All three vessels had now left the island—with the two captain ships closely sailing behind Lady Social’s.

Most of the people she picked up were now down below in their respective quarters. The incident at the beach had worn them out and they needed some time to recover.

Everything had now calmed down. But with not much going on, the experience of being at sea was beginning to affect Kenzo. As the sunlight weighed over him, he was now leaning over the side of the ship as he struggled to deal with the sea sickness.

“A seasick hunter? How rare.”

With drool sliding down his mouth, he turned and saw Lady Social behind him.

“Wow, you look awful,” she said. “Here. Drink this and follow me.”

She handed him an open flask.

Kenzo smelled the opening as he wasn’t sure what was inside.

“It’s just water,” she said, as she started to walk to the front of the ship.

Just to be safe—he smelt it once more, then began drinking it as he followed her. By the time they reached their destination, the flask was empty. With everything that was going on, he never found an opportunity to request for some water—making this his first drink of the day.

Once they reached the front, Lady Social took back the flask and shook it.

“Looks like you really needed that,” she said. “You should feel a bit better here. Always face the way the ship’s moving when you get sick like this.”

After wiping the drool from his mouth, Kenzo looked forward and noticed the nausea was subsiding. Now he didn’t have to focus so hard to not throw up.

Lady Social took a few steps toward him.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“K-Kenzo,” he stuttered, as it had been so long since he’d said anything.

“So Kenzo. How did you get onto the ship?” she asked.

What should he even say, he wondered. He didn’t know where he was—let alone how he got here. His new suspicion was that this may be a prank being filmed. There were videos like this online, but he’d never seen someone kidnapped just for a prank. He thought that if he asked, she might tell him if it was indeed a prank.

“Is this a prank?” he said.

“What?” she asked.

She looked quite annoyed by his question, so he was worried to ask it again.

“I don’t know how I got here,” Kenzo replied.

She began to laugh. “So you have what—memory loss? That’s what you want me to believe?”

Kenzo looked down and didn’t answer.

Her laughing stopped. She grabbed Kenzo’s chin and turned his face toward hers. For a few seconds she stared, studying him—as her one eye alternated between his two. The seriousness of her look began to fade the more she stared. After awhile, she had let him go.

“So, what do you remember?” she asked.

“I was on my computer, in my room.”

“On a what?”

“A computer. It’s a—It’s uh…um.”

As he looked at her, he saw the confused look on her face. It was clear she had no idea what he was talking about. He was now paranoid that she would get angry and throw him off the ship if she didn’t believe what he was saying. So he wasn’t sure what else to say.

After a moments pause, she leaned on the ship and looked at him in contemplation.

“Earlier, I noticed you had this bump over here,” she said, as she touched the back of his head—making him flinch. “Maybe you had an accident and hit it hard enough to develop amnesia. But whoever you are, it’s impressive that you got on my ship without anyone noticing.”

Kenzo knew he got that bump from hitting the table in the cabin. But apart from suspecting it was a dream, he was starting to believe amnesia could be a reason as to why he didn’t remember coming here.

Lady Social then turned his face toward hers again and stared. “It’s strange though. To do that, you would have to be a rather skilled hunter. But, you don’t quite feel like one,” she said.

Kenzo had no idea why she just referred to him as a hunter. But he decided maybe it wasn’t important.

“Well, you being here isn’t such a bad thing. I happen to be in terrible need of a babysitter.”

Lady Social stopped leaning onto the ship and looked behind them.

“There’s a few children onboard. I can’t watch them all the time, and Vic is better suited at watching scarier people,” she said.

A soft breeze passed as she placed her hand on Kenzo’s shoulder.

“So you can be their caretaker for today. There’s only three, so it shouldn’t be hard to find them. Take a little breather, then go look for them.”

She tapped his shoulder and started to walk off.

“Oh, and Kenzo. Welcome to the Unity Cruise,” she said, as she smiled and left.

Kenzo felt a slight relief to have a little time to himself. There was an intensity that came with her presence, but also a comforting one that he didn’t quite mind.

