"Captain! A thick shroud of mist up ahead! It's rolling in pretty quickly" someone shouted from above.

"Mist? We've had calm sailing for days! The weather pattern doesn't suit this at all..." the captain replied.

Most of the crew gathered on board were now intrigued at the strange phenomenon. Smooth sailing abruptly changed by mist which was rolling in quick. It was definitely something unheard of amongst them all, but it wasn't too weird. 

Eventually, they entered the thick blanket of mist and couldn't see anything at all. They were lucky enough to have two skilled navigators on board so that they wouldn't easily get lost. 

"Captain, what is that..?" someone pointed out in a fearful tone.

Everyone looked up and saw the silhouette of a gigantic ship, much larger than the one they were on. Maybe even five times the size of theirs. They were all flabbergasted by its size as their jaws hung at the floor.

"Are you serious?!"

"Our ship's gonna get sucked in!" a woman on board shouted.

Only the sitting captain and the man standing next to him had unique reactions. The man standing, having a complete straight face and the captain having a nervous smile spread across his face.

"To think they'd catch up this quickly.." The captain smiled.

Three days later: Shinoa Island

A young boy around the age of eight could be seen running through the streets of the town. His black hair flying about and his black eyes slightly watery from the wind. He was smiling brightly and said hello to most of the townsfolk he passed by. He was clearly friendly and cheerful to everyone. 

He made his way up a dirt track to a small neighbourhood at the top of the hill. Moving fast, he immediately burst through the doors of a cottage and jumped into the arms of his mother.

"I'm home mom!" he shouted.

"I know, I know. How was school?" she asked smiling. 

He immediately sat down and began talking about things he had learned at school. Most of the time, his mother would laugh or nod understandingly. It was as though she knew exactly how to please her son so that he never felt disheartened or neglected.

"Oh, mom, did dad send a letter? Anything from him?" He asked with bright eyes.

"I'm sorry Isaac, but no..."

Isaac looked at the floor solemnly. It had been almost a month now since his father had last visited them at the island. The last time he was here, he gave Isaac a map of the world, something he was never really interested in but still treasured since it came from his father. From what he knew, his father worked at sea for most of the year and mostly came during the summer time when school was out. Unnaturally, it had been a month since Isaac and his mother Helga had last seen or heard from him. It didn't fit the usual schedule and they were both worrying.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Hey, Isaac. Cheer up. I want you to go to the market and get me some fruits. You can get something for yourself too." she winked.

Isaac smiled, less upset, and left the house quickly and cheerfully. 

Helga leaned forward in her and place her head in her hands distressfully.

"What is that man doing?" She asked herself.

Meanwhile, Isaac made his way to a stall he had never seen before. It had fruit in plastic bowls on display. It interested him so he made his over to the man at the stall.

"Hello sir. I've never seen your stall here before." Isaac said kindly.

The man was old but had a good build for his age. He stood at a whopping nine feet, had short silver hair and a mildly shaven beard. He also had a scar in the shape of an X on his chin and wore a tight dark blue shirt with shorts and sandals.

"Yeah Kid. I recently moved here with the wife and kids. Need to make a nice and lavish living for them, you know?" He replied.

"Yeah... You think, I could get some bananas, apples and oranges. I think my mom's craving some right now." 

The man moved quickly and carefully by weighing and putting the abundance of fruit into a bag for Isaac.

"That'll be 14.50 in Silvas." the man said.

Isaac paid the money, waved the man goodbye and went over to a building with a sign above it reading, "O'neills Toys". He had overheard some kids in class saying this place had the best toys and sweets on the entire island, so he decided to get something nice for him and his mother there. He walked in confidently but immediately noticed three boys from his school. He recognized them as the triplets Randy, Earl and David. They would bully the kids at school and would usually steal their foods and toys. They even made some of the smart kids do their homework for them out of pure spite.

He ignored them and went over to the cashier, requesting a bar of chocolate for his mom and him to share at home. 

"Aww, can't afford one for yourself Issy?" Randy mocked.

The two others laughed and Isaac looked over at them with a straight face.

"Nope, just wanted to have some chocolate with my mom, that's all." he smiled.

He paid the money, put the chocolate bar in his bag and left the shop.

While making his way up the track to his neighbourhood, he heard multiple footsteps walking quickly behind him. He turned around and was met with a punch to the mouth and nose. He was knocked to the floor hard and let go of his grip on the bag of chocolate and fruits. Isaac looked up after wiping the blood from his nose and saw the three triplets towering over him.

"Randy didn't like how you spoke to him at the store earlier..." Earl said but was abruptly cut off by David.

"So we got him to come and beat you up." David continued.

Isaac snorted in laughter and held his stomach.

"What's so funny!?" Randy said, raising his voice a little.

"Sorry, it's just that ha ha…You guys finished each others sentence there."

Randy went beet red and jumped on top of Isaac. He landed punch after punch on Isaac's face. 

"Look at him. Not even fighting back." David and Earl laughed in the background.

Randy got off of him and sighed with exhaustion. They all turned around and walked away after stepping on the fruits and chocolate Isaac had bought. 

Isaac was left alone with his thoughts.

"Dad always said to never fight a pointless fight. Especially one that will go nowhere..." 

Isaac stumbled back up and onto his feet, continuing his now slow and painful walk home.

"ISAAC! WHO DID THIS!?" Helga shouted in shock. She went to the cupboards searching for bandages and painkillers. 

"Some boys from school. They do this all the time to the kids. But since they're from the local noble family, the school never does anything." He was still crying a little from the pain.

"I'll tell the headmaster to get them all expelled. I want an apology from them and their parents!" She said sternly while putting a large white nose bandage over Isaac's nose.

"Mom.." 

They were quiet for a moment and then Isaac spoke first. 

"Hey, what if we.." He was cut off by a loud scream coming from outside.

Both Isaac and Helga ran outside and were with the neighbourhood crowd as they watched in fear, shock and worry as flames engulfed the town ahead. It was now the dead of night and the biggest light source was coming from the burning town. There were screams and yelps coming from the town and the fear of the situation continued to build up. It was all too abrupt and hard to process, as it made Isaac dizzy.

"Mom...what's going on?" Isaac asked in fear. 

"I don't know..."