Kiriko: Wicked Magical Vulpes (魔獣 凶狸狐, Majū Kiriko)

The moon was up in the sky and the group continued to walk in the dark, foreboding woods.

"It's so dark here!" Leorio yelled. "How long is the walk?!"

"A two hour's walk...?" Kurapika guessed.

"Two hours? NO WAY! TWO HOURS AGO WE'D ALREADY WALKED TWO HOURS!"

"You yelling isn't going to make it go any faster." Jun said from his book, but he was ignored.

"Another sign..." Leorio said and the group looked at the old sign. "ATTENTION: MONSTERS!" At this rate, do you think we'll ever get there? I'M HUNGRY!! I NEED TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!!"

"You coming, Leorio?" Gon asked.

"There it is." Kurapika said and Jun looked up from his book.

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"The couple who lives in the house built by the tree will be your navigators. If they think you're okay. They'll lead you to the Testing place."

NAVIGATOR: WHERE THE TEST TO BECOME A HUNTER TAKES PLACE CHANGES EVERY YEAR. THOSE WHO KNOW THIS PLACE AND GUIDE THE CANDIDATES THERE ARE CALLED NAVIGATORS. WITHOUT THEM, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO REACH THE TESTING PLACE. TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS, TRAPS ARE LAIN ALONG THE WAY THAT LEADS TO THE TESTING SITE, A PATH THAT IS DIFFICULT TO FIND

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No. 004 Kiriko: Wicked X Magical X Vulpes (魔獣 凶狸狐, Majū Kiriko)

On top of the hill was a small wooden house that had a small path that led any visitors towards it. Beside it was a large tree that stood as tall as a skyscraper. The surrounding area were dark woods.

The group walked forward and looked up at the house. "WE'RE FINALLY HERE!" Leorio yelled happily.

"How quiet..." Kurapika said. "Are we the only ones to have gotten this far?"

"It's possible that there are other spots where people can reach the Testing site." Jun explains. "With multiple paths and different obstacles, it makes the destination harder to find." He puts his book in his bag and they walk up the stairs and stop near the front door. Leorio knocks on the door. A few minutes passed and no one came.

"I'm coming in!" As soon as they stepped forward they stopped. In front of them was a Magical Beast staring at them with blood red, narrow eyes. It stood around 12 feet tall even with it's back hunched. The body was covered in fur. The arms, which were lean and as tall as an adult man were dark grey and the hands were skinny with 10 inch claws on each finger. The ears were long and thin and pointed in opposite directions at an angle. The top of the ear was dark grey like the arms while the rest were dark yellow. The legs (also dark grey) were as long as a small child and the claws were a few feet long. The rest of the beast's body was covered in radged dark yellow fur and the face was narrow with a long nose and long whiskers.

What remained of the house was trashed on the ground and shredded to pieces. On the floor was a man with dark blue hair that went down to his shoulders, dark blue eyes and a small mustache. His body was covered in claw marks and blood while his clothes were shredded and torn. He wore a dark blue shirt and light blue jeans and a jacket which was the same color as the Magical Beasts fur.

The Magical Beast was holding a woman by her neck. She had markings on her hand that showed the bones of her hands which were drawn over by dark permanent ink. Her eyebrows were feline and she had whisker markings on her cheeks. She wore a long magenta shirt which reached a little above her knees, light purple pants and a matching jacket. Only her pants were dirted and torn. Which her shirt, jacket and shoes remained untouched.

"AAAAH!" It said and immediately Kurapika and Leorio took out their weapons.

"A MONSTER!!!" Kurapika yelled but before anyone could do anything the Magical Beast leaped forward, knocking everyone out of the way and the woman in it's claws. Pushing everyone out of it's way and shot out into the distance.

"WE HAVE TO HELP!" Gon yelled.

"LEORIO - TAKE CARE OF THE WOUNDED!" Kurapika yelled.

"YOU CAN COUNT ON ME!" Leorio yelled.

"My wife.... Save her..." The man said and Kurapika and Gon rushed forward. Jun was the last to move and walked over to the man with his hand on his chin.

'Something doesn't feel right.' Jun thought to himself and looked back at Leorio was was speaking to the man in a soft and calm voice.

"Everything is going to be alright." Leorio said as he bandaged the man. "We'll find your wife." Jun walked back into the room and touched the damaged furniture. With a closer look, the furniture was cut so that the furniture could be repaired easily. Jun traced the cut from the claws and moved to the scratches on the ground. There was light claw marks on the ground from the Magical Beast which didn't make much sense. Some of the furniture weren't even damaged. They were placed there on purpose.

The walls in the house didn't have a scratch on them. 'If the Magical Beast really wanted to kill them, they would have already. It wouldn't make any sense to wait for humans to show up. It was obvious that it had impressive physical abilities which must mirror the power of its senses as well. The only reason for all these mistakes to have happened is if it was on purpose.'

"Leorio." Jun said and the men looked back at him. "It seems that we have liars in our midst."

"Liars?! What are you talking about?!" He yelled and focused back on the man who stared at the young boy in interest. He was pleased that Jun found out his little plan.

"Nevermind." Jun said and took a seat on the porch. "Kurapika and Gon will be back soon."

A few moments later Kurapika, Gon, the woman and two other Magical Beasts were walking side by side. Leorio and the man looked back. "What's going on?!"

The man stood up, perfectly fine and uninjured and walked over to where the rest of the Magical Beasts were.

"Kirito." Jun said before the man could join his family. He stopped and stared at Jun with a closed eye smile.

"Correct." He placed a hand on his head and ruffled his hair. Once everything was settle The two groups were speaking to one another.

"It's been a very long time since we've met anyone who could tell my wife and I apart." The male Kirito said. "It gives me great pleasure..."

"Do you see a difference...?" Leorio whispered to Jun and Kurapika.

"No at all..." Kurapika said.

"There are a few minor differences." Jun explained and pointed to the male Kirito. "That's the one who we saw first." They didn't understand.

"Good... you are very nice to us.." The mother said.

"Know, then, that my wife and I are your Navigators." The 'couple' show their ears and faces which were exactly like their others.

"I'm their daughter."

"I'm their son."

The daughter shows her tattoos. "For those who wear this tattoo, the young girls of the ancestral clan 'Sumi' wear it in witness of a promise of marriage made to a god and to no one else. Without an excellent knowledge of Ancient History, it is impossible to decipher it. The wise Kurapika-san was not fooled and understood that we were not husband and wife."

"Leorio-san understood nothing until the end." The son says and Leorio sends an apologetic look to me and laughs nervously. "But he knew how to give me first-aid, maybe better than a doctor. But above all... When I was worried and asking news of my 'wife', he stayed confident and sure of himself and spoke reassuringly. Even when his friend was trying to unravel the truth, his focus was on my injury."

"As for Gon, he walked straight ahead, showing extraordinary movement and observation." The father says.

"You only spoke once during all of this." The son said to me. "How did you know it was a fake?" Everyone looked over at me.

"I noticed that something was unusual by the layout of the house and the damage it took. But from the beginning I couldn't understand why a Magical Beast would wait until a human was in the house to run away. It didn't seem like a coincidence, but a plan. The daughter also didn't have any injuries on her compared to the son."

"Intriguing." The mother says.

"We will take you to the Testing site."

The boys looked at each other happily as the Kirito spread their wings and asked the group to hold onto their legs. Gon and Jun were with the father, Kurapika with the mother and Leorio with the daughter and son.

Song: HxH 2011 OST 3 - 3 Capture