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: I'm kicking off my fifth-year anniversary with another chapter of my current biggest story when it comes to chapters. There will be two battles featured in this part, one on the Captor and one down below in the water.

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Chapter Thirty-Three: Freedom at Sea

Part 2- Underwater Combat

Jacob nor Floot rose from the body of their friend Joc as they stared up into the cold and cruel eyes of the captain of the Captor. Floot growled and moved to attack the man, but Jacob was quick to stop him with a hand on his shoulder. The Felyne looked up to the teen and Jacob said, "I'll deal with him. Just get Joc out of here.

(Cue Gohan Angers from Dragon Ball Z)

"Can you fly off on a Mernos with him in your arms?" He asked, looking back to the still form behind them. Floot nodded, "I should be able to. But what about mew? What will mew do?"

"I'll be with you guys soon." Jacob promised with a nod. He looked to the man before them and frowned, "But first, I need to have a few words with the captain."

Another set of explosions went off behind the captain as the Rathalos flew by again. Seeing that Jacob was quite serious about this, Floot looked to the captain once more before kneeling down to lift Joc. When the former leader of the Felynes was over his shoulder, Floot did his best to make his way across the ruined ship. The captain placed his hand to his Great Sword while Jacob got ready to draw the Rathalos blade. The former questioned, "Before we fight each other like a couple of maniacs, ask yourself is this worth it?

"After all, you did risk you life for a bunch of mangy cats-" He threw out there. Jacob was quick to stop him by saying, "It's worth it."

With a yell he drew his sword and swung it at the poacher. The captain was able to draw his large blade and the two clashed. The captain pushed Jacob back and the teen stumbled to stay on his feet. When the poacher swung his blade again, Jacob ducked down and rolled across the deck of the burning ship. Rising to his feet again, he turned just as the captain did as well. With a shake of his head the poacher then said, "You're out of your league here, boy

"No friends to save you, and miles from any land even if you survive any of this." He listed the things against Jacob. Glancing around the ship as it continued to burn and fall apart around them he said, "Likely to die out at sea. Either by this inferno of a ship, or drowning in the waters that surrounds us on all sides."

"Yeah well, unlike you, I have friends who have my back." Jacob shot back with a glare. The captain shouted, "Enough!"

He swung the Great Sword overhead this time and Jacob jumped out of the way. The large blade smacked against the deck and caused a few boards to shatter. Jacob quickly acted by rushing and kicking the man in the chest. The blow caused the captain to stagger back from his weapon and Jacob put the man on the defensive by moving backwards every time he swung his weapon. The captain wasn't defenseless for long as he drew out his dagger and parried some of Jacob's swings before going in for the attack himself. Jacob cried out when a swing of the captain's dagger caught him in the shoulder and he stumbled back a bit. He looked to the wound on his shoulder and grimaced from the shallow cut.

(End of track)

The captain came at him with another swung of his dagger. Jacob moved his head out of the way and kneed the man in the gut. The blow sent the captain reeling back and Jacob socked him in the face. The captain stumbled backwards towards the doors to his quarters when the ship rocked again. They both flailed about to try and keep their balance as the bow of the ship started raising upward into the air. Jacob looked around and wondered, "Just what is going on?"

…

Beneath the waves, the Plesioth swam about underneath the Captor. When they faced the underside of the ship, they swam up and rammed up into the side or bit a chunk of wood off. When the ship started to groan and the underside started to rise at the front, it was enough to make the three Plesioth swim off.

…

Jacob and the captain of the Poacher looked to each other before the latter grabbed the teen by his jacket and tossed him towards the doors to his cabin. Jacob grunted when his back hit the doors and glared at the captain who was rushing up with his dagger raised. Jacob moved his head out of the way and the dagger stuck against the boards of the cabin and he stomped on the poacher's foot. While it distracted the man for a moment, Jacob grabbed the man's tunic and yanked him forward. The captain yelped in pain when his face smacked against the boards and Jacob moved around him. With another swift quick to the gut and he sent the older man crashing through the door and into his quarters.

