Chapter III: Hunter

AN:


Heya Fan-fic-folks!

Long time no see. You'll be delighted to know I spent the last two weeks ever so productively and am pretty close to actually uploading my inkshares stories. If you're interested, here's a brief summary of the two stories I'm currently working on.

Much Ado about Everything:

The story of Etienne Olivier, renowned actor and utter asshole. When his troupe finally gets tired of his dickish behaviour, they fire him and blacklist him in the industry. He loses everything, ending up on the street. He turns to con artistry to eat and turns out to be good at it, but he's always looking for a way back to the stage. One day, he sees a group of people in the marketplace, talking to a crowd about honour and justice and freedom from tyranny and, being the cynical prick he is, immediately concludes it can't be genuine and that they must be actors. He tries to butt in with a pretty stirring speech mostly stolen from various plays he's written or acted in over the years. Turns out, the 'actors' were actually rebels trying to incite the crowd against a tyrannical empire that conquered the city and his little speech turns the tide. He gets caught up in the fight and basically blunders and bluffs his way into being viewed as the hero of the conflict. When they win, the rebels induct him into their leadership. The rest of the story is just him trying to keep the act going, because if they find out, the rebels will kill him and if he leaves, the Empire will kill him. So, what's an actor turned rebel leader to do?

Guardians of Dreamworld:

When you enter the Land of Dreams, all that you believe is real, becomes real. Nightmares are creatures that take the form of the Dreamer's fears in order to feed on them. The Guardians are an ancient order that exist to protect Dreamers from the Nightmares. For a thousand years, there have been no sightings, until Arda comes along. Arda is the great grand-daughter of a legendary Guardian hero and she's the newest initiate. When she is sent into the Dreamworld on her Rite of Bonding to find her first youngling, she finds it being attacked by a nightmare. Through sheer luck, she fends it off and completes the Rite. When she returns, nobody believes her. After all, everyone knows they've been gone for centuries. So, she decides to find proof. The rest of the story is her unravelling the existence of the nightmares and what brought them back.

So, if you like the sound of either story, both links will appear in my profile and in whichever update on here occurs after I post them to inkshares. I know links on here are iffy, but I think I finally have a method that will work.

Oh, on another bright note, after a year of repeating my A-Levels, I finally made it into uni for a BSc in Psychology! That's most of the reason this update is so late. Thursday was mostly spent working out all sorts of Uni stuff, so this kinda fell behind. I'm still putting some finishing touches on The Blackwell Job, so that will be uploaded later tomorrow (Sunday the 21st).

This chapter is inspired by two things.

Firstly, Hanna, a movie I watched last week. If you haven't seen it and you enjoy action movies, you'll probably enjoy it. It's different enough to be interesting.

Secondly, the all-time classic The Princess Bride. It's one of my favourite movies ever made and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone of any age. It's phenomenally funny and phenomenally well done and acted.

For any of you who are wondering, we'll be heading to School in the next chapter. I just wanted one more to kind of develop Max and Chloe a little more.

So thanks for reading fan-fic-folks and, as always, please review.

Aaron Leach: Thanks! I hope you like this one too.

Momijifan Low-Ki: Depends on your definition of well, methinks. :) Thank you, I'm pretty sure this one isn't going to be though, but your mileage may vary.

Guest I: Thanks, I'm glad to hear it and I sure will.

Guest II: Interesting is definitely the word. Seeing how someone cast away from civilization for 5 years deals with high school. Oh yeah, it's gonna be interesting.

Time Dragon: Yep. I literally stole that scene straight from the series, too. It's an interesting phenomenon to look at. Some of the stuff that can trigger nightmares and flashbacks is remarkable.

Lycan13: Me too. This one is actually fun to write. It's interesting to research for, too. I'm an aspiring psych student, so looking into the mindsets of castaways and vigilantes and such is really interesting.

