The Fifth Fleet

I'd made it, a Hunter in the Fifth Fleet, aboard the ship and heading to the new world, what was better than exploring the unknown, to see the likes of something that no one ever had before, it was a mystery, and adventure and it was thrilling.

I push the door open to gathering room in the Ship, it gave off a rustic vibe with all the wood and ornaments there, but that was appreciated, it already felt like home. The square wooden tables surrounded with hunters and explorers, everyone just as eager to start their journey to the New World. The walls were lined with metal lanterns hanging off a small metal hook, their dancing flames giving off an orange glow to the room, monster horns from previous victories of the previous Fleets hung from the wall, particularly horns or tusks, suspended in the air by a metal chain around each horn.

Each table in the room had a large rug under it, red and intricately designed to fit the atmosphere of the ship, even a Palico was sat on a stool as it interacted with another hunters Palico. I had my own called Fluffy, a pure white one with a long tail and long fur, yellow eyes that adored everything he saw. The tables, unsurprisingly were topped with tankards of ale and books stacked high from the scholars and researchers who helped us hunters to gather more information.

The hunters talked to each other as I walked down the wooden staircase, no doubt sharing their stories so far and experiences, or what to expect of the New World. I suppressed a small chuckle as I walked further in, a Palico, this little cute black and white cat wobbling on his little legs and wearing oven mitts, holding a tray of deliciously cooked chicken above his head. It wore a little chefs hat too and honestly, i couldn't say that I wasn't impressed. Most of the hunters wore either leather or chainmail armour, especially only starting the expedition, we would all have to build up our inventory as we got further into our quests.

I joined an empty table all but one dark haired girl who was studying her books so hard that she didn't seem to notice me, though I definitely couldn't call it light reading, they were quite possibly the thickest books I'd ever seen, bound in leather too and more pages that one would want to count. I saw a hunter walking towards me, footsteps echoing loudly on the wooden floor beneath him. He had a tankard in one hand, this particular hunter wore chainmail armour, buckles across the front, leather around his neck and a leather belt which held his Scoutflies, the metal container glowing green.

"Yo! Did ya hear? We're almost there!" The hunter said as he sat down opposite me, elbowing the girl next to him out of the way slightly, she didn't seem too happy with that, though I couldn't tell if it was an accident or not. "Ya ready to grab this new world by the horns?" He asked with a smug smile. "Don't know about you, but it feels lik ages since I left home to join the commission..." He stared off to another part of the room, seemingly to actually recall those memories. He rubbed his chin in thought before turning back to look at me and grinned. "So, nervous?" He asked as he lifted his tankard up slightly, ale almost spilling out of it as he did so. "Believe you me, I get it. Anything could happen to us, but hey, that's half the..." He was cut off by a girl approaching us, the girl slapping a hand onto his shoulder and pushing him to the side, this did cause the ale to spill out of his tankard and onto the front cover of one of the researchers books.

She wore light green leather armour, a matching green hairband that stood out well against her shortly cropped black hair. The hunters could do that, dye their armour to specific colours, it was a perk of joining the commission. "Yup. Hey, aren't you one of the A-list hunters?" She asked me. Before I gave a nod I noticed that the girl who had been reading her books had gathered them up in her arms and stormed off rather unhappily. "What? No way! So are we!" The boy beside her said, his mouth falling open in surprise. He said leaning forward slightly and slamming the palm of his hand down on the table in excitement.

"Hey! Tell us your name."