He turned round and looked out at sea, as the sun shimmered across the waves. It had been awhile since he’d felt this bright of a sunshine. But with such an endless sea, Kenzo felt a heavy amount of anxiety knowing he was now trapped on a ship with so many unknown people onboard.

After a few minutes of rest, he went off to look for the children.

While searching, Kenzo noticed he no longer felt quite as tall as he usually does. There were a few people around his height or taller walking around the ship. Blending in was usually hard for him, but here—it was easier to go about unnoticed.

Even so, being around so many people was suffocating. He planned to retreat to a corner somewhere once he had found the children.

Kenzo soon remembered encountering a little girl in the cabin he woke up in. As his eyes looked toward the two large doors to the cabin, he began to walk to them. But when he reached for the handle, someone stepped in front of him from the side.

“I don’t think so,” the man said with his arms crossed. “Whatever you’re looking for isn’t in there. There’s just Lady Social inside.”

Kenzo took a step back and decided to look around the deck instead. However after searching but to no avail, he decided the children were probably down below.

He had purposely avoided going down there as the two captains—as well as some of their associates, were currently there. But if the kids were down there, then that’s where he had to go. So he slowly descended down the decks stairs.

To his surprise, once he reached the bottom, the little girl he’d encountered before was next to the stairs. She was facing the wall and counting—while covering her face with her hands.

“Hey,” Kenzo said, as he interrupted her.

She slightly jumped and stopped covering her face.

“Yes….Oh, I met you before,” she said.

“Yeah. Captain—um, L-Lady…Social…asked me to find you,” he said.

“Oh, okay. I’m playing hide and seek, so everyone is waiting for me,” she replied.

“You mean the other kids?” he asked.

The girl nodded.

“I’ll help you find them,” Kenzo said.

She smiled and pointed in the direction she heard them run off too.

While searching, they got to what looked like the ships kitchen. Even though someone was in there making food, the girl wanted to look inside. Kenzo decided to be the one to go in, so he told her to wait. When he walked in, the cook looked at him, but then rolled his eyes and went back to cooking.

Kenzo then heard shuffling behind him.

He turned, and saw two people hiding behind the door. There was a small boy and someone else he recognised from the beach. It was the young man who came with the extremely angry woman.

“What do you want?” the young man asked, with a deadpan expression.

The small girl came in and poked her head behind the door as she heard his voice.

“Found you,” she said.

The cook, who looked quite annoyed, turned around. “Alright, they found you. Now leave.”

The young man, who now looked rather grumpy, left the kitchen—alongside the small boy. After Kenzo and the girl also left, they heard the door slam shut behind them.

The young man then stepped in front of Kenzo. “Who even are you. You ruined the game,” he said.

“I wasn’t looking for you,” Kenzo replied, as he then pointed at the small boy. “I was looking for him.”

“Well he was with me and….wait. Your the guy that sneaked on the ship aren’t you,” the young man said—crossing his arms. “If you’re still here, that means she didn’t get mad at you. Well, knowing her, she’s probably impressed with what you did.”

Kenzo wasn’t really paying attention to what he was saying. He just wanted to find the last child and go someplace quiet. But he didn’t need to reply, as something had caught their attention on the other side of the corridor.

In what looked like the living quarters, was a man—yelling at a small boy.

“Even as a guest on someone else’s ship, Captain John’s men still act like savages,” the young man said.

It wasn’t clear what the child had done, but Kenzo knew the man was beginning to go too far as the boy became teary eyed. The man raised his arm when the boy began to pout—as if preparing to hit him.

Kenzo thought about helping, but he couldn’t ignore the rule he had deep within him.

Do not get involved.

As Kenzo stood there, the young man with him started to walk toward the shouting man. However, he stopped when he saw the man’s arm being grabbed from behind.

“Oh, Bron is there,” the young man said.

It was the large man Captain John had brought with him. With the ceiling too small, he was hunched over as he held his subordinates arm.

“What do you want Bron,” the man said, as he tried to pull away. “I caught this boy under my bed and he wouldn’t tell me what he was doing there.”

Bron didn’t let go. He then looked in Kenzo’s direction, which prompted the man he was holding to also look.

Kenzo wasn’t sure what they were looking at. Even though he planned to not get involved, they were already looking in his direction for some reason.

