Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Monster Hunter, only how the story goes. The characters and world of Monster Hunter belongs to Capcom. The only thing that I do own are the OC's of the story. I do apologize for any errors in grammar and/or if I was not accurate in reference to something.

A/N: Jacob plays a little dress up to help himself fit into the crowd and sneaks aboard the ship trying to help the Lagiacrus. And along the way he meets and helps a good number of the crew.

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Chapter Thirty: Crew of the S.S. Captor

The large sea beast continued thrashing in her bonds while one of the boats not tethered to her started moving for the shore. It stopped a few yards out to avoid getting beached and a short rope bridge dropped down from the side. A few of this band of merchants came down, waded through the shallows before coming to a stop before those who had stayed behind. Jacob looked up from the growing gathering to the struggling Lagiacrus and saw what looked like small men trying to keep it from getting away on the surrounding boats. He returned his attention when the head of the capturing team, a man in similar attire like the rest of the crew but with a pretty big hat, loudly said, "Me loyal crew! Our Lagiacrus hunt was a great success and only a single casualty."

"Uh, who died?" One of the men who hadn't been a part of the hunt was quick to ask. Jacob guessed that he was the captain when the crew member quieted down. The man with the large hat shook his head, "We only lost that filthy Melynx who tried to steal our bounty from the last job."

"Ohh." The entirety of the crew said. Then they all shrugged as if it didn't matter much to them. The captain grinned when he continued, "We not only managed to secure this fine specimen of a Leviathan, but managed to procure her future brood as well."

A lot of the poachers seemed quite pleased as they grinned to each other. The captain then ordered, "Now, start packing up the camp and get our lovely lady secured. The Argosy will be here soon to help out and we need to be gone in case that cursed Guild managed to catch wind of our venture.

"I want to be gone before sundown or else there'll be the Rotten Vale to pay." He darkly said before walking towards the camp. Seeing the captain and his crew coming his way, Jacob thought about what to do and ducked into the tent. Like before he moved to where he wouldn't be seen and watched the shadows of the crew pass by the tent.

When they all passed by, Jacob breathed a little more easier and took a look where he was now. The teen from another world became surprised to find himself in the poachers' coat closet. All around him were outfits of different sizes and a few weapons as well. Thinking that he might be able to blend in, Jacob started looking for something that would help him until he was clear of the poaching pirates or whatever they were called.

Moving to one of the coats hanging on a rack of bones, Jacob lightly grimaced at the sight of the bones and removed one that didn't look too ragged or too bloody. Removing his weapons for the time being, the teen put the coat on and buttoned it up to cover himself. Having a feeling that the coat wasn't going to be enough, Jacob looked around for some more clothing. He happened to find a head band and managed to cover his entire head with it. He also found a blue mouth piece made of a beast's skin that hooked on quite easily for him. He was about to leave when he saw pretty nice hat with a blue feather and put it on his head. Feeling that he was ready, Jacob placed the Dual Blades back onto his back and slid his arm back into the slinger. Jacob didn't exactly have a plan for what he was going to do, but he just hoped to blend in with the poachers long enough.

As he carefully stepped out of the tent, the teen looked about and saw everyone else quickly moving about to start taking the tents down. He stepped out of the tent and started to make his way around another tent when he saw a member of the crew coming around. Ducking around the tent, Jacob kept his head down while keeping his eyes on any movement from the tents. As he came closer to the tent in the center, the flaps to the tent opened up and the captain stepped out with a few of his men. Jacob moved to where he wouldn't be spotted just as they heard someone shout, "Ship inbound!"

The teen quickly moved out of the way when the captain looked in the direction of the voice. Again, many of the crew rush out or around the tents to see what was going on. Still wanting to get out of there, Jacob carefully started moving backwards to the forest while everyone rushed ahead to the beach. But as he came to a couple of tents by the shore, a roar made him stop and look. Jacob's eyes widened when he saw the Lagiacrus thrashing about in the water not too far from the shore. She was still tightly bound by ropes that looked to be specially made for keeping beasts such as her in check and didn't look like they would be breaking anytime soon. As he watched her thrashing about in the water, the teen couldn't help but feel sorry for her. He thought he was in over his head trying to come up with a way to save the Lagiacrus, but he's been in harrowing situations before.

