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Bonus Chapter 3: Back on the Shader's Dawn
Back in the Shader's Dawn, crew still reacting to Hunter's bounty
It would have been peaceful, if not for the single newspaper lying on the deck like a curse.
Hunter had already balled it up and started using it as a coaster for his bread and cheese.
"Thirty-seven million Emies!" Emily shrieked, her hands clutching at her hair as if she could yank the number straight out of her skull. "Hunter, do you even realize what that means?! You're wanted! They'll hunt you down, chain you up, drag us all with you!"
Hunter leaned back against the railing, lazily chewing, his grin wide and infuriatingly casual. "Thirty-seven million… huh. That's a lot of bread."
Ryder's face twisted in horror. "Bread?! Are you insane? That bounty puts you on the Accord's radar, the U.I.C.'s radar, bounty hunters everywhere! We're finished. Doomed. Turn us around right now before they sink us!"
Hunter pointed his crust at Ryder like a weapon. "Relax, Goat Boy. You'll give yourself wrinkles."
Ryder stomped across the deck, throwing his arms. "Don't call me Goat Boy! And this isn't funny! The Accord doesn't joke— they'll—"
"—send some stiff in shiny armor to scold me?" Hunter cut in, smirking. "Sounds like a boring tea party."
Emily slapped the deck so hard the wood rang. "You're not taking this seriously!"
Hunter popped the last bit of bread into his mouth, dusted his hands, and leaned against the mast, still grinning. "I am. Very seriously. I'm seriously flattered they think I'm worth that much. Honestly, thought I'd start at like five million. Maybe ten if they liked my smile."
Emily looked like she might combust. Ryder was already halfway to unraveling completely.
And Vince? Vince just sat cross-legged on the deck, arms folded, eyes closed, a smirk tugging at his lips. The calm opposite of the chaos.
Hunter glanced over. "See? Vince gets it."
Vince cracked an eye open. "Hn. All I see is a man too stubborn to kneel. The Accord hates men like that."
Hunter tapped his nose like Vince had just read his mind.
Emily whirled on Vince. "Why are you smiling?! Thirty-seven million!"
Ryder threw his hands. "That's almost TWO stars! Do you know how many hunters go after bounties that size?!"
Vince shrugged. "Let them come. Easier than chasing them."
"You're insane," Ryder muttered, pacing furiously.
Hunter slung an arm around Emily's shoulders. "Don't worry, Emmy. We'll protect you. Worst case, you play navigator-slash-decoy."
Emily shoved him off so hard he nearly toppled overboard. "Decoy?! You want me to die first?!"
"Hey, not die," Hunter said, holding up a finger. "Just… distract."
She shrieked in outrage. Ryder screamed into the sea.
And then, a voice cut smoothly through the chaos.
"You're all being ridiculous."
They turned. James leaned against the cabin door, freshly polished guns strapped across his back, a tea cup balanced perfectly in one hand. His accent rolled like silk.
"It's thirty-seven million, not three hundred," James continued, strolling across the deck as if he owned it. "The Accord has bigger problems than one overeager boy and his mismatched friends. No need to shriek like headless chickens."
Emily bristled. "But—"
James raised a finger, sipping his tea. "No. No buts. Sit down, breathe, and stop panicking. You'll wrinkle before your time."
Hunter burst out laughing. Vince snorted. Ryder looked like he wanted to throw James overboard.
"You—how are you calm?!" Ryder yelled.
James gave a lazy shrug. "Because unlike you, I think. The Accord is big, yes. Powerful, yes. But it is also slow. Bloated. Obsessed with its own reflection. Men like Hunter slip through the cracks precisely because they underestimate him." He tipped his cup toward Hunter. "And because he's too loud to ignore forever."
Hunter grinned. "See? James gets it."
Emily pinched the bridge of her nose. "You're all lunatics."
Hunter slung an arm around her again. "Welcome to the crew."
She shoved him off again, cheeks pink this time.
The deck fell into a strange sort of rhythm: Hunter laughing, Vince smirking, James sipping, Emily muttering, Ryder pacing like a goat trapped in a storm. For a moment, it felt like this odd balance might hold.
Then the water bulged.
