𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 | 𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐛 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝

𝐱𝐢𝐢𝐢.

𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝, 𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭.

The beast hunter walked through the wet forest, his spear in his hands and sacks full of rations that he had found throughout the island. At least those that were edible.

He walked towards a large conch shell, a warm light within it as a young girl sat on one of the shell's surfaces, her book open in her lap as Lilia fussed around with the pieces of rope, making sure it was in good condition before they used it again.

The princess kneeled by whatever had remained in the boat, the trio finding it risky to leave it behind as the tides would rise. Lilia hummed a simple tune, tying a knot around the items as Maisie observed her storybook's image, a frown on her features.

Hearing thuds soon entering their shelter, Maisie turned to see Jacob's rain-soaked figure, Lilia's humming halting as she looked up at the man, standing up. He said nothing, placing the large bag down with a thud as he tossed his spear onto the ground in exhaustion.

Maisie placed her storybook aside, eyeing Jacob as Lilia tied a final knot, sitting nearby Maisie. The beast hunter pulled out a shell-covered fruit from one of the bags, tossing it to the young girl as she caught it.

"Get your strength," He said, tossing another to Lilia as she thanked him.

"We're leaving in the morning."

Jacob pulled out a fruit of his own, twirling his dagger as he placed the fruit onto a rock. He then pointed the dagger's point at the fruit's top, pushing down as the fruit's shell sliced open. He picked up a half, slurping the fruit as Maisie watched him, her eyes soon looking down at the fruit in her hands.

Lilia watched Jacob's actions, copying them as she frowned in concentration, slicing the fruit, but not without accidentally cutting her hand on the blade. She winced, frowning at the blood as she missed the worried glance Jacob had sent her way, Maisie feeling almost sorry for the princess.

She placed the item onto a rock, placing her knife on the fruit's point before looking over to Jacob, the man frowning in exhaustion as he wiped his mouth on his arm, thinking hard about things.

Maisie looked away before turning to look at the title of her storybook, sighing to herself slightly at the silence in the shelter that was about to be interrupted.

"Me book says the beasts used to come right up to shore," Maisie frowned in confusion, looking at Jacob. "That nowhere was safe. Is that true?"

Maisie gave Jacob one last look before turning back to her fruit and slamming the knife down but it missed, the force making the blade hit the rock underneath the fruit.

"Of course it's true," Jacob replied, standing up as he walked towards Maisie, his knife in his hands.

"You saw it?" Maisie asked.

"It was before my time, but everyone knows it's true," Jacob said, slicing Maisie's fruit effortlessly, and placing one half into Maisie's hand.

He then stood up, walking in Lilia's direction as he tilted his head at her hand. The princess smiled a little, shaking her head to signal to him that it was fine. Jacob nodded, walking away before Maisie began speaking again.