(Cue The Argosy from Monster Hunter World)

His attention was broken when he saw the ship coming in. It was a large ship, thought not as big as the poacher's ship. This one was mostly a crimson red with accents of wood that almost made Jacob believe that it had a skeleton. On its sails sported an insignia that looked like a monster being run through by a sword. The smaller vessel soon came to a stop when it was parallel with the much large ship. The shriek of a Mernos made him look to the deck of the Argosy to see a man riding down on a Mernos with a rope ensnared in its claws. The man was followed by a few more from the ship.

Deciding to get a little nosy in this matter, Jacob moved down to the beach. With his disguise, the teen felt a little more confident to stand at the back of the crew. He made sure to keep his hat down so they wouldn't get too suspicious. The Mernos came close to the beach and the men from the newly arrived ship dropped down onto the sand. The captain of the crew that was already here moved forward to meet with the leader of the new group. Even from the back of the group, Jacob could hear the murmuring from those at the front. The leader had an unamused look on his face and asked, "Do you have the cargo?"

"Waitin' to be delivered." The captain of the crew said with pride in his voice. The new leader grinned when he held out his hand, "The crew of the Argosy gives its appreciation for all your hard work."

"And the appreciation of the Captor is ready for its compensation." The captain of the bigger ship nodded with a grin of his own and shook the extended hand. The crews of both ships lightly laughed to this and started to make their way back for the tents. Jacob made sure to keep his head down when he moved to get out of the closest crew members as they moved past him.

(End of track)

But as he was walking back to the tents on the outskirts of the conjoining groups, Jacob happened to notice that two of the crew from the Captor were starting to look his way. Jacob saw that they were the guys from the woods earlier and they had suspicious looks about them. As the conjoining groups approached the tents, Jacob ducked into the first tent he came across. Feeling nervous about getting caught, the teen looked about for what could get him out of the situation but became thankful when the tent had another entrance to it. He darted for it when he heard one of the two say, "In there."

Pushing the flaps of the tent and back outside, Jacob knew that it wouldn't be long until he was found out. The teen looked for some way to hide and noticed an open barrel. Looking inside, he saw that it was empty. He jumped when he heard one of the guys question in the tent, "Where'd they go?"

Quickly climbing into the barrel, Jacob moved the lid in place to where it was somewhat closed. He left it open just enough for air to come though. He noticed that the barrel had a hole in the side and it was big enough for him to see through it. He heard the whooshing from the tent flaps being pushed aside and figured that they were still looking for him. The voices of the two could be heard when one of them said, "Oi! Where'd they go?!"

"Maybe we were just seein' things, eh?" The other guessed. Moving to where he could look out of the hole, he saw the shorter one shake his head and pointed to the tent they all walked out of, "We both saw 'em walking with the others and go into that tent. Around here somewhere they are."

"Think we should tell the captain?" The taller one asked, looking like he was wanting to do good by his captain. But the shorter one shook his head, "Not yet. We'll keep a look out for 'em and then we'll catch 'em and take their sorry rears to the captain."

"If you say so." The taller one shrugged and the two started walking off. Jacob breathed a sigh of relief when they were gone. But before he could climb out of the barrel, he heard someone else approaching and stayed as still as he could. It proved to be a bit of a mistake on his part when the lid to his barrel slid closed and he heard something thud on top. When the person left, Jacob tried to lift the lid off, but felt that it was covered by something and dreaded at the thought of being stuck. Taking a deep breath, Jacob quietly said, "Okay, calm down. No need to panic now.

"Just need to get out of here before they open up the barrel and find someone whose not a part of the crew hiding in here." He shrugged. Then he rolled his eyes at the sound of what he just said, "Yeah right, like it's going to be that easy."

