"Again!" My father barked, I closed my eyes and lifted my hand to my lips and blew hard, a swarm of dragons flew past our heads. My father, the Nariko family was known to be the best Beast Hunters throughout the lands, our family line specialised in dragons. "Not good enough, blow harder! It's in our blood!" He slaps me across the face, I fell onto the grass holding my cheek, I held my hand up and blew again, I felt my cheeks, throat and lungs burning, animals from all over came out of the forest, he huffed and nodded, "That's enough for today. Tomorrow's your big day. You're leaving to carry the Nariko name. You're going to take the Hunter Exam." He says, I sat at and sternly nodded, he went back inside our house. I saw mum come out from the forest, Radio Rats and Speckled Squirrels following after her, she saw me lying in the grass, "Yuki. I'm so sorry." She runs over to me and hugs me tight, "I wish, I wish I could've given you a better life. I'm sorry." She cries, "It's okay Mama. I love you too. Papa's just trying to make me stronger." I lied to myself, "Yuki. You can't lie to yourself. I'm going to be so happy tomorrow, when you can finally make a life of your own." She cups my cheek and realised where Papa hit me, she gently stroked it, "It hurts." I sniffed, "I know. Come back home and visit me every now and again alright?" She strokes my head, I nodded.
"Bye!" I waved from the ship, I saw Mama and Papa from the docks, "Bye!" Everyone was waving, "I'll be back soon! Promise!" I grinned, I saw Mama use her handkerchief to wipe her eyes and I saw Papa stare up at me with a serious look in his eye, I gulped and nodded before disappearing from the edge of the ship. I heard chuckling from behind me, "What's a little girl like you doing here? Go back home to your mummy and daddy. Every single year, millions of the most skilled applicants apply for the hunter exam but only a handful make the cut. Be careful girly. You'll be dead before you realise it." I saw a group of burly men all sitting on the ship, I shrugged and brushed them off, I walked to the edge of the second floor, "What's up Katso? With the way things are going for you, you won't make it to a sailor." I saw two men bully a crew mate, Katso tried to grab the crate of apple again but the men kicked him over, "What's wrong? Why you bent over like that?" They laughed, I puffed my cheeks out and walked down the stairs, "Hey slackers! Get back to work!" I saw an old man come out from the door, must be the captain, "Aye, aye sir!" The two men ran off, "You?" Katso perked up, "Got wax in your ears? Get moving!" He barks, "A-Aye, aye sir!" He scrambles up, "Hang on a sec!" I bent down and threw one of the apples that me missed, "Thanks a lot," He smiled, I grinned and waved him off, the captain took a swig from his flask, I looked up and saw a group of sea cranes circling above us squawking, "There's a storm coming," I saw a boy my age run over, he had pointy green hair, "And how exactly do you know that?" The captain looks at him, "He isn't wrong. Sea cranes, that's what all of them are saying." I point up, "What?" The captain looks at me, "Also," He scrunches his nose and takes a deep breath, he opens his eyes and scurries up the rope ladder to get to the crow's nest, "There's a storm, and a really big one!" He shouts from above.
Before we knew it, the storm rolled in, everything was being swung from side to side, I saw captain steer up a large wave, I held onto the edge of deck, I didn't want to go under deck, everyone was already there, it was too crowded and people were just getting squashed under each other from the rolling waves, I saw the captain come from the helm, "Kid, what are you doing out here? Aren't you cold? You're drenched!" He looks at me, the rain soaked through every last inch of fabric, "It's fine, I've gone through worse, besides. I don't really want to be in a room filled with people who can't endure a little splash." I giggled, he chuckled and went below deck, I peeked my head from the door and the smell of vomit hit me in the face like a slap, "What a bunch of wusses." I snickered, he saw the boy from before, and two others, "Come with me." He says to the four of us, we nodded and followed him to the cockpit.
