A Hunter's Treasure

Maisie Brumble

Maisie is so cute ;-; I adore her character and her design so much.

Also, just a warning! These chapters may be a bit on the short side, and I'm honestly unsure of how many parts this'll have! So far I have 8 parts planned out, so we'll see!

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Third Person P.O.V

"There was a time... when children dreaded the night," a young girl's voice softly speaks, a dramatic touch to her words. "For sleeping hours brought visions of horror."

A group of children sit around a single bed, the gently, warm glow of the candle illuminating their shadows along the wall as they listen to Maisie read from the story book. The book was a shade of red, worn from the years with the title The Tales of Captain Crow along the front in gold.

"The dark times when those terrible sea beasts would ravage our shores, and no ships were safe on the sea," Maisie continues, the other children leaning forward with interest. "But thanks to the hunters, those days are over."

She turns the page, revealing a heroic looking figure drawn on the right hand side.

"Today, these valiant warriors battle the beasts far beyond the horizon, risking their lives to rid the sea of those nightmare creatures!"

Maisie turns the page, an impressive ship on the left hand side with grand red masts.

"And the greatest of the hunting ships is the Inevitable--"

A boy jumps onto the bed beside Maisie's, wearing an eyepatch and a paper hat and wielding a stick acting as a sword.

"And the greatest of the hunters is Captain Crow!" he interrupts heartily, raising his sword as the children exclaim in agreement with cheers. "Yar!"

The children laugh as he starts to beat his pillow up with the sword, feathers exploding out of the cotton case.

"I'm Captain Crow! Smelly old beast!" he shouts as he continues to fight his pillow, the others cheering.

Maisie watches him with amusement, a feather landing on her head. "Hey."

She blows a puff of air, the feather falling from her hair as the boy stops his actions.

"Who's reading this story?" she questions musingly with a pointed look, the door to their room opening and startling her.

"Oh, my word! What's this?!" Matron exclaims in horror, the children turning to her with gasps as she stands in the doorway holding a candle. "Lights-out was an hour ago! Oh, you'll be the death of me."

The children groan with disappointment as she sets a hand on her up, motioning with her head to the beds.

"Come on! Along, along you pop!" she scolds with disapproval as the children make their way to their beds, climbing into them. "And Miss Maisie!"

Maisie sits up to attention, sitting criss-cross on her bed.

"The king and queen care for you hunter orphans out of their kindness," Matron gestures above her, the portraits of the king and queen hanging above with a crest between them. "When you disobey the house rules, you disrespect them."

Maisie blinks rapidly as she presses her lips into a thin line, nodding once.

"So, we're not going to have any more attempts now, are we?" Matron finishes as she steps forward, raising a brow with a squinting gaze directed at Maisie.

Maisie doesn't reply for a brief moment, a neutral expression on her face as she speaks with a convincing smile. "Absolutely not."

Matron stares at her, humming lightly with a look that said she didn't believe her. She turns and leaves, Maisie watching intently as the door shuts behind her.

Maisie smirks as she swiftly shuts her book and rises from her bed, slipping on her green, sleeveless dress over her white underclothes. She kneels down, grabbing her satchel from under her bed and slipping her book inside before grabbing her boots.

She hops on one leg as she slips her boot on, watching the window above with a determined grin. Stomping her other boot on, she flicks a coin to one of the children, who catches it and slips under her covers to act as her while she was gone.

Maisie pushes the dresser against the wall, grunting lightly as she uses the drawers to climb up towards the window. She makes it to the window and pulls herself onto the frame, sitting with her leg dangling as she looks over the other kids.

One of the kids raises a bucket on a staff with a hook, Maisie nodding in appreciation as she takes the hammer and chisel.

"Fair travels, me swabs!" she bids farewell, raising the hammer and chisel.

She uses these tools to break open the window lock, smirking as she tosses them back into the bucket and rises while hunched over a bit.

"And remember," Maisie raises her fist, looking over the kids as she holds onto the window frame. "Live a great life, and die a great death!"

"Bye-bye, Maisie!" a girl sadly calls.

"We'll miss you!" another quietly shouts, waving.

"See you tomorrow!" a boy calls as Maisie climbs out the window.

Maisie grabs onto the drain pipe, sliding down the side of the orphanage. The sky above was a dark shade of purple, some stars visible and the moon bright.

She takes off in a run as she smiles to herself, the gravel crunching beneath her boots as she runs up the grassy hill and heads towards the great sea.

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