Making A First Impression

Barely off the Boat
It was a fair day in Merow City, one of the many port towns located in the country of Bantia. a brisk wind had blown most of the clouds away that morning, making for a very sunny day by lunchtime, and business for the city went on as usual. A ferry had just arrived at one of the docks, bringing both people and goods from out of the country.

Stepping off the massive gangway was a young boy in his mid teens with spiky silver hair, who stretched his arms above his head the second he hit the dock. "Alright I'm back on solid ground again!" The boy shouted as he cheered for happiness. With his hands still in the air he yelled loudly so everyone can hear him. "People of Banita Hino Sontara has finally arrived!" People in the area stared at him for a moment, some were laughing while others just thought he was a weird kid. They eventually moved on and continued what they were doing.

After all that three other people walked off the ship behind Hino. "Geez we just got here and he's already starting a commotion." A young man said wearing a black, unzipped jacket with a red shirt underneath and wearing a red tongue. He picked up one of his bags and threw it over his shoulder as he watched.

"Now now Reed. Just be grateful we're finally here, its a lot better then being on the same boat with someone like him." A tall, dark skinned woman, with long purple hair replied, standing in between the two. She wore an orange top robe with long, black stretch pants.

"Hmph if you ask me he's caused enough trouble already. The ride here was hard enough." A young girl about the same height as Hino said as she was tying her long blond hair into a pony tail. She wore a purple colored blouse with a skirt and had some bandages wrapped around her thighs.

A small, dim grey cat walked in and squeezed himself threw between Reed and the tall women from behind. "Thats our Hino, never a dull moment." The cat said in a not so proud tone.

The tall women grabbed her bags and began walking away. "Come on, lets try to find another boat that'll take us to our destination." She said calling her teammates. Reed and the blonde girl followed her.

The cat called out to Hino who was still cheering for being on dry land. "Hey Hino everyone is leaving without you!"

The shouting broke his cheering as he hurried to catch up with his teammates. "Hey wait for me!" He shouted while putting on his book bag.

Despite their hopeful intentions, the group soon became helplessly lost in an unfamiliar city. A combination of nearly identical shopping stalls and an almost constant crowd of people made it almost impossible to catch anyone's attention. Only fifteen minuets had passed since they had stepped off the boat, but their lack of progress had begun to drain on their patience.

As they walked threw the city Hino began to lose his patience. "Ugh how long is this gonna take." He complained while walking like he is exhausted.

"it might go faster if you would stop complaining!" The blonde girl said in anger.

Hino then remembered about something. "Why isn't Zanto with us as well? Is that coward scared to ride the boat?" He said with an evil grin on his face.

The dim grey cat walking along beside him reminded him. "He was sent somewhere else on another assignment apparently his skills were perfect for that job."

"Anyways Hino, your in no condition to be calling him a coward of being afraid to ride the boat. If I'm not mistaken, you haven't been able to leave the bathroom since we got on it!" The blonde girl interrupted angrily pointing at Hino.

Hino ran up to her in anger. "Shut up Kana. At least I've got on the boat instead of running away like that frosty!" He yelled as if he didn't hear what they cat told him.

Kana turned to him and butted heads with him also in anger. "Correct me if I'm wrong but weren't you crying like a baby begging to get off." She said purposely trying to insult Hino.

"That wasn't me that was... Reed." Hino hesitated trying to get the blame towards someone else.

"You are such a lier!" She yelled and the two began insulting each other back and forth. They were to busy arguing they didn't notice the tall women approaching in annoyance.

She grabbed both their ears and yanked on them as hard as she could. "Ow ow ow ow ow." They both whined until she let go of their ears which got them to stop arguing.

"Listen up we're here on an important job. We don't have time for your childish actions so cant you wait until we find a boat to get us their?" The women said in an annoyance tone.

"Yes Esca." They said in harmony, both rubbing on their ears with teary eyes from the pain. They all continued on in search of transportation across the ocean waters.

