p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"[Emma's POV]/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"The new world, a place full of mysteries, dangers, and terrains to explore. Since it was discovered they have been sending fleets so that we started cataloging all the species that live there and I, I am part of the fifth fleet, the boats that sailed before our own were engineers, scientists, etc. But we were hunters, each and every one of us was trained for the same purpose, to ensure the welfare of Astera, the center of operations of the commission of investigation (name given to the group of people working in the new world) as well as the one of the researchers who go out to get information about the creatures that live here./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"The trip happened in the blink of an eye and suddenly the captain informed us that we would arrive at our destination in a matter of hours. I was nervous, to say the least, and it was not to reach a completely unknown place for me, on the contrary, that excited me! but what really made me nervous was knowing my team. The hunters who are in this boat will be assigned to teams of four once we land and that is what terrifies me because I am not very good at dealing with strangers./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"My nerves were momentarily appeased when I reached the dining area. Everyone there was very happy, there were people eating, talking and even preparing their equipment. I took a seat in front of a girl who was reading quietly, at least this meant that we would not have to engage in conversation if it was not necessary, while waiting for some palico to give me something to appease my hunger, I started thinking about what would be of me in the new world, the adventures I would have, maybe I could even discover things never seen before!/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"My train of thought was interrupted when someone sat next to me, which made me jump with fright, slowly I looked at my side and I found myself face to face with a man, his face had scars, one was on his cheek and It had the shape of a scratch made by some beast with 3 very sharp claws and the other one was over his right eye which luckily had not damaged his sight because his eye still looked healthy and maintained its natural color, which called the attention, his eyes were a very strong pink color almost reaching red. His scars, along with his long gray hair that he had in a ponytail made me see that he was a veteran. An experienced hunter, someone who was probably here to take care of novices like me. In addition to those scars, he had 5 small marks under his eye, probably tattoos made by his people. I guess I spent a lot of time saying nothing because he spoke with a deep and calm voice. "Excuse me miss, is this place taken?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;""N-No, don't worry" I replied after a moment./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"His smile was contagious and he managed to calm my nerves, "Lucky me then, I mean, on the other tables everyone seems happy and they are all cheering and such, but sometimes you need to find a place to relax and as I saw you and your friend sitting here without saying anything, I thought I could find a bit of calm in the middle of this place "/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;""Well, she's not my friend, we hadn't even introduced ourselves." As I said this, the aforementioned girl looked up and watched us momentarily. "Gladwin, Kristel Gladwin, a pleasure." She said./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;""Well, since we're introducing ourselves. Winslow Hayward, a pleasure," the man said as he tilted his head slightly. "And you?" He said turning around to see me. "... I am Emma Ashton, happy to meet you" he replied after a brief pause./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"At that moment a palico arrived at our table carrying some jars, put them in front of each one of us and with a salute with his paw he turned around and continued with his labors./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;""Well, ladies, I wish you luck in the face of what comes once we land." Mr. Hayward said as he held a jar in a toast./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"We didn't have the opportunity to continue with it because the boat began to move abruptly from one side to the other. We all supported ourselves so we could not fall to the ground. And as expected, everyone began to climb the stairs to see what happened. Once we got to the top of the boat we had the opportunity to see what was causing it to move so violently. Without words, I saw how, slowly, the peak of a volcano rose from the sea. "Abandon the ship!" It was the first thing I heard on the other side of the boat but no one had the chance to do anything because the tip of the boat started to rise and it was difficult to stand./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"Eventually I had to hold on to the rail with all my strength to avoid falling from the boat that was already in an almost vertical position, but unfortunately, a barrel that was not secured made me fall into the sea. The last thing I remember is the cries of my companions, and then the silence while my conscience abandoned me./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"The new world, a place full of mysteries, dangers, and terrains to explore. Since it was discovered they have been sending fleets so that we started cataloging all the species that live there and I, I am part of the fifth fleet, the boats that sailed before our own were engineers, scientists, etc. But we were hunters, each and every one of us was trained for the same purpose, to ensure the welfare of Astera, the center of operations of the commission of investigation (name given to the group of people working in the new world) as well as the one of the researchers who go out to get information about the creatures that live here./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"The trip happened in the blink of an eye and suddenly the captain informed us that we would arrive at our destination in a matter of hours. I was nervous, to say the least, and it was not to reach a completely unknown place for me, on the contrary, that excited me! but what really made me nervous was knowing my team. The hunters who are in this boat will be assigned to teams of four once we land and that is what terrifies me because I am not very good at dealing with strangers./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"My nerves were momentarily appeased when I reached the dining area. Everyone there was very happy, there were people eating, talking and even preparing their equipment. I took a seat in front of a girl who was reading quietly, at least this meant that we would not have to engage in conversation if it was not necessary, while waiting for some palico to give me something to appease my hunger, I started thinking about what would be of me in the new world, the adventures I would have, maybe I could even discover things never seen before!/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"My train of thought was interrupted when someone sat next to me, which made me jump with fright, slowly I looked at my side and I found myself face to face with a man, his face had scars, one was on his cheek and It had the shape of a scratch made by some beast with 3 very sharp claws and the other one was over his right eye which luckily had not damaged his sight because his eye still looked healthy and maintained its natural color, which called the attention, his eyes were a very strong pink color almost reaching red. His scars, along with his long gray hair that he had in a ponytail made me see that he was a veteran. An experienced hunter, someone who was probably here to take care of novices like me. In addition to those scars, he had 5 small marks under his eye, probably tattoos made by his people. I guess I spent a lot of time saying nothing because he spoke with a deep and calm voice. "Excuse me miss, is this place taken?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;""N-No, don't worry" I replied after a moment./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"His smile was contagious and he managed to calm my nerves, "Lucky me then, I mean, on the other tables everyone seems happy and they are all cheering and such, but sometimes you need to find a place to relax and as I saw you and your friend sitting here without saying anything, I thought I could find a bit of calm in the middle of this place "/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;""Well, she's not my friend, we hadn't even introduced ourselves." As I said this, the aforementioned girl looked up and watched us momentarily. "Gladwin, Kristel Gladwin, a pleasure." She said./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;""Well, since we're introducing ourselves. Winslow Hayward, a pleasure," the man said as he tilted his head slightly. "And you?" He said turning around to see me. "... I am Emma Ashton, happy to meet you" he replied after a brief pause./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"At that moment a palico arrived at our table carrying some jars, put them in front of each one of us and with a salute with his paw he turned around and continued with his labors./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;""Well, ladies, I wish you luck in the face of what comes once we land." Mr. Hayward said as he held a jar in a toast./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"We didn't have the opportunity to continue with it because the boat began to move abruptly from one side to the other. We all supported ourselves so we could not fall to the ground. And as expected, everyone began to climb the stairs to see what happened. Once we got to the top of the boat we had the opportunity to see what was causing it to move so violently. Without words, I saw how, slowly, the peak of a volcano rose from the sea. "Abandon the ship!" It was the first thing I heard on the other side of the boat but no one had the chance to do anything because the tip of the boat started to rise and it was difficult to stand./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"Eventually I had to hold on to the rail with all my strength to avoid falling from the boat that was already in an almost vertical position, but unfortunately, a barrel that was not secured made me fall into the sea. The last thing I remember is the cries of my companions, and then the silence while my conscience abandoned me./p