MaxNeverMaxine: I am now, thank you. It really is. I did some permanent damage to my esophagus, so I can't really drink anything too acidic or boiling. Basically, I'm stuck with water and very low quantities of coffee. As someone who is awake twenty hours a day, that hella sucks. :)

Thank you, I'm glad you like it. Hope this next chapter lives up to the last one. :)

APhantasm: Thank you! I love my little AUs, they're the most fun to do. And most helpful for novel-practice, too. I hope you like where it ends up. I've got the destination and some of the journey for this pretty solidly in my head now and it's a little weird, so I hope you like it when I finally get there. :)

Eye of sparta: Yeah, me either. It's always fun to see Victoria come up against something she can't bully. Should be in the next chapter or so. I figure I need to reconnect Max and Chloe a bit more first and really establish in Chloe's pretty blue head that something is off.


"Uuurgh. Fckn Mrnngs…"

I roll over and try to block the light shining at me. "Maaaax, make it stop!"

"..Max?"

I roll over and crack open my eyes. The room was empty and the window was open.

Shit.

I didn't even bother with my boots, I just raced downstairs to find Joyce. "Mom? Max?"

She was sat down on the couch reading. She looked up at me when I stormed in. "Chloe? What's wrong?"

"I woke up and Max was gone. Is she down here?"

"I haven't seen her, kid. I thought you two were sleepin' in. Ya sure she didn't just go to the bathroom?"

I scowled at her. "Yeah, Mom. I'm sure she didn't just…"

Actually… "One sec."

I ran up and checked. "Nope. She's not fucking there either, Mom!"

Even Mom was getting panicked now. 'Bout fucking time, really. My best friend was missing! Again! "Well, where on earth is she?"

"I haven't a fucking clue! The window's open, so maybe she's outside?"

Mom frowned. "Where would she go? Maybe Blackwell?"

I shrugged. "Like I said, no fucking clue. Maybe."

She nodded a couple times, probably to herself more than me. "Ok then. I'll go see if I can find the school's number, maybe call David too. They might have seen her." She reached out a hand to stop me pacing all over the place. "Don't worry, Chlo, we'll find her."

She headed upstairs and I basically just stomped around the room some more. It was kinda cathartic.


A couple minutes later, Max saunters through the back door, carrying something over her shoulder. Whatever it is, it fucking STINKS…

I rush over and hug the shit out of her. It was either that or fucking hit her and I saw the muscles on my first mate before, so no way I'm doing that. "Where the hell have you been?"

She tenses slightly when I hug her and when I let go, she taps a rope attached to whatever's behind her. "I found lunch."

I peer over her and… My jaw drops. "What."

She had three rabbits and a fucking pheasant over her back. I just stare at them, then her, then them again. "What."

She frowns, then speaks slowly at me. "Lunch. Midday meal?"

I do hit her then, just lightly on the shoulder. By the look on her face and the pain in my fist, it hurt me more than it hurt her, Holy fucking OW! I use my badassitude to hide all that and just grimace. "I know what lunch is, dumbass. I meant the fucking animals you've got over shoulder. Where the fuck did you get them? Did you fucking hunt them or something"

She nods. I look her over for a gun or a bow or something. I don't see anything. "With WHAT?"

She smiles. "With style and grace, Chloe. They're a thank you for letting me stay here."

Wow… Max's gift-giving got hella weirder… "Um… thank you?"

She grinned. It was a real grin, not the blank ones she'd been giving us up till now. "Anytime, Chloe."

That was when Mom came back in. "It's ok, Chloe… I found the number for… Oh, Max!"

She runs up to Max and sweeps her up in a hug, frowning when she sees the rabbits and pheasant. "Uh, Max…? What in hell are you doing with those?"

"They're for lunch, Joyce."

A lifetime as a waitress in a trucker-stop diner and a cop for a husband meant Mom had seen pretty much everything. I'd never seen her lost for words. Until now.

Max waited for a couple of seconds for Mom to respond. When she didn't Max just sidestepped her and headed into the kitchen, leaving me and Mom just sort of staring at each other slack-jawed. "I'll make lunch."

We just stood there until Max called back to us. "Sit down, I won't be long!"

I looked at Mom. She looked at me. We both sat down.


Max got the food cooked hella quickly and surprisingly well. Mom even complimented her on how well it was all done. Max shrugged. "When you're eating the same things every day, you learn to get creative."