Jacob walked in just as the captain picked himself up. Blood leaked from the man's nose, staining the man's clothes. The poacher took a deep breath and said, "Surely there must be a way to settle this matter."

"There ain't a way for Joc to come back." Jacob shook his head. Then he added, "And there's no way to undo all the traumatic events you put the Felynes and the monsters through."

"Hearing you say something about those beasts makes me think of you as someone from stories." The captain said. But he stopped talking when Jacob pointed the tip of his blade at his face. The teen forced the bad man to walk backwards with each step and only stop when the captain's back hit the window. Jacob then questioned, "There's only one thing that I want from you: information."

"Such as?" The captain of the Captor asked. Jacob then demanded, "The Lagiacrus eggs that you had taken when you captured the mother. Where are they? I've been told that only you would know their location."

"Heh, heh." The captain chuckled. Jacob was greatly confused when he started laughing a bit like a crazy person. When he finished, the leader of the poachers took a deep breath before saying, "Oh, you poor fool.

"You're out of luck with those." He shook his head. The sword in Jacob's hand didn't lower when he questioned, "What are you talking about?"

"The Lagiacrus' future brood isn't aboard the Captor." The captain informed. It dawned on Jacob when he said, "The Argosy. That's where they are."

"Aye." The captain nodded with a sick grin. He laughed when he said, "Those eggs are long gone by now. The Argosy moves twice the speed of my ship and goes a different way than us. They've had hours of a head start and have likely made port. Those eggs are as good as sold."

Jacob lowered his sword and felt bad that he wouldn't be able to help the Lagiacrus out. Unbeknownst to the both of them, a shape was rising just outside of the large window to the cabin. Jacob only noticed when he saw a set of eyes looking in from the outside. The captain then said, "You know, if you were planning on killing me just now, then you shouldn't have lowered that blade of yours."

"It's not really me you should be worrying about, pal." Jacob shook his head as he stepped back from the window. A look of realization dawned on the captain as he knew what the teen was talking about. The captain started to speak, "Oh-"

But he didn't get to finish what he was going to say when the Lagiacrus' head burst through the window and her jaws clamped down on the man. Jacob watched in horror as the man's limbs twitched as he screamed from within the Leviathan's maw. But when Jacob looked up into her eye, he could see a mix of emotions in the Lagiacrus' eye; pain, anger, sorrow and fear. She wasn't even looking at the teen, her glaring gaze down to where the man in her jaws was. Jacob guessed that maybe she had overheard what the captain had said.

Another explosion rocked the ship and Jacob was nearly knocked off his feet by it. The Lagiacrus pulled her head and the body of the captain out of the cabin and Jacob felt like it was time for him to leave too. Turning just as the ship jolted upward, Jacob stumbled as he ran for the door and worried as the ship kept raising up. Feeling he didn't have a lot of time before he went down with the ship while sheathing his sword. Rushing out of the cabin and out on the main deck, Jacob shielded himself from the flames that still burned intensely. Running to the side of the ship, the teen looked for a way out. He noticed a hauler not too far from the sinking Captor and heard a multitude of voices shouting.

Jacob was about to jump into the water to swim for the hauler when a large head appeared over the side of the ship. He cried out in shock and fell backwards from the sudden arrival of one of the Plesioth and moved to one side when it blasted a torrent of water that tore up where he was laying. Jacob noticed a few pieces of silverware, two forks and a sharp knife and quickly loaded them into his slinger. He aimed his arm and fired the projectiles. They didn't do much as they bounced off the Piscine Wyvern's face and only seemed to irritate it.

Jacob wondered how he was going to get out of this when the cry of a Mernos made him look up. The Flying Wyvern was flying over the ship with a rope attached to its leg. Getting up and running out of the way just as the Pleisoth shot another jet of water, he ran right for the rope. When the Mernos flew over to the other side, Jacob climbed onto the railing and grabbed a hold of the rope with both hands. Holding on tightly as the Mernos began to climb higher into the sky, Jacob looked down to the Captor as only the sails were soon the only things sticking out of the water. He glanced around the sinking vessel to see the other haulers being dragged towards the spot and would soon join the Captor to the seafloor.

