching the rain. Pokkle took out his camera to take more pictures. 

“More photography?” Ponzu asked. 

“Yeah,” Pokkle replied. 

He took some pictures of the lake, some pictures of the islands, and some pictures of the forested areas along the shore. 

Ponzu looked out at Blue Forest Island. 

It looked like a normal island from how far away they were. Even after what they had just seen, it looked like a normal island. Both through Pokkle’s camera, and through their own eyes. It was unreal. 

Later, the two of them got up and decided to go back down to the main area of the campsite. It was still raining hard, and it didn’t look like it was getting lighter anytime soon. If anything, it was intensifying further. 

However, when they took the trail down, they were not in their campsite. 

“Weird,” Pokkle said. “Did we go down the wrong path?” 

“I’m not sure,” Ponzu said. “I think there was only one path.” 

“Whatever, let’s go back up to the top,” Pokkle said. 

They tried to go back up to the cliff, but the path didn’t lead up to the cliff. It just led further into the forest. 

“Okay,” Pokkle said. “What the actual hell.” 

“We just came from here, I know it,” Ponzu said. “I don’t get what’s going on here.” 

Every attempt to get back to the site resulted in them only getting further into the forest. They tried to see where the wind was coming from and where it was going to get a sense of direction, but there didn’t appear to be any wind anymore, despite how windy it had been out on the lake with the storm. 

Then, they encountered a glowing tree. From a distance, it had looked normal. However, up close, it was glowing blue. It was just like the trees on the island. 

“It’s like Blue Forest Island,” Ponzu said. “This tree…” 

“Yeah, it is,” Pokkle said. 

He took out his camera and tried to take a picture of it. Through the camera, it looked normal. 

“That confirms it,” Pokkle said, putting his camera away. 

“Wait… look at this.” 

Ponzu bent down to examine a stone plaque at the foot of the tree. 

There was writing on it. This writing was glowing, just like the trees. 

It read: 

WHEN WATER FALLS THE BLUE FOREST WILL RISE ONCE AGAIN 

“Pokkle, are you seeing this?” 

“Yeah, I can read it.” 

Pokkle tried to take a picture of the plaque, but just like with the trees, it looked like a blank piece of stone through his camera. The writing was only visible without the camera. 

Then, they noticed the rain lightening. 

“It’s easing up,” Pokkle said. “I think the storm is stopping.” 

“So is the blue glow…” Ponzu trailed off. 

The rain continued getting lighter. As it did, the glow of the tree and of the writing on the plaque continued getting dimmer. 

Soon enough, the rain completely stopped, and at the same time, the glow completely went away. 

“Ponzu-san! Pokkle-san!” they heard a voice yelling from behind them. 

They turned around. Gon was running toward them. 

“Hey! Gon! Where are you going!?” a voice yelled. 

It was Killua, following close behind Gon. As soon as he saw Ponzu and Pokkle, his eyes widened. 

“Wait…” Killua’s eyes widened upon seeing Ponzu and Pokkle. “Where have you guys been!? Where the hell!?” 

“We just went up to the cliff to take pictures and the like,” Pokkle said. “I believe we told you we were going to be doing that…?” 

“We didn’t think you’d be gone that long!” Gon said. “And when we went up to the cliff, you guys weren’t there!” 

Ponzu frowned. “Long? You think we were gone for a long time?” 

Killua motioned to the sky. “It’s past dinner!” 

Ponzu and Pokkle looked up. The sky was, in fact, darkening. 

“But we weren’t gone for a very long time,” Ponzu thought. “Or were we?” 

“So where did you guys go? What were you doing? Why?” Killua continued to ask questions. 

“We got lost,” Pokkle said. Vague as it was, it was the truth. Not the whole truth, but the truth. 

“How could you get lost?” Killua asked. “There was just one trail heading back to the site.” 

“That’s what WE’RE trying to figure out,” Ponzu thought. “We’re just as confused as you are. You have no idea what’s been going on.” 

“We didn’t immediately head back to the site,” Pokkle said. “We took photos of the forest as well. But then we got lost.” 

Pokkle knew telling them that they got lost was risky. He had grown up in nature, and he had an impeccable sense of direction. He NEVER got lost. 

As for what he was trying to figure out himself, it was what exactly happened to them. Something was at play. Something unnatural. It was the only plausible explanation to him. 

But it in no way made SENSE. 

NOTHING MADE SENSE. 

Gon looked around and sniffed the air. 

“Huh,” Gon said. 

“What is it Gon?” Killua asked. 

“Something’s… weird?” 

“Huh!?” 

“I don’t know… this area just… it smells different.” 

“What!? What do you mean!?” 

“It’s different from the rest of the forest.” 

“What, does it smell unnatural or something!?” 

“No. It smells natural, actually. It’s just a different kind of natural.” 

Killua stared at Gon with a dubious look on his face. He was having quite a lot of trouble comprehending Gon’s thought process. Even more than he usually did. 

“In any case, it’s our turn to cook dinner,” Pokkle said. “We should go do that.” 

“I agree,” Ponzu said. “We certainly should.” 

Ponzu, Pokkle, Killua, and Gon headed back to the main area of the campsite together where Leorio and Kurapika were. 

Ponzu and Pokkle cooked dinner, and then the six of them ate together. 

After they finished eating, they all engaged in multiple of their own activities before going to bed in their tents. 

Ponzu and Pokkle were in their tent. 

Pokkle was reading a book. 

Ponzu was writing in her journal. 

She wrote: 

This morning, there was light rain. It intensified before long, creating a storm. 

When this happened, I noticed something strange. 

It looked like Blue Forest Island was floating. 

Pokkle and I went to investigate. 

Upon arriving, we noticed the island wasn’t actually floating. Like any other island, it came up from beneath the land and above the surface of the lake. 

But when we set foot on the island, we found something even more unusual. 

We knew the trees weren’t normal. However, they didn’t even look the way they did before. They weren’t colorless either. 

They were BLUE. 

GLOWING BLUE. 

It was nothing like before. 

The writing on the stone tablet by the entrance of the forest that said “BLUE FOREST ISLAND” was blue as well. The letters were glowing blue just like the trees. 

INSIDE the forest, the glow of the trees was even brighter. 

And now… listen to this. 

Later, Pokkle and I headed through the trail in the forest that led up to the cliff. To watch the rain, for Pokkle to take pictures, of course… we also saw Blue Forest Island, though it truly genuinely looked like a normal island from how far away we were (even after what we had just seen!) both through Pokkle’s camera, and through our own eyes. It was unreal. 

Then, when we decided to go back down to the main area of the campsite, we took the trail down as anyone would’ve done but WE WERE NOT IN OUR CAMPSITE. There was only one path and we followed it, but STILL! And then, when we tried to go back up to the cliff, the path didn’t lead up there! It just led further into the forest EVEN THOUGH WE HAD JUST COME FROM THERE! 

Every attempt we made to get back to the site just resulted in us getting even further into the forest. We tried to see where the wind was coming from and where it was going to get a sense of direction, but there didn’t appear to be any wind anymore, EVEN WITH HOW WINDY IT HAD BEEN OUT ON THE LAKE WITH THE STORM. 

Then, we encountered a tree just like Blue Forest Island. From a distance, it had looked normal. However, up close, it was glowing blue. It really was just like the trees on the island. 

There was a stone plaque at the foot of the tree with writing on it. This writing was glowing, just like the trees. 

It said “WHEN WATER FALLS THE BLUE FOREST WILL RISE ONCE AGAIN” 

Then, when the rain went away, the glow of the tree and of the writing on the plaque went away as well. 

SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HELL IS IT WITH ALL OF THIS!? 

The trees on Blue Forest Island glowing blue, the writing on the stone tablet glowing blue just like the trees, the voice telling us to leave and come back when we “know” whatever that means, the other glowing tree in the forest, the stone plaque saying “WHEN WATER FALLS THE BLUE FOREST WILL RISE ONCE AGAIN” and then the glow of the tree and of the writing on the plaque going away when the rain– 

Wait. 

That’s… 

I… 

Oh. 

OOOOOOOOOOH. 

I finally understand. 

Blue Forest Lake. 

Blue Forest Island. 

BLUE FOREST. 

BLUE. 

FOREST. 

… 

“Bananagrams!” Leorio called. 

“Whaaaaat?” Gon’s eyes widened. “You’re finished already?” 

“I’m not even halfway through my tiles,” Killua commented. 

“Neither am I,” Kurapika said. “Leorio is truly phenomenal at this game.” 

“Not just this game!” Leorio said. “Any word game! For example… would you three like to play scrabble?” 

“I guess we could,” Killua shrugged. “We’ve been playing bananagrams for a while.” 

“Alright then,” Leorio said. 

They packed up the bananagrams and then played scrabble together, which Leorio won every time. 

… 

Pokkle’s eyes widened. “So you’re saying…” 

Ponzu nodded. “Yes.” 

Pokkle slowly nodded, the expression on his face changing from shock to understanding. “I think I get it now. Everything that’s been going on, all along…” 

… 

The cracking of glowsticks could be heard in the tent Killua, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika were staying in. After playing board games, they chose to take out some of their glowsticks. They were now each holding a cracked glowstick. 

Killua had a blue glowstick, Gon had a green glowstick, Leorio had a white glowstick, and Kurapika had a yellow glowstick. 

“These things are really bright,” Leorio said. 

“Well, yeah,” Killua said. “They’re supposed to be.” 

Killua held up his glowstick in front of his face and stared at it in a peculiar way. 

The first to realize what he was thinking was Leorio. 

“No,” Leorio said. “Absolutely fucking not, Killua.” 

“Of all the weird shit I’ve ever consumed, glowstick liquid is not on the list,” Killua said. 

“I don’t recommend that you add it to the list,” Kurapika said. “It can be very dangerous.” 

“Eh!? You’ve never drank glowstick liquid before!?” Gon asked, shocked. 

Killua blinked. “What about you?” 

“Of course I have! I’ve drunk all sorts of things!” Gon beamed. 

Kurapika sighed. “For some reason, I am not surprised…” 

“Me neither,” Leorio muttered. “The two of them are crazy…” 

“Alright then, time to crack open this glowstick,” Killua said. 

“You can’t!” Leorio protested. “That shit’s toxic!” 

“Did you forget I drink poison? This can’t possibly be that bad in comparison.” 

“That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea!” Leorio yelled. “You can’t be serious!” 

“I am in agreement with Leorio,” Kurapika said. “I believe–” 

“CHUG IT!” Gon said excitedly. 

Killua winked. “You got it!” 

He cracked open the glowstick and drank all of the liquid inside. Some of it fell on his clothing. 

“Cool! My clothes are glowing!” 

Kurapika facepalmed. 

“I want my own tent,” Leorio muttered. 

… 

Ponzu and Pokkle had both gone to bed in their tent. 

Pokkle was asleep, but Ponzu was not asleep quite yet, and she could hear shouting coming from the tent Killua, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika were sharing. 

“I wonder what they’re up to now,” Ponzu thought. 

She lifted the cover of her sleeping bag over her face. 

“I wish they didn’t have to be so loud…” 

… 

“My, they’re certainly causing a ruckus.” 

Hisoka pointed in the direction of Killua, Gon, Leorio, Kurapika, Ponzu, and Pokkle’s campsite. 

“Get used to it,” Illumi said. “I came here expecting this kind of thing.” 

“I wasn’t complaining. No, in fact, I find it quite amusing.” 

Hisoka paused. 

“I want… to join them.” 

“You know we can’t do that now.” 

“Then what do we do?” Hisoka asked. 

Illumi looked out at the lake, observing the islands. 

“You know what we do.”

Chapter Text

It was morning. Killua, Gon, Leorio, Kurapika, Ponzu, and Pokkle had eaten breakfast and were now all off on their own. 

Leorio and Kurapika were resting in their respective hammocks. 

