Tiny Terror?! The Hunt Begins at Sundown!

[Fox]

For the past 8 hours, 38 minutes and 12 seconds, the sea had been calm. Prior to that, a rather significant storm has assailed the pair of them. It had been all that Wight could do to keep from capsizing. Not that such an event would be life threatening for either him or Marina. No, he tried to stay afloat for two reasons. One, it was easier to spot and sight land from an elevation. And two, Marina had been sleeping and he hadn’t wanted to disturb her. Unfortunately, the rocking of the waves had been rough. It had cost him much of his remaining fuel to manage them. So, when Wight sighted an island off in the distance, he hurried toward it as fast as he could pedal.

Wight had assumed his secondary form for travel, which had the properties of a small boat. His mode of propulsion was not a sail though. Instead, he had pedals that he or Marina could use to spin a propeller. His alternate mode also had wheels, so once they arrived at this island, he could roll onto the shore without much of an issue. As they drew nearer to the island, he called out to his companion.

“Marina. Wake up. We have arrived at an island. I require fuel and you require nutrients. This is our opportunity to acquire them.”

When he didn’t see any towns on the shore, Wight feared that this island might be uninhabited. But there was a river going inland, so he angled himself down into the mouth of the river. Quickly, signs of civilization appeared.

[SnowDog]

“Mmm... Fime mur minnuts...” Marina groaned tiredly, rolling over where she was laying on Wight’s deck. A large wave rocked Wight’s boat mode something fierce, the wake throwing a decent amount of water across the deck and unfortunately into Marina’s face. “GYAGH!” The fishwoman hollered as she shot up at the sudden sensation of cold slapping her in the face, forcing her awake. She rose up and looked towards the bow, watching as the island they approached grew nearer and nearer.

Wight managed to find the mouth to a river and immediately paddled up it. Marina looked over the starboard side of her captain’s boat mode as signs of civilization soon entered their view. Where were they? She thought as the
boat pulled up against the dock of the town.

“I’ll check the place and out see if they got any kind of fuel for ya. You sure you wanna stay here? Want me to tie you against the dock? Or something?”

-

Elsewhere - Deep within the wild brushes of the island...

Hatchets and machetes carved through the tall grasses like hot knives through butter. A small hunting party fanned out as they carved their way forward.

“I’s knows i’s saws’em go dis way!” One is the more thuggish of the bunch called out to the party, sifting through the grasses as he scanned the ground for signs of prints.

“And I’m sure you did, my simple-minded fellow,” one for the more decorated figures from the bunch responded with, twirling his long, brown mustache around in his finger tips, “but it wouldn’t be very sporty of our friend here to just hang out in the open like this. No, the beast is a crafty one! He knows the game and he knows it well, so they’re gonna do what they can to keep up the chase.” His flashed a devilish grin behind the bristles of his oversized facial hair. This was it! The Thrill of the Hunt!

As the hunting party continued on, one of the hunters at the front of the group halted everyone as the brush cleared out to a more open plain. “Gavins! Hunter Gavins come quick!” The man called out. Slinging his rifle around his shoulder, the fine-mustachioed man approached the clearing and knelt down beside the gentleman who had summoned him. “Look’it here sir, tracks.”

Gavins placed his fingers against the disturbed earth, tracing the very feline-shaped tracks left behind. He picked up a few loose hairs left in the dust and twiddled them between his fingers some.

“Seems the beast was just here.” He commented, pulling the stray hairs to his tongue and giving the fibers a quick taste. “The tracks are still warm... Mmm, mhmm... and it appears to be afraid. We must be closing in on him!”

[Deleted]

Somewhere just beyond the hunters' sights, small patches of dry grass and various trees hide the vague movement of an orange-red blur. When it occasionally stops, heavy breathing can be heard as small growls of frustration break the silence. Behind one particular tree about a mile ahead of the hunting party, this small, lion-like individual pauses and puts his paws behind his head to gather what air he can.

