Chapter 3: The Day of Departure
(Preview)

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Whale Island: The Lake of the Master

In a forest/swamp section of the mountain, Mia let out a loud scream as she was quickly running away from a gigantic...fish. A gigantic fish that chased the young girl across the entire area. After a minute of running, Mia reached the end of the forest/swamp and saw that the monstrous creature continued to reach her...only for a much larger creature to rise up from beneath the wet-water like ground...and consumes the gigantic fish that was chasing Mia.

The creature falls back into the water-ground, leaving the teen in complete confusion as she dropped to the ground. Seiya calmly walks up to Mia, Ryo was resting on his right shoulder. The two smiled at the scared female as she turned to face them. "W-Wh-What the hell was that...!?" The young woman asked, fear tainting her voice.

Seiya's only response to this was to let out a light chuckle. "Haha! I told ya not to go on ahead of us!" The young teen said. "This forest is crawling with monsters."

Mia slowly regained her footing and glared at Seiya. "YOU DIDN'T MENTION ANY MONSTERS!" She yelled in outrage.

"Huh? I didn't?" Seiya asked, tilting his head in confusion. "Coulda sworn I did...hmm..."

The young female growled at this before calming her breath so she could ask the most obvious question. "Anyway, why are we traveling through this foggy swamp!? Isn't there a safer path to Inizo Village?"

"Yep, there is." Seiya simply said with a confident smile while looking out towards the nearby lake.

"THEN WHY ARE WE TRAVELING THROUGH HERE!?" Mia shouted in outrage.

The Pegasus Knight remained unfazed and pointed forward. Mia and Ryo turned their gaze towards that direction, as the fog around the lake started to disappear. The afternoon sun began to shine into the area, as the lake became more visible. With this, Mia then noticed a young boy on the other side of the lake. "Is that...a child?" She asked in confusion.

This boy, who seemed to be younger than Seiya, was using a old-fashioned fishing rod to net whatever was in the lake between them. The line that connected the rod and the water together remained quiet as it hung...

YOINK! The line caught on to something and started to pull. The young boy noticed this as he almost fell forward but quickly regained himself. Mia and Ryo were surprised by this as the boy attempted to step back. "All right! This is it!" The boy shouted in joy as he continued to pull back.

Suddenly...the line began to move to the side, pulling the boy along with him. He stumbled into a nearby tree trunk that thankfully stopped his crash and helped him keep a tight grip on the fishing rod. Mia saw this and quickly turned to face Seiya, who remained calm and just watched with a amused grin. "We have to help that little boy! Do something, Seiya!"

"I can't interfere." Seiya told her. "This is a test. He has to prove himself."

"Prove himself!?" The young woman looked back to see the boy try to get himself back up, as more pressure is placed on the string...SNAP! The fishing rod broke in two, causing the boy to stumble and fall on his back! The supposed catch escaped further into the lake. "Oh no..." Mia got to her feet, looking on in worry.

Seiya, who had been calmly watching the whole ordeal finally made himself known. "Almost had 'em!" He shouted towards the boy who quickly noticed him.

Upon seeing Seiya, the boy's face went from one of disappointment to pure joy as a smile appeared on his face. "Seiya!" The boy yelled, as Seiya and his two new friends walked over to where he was. "You're back!"

"Yep!" Seiya said with a light nod. "Just got back right now."

The boy then took notice of the girl and cat that were standing near Seiya. "Oh, who are they? Friends of yours?" The boy asked while tilting his head.

"Yep!" Seiya glanced over at Mia and introduced her. "This is Mia Koji. Apparently she's from Japan, just like me! Though, she's not that strong and is pretty useless in a fight." The young teen said, taking a moment to think over what he had saw of Mia. "...Yep, pretty useless."

"Hey!" Mia shouted in protest, before noticing that the young boy was looking in her direction, causing her to quickly bow in embarrassment. "O-Oh! My name is Mia Koji, it's very nice to you...uh..."

"Gon!" The boy said, bowing back to her. "My name is Gon Freece, ma'am!"

"O-Oh...uh, the pleasure is all mine Gon." The young woman said, while Seiya picked up the small cat that was standing near his left leg.

"And this little guy is Ryo! He's a talking cat!' Seiya held the small cat in front of Gon, who seemed confused by the talking part. "Come on Ryo, say something!" The small feline remained silent and unfazed. All he did was give off a blank, unamused expression. He then leaped out of Seiya's grasp and landed on all four paws. The three stared in silence as Ryo walked away. "...He's just a little moody."

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To Be Continued