Ponzu and Pokkle had gone up the path to the top of the cliff and were sitting up there together. They were silent, until something unexpected happened. 

The hands of two kids appeared on the edge of the cliff. Then, they pulled themselves up onto the cliff and stood up together. It was Gon and Killua. 

“Goal!” Gon and Killua yelled in unison. Then they stopped to catch their breath. 

“See? I did it!” Gon exclaimed. “I can beat you in climbing, Killua!” 

“We’ll see,” Killua said. “I have my doubts.” 

“Ponzu-san! Pokkle-san! Which of us got here first?” Gon asked. 

Pokkle shrugged. “No clue.” 

“I don’t know either,” Ponzu said. 

Killua and Gon pouted. 

“Look, it’s not like we were watching or even knew that you were going to be climbing up the cliff,” Ponzu explained. “Why are you trying to ask us?” 

“I guess you have a point,” Killua said. “There just wasn’t really much of anyone else for us to ask.” 

“If we do it again, will you please watch? Pleeeeease?” Gon stretched out the “please” at the end. 

“Yeah, sure,” Pokkle said, waving his hand at them dismissively. “If you leave us alone afterward.” 

Gon beamed. “Yay!” 

“Let’s do this,” Killua said. 

Killua and Gon raced back down to the bottom of the cliff. Then, they climbed back up while Ponzu and Pokkle watched from up above. When they got to the top, they both jumped out in front of the two adults. 

“Well?” Killua and Gon asked in unison. 

“Killua won,” Pokkle said. 

Ponzu nodded. “Yeah, I think so as well.” 

Gon hung his head. “Aw… but climbing is MY thing!” 

“I’m just better,” Killua said, proud of his accomplishment. “That’s how I ended up being a faster climber as well.” 

“Alright, you guys got what you wanted,” Pokkle said. “Now go.” 

“No way!” Gon said. “We have to keep climbing!” 

Killua raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?” 

“Yeah! And Ponzu-san and Pokkle-san have to keep watching us!” 

“Hell no,” Pokkle said. “Like I told you, leave. This is Ponzu and my spot.” 

Killua and Gon continued arguing despite what Pokkle was saying. 

“You’re just gonna want to keep going until you’re able to beat me!” 

“Yeah! I want to get better! What’s so wrong with that!?” 

“DO YOU WANT ME TO THROW YOU TWO OFF THE FUCKING CLIFF!?” 

Killua and Gon stopped arguing and turned to look at Pokkle. 

“IF NOT, THEN GET THE FUCK OUT!” 

… 

Leorio was lying down in his hammock, resting. Kurapika was reading a book. Yelling could be heard from the top of the cliff where Killua, Gon, Ponzu, and Pokkle were. 

“Huh,” Kurapika said. “I wonder what they’re yelling about.” 

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Leorio mumbled. “Damnit… just how hard is it for a guy to get a good nap around here?” 

“Not that we were any better last night,” Kurapika said. “We were way louder.” 

“You mean YOU GUYS were way louder,” Leorio said. “I just wanted to sleep. Like right now.” 

“Whatever the case may be, I wouldn’t be surprised if we disturbed everyone on the lake. I certainly feel very bad for Ponzu and Pokkle who were most likely awake due to us.” 

“Yeah no kidding.” 

Before long, Leorio and Kurapika got to work making lunch. Then, Ponzu, Pokkle, Killua, and Gon joined them to eat lunch together. As usual, it was sandwiches. 

“So, what are we going to do after lunch?” Kurapika asked. 

“I’m going to the tent,” Leorio said. “Maybe I can get a real nap there.” 

“Agreed,” Kurapika said. “I will also be going to our tent for peace and quiet so I can read.” 

“Killua and I are going to be doing a water balloon fight!” Gon said excitedly. “Ponzu-san, Pokkle-san, would you like to join?” 

“Sure,” Pokkle said. “Destroying the both of you with water balloons sounds fun.” 

“I’ll pass,” Ponzu said. “But I’ll watch.” 

… 

Ponzu sat in her turquoise hammock overlooking the area down by the lake where Pokkle, Gon, and Killua were filling their water balloons, preparing for the water balloon fight that would ensue. 

“Alright!” Gon said “I think we’ve got enough! What do you think, Killua?” 

“Huh?” Killua looked up from the water balloon he was filling. “Yeah, plenty.” 

“I’ve got enough too,” Pokkle said. “Hey! Ponzu! We’re finished filling them up!” 

“Okay then,” Ponzu said, internally wondering how she had ended up being the judge of their water balloon fight. “The path to winning the water balloon fight lies in obtaining points, which is done easily by landing water balloons on the opposing team. The first team to score one hundred points wins the game. Now then… you may begin!” 

“You better not take it easy just because we’re kids!” Killua tossed a water balloon in the air and then caught it again. 

“You do NOT have shit to worry about!” Pokkle simultaneously threw two water balloons, one at Gon and one at Killua. 

The two boys both instinctively blocked and the water balloons hit their arms, exploding on impact and splashing them with water. 

“Two points for Pokkle!” Ponzu declared. 

“Right,” Killua thought. “This is a water balloon fight. If it hits me, it hits me, and it doesn’t matter where. I’ll have to dodge.” 

“Killua! We have to dodge!” Gon shouted. 

Killua frowned. “I know that!” 

Pokkle threw multiple water balloons at Killua and Gon. They both dodged and counterattacked. Pokkle dodged and attacked back again. 

The three of them made many exchanges, but none of them were successful in landing any hits and so the game’s score remained the same. 

Killua and Gon then separated from Pokkle and ran into the forest to come up with a strategy. 

While they were doing that, Pokkle came up with a plan of his own. 

… 

“What are we going to do?” Gon asked. “It’s us against him but he’s way too good at this!” 

“We’ll have to use the fact that there’s two of us against him,” Killua said. “There’s two of us and one of him, after all.” 

“How do we do that?” 

“Hmm…” Killua was deep in thought. “Maybe we could–” 

Killua was cut off by a water balloon that hit Gon’s back and knocked him down faster than either of them could react. Killua looked up quickly and just barely managed to catch a glimpse of Pokkle up in the trees before he slipped away. 

“One point for Pokkle!” Ponzu yelled out. 

“OW! That HURT!” Gon whined. 

Killua noticed the water balloon had been attached to an arrow. 

“That explains why it flew so fast and why it was capable of knocking Gon down,” Killua thought. 

“You’ll be fine!” Pokkle said. 

“Why are you using your bow and arrow!? You could kill me!” 

“Don’t worry, I’m using plastic arrows.” 

“It still hurts!” 

Pokkle fired many more arrows with water balloons attached to them at Killua and Gon from the trees. 

“Seven points for Pokkle!” 

“Damn,” Killua thought. “He’s up to ten points while we haven’t scored a single one! What can we do!?” 

“Hey! Gon!” Killua shouted. 

“Yeah?” 

“We’ll split up!” 

… 

Killua and Gon ran in opposite directions. 

“I see what they’re trying to do,” Pokkle thought. “It’s not a bad strategy, all things considered. But…” 

He shot multiple arrows in different directions at both Killua and Gon. 

“…it’s not good enough!” 

… 

“Ten points for Pokkle!” 

The moment Killua and Gon were hit, they immediately turned their attention to where the shots had come from and threw all of their water balloons at Pokkle all at once. 

“Five points for Killua and Gon!” 

“Okay,” Killua thought. “Now Pokkle has twenty points while we have five. We finally managed to hit him, but he doubled his score. If this keeps up…” 

More water balloon arrows sniped the two boys. 

“…we’re definitely going to lose!” 

“Five points for Pokkle!” 

“Now he has a quarter of a hundred!” Killua thought, dread filling him. 

“Killua! We’re losing!” 

“YEAH I KNOW!!!!!!!!!!” 

… 

Leorio and Kurapika were in their tent. 

Leorio had finally gotten the opportunity to take a nap and was now sleeping peacefully. 

Kurapika was reading his book. He could hear Ponzu, Pokkle, Killua, and Gon’s water balloon fight, which continued to take place. 

… 

Pokkle now had fifty-three points while Killua and Gon had seventeen. 

Ponzu had gotten her water bottle from the main area of the campsite and was drinking water as she continued to judge the ongoing water balloon fight. 

Killua and Gon were speeding up, but so was Pokkle. They were now fighting their water balloon fight in fast paced exchanges of ridiculously large amounts of water balloons. 

“Twenty-three points for Pokkle!” Ponzu said. “And fourteen points for Killua and Gon!” 

“He’s more than three quarters of the way now,” Killua thought. “It might be best to shift our focus back to evasion instead of offense.” 

“I know what you’re thinking, but the answer is no,” Pokkle said. “I said I was going to destroy you, and I will.” 

Pokkle prepared to shoot more water balloons, but Killua and Gon were prepared. They evaded and attacked back. Another exchange was made. 

“Fifteen points for Pokkle and nine points for Killua and Gon!” 

Pokkle smirked. “Less than ten to go.” 

“We’re not even halfway!” Killua thought. “It looks like… we’ll have to do this!” 

“Gon! On the count of three!” Killua yelled. 

Gon immediately knew what Killua was thinking and nodded. “Got it!” 

“I don’t know what you’re planning but you two aren’t going anywhere!” Pokkle attempted to attack them again, but before he could do so, they vanished. 

A barrage of water balloons rained down on Pokkle from above. 

“Twenty points for Killua and Gon!” 

“Awesome!” Gon said. “We’re more than halfway now! Killua, we might actually be able to do this!” 

“Huh,” Killua mumbled, surprised. “Well–” 

“I have my doubts.” 

Without warning, many water balloon arrows hit Killua and Gon all at once. 

“Nine points for Pokkle!” Ponzu announced. “Pokkle has reached one hundred points, which means the game has now come to a conclusion!” 

“Well, that’s it for me,” Pokkle walked up to where Ponzu was and lay down in his hammock, the purple hammock beside Ponzu’s turquoise one. “I’ve retired now.” 

“Wait!” Gon shouted, running over to Pokkle. “We have to play again!” 

“Nope.” 

Gon shook Pokkle’s hammock. “But–” 

“We don’t even have enough water balloons,” Pokkle said. “We can’t do this again.” 

“Pokkle’s right,” Ponzu said. “There are barely any left. If you three do another water balloon fight, you’re sure to run out and you won’t be able to do a water balloon fight again on this trip.” 

“Hmm…” Gon seemed to consider what Ponzu and Pokkle were saying. “I get it now! Well, in that case, we probably shouldn’t!” 

Ponzu breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m glad you under–” 

“After all, Killua and I still have something we need to do!” 

Ponzu frowned. “What?” 

“I need to fight Killua!” Gon replied. “Pokkle beat us, but we need to see who’s better out of just the two of us! Let’s do this, Killua!” 

“Wait, what?” Ponzu’s eyes widened. 

Killua and Gon took the remaining water balloons and filled them up together. 

“Not here,” Killua said. “Let’s go to the beach and fight there.” 

“Good idea!” Gon smiled. “Ponzu-san, will you be the judge again?” 

Ponzu was exhausted. She shook her head. 

“Aw,” Gon pouted. 

Pokkle jumped out of his hammock. “I’ll do it instead, she deserves a break.” 

“Let’s do this,” Killua said. 

With the water balloons, Killua, Gon, and Pokkle went to their campsite’s beach for Killua and Gon to have their water balloon fight there. 

Killua and Gon fought until they ran out of water balloons. 

Killua won. 

“Aw, damn!” Gon shouted in frustration. “I couldn’t even beat you with this!” 

“I don’t know why you thought you’d be able to,” Killua said flatly. 

“Great job you two,” Pokkle said sarcastically. “We’re out of water balloons now.” 

“There’s only one more thing,” Gon said, ignoring Pokkle. 

“Oh yeah?” Killua raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?” 

“Swimming!” 

