Hello. I know! Not so much fluff in the last chapter! Yay! Now you must pay. There is a lot of fluff, BECAUSE THERE WASN'T ENOUGH IN THE LAST CHAPTER! NOW YOU MUST PAY! BUAHAHAHA! Yeah. Aravis gets really, really, REALLY fluffy, but for a reason. A good one. Yeah. Now, if you really hate fluffiness, you will loathe this chapter. This chapter is beyond fluffiness. This is sucky, bad, crappy, stupid, pointless, junky, friggin' CRAP! Okay, since this chapter is short, I can explain it to you. If you are going to read the chapter, skip the next paragraph. If you aren't for the sake of your sanity, read it.

Okay. So, what happens is that Jack has a fluffy dream about him and Aravis, then she throws a bucket of water on him, then, the fluffy fluff part is when Aravis hears Sirens, a nasty seductive species that can seduce any man into jumping into the sea with them, and then they drown. So, Aravis distracts Jack, by kissing him, and massaging him, and then the snakes hatch, and they sing piratey songs, and they kiss again and then I barfed on my mini laptop. Yeah. That about sums it up. Gross, huh? Glad you didn't waste your time, I'm sure.

Chapter 10:

Dreams and Sirens

Aravis lay on Jack's chest. They were sleeping soundly, with their empty rum bottles beside on the table. They were very content, seeing as they had braved nine Sea Serpents, a witch, and an annoying little brat that they had to sail with. But now, their troubles were over, and they had made it to Tortuga and were sleeping in a nice, big bed.

"Jack," Aravis whispered. He opened his eyes slowly.

"Yes, love?" he asked as he stretched a bit.

"Jack, wake up." Aravis turned on her back.

"I am awake." He shut his eyes again.

"Jack, come on, it's past noon," she called.

"How can I get up with you on top of me?" He placed his hands under his head, relaxing.

"Jack, I'll dump a bucket of water on you if you don't get up!"

"Just a little bit longer, love. I like sleeping, especially-" Jack felt a surge of water splash all over him. He jerked up. He was in his cabin, on his small bunk, and Aravis was standing by the doorway with an empty bucket in her hand. The one empty rum bottle lay on his dresser, sitting innocently enough. He sighed. It had only been a dream. "I had a dream about you and me, love. We were sleeping together, and it would be very nice-" he was cut off again by Aravis' abrupt words.

"Not on your life." She stalked out of the room. He got up, and fumbled in his dresser for some dry clothes. He was careful not to disrupt the snake eggs, which he had convinced Aravis to keep, and were lying in the middle of a nest of blankets in the bottom drawer. He climbed above deck, to see Aravis leaning over the rail, watching the waves go up and down. Will was sleeping, because he had taken the night shift of the wheel.

Jack stood against the wheel next to her, and stared at the blue sea. Then he heard a faint noise. It sounded like singing. Aravis went pale, but Jack was a little entranced by the sound. She took matters into her own hands. She pulled him close. "Jack, darling, shall we kiss again?" Jack didn't respond. She pushed her lips onto his, and he let his arms bring her close. But he heard the noise again, and he started to fade into a trance. Aravis grabbed his shirt, and stepped backward. He followed her, and she melted into him. They met lips again, and she ripped his shirt open.

"Woah, love," he said, dizzily. He turned his gaze back to the water, to see a figure made of water. It was a woman, very lovely in her wet features, and she was gesturing to him. Aravis rubbed his chest, and pulled him away from the rail. She knotted her arms around his neck tightly, and swung her legs around him.

"I am not going to give you up to those bloody Sirens," she said silently. He was trying to gain his balance, but Aravis' gesture made him fall flat on his back. She pulled out a rope from her pocket. "This is for your own good, Jack." She let go of him and quickly tied up his feet, not allowing him to jump over the rail and join the Siren, which he would have done due to the entrapment of the lullaby.

Aravis dragged him below deck, and pulled him into his cabin, where he could not hear the lovely voice of the Siren. "Why did you do that?" Jack asked suspiciously, but he had a grin.

"Those Sirens need to be beaten with a very large stick," she said unhappily.

"Don't material things like that just go right through them?" he asked.

"Then I'll get a water-proof stick!" She sighed. What if they encountered more? She was not in the mood to deal with anymore of those pesky fiends. "Oh, crap! What about the wheel?" She crinkled her forehead.

"Ah, love. But we are going straight, and we won't hit anything...probably." He grinned. "So, love, now that I'm back, how would you feel about..." He sat down on the bed and pulled her onto his lap.

"Jack, I should slap you," she giggled, but stood up. "So, when do we get to Tortuga?" she asked, trying to distract him.

"Love, you already know that." He smiled. "Two and a half days, if we keep up this rate."

"Good answer," she said, and sat down in his lap again. "I was just seeing if you were honest enough to deserve this." She closed the gap between their lips. When they finished, she touched his cheek, then disappeared up the steps to the deck.

