Placing his hands above their heads to gauge their heights. Mr. Zaria looked at Mrs. Kisasi and back at the three little hunters to be.
"Roy Kisasi, five foot six. Akpo Ore, five feet five inches and Amara Egwu five foot five. Do I have the right people?" He asks as he looks at the group with brows raised.
"Yes, Sir Hunter." They replied in unison.
"Ah. Sir? I'm not that old." He replied with his hand to his face. "I'm just 18 years old, and I'm not yet a hunter. In my final year of hunter training. So, for now just call me Zaria Wanizi." {Wanizi is a term used to refer to someone older in the same field of work}
"Aww, don't be so humble Mr. Z. You're already a Hunter in their eyes. After all you got their height without getting that detail from them, only a Hunter can do that." Mrs. Kisasi said flattering him with a smile as her dress waved in the wind.
She hands out the flight tickets to the kids as they were amazed by what Roy's mother had said. Whispering amongst themselves on how he knew their heights just by passing his hand above their heads.
"Well, thank you Mrs. Kisasi. It's just a skill they'll be learning very early. After all size and distance perception are the most important tool kits for all Hunters in the Ichrak empire." He said with a bow in his all-black leather uniform, made from the same material as the bags the gang had on them. "I'll only be their instructor until they pass the entrance exams. So do well to listen to me, okay?"
They nodded in response smiling from eye to eye at the sight of what they wish to become standing right in front of them, even though Zaria had just said he wasn't a Hunter yet
"Alright kids. Please be good to Mr. Zaria, he's a good person, so no pranks." She said glaring at Roy and Ore, who turned away from her gaze with their lips twisted left and right and their heads turned to face the sky and ground respectively.
She proceeds to smile at Amara and tells her not to be scared when she sees the Zohaks and pats her head as she walks back to the parking lot. "Oh, Mr. Zaria. Please watch her carefully and closely." She added as she left their sight.
"Watch her?" He repeated as he turned to Amara in confusion, who smiled at him. 'Gulp. Is she more dangerous than these pranksters. Oh, Ancestors what did I do to end up with three troublemakers.' He said to himself as he looked up to the sky.
The group walked into the massive port after dropping their tickets at the entrance to be stamped, from which they then proceeded to enter the large waiting building.
A building with over a hundred thousand seats, separated into different sections. With each section having a different colour of Zohak above it on a wooden sign board. And guards in a red and yellow Mashujaa military fit with an Umozo sword attached to their waists.
The group walked over to the section with the black Zohak above it and took their seat at the far back next to a family of five with a little baby boy in the hands of the mother.
"Please do not do anything stupid you two." Zaria said to the group as he stood up from the seat a few moments later. "I'll be back with some food."
"Food? Alright. I won't move an inch." Ore replied, as he struck a seating robot pose.
'So, food works on that one. That's good. Hopefully he's not a big eater.' Zaria said to himself as he walked away. "Oh, what exactly do you guys need?" He asks as he hurriedly returns.
Zaria returned a few minutes later with the group's food, only to see them playing with the family's baby. 'I thought I said they shouldn't move. Mrs. Kisasi what did u set me up for.' He cried out to the world within himself.
A few moments later, after the gang had stiffed their stomachs full and Ore had eaten more than three rounds of snacks, completely leaving Zaria exhausted from moving back and front just to feed him, then came the announcement from the speakers, with a female voice saying. "All those booked to fly to the Capital city, please head to the entrance. B.Z880 has arrived." {B.Z880: B.Z means Black Zohak, while 880 is the number tag for that exact Black Zohak}
"Alright, let's get going. Please stay extremely close to me. I don't want to look for any of you. And do try to obey this time." He said as he looked at them with utmost seriousness.
The group walked into a long walkway, through a fifteen feet tall door with B.Z880 on top of it by the left of the waiting area, with over thirty thousand other passengers following behind them.
