It was a relatively nice day. The sun shone bright, the wind rustled the nearby flora, and the distant chirping of birds echoed throughout the forest. Of course, there was always something that ruined a wonderful day like this.

Quino was minding her own business when she encountered the obstacle of the day. She was currently on Whale Island. After failing in her daily search for her adoptive parent, she decided to take in the breathtaking sight of Whale Island. The island was completely different to the city she grew up in.

The first place she ventured to was the shops. She ate fish, hit the blacksmith's shop, and breathed in the fresh air she had never known existed. There was not even a hint of pollution, which was unlike any area she's ever been in. Eventually she ended up in some part of the local forest looking for some adventure.

When she made the big mistake of getting near to a snake she had never seen before, she didn't notice how huge it was. Upon later reflection, she realized that not paying attention to that rather important detail was her first mistake. Her second mistake was getting closer to the thing as it watched her every move. The third mistake happened to be her panic when she realized how big it was, and that the snake could potentially eat her.

When it sensed her fear, it immediately acted upon it. It striked, Quino barely dodged, and a chase scene between a terrified girl and a bloodthirsty snake ensued. In a later situation under different circumstances, Quino would much rather take on this snake than the other snake. Right now, however, she was trying to run from this problem.

The snake, for all his ferocity, turned out not to be the sharpest tool in the shed. When Quino decided to climb a tree, both hadn't realized that the snake could easily reach up the tree and snatch her. Instead the snake sensed its defeat and slithered away. Quino sighed in relief and beamed at what she thought was a genius idea. In reality, she lived out of pure dumb luck.

She decided to book it out of the dangerous forest, which ended up with her running all the way to the port. She reasoned with herself that there was no reason to stay at the island if her adoptive mother wasn't there.

With that in mind, she scanned the ships docked at the port. There was this huge one docked, and it didn't look fancy, so Quino assumed she could hop on it and let it take her to wherever it was going. If they noticed she got on with no charge, she could always play the 'helpless orphan' card. There were only a few times where that didn't work.

She did take notice, however, that she was running low on money and may soon be unable to afford even these basic ships. A grumble threatened to spill from her lips upon the realization, but she contained it. Grumbling and complaining won't get her any closer to her adoptive mother.

Quino climbed on and noticed something: the ship was filled with tough, mean-looking guys. She wasn't one to judge a book by its cover, but she can tell that something suspicious was going on. She pondered on what to do.

I could go ask someone here, but most of these guys don't seem like the type to help. The next best thing is to go inside and try to find the captain of the ship. But if this ship holds a lot of thugs and mercenaries, you could easily jump to the conclusion that the captain of the ship is probably just as threatening and– oh no.

Quino started to panic internally. She could at least make it seem like she felt confident in herself. Over the months of ship hopping, she had grown accustomed to pretending to look confident in the face of adversaries. Still, this situation was a lot more threatening than anything she's encountered so far.

She silently, and a little stiffly, went to the side of the ship and sat down. Usually in a matter of seconds she'd feel bored, but this atmosphere around her was terribly tense and she felt more alert than ever.

She felt some eyes on her, but she tried her best to ignore the stares. If she pretended they weren't looking at her, maybe they'll just look away.

Just as she was about to close her eyes and go to her happy place, she heard a boy yell something along the lines of "I'm going to become the best Hunter in the world!".

Quino opened her eyes to stare at the boy. He was probably around her age, with spiky black hair that looked like it had a tint of green to it. He wore a green jacket and a yellow backpack with tan shorts. The bizarre thing on his back made Quino curious where he got it. It was white, long and slender, with a red ball thing on the tip. The ball seemed to be attached to the white stick, for lack of a better term, by a string.

What the heck is that thing? I've never seen anything like it. What is it for?

"Once I'm the best Hunter in the world, I'll come back!"

Quino could tell that he was probably naive. Not to mention all of the tough men on this ship were eyeing him with mocking amusement.

They really should pick on someone their own size instead of little kids!