"I... I hafta lose 'em! Why won't they leave me alone!" His pressed his paws against his head and stops suddenly. An idea popped into his head. If I wanna lose them... Tracks! they must be following tracks! He ran again, through trees and dry grass, letting his tracks lay heavy on the ground as he ran out further into the wilds before passing a tree and circling it a few times. After leaving needless tracks in different directions, he returned to the tree and climbed it to the very top of the tree. The nearby trees were thin, but this small creature wasn't heavy in the least bit, and his small size gave him an advantage when it came to climbing.

Leaping between a few of the trees, he made his way back to the beginning of the path he made and leapt his way through the trees back into the direction of one of the towns. If they can track my movement on land, then I'll have to take to the trees! Before long, though, he quickly ran out of trees. This island wasn't known for its foliage and the trees around this area in particular were sparse. I think I've distanced myself enough for now... Maybe I can hide in an attic of an abandoned building... I'm so tired... If I could only get a little rest... It had been only a day since he made his way to this island, and hours since he started running for his life. Why were these people after him in the first place?

[Fox]

Wight pulled up to the docks to allow Marina to dismount at her leisure. These docks were the sort that outstretched into the river a fair deal because they had beaches that ramped up onto the banks. He listened as she made her suggestion, but disagreed with the idea. He would accompany her in this form. As odd as he probably looked, he still looked like a vehicle in this form, so there was a decreased likelihood of panic.

“I will accompany you. I do not feel comfortable leaving you alone in a large crowd of so many humans.”

With that rather protective statement uttered, Wight paddled himself onto shore. The compartment that stored his wheels slid open and locked them into place as the two of them rolled out of the river and onto the road. His propeller retracted back into his armor plating. There was no need for it on land.

Almost immediately, Wight noted the stares from the passersby. A quick analysis of their expressions revealed their unease and apprehension. They were also mostly focused on Marina. Wight felt that he had made the correct choice. Some stares were directed at him, but they were mostly a combination of wonder and befuddlement. Hm. He probably didn’t resemble many common modes of transportation given his size. People shuffled out of the way as he slowly rolled through the main street.

They passed some stores with prices displayed on little boards outside. It occured to him that they did not have any funds. He scanned boards and other such things for job postings before landing on one that had quite a few fliers. Quietly, he whispered to Marina.

“Our funds are limited. We should pursue a means of employment before procuring supplies. Would you check that board over there and see if anything fits within our skill set?”

[SnowDog]

Marina was pleasantly surprised when Wight decided to continue on up the shore rather than tying off at the dock. Wight was continuing to surprise her with all the neat features he had hidden in his big metal body. However, it seems the town they were in were more surprised than she as he gently carted down the street. Marina held a flat expression as everyone looked on in bewilderment at the two of them. She tried to hide the slight embarrassment rushing over her right now but struggled as the townsfolk looked to her as if she had an answer for what they were seeing.

Wight finally snapped her out of it when he whispered something to her about a bounty board of sorts. The fishwoman glanced over to her right and scurried across the “deck” to view the board. She grabbed a handful of the papers posted there and pulled them from the board and began sifting through them.

“Too high of a bounty... Too High... Notice... Notice...” She commented as she discarded the paper over her shoulder. “Oh hey! This looks promising!” She readjusted herself and knocked lightly against Wight’s chassis to get his attention. “Alright listen to this. Ahem... ‘Attention all hunters! Dangerous, Ferocious Beast Running Amuck, last seen around Tarrant Town. Substantial reward provided upon capture.’ ...I mean they don’t list an actual bounty price but between you and me we could totally find whatever animal is and bring them in! Wha’ya say?”

-

Elsewhere...

The group of hunters continued to branch out across the plains, cutting away at the brush as they progressed forward.

“S’cuse me sir,” one of the lesser hunters began as he approached Gavins, “Suns beginning to set and its getting harder to follow the trails. Almost looks like there’s more than one of them out here. Maybe we ought to set up camp for the night?”

