{A/N} - Wrote this because I love Jack Merridew. Who doesn't? :) Anyways, review if you want to, I just love hearing feedback, I really do, and remember that if you liked the Witchcraft and Wizardry one-shot I uploaded the second part last night, so it should be the 25th one. Anyways, enjoy :)

By the way, Simon might act a little OOC in this one. Just a fair warning, haha.

The wind blew into the cavern fiercely, as though it knew the hunters were going to be busy the next morning, and while it could only strike up the coldness for some, the young Merridew boy was far too interested in the distraction of tomorrow to really care about anything else, especially the weather.

Newly painted and spear sharpened, Jack was completely ready to leave their perimeters when dawn struck, and he was sure that once they found him, once they had him in their grasp, it would be really hard to let go of him, to let him get away. Jack had been waiting for a long time for this, even though it wasn't until a day ago when he actually admitted, to his tribe, the brilliant idea of tracking the previous chief down and killing him. Emotions had been raised, and the tribe broke out in chant to celebrate the wisdom of their leader's words. To them, nothing seemed better than to actually track down a human and strike their spears into his waiting flesh, grab his golden hair and yank him around, such as a doll, or notice his red blood dripping down their wooden sticks. Stick, such an embarrassment for a word, more like their weapon of choice.

The redhead chuckled. It was almost time to strike the island at their finest and take everything they wanted, without the worry of a boy yelling at them, scorning them for hunting. And that was all that Ralph did, truthfully, was to scold. He did it even when Jack actually wanted...well, the correct word is to crave, his own affection instead of mindless rambling about how the fire was more important, or how the littluns' shouldn't dare need to hunt anways. A sickening rush of feelings came over Jack at the thoughts of when the ship didn't come that day, the glare on Ralph's face that was the fiercest he had ever seen, and the pride the hunter once had being shattered to pieces in front of everyone. Jack knew he probably shouldn't feel this way, since that was all in the past now, but he couldn't help but remember it. He also couldn't help but remember that Ralph wasn't too interested in joining his feast, the slight idea that Piggy made him go instead. While Jack wasn't sure as to why Ralph wouldn't want to come, the rivalry between the two boys had certainly sparked a flame due to that, and from then on, Jack truly did know that he really hated the other boy.

Of course, soon, that would all be taken care of, and Jack wouldn't have to worry about the stupid blonde boy anymore.

Standing up and needing a drink to get these thoughts out of his mind, he walked out of the cave and felt the cool feeling of dirt beneath his feet. How long had he been in the cave, anyway? Certainly felt like a long time, because while the wind didn't feel any different, it seemed as though Jack was finally somewhere he could have peace and serenade. Although he should probably hold his tongue when he thought the place was peaceful. It wasn't of course...after all, the Beast was still here, and while the hunters managed to kill it a few nights beforehand, it still seemed to haunt them. It was almost as thought it knew that they were frightened of it, and it just wanted to tease. It wanted to spark the boys' feeling of fear and make it its own, not really caring about the emotions the other boys were feeling. Jack was tempered by this, and time and time again he tried to reason with himself that he was simply dreaming the Beast was there, and the sacrifice of the pig head wasn't made in vain.

He was distracted as he walked towards the waterhole. The cool rush of water was he needed as he dunked his head into it and felt his senses being revived, even though the temperature of the water wasn't too pleasant. It was simply too cold, and Jack found himself getting out as soon as he got in, but he supposed he needed that. Now it didn't feel as though his head was filled with the thoughts and ideas of the next morning, and the hunt.

He leaned against the tree and tried to maintain his breathing, for the longer he spent pondering about his hatred for the blonde boy, the more he seemed to get out of it. His face was even rushing red from the anger that was swelling up within him, and he clenched his fist and knowing he should have brought his own spear with him instead of simply leaving it at the cave with the rest of his hunters. It would have made him feel a lot more prepared than simply not having it.

Closing his eyes, he felt the weight of the world move beneath him, as though he was a spirit or something of the sort. He didn't want to open his eyes and remember the world, and he most certainly didn't want to open his eyes and come face to face with the Beast itself. All Jack wanted to do was simply relax, and of course, a crackling noise coming from the bushes in front of him broke his concentration. Eyes opening and breath stopping, Jack glanced from where he sat to the rustling of the leaves of the bushes, and of course, it simply could have been the wind. The freckled boy didn't know what to do but stand and get in a defensively position, really regretting not bringing his speak with him more now than before, and the rustling of the bush stopped. It was almost abrupt, how quickly it returned to normal, but Jack had to rub his eyes at the figure who appeared out of the bushes.

It was none other than Simon, looking like a ghost, and having that same expression of fright that came when he was brutally murdered by his own kind.

Jack didn't really think about Simon's death as much as the other boys did...in fact, the fainting boy didn't really much for Jack to think about, but he could have felt his heart drop dead in beating at seeing the other boy again. It certainly looked like him, with the straight black hair and the alluring green eyes, but Jack was probably simply turning batty at the thought. Jack pointed his finger in shock, looking like a puppet rather than a hunter, and the smaller of the two simply chuckled towards the priceless expression. Jack honestly never seemed to vulnerable.