At the end of the walkway was a lady in a red cotton skirt and top with yellow and green patterns on both. "Good day all, I'll be the head attendant on this flight. Please do not do anything stupid once we pass through this door, for whatever happens will not be blamed on us. Do have a safe flight. And welcome to B.Z880."
With the large door opened, every passenger of the B.Z880 walked out, and right before them stood the B.Z880 and underneath it the Stad in which the passengers were going to board. {Stad: A structure the size of a football stadium, with different sections and rooms for passengers about to take flight. Having an oval shape and an outer wall made of extremely durable glass that can withstand the speed of the Black Zohak}
Completely stunned and unable to move as the gaze of the Black Zohak struck her. Amara slowly creeped into the world of fear for the creature before her was something she never imagined could even exist.
Seeing it for the first time normally strikes people with a shock so powerful most fall to their knees. Weakened with fear of being completely crushed or consumed by such a creature, some even run back into the waiting building, screaming in fear.
The port workers have always thought it was dumb to let people see the creature before boarding, as all it does is cause the passengers, especially the young scared and unable to fly, but the head of the port decided it was necessary as the Zohak had the special ability of not just smelling fear, but bad intentions. And for that reason there was no need to have them search the belongings of the people who came to the port nor was it necessary to have many guards around, as the Zohak can and would strike down those with bad intentions in an instant with its building sized feathers before they can set foot on the Stads they carry.
With golden eyes which stared at her being over five times the size of her home, Amara began shaking, as the fear of the creature had now completely overwhelmed her, and many others who had passed through the exit door.
"Hey Ama, don't be scared. Just hold our hands. It's actually friendly." Ore said as he gently held onto her hand, pulling her back to reality before she could slump to the floor from fright.
'Hmm, smart kid. Wait how does he know about the Zohak being a friendly creature? His last name was what again? Kisasi is calm, as expected from the son of a prestigious family, I bet he's been flying on these since he was much younger. Lucky kid.' Zaria said to himself as he used his eyes to watch around to see those the Zohak might lock onto as targets for its feathers to fall on.
Fortunately for everyone left from the original thirty thousand passengers no one was struck today by the King of the Ichrak empire skies.
"Alright people. Please head into the Strad. And go to your respective rooms. The flight from here to the capital will be a long one so do well to rest and not cause trouble while onboard." Announced the head flight attendant.
"Let's go." Zaria said with a smile, as he was not going to have to do any extra work. "That right there is what we call a Black Zohak, the biggest flying creature within the empire, do well to engrave the feeling of being next to it in your souls, because you'll be flying a lot when you become hunters."
Amara who had now calmed down thought to herself as everyone walked into the Stad. 'How in the world can a single flower kill a creature big enough to swallow her hometown whole, was Mrs. Kisasi lying or were the Kisasis such a uniquely perfect household to be able to handle something capable of killing such a beautiful titan.
Her fear for the creature had now turned into love for it and a zeal to know more about it and how its anatomy works and what allows it to be able to fly with a body so gigantic.
The Zohak now sensing the love from her turned away and closed its eyes, as if accepting and acknowledging Amara as eligible to join it take flight through the skies.
"Alright people. Please step away from the glass, we will now be taking off. If you have any form of fears left, do take a seat until we are fully airborne." Announced the lady through a speaker in every room and section of the Stad.
And so, just a few minutes later the B.Z880 unfolded its massive wings, which spanned the distance of nearly 6 stadiums the size of the one hung underneath it.
"KAWWWW!"
And with a single screech, echoing through the whole port down to the glass tower the port manager sat in, far east of the port waiting building, the B.Z880 took flight straight into the sky with a single flap of its wings.
Soaring straight into and above the clouds at the speed of sound, before ducking back below them and keeping a steady gliding speed of Mach one, as it faced east towards the Capital, Orhue.
And with that, the journey to becoming Hunters of the Ichrak Empire began for our three friends.