The Lady and The Hunter

Chapter 8

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Laura's PoV

Jacob and I watched as Red took hold of the crab's arm, throwing the large beast back into the ocean it emerged from, and landing it on its back.

I glanced over to him as he quickly began to row the boat to find Maise who was still in the water but had not emerged to the surface. "Maisie! Maisie!" we both called out in a panic. Not long after, there was the sound of bubbling coming from the water. We looked over to see Maise with Blue, helping her stay afloat.

"Oh thank heavens.." I said, reaching over and helping her onto the boat. Once she was safely on, we smiled in relief at one another that we survived that attack by the giant crab. "I hate crabs.." I mumbled.

More bubbling sounds were heard coming from the boat. We looked over to see that the boat was taking on water from a hole. "We're not going to make it back in this condition.." I said. "We have to go back," Jacob said as he began to row the boat towards the island. "We'll never make it!" Maisie said. "Depends on how fast you two can bail," he said, handing us buckets.

"Maybe Red can take us." She suggested. We turned our attention to Red. "Back to the island?"

"No, back home!" She responded. "I don't see why not," I said, smiling. "You two have lost it," he said, rowing.
"She saved us from that thing, didn't she?"

"Wait...She. I think I did the saving, right? I mean I threw the, the... Get bailing! The waters coming in!" he said, realizing he was not going to win this conversation.

When Maisie looked over to me I nodded to let her know it was okay. She dropped the bucket and stood up, turning to look over to Red. "Hey! Red! See this little guy?" She held up Blue as Red turned her attention to all of us. "This is you,"

"You're wasting your time," Jacob said as he rowed.

"And this is me and Sally" Maisie held out a small fruit towards Red. "And this is him." She held up a spikey fruit that represented Jacob.

"Are you putting on a puppet show? We're sinking here."

"We need to get way over there and I wonder if you might be good enough to take us?" She asked, holding up blue with the fruits on his head.

Red turned away to look out at the distance and it seemed as though all hope was lost until she turned around diving into the water. "Well, if she does understand ya, she doesn't wanna help. Bright side, she didn't eat ya," Jacob said. "Hey, at least she tried Jacob," I spoke, kicking his leg slightly.

He glanced over at me for a few seconds before turning his attention back over to Maisie. "Now, get bailing."

As Maisie reached towards the bucket in the water, a low howling sound was made followed by the boat being lifted from the water. "Woah!" I said, landing onto Jacob's lap from the force of the push. We were on Red's head and it seemed as though she had decided to help after all. I pushed myself off of Jacob and looked towards Red with a large smile. "I told you she was more than a beast!" Maisie said.

I chuckled as I stepped off of the boat and onto Red's head, followed by Maisie who didn't hesitate one bit to fall onto her, placing her hands on her head to feel her. She laughed and stood up, arms in the air before letting out a loud "Woo!"

I laughed and picked up Maisie into a big hug. "You are one incredible girl, Maisie!" I said slightly spinning. She giggled and looked at Jacob as I placed her down. "The world is wide, Jacob, and you don't know everything." She said, looking out in the distance.

I looked at Jacob, giving him a soft smile, and surprisingly enough, he returned one. My heart started to thump with incest. I turned away from his gaze, placing a hand over my chest where the heart was, my smile still on my lips.

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It had been about an hour of traveling on Red. Jacob was busy looking at the sun to see if we were heading in the right direction. I was reading through the book Eliza had given to me, one hand on Red's horn as I read. "I can't believe all this time, you and Eliza were friends until she had to let you go. And her hair..it glows white and Jacob said mines do too so.." I mumbled, closing the book and looking over to see Maise with a rope around her torso.

"I'm not sure what to say about this," I said. "Red is ignoring Jacob when he's telling her to turn right. So I'm giving it a try!" She said and I laughed slightly. "They're practically best friends at this point. Jacob and Red." I said.

I watched as Maisie successfully got red to turn in the right direction and Jacob wasn't so happy about the fact that she ignored him but he deserves that treatment after he tried to kill her multiple times.

I stood up, making my way over to Jacob as he threw Blue off of the boat. "There's no need for that. I understand that you're a beast hunter and all. Why are you so angry with these creatures..?" I asked, looking at him. "I'm not angry, it's just my job to hunt these beasts." He said.

"Is it? Or is it your captain's job? He's been after Red for years and you've been following behind him ever since. He risked your crew's life for his obsession with Red-"

"It's not my crew, it's his." He cut in. "Jacob, eventually that crew will be passed on to you, no? And to be honest, what makes you think he'll take you back after what you did to save Maisie? To save your crew?" I asked.

"Who are you exactly?" He asked and I paused, looking at him confused. "Your hair it..its perfect. Your skin..untouched." He grabbed my hands, looking at them. "They're not rough at all like you never worked a day in your life." He said. "Ever heard of skincare?" I pulled my hand away. "I'm just saying. I've never seen you before, ever! You just came out of nowhere. Who are you, Sally?" he asked.

"I-I'm not sure.." I whispered, looking away from his gaze. "That night on the beach, you wanted to tell me something, didn't you? What is it?" He asked as Maisie walked passed us.

"I'm the.. I uh-" The sound of struggle and grunting could be heard coming from Maisie, then a sudden soft growl from Red. We both turned our attention to Maisie, seeing her pull the spears out of Red's back. I disengaged from the conversation with Jacob and walked over to help her. Maisie didn't seem too happy at the fact that this had happened after understanding that Red didn't mean any harm.

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As Maisie and I carried on pulling the Spears out of Red's back, the sun was setting. From time to time, I would glance over at Jacob, giving the boat, preparing it and sometimes he would glance back for a few moments, locking eyes with mine. Before we knew it, it began to drizzle and the boat was finally fixed with a tent on top just in time to hide from the rain.

We sat inside the boat, enjoying a meal of the fruit we had brought with us. Blue was outside of the boat as it rained, jumping up and down to watch water in his mouth which brought a smile to our faces, even Jacob's. I nudged him slightly, seeing him smiling down at the creature.

"They aren't so bad, right" I said softly to him. He didn't respond, but had he drank from the fruit, his smile never faded.

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