A/N: Okay, again with the two-chapters-in-one-day. Go back to see if you've missed anything. And remember to review, my wonderful readers! Lately, the one's I've been getting are giving me the war-fuzzies, and that's always nice. And remember- the more critique-like a review is, the happy I am!

~D/P

Chapter IX

Cat and Mouse

In the Bloodstone manor, a whole different kind of battle was taking place. Sparrow refused to speak to Reaver and ignored him as well, no matter what he said to her. Her silence was getting on the pirate's nerves. No one but her blonde friend had ignored him before, and he didn't like it.

Sparrow sat in the study writing in her journal. She continued to ignore Reaver, who was pacing back and fourth in front of the fire place. The pirate was trying to figure out how to make her talk, but was coming up with nothing but pointing a gun at her head. Killing her now was out of the question.

The only thing he could do now was peer over her shoulder at what she was writing and hope she'd talk, even if it was an insult. He did just that, but she continued to write and didn't even glance at him. No one ignored him! So how did she do it so well? And more importantly, why the hell did he even care?

Sparrow was well aware that Reaver was invading her space, but she ignored him. If he was trying to annoy her, he'd have to try something else. Breathing down her neck wouldn't work. She figured he would quit in a minute, and go back to pacing in front of the fire.

"That's the place, then eh?"

Collin looked from the hooded man to the house up on the hill, and then back to the man.

"Kill the girl. That is all we require."

The truth was, Collin didn't exactly know why he was taking a contract from such a shady character. Sure, he and his crew of bandits had been running short on funds, and it was a dark miracle that someone just happened to have a high-paying job for them, but he still didn't like it.

He had done work for the owner, Reaver, before, but supposedly it wasn't his manor anymore. And it wasn't the Pirate he would be killing… just the girl that had moved in.

"Alright, men!" Collin shouted to the group of bandits that were waiting near the docks. "Let's get to it!"

Ten minutes past, and Reaver still was looking over her shoulder. Sparrow found the constant… nearness to be at least a bother.

"Do you mind, Reaver?" Sparrow asked as she continued to scribble away on the blank page. She finished a sentence and shut the book. "I might just have to go up stairs and get my cleaver."

Reaver backed off, and Sparrow stood up to face him. Her blue eyes held no emotion, which wasn't quite uncommon. Seeing what had happened just moments ago, however, made her blank stare strange. Both Sparrow and Reaver tried to think of something to say, but couldn't. The silence grew unbearable, and Sparrow was about to tell Reaver she was going to go upstairs and get some sleep. However, like most of her plans that followed the lines of 'normal', they were stopped by fate. And fate decided to come along as the front door being kicked down by a group of very angry bandits, holding guns and blades of every shape and size.

"What the hell!" Sparrow and Reaver both said, looking toward the door. As heroes, neither of them needed any further explanation to what was happening. Sparrow, having no weapon, raced for one of the bookshelves and yanked a thick book from its place. Reaver pulled out his pistol and began firing at the bandits that barged into the study.

The bookcase Sparrow stood in front of shuddered and began to move, revealing a hidden passage. At least she had remembered that. They were cornered, and the tunnel gave them a way out.

"Oi! She's getting away!"

Sparrow summoned her will to slow time- but nothing happened. She looked down at her hand, and tried another spell. Only a small spark of fire lit up in her hand, and it quickly died out. One of the bandits was walking toward her, cleaver in hand ready to kill her.

Reaver didn't seem to notice she was being attacked. He was busy blocking the blows of the other four bandits that just wouldn't die. No matter how many times he shot them, they kept on standing back up and trying to kill him. And Sparrow didn't seem to be doing much to help him, either. He looked over at her, and shrugged. She seemed to be doing fine.

Thinking fast, Sparrow pulled one of the guns down from the wall. She didn't shoot, but she did empty the gun powder from it. How or why there was still powder didn't matter to her; she was just glad she had a weapon.

Without any way to slow down time, Sparrow had no idea if her plan would work. She executed it anyway.

The bandit, blood-stained meat-cleaver in hand, was close enough to strike Sparrow. He made the horrid mistake of seeing her only as a girl without a single weapon. After all, the gun in her left hand had no powder, so how could she shoot? The bandit raised his cleaver, aiming to cut her chest open. As he did this, Sparrow threw the gun powder at the bandit. Not even a second after, she tried to light another fire in the palm of her hand. Only a small spark shot out from her palm, but it was enough to ignite the air-born powder and send white fire flying at the bandit, who had no time to comprehend what was going on. It also burned Sparrow's hand, and she stepped backward into the tunnel staring down at her burns.

The bandit lit up like a torch and dropped his cleaver, falling to the floor as well. The screams echoed in the manor, attracting the attention of both the group of bandits and Reaver. As Sparrow expected, Reaver was at her side within seconds. She, however, did not expect him to shut the bookcase in front of them, locking them out of the house.

"Is everyone trying to kill me today?" Sparrow cried.

"Well, it seems we're going to be stuck here until those greedy bandits take what they want," Reaver said. Sparrow, who now sat on the cold stone floor with her head down, sighed and nodded, her mind obviously on something else. "Something on your mind, Sparrow dear?"

She only nodded again, refusing to look up at Reaver. It wasn't that she didn't want to- for once, she simply had no energy left. Her head felt like it was filled with broken glass, too.

"You know, this reminds me of what you were like all those years ago. Silent as the dead, but with so much to say."

Again, she said nothing.

Sparrow's eyes opened, and what she saw was far different than what she had expected to be looking at. How had she gone from sitting in a cellar to standing in… where ever she was now? The fog around her was so thick she could only make out an iron gate and fence in front of her.

Even so, Sparrow walked to the gate and pushed it open. Inside, the fog seemed to lift, and everywhere she looked, she saw graves. Most of them were blank, or crushed beyond recognition. Sparrow wove her wave through them, stopping to read what writing she could find on them. All the names where people she had met before in Bloodstone… Even the now-dead bartenders name she recognized. As far as she knew, the rest of the named people were alive.

"Strange vision…" Sparrow muttered to herself. "At least I'm not a little girl like normal."

More elaborate grave stones appeared the more Sparrow walked, but they were all blank. All except one, of course.

"Bloody hell…"

Sparrow stood frozen, staring at the name etched into the stone with wide, glazed eyes.

"Bloody hell…" she repeated, putting a hand on the grave, doubting its existence.

It was real, sure enough, and the words written on the stone made Sparrow retract her hand. One second longer she looked at the grave. Then she turned and ran from it like it was death incarnate, not stopping until she reached the iron gate and shut it. The fog grew thick again, and Sparrow felt like it was embracing her. It felt… almost warm, too, like she was being protected by it.

I must be going insane.

Sparrow woke from the strange vision with a jolt and quite the surprise. She wasn't where she had fallen asleep, nor anywhere near the ground. Her vision was still a bit foggy, but she knew when she was being carried. She knew very well who was carrying her, too.

Her vision cleared, and sure enough, she was in the arms of the pirate.

"Reaver… PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW!"

(Okay, okay, too many damned break-lines. Forgive me, there was no way around it. :P)