"Alright, get down the line and tell me your names!" The captain looks at us, "My name's Gon!" The boy raises his hand, "I'm called Kurapika." The boy with blond hair says, "The name is Leorio." The tall boy says, "And my name's Yuki," I grinned and pointed at my cheeks, "Good, good. Now why do you want to be Hunters?" He asks, "Woah! You're not an examiner so stop with the third degree!" Leorio points his finger at him, "Just pipe down and answer the question dummy." The captain gruffly says, "I will! Because my dad's a Hunter! Being a Hunter was the most important thing in the world to my dad, and I want to know why! That's why I left Whale Island!" Gon pipes up, "Hey, kid, you don't have to tell that old man nothing." Leorio bends down, "But he just asked us why we wanted to be Hunters. It's not a secret." Gon looks up, "Look get with the program, it's us versus him and I'm not telling him why I'm here!" Leorio points his finger at Gon's forehead, "I'm afraid I agree with Leorio." Kurapika says, "That's Mr Leorio to you you brat! Show a little respect for your elders!" He points at Kurapika, "But why not dodge the question by simply offering the man a plausible lie? However it is quite shameful to rely upon deceit as for me, I cannot reveal my reasons here. I have my share of secrets, deep secrets which I do not want to share at this time. That is why. I will not answer your question." Kurapika clutches the fabric above his heart, "Hey I was talking to you punk!" Leorio sparks, "What about you girly?" Captain looks at me, "Well... I guess I don't really want to be a Hunter. My father forced me into participating to honour and continue the family legacy. But I want to forge my own path as a Hunter. I don't want to just be a Beast Hunter. I want to choose." My eyes gleamed, he nods, "So you two." He looks at Kurapika and Leorio, "You both flat out refuse to answer my question. Hey, Katso. Get a hold of the exam committee for me, let me know we've got two more drop outs." The captain blew out smoke from his pipe, "Wait what do you mean?" Leorio looks up, "Still haven't figured it out huh? You see the Hunter Exam has already started." He looks up, "It has?!" Kurapika and Leorio say at the same time, "There's as many Hunter wannabes as there are stars in the sky and the examiners well... fact is they don't have the time or the resources to go though 'em all. That's where people like me come in and pick up the slack. Screen all the applicants and cut the fat, I've already notified the committee about the rest of the lot, not one of 'em made the cut. That was just a little storm and look how they handled it, they'd never survive the later experiences of the Exam, in other words, the only way you four are moving on to the next portion of the exam is if I give you the go ahead, so I'll ask you again. And think carefully before you answer." The captain holds his pipe, "I'm the soul survivor of the Kurta Clan. Four years ago my entire clan was annihilated by a band of criminals, that is why I want to become a Hunter. To capture the Phantom Troupe." Kurapika explains, "Sounds like you want to be a Black List Hunter. And the Phantom Troupe is a Class A bounty. Even the most seasoned Hunters can't touch 'em. You know it's a suicide mission right?" The captain looks at him, "Death isn't among my fears, but there is one thing I do fear and one thing alone. That time will quiet the rage in my heart." His eyes flashed red, "So in other words you're out for revenge. You don't really need to be a Hunter to settle an old score do you?" Leorio says, "That's the stupidest question I've ever heard Leorio." Kurapika doesn't open his eyes, "That's Mr Leorio!" He shouts, "There's places only Hunters can go, intel only they can access, actions only they can take. There are more reasons but those three are the only ones you can comprehend." Kurapika explains, Leorio looked like his was going to blow a fuse, "Hey, why do you want to become a Hunter Mr Leorio?" Gon pops up to try and calm him down, "Who me? It's pretty simple really. For the money!" He smiles, "Money can buy you everything you've ever wanted! A big mansion! A cool car! And top shelf booze!" He fantasises, "If only you could buy class as well. Leorio." Kurapika was now just pushing on his buttons, "That was strike three. Step outside, time to finish off the filthy Kurta bloodline once and for all." Leorio walked out, "Take that back Leorio!" Kurapika was dead serious, "I said take it back." He grits his teeth, "It's Mr Leorio." He walked out and shut the door behind him, Kurapika followed quickly, "Hey! Where do you think you boys are going? I'm not finished with you yet!" The captain calls for them, "Let them go. They're fine, its's like Mama told me once. 'You can never understand a person unless you can understand what makes them angry. It's how you get to know someone.' So whatever they're feeling so upset about is really important to them, it's up to them now, nothing we can do but stay out of the way." I smiled, "Captain! Look! Over there!" The crew mate at the helm pointed forwards, the captain's eyes widened, "If we get caught up in that water spout the ship is going to sink for sure." Katso looks out, "Get the sails lowered! Now!" The captain orders, "Right!" Katso stands up straight, "Anything I can do!" I perked up, "Me too!" Gon nods, "Yeah! Follow me up on deck," Katso nods, the three of us ran out.