We alternated between chatting and silence for most of the meal. Mostly we just concentrated on the food. It was fucking delicious. Max was gonna have to cook more often.

I was halfway through a bite when… "Chloe?"

I swallowed and looked over at her. "Yeah, Max?"

"Can we go drive around town, please? I wanna see it again."

I shrugged. "Sure, I can give you the nickel tour." I looked hopefully over at her. "After noms?"

She snorted and smiled. "Sure, Chloe. After noms."

Awesomesauce. And turns out, she meant right after noms because as soon as we were finished eating, we were out the door and in my truck.

"So, where do you wanna go first?"

She answered instantly. "The diner."

I grinned and gunned the truck. "Your wish is my command."

Long story short, I took her to all the sites. The Diner, Blackhell (We had to leave when Step-Douche 'took an interest'. Asshole.), the library and a whole bunch of other places… We even went past our old treehouse. Max stayed pretty quiet and I did too. It was kinda weird and hella uncomfortable.

We ended up at the lighthouse, sitting on the shitty little bench and staring out over the bay. Max was still quiet and it was really starting to fucking get to me. I was just about to say something to fill the quiet when Max suddenly started talking.

"So. David's a real asshole, isn't he?"

Understatement of the fucking year, Maximus… "Yeah. Step-douche found his bitch-switch hella early and has a fucking turbo that switches on whenever I'm in the fucking room. Prick."

She smiled. "Interesting way of putting it. I agree though. How do you deal with him?"

I shrugged. "Mostly by bitching back. Anything he can do, I can do fucking better."

She raised an eyebrow. "Annie get your gun? Really?"

Huh? I looked at her. "What?"

She snorted. "Nothing. Seems like you need a new method."

I shrug and grin. "Maybe not, but it's hella fun."

She rolls her eyes and stares off into the distance, back to being quiet again. Fucking great.


I throw out my arms like a tour guide and give Max a bow. "Welcome to American Rust, my home away from hell."

She laughed and followed me in. "I thought you were punk now, not steampunk."

I shrugged. "I like this place. It's just as rusted as the rest of this shithole, it just doesn't hide anything."

Well. That got… honest. "And it's quiet. Arguing is hella fun, but it's kinda loud, too. Nice to have some quiet when it gets too much, y'know?"

Ok, stopping talking now… I stuck my hands in my pockets and wandered over to one of the cars lying about the place and took a seat on the hood.

"So, have you thought about trying to be nice to David?"

I stared at her. "Nice to step-douche? Are you fucking crazy?"

She snorted. "Probably. Not the point though. David is a soldier, right? He wants respect. If you give it to him, he'll be a lot easier on you."

I frown. "But he's an asshole. No fucking way am I gonna play nice with that prick!"

We glare and bicker about it for a sec before I roll my eyes and stand up, stalking around the junkyard, looking for what I need. I picked up two sticks and came back, tossing one to her. "How about we decide this like pirates?"

She twirled the stick experimentally, looking slightly unsure. "You win, I play nice. I win, we make his life fucking hell until you move out. Deal?"

I held up my stick in front of me like a fencing sword. "You ready?"

She grinned, taking a flamboyant bow and readying her 'sword'. "Whether I am or not, you've been more than fair."

I snorted, picking up on the reference. She laughed. I might have been a bit unsporting in taking advantage of that, but I hella wanted to win!

She parried and tried to stick me in the gut, but I hopped backwards, dodging it and came back at her. She dodged my swipe at her legs by backing up onto a car. I followed her up, keeping the fight going. I put on a fucking awful spanish accent. "Ah, you're using Bonetti's defence against me, huh?"

She shrugged, falling into Westley's confident voice. "I thought it fitting, considering the rocky terrain."

I duck under an upper swipe from her and take a stab at her right leg, which she blocks easily. "Naturally, you must expect me to attack with Capa Ferro."

She smiles and swipes at my legs again. "Naturally. But I find Tybil's usually cancels out Capa Ferro, don't you?"

"Unless the enemy hasn't studied his Agrippa. Which I have." I twirl and block a sneaky hit from her, then whirl around again to try break her block. It fails, but she has to back down off the cars and I'm hella happy to be on more solid ground again. Well, for about a second anyways, then Max comes at me swinging again and I'm back to fighting.

