Sorry it's been a while, school's been getting in the way along with a writer's block. Heh. ; Well, I hope you enjoy this, thanks Rauken's Angel for the idea for this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Cowboy Bebop… ((Bob aka conscience: Good girl.)) Oh shut up you…

Well, here's Chapter 8: Creatures

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It had been several hours since Faye had come into this manor, and she was back to shunning Spike for anything and everything that happened. She had been given a room, so that she could have her privacy for once, and also fabrics and sowing items so she could make herself a wardrobe while she was there.

Her room was decorated with lavish tapestries, much like the rest of the castle; a large, soft bed dominating the middle, a tub off to the side, a table and chairs for relaxing and bookshelves lining the walls. At the other end of the room were a set of double doors that led out to the balcony that gave her a perfect view of the mountains on the island.

Faye sighed and sat down in one of the chairs in the center of the room. 'What am I to do here? I don't know anything about sowing…' She thought as she scanned the rows and rows of books in the room.

Just then, the door burst open and Ed bounded into the room. "Hi, hi, Faye-Faye!" She called happily jumping onto the bed.

Faye smiled, "Hello, Ed, what's that you're doing?" She asked, as she watched the young girl jump up and down on the bed.

"Ed is flying!" She said, jumping higher, "Faye-Faye come and fly with Ed!"

She laughed, "That might be fun, Ed." She thought aloud, making her way to the bed and jumping up on it next to the fiery red-head.

Soon later, there was a knock on the door. Faye, breathless, jumped off the bed, composed herself, and walked calmly to the door. It creaked as she pulled it open, and standing there was Julia. "Princess, I was hoping that maybe we could talk." She said, her ocean blue eyes full of kindness.

"Okay." She replied, a bit hesitantly. A small 'thud' startled Faye and she turned around only to find the hyperactive red head sound asleep on her bed. She couldn't help herself but laugh a little; this girl had yet to cease to amaze her. "Come on in." She invited, moving away from the doorway to allow Julia entrance.

"Thank you, Princess." Julia curtsied respectfully, passing by her and into the room.

"Please, take a seat, and don't call me Princess, I never liked it. Please feel free to call me Faye." She smiled, offering her a seat.

"Of course." Julia smiled also, taking a seat across from Faye. "It's unusual for a girl to be around here. I guess that I have been deprived of girl talk for quite some time now. Most of the women around here don't speak English…so I have a hard time talking to anyone but Spike or any of the other crew members."

"I understand, it's like that back home. The serving maids are forbidden to talk with me, the closest thing I have….well…had as a friend…was Jacob, one of my guards."

"Had?"

"Captain Spiegel and his crew…they…killed him." She said, tears in her eyes.

Julia looked horrified, "Spike would never allow something like that to happen!"

"Well, it did happen." Faye replied, quickly regaining her diplomatic composure thanks to the years of her parents forcing her to never show emotion.

"Oh, Faye, I'm so sorry." Julia said, embracing the young princess.

Letting down the brave countenance she wore, Faye cried on Julia's shoulder, mourning the loss of her only friend. When she had calmed down a bit, Julia and she started talking like old friends. Some of the few things she'd ever been able to do with another girl was to talk to her like a friend, but this woman, she was so kind, so caring, she couldn't help but to just start talking.

As the night wore on, Faye found that she had a lot in common with this Julia. While Faye was stuck inside the castle, Julia was stuck here, with just as much responsibility and pressure as she. She even found out that Captain Spiegel was a pretty nice guy, something she would have never in a million years thought.

"Horses…there are horses here?" Faye asked as they got onto the conversation of the island.

"Yea, there are horses, most of them are from the surrounding areas; Spike brought them back."

"Really, I wonder, is it possible for me to ride?" Faye's eyes brightened at the very thought of exploring this island on a horse.

Julia smiled the kind demeanor around her growing, "Yes, you certainly can. In fact, we can go right now if you want to."

Faye smiled, standing up, "Yes, lets!"

Not too long after, the two women were outside the castle, headed towards the stable, nothing but the moonlight to guide their way. "It's really beautiful out here…" Faye commented, as the moon radiated its glow over a patch of white moon flowers.

"It truly is, it's been a long time since I've been out at night." Julia said thoughtfully, as she opened the door to the stables and approached a chestnut mare, stroking its mane softly. "Take your pick."

Faye stepped in after her, and smiled at the sight. There were at least thirty horses, each having their own, rather large, stall. She approached a jet black stallion that seemed to have been watching her since she entered the room. "This one is gorgeous…what's his name?" She asked, as she watched its coat shine under the light of the moon that had flooded into the room.