… 

Pokkle went back to his hammock. Ponzu, still in hers, was resting. 

“What’s the outcome with Killua and Gon?” Ponzu asked. 

“Killua won,” Pokkle replied, lying down in his hammock. 

“Wow,” Ponzu’s eyes widened. “Gon didn’t like that, I bet.” 

“Yep. They used up all the water balloons too, so Gon’s proposed another contest.” 

“What kind of contest is it this time?” 

“Swimming.” 

… 

Killua and Gon stood on their campsite’s beach, looking out at the lake. 

“This is it, Gon,” Killua said. “You ready for me to beat you one final time?” 

“Okay, yeah, I’m ready to beat you!” Gon said enthusiastically. 

“We’ll see about that,” Killua said. “On your marks… get set…” 

“GO!” Killua and Gon cheered. 

Simultaneously, they jumped into the water and began racing across the lake. 

… 

Ponzu and Pokkle could see Gon and Killua from where they were. 

They watched as the boys raced across the lake. 

“Are they actually racing across the entire lake?” Ponzu muttered. 

Pokkle shrugged. “It looks like it.” 

They continued watching them. 

Killua and Gon were both swimming very fast. They made it to the other side of the lake, and then began racing back. 

When they made it back to the campsite… 

“Oh, wow,” Pokkle said. 

“What? What is it?” Ponzu asked curiously. 

“It looks like… Gon won.” 

… 

“YES! I BEAT YOU! I BEAT YOU! KILLUA, I BEAT YOU!” Gon jumped up and down. 

“Ugh… shut up, Gon…” Killua grumbled. 

“I FINALLY BEAT YOU IN SOMETHING! FINALLY!” 

“Oh, whatever, I’m still better than you at everything else!” 

“BUT I BEAT YOU IN SWIMMING!!!!!!!!!!” 

They made their way back up to the campsite. 

“Ponzu-san! Pokkle-san!” Gon shouted and ran over to their hammocks energetically. “I BEAT KILLUA!” 

“I saw,” Pokkle rolled his eyes. 

“DID YOU!? DID YOU!?” Gon shook Pokkle’s hammock. 

“Hey, stop that!” Pokkle snapped and shoved him off. 

“BUT I FINALLY DID IT!” Gon beamed and puffed his chest out. 

“It’s pathetic,” Killua said. “I beat you in everything else, yet the first time you beat me you’re just so excited about it. Wow.” 

“MMMMMRGH! I DID IT!” Gon exclaimed, unbothered by Killua’s comment. “I’m gonna go tell Leorio and Kurapika!” 

And so he ran off to their tent, where Leorio and Kurapika were. 

Pokkle sighed. “He isn’t gonna shut up about it, is he…” 

Killua shrugged. “Probably not.”” 

Ponzu grumbled and pulled the edges of her hammock up over her, as if to hide from the world. 

… 

Leorio and Kurapika were still peacefully in their tent. 

Leorio was fast asleep, the sound of his steady breathing filling the tent. Kurapika was reading his book, engrossed in the story. 

Then, they were abruptly interrupted. 

“I DID IT! I FINALLY DID IT!” Gon burst into the tent, screaming at the top of his lungs. 

Leorio was jolted awake, and Kurapika was snapped out of his concentration. 

“W– wha– what– huh!?” Leorio sputtered. 

“I WON! I BEAT KILLUA! FINALLY!” Gon exclaimed. 

“Oh… you did?” Kurapika asked, stunned. 

“YES!” 

“In what?” 

“SWIMMING! WE SWAM ACROSS THE LAKE AND BACK AND I WON! YESSSSS!!!!!!” 

“I… see.” 

Leorio was muttering something under his breath as he pulled his sleeping bag up over his face. Kurapika looked over at Leorio, and then back at Gon. 

“But, Gon, Leorio was trying to sleep,” Kurapika said. “You shouldn’t be so loud.” 

“You can say THAT again!” Leorio grumbled. “But there just seems to be no way for me to get a nap uninterrupted!” 

“Oh, sorry,” Gon rubbed the back of his head. 

After Gon left, the tent was shrouded in silence once again. 

“I don’t think there’s any point in me trying to go back to sleep,” Leorio sighed. “It’s gotten late, and we’ve got to make dinner today.” 

Silence. 

“Leorio, you keep taking a nap here,” Kurapika said. 

Leorio raised an eyebrow. “What?” 

“I know you’re exhausted. As such, I’ll take care of dinner.” 

“Seriously? By yourself?”

“Of course. You think I’m not capable?” 

“I have to handle most of the cooking at home. Do you know how, even?” 

“Of course I do. And it’s only pasta. I’m sure I can manage.” 

“But–” 

“Leorio, I CAN MANAGE,” Kurapika stared at him. 

Silence. 

“Are you sure?” 

“I’m sure. Just rest.” 

“Well, alright…” 

Leorio went back to his nap. 

Kurapika left the tent and headed to the main area of the campsite. 

Gon had finally settled down and was playing a game of connect four with Killua. 

“Four in a row,” Killua said. 

Gon’s eyes widened. “What!? Let’s play again!” 

Killua rolled his eyes. “You’re asking just because I won again…” 

“Let’s play! Come on, Killua!” 

“Ugh, fine.” 

Killua and Gon set up another game of connect four. 

Gon noticed Kurapika. “Kurapika, you’re back!” 

Kurapika nodded. “I’ll be making dinner.” 

“Without Leorio?” Killua raised an eyebrow. 

“He’s sleeping,” Kurapika said as he began to set up the camping stove. 

“Oh, okay,” Killua said as he set up the connect four game with Gon. 

Pokkle walked over to them. “You need help with anything, Kurapika?” 

Kurapika thought for a moment, then shook his head. “I have it covered.” 

“Alright then,” Pokkle turned to return to his hammock. 

“Or, wait,” Kurapika stopped him. 

“Hmm? What?” Pokkle asked. 

“If you could go out onto the lake and fill up the water filter, I’d appreciate it greatly,” Kurapika replied. 

Pokkle nodded. “I’ll do that.” 

“Thank you, Pokkle.” 

With that, Pokkle grabbed the water filter, leaving to fill it up. 

Killua smirked. “Four in a row!” 

“Whaaaaa!?” Gon’s eyes widened. “Let’s play again!” 

Kurapika worked on dinner, as Gon and Killua played another game of connect four. 

Ponzu hopped out of her hammock, walking over to where Kurapika was. 

“Is there any way I can help with dinner?” Ponzu asked. “I see you sent Pokkle out…” 

“I sent him to fill up the water filter,” Kurapika said. “There’s nothing else, though. Thank you for offering.” 

“I see,” Ponzu said. 

She went back to her hammock, and read a book while waiting for Pokkle to return. 

… 

Pokkle returned later with the water filter. Kurapika finished cooking dinner. Killua and Gon stopped playing connect four to eat. Ponzu, too, went to the campfire area to eat her dinner. 

“I’ll go get Leorio,” Kurapika said. 

He headed to the tent where Leorio was trying to nap, and slowly zipped the door open. 

“Leorio…?” Kurapika asked quietly. 

Leorio was finally asleep. 

Kurapika was conflicted, not wanting to disturb him. 

Just then, Leorio woke up on his own, his eyes fluttering open. “Huh…?” 

“Oh… you’re awake now,” Kurapika said. 

Leorio sat up slowly and blinked. “Uh, yeah…” 

“It’s dinnertime,” Kurapika said. 

“Oh, okay,” Leorio said. “Coming…” 

Leorio and Kurapika went to the campfire area together. Kurapika served Leorio’s dinner and they ate with the others. 

After dinner, they had another campfire. 

“There are no marshmallows left, or anything like that, because of SOMEONE…” Pokkle said, looking at Killua. 

Killua shrugged. “Worth it.” 

“We don’t need to eat something at the campfire,” Leorio said. 

“Yes, there are other things we can do,” Kurapika said. 

“Like what?” Gon asked. 

“What about… spooky stories?” Pokkle suggested, a mischievous glint in his eyes. 

Gon blinked. “Spooky stories?” 

Pokkle nodded. “Yes. Indeed. What do you think?” 

“I guess you have a story in mind, Pokkle,” Ponzu said. 

Pokkle shrugged. “Yeah, one or two. But we can take turns telling stories.” 

“You go first, Pokkle,” Kurapika said. 

Pokkle smirked. “Alright, so… ever heard of the whistling ghost?” 

Killua, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika shook their heads. 

“I’ve heard you tell the story, but go ahead,” Ponzu said. 

Pokkle nodded. “Well, it’s a story from my homeland.” 

He took a deep breath before beginning. 

“The story is that, in remote places across my homeland, at night, whistling can be heard through the trees. It starts loud, as though it’s right beside you, but gets quieter. When it’s loud is when the ghost is far away, and if it’s quiet it’s right beside you and sounds like it’s far away. It’s the ghost’s trick. When it goes quiet completely is when the ghost is right there. At that point, you must remain completely still until you hear the whistling again, or you will become another one of the ghost’s victims.” 

“How did this story begin…?” Kurapika questioned. 

“Who knows?” Pokkle shrugged. “It may be true…” 

“Oooh! Me next! I want to tell a scary story!” Gon exclaimed. 

“Go ahead,” Pokkle said. 

“Okay, so, once on Whale Island, a serial killer was going around Whale Island killing children who lived there,” Gon began. “This one little boy was scared of the serial killer. When the murders began, he slept every night with his dog friend under his bed so that if he got nervous he could stick his hand under the bed and pet him. The dog would always lick his hand too to tell him he was there. Then, one night, the boy heard the faucet dripping in the washroom. He got up, went to the washroom, and then made sure the faucet was off. Then he went back to his bed and stuck his hand under the bed and he felt his dog lick his hand. But then, he couldn’t fall asleep, because the faucet was dripping, even though he was sure he’d turned it off. He went to the washroom, and this time realized the faucet wasn’t dripping. The noise came from the shower. He assumed the showerhead was dripping instead. But when he pulled back the curtain, he noticed the dripping noise had been blood dripping from his dog’s head which lay lifeless in the shower. There was a message on the wall in blood: it said ‘HUMANS CAN LICK TOO’.” 

Leorio shivered. “Chills…” 

“Yes, chilling indeed…” Kurapika muttered. “Gon, is this a true story?” 

“Yeah!” Gon exclaimed, smiling. 

“Eh, it isn’t that spooky, honestly,” Killua shrugged, unfazed. 

“I have a serial killer story as well, actually,” Kurapika said. 

“Oh, really?” Pokkle asked. “Go ahead, Kurapika.” 

“Very well,” Kurapika said. “Two brothers are driving through the woods. They hear about a serial killer disappearing into those woods recently. They’re in a remote area when the car runs out of gas. One brother decides to walk back to a station they saw a few klicks back, saying he won’t be very long. But a few hours go by, and he still isn’t back. The other brother is getting sleepy. He dozes off a few times but is continuously woken up by the noise of rain dripping on the roof of the car and branches scraping against it. Eventually it’s morning and he’s woken up by the police, standing outside the car. They ask him to get out of the car and walk towards the policecar but without looking back. Confused, he gets out and starts walking toward their car. The policemen keep reminding him not to look back. Eventually, though, curiosity gets the better of him and he turns around. His brother is hung by the legs off the tree above the car, beheaded. The dripping wasn’t the rain, but his blood, and the scratches weren’t branches, but his fingers.” 

Silence. 

“Why do these have to take place in the remote woods?” Ponzu asked, shivering. “We’re sleeping out in the remote woods tonight…” 

“It’s alright,” Pokkle said. “If shit goes down, I’ll protect you, Ponzu.” 

“Another serial killer story?” Killua yawned. “Serial killers aren’t that scary…” 

“Oh, you think you can do spookier?” Gon asked. 

Killua smirked. “I don’t think, but KNOW I can.” 

“I’m scared already…” Kurapika muttered. 