Still, as much as she wanted to reach out to the boy and say hi, she felt that she would draw attention to herself as well. Attention that she definitely didn't want.

The men around her snickered and chuckled, and she had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes.

Man, these guys need to grow up and stop being bullies.

She didn't really care about what they had to say. In fact, she tuned out the entire one-sided conversation that took place between the men and that boy. Quino didn't really want to get involved with the naive boy.

She felt kind of bad to say this, but 'every man for himself' has always been her motto. Well, it's the thing that had kept her safe and out of trouble ever since her adoptive mother vanished on her.

Quino watched as the boy walked away from the men.

Good, at least they'll leave him alone.

Just as she was about to snooze, because she hadn't gotten decent sleep in two days, the birds above her started to act up.

Stupid seagulls. Why can't they ruin someone else's parade? I'm feeling cranky here.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the boy up in the crow's nest.

What's he doing up there?

Curious, Quino got up from her spot in a lethargic manner and stalked toward the bow of the ship.

"It's a huge storm that's coming!"

Quino rose an eyebrow at the boy's statement.

That would make sense. The seagulls are acting up, and I've met my fair share of birds acting up, specifically those kind. They're acting erratic; they're moving in no pattern, which means that they sense something coming, and it's not good.

"I can tell by the smell!"

What?

Quino's eyes widened in shock.

Well, I've never heard that one before. Could it even be possible? Meh, he's just a boy. He's probably pretending, and just so happened to be lucky that there actually is a huge storm coming.

Low and behold, Quino could see dark clouds rolling in toward the ship she was on in the distance.

It wasn't long before all of them were escorted to a room. Quino took up residence in one of the corners of the room. She was next to a guy in a business suit, reading something that only perverts would look at.

She looked back at the only other kid in the group, and debated in her head.

Should I go and say hi? It's the polite thing to do, and technically it would be nice to hang out with someone around my age.

On second thought, all the men are still a little smug with him. They're not saying anything, but their eyes say it all. And if I get close to him, then I'll probably draw more attention to myself.

What to do, what to do..?

Quino glanced around the room, then trained her eyes on the boy. She got up slowly from her position, and crossed her arms.

I don't know, this might not be a good idea. 'Every man for himself', remember? But he might know where we're headed.

Quino decided right then and there that she was going to go to the boy, say hi, and ask him where they all were headed.

Perfect, Quino thought with a nod.

Quino strolled right up to him and said, "Hi."

The boy's ears perked up and he looked at Quino.

"Hi! I'm Gon!"

Quino wasn't sure if she wanted to chuckle or roll her eyes at the boy's enthusiasm.

Well, I'll admit that it's nice to see someone radiant on this ship.

"Hi Gon, I'm Quino. Um, do you know where we're headed?" Quino asked.

The boy, Gon, looked confused. "We're going to the Hunter's Exam!"

Hunter's Exam? Where have I heard that– oh no. I can't possibly be going there, right? Not there! This is bad.

"Ah, um, I don't want to go there, actually," Quino said. She was currently shocked, and feeling just a little faint.

"Really? We should find the captain and ask him to drop you off somewhere," Gon said, looking even more confused.

I don't think we're stopping any time soon with this storm approaching.

"I think I'll stay on the ship. We'll eventually reach the place, and I'm sure it's in a city, right?"

"I think so," Gon said. He looked like he was thinking too hard to solve this problem.

"It's okay, Gon. I'll figure it out myself," Quino said with a dismissive wave.

"Are you sure?" Gon asked.

Quino had to admit: Gon was really cute. But naive. Probably the type to get taken advantage of easily.

"Positive. Well, I think I'm going to nap. I'll see you soon, probably," Quino said, muttering the last part to herself.

"Oh, okay. Goodnight, Quino!"

With that said and done, Quino went back to the spot she was at earlier and sat down. Though she was in an awkward position, with her head resting on the edge of a box and her back hunching in a way that will definitely make her back ache when she woke up, she managed to go to sleep. She was so tired, that she hadn't even realized that she slept throughout most of the storm and the chaos that came with it.