"Hullo Jack. Pleasant evening, hm?"

The other boy shot his icy blue eyes in a glare towards Simon, not really understand why he was here, but clearing his throat.

"Simon...what are you..h-how are you doing-?"

"I wanted to come here to watch over the rest of the boys until the day comes, the day where civilization will begin to flourish again. Unfortunately, I don't think that day is ever going to come, due to the way things are now, at least."

Simon sat by the watery pool and placed his transparent feet into the waters, even though it was clear the young boy couldn't feel anything. Jack neared Simon, not daring to touch him out of fear of what will happen, but his fists were still clenched with the anger of what Simon had just said. Even in death, he was simply as batty was he was when alive, and Jack wanted to laugh at such a comment. Was Simon disrespecting the hunter's look world on the island, the way things came to be? Such an impressive move, for an ex-choir boy to be talking this way to the one who originally was his leader.

"You're batty, Simon. You must think I don't know what I am doing, do you? Well, not to worry, come tomorrow morning and everything will be alright, everything will go the way it's supposed to do. Just rest your head and do not think about civilization not being able to grow, because I will make sure, as chief, that I-."

"You don't understand, Jack." The littler boy chuckled, his laughter seeming faint due to his current state. "You can never understand the concept of being a good leader, especially if a leader lets one of his own people die before him, even participates in the act, and then letting another boy be thrown off a cliff with a boulder."

Jack hissed, since the truth really did hurt, but he pretended not to let these words get too deep within his skin. Simon really did act differently, now in death, so much that it actually made Jack a lot more angry than he was supposed to be, but he found that the other boy turned his head with a look on his face that showed the sadness he felt at remembering everything that happened. The freckled now spoke, although through gritted teeth.

"That was Roger...it wasn't-."

"But it was in your mind. You smiled at the death. Don't pretend you had nothing to do with it, Jack."

The surprising tone found in Simon's voice honestly scared Jack slightly, and the other boy shook his head fiercely. It wasn't his fault! He had nothing to do with Roger dropping the boulder, so why would Simon even assume like that?!

Jack now disliked the other boy's presence, and Simon smiled slightly at know this fact. The boy still kicked in the pool with his feet, and he looked away from the freckled boy as another thought came to mind.

"I mainly came here to tell you not to hurt him."

The hunter, now confused, cocked his head to the side and smirk. He actually knew who Simon was referring to, and it wasn't that hard to see.

"Oh? What are you going to do if I do?"

"Jack."

The young boy now glared in anger, which was normally against his personality to show anger, but the other boy was frustrating him. Jack now smirked wider at knowing it riled up his choir boy to hurt him this way. He twisted his hand around and pretended to be interested in something else instead of the other boy's stare.

"Well? It doesn't really matter, does it? After all, I can finally get what I wanted most, the complete power over the island. Ralph's time is over now, and he better run fast tomorrow." The hunter chuckled darkly as the spirit stood up and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Can you not see, Jack? Your wanting of power, your lust for everything chief-like...it's consuming you whole! You would even go to extreme means to get what you want, to kill Ralph, even though he is perfectly innocent and hasn't done anything wrong. Or is it your specific purpose to kill everything innocent, just because you can?"

A sense of guilt felt trapped inside Jack's heart at the mention of the last thing Simon said. It was as if Simon wanted to continue to remind Jack about what happened that one night, with the fire so high and the smell of pig tugging in his nostrils. With the Beast coming out, growling with its set of teeth and trying so hard to kill everything in its path...but the hunters, they killed it, and yet it still remained. How was that?

The littler boy felt the need to continue at the expense of Jack's distracted look of confusion.

"Like I said, don't hurt him. It would only bring unfortunate circumstances to come out of it, and we wouldn't want that, would we Jack?"

"Dammit, just leave me alone, Simon!"

The redhead growled and hissed all at once, throwing his arms around and trying desperately to get the image of Simon out of his face, out of this area. The little boy simply sighed before starting to fade away, and as the hunter watched this happen, he could have sworn he heard the voice of Simon playing out into the air, reminding him not to hurt Ralph, but at the same time, to be careful about other things. What other things? The other choir boys? No, it was something about the Beast, he was sure of it, and finally the boy had been erased from the scene, only leaving fragments of his voice to still pierce through the hunter like sharp pieces of glass. The freckled boy wasn't sure now what to think, and the smell of his runny facepaint seemed enough to show him that, no matter what the other boy said, Jack would always want to hunt, to feel the warm blood trail over his fingertips and to run through his mind.

He responded by sleeping in the same place he was left for the next morning, body ready and spirit uncivilized.

{A/N} -

Moofy-Fan -Thanks for the review. I was actually thinking of making it into a story, but I decided against it. I really need to get out of my writer's block and continue The Switch, but unfortunately, I am a bit on a hiatus right now . Anyways, thanks for the review and your PM! They made me happy :-D