Breathing a little easier from the whole ordeal, Jacob looked up to the Mernos above him as the Flying Wyvern turned to head for the hauler. But it would seem that Jacob wasn't out of the woods just yet when a stream of water blasted close to him and his ride. Jacob shouted in panic while holding on tightly to the rope. He looked down to see all three Plesioth sticking their heads out of the water and they fired shot after shot at him while swimming after them. Jacob wished that he had something to distract the Piscine Wyverns from following them, but he didn't have anything useful that could hit the Plesioth while they were underwater.

As the Mernos carrying Jacob drew closer to the hauler, the Plesioth took the time to fire another round at them. Jacob was grateful that the Mernos hadn't been hit yet by the jets, but he knew that he may not be so lucky for long. He nor the Mernos had to worry anymore when a volley of ballista arrows sailed past them and struck the water close to the Plesioth. The large Piscine Wyverns became distracted from the arrows as they dived down to avoid the next wave of them.

The Mernos carrying Jacob passed over the hauler and Jacob let go. He landed on the deck with a tumble and stopped on his back. Jacob took a few deep breaths to calm himself. Opening his eyes, he was glad to see that the Felynes were the ones who surrounded him. Sitting up, Jacob turned his head to see Floot moving through the crowd towards him. When they were face to face, Floot asked, "Are mew okay, Meowster?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jacob nodded, though he hissed in pain from the cut on his shoulder. Floot took a closer look at the wound. He saw it still bleeding a little and said, "We'll need to get that patched up right away."

But the sounds of loud splashing drew their attention and everyone looked about. Floot glanced about and questioned, "What's going on?"

"There seems to be a battle under the water." A Felyne next to the railing of the hauler said. Carefully getting up, Jacob walked to the railing with Floot as the rest of the Felynes moved to where they could see.

A good distance away from their hauler, there was much splashing about from what they could see. They saw a few fins of the Plesioth appear and Floot said, "Seems like they're attacking their next meal."

One of the Plesioth and the Lagiacrus rose their heads out of the water and fiercely roared at one another. Jacob then noticed two more sets of fins making their way towards the fight. Jacob glanced to Floot and asked, "Will she stand a chance against all three of them?"

"Highly unlikely." Floot shook his head. Then he said, "While the Lagiacrus are the more powerful between the two species, a number of Plesioth can be more than enough to wear her down."

"And we've done enough fighting for one day." A Felyne to his left said. Jacob looked down to them and saw that they were greatly tired from pulling off their plan. Jacob then removed his hat, mask and coat and said, "Then you don't have to fight. I'll go."

"What?" The Felynes questioned. Floot grabbed him by the hand and said, "But your in no shape to fight. Mew're just as tired as the rest of us."

"She needs help. And I can't just leave her." Jacob shook his head. Looking to his friend he promised, "You've done enough. Tend to your people and get out of here."

"But what about mew?" Floot asked, not wanting his friend to get hurt. Jacob placed his hands against the rails and shrugged, "I'll think of something.

"Now go." He urged and jumped over the side. Floot and the other Felynes moved to the side to see Jacob land in the water with a big splash. One Felyne looked to Floot and commented, "He's got to be nuts."

"He's not nuts." Floot shook his head. Watching Jacob swim towards the fight, the Felyne had a sense of respect for the human when he grinned, "He's crazy."

(Cue Pride of a Nameless Hunter from Monster Hunter World)

As he swam for the battle, which he had no plan on how to help, Jacob was kind of wishing he could have tried to ask the Felynes to get him closer. The four combatants soon sank under the water when the Plesioth all leapt at the Lagiacrus. Taking a deep breath, Jacob dived down to see what was going on. Though it was a little hard to see under the water, he could somewhat see the Plesioth circling around her. He kicked back up to the surface to take another breath. He burst from the water with a gasp and took a few deep breaths. Taking a really big breath, Jacob dived down again and swam a little closer to the fight. Removing the Rathalos blade from its sheath, Jacob then aimed his slinger arm and waited for the right opportunity. When a Plesioth swam around, Jacob fired the grappling hook. The hook pierced the fin of the beast and Jacob was dragged forward when the giant fish monster turned to the right and swam faster.