After another half hour of fruitless searching however, the group decided to rest near a fountain. Wondering around in the hot sun for almost an hour had made them all thirsty, so in hearing the running water, they decided to stop for drinks and reflect.

"I don't get it. we asked almost every sailor in the city but not one of them will get us to where we want to go." Hino said in exhaustion as he feels cooler for just sitting near the fountain.

"This doesn't mean we should give up. We've came to far to do that we have no choice but to keep searching." Esca said trying to get everyone motivated. "Now lets go." She said getting ready to move on.

Everyone got up as well getting ready continue when Hino heard something close by and looked towards it. Standing in the shade of one of the corner street stalls was a girl absentmindedly rocking back and forth on her heels watching people pass her by. She appeared to be around Hino's age, sporting a long sleeved dress and knee length pants, and had her bright red hair tied into pigtails. Soon knelt down to pet a small dog with a barking at her feet, creating the ruckus that had attracted Hino's attention in the first place, and had to readjust her glasses to deal with the sun's glair. Hino stared at the girl and his face began to blush, when he then noticed a man walking up to her.

"Let's move." He growled, barely looking at her. He wore a long black coat, reaching just past his knees with a hood bobbing near the back of his neck. An eye patch covered one of his eyes, and a long scar traced down the opposite cheek. He was much older than she was, and began to raise his voice when the girl was slow to respond. "C'mon, c'mon. Hop to it kid."

Slowly, the girl scooped the dog off the ground and clutched it against her chest, sheepishly trailing along behind him.

Hino didn't like how the man treated her and he got the idea he wasn't any friends of hers. He grew concerned and kept a close eye on them. While his team mates look at Hino wondering what he's looking at.

The two of them made their way around the fountain, with the girl slowly trailing farther and farther behind the man. Noticing this, he stopped abruptly, almost causing the girl to walk into him. She glanced up at him, and he rested a hand back and began pushing her along faster. "C'mon, we just finish this one thing then you get to go home, alright?" She nodded sheepishly, then continued to follow along behind him.

Hino was surprised. "Guys that guy is doing something to that girl!" He said pointing at them as the others looked over. "We have to do something."

The others looked over and was not convinced. "Hino just cause you see two people walking around minding their own business doesn't mean its bad. I bet their just doing some father daughter bonding." Esca said. "Besides we cant get distracted, we have to stay focused."

"AHHH!" They suddenly heard a scream, and they all spun away from the fight spotting the man now holding the girl by the arm. The dog ran circles around them while the man yanked her to her feet.

"See, he's up to something bad." Hino declared. "Im going over there to save her." He said as he prepared himself.

Kana caught him just before he could leave. "Oh please, that can mean anything. You just want to show off cause you think that girl is cute." She said accusing him.

Hino blushed as he was speechless for a moment. He then shook his head and yelled. "That is not true, i just think we should help her." He said in anger.

Kana yelled back. "Thats the stupidest excuse you could have come up with, what makes you think she could ever fall for a lame brain like you?" She said purposely trying to insult him again. The two butted heads as they exchanged insults to each other

Esca stood there annoyed. "Ok listen up." She got groups attention. "We just traveled to another country for this request which means it must be important. We have to focus on that, If the man was actually doing something bad to her we all would have done something but thats not enough to go on."

Reed spoke up as well. "And if we were to go fighting I'm sure we'll gain the attention of this countries Magic Council just like back home." He added.

"Thats a good point as well Reed, sorry Hino but we cant go fighting people think are suspicious to us. I hope you understand." Esca said as she saw Hino being convinced.

"Yea your right." He said looking down. He was convinced by them.

"Great now lets go." Esca said with a cheerful attitude. They started walking until Esca remembered. "Oh wait I forgot my bag." She turned around and noticed Hino missing. "Wait, wheres Hino?" She said in surprised.

Kana looked over to the girl and the man. "He's over there!" She said pointing in that direction as Esca and Reed looked over