Gavins twirled his giant mustache idly in between his fingers as he looked around the surrounding area the other hunters were carving at. He pondered the request as he scanned along the horizon. The beast was somewhere out there, hiding from its inevitable fate. Unfortunately, what it didn’t understand was it’s terror was Gavin’s thrill. The sport of it all got his blood flowing. He could go weeks on end trying to deprive the creature if it meant he could continue the game just a bit longer. Still, the men were right. Night was encroaching upon them fast so it was best to dig in and make camp.

“Very well, Biggins, this area should suffice nicely.” Gavins went about settling his things down before stopping and turning back to the other hunter, “Oh and fry up some meat, would you? I’m sure our ferocious friend out there is growing famished what with all this running about we’ve been at all day. The succulent scent of a warm meal might draw it out of its hiding hole.”

The hunters then began settle down for the evening, the fire of their camp roaring under the makeshift rotisserie they had set up. As a few of them finished their meal and retired for the night, Hunter Gavins continued to peer over the tall grass billowing softly in the breeze. His eyes narrowed as he studied the movement in the wind, scanning for any signs of foreign movement. He pondered to himself as he took a puff from an exceptionally large pipe.

”What’re you up to, Beast? What’s your plan?...”

[Deleted]

The sun had finally set, and though the street lamps were vaguely lit, there was enough space between them all for Tiberius to slip through and into one of the abandoned buildings. The building was a husk of boxes and debris, likely used for storage of goods and wares for later use, but it was good enough for this tiny lion to finally relax for a moment. He was exhausted, but his growling stomach made resting hard, but after finally forcing his hunger down, his eyes shut tight and he faded off.

24 Hours ago, just outside of Tarrant Town...

A small sailboat just off the shore of Sundance Island pulled in just as the sun began to set. The workmanship was far from perfect, but it held together well considering how the seas could often get. Patchy sails and planks of wood seemingly taken from other ships and knocked together in a hurry revealed that whomever built it didn't have the proper tools or workspace, but had plenty of knowledge on how ships worked. Popping up after tying off the ship to the shore, Tiberius Leon stretched and grinned to finally having made it to another island. This half lion-mink, half dwarven boy measured an astounding... three foot and four inches tall! With his long, whip-like tail and proud mane, his confidence had hit an all time after reaching the first island away from home all on his own.

In an effort to both resupply and possibly scout out new people to join him on his crusade to find new residents for his home island, Tiberius made his way into town with a vigor that could only be described as naïve and sincere. When all eyes were on him, though, the mood shifted. He had never been around so many strangers before and his nerves had gotten the best of him. Having unknowingly stumbled into the wrong town at the wrong time, the villagers treated him like an animal, either shooing him away or running in fear, despite the difference in size. 

It wasn't until some of the hunters in Tarrant Town attempted to catch him in a net and prod him with spears and guns that he realized what it was to fear the unknown. These terrifying "giants" wanted nothing more than to hunt him and make a stew out of his remains! Knowing that staying was no longer an option, Tibs ran as fast as he could back toward his boat, only to find out it had been stolen by some stranger! All of his hard work and patience was gone in an instant, and he was left with nothing. 

As the hunters closed the distance, Tibs knew only one solution. He had to run. He needed to run as far away as he could as fast as he could muster. If he was caught, he would be killed... Dodging pitchforks was easy, but bullets? That's hard enough! If he used up his electricity on all of the townsfolk, he would only grow exhausted and be captured, and if he fought them all alone, he wouldn't stand a chance. So he took off, and for the next day, he kept on his feet and ran as far as he could, taking breaks only to breathe, drink, or eat, but the persistence of these hunters proved more difficult than he had thought. Keeping himself a step ahead was hard and took a lot of energy. Now, though, he had a moment to rest... and rest he did.

[Fox]

Marina hurried over to the bulletin board across his deck and started tearing off the papers and discarding them over her shoulder. Over her shoulder meant that they fluttered down onto him. They felt a little peculiar. Almost unpleasant. Wight resisted the urge to wobble and shake them off. Marina didn’t feel this way when she stood on him. Strange. Thankfully, she soon stopped doing that and knocked on his chassis. He turned his attention back to her, only slightly distracted by the ticklish papers.