Jacob mostly just hoped that whatever was on top of the barrel would be lifted off soon and he could get out without any fuss.

…

After about over an hour or so of checking to see if the lid would come off and he could get out when someone passed by, Jacob had decided to wait a little longer and ended up nodding off in the barrel. He must have been sleeping heavily for a slight rocking was what woke him up. Jacob peeked outside the hole in the barrel and was greatly surprised when he saw planks and columns of wood when he should have been seeing sand, sea or trees. Carefully putting his hands on the lid of the barrel, Jacob pushed it up and the lid popped off. Slowly rising out of the barrel, the teen from another world found himself alone in what appeared to be a cargo hold. A sense of dread filling him as he realized that he was on the Captor, Jacob climbed out of the barrel and placed the lid back on before moving through the hold. As he walked about, the teen looked to the ceiling of the ship level as he could hear growling coming from above. He jumped when he heard something thump really hard on the floor beneath him.

Jacob then noticed a port hole across the room and carefully made his way to it. When he peeked outside, he was greatly surprised to see that the ship was sailing across open water to who knows where. He stuck his head out the port hole and looked back to see the New World getting smaller and smaller. Still feeling he was in over his head when he pulled his head back inside, Jacob wiped his brow as he had no idea how he was going to get back. He didn't know what kind of sea life was in these waters, but he'd rather not try to swim all the way back to find out. He knew he would need to come up with a plan to get back. But he still planned on freeing that Lagiacrus and getting her eggs back to her before any attempts to get back to the New World.

Jacob's head snapped to the side when he heard a door open and quickly moved to hide. The teen poked his head around to see who was coming into the cargo hold. From the sounds of their footsteps, whomever it was sounded very light. And when he heard a meow, the teen figured that they had a cat or something with them. Jacob held his breath when the person came his way and stayed as still as he could. He didn't count on a figure moving in front of his hiding spot and the little fellow gasped when he saw him. Acting as fast as he could, Jacob quickly grabbed the short person and held him close while keeping a hand over their mouth. While the person made muffled sounds, Jacob tried to calm him by saying, "Shh! It's okay! It's okay!"

It was then he thought it odd when the guy's mouth felt a lot more fuzzy than a beard. Jacob and the guy he was holding looked to each other and the human found himself holding a little, blue and white furred cat man. He gasped when he let the cat man go and the little feline fell to the ground. The little feline was wearing a blue tunic over his torso, some short brown trousers and a green bandana over his head. Strapped to The cat man looked back to Jacob pressed up against the wall while pointing a shaky finger at him. The human gasped as he stammered, "C-C-Cat man!"

"What's the meowtter? Never seen a Felyne before?" The cat man rhetorically questioned while gesturing to himself. Jacob shook his head and lowered his hand. The teen had seen a lot of crazy things in the New World, but this was really a first for him.

Getting over his initial shock while the cat man got onto his feet, Jacob gasped at how adorable he thought the feline was. Hoisting the cat man off his feet, Jacob held him close and said, "Aw, aren't you just adorable?!"

"No, no." The Felyne shook his head while pushing Jacob's head away with his paws. The cat man then had a stern look when he said, "None of that, now."

"Uh, sorry, sorry." Jacob quickly offered and put him down again. The Felyne was quick to dust himself off from head to tail. The cat man then looked Jacob over, came a little closer and gave the human a small sniff. The teen's eyes darted from side to side before looking down at the one who could turn him in to the poachers. Hope filled the Felyne's eyes and he asked, "Are you with the Guild?"

"T-The Guild?" Jacob asked in confusion. The Felyne then said, "Have they sent you here to rescue us? We'd apurreciate it very much."

"Uh, no. I'm not." Jacob shook his head, causing the cat man's look to deflate a little. But with a shrug he added, "But if I can help I will."

It brightened up the Felyne's mood again and he jumped up while pumping a paw in the air. Jacob couldn't help but laugh at the feline's joyous mood. It was then that he remembered what his new friend had said and asked, "Wait, what exactly do you mean by us?"