"What a beauty," Jack muttered to himself. He decided it would be in his best interest not to follow her. So, he walked to the kitchen, and grabbed a bottle of rum, and sat back on his bed. "Ah, nothing like good ol' Caribbean rum," he said to himself, and he took a chug. Then he heard cracking sounds. They were coming from the bottom drawer of his dresser. He smiled. "Won't Aravis be happy?" he asked himself, and took another swig. "We really should sing some more of those songs," he mumbled. "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me..."

The next thing Jack knew, Will was pounding on the door-frame. "Get up, dangit! Where has that girl run off to now?" Aravis bounded down the steps.

"Excuse me?" She glared at him unblinkingly. He looked down. "That's what I thought. Jack, the Sirens are gone. We passed through that spot where they live, thankfully."

"Aha. Will, why don't you be a good boy and take the wheel?" Jack smiled. Will rolled his eyes and stomped above deck. "So, love, what shall we do now?" he asked, and tried not to look at what was creeping out of his dresser. "We could..." he began, but Aravis stopped him.

"Why don't we sing some pirate songs?"

"Exactly what I was thinking! I'll get the rum," he said, and he went out to the kitchen. Aravis could feel something on her leg. She thought about looking, but shook herself as Jack came back with two full bottles of rum. He saw what was on her leg. "Love!" He put the rum bottles on the bed, and reached down, and grabbed the beast. "The first, but where's the second?" He glanced around, trying to find the other. Something dangled next to Aravis' head.

"Agh! Jack! It's on my head! Get it off! Get it off!" she screamed, and he yanked it off. The two baby cobras squirmed in Jack's hands. Aravis shut her eyes, trying to block out the memories..."Face your fears..." She sighed. "Jack, could I hold one?" she asked doubtfully. She winced as the scales brushed against her skin as Jack gently set the snake into her hands. She smiled after a moment, realizing that it really wasn't all that bad. "Avian. Little Avian." She put her face close to the reptile.

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Come up with names like that."

"Oh, well...I suppose I just know a lot of names, so I name things easily," she replied.

"What should this one be?" he asked.

"Sesen." She pet Avian's scaly back. "I suppose that we could just set them in the stall spot we made for Keanu. He probably wouldn't mind," she suggested.

"Good idea. Then we can sing our songs." Aravis smiled. Jack gave her the other snake. She swallowed, but then carried the little cobras out of the room and into Keanu's stable. He was content, and didn't mind the snakes. Aravis walked back to the cabin, where Jack had already opened his bottle and was sitting on the bed. He handed her the other rum bottle.

"Jack, whatever happened to your 'special cup'?" she asked. Jack took another chug before answering.

"One of those bloody soldiers from the Commodore's army got it," he replied. Aravis nodded her head. "Well, love, how about we sing our songs now?"

"Good idea!" she decided, and they started singing. "Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!"

About an hour later, Jack had fallen asleep on the bed. Aravis was in the kitchen, bringing some food to his cabin. She giggled silently when she heard his snoring and meaningless mumbling. She put the food on the bed, and then walked into Keanu's stable, where he was also sleeping contentedly. She brought out Avian and Sesen, who squirmed a little in her hands. She dangled them right above his head, and "accidentally" dropped them.

"What the bloody..." he began as he started awake. He sighed when he saw Aravis' huge grin and the snakes slithering around his neck. "Why do you always do that?" he asked blankly.

"Do what?" She smiled as she sat down on the bed next to him. "It's fun watching you jump out of your skin," she replied. He smiled a little, and pulled her closer.

"Well, love, would it be nice if we-"

"You don't get the hint, do you?" she said as she slapped him.

"Did I actually deserve that?" he asked.

"Yes. I'm sure." She stood up to go, but he got up as well.

"Love..." he whispered, and they closed the space between them. Their noses touched, and they shared one last kiss, and then Aravis disappeared up the steps.

"Doing good," she whispered to herself as she climbed up to the crow's nest.

Terrible. Simply terrible. I know, Sirens are not very original, but it made sense in a pirate story. I am sorry for the sort-of fluff, and for Jack's dream. It just...fit in with what just happened. Yeah. I'm terribly sorry. Thank you, my readers, and thank you, Rabid Rabbit's Rampage, for continuously reading and reviewing me. Names: Avian means Bird-like, and Sesen means To Wish For More. Hint again! Just so you know, the first hint was in the second chapter. Spoiler! Oh. I forgot to put this in earlier, but I did NOT base Aravis on myself. Not at all. She likes camels, yes, but she and I have many, many differences. I am NOT whatsoever afraid of snakes. I picked up a Garter snake once, when I was little, and my mom nearly had a heart attack. I was pretending to be Steve Irwin, because he was cool, back when I liked the whole "Crocodile Hunter" thing. Yeah. I didn't understand why my mom didn't like it...it didn't LOOK poisonous to me...