We parry and cut and thrust around the junkyard, hopping over cars and dodging around piles of boxes and shit. It's fucking awesome.

I put my accent back on and exclaim "You are wonderful!" as she hits me with a flurry of cuts and thrusts I barely manage to block.

She nods calmly, completely indifferent to my frantic blocking. "Thank you, I've worked hard to become so."

My grin gets bigger as I flail about. "I admit it, you are better than I am."

"Then why are you smiling?"

"Because I know something you don't know." She scores a hit on my knee and it hurts like fuck. I narrowly miss her ribs and she raps hard on my shoulder.

She smiles, knowing exactly what was gonna happen next. We'd seen this scene a hundred times. "And what is that?"

"I am not left-handed!" I shouted dramatically and tossed my 'sword' into my other hand, starting to push Max harder. She buckled under my assault and retreated backwards up the little hill towards the ship.

"You're amazing!" She exclaimed, grinning. I guess we both really were having hella fun with this. Just like old times.

I shrug, nonchalantly. "I ought to be, after twenty years!"

With a final push, I shove her up against the wall the plank to the ship was leaning on, making like I'm gonna push her over. She looks me in the eye and all deadpan seriousness, says "There's something I ought to tell you."

I grin, knowing what was coming and hella wanting it to happen. "Tell me."

She laughed and pushed me away from her. "I'm not left handed either!"

Max grinned and started fighting back harder, twirling and blocking and all sorts. I ducked under a swipe that went too high and scampered across the plank to the ship, taking a stance on it's deck. When Max followed, I started fighting back more desperately. Maybe she'd practised on the island or something because she actually was better than she used to be. And I really wanted to win this.

I managed to clip her ear and in a second, our little swordfight went from hella fun to fucking terrifying, Max charging forward and kicking me off the fucking boat and jumping down on top of me. Lucky I landed on clear ground and not a fucking glass bottle or pile of syringes or some hella dangerous shit like that.

She had the stick to my throat and was just sort of staring at something just over my shoulder. She looked… not all here. I blinked up at her, trying to move as little as possible. I talked carefully, trying to do that melodic calming thing police do on the TV. "Max…"

I don't even think she was seeing me, just something from back on that fucking island. I tried again, a little louder. "Max!"

She blinked and shook her head, reconnecting with the whole sword to the throat sitch. She dropped the stick and backed away from me, looking fucking horrified. I dropped mine and went after her. "Max!"

I caught up with her by the bus. She was sitting on the floor, leaning against it. I wandered over and sat next to her, waiting for her to say something.

"When I said I was alone on the island, Chloe… I lied."

I froze. Finally. Ok, Price, don't fuck this up. "Oh?"

She nodded. "Yeah. The people there… they tortured me, Chloe. I had to fight them, I had to… to…"

She was staring off into the distance, twitching slightly. I think she was trying not to cry, but I'm fucking awful at the mushy emotional shit.

"It's ok, Max. Like I said, not gonna make you talk about shit unless you want to."

She smiles, hella absently again. "I want to… I'm just not ready yet."

She leans back against the bus and settles. "But you'll be the first person I talk to when I do."

I grin. "Thanks, Maximus."

We sit in silence for a few minutes, but it's not uncomfortable anymore. It's just… quiet.

My phone beeps and I check the clock. "Crap. We gotta get back, Max. Mom wants us home for noms."

She nodded and we got up and headed back to my truck

As we were driving along, Max suddenly looked at something out the window.

"What are those?"

I took a quick look. "It's the mines, Max. They've been closed for years. They were hella busted up or something. Why?"

She shrugged. "Just curious."

I frowned. She doesn't sound just curious. But I dropped it. No way I'm gonna piss her off or push her yet. Still not that much of a bitch.


As we walked in, Mom called out from the kitchen. "Chloe, Max, is that you?"

I headed into the kitchen, Max went upstairs. "Yeah, it's us, Mom. How long till noms? I'm starving!"

She laughed. "Not long, Chloe. I'll call you both down when it's ready."

"Awesomesauce."

I went to my room to tell Max.

The window was open again.

Well, fuck.