“Me too…” Leorio agreed. 

“I should tell it at the end,” Killua said. “If anyone else has a story they want to tell, tell it first.” 

“Why don’t you tell your story, Leorio?” Kurapika suggested. 

“My story?” Leorio blinked. 

“The one about the box,” Kurapika said. 

“Oh, that,” Leorio said. “Well, alright.” 

He took a deep breath before beginning. Everyone else listened intently. 

“A family consisting of two parents, and one little boy, had just moved into an old home in the woods,” Leorio said. “But that night, the boy hears a faraway singing voice saying ‘black box, black box, ten klicks away’. He told his parents the next morning, but they told him he was imagining things. The next night, the voice sang ‘black box, black box, nine klicks away’. Then, ‘black box, black box, eight klicks away’. This continued as it counted down, saying it was one kilometer closer every night. And then, he hears ‘black box, black box, at your doorstep’. He runs to his parents room, but they’re already gone. Then he goes to the door to leave and sees a black box on the doorstep. The next morning, someone finds the boy and his parents. They’re buried in a cemetery ten kilometers away from the home, locked away forever in a black box.” 

“Another story in the woods, of course…” Ponzu mumbled. 

“This one is fiction though, right?” Kurapika asked. 

“Of course it is,” Leorio said. 

“Okay, good,” Kurapika said. “Mine was as well.” 

“Mine wasn’t!” Gon exclaimed. 

“Yeah, thanks Gon,” Kurapika said sarcastically. 

“I’ve got a fictional but terrifying story for you,” Pokkle said. 

“Alright, shoot,” Leorio said. 

“A father and his son are living alone in a normal home,” Pokkle said. “One night, the father suddenly hears the son screaming from his room. He runs to the room and sees his son on the bed. He asks what’s wrong. The son tells him there’s a monster under his bed. The father tells the son there’s no monster, and to go back to sleep. The son insists there is a monster under the bed. The father, to reassure him, decides to look under the bed just to ease his son’s mind. But when he checks under the bed, he sees his son, in tears. His son tells him there’s a monster on his bed.” 

Silence. 

“Wait, what?” Gon blinked. “Two sons?” 

“One is a monster,” Pokkle said. 

“Which is the monster?” Ponzu asked. 

“Well, that’s for you to decide,” Pokkle shrugged. “There’s also another version I’ve heard before.” 

“Tell it! Tell it!” Gon cheered. 

“A mother and her daughter are living alone in a normal home,” Pokkle said. “One day, the daughter suddenly hears her mother’s voice calling her. She opens the door of her bedroom to go back downstairs, but sees her mother standing outside. Her mother tells her to not go downstairs, because she heard the voice too.” 

“Another impostor,” Leorio said. 

“We don’t know which mother is the impostor, though,” Kurapika said. 

“We don’t,” Pokkle said. “And that’s the fun of it.” 

“I think I’ve heard these stories from you before,” Ponzu said. 

“Most likely,” Pokkle said. “I’ve heard good ones from you as well.” 

“From me?” Ponzu blinked. 

“Of course,” Pokkle said. “Like the one with the skiers travelling the snowy mountains.” 

“This sounds interesting, could you tell it?” Leorio asked. 

“Yes, please tell it,” Kurapika said. 

“Tell us, Ponzu-san!” Gon cheered. 

“Go ahead,” Killua said. “Unless it’s about serial killers.” 

“It’s not,” Ponzu said. “It’s different. It’s not murder-related at all.” 

“Hmm, interesting,” Killua said. “Well, tell us.” 

“Alright then,” Ponzu said. “A group of skiers were travelling through the snowy mountains searching for a place to stay the night. They found a small cabin that was just big enough to fit them. It was empty, so they stayed there. Inside, the cabin appeared to be decorated with paintings of people who used to live there. They spent the night looking at them, making fun of how creepy they looked. In the morning, however, they wake up to see the cabin full of morning light. There were no paintings, only windows.” 

Silence. 

Killua’s eyes widened slightly for the first time since they’d started telling spooky stories. “What the…” 

“Oh, wow, Killua’s scared!” Gon exclaimed. 

“Hey, shut up, Gon!” Killua yelled. 

“The ghosts were staring at them, then?” Kurapika guessed. 

Ponzu nodded. “They were.” 

“It’s a chilling one,” Leorio said. “Pretty unconventional, too.” 

“It is,” Pokkle said. “It’s simple, but awesome.” 

“It’s from my homeland,” Ponzu said. “I was told this spooky story when I was younger.” 

“But anyway, Killua, you mentioned having a spooky story for us?” Kurapika raised an eyebrow. 

“I did,” Killua said. “You ready?” 

“Tell it,” Pokkle said. 

“My story… is about a camping trip,” Killua said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “And… it’s 100% true.” 

“On second thought, it might be better to wait until the trip is over to tell a spooky campfire story about camping…” Ponzu muttered. 

“But the fact that we’re on a trip makes it creepier, Ponzu-san,” Killua said. 

“It’s alright,” Pokkle squeezed Ponzu’s hand. “Killua, we can handle it.” 

“Alright then,” Killua said. “Well, once, a group of six friends were on a canoe camping trip together.” 

“We’re a group of six friends on a canoe camping trip…” Ponzu thought. 

“There were lots of mosquitoes, as there usually are,” Killua said. “And one of the campers got a bite right on their left cheek when they were telling spooky campfire stories one night.” 

Ponzu’s attention was diverted to the mosquitoes around them, which had intensified ever since the sun began to go down. 

“They were kept up late with how itchy the bite was,” Killua continued. “They brushed it off, assuming it was going to go away eventually. But as the days of their trip passed, the itchiness only intensified. It morphed from a little bite to a giant, oozing, disgusting boil deforming their skin. On the final night of their trip, the bite burst and a million little mosquitoes came out, revealing the female mosquito that bit the camper had also laid their eggs underneath the camper’s skin! The other five campers panicked. They tried to get the camper medical attention. But they couldn’t do anything. They were camping, far from civilization, far from doctors and hospitals. They could only watch in horror as the camper succumbed to the nasty, infected wound, dying a painful and slow death.” 

“Whoa…” Gon blinked. 

“Okay, that’s just gross,” Leorio shuddered. 

“It is…” Ponzu spoke quietly. 

“Oh, hey, just thought of another story,” Pokkle said. “It slipped my mind earlier.” 

“What’s that?” Killua asked, curious. 

“It’s not gross too, is it?” Leorio asked, terrified. 

“It’s not,” Pokkle said. “It’s a true story, though, and pretty terrifying.” 

“Oooh! What is it!? Tell it!” Gon exclaimed. 

“It is the story of the hitchhiker,” Pokkle said. 

“The hitchhiker?” Leorio asked. 

“It’s a true story,” Pokkle said. “100% true.” 

“Oh no,” Ponzu said and covered her face with her hands. 

“What’s wrong?” Pokkle asked, concerned. 

“I’ve heard it before… it’s really creepy…” Ponzu muttered. 

“Are you okay with me telling it?” Pokkle asked. 

Ponzu sighed. “Yeah, go ahead, it’s fine.” 

“I’m pretty curious now,” Killua said. 

“Tell it! Tell it!” Gon cheered. 

“Alright, alright,” Pokkle said. “One night, a man was driving down a highway. He hadn’t seen anyone for a while, and didn’t expect to, as it was a remote area. He checked his rearview mirror again for the hundredth time, still seeing no one else near him. He hadn’t seen anyone else for over thirty klicks. He was completely alone. Or so he thought. It was just past midnight when he spotted someone at the edge of the highway, standing with a sign reading ‘NEED RIDE PLEASE’. It was a hitchhiker.” 

“The hitchhiker!” Gon exclaimed excitedly. 

“Before he could pass the hitchhiker, the man found himself pulling over, as it wouldn’t hurt to show the stranger kindness, and perhaps a little conversation would keep him awake,” Pokkle continued. “The hitchhiker approached the car as the man rolled the window down. The hitchhiker asked ‘would you be so kind as to give me a ride, sir?’ to which the man agreed. And so the hitchhiker got in the car, and the man continued driving down the highway. ‘Where are you headed?’ the man asked the hitchhiker. ‘The nearest place with people, really, you can drop me there…’ the hitchhiker replied, ‘this highway isn’t the best place to look for a ride,’ he laughed.” 

“Oh, wait,” Ponzu said. “You didn’t mention their names.” 

“Ah, yes, I forgot,” Pokkle said. “The man is Thomas Smith. As for the hitchhiker… the man asked his name. ‘I’m Jack,’ the hitchhiker answered. ‘I see,’ Thomas said. ‘I’m Thomas–’ Jack then interrupted him with ‘I know…’ and Thomas asked ‘how do you already know?’ to which Jack answered ‘you’re wearing a nametag’.” 

“Hah!” Gon laughed. 

“Thomas said ‘oh, right, I forgot…’ to which Jack then said it was alright,” Pokkle said. “Then Thomas asked Jack where he was from, and where he was headed, and Jack replied that where he was from was a very long story, but he was going to Yorknew City. ‘Yorknew City is a long way,’ Thomas said. ‘You’re going to hitchhike the whole way there?’ ‘Yes, that’s my plan,’ Jack replied. ‘I have never owned a vehicle. My legs can take me wherever I must go. And the kindness of strangers, of course…’ ‘Right…’ Thomas trailed off. They drove a few more klicks in silence. And then, an Ultramar gas station came into view. ‘Jack, is this a good place for me to leave you?’ Thomas asked. ‘Yes, and thank you,’ Jack said. Thomas pulled into the gas station, put the car into park. ‘Thomas Smith, I thank you for your kindness,’ Jack thanked him. ‘It’s no problem, again,’ Thomas said. Before Jack left the car, he faced Thomas, reached out, and covered his face with his hand. Thomas tried to say something, but couldn’t. And he could swear he heard a faint buzz coming from Jack’s hand. Then, Jack left the car. Thomas looked in his rearview mirror to check his face, scared of what he might find, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. He rolled down his window to ask the hitchhiker what that was all about, but he was gone from sight. It was about two in the morning when Thomas left the gas station and continued home.” 

“This story is taking a while, is it long?” Leorio asked. 

“Longer than the ones told so far,” Pokkle said. “It’s not long, though.” 

“Keep going,” Killua said. 

“Well, the morning after, Thomas was in his home, with only faint memories of the drive home the night before,” Pokkle said. “He switched the television on to watch the news. He saw a reporter in front of the Ultramar he’d dropped Jack at. It was reported that, earlier that morning at about two, a man robbed the Ultramar at gunpoint. The attendant on duty as well as three civilians were killed. ‘Police have used the surveillance video to find the identity of the armed murderer and robber,’ the reported explained. ‘Thomas Smith, a local living in a town not far from the scene of the crime.’ Then a picture came up on the television. A picture of Thomas. He couldn’t believe his eyes and ears. He had never seen a gun before in his whole life, let alone held or used one!  He had never robbed a store either! Then a video from the surveillance camera played on the screen, and there he was, holding a gun to the attendant while the clerk put all the money from the register into a bag.” 

“Whoa… and this is a true story?” Leorio asked in disbelief. “But how?” 

“You’ll see,” Pokkle said. “Thomas searched for his phone frantically to look the event up. But he couldn’t find it anywhere. He figured the hitchhiker must’ve stolen it. He had another phone, though. And that phone rang just then. When he picked it up, the number he saw on the screen was his phone. He figured Jack was calling him, using the phone he stole. ‘Is that you, Jack!?’ Thomas asked angrily as he answered the call. ‘Why are you still home, rather than turning yourself in?’ the voice on the other end, Jack, asked him. ‘Turn myself in? I didn’t do anything!’ Thomas protested. ‘But it’s your face in that video, Thomas Smith,’ Jack said. ‘And your car was the one spotted leaving that gas station at two.’ ‘I never left the car! I dropped YOU off there! How did you…’ Thomas froze, thinking back to the instant Jack put his hand on his face. ‘Face it, Thomas, you’re going to be arrested now,’ Jack said. ‘You’re going to spend the rest of your life in prison.’ ‘What did you do!?’ Thomas yelled. ‘I used your face to rob that gas station,’ Jack replied.” 