“They did not specify a specific reward? Very well. That must mean that they wish us to determine what is substantial.”

Wight did some mental calculations. A substantial reward to him would cover their provisions for the next week or so, plus additional funding for the next stop. Capturing an animal should be well within the purview of their abilities as well. “This seems to be a profitable venture. Let us pursue it. Well done, Marina.” He paused. “Could you please remove the extraneous papers from my chassis?” As he asked, Wight started moving again, picking up speed as the two of them rolled out of town and onto one of the roads heading toward the neighboring towns. The road signs were fairly clear thankfully. The sun was beginning to set, but that was no issue for Wight. His optic was equipped with low lighting capabilities.

“We should acquire some bait for the beast’s capture. Can you hunt something? You are better equipped for small game. Once we’ve acquired bait, you can place it on me, and we can wait. Unless you’ve a better strategy.”

Wight offered his initial pass at a plan up to Marina. He had never hunted a beast before, but he did have some protocols in place for hunting down elusive targets. His databanks had told him that bait was an effective strategy. Place something that they wanted or couldn’t refuse in plain sight, and they were usually forced to act.

[SnowDog]

“Hunt something? That wouldn’t be too difficult for someone of my caliber!” The piranha girl boasted, over dramatically placing her palm against her chest. Her attention shifted back to the deck where she saw her mess of discarded papers were strung about. She felt a bit embarrassed being called out by Wight to pick them up but knew she ought to clean up the mess she herself created. It only took a moment to scrape up the loose papers and piling them up into a neat stack. She kept the poster for the current hunt on top of the stack and looked down to Wight.

“You got a place we could store these at? Wouldn’t hurt to hold on to some of these posters and learn some of the faces on them. Tells us who we ought to keep a eye out for.” Marina set the stack of papers onto Wights deck before removing her coat to set on top of it to hold it down for now. The piranha girl stretched out her legs and arms a bit before glancing towards the port side of Wight’s vehicle form. “Take me back over to the river. I can wrangle up some fish or something mighty quick!”

———

Back over at the hunter camp, most of the more simple folk sat around their fire, Gavins decided the setting sun would not detour him from continuing to snoop around. The fine mustachioed individual continued to scout around the campsite underneath the setting sun. He didn’t carry any torches with him in event it grew dark, least he give away his position. No, to hunt a beast in the wild he had to think like the creature, put himself in the mindset with the same limitations out here in the wild. The light of the setting sun continued to illuminate his path at least, so he still had some resemblance of a trail to follow at least. As hard as it was to believe for his hunting party, Gavins did not settle on excuses like a trail growing cold. For him to call a trail cold was to admit defeat! The beast was somewhere out there, and he was determined to find it first! The other hunters were just underestimating the nature of this creature. It wasn’t just some wild boar they could continue to run down through the brush, this creature had intellect... It wasn’t the trail that was growing cold, it was the beast trying to hide its tracks.

“Cheeky little beastie, aren’t we?” The hunter spoke out in a hushed tone, as if to be holding a conversation with the hunted, “To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much when I saw the poster before... But now... This hunt has become so invigorating!”

[Deleted]

Tiberius' dreams were filled with images of him leaving his home. The look of worry on his parents' faces, the lack of knowledge of where he was actually headed, everything ending in a tearful goodbye... Even the happiness that he felt as he started to realize his mission- no, his dream, was finally starting! However, as the seas became wild and the clouds darkened, those happy thoughts were replaced with terrible laughter from the skies. Images of spears raining down on him, ships attempting to crush his much smaller boat, and evil creatures leaping up from the ocean plagued him with fear and self-doubt. Tiberius tried his very best to block it out, but the more he hid from it, the louder it seemingly got. Eventually, he yelled out, waking himself from his slumber with a start and heavy breathing.

