1 How it all began I

"We had been on the boat for several months, starving, hope dwindling, I was forcing myself to sleep just to escape the terrible torture of the hunger I felt, having not eaten in two days for rationing purposes.

We were the Saggezians, a lost race, leaving our former land Saggeza due to its unfavorable conditions and untameable beasts. Though we were very advanced in technology, we weren't able to defeat nature, so left for a better land.

Being the supreme prince probably meant I should eat right, but our food scarcity was so severe, the emperor himself fasted once a week, talk about me.

I had no dream, but darkness, no future... There was a whisper through the dark void, "Lamb, Lamb!" I opened my icy blue eyes, hoping it was a call for my next ration, the call came again, clearer... far better, "Land! Land!"

I ran through the crowd to the stern and my breath was just swept away...

The land was paradise. Just the beach gave me the idea;

There were slender stemmed trees about twenty meters tall, with giant fan-like leaves bursting only at their tops, sprouting from a dense, colourful jungle, smooth sedimentary rocks forming art in different shades of white, black and grey, bone white sands bordering the terrific turquoise waters, which were clear as crystal, so clear in fact, that the beautiful meter high waves crashing on the shore looked just like shimmering blue windows with Utopia on the other side. In the ocean lay a bountiful biodiversity much greater than that of our previous home. There was also an estuary, emptying it's waters into the deeper blue waters through a breathtaking waterfall that had dozens of stages of white curtains and shells, beautiful shells adding a rainbow of color to the pure white sand.

We knew there was much more to be seen on the inside as well... it was almost perfect. The emperor organized a meeting with everyone, declaring the land was close to perfection, he called for a group of five who will venture to the mainland and perform a recon exercise. Five hands were risen, Greta Müler, Pablo Gonzalez, André Arsenault, Ada van den Berg, and I Lunus.

The emperor was obviously angry when I volunteered, but with the help of the starving and impatient crowd, he allowed me.

We were given rations and equipment, got on a small boat and the engine was revved up, the beach as our destination.

We docked on the island and walked in, it was even more beautifuI than we thought, the dense jungle had an endless biodiversity, the sounds, the sights, the air, the water, everything so pure and calming.

"Okay, everyone get out your gear, we need to set up camp", Ada said.

We had barely walked ten meters from the beach but no one dared argue with her since she was one of the top ranked guards on the ship.

We were still hungry and there were so many different kinds of fruit in the jungle, yet, we ate our rations and left the beautiful bounty before us, as we didn't know which ones were edible. I was barely satisfied but remained quiet, I tried to comport myself until I could not take it any longer:

"Ada, please may I have a little more?", I asked.

She shot a deadly stare at me before saying,"No."

"But the rations..."

"Oh I'm sorry your highness I was such a fool to give you a just amount, I mean you're obviously fattened up everyday while the rest of us starve so why should today be any different?"

"What are you talking about? I ration just as much as the rest of you!"

"Oh okay fine, then we shall all gobble down our rations now and starve later."

"That's not what I'm saying."

"That's exactly what you're saying, you hipocrate!"

"Okay Ada, that's enough.", André said.

"You're siding with him?!"

"I'm not siding with anyone, this is just getting out of..."

"Fine, here are all our rations!", Ada said, emptying them on the ground.

She then stormed out.

"I'm going after her.", Pablo said.

Greta and André followed. I stayed behind, I didn't feel the least bit guilty since she was wrong, I just stayed with the till I dozed off...

"Lunus, Lunus!"

"What?!", I woke up with a start.

"Where are the rations?!", André yelled.

I looked around helplessly... Everything was gone, nothing but scraps remained.