Gon gasped. “KNEW IT!” 

“I’ll continue,” Pokkle said. “‘But WHY?’ Thomas asked. ‘What ARE you, Jack?’ ‘I’m a taker, Thomas,’ Jack replied. ‘I take things from people. And not just money or phones. I can take a person’s identity.’ ‘Why me…?’ Thomas asked. ‘What did I do… to deserve this…?’ ‘You picked up a lonely hitchhiker,’ Jack replied and hung up. Thomas frantically called his phone number over and over, but only his voicemail answered. And then there was a knock on the door. Thomas put his other phone in his pocket. He answered to see policemen standing outside. They pointed guns at him, ordering him to put his hands up and step forward. He obeyed, but then he heard the phone ringing in his pocket. He figured Jack would finally speak to him. He reached absentmindedly for the phone and the policemen opened fire. He fell onto his porch, dead, his blood spilling down the steps. Meanwhile, Jack was standing outside the Ultramar with a bag of stolen goods over his shoulder, thumb out, waiting for the next person to offer the hitchhiker a ride.” 

Silence. 

“I’m never picking up a hitchhiker again…” Leorio muttered. 

“But how is that a true story?” Gon asked. “How did Jack steal his face?” 

“Probably Nen or something,” Killua said. “Obviously.” 

“Oh, right,” Gon said. 

“It was,” Pokkle said. “People develop Nen abilities like Jack’s– abilities meant for chaos and destruction. Abilities to TAKE things from people, like lives.” 

“Welp, I’ll be having nightmares tonight after all this…” Ponzu sighed. 

“Aw, sorry, Pon,” Pokkle apologized. 

“But anyway, I’m going to bed now,” Leorio said and stood up. 

“We should all go to bed now,” Kurapika said and stood up as well. 

“I’ll get water to put the fire out, then,” Pokkle said. 

He went to fetch water from the lake, and soon came back. He dumped it on the fire, extinguishing it. 

Then, he went with Ponzu back to the tent they were sharing to go to sleep. Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio went back to their tent as well to go to sleep. 

… 

Killua, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika were in bed in their tent. 

“Hey, guys,” Gon said. “I hear something!” 

“What…?” Leorio muttered. “Huh…?” 

“I think I hear it too, actually,” Killua said. “It sounds like… whistling?” 

Gon’s eyes went wide. “Oh NO! IT’S THE WHISTLING GHOST!” 

“It’s probably just the wind blowing through the trees,” Kurapika said. 

“BUT THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT THE GHOST WANTS YOU TO THINK!” Gon protested. 

“I’m thinking more about my mosquito bites…” Kurapika sighed. 

Killua laughed. “Why’s that, because of my story?” 

“Shut up…” Kurapika grumbled. 

“Oh no, the whistling is getting quieter… the ghost’s closer now!” Gon squealed. 

“Hey, no, the wind just died down!” Kurapika argued. 

“I want my own tent,” Leorio muttered. 

… 

Ponzu and Pokkle had both gone to bed in their tent. 

They could hear shouting coming from the tent that Killua, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika were sharing. 

Ponzu lifted the cover of her sleeping bag over her face. 

“Pon, if you have any nightmares tonight, feel free to wake me up and I’ll help you get through them,” Pokkle said. 

“Thanks, Pokkle,” Ponzu said. “I’m really fine, though.” 

“Alright, but just in case.” 

“Thanks, Pokkle. And good night.” 

“No problem, Ponzu. Good night.” 

… 

“What are you doing?” Illumi asked. 

“Hmm?” Hisoka turned to face him. 

“The noise,” Illumi said. “What’s that?” 

“Oh, you mean the whistling?” Hisoka asked. 

“Whatever that is.” 

“I see.” 

Hisoka continued whistling. 

“Stop that,” Illumi said. “It’s annoying.” 

“I don’t want to…” 

“Stop, or else.” 

“Oh, alright, fine.” 

“Good, we can’t risk being discovered.”

Chapter Text

It was morning. Ponzu woke up to the smell of oatmeal. Pokkle was gone, so she assumed it was him making breakfast. 

She put on her black sweater, opened up the door of the tent, put her camping boots on, stepped out of the tent, and closed the door of the tent back up behind her. Then she headed down to the main area of the site where Pokkle was by the fireplace sitting in front of the pot of oatmeal he made for breakfast. Gon and Killua were there as well. They were sitting on the benches around the fireplace, each with a bowl of oatmeal they were eating with a camping spork for breakfast. 

“Morning, guys…” Ponzu mumbled, still half asleep, and sat on one of the benches by the fireplace. 

“Hey, Pon,” Pokkle said and smiled. “Good morning.” 

“Yeah, morning,” Killua said. 

“Morning!” Gon exclaimed. 

Pokkle served a bowl of oatmeal and gave it to Ponzu with one of the camping sporks. 

Ponzu then sat down on the benches around the fire to eat her breakfast. 

Leorio and Kurapika soon joined them as well. Pokkle served them their oatmeal, and the two of them sat down on the benches around the fireplace to eat as well. 

Finally, Pokkle served himself the remaining oatmeal. It was just the right amount, again. He sat down with everyone else to eat his breakfast. 

When Ponzu finished, she slowly set down her now empty bowl and the camping spork down on the bench beside her. 

“What should we do today?” Kurapika asked. 

“I vote for resting,” Leorio said. 

Killua shrugged. “I don’t know.” 

“Exploring!” Gon exclaimed. 

Pokkle looked at the lake. 

Ponzu followed his gaze. 

“I have a proposal,” Pokkle said. 

“What’s that?” Ponzu asked. 

“Why don’t we go to one of the islands?” Pokkle suggested. 

“Wait, didn’t you and Ponzu check out the islands the day before yesterday, Pokkle?” Leorio asked. 

“Oh yeah, you have any suggestions on a specific one to go to?” Killua wondered. 

Ponzu and Pokkle exchanged glances. 

“There is one that might be a good island for us to go to,” Pokkle said. 

“Yeah, one of the medium sized ones would be a nice place for lunch,” Ponzu said. 

“Let’s go there, then,” Kurapika said. “For lunch today.” 

“Yeah!” Gon exclaimed. “I’ll explore the island!” 

Killua shrugged. “Alright, sure.” 

Later, they prepared to leave their campsite. 

… 

Ponzu, Pokkle, Leorio, Kurapika, Killua, and Gon loaded their respective canoes with their lunches and other things they were bringing. 

Soon enough, they were finished. The six of them put on their life jackets, grabbed their paddles, and got in their respective canoes. 

“Follow us,” Pokkle said. “We’ll get you to the island.” 

Kurapika nodded. “Understood.” 

… 

They soon arrived at the island. 

It was mostly rock and sand, with a shady forested area on one side. They parked their boats at the other end, on the sandy beach. 

They got out of their boats, bringing their life jackets, paddles, lunches, and other belongings with them. Then they lifted the canoes out of the water and turned them upside down before laying them down on the ground. 

Then, they walked to the shady area, and sat under the trees to eat lunch. 

Killua and Gon were the first to finish eating. 

Gon jumped up. “Killua! Let’s go explore!” 

“Yeah, sure,” Killua said and stood up as well. 

And so the boys left, running around the island, exploring. 

Ponzu and Pokkle finished eating relatively quickly, but stayed with Kurapika and Leorio as the two of them finished up. 

Killua and Gon soon came back. 

“You’re back,” Pokkle said. 

“We finished exploring, now we’re going to play catch!” Gon said. 

Killua rummaged through one of their bags. “Found the ball here. Let’s do it.” 

And so they went to play catch. 

“Well, if we’re staying at this island for a while, then I’m setting up the hammock I packed,” Leorio said. 

With that, he took his hammock out of his bag and set it up in the trees, lying down in it. 

“I think I’ll get my hammock out as well,” Kurapika said. 

And so he did. 

However, Leorio and Kurapika weren’t resting for long before something hit Kurapika square in the shoulder. 

He grabbed it. It was a baseball. 

“Oh, sorry about that!” Gon shouted, running over to them. 

“Hey, be more careful!” Leorio shouted. 

“It’s alright,” Kurapika said. “Gon, here.” 

“Thanks, Kurapika,” Gon said. 

Gon took the ball and ran back to where he was playing catch with Killua. 

However, the ball soon came back toward them. 

This time, it hit Leorio in the arm. 

“OW!” Leorio yelped. “ARGH!” 

“Sorry! Sorry!” Gon said, going over to them. 

“Hey, Gon! I got a bruise! Look!” Leorio grumbled. 

Kurapika looked over at Leorio, then over at Gon, back at Leorio, and back at Gon again. Gon took the ball again and was just about to go when Kurapika stopped him. 

“Hey, Gon,” Kurapika said. 

“Hmm?” Gon looked at him. 

“If the ball hits Leorio again, then I’m throwing it along with you and Killua across the lake,” Kurapika said. “Is that clear?” 

“Chill, it’s just a baseball!” Killua yelled from across the island. “It’s harmless!” 

Kurapika rolled his eyes. Of course Killua would think that. 

Far from the four of them, Ponzu and Pokkle were under a tree together. Ponzu was reading her book, while Pokkle looked through his camera at the photos he had taken on their camping trip so far. 

Very soon, a bit of rain fell. 

Killua and Gon stopped playing catch to instead play games in the rain. 

Leorio and Kurapika stayed in their hammocks, watching the rain with Ponzu and Pokkle who sat under the trees. 

Later, they went back to their campsite. 

… 

It was Ponzu and Pokkle’s turn to cook dinner. Killua, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika still helped out wherever they could. 

Then, dinner was ready. 

They served themselves and ate together. 

“What should we do after dinner?” Kurapika wondered. 

“Let’s have another campfire,” Pokkle said. 

“What will we do, though?” Gon asked. “We already told stories and had marshmallow s’mores.” 

“Ever heard of stick on fire, Gon?” Pokkle asked. 

“Uh, Pokkle…” Ponzu’s eyes widened. 

“No, never,” Gon said. “What is it?” 

“You take a stick,” Pokkle said. “You light it on fire. You play with it.” 

Killua smirked. “Potentially sounds fun…” 

“Without burning yourself, though,” Pokkle added quickly. “And you also sing a song.” 

“A song?” Gon asked. “What song?” 

Pokkle took a deep breath. “Stick on fire, stick on fire! I like Canadian Tire!” 

“Canadian Tire?” Gon blinked. “What’s that?” 

Pokkle shrugged. “I don’t know, honestly. I think it doesn’t exist in our world.” 

“What?” 

“Nothing.” 

“But anyway, let’s do it!” Gon exclaimed. “This sounds awesome!” 

… 

Ponzu, Pokkle, Killua, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika all sat around the campfire they made. The sun was going down now. 

“Ready, set, and… go!” Killua and Gon cheered as they stuck their sticks into the fire. 

The ends quickly burned off, releasing smoke into the air. 

“Look, I’m a magician!” Gon waved the smoking stick around as though it was a wand. 

Killua smirked. “Cool!” 

Gon grinned. “Yeah!” 

After their campfire, they went back to their respective tents to get ready for bed. 

… 

Ponzu felt a scratchiness in her throat as she prepared to go to bed, as though her throat was sore. 

“I hope it’s nothing…” Ponzu thought. “Ugh…” 

“You okay, Pon?” Pokkle asked as he got ready for bed. 

Ponzu sighed. “I’m fine, yeah…” 

… 

In the tent that Killua, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika were sharing, they were all playing dominos. 

“I win,” Leorio said. 

“Wow, again,” Kurapika said. 