It didn't take long for the tiny ball of fur to realize his dream wasn't real. The fact that he was in an abandoned house all alone? It confirmed that last night's encounter was all too real. His stomach rumbled hungrily as he sat in silence. Tiberius hadn't eaten anything since two nights ago, and was starting to feel fatigues from it. He would need to be sneaky if he was going to get anything to eat. He could not risk being caught in the light of day, where he would no doubt be easier to track.

---

About half an hour later, Tiberius skulked through the alleyways of the town, searching for any source of food he could find. He searched through trashcans for half-eaten and preferably non-moldy food. Still, he yearned for more... Then there was also the first he needed to take care of. That would be a little more difficult. He didn't need filtered water like other humanoids, as his mink ancestry allowed him to automatically filter to a certain extent. He managed to find a small watering hole outside of town to drink from, as well as some fruits he could pick for a better source of nutrients, but with most of this island being a wasteland, he knew he couldn't reliably acquire such things. He needed to get off this island as soon as possible... in order to do that, he needed a boat. He obviously didn't have time to build a new one and asking for a ride was out of the question. He needed to find a boat he could stow away on... While also avoiding the attention of the locals.

Tiberius quickly left the town in a similar manner as how he entered it, not risking leaving any prints on the ground. One might still be able to follow the broken branches and fallen fruit, but at least that was harder to track than foot prints. He made it a ways off before settling down to rest again and taking his time on foot to conserve energy. Hopefully nobody follows me way out here... I need to find shelter before dark. Tiberius knew it wouldn't be long before another hunting party was sent out to find him. If he could at least make a place to hide, maybe they wouldn't be able to find him during the night.

[Fox]

Wight felt immense relief when Marina gathered up all the paper so that they didn’t tickle him anymore. When she asked him to store them away, one of his arms reverted to its arm shape and picked up the stack neatly between two fingers. He opened a storage compartment and placed them neatly inside as his arm dropped Marina’s coat onto her shoulders and resumed its place in his alternate form. Good riddance. Marina’s insistence on keeping them made sense, but he wasn’t going to keep them on his deck any longer than strictly necessary.

“Perhaps we can review them later and then be rid of them.”

Wight said with just a tinge of frustration evident in his voice. His tone remained flat as always. He turned toward the river as Marina had indicated and rolled up to its banks, stopping before he would end up in the water. The river was fairly wide and deep here. It should be a sufficient place to find food for Marina as well as bait for their elusive quarry. In the interest of conserving fuel, Wight decided to remain on land. The less energy that he expended, the better, especially with the damage that he had sustained.

“We have arrived. I will remain here to conserve fuel and wait for you to return. However, do not hesitate to call out for me if there is any trouble. Do you understand?”

[SnowDog]

“Mmmm maybe!” Marina responded to Wight’s somewhat annoyed plea to get rid of the collected wanted posters, unaware of the robot’s frustration with them. When Wight had finally approached the bank of the river, Marina readied herself to jump off into the deeper part of the rushing stream to acquire something they could make proper bait with. Just as she was ready to leap in, Wight had affirmed to her that if she needed any help, she only needed to call out to him and he’d help. The piranha girl felt confident in her abilities, but it was nice to have someone looking out for her and her well being.

“Heh, you got it, Captain!” She cheerfully replied giving the boat-shaped robot a reassuring thumbs up in his direction. Huh, Captain... that was gonna take some getting used to saying. “Just be ready to catch what I sling out of the river! Okay, I’ll be right back!” In a flash, Marina leapt from Wight’s deck and straight down into the river below.

Once under the flowing stream, Marina took a moment to find some sort of control of herself against the current as well as locate any nearby fish. Her entry into the river redirected many of the fish that were working their way upstream. To her surprise, the fish on this island were bigger than she was expecting, some swimming by her being almost as long as she was tall. But for really good bait, they were gonna need something with a lot of meat on it, something fat and plumpy. She took a quick sniff and began to swim against the current, the strong scent of her potential prey guiding her along the flow of the river. She swam a few moments and found her target! A carp; big, plump and looking mighty tasty! Perfect! The piranha girl swam forward towards the mighty carp and readied to take a swing at its gills, hoping to try and kill the giant fish without ruining the possible meat.