The hook retracted and Jacob was pulled up against the beast. The human teen brought his sword in for a swing. He only managed to nick the Plesioth in the side, earning a pained groan from the creature. The Piscine Wyvern roughly jostled its body and Jacob ended up losing his grip on the Rathalos blade. He tried to grab it, but his fingers were out of reach for the hilt. Jacob could only watch the blade sink into the depths of the sea.

Jacob was thrown for a loop when the Plesioth started spinning itself and it sent Jacob tumbling through the water. He thumped against something and looked to see he had bumped into the Lagiacrus. She snapped her jaws at one of the Plesioth and her eye turned down to see him next to her. As he stared into her eye, Jacob hoped that she wouldn't attack him. But they were startled when one of the Plesioth came and smacked against her side. The Lagiacrus groaned from the hit and twisted her body to swat it away. The action also caused Jacob to tumble away from her. When he turned, Jacob frantically swam upwards to get out of the way of an incoming Plesioth. He was once again spun around in the water and soon found himself in a new problem; his lungs were starting to burn. The boy knew he would need to do something and fast.

Removing his Dual Blades from his back and swam back to the swarm of scales and swung his blade when a Plesioth came swimming at him. The blade sliced through the skin of the beast, leaving a and its blood leaked out. And just as it finished passing him, Jacob kicked his feet against its side to propel himself back towards the Lagiacrus. When he was floating side by side with her, Jacob readied his Dual Blades while doing his best to stay on guard. But the pressure of the sea and his depleting air supply was making it a bit hard to focus. A Plesioth came swimming around and Jacob managed to duck under it while jabbing his blades into the underside of the Piscine Wyvern. The pain of the elongated cut made the swimming wyvern cry out in pain before swimming. The Lagiacrus shot a ball of electricity at one of the Plesioth as it sped by, but the projectile ended up missing when the overgrown fish put on a boost of speed.

One of the Plesioth tried to attack the Leviathan from behind, but Jacob used his slinger to catch a ride on the Piscine Wyvern's head. The Lagiacrus happened to see Jacob slashing at the head fins of the Plesioth. Another Plesioth rammed into the one that Jacob was riding and he ended up falling off. Jacob barely stopped himself gasping for air, but he knew that he didn't have much more time in this.

Jacob became wide eyed when he saw the two Plesioth swimming towards him. The worried teen held his Dual Blades at the ready, but suddenly felt a presence behind him. The Plesioth also looked behind him and stopped their swimming. Jacob glanced back to see the Lagiacrus hovering above him looking at the two Pleisoth. She glanced down to the boy for a moment before returning her attention to the fight. The two were joined by the third Plesioth and they all moved their jaws as they readied themselves for the attack.

Feeling a bit of a rush from the newfound teamwork, Jacob was nearly caught off guard when the Lagiacrus sped past him. He grabbed a hold of the spike on its back and held on for the ride. The two sped for the three Piscine Wyverns just as they sped forward as well. The Lagiacrus crashed against the one in the middle while the other two clamped their jaws on her shoulders. The Leviathan's pained roar echoed through the water and Jacob quickly moved to help her. With a small push of his foot off her back, Jacob spun his body through the water and cut one of the Plesioth in the face with a couple of spins. It got the Piscine Wyvern to let go and Jacob placed one of his blades on his back and fired his slinger up at the Lagiacrus' head. She seemed to take the hint by snatching the cable of his grappling hook with her jaws. With a twist of her body, she swung Jacob around and he slashed at the face of the second Plesioth. It made the fish beast back away and Jacob looked to the other Piscine Wyvern still clinging to the Lagiacrus' other shoulder.