"Come on, I'll show you." The Felyne said and grabbed his arm. Jacob yelped when he was pulled along by the smaller creature. The Felyne looked back and said with a grin, "I'm Floot, by the way."

"Jacob." The teen introduced himself while they moved through the cargo hold. As they approached the door, Jacob got Floot to hold on and said, "I may not be from this "Guild" that you were hoping for, but I doubt I'd be welcomed by the crew of this boat either way."

"Don't worry, I'll purrtect you. I know how to sneak you around without being seen." Floot promised and they opened the door together. Floot took a peek outside before gesturing Jacob to follow him. When he stepped out of the cargo hold, the huma teen was bewildered by two flights of stairs; one leading up and the other going down.

Jacob followed Floot up a small flight of stairs and came up to the next level. There didn't seem to be any more stairs and there was only one way to go. They came up to the door of the next level and Jacob quietly asked, "What exactly does the Captor carry if I may ask?"

"We mostly carry different meownsters that the poachers catch." Floot told him and they looked through the door. There were about six large cages in total that were built into the sides of the ship. As they were walking by, Jacob looked into one of the cages and saw a large green Flying Wyvern inside laying down. Large red spikes protruded from its head, back and wings. Looking to the cage across from it, another Flying Wyvern was lying on the wooden floor. This one was covered in many yellow scales and had a few that looked like it was hanging off its underside from what Jacob could see. The next two cages had a red Rathalos within them. Jacob slowly came to a stop when he came upon the last cage on the left. Laying close to the wall was a young blue colored Rathalos. The young Flying Wyvern lifted his head up and looked to the human. The teen could tell that the young Rathalos was a little older than that of the trio. He looked down when Floot tugged on his arm and advised, "Best not to linger, my furriend. Don't want to get caught."

"Where is the crew?" Jacob arched a brow, finding it weird that no one was on patrol or anything, even though not wanting to jinx them. Floot looked up to the ceiling and Jacob had a feeling it was to the deck. The Felyne then said, "Most are sleeping from going up against the Lagiacrus while the captain is in his personal quarters. But they will be together on the main deck for the celebration of the success of the hunt."

"Celebration, huh?" Jacob rolled his eyes. He sounded a little upset when he shook his head, "Picking on a mother who just wants to protect her eggs."

"We're not too purroud of it either." Floot shook his head in agreement. Jacob looked to the Felyne and Floot sighed in frustration, "And we're the ones who do most of the work around here."

"Seems like someone needs to talk to the management around here if you ask me." Jacob said as they came to the next door. Floot motioned for him to move next to the door while he peeked out of it. When it seemed clear, the Felyne motioned for him to move.

The two came up to the third level of the ship and Jacob felt a little tired from all the climbing. They came up to a door and Jacob then asked, "How much further?"

"We're here." Floot nodded and started to open the door. They both jumped when they heard the sound of another door opening and looked back to the end of the hall. Floot then urged him to go on inside, "Quickly! Go, go, go!"

Quickly moving into the room, Jacob looked back to see Floot closing the door behind him. They both breathed a sigh of relief and the human teen turned his head forward again. His eyes widened when he found himself amongst many of Floot's people. There must have been at least well over fifty of the Felynes before him. All the cat men were staring up at the human with wide eyes and Jacob waved a hand to them, "Uh, hi there."

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Author's Note: I think I'll end the chapter here. Yes, I know that there wasn't much interaction between Jacob and the Lagiacrus, but I will do that soon. And if someone can guess where Jacob's meeting with the Felyne was from, plus the name of the Flying Wyvern that he saw in the first holding cell, I will give a special shout out to those who guess correctly in the next chapter. And I'm quite sad that only three people had voted about the monsters. I'll either put the poll back up or put up another for this story, but only time will tell. I look forward to reading your reviews. Be sure to leave a comment either about if I've done something wrong or if you want something specifically to happen. See all of you next time.