After about 5 minutes in the river, a mighty carp broke through the water and flew high up in the air, it’s trajectory making its way toward’s Wight’s last known location at the river bank. The fish smacked against Wight’s deck with a wet flop and floundered about for a moment. Marina eventually breached herself back up against the riverbank and approached her robot captain, “dusting” off her hands of the excess water and feeling proud of her catch.

“Alright! Caught dinner and bait! Now let’s just find a good spot to set up camp, get a fire going, and soon that bounty will be ours!”

-2 Hours Later-

About a dozen meters from the edge of the riverbank where the duo had caught their bait, the upstart pirate group had put together makeshift campsite centered around a fire large enough to cook the massive carp they had acquired, the light of their fire being the only source of illumination after the sun had finally set beyond the horizon. The caught carp was set up along a large spit that Marina continued to spin about at offset intervals to prevent the meat from burning. Marina was by no means a proper cook, but the pleasant aroma wafted through the thin tree line and brush that surrounded them.

“First thing we buy after we get you some fuel is spices.” The fishwoman said between a couple bites she took from part of the fish, “mmm, my Mom used to make a really good grilled filet, but she at least had proper salt and not the makeshift stuff I had to use.” With a mouth full of food, she glanced up to Wight wondering if he had any idea what he was even talking about. Metaphors seemed to be lost on him but trying to explain taste to a robot was whole other topic entirely. When he refuels, can he even taste it? Does it have a taste to him? “But yeah, fuel for you first, definitely first.”

[Deleted]

Tiberius had just finished making himself what he could consider shelter for a while, though it consisted of a simple hole dug into the dirt under a tree with some leaves and branches covering the entrance. Hiding what little bits of fruit he could find, Tiberius set out to find something more substantial to supplement his diet. Sure, he could fish for himself, but that left him open to being trapped and vulnerable while he watched the fish. He knew he would have to... steal his next meal. The hunters were relentless, and were certain to take any chance they could get to hunt him down.

Off he went, into the darkness with nothing but a small sack to store goods. Everything else he owned, including his tools, were in his little hole. He travelled along the river banks, knowing that anything needing water would have to travel there sooner or later. There were several chancese for him to catch something taking sips from the river, but each one ran before he could get close, save for a deer which was startled by Tiberius' rumbling stomach. He had grown weak from lack of proper nutrition, and even took a break by the river to get himself something to drink. Ironic... I came here to find something to hunt by the water side, only to need a drink myself...

Finally, the river led out into the open ocean, and the edge of the island. It was a dead end for him, for while he knew how to swim quite well, this was an ocean... you can't swim to freedom through something that vast. Something did wind up catching his attention, though. A fire off in the distance and a smell of... what was it? F-fresh cooked fish?! It smells like carp! Oh man, I haven't hard carp in so long! Racing off toward the smell, he stopped just far enough away to see whom it was he was about to steal from, hoping and praying it wasn't the hunters again. Luckily, it didn't seem to be! There was certainly somebody he had never seen before- were they even a person? They weren't humans, that was for sure. They seemed to be resting next to a massive metal... construct? Vehicle? Tiberius had never seen anything like it before. The person resting there looked like they were part fish! They had little flippers and everything! If he wasn't so scared that they would also end up trying to hurt him, he would have tried to introduce himself and ask for some fish rather than stealing it...

I don't have a choice... I'm so hungry, but I have to wait until they're not looking, or I'll be caught! So he waited. He waited as long as he thought necessary, until the fish person wasn't looking, and crept up to the fire, keeping an eye on them to ensure he was safe to grab the fish. The moment they gave a complete opening, he was sure to snatch a large piece of the carp and bolt. Unfortunately, It wouldn't be so easy...