Every crew mate started tugging on the ropes to lower the sails, we were getting closer and closer to the water spout, "Katso!" I shouted, a strong gust of wind pulled the rope away from the other crew mates but Katso still clung on, making him fly up, he let go of the rope and he was headed straight over board, he flew between Kurapika and Leorio, they reached out after him, but no luck, they were a millimetre short, "Gon!" I shouted, he jumped off trying to grab onto Katso, Leorio and Kurapika grabbed onto his legs to stop him from flying off too, no luck, "HELP!" Katso shouted, "Katso!" Gon shouts as he started drifting further and further away,"Well I guess there's no choice now," I quickly take my hoodie off and throw at it Leorio, "Hold it for me," I started at Katso in the water, I brought my hand up, "FWEEEEET!" A piercing whistle came out from my mouth, "What are you doing? That was so loud," Gon rubs his ears, there was a crack of thunder, "Amp!" I shouted, a roar tore through the sky and a dragon appeared from the clouds, "Woah..." Everyone was speechless, I jumped off the edge of the boat and Amp used his talons to fling me onto his back, "There!" I pointed at Katso, he was beginning to go under, "Dive." I laid down flat on Amp's body, he growled and dove into the water, I grabbed onto Katso, "Hey, hey, come on. Stay with us." I leant down and listened to his heart, it was still beating, I listened to his chest, no water, he's lucky, "Back to the ship boy," I pet the side of his body, we flew back, Katso managed to drift far from the boat, if it wasn't for Amp, he'd be dead by now, "Hurry, give him a blanket and keep him in the lower deck, he has to warm up, he might suffer from pneumonia." Leorio quickly says, "And who said you were a doctor?" I raised an eyebrow at him, "Just do it, otherwise he'll die!" We quickly nodded and pulled him in.
The next day arrived and the storm passed, blue skies, white clouds and the sun shining down, a few of the failed 'Hunters' came out from lower deck, they saw a dragon sleeping on the deck and they all screamed, "Hey, wakey, wakey sleepy head," I gently pet Amp's scales above his eyes, he growled, "Hey, stay away from that thing kid. It'll eat you. I've heard things about dragons," A man shakily pointed his finger at Amp. "Oh no, save me!" I hinged Amp's jaw open and laid my body on his sharp teeth, Amp gently lowered his top jaw and closed his mouth on me, I pretended to close my eyes, "Help... me..." I slowly shut my eyes, a few of the guys fainted, "Geez, he's a sweetheart." I opened my eyes again and stepped out, "You're a good boy, you can leave now." I pet his cheek, he growled and rolled over, "You big baby," I pet his stomach, he rolled around, his tail thrashing around, "Careful, careful! We're not on the hills!" I giggled, "Yuki!" I saw Katso run over to us, "Oh hey Katso. I'm glad you're feeling better," I smiled, "Thanks to you, I'm here. I'd be dead if it weren't for you or your dragon. May I?" He points at Amp, I nodded, while Katso was petting Amp's stomach, "That's amazing, how old are you?" Leorio looks at me, "Twelve, why?" I ask, "TWELVE?! AND YOU CAN CALL A BEAST LIKE THAT?!" He was shocked, I scratched the back of my head, "Well I guess so. I've always been able to." I laughed nervously, I saw Kurapika walk over to Leorio, "I'm embarrassed about my behaviour, pardon my rudeness. Mr Leorio." Kurapika smiles, "I wasn't expecting that." Leorio took a step back, "Just forget it, you can drop the Mr, Leorio's fine. I'm sorry too and I take back everything I said before, that was wrong of me." Leorio looks down, "No, it's fine." Kurapika nods, I heard a laugh from the captain, "You four are growin' on me! So I'll make sure all four of you get dropped off at the closest port to the Exam site. How does that sound?" The captain walks over, "Congratulations, you're all moving on!" He smiles, Gon and I looked at each other, "Oh yeah!" We jumped up and high tenned, we heard a roar and we looked up, seeing Amp disappear back into the clouds. My own Hunter journey begins now!