“Excuse me.”

Someone from behind gently moved Kenzo to the side. Long yellow hair brushed his shoulder as the person walked past and down the hall.

It was Lady Social.

The teary eyed boy ran toward her and started to cry. She hugged and rubbed his head.

“There there,” she said, as she continued to comfort him.

She then whispered something to him and pointed toward Kenzo’s group. The boy then walked to them as Lady Social stared at the man who yelled at him.

Bron let go of the man, as she slowly walked toward him. Soon, she was in front of the man, but did not stop walking and stepped on his feet with her heeled boot. Seeing that she wasn’t stopping, he began to walk backwards—past Bron—as she continued to walk in front of him.

“Hello big man with your big arms, big legs and big head. Who serves on a big ship with a big crew on a big sea,” she said. “So many big things in your life, yet, you still find time to pick on small boys, with small arms and small legs.”

As she continued to talk, she made the man walk backwards all the way into a large-closed window on the wall. She then slowly put her arms around him and placed her head on his chest. The man, who clearly went from confused to aroused—attempted to also put his arms around her.

Something then clicked behind him.

“I hope you enjoyed your stay on the Unity Cruise,” she said, as she slid open the large window behind him.

With a smile, she pushed him out of the window and into the sea.

After a deep sigh, she shut the window. She then turned and walked toward Bron with one hand on her hip.

“Thank’s for stopping him Bron,” she said, as she tip toed and kissed him on the cheek.

While he began to sternly blush, she walked to Kenzo. She held his face toward hers and smiled. She then softly patted his face twice.

“Please keep a better eye on the kids from now on Kenzo,” she said.

As he started to turn red, one of her men came running up from stairs connecting to the lower level of the ship.

“Captain! there’s a problem. Captain John is trying to get into Captain Williams room,” he said.

“What for?” she asked.

“He said he just wanted to talk with his new friend.”

She sighed. “Where is Vic? Why isn’t he there?”

“I think he’s dealing with a fight on the deck,” he answered.

She sighed—again.

After letting go of Kenzo, she smiled at the young man next to him. “Thanks for playing with the kids Theo,” she said.

Lady Social then left with the man and went to the lower quarters to stop the feud.

Bron then walked up to Kenzo’s group. Even though he was bending over, he was still taller than all of them.

“Well, I guess you didn’t get to hide Bron,” Theo said.

All of a sudden, Kenzo’s mouth began to salivate. He was feeling sick again. Theo noticed and suggested they head back up deck with the children. Bron also followed them as they went up.

Kenzo was now back to leaning on the side of the ship. This time, he made sure to look at the direction it was moving. The kids were playing nearby while Bron watched them.

Theo was paying attention to a scene on the other side. “Look. Vic’s giving out punishments.”

On the other side of the deck, Vic had given one person a mop and the other a cleaning rag. Someone then brought him a bucket which he threw at them to catch. They then went off to clean the ship.

“I guess Vic’s the reason the ships so clean,” Theo said.

He then leaned next to Kenzo. “Your name’s Kenzo right? I’m Theo, and this is Bron.”

The big guy called Bron extended his massive hand out for a handshake. But before Kenzo could reach out to grab it, Theo stopped him.

“He’ll probably crush your hand if you do that,” he said, with a serious look.

There was a silence as Kenzo awkwardly looked at Bron’s hand and back at Theo.

“Just joking,” Theo said, but with a deadpan look.

Bron eventually grabbed Kenzo’s hand and shook it himself. Even though his hand wasn’t crushed, the mans grip was scarily strong.

“So, how did you do it? How’d you sneak onto the ship?” Theo asked.

Kenzo explained that he did not remember how he got here and that Lady Social said he must have amnesia.

“Amnesia? Really? I’ve never met anyone with that before. Well, she can usually tell if someone’s lying, so I’ll believe it for now,” Theo said.

He then touched the back of Kenzo’s hoody. “Never seen clothes like this before. Not even at Hunter’s Haven, and that’s where you got on right?”

“I don’t know where that is,” Kenzo replied.

“Thought you’d fall for that,” Theo said.

There was a few seconds of silence.

“What’s a hunter?” Kenzo asked.