At first, no one noticed. The waves had been gentle all morning, the sun high and warm. But then a shadow rose beneath them, enormous and writhing.
James's cup stilled. "Ah. That's new."
The sea exploded. A massive, coiling limb slapped the surface, spraying the deck with foam. The ship lurched violently, wood groaning.
Emily screamed. Ryder screamed louder.
"WHAT THE HORN IS THAT?!" Ryder howled.
Hunter's grin widened. "Looks like a giant squid."
Emily grabbed the mast for dear life. "That's not a squid, that's a nightmare!"
"Nightmare squid," Hunter said, nodding sagely. "Good name."
The creature bellowed, a horrible wet screech, as another tentacle wrapped around the hull.
Vince rose smoothly, blades sliding into his hands. His smirk was gone, but his calm wasn't. "Well. Looks like lunch came to us."
James sighed, holstering his cup and drawing his guns in one graceful motion. "Always during tea."
Ryder panicked. "We can't fight that! We'll die! This ship will splinter!"
Hunter patted his shoulder. "Relax, Goat Boy. Just aim for the soft bits."
"What soft bits?! It's all tentacles!"
The deck erupted into chaos as the monster thrashed. A massive limb swung down like a tree trunk, and Hunter shoved Emily aside just in time, the wood cracking where she'd stood.
Emily stared at him, wide-eyed. "You—"
"See?" Hunter grinned. "Decoy plan working already."
She smacked him mid-fight.
Vince blurred forward, blades flashing as he carved shallow gashes into the tentacle gripping the hull. Black ichor spurted, the monster screeching.
James took aim and fired, redstone bullets zipping through the air with perfect precision, peppering the beast's eyes. "Ugly brute. Do hold still."
Ryder dove under a swinging limb, scrambling across the deck like a goat avoiding a wolf. "I TOLD YOU THIS WOULD HAPPEN!"
Hunter leapt onto the railing, balancing effortlessly as the ship pitched. He cupped his hands around his mouth. "HEY! SQUID-FACE! PICK ON SOMEBODY WITH WORSE DENTAL CARE!"
The creature turned toward him, tentacles lashing. Hunter laughed and launched himself off the railing, landing squarely on one thrashing limb. He sprinted up it as if it were solid ground, knocking on the slimy flesh like it was a door.
"Anybody home?" he yelled, slamming a fist into it. The beast shrieked.
"YOU'RE INSANE!" Emily cried, clinging to the mast.
James calmly reloaded. "No, he's effective."
Vince sliced another tentacle clean off, ichor spraying. "And stupid."
"Hey!" Hunter called from atop the beast, wobbling as it shook him. "Not stupid. Recklessly intelligent!"
The monster screeched again, trying to fling him into the sea. Hunter dug his fingers into its flesh, riding it like a bull. "YEEHAW!"
Emily groaned. Ryder fainted.
The fight raged for what felt like hours but was probably minutes. Bullets, blades, screams, and Hunter's laughter filled the air until finally, with one last shriek, the monster thrashed violently and dove back beneath the waves, vanishing into the depths.
Silence crashed over the deck. Everyone dripped with seawater and ichor, panting.
Hunter dropped from the railing, landing with a sloppy bow. "And that, my friends, is how you make calamari."
Emily stomped up and smacked him on the head. "You almost died! Again!"
He rubbed the spot, grinning. "But didn't."
Vince wiped his blades clean, smirk back in place. "Recklessly intelligent."
James holstered his guns with a flourish, sipping from a fresh cup of tea he somehow had already. "Messy, but entertaining."
Ryder groaned from where he'd collapsed on the deck. "I hate this ship. I hate this crew. I hate my life."
Hunter flopped down beside him, hands behind his head. "You love it."
Ryder glared. "You're insane."
"Maybe," Hunter said with a grin, staring up at the sky. "But at least we're alive."
For a moment, no one argued. The sea stretched endlessly around them, the sun blazing overhead, the world too big and too dangerous for any one crew. And yet, on the Shader's Dawn, something unspoken bound them together: chaos, madness, laughter, and the refusal to kneel.
Somewhere, on some distant shore, bounty posters fluttered in the wind. Hunter J. Craft's grin stared back at the world, a promise of trouble yet to come.
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