“Let’s play again!” Gon exclaimed. 

“You just want to keep going until you win,” Killua said. “Once ag–” 

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT, KILLUA!” Gon interrupted. 

They played a few more times, but eventually went to bed to go to sleep. 

… 

Later, it was past midnight, the full moon shining from high up in the night sky. Killua, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika were asleep in their tent. 

Pokkle was asleep in Ponzu and his tent. 

Ponzu, however, was awake in Pokkle and her tent. 

It always took her a while to fall asleep, but it was taking even longer than usual. 

“Can’t sleep…” Ponzu thought. “At all…” 

Eventually, she gave up trying and quietly left the tent to get a breath of fresh air. After using the washroom, she walked down all the way to the lake. 

The full moon cast its reflection onto the lake, making the lake glow. The stars were visible up above. Ponzu took deep breaths as she observed the moon and stars. 

“I recognize these constellations,” Ponzu thought. “Yes…” 

The silence was soon interrupted by the sound of someone approaching her. Ponzu’s head whipped around to see Pokkle, illuminated by the light of the full moon. He sat beside her. 

“Hey, Pon,” Pokkle said. 

“Hi, Pokkle,” Ponzu said. “Why are you up?” 

“I was just about to ask you,” Pokkle said. “I needed to use the washroom, and I saw you had left the tent.” 

Ponzu blinked. “I… see.” 

“What about you?” Pokkle asked. 

“I just… couldn’t sleep,” Ponzu replied. “Even after many hours…” 

Pokkle frowned. “I see…” 

“My throat isn’t helping either…” 

“Your throat? What’s wrong with your throat?” 

“It feels all sore and scratchy…” 

“Huh, well… keep an eye on it.” 

“Will do.” 

They sat in silence for a while longer, before Pokkle spoke up. 

“You want to try going back to the tent?” Pokkle asked. 

Ponzu sighed. “I don’t know…” 

“Let’s try. I’ll help you fall asleep.” 

“You will?” 

“Of course, I have idea on how to help. I’ve struggled with sleep in the past as well.” 

“Oh, okay…” 

“Then you accept?” 

“Yeah, alright. Thanks, Pokkle.” 

“No problem, Ponzu.” 

And so Ponzu and Pokkle went back to their tent. 

Pokkle helped Ponzu with some strategies, and eventually, they managed to both fall asleep and get a little sleep. 

… 

Illumi and Hisoka were in their tent, on their campsite. 

Hisoka was asleep, snoring loudly. 

Illumi was awake, staring at the ceiling, just as he had been for the past hours. 

“It’s nearly time…” Illumi thought. 

Eventually, he closed his eyes to get a bit of sleep, though he was still thinking for a while before he fell asleep. 

“Tomorrow…”

Chapter Text

It had been almost morning by the time that Ponzu had managed to fall asleep. And then, she slept for a while, until relatively late morning. 

When she woke up, she felt awful. 

The scratchiness in her throat had morphed into a very sore throat. Her senses were dulled, she was coughing, her energy was drained, and she was dizzy. She felt like she was burning, and most likely was suffering from a fever. 

With a shaking hand, she reached up and rubbed her runny nose with her long sleeve. 

“I’m sick…” Ponzu thought and closed her eyes, defeated. “On a camping trip too… no…” 

… 

Pokkle, Killua, Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio were all sitting at the benches around the fireplace eating oatmeal that Pokkle had made for breakfast. 

“Ponzu-san still isn’t up,” Gon said and frowned. 

“Yeah, I’m also surprised,” Pokkle said. “If she’s managing to sleep in, though, I’m glad, because we were up pretty late.” 

“You were?” Killua asked. “Why?” 

“Ponzu couldn’t fall asleep,” Pokkle replied. 

“Wait, how late were you still awake?” Kurapika asked. 

Pokkle thought for a moment. “At least 3:00 am.” 

Leorio’s eyes widened. “WHAT!?” 

“Ponzu has trouble sleeping lots of the time, but yeah, this was an especially extreme night,” Pokkle admitted. 

“No kidding…” Leorio muttered. 

Silence. 

Pokkle frowned. “Hey, you know what…” 

“Hmm? What is it?” Kurapika asked. 

“Well, I just feel like… something’s wrong,” Pokkle said. 

“How so?” Killua asked. 

“Well, all logic would suggest that nothing’s wrong and it would make perfect sense to assume that Ponzu’s sleeping in because we were up late, but… it also feels as though something’s wrong… to me, anyway,” Pokkle said. 

“I… see,” Kurapika said. 

“I’m going to go check on her,” Pokkle said and stood up. “Be right back.” 

… 

Ponzu could faintly hear the door of the tent zip open, as someone entered. 

“Pokkle…?” Ponzu mumbled. 

“Oh, Ponzu, you’re awake,” Pokkle said, closing the tent door. “Wait… are you okay?” 

Ponzu sighed. “No…” 

Pokkle frowned, concerned now. “You sound… almost sick.” 

“I… am…” 

Pokkle pressed the back of his hand to Ponzu’s forehead, and gasped. 

“Pon, you’re burning up!” 

“Um…” 

“What happened?” 

“I don’t know, but… I should probably get up to eat breakfast…”  

“Uh, no, it’s alright,” Pokkle said. “I’ll bring your breakfast here.” 

“You… will?” 

“Of course, just give me a moment.” 

… 

Pokkle left the tent and went back to the main area of the campsite. 

“Well, how is she?” Leorio asked. 

“She’s sick,” Pokkle said. 

Gon blinked. “Wait, what?” 

“Ponzu’s sick,” Pokkle repeated. “Like, REALLY sick.” 

“Oh no,” Kurapika said. “What with?” 

“Influenza symptoms, and a pretty bad fever,” Pokkle sighed. 

Gon gasped. “NO! …wait, what’s influenza?” 

“The flu,” Kurapika said. 

“What’s the flu?” Gon asked. 

As they continued talking, Pokkle went back to the tent where Ponzu was sleeping. 

“I brought you some oatmeal,” Pokkle said, entering the tent. 

“Oh… thanks,” Ponzu mumbled. 

“You don’t have to eat it all,” Pokkle said. “You should get a bit of food into you, though.” 

Ponzu slowly moved to a sitting position and rubbed her head, feeling dizzy. 

“Alright, here,” Pokkle placed the bowl of oatmeal in Ponzu’s lap with a camping spork. “Take your time.” 

Ponzu ate it slowly, until she was more than halfway through. 

“I don’t think that I can eat any more than that…” Ponzu muttered. 

“Alright, that’s perfectly fine,” Pokkle said. “You ate plenty.” 

Pokkle took the bowl and prepared to leave the tent. 

“I’m going to take this back to the main area of the campsite now,” Pokkle said. “I’ll be back after.” 

Ponzu coughed. “What are we doing today…?” 

“YOU aren’t doing anything,” Pokkle said. “You’ve got to rest.” 

… 

Pokkle returned to the main area of the campsite. 

“What are we doing today?” Kurapika asked. “Well, considering Ponzu’s sick?” 

“We can just relax,” Pokkle said. “We’ll stay at the site today.” 

Kurapika nodded. “I see…” 

“Aw, boring,” Gon pouted. 

“You better not challenge me to a million competitions again, Gon,” Killua said. 

Silence. 

“Hmm, wait… I have an idea, actually,” Leorio said. 

“What’s your idea?” Kurapika asked. 

“What if we do a scavenger hunt?” Leorio asked. 

“A scavenger hunt?” Gon’s ears perked up. “Like where you hide things and we look for them?” 

Leorio shrugged. “Why not?” 

They talked about it a bit longer, and decided to do a scavenger hunt. 

Leorio and Kurapika would make the list of things Killua and Gon had to find, and would lie down in their hammocks while they waited for the two boys to retrieve the items. 

Meanwhile, Pokkle went back to his and Ponzu’s tent. Ponzu was still resting. Pokkle read a book while his girlfriend worked on getting better. 

… 

It was after lunch. 

Ponzu and Pokkle were still resting in their tent. 

Leorio and Kurapika had just given Killua and Gon the scavenger hunt list, and were now resting in their hammocks. 

Killua and Gon examined the scavenger hunt list as they stood at the edge of the forest. 

It read: 

• FIVE PIECES OF FALLEN BIRCH BARK 

• YOUR COMBINED WEIGHT IN GOOD FIREWOOD 

• A BRANCH PONZU’S HEIGHT 

• A PINECONE THE SIZE OF KURAPIKA’S HAND 

• A PATCH OF MOSS LEORIO COULD FALL ASLEEP ON 

• A HEART SHAPED ROCK 

• A BOULDER POKKLE’S WEIGHT 

• A MAPLE TREE (BRING A LEAF OR PICTURE, NOT THE WHOLE DAMN TREE) 

• A CHIPMUNK (BRING A PICTURE, NO ACTUAL CHIPMUNK) 

• EVIDENCE OF A BEAR (BUT NO ACTUAL BEARS PLEASE) 

“What should we search for first?” Gon wondered. 

“Hmm, wait, we need to find out Ponzu-san’s height as well as Pokkle-san’s weight before we can begin,” Killua said. “The size of Kurapika’s hand too.” 

“Pretty sure Kurapika’s hand is twenty centimeters long, about! We have to find a pinecone that’s twenty centimeters long!” Gon exclaimed. 

Killua raised an eyebrow. “How do you already know…?” 

“I asked him when we got the list!” Gon replied. 

“Oh, okay,” Killua said. “Well, anyway, we still need to ask Ponzu-san and Pokkle-san.” 

“Let’s do it!” Gon exclaimed. 

… 

Ponzu and Pokkle were in their tent, just resting, when someone knocked on their tent door. 

“Ponzu-san? Pokkle-san?” Gon asked from outside. 

“What is it? Aren’t you supposed to be on a scavenger hunt?” Pokkle asked. 

“Yeah, it’s about the scavenger hunt, actually,” Killua said. “We need your weight. Ponzu’s height too.” 

“Why on earth would you need that for a scavenger hunt…?” 

“Two of the items are a branch Ponzu’s height and a boulder your weight!” Gon said. 

“Oh… huh,” Pokkle said. “In that case, well, I weigh about fifty-nine kilos.” 

“Got it!” Gon exclaimed. “And how tall is Ponzu-san?” 

“About a meter fifty-nine, I’m fairly certain,” Pokkle replied. 

“Great! Thanks! Let’s go, Killua!” 

Killua and Gon then left to go on their scavenger hunt while Pokkle and Ponzu stayed in their tent, resting. 

… 

Killua picked up the last piece of birch bark. 

“Alright, that’s five pieces,” Killua thought. “The first item is down.” 

He put it beside the pile of good firewood they’d found. It was a very big pile- almost a hundred kilograms, reflecting their combined weight. 

“Killua! Hey!” Gon shouted from where he was standing in the forest. 

“What is it, Gon?” Killua asked, walking over to him. 

Gon was standing with a relatively tall branch, a wide smile on his face. 

“Look, this branch is taller than me! You think maybe it’s Ponzu-san’s height?” 

“Uh… hmm,” Killua scrutinized the branch. “It’s probably taller than her, actually.” 

“It is?” 

“Yeah, it’s like a meter sixty-something.” 

Gon deflated. “Oh…” 

“It’s close enough, though,” Killua said. “Just a moment…” 

He sharpened his nails and sliced the top part of the branch off. 

“There, now it’s a meter fifty-nine.” 

“Killua!” Gon gasped. “Is that allowed!?” 

Killua shrugged. “They never told us it wasn’t. Also, I found the birch bark. Meaning we’ve got seven more items to find.” 

They walked to an area of pine trees to look for a pinecone the length of Kurapika’s hand. 

There were plenty of pinecones around, but none were the right size. 

Then, a patch of something bright green on the forest ground caught their attention. 

When they went to investigate, they found a big patch of moss. 

“You think Leorio could fall asleep on this?” Gon wondered. 