Theo turned and looked at Bron who then shrugged. He then looked back at Kenzo.

“That’s some serious amnesia. Everyone here is a hunter. Apart from some exceptions, anyone you meet out at sea is a hunter as well. So, I’d guess you are one too but you just can’t remem—”

Theo suddenly stopped his sentence as his deadpan look changed to one with suspicion. He looked at Kenzo with his eyebrows lowered and his eyes squinted.

“If you lost your memory, how do you still remember your name?” he asked.

This wasn’t something Kenzo had thought of. He hadn’t met anyone with amnesia either so he didn’t know if remembering your name was a thing. It then made him nervous when he realised Lady Social must of noticed this as well.

He started to feel sick as he got increasingly nervous from Theo’s stare. He leaned over the ship and started to gag.

“I’ve never met someone with seasickness either,” Theo said.

While he continued to gag, he saw the man Lady Social had dropped into the sea. He was attempting to get onto Captain John’s ship as his crew-mates laughed at him. Kenzo felt some anxiety as he wondered what would of happened if Lady Social didn’t intervene when she did.

“I must say, your ship is very well looked after.”

“But there’s no cannons—no nothing. How do you even fight with this thing.”

“Less weight means more speed. There’s no need for a ship battle if no one can line their cannons at us is there?”

Coming up the stairs was Captain William, Captain John and Lady Social who were having a conversation. They walked into the decks cabin and shut the doors behind them. Kenzo had been wondering what that room was for but now realised it was most likely a meeting room.

“Bron, how about we bet the money Vic gave us to play with the kids,” Theo said. “I wager the meeting lasts about fifteen minutes before they’ve had enough of each other.”

Bron raised a few of his fingers.

“Ten minutes?” Theo said as he counted them. “ Well, it is your captain in there so I see why you’d think that.”

But to their surprise, Captain John had stormed out within three minutes.

“You think I came all this way for that!? Nothing on that island belongs to him, and you’re mad if you think I’ll let that sloth have his way!” he shouted, as he walked away in frustration.

Theo threw a small pouch of coins to Bron and then turned round as he heard Kenzo begin to throw up. He started to pat his back to help with the hurling process.

For the rest of the day, there wasn’t much for Kenzo to do as he was feeling too sick.

So the first day on the Unity Cruise came to an end.

When night arrived, Kenzo had been given a place to sleep below. The night silence was more to his liking seeing as there was no more shouting or fighting going on. It was only the distant snores and his continued nausea that were somewhat of an inconvenience.

But, there was something else that he was dealing with. Something that was weighing on him the most.

It was his mother. The silence resurfaced the memories of his life before all this had happened. There was no way for him to know if she was okay or if something bad had happened. The scenario's in his head got worse the longer he laid down and led to a spiral of negative thoughts.

Deciding to get up, Kenzo walked to a nearby window. He watched the darkened waves in the distance as the moonlight wobbled in it’s reflection. The sound of the sea calmed him for a short while.

However, there was something he wanted to try. He looked at his arm, then pinched it as hard as he could until the pain was too much. If this was a dream, he felt this should be enough to wake him.

But it didn’t, as after a few seconds nothing had changed.

While Kenzo continued to stare off into the sea, he noticed something strange in the distance.

There was a light concentration of mist gathering, with what seemed like small boats sailing inside it. It was difficult for Kenzo to see just how many boats there were since the fog was quite heavy, but they were all sailing in the opposite direction to the ship.

With every passing second, more boats revealed themselves the harder he focused his eyes.

“Guess you forgot about them too.”

Kenzo jumped, then saw that it was Theo behind him.

“Eat this, since you were too sick today to eat anything else,” Theo said, as he handed him something that resembled a bun.

Kenzo took a bite and was surprised at it’s sweetness. He then looked back at the boats in the distant mist. Theo looked with him.

“Everything you saw today, it all started with them," he said. "They’ve taken something from us, and we’re soon going to take it back."

Kenzo felt there was a lot happening here that he didn’t understand. Pirate people who call themselves hunters and strange boats sailing in a mysterious mist. The absurdity of it all just led to two questions in his head.

What is this place? And how will he get back home?