[Fox]

Captain. That was how Marina had addressed him earlier. While she was in the water and setting up camp, Wight considered the implication of it. Her cheerful smile had… stirred something in him. A new directive… or perhaps Marina might call it a want. He wanted to see more of that cheerful smile. The desire perplexed him in more ways than one. Mostly, he did not know how to produce such a reaction reliably, but more puzzling was why he had this desire in the first place. He didn’t have sufficient data to be able to reach an explanation at the moment. He stewed over it as Marina cooked the carp, the scent of cooked fish registering on his sensors. He didn’t find it pleasant or necessarily unpleasant.

Wight noted Marina’s comment, making a slight sound to voice his agreement. He couldn’t just send her an affirmative signal like he could to some of his bodily processes. He made a mental note to also procure some salt and other spices for cooking whenever they acquired fuel. Those additives provided necessary nutrients. The way that Marina enjoyed food made him curious as to what it tasted like and the sense of taste itself. He didn’t have a sense of taste. But moments like this made him almost wish to acquire one. Still, in the end, it wasn’t necessary to his function so he discarded the notion.

After a few more quiet minutes, Wight noticed movement in the underbrush as a small feline figure crept out of the shadows toward the fire. He took a moment to analyze it before matching it to the wanted poster. He calculated a 73.235% chance of this creature being their quarry. He watched it for a moment or two longer, assessing it a bit further. The way it watched Marina and the way it moved indicated a certain intelligence. It seemed bipedal as well. Curious. Perhaps it was capable of speech. They would soon find out.

“Marina, our quarry has appeared and appears to be trying to steal some carp. Apprehend it, but do not cause it injury. It may possess the ability of speech.”

[SnowDog]

There was a few quiet moments after her previous suggestion where all they could hear around them was the crackling of the fire and the ambient noises of the woods around them. It was hard for Marina to detect anything out of the ordinary as her sense of smell was too preoccupied on the scent of the roasting fish she had caught. There was a brief rustling in the brush that had gone unnoticed by her until Wight had informed her of something that just approached the fire, reaching out for the carp. Despite the plan being about trying to utilize the carp as bait, Marina shot up from her seat enraged that someone would try thieving her meal like this critter was attempting to do.

“You little WEASEL!” She roared, snatching at the tiny creature by the scruff of its neck, her fishman strength hoisting the thief up with ease to bring it to eye level with her. “Who do you think you are trying to steal our- wait... Wight, are you sure this thing is what we’re hunting for?” Marina reach into her coat pocket with her free hand and pulled out the wanted poster, shifting her attention between it and the poster rapidly. “I mean the poster makes him look, I dunno, scarier?” Marina stuffed the poster back into her pocket and brought the little monster back up to her eye level.

“What’s your deal, monster thing? What did you do to get these villagers all riled up to put such a big reward on your small, fluffy head?”

[Deleted]

Tiberius froze in place the moment he was discovered by the fish girl by the camp. When he was picked up by his scruff, however, he immediately begin flailing and hissing, not even really hearing what she had to say. He also looked at the strange vehicle for a moment, swearing he heard it speak. Was he imagining things? Either way, he calmed down for a moment, swinging himself up to the fish woman's arm and prying himself out of her grasp with his surprising strength and quickly leaping back towards the bushes. When he turned around defensively, he glanced at them and the fish.


"I... did nothing..." Tiberius said very slowly. He didn't often talk to people, as the last time he tried to caused him a great deal of trouble. "Just... Running..." He edged back into the bushes, somewhat reluctantly as his stomach growled loud enough for the girl to hear him. He could escape, but something was telling him that it wasn't necessary. This person didn't SEEM like they were intending to harm him, but he didn't trust her either. After all, she did have a wanted poster of him. "Want... off island..." The fear evident in his voice was only extended by his tail fluffing up gently. This tiny creature looked like a sad little lion, but he spoke and acted far more intelligently. His one hope was that they would see he isn't just some creature to be captured and sold... he was a sentient person who just wanted to be free!


"Don't want... hunted..."