Killua shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe?” 

“I’ll test it!” Gon exclaimed. 

He let his body flop down onto the moss, but then yelped in pain. 

“OWWWWW!” 

“What happened?” Killua raised an eyebrow. 

“There’s something hard under the moss!” Gon complained. “It just hit me in the back!” 

He got up and investigated, pulling the moss back to pull out what was underneath. 

“A pinecone…?” Gon held it up in front of his face. 

Killua narrowed his eyes. “Wait… Gon, give me the pinecone a moment.” 

Gon handed Killua the pinecone. Killua inspected it. 

“It’s about… twenty centimeters long.” 

Gon’s eyes widened. “YES!” 

“Why was it under the moss, though?” Killua asked. 

“Nevermind that! I’m gonna try the moss again!” Gon exclaimed. 

He then lay down on the patch of moss again. 

“Killua, whoa, it’s so comfortable!” 

“It is? I guess Leorio could fall asleep on it, then.” 

“For sure! Let’s bring it back!” 

… 

Killua and Gon piled together all the items that they had found already. 

They had five pieces of fallen birch bark, their combined weight in good firewood, a branch Ponzu’s height, a pinecone the size of Kurapika’s hand, and a patch of moss Leorio could fall asleep on. 

“Five down,” Killua said. “Five to go.” 

“Yeah!” Gon exclaimed. 

“The next item is a heart shaped rock, so let’s split up,” Killua said. 

“Okay! First to find a heart shaped rock wins!” 

And so the two of them split up to find a heart shaped rock. 

Later, they met up again. 

“I found a heart shaped rock!” Gon exclaimed. 

“Oh, really? I did as well, Gon,” Killua said. 

“Let’s show them at the same time!” 

“Fine by me. One, two… THREE!” 

Killua and Gon showed their heart shaped rocks at the same time. 

Killua narrowed his eyes. “Wait…” 

“Huh…?” Gon blinked. 

“The heck is that!?” Killua and Gon yelled in unison. 

“Eh!? I found a heart shaped rock!” Killua yelled. “The heck is THAT?” 

“A heart shaped rock!” Gon protested. 

“What? No! It doesn’t even remotely look like a heart!” 

“But it looks EXACTLY like a heart!” 

“Then show me the ventricles! And the arteries! HUH!? YEAH, SHOW THEM!” 

“THE WHAT!?” 

“THE BASIC PARTS OF A HEART, GON!” 

… 

Killua’s rock was shaped like an actual anatomically correct human heart, while Gon’s rock was shaped like the cardioid symbol typically used to represent a heart. 

Killua argued that since his was correct, his was the one they needed to bring back to Leorio and Kurapika, but Gon insisted on bringing his as well, so they put both in the pile of their collected items for the scavenger hunt. 

“Now for a boulder Pokkle’s weight…” Gon trailed off. 

“I saw a field of boulders not too far from here,” Killua said. 

“Cool! Let’s go!” Gon exclaimed. 

Killua led Gon to the field of boulders. 

“Whoa, this is a whole rock garden!” Gon exclaimed in awe. 

“Told you,” Killua said. 

It wasn’t long before they found a boulder the correct weight. 

“This boulder weighs about fifty-nine kilos… I think, anyway,” Killua said, putting the boulder back down on the ground. 

“Let’s bring it back to the pile!” Gon exclaimed. 

They carried the boulder to the pile and set it down on the ground with a thud. 

“Now, are there any maple trees in this area?” Gon wondered. 

“I haven’t seen any,” Killua said. 

“Hmm…” Gon was deep in thought. 

“Let’s come back to it after the other stuff,” Killua said. “I saw plenty of chipmunks, so we can get a chipmunk first.” 

… 

Killua and Gon searched for chipmunks, but couldn’t find any. 

“Chip-chip-chippy! Come on out, chipmunks!” Gon called. 

“I think there somehow aren’t any now,” Killua said. “They’re somehow only out when we’re NOT looking for them.” 

“Aw,” Gon pouted. “Why…” 

“They’re roaming our campsite all the time,” Killua said. “But now they’re all gone?” 

“Yeah, they’re always coming by, snatching the trail mix we drop, and-” 

“Wait, that’s it!” 

“Huh? What’s it?” Gon asked. 

Killua snapped his fingers. “Trail mix! Peanuts! We can lure them out with peanuts!” 

Gon’s eyes went wide. “KILLUA! You’re a GENIUS!” 

“Well, I wouldn’t say that… but it’s certainly a genius plan!” 

They went back to their campsite, grabbed peanuts from the trail mix, and scattered them on the ground in an area of the forest. They then hid, together, with the camera, waiting. 

It wasn’t long before they heard rustling in the bushes. 

“Is it a chipmunk?” Gon asked excitedly. 

“GON, SHH!” Killua shushed him. 

A small rodent with striped fur emerged from the bushes. 

It was indeed a chipmunk. 

The chipmunk tentatively approached a peanut on the ground and nibbled on it. 

Killua snapped a picture of the chipmunk. 

“Got it!” Killua said. 

The chipmunk soon ran away, but they’d gotten what they needed. 

Just then, a brilliant bright red eleven-pointed leaf blew by the boys, carried by the wind. 

“Maple…” Killua trailed off. 

“MAPLE!” Gon exclaimed. 

Gon tried to chase after the maple leaf, but it was gone. 

“Aw, boo…” Gon deflated. 

“Let’s find where that leaf came from,” Killua said. “Where there are maple leaves, there are maple trees.” 

They followed the direction opposite the wind, and soon came across a humble sugar maple tree, the leaves turning a brilliant red as it was the fall. 

They picked up a leaf off the ground and brought it back to their pile. 

“The only thing we’re missing now is evidence of a bear,” Killua said. 

Gon sniffed the air. 

“What are you doing…?” Killua raised an eyebrow. 

“I’m trying to smell for any bears,” Gon replied. 

Killua blinked. “I see…” 

“I don’t smell any bears,” Gon sighed. 

“Hmm, well, let’s search for tracks, or bear poop,” Killua said. “We should split up.” 

“Got it!” Gon said. 

… 

Killua and Gon split up. They searched, and searched, and searched for any evidence of nearby bears. But they came back with nothing. 

“I guess we have to go back to Leorio and Kurapika with what we’ve got,” Gon sighed. 

“We can look more for evidence of bears later,” Killua said. “I’m hungry…” 

… 

And so they went back to their campsite, bringing everything they’d collected. 

Killua munched on a chocolate bar while they showed Leorio and Kurapika all the items they’d found. 

“Five pieces of fallen birch bark, check,” Leorio said. 

“Your combined weight in good firewood, check,” Kurapika said. 

“A branch Ponzu’s height…” Leorio held up the branch. “Check.” 

“A pinecone the size of my hand…” Kurapika compared the pinecone to his hand. “Check.” 

“Two heart shaped rocks…?” Leorio raised an eyebrow. “Well, whatever.” 

“A boulder Pokkle’s weight,” Kurapika said. “Check.” 

“Maple leaf,” Leorio said. “Check. It’s a beautiful maple leaf too.” 

“Yeah!” Gon exclaimed. 

“And here’s the picture of the chipmunk,” Killua showed Leorio and Kurapika the picture. 

“Alright, great,” Leorio said. “The patch of moss?” 

“Leorio, you think you could fall asleep on this?” Killua spread the soft patch of moss out onto the ground. 

Leorio lay down on it. 

“Hmm… yeah,” Leorio said and stood up. “I think I could!” 

“Well, that leaves only evidence of a bear nearby,” Kurapika said. “What have you got?” 

Killua and Gon exchanged glances. 

“Well, actually… we searched everywhere, but…” Gon trailed off. 

“We couldn’t find any,” Killua said. 

Interestingly, they looked… relieved. 

Leorio sighed. “Well, that’s for the best.” 

“Yes, it’s good that there’s no bears close to our campsite,” Kurapika agreed. 

“Congratulations, you’ve passed your scavenger hunt, boys,” Leorio said. 

Kurapika nodded. “You have, yes.” 

“In any case, Kurapika, we should start making dinner…” Leorio noticed the chocolate bar Killua was munching on. “Hey, Killua, don’t spoil your dinner.” 

Killua shrugged. “I’ll still eat dinner.” 

“Let’s go make dinner, Leorio,” Kurapika nodded. 

… 

Leorio and Kurapika got to work cooking their dinner. 

“Killua! Let’s play something!” Gon exclaimed. 

“Killua, Gon, could you take down some of camp while we’re cooking you dinner?” Leorio requested. 

“Huh?” Gon blinked. 

“We obviously can’t pack up the tents or the water filter yet, but some of the tarps can come down,” Leorio said. “The hammocks too.” 

“Leorio’s right,” Kurapika said. “We’re heading out tomorrow. We should pack up what we can today.” 

“Oh, okay…” Gon nodded. 

Killua and Gon went to pack up what they could around the campsite while Leorio and Kurapika cooked their dinner. 

The dinner would be chicken soup. 

… 

Meanwhile, in Ponzu and Pokkle’s tent, they were still resting. 

The smell of chicken broth drifted by their tent, carried by the wind. 

“It smells as though Leorio and Kurapika are finished making dinner,” Pokkle said. “They mentioned it would be chicken soup.” 

Silence. 

“Hmm…” Ponzu mumbled. “I see…” 

“You think you’ll be able to eat?” Pokkle asked. “It’s chicken broth.” 

“Yeah, that… I probably could, and it would be good for me, if it’s chicken broth…” 

“It WOULD be good for you.” 

“Mhm…” 

“When they’re finished, then, I’ll bring you a bowl.” 

“Thank you, Pokkle…” 

“No problem, Ponzu.” 

… 

When Leorio and Kurapika were finished making their dinner, Killua and Gon gathered with them in the main area of the campsite to get their dinner. 

Kurapika served Killua and Gon each a bowl of chicken soup, and then served Leorio and himself a bowl. 

Just then, Pokkle approached them. 

“Pokkle, hello,” Kurapika said. 

“Hey, guys,” Pokkle said. “I came to get a bowl to bring to Ponzu. And one for myself.” 

“How is Ponzu-san doing?” Gon asked. 

“She’s getting through it,” Pokkle said. “She’s already better than this morning.” 

“Well, that’s good news,” Kurapika said. 

Pokkle served two bowls of chicken broth soup– one for himself, and one for Ponzu. 

Then, he went back to their tent. 

… 

“Take your time, again,” Pokkle said. 

Ponzu sat up, and Pokkle placed her bowl of soup in her lap with a spoon. Pokkle began eating his own dinner at the same time. 

Ponzu managed to drink almost all of the broth, but struggled with the solid food. 

After Pokkle finished his own dinner, he finished what Ponzu had left in her bowl. Then, he stacked the empty bowls together. 

“I’m going to take these back now,” Pokkle said. “I’ll be back soon.” 

… 

Pokkle returned the bowls to the main area of the campsite. Leorio, Kurapika, Killua, and Gon appeared to be starting a campfire. 

“You’re starting a campfire…?” Pokkle raised an eyebrow. 

“We are,” Leorio said. “We asked Killua and Gon to find their combined weight in good firewood, after all. We might as well use it.” 

“Fire! Fire!” Gon cheered. 

“I see,” Pokkle said. “Well, anyway, I’ll be going back to Ponzu and my tent.” 

Kurapika nodded. “Alright, see you.” 

… 

Ponzu and Pokkle were in their tent, together, resting, once again. 

“It looks like they took down some of camp,” Pokkle said. “We’ll be able to leave faster tomorrow.” 

“Oh… good,” Ponzu mumbled. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help…” 

“There’s nothing for you to apologize for,” Pokkle said. “Your health always comes first.” 

The smell of smoke entered their tent. 

“Oh, smells like the boys got a fire going,” Pokkle said. 

… 

“STICK ON FIRE, STICK ON FIRE! I LIKE CANADIAN TIRE!” 

