The first challenge

After a few moments, Fen got a bite.

"Oy! I think I got something!" she exclaimed.

"Same here! Let's reel them in on the count of three!" exclaimed Gon.

"1, 2, 3! There's no escape from me fishy!" laughed Fen.

Heimdall raised a sleepy, disinterested eye at her laugh, then went back to sleep.

"Woah! We caught some big fish, didn't we Gon?"

"And rare I might add," joked the captain.

"Eh, what do you mean rare?" asked Fen.

"Flying Bounto fish are rare around Whale Island. I'm surprised that we caught 2 this big!"

It was then that Fen and Gon noticed something odd about the gulls flying overhead. They reminded Fen of the story about the Mariner who shot the albatross and brought bad luck.

"There's a storm coming…" said Gon.

"I can feel the wind, and there is a storm heading our way," said Fen quietly.

"How big is it, and how long until we hit it?" asked the captain.

"Fairly big, and close to 2 hours before it catches up to us," said Fen and Gon.

"I've been in the business long enough and you are the second and third person to get it right!" laughed the captain.

"Gon, are you trying to tell me that you can understand birds?!" snorted Leorio.

"Not completely. I can understand most of what they're saying though," replied Gon.

"Men, lower the sails!" shouted the captain.

"Aye Aye!"

As the men lowered the sails, something amusing happened to Leorio. Fen and the others got a look into how good his luck was as a wooden bucket came flying through the air and crashed onto his face! The wood from the bucket was once again sent flying and a blond passenger who was laying nearby easily evaded the falling splinters. Fen and Heimdall tried not to laugh at Leorio and his very bad luck!

The storm tossed several people to and fro; only five were unaffected. Gon was rolling a barrel to stay on his feet; Leorio moved with the ship's rocking, the blond boy form earlier was sleeping in a hammock, and Fen? She was making sure Heimdall didn't get too seasick! This, was unfortunately, his first time on a boat of any size! He had a difficult time holding down his lunch.

"Captain, there's a leak below deck!" exclaimed one of the crew.

"Then plug it up with the useless passengers!" growled the captain.

"Aye, Aye sir!"

When the captain traded places with one of the crew, he went to check up on the passengers. He was amused to see that out of all the fools trying to become Hunters, only 4 were unaffected by the ship's movements!

"What are your names?" asked the captain.

"I'm Fen and this bird on my shoulder is Heimdall."

"And why are you taking the Hunter exam?"

"I want to find my parents…" answered Fen,

"And you kid?"

"I'm Gon. I want to become a Hunter like my father!" answered Gon.

"How 'bout you?" he asked the blond boy.

"I cannot see any reason why I should reveal my name…" he started when the captain interrupted.

"Is that so? Well then you can forget the Hunter Exam right now!" the captain growled.

"Nani?!" the boy exclaimed.

"Haven't you figured it out?! The Hunter Exam has already begun!"

The boy and Leorio were stunned.

"Alright then, how about you?"

"I'm Leorio, and I want to become a Hunter for the money!"

"Oh great…a greedy fool!" griped Fen.

"All right then, care to answer the question?" the captain asked the boy.

"My name is Kurapika Kuruta. I wish to become a Black List Hunter to avenge my clan," he finally said.

(The rest pretty much follows what happens in the anime and manga…)

At the port, the captain gave Gon one last bit of advice. And so, Fen, Kurapika and Gon all followed his advice to the next part of the selection process. Leorio followed soon after he realized that he'd been tricked…