But before he could even think about attacking the third one, Jacob's head felt really light due to the lack of oxygen. His body slacked and he could barely hold on to his Dual Blade. The Lagiacrus happened to notice his lack in movement and knew that the fight needed to wrap up and fast. Releasing the hook from her maw, the Lagiacrus spun around in the water and twisted her body into a ball. It was enough to get the Plesioth to release her and she swam downwards deeper into the depths. All three Piscine Wyverns turned and swam down after her. After swimming a good distance down, the Lagiacrus turned to where she was facing the surface again. She saw Jacob floating in the water above the incoming Plesioth. With a quick motion of her tail, she shot herself upwards. The Plesioth were startled by this and quickly dispersed in different directions. With a clear distance, the Leviathan continued her way towards the sinking teen. The Plesioth were soon back on the chase when they turned and swam for her.

Up above them all, Jacob's consciousness was fading as he felt himself sink deeper into the ocean. But just before his eyes closed, he saw the Lagiacrus coming at him with her jaws wide open. Jacob thought it ironic that he was about to be inside the mouth of another creature of this world. The last thing he saw was the inside of her jaws. The Lagiacrus closed her jaws around the teen and used her tongue to press him against the roof of her mouth to keep him from sliding down her throat. She glanced around to see the three Plesioth coming towards her. Quickly wrapping herself into a ball, the Lagiacrus began to build up a charge. The electricity crackled around her as the three came closer. The charge continued to build up around her while she waited for the right moment. When the three were super close to her, the Lagiacrus extended her body and unleashed a large burst of lightning. While she didn't have to worry due to it being her ability, she also didn't have to worry about the teen in her mouth either. The three Plesioth weren't so lucky as the blast of lightning caused them to spasm and they roared in pain. The attack caused the three Piscine Wyvern to give up on their hunt and swim away from the Leviathan. She watched them go and when they disappeared in the depths of the sea, the exhausted Leviathan was able to relax a little.

(End of track)

Remembering the fading Jacob within her mouth, the Lagiacrus twisted as she turned towards the surface again. From inside the Leviathan's maw, Jacob wondered how everything is going. A good deal under them, the Rathalos blade sank down into the depths of the sea, it's fate unknown.

…

A good distance from where the battle had been happening, the Felyne's commandeered hauler sailed away. While a couple were manning the wheel, Floot stood on the side, looking to where the Captor sank and where they had seen the battle. He wondered if his friend was alright. Some had kept an eye out and had told him that they saw a bright flash under the surface of the ocean. Floot could only hope that Jacob was alright. When he heard a collection of screams from the other side of the vessel and everyone turned to see the Lagiacrus lifting her head over the side.

All the Felynes were put on high alert as she looked over them. Floot moved to the front of the group to see what she would do. They really tensed up when she opened her mouth. But they were greatly surprised when Jacob slipped out and fell onto the deck. Floot rushed up to the unconscious teen and looked up to see the Lagiacrus backing away from the hauler. He looked down again when Jacob started coughing up water. Jacob weakly opened his eyes to see the Lagiacrus lower her head back down.

He was about to sit up when he heard Floot say, "Not too fast. Take it easy. Mew're all right now."

"Did we win?" A groggy Jacob asked, hardly wanting to do something like that again. Floot gave a sideways nod as he said, "I'd say that you managed to beat them.

"But it was probably her that did it." Floot said, referring to the Lagiacrus. It earned a few laughs from Jacob and the rest of the Felynes. When he felt his strength returning, Jacob finally did sit up. It was then that a new noise came over the ship.

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Author's Note: And with that, the rescue from the poachers is done. I don't really plan on this group of marauders to be coming back, but I did enjoy writing this part of the story. And I know that the loss of the Lagiacrus' eggs are greatly tragic and I do apologize for that. But I think you'll be pleased to know, that the Song of the Sea arc isn't quite finished just yet. The next chapter is a bit shorter than the previous few, but a part of what the arc is called. 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 you all next time.