Two trails of smoke wafted up into the sky as Gon and Killua waved their sticks around. 

After their campfire, Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio went back to their tent to go to sleep. 

… 

It was late at night. 

Ponzu and Pokkle were asleep in their tent. 

Killua, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika were asleep in their tent. That was, until Gon woke, needing to use the washroom. Killua, being a light sleeper, woke up as well. 

“Killua? You’re awake?” Gon blinked. 

“Well, yeah,” Killua said. “I usually am…” 

“I just woke up to use the washroom…” Gon trailed off. 

“You know what, I’ll go as well,” Killua said and sat up. “I could use the washroom.” 

“Oh, okay,” Gon said. “Let’s go together!” 

Killua and Gon exited their tent, careful to not wake up Leorio and Kurapika, and began walking to the boombox. 

“It’s too bad we couldn’t find any evidence of a bear,” Gon said. 

“Yeah, but maybe that WAS for the best, Gon,” Killua said. 

However, they thought they were following the correct trail, but didn’t end up at the boombox, even after walking a while. 

“Where is it…?” Gon wondered. 

“I think we took a wrong turn,” Killua said. “Let’s try to retrace our steps back to the campsite.” 

Gon nodded. “Alright…” 

But they were completely lost. 

“I can’t even smell the boombox!” Gon complained. “Ugh…” 

“Wait, do you hear that noise…?” Killua muttered. 

A rustling sound could be heard from the bushes. 

“Could it be another chipmunk?” Gon wondered. 

“Uh, no, this sounds like something… bigger,” Killua said. 

They waited in silence to see if the animal would show itself. 

“Wait… could it be…” Gon’s eyes widened. “A BEAR!?” 

“Hey, Gon, don’t scream!” Killua said. “But…” 

But then, they heard footsteps. 

“Wait, is it… another person?” Gon asked. 

“Could be…” Killua narrowed his eyes. 

“I recognize these footsteps…” Killua thought. “But they aren’t Kurapika, Leorio, Pokkle-san, or Ponzu-san’s…” 

A figure emerged from the bushes, obscured in the darkness. 

“Oh my… what have we here?” the figure spoke. 

Every hair on Gon and Killua’s bodies stood on end. 

“Hisoka…?” Gon mumbled.

Chapter Text

“I’m here too,” a monotone voice said. 

“Big brother…?” Killua mumbled. 

Illumi emerged from behind Hisoka. 

“What are you doing out here…?” Killua and Gon mumbled in unison. 

“Just checking on you,” Illumi said matter-of-factly. 

“We’ve been on the campsite right beside you this whole time!” Hisoka said in a singsong voice. 

Killua shivered involuntarily. Right beside them? The whole time? 

“Yes, our parents tasked me with keeping an eye on you throughout your trip,” Illumi said. “And… he tagged along.” 

“I did indeed!” Hisoka nodded. 

“Why…?” Gon mumbled. 

Hisoka shrugged. “I wanted to.” 

“No, I meant… why was Illumi tasked with spying on us?” Gon asked. 

“I don’t expect you to understand why,” Illumi said. “Accept that you don’t know.” 

“Why are you telling me this now?” Killua asked. 

“Well, you’re leaving soon,” Illumi said. 

“We wanted to have fun before you left!” Hisoka exclaimed. 

Illumi glared at Hisoka. “‘WE’…?”

… 

Killua internally wondered how Illumi and Hisoka ended up coming back with Gon and himself to their campsite. 

In the morning, Pokkle, Ponzu, Kurapika, and Leorio woke to find Killua, Gon, Illumi, and Hisoka in the main area of the campsite, talking. 

After the initial shock, they had breakfast together. Pokkle made oatmeal. 

Then, they packed away the remainder of camp. 

Illumi and Hisoka, too, went back to their campsite, where they packed up, and then disappeared, seemingly leaving the provincial park. 

… 

Ponzu and Pokkle put their canoe in the water. Killua, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika did the same. They loaded their respective canoes, put on their life jackets, grabbed their paddles, got in their respective canoes, and began paddling away from their campsite. 

Ponzu and Pokkle, with the map, led the way back to the access point. 

They soon passed by Blue Forest Island, and waved goodbye to it. 

Eventually, they made it to the access point. 

… 

Ponzu, Pokkle, Killua, Gon, Leorio, and Kurapika unloaded their canoes and brought them out of the water, placing them upside down on the beach. 

Pokkle took Ponzu and his canoe back. Leorio took Kurapika, Gon, Killua, and his canoe back. Ponzu rested in Pokkle and her car, as she was still unwell. Killua, Gon, and Kurapika worked together to load both cars. 

When Pokkle and Leorio got back, they left in their respective cars, driving out of the parking lot, along the forested road, and out of the park. 

… 

Ponzu was in the backseat of Pokkle and her car, resting. 

Pokkle was in the front, driving. 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help earlier…” Ponzu coughed. 

Pokkle shook his head. “There’s nothing for you to apologize for, again.” 

“I know you said that… but still… I feel bad…” 

“I can understand that, but don’t, please. Your health comes first. Leorio, Kurapika, Killua, and Gon agree.” 

“I guess you’re right…” 

“I KNOW I’m right.” 

Pokkle looked Ponzu over in the rearview mirror. She was lying down in the backseat, her head behind the driver’s seat, her legs behind the passenger seat. She was inside her sleeping bag, her inflatable pillow under her head. 

“Are you comfortable enough back there, Pon?” Pokkle asked, concerned. 

“Considering it’s a car, I’m very comfortable,” Ponzu said. “Thanks for the help.” 

“Is there anything that you need? Anything I can help with?” 

Ponzu shook her head. “I’m good for now. Thank you, Pokkle.” 

“Well, alright. Let me know if there is anything. You’ll tell me?” 

Ponzu nodded. 

Pokkle breathed a sigh of contentment. “Good.” 

They drove in silence for a few minutes, before Pokkle spoke up. 

“Pon, could I confess to something?” 

“Um… yeah. What is it?” 

“Obviously, I love it when you’re healthy. There’s no part of me that wants you to be sick or unwell in any way. But I’ve got to admit… I also enjoy these situations.” 

“Huh…? What?” 

“Well, you look after me all the time. You’re constantly worried about me, and put my needs before your own, always wanting to help me when I’m upset, and so on. Most of all, it’s usually difficult to get YOU to accept MY help. But when you’re sick, I get to look after YOU. I get to help YOU. And there’s nothing you can do about it!” 

Ponzu blinked. “Oh…” 

“Which is the reason I’m going to make sure you get well soon. You understand?” 

“I understand.” 

“Great!” 

“Thanks again, Pokkle.” 

“Thank YOU, Ponzu.” 

… 

Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio were in Kurapika’s car once again. 

Like before, Kurapika drove, Leorio took the passenger seat, Killua was in the backseat behind Kurapika, and Gon was in the backseat behind Leorio. 

“Before you ask, Gon, the drive is three and a half hours, once again,” Leorio said. “And NO, we’re NOT there yet.” 

Gon blinked. “Huh? How did you already know I was gonna ask?” 

“WE KNOW,” Leorio, Kurapika, and Killua said in unison. 

“Oh, okay…” Gon trailed off. 

“In any case, I packed dinner for us all,” Leorio said. “This way, we don’t have to make any stops.” 

“Thank you,” Kurapika said. “We have enough gas as well to make it back.” 

“Great, we’re all set!” Leorio said. 

Gon rubbed the back of his head. “Um… actually…” 

Leorio glared at him. “Gon, don’t tell me you need to use the washroom AGAIN…” 

“Okay I won’t… but then I’ll pee in the car…” 

“GON!” 

“SORRY! SORRY!” 

“WE JUST LEFT!” 

“I need to go as well, actually,” Killua said. 

“What? Killua? You too!?” Leorio sighed from frustration. “I expected this from Gon, but YOU? WHY!?” 

“I didn’t go back at the park,” Killua said. 

“Why the hell not!?” Leorio asked. 

“I absolutely despise outhouses,” Killua replied. 

“Me too!” Leorio said. “But still, we have to do things we don’t like sometimes!” 

“It’s alright, there’s an Ultramar coming up,” Kurapika said. 

… 

Kurapika pulled into the gas station. Gon and Killua both jumped out of the car and went into the building to use the washroom. 

They soon came back, Killua holding a bunch of chocolate robots as well. 

“I bought all of their chocolate robots,” Killua said. 

“I’m not even surprised,” Kurapika said. 

“Let’s go,” Leorio said. 

Just as they were leaving the Ultramar gas station, another car entered the station, with someone getting out. 

“…I thank you for your kindness,” the person getting out said. 

“It’s no problem, again,” the driver said. 

This other car soon left as well. 

… 

Killua ate a bunch of his chocolate robots and was then just staring out the window. 

“I’m bored,” Killua sighed. 

“You want to play the alphabet game again?” Gon asked eagerly. 

“Hmm… we played that on the way,” Killua said. 

“What about fortunately/unfortunately, then?” Gon asked. 

“Hmm… alright,” Killua shrugged. 

“Unfortunately, our camping trip is over,” Gon began the game. 

“Fortunately, it was a great trip,” Kurapika mentioned. 

“Unfortunately, Ponzu got sick,” Leorio said. 

“Fortunately, she’s on the mend,” Kurapika jumped in. 

“Unfortunately, some people didn’t use the washroom before leaving the park,” Leorio stared at Killua and Gon. 

“Fortunately, the Ultramar gas station had a lot of chocolate robots,” Killua said. 

“Unfortunately, Killua doesn’t value his health in any capacity,” Leorio glared at Killua. 

“Fortunately, Leorio is not my parent in any capacity,” Killua shot back. 

Leorio’s eyebrow twitched. “Why you…” 

“Hey, hey! Guys, the point of the game isn’t to fight!” Gon protested. 

“He’s right,” Kurapika said. “We have to create a story together.” 

“Unfortunately, this is a long drive,” Gon sighed. 

“Fortunately, Kurapika is a great safe driver,” Leorio said. 

“Aw, Leorio, thank you,” Kurapika said and smiled. 

Kurapika looked back at the road, only to see a red car swerve right in front of them. He hit the brakes to avoid a collision. Their car slowed down greatly, all of them fell forward. Killua’s seatbelt kept him from crashing into the driver’s seat. Gon’s mouth fell open. Leorio gripped his seatbelt tightly. 

“Whoa, what the hell was that!?” Leorio yelled and showed the red car his middle finger. “Screw you! Let’s stay away from THEM, Kurapika.” 

Kurapika remained silent as he drove, pressing his foot against the gas pedal to speed the car up further. 

“Uh… Kurapika?” Leorio asked, the dread in his voice clear. “What are you doing?” 

Kurapika switched lanes to be right beside the red car. 

Leorio’s eyes widened. “You’re pushing the speed limit!” 

Kurapika still didn’t respond. He sped up until they were in front of the red car, switched lanes, and hit the brakes while they were right in front of them. They all fell forward again. Killua’s seatbelt kept him from crashing into the driver’s seat, again. Gon’s mouth fell open in shock, again. Leorio gripped his seatbelt for dear life, again. 

The red car panicked and swerved right, almost hitting the ditch, while Kurapika simply continued driving. 

“Are you trying to kill us all!?” Killua yelled. 

“Viridis, why…” Leorio sighed. 

“Well, that was… vicious,” Gon muttered. 

“What!? WHAT!? They DESERVED IT!” Kurapika huffed, anger seeping into his voice. 

Leorio shook his head in disapproval. “Unfortunately, perhaps Kurapika’s not a great safe driver.” 

“HA!” Killua laughed. 

… 

When it was dinnertime, they stopped and ate dinner in the car. 

Then, they kept going back home. 

When they went to their respective homes, they went to bed. 

They were very happy with how their camping trip went. 

They resolved to perhaps go on other camping trips in the future.