"That one," Julia smiled, "His name is Ebony." Soon the two girls had gotten their horses saddled and ready to go. They climbed up onto the saddle with natural grace, Julia's legs on both sides of the saddle, and Faye sitting like a lady. "It'd probably be easier to ride if you had your feet on both stirrups." Julia laughed.

Faye looked confused; she'd never ridden like that before. "But-"

"No buts; just do it."

"Alright…" Faye hesitantly swung her leg over the saddle, and slipped both her feet into the stirrups. It felt very awkward to be riding like this in a dress. "Julia, are you sure we should be riding like this?"

"Yes, I'm very sure. Don't worry about being 'lady-like' here; there's no one to see you if you're not perfect." She smiled as she sent her horse forward and out of the stables.

"Okay." Faye followed her quickly, imitating her movements, trying to figure out how to ride like this.

They stayed on the trail, and seemed to stray away from the woods. "Why don't we go through the woods, I'll bet it's just lovely." Faye asked curiously.

"You'd probably win that bet…until the creatures got you." Her face seemed grim as she kept on.

The moon threw shadows over Julia's face, making her seem almost ghostly, "I heard Captain Spiegel saying something about 'creatures' when we got here, what are the creatures?"

Julia brought her horse to a stop, "You mean he didn't tell you about them?" She looked back at Faye as she caught up to her.

"No, he didn't."

"That's very unlike him. Listen, this island is inhabited by creatures of the night. We're not quite sure what they are, because anyone who has ever seen them has died before they can actually tell us what they were. There are several theories as to what they are, but the most famous ones have been: Werewolves, Vampires, and an unknown creature that is a combination of the two and several other horrible things, since the victims have exhibited marks and beatings similar to those of the Werewolves and Vampires. They inhabit the woods, as long as we stray away from their territory at night, they will leave us alone." Julia's voice shook as she told Faye this story, "Spike lost one of his best friends to them a long time ago, and that was when we decided to move to the island. He thought it the best way to attack was to attack on they own land. He always was very unusual with his battle plans, and I think that is why he always wins his battles." A branch broke not to far from them, causing both the women to jump and search around, "Who's there?" Julia called.

No answer.

"Maybe it was just an animal, like a fox or something." Faye suggested, her voice shaking.

"Maybe…" Julia pushed her horse on again, resuming their ride through the moonlit night.

They rode on in eerie silence, even the horses seemed anxious. Faye sighed in relief as the castle rose back into view. "We're almost back."

Julia jumped at the sound of her voice, "Don't do that!"

"Oops, sorry..." Faye apologized.

Julia sighed, "It's alright."

Soon they were in the stables, taking the saddles off the horses. Faye got a brush and began brushing the horse's immaculate coat. "Come on, let's go inside." Julia said, as she made her way to the door of the stables and stood, waiting for the princess.

"Oh, alright." Faye put the brush away, stroked Ebony's mane once more and quickly hurried after the woman.

Julia shut the rather large front door behind them as quietly as she could, wincing as the hinges squeaked loudly through the hallway. "Where have you two been?" Spike's voice drifted down to them from the top of the stairway.

"Busted…" Julia sighed as she looked up at the very much peeved off Spike. "I just took the Princess out for a short ride on the horses, that's all."

He seemed to fly down the stairs and stood in front of her a split second later. "What would have happened if she tried to run? You know good and well how dangerous it is!" He yelled.

Faye stepped forward, "Please don't be mad at her, I made her take me." Her voice was shaking again.

Spike glared daggers through her and turned, disappearing through the door to the dining hall mumbling something about "Great…now there're two of them to team up on me…"

Faye and Julia laughed, "You know, we might just have fun making his life a living hell." Julia's good-natured voice floated gently through the open area.

"Yea." Faye replied, as the two new friends proceeded up the stairs, and into their separate rooms.

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YAY! I FINALLY GOT IT DONE! THANK YOU ALL SOOOOOOO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS! IT MEANS SOOOO MUCH TO ME!

Thanks to:

Nis-Chan: Lol, I'm probably gonna have her gone within the next two chapters, so don't worry.

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Female SSBM Fan: Thank you!

Faintscent: Lol, I'm sooo glad you like it, this is one of my favorites that I have had the opportunity to write, I LOVE Pirates.

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Thanks ya'll for reviewing, it really means a lot. I'll start working on the next chapter ASAP, until then if you have any questions/comments/suggestions I'd love to hear from ya. You can e-mail me at or you could get in touch with me here:

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