𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 | 𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐛 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝

𝐱𝐯𝐢.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐛 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝.

Lilia grit her teeth, overturning a bucket as water splashed out, Maisie was grunting as she did the same, neither of the three noticed the Bluster staring out into the ocean until Maisie's eye caught a glimpse of it.

Her eyes widened as an idea popped into her mind, the girl halting her bailing as Lilia glanced at the girl in curiosity.

"Maybe Red can take us!" She exclaimed in excitement.

"Back to the island?" Jacob forced out in confusion, pulling the oars back.

"No! Back home!"

"You have really lost it," Jacob rolled his eyes.

"She saved us from that thing, didn't she?" Maisie frowned, the Bluster turning her head slightly as Lilia halted, smiling nervously at the beast.

"She did, kid, but she also brought us to this island," Lilia said, pouring another bucket of water out.

"Wait... she... Are you... you're siding with her?" Jacob looked at Lilia in disbelief, pointing his finger at her accusingly.

The princess held her hands up in surrender, sighing as Jacob tossed her a frown. The princess crossed her arms.

"Hey, I'm not on anyone's side, didn't you just hear what I said?" She frowned.

"Yes, especially the part about the island," Jacob huffed, dropping the oars. "Look, I think I did the saving, right? I mean, I threw the, the..."

Jacob frowned, forgetting the word he was looking for as he shook his hand around, eyebrows furrowed in thought. Lilia looked over to Maisie, the two sharing a suspicious glance as Lilia spoke up, finding the word he was looking for.

"Spear?" She raised an eyebrow as Jacob nodded along.

"Yeah– Yeah, spear! Whatever... Get bailing! The water's coming in!"

The hunter picked the oars back up, Maisie squinting at him in disbelief as Lilia sighed, bailing the water out. Maisie huffed, turning around to face the Bluster as she stood on the boat calling out to her.

"Hey!" She called out, smiling. "Red!"

The Bluster hummed lowly, turning her head around to face the young girl. Maisie lifted Blue, Lilia looking at the girl in confusion as she looked back at Jacob, the hunter tossing her the same confused look.

"See this little guy?" Maisie smiled, Blue flicking his tongue over his lips. 

Red lowered herself closer to the boat, Jacob doing his best to row towards the island as Lilia froze, feeling the Bluster's breath fanning over her face. Maisie ignored the gesture, speaking to the Bluster as she continued to hold Blue up.