Remy's POV:

I hadn't even begun to care that he'd seen me. His extraordinary twisted mind would've known already. So I watched him, and he watched me. I was crouching on the sand, now and again being surrounded and splashed by water. His eyes never left mine. His immortally evil eyes. Immortal eyes. Well, that was one thing cleared up. I wondered if he knew why I was here, that I was looking for the sword. He probably did. What if he had it? What if he knew where it was?

No, that wouldn't make sense. What would he do with it?

It was always hard to believe we were related. I felt bad for Maria, his sister. She must've had to put up with a lot from him. Peter said he wasn't always the way he was now, but I doubted that. I was sure there was some greedy part of him tucked away back before he came here, and it had only come out here. Maybe the same would happen to me. Maybe I inherited the crazy – murderous – swordsman gene. But until I mysteriously took a liking to fencing, I doubted it.

The seas were silent. The waves were plentiful. The men were talking. The girl in the sand was thinking.

After what seemed like forever, I decided it was time to go and figure out what to do next. I stood, but never dropped my gaze. He straightened, and I could tell he was leaving too. I was probably too far away a target to shoot at.
But before I turned, he gave me one last look. And I had seen that look before, enough times on different people to know what it meant.

I'm going to get you.

I narrowed my eyes and set my jaw to copy his face.

Not if I get you first.

He did look slightly taken aback. Maybe he thought I would be afraid of him – and truth be told, I was a little. But I was too angry and too proud to show it.

I turned away and began walking back into the woods again. I didn't know where I was going so guesswork was initiated – and it turned out my lousy sense of direction was improving because soon enough I was back at the camp just outside the dense trees I had previously ran through. Nobody was around. I looked at Raybha's tent., but no – one was outside it. So I quietly walked back to my tent, willing myself to be invisible. But to my surprise there was literally nobody around. The niggling worried feeling was back and was intense. Something had happened.

Nobody was at the campfire or near it. I ran into my tent.

"Aaya? You here?"

She wasn't. Nobody was. I ran back out again.

"Hello? HELLO?"

There were no answers, just birds. The birds that sang the song. In a moment of blind panic I had miraculously placed the words into the melody.

What you seek, what you need
What you know, you don't show.

I waited for the birds to continue, but they didn't. They just kept repeating the same snippet over and over again. Maybe it was a sign. I was seeking my friends, the people I needed. I knew that at some point I'd probably lose my mind, but I attempted not to show it. Running away from situations I couldn't handle was surely a sign that I had no control. So I ran to one of the people I had initially run away from.

I knew she'd be there, and I pretty much burst into her tent. Raybha stood near the back of the tent with the same bucket from earlier on, holding it carefully. She was obviously unsurprised to see me, a sign she was expecting me to come.

"Raybha, where is everybody? What's happened?"

"Nothing bad, I assure you," she said in a neutral tone. "The tribe has gathered on the clifftop, to establish the news of the return of James Hook and distinguish any untrue rumours. Your friends are there too."

"Why aren't you there?" I couldn't help myself.

"I already know what is happening. I don't need any further information from people who see less than I do."

She sounded a bit ticked off. It was now or never.

"I'm sorry I ran away. I was afraid I might yell at you, because I was so mad."

"You went to the beach?"

Of course she knew. "Yes. And I saw him. And he saw me."

For a second I worried she'd get angry with me for deliberately placing myself in a vulnerable position, but she didn't. She probably expected it to happen.

"He already knew I was here, didn't he?"

She sighed. "Yes, he did. I don't know how yet, but he did. And now he's seen you doesn't really change anything, but it does help him begin with his plans."

"Plans? What plans?"

"I don't know. But why would he decide to make an appearance now?"

I shrugged. "Maybe he only found out I was alive yesterday."

"No. I think he has been biding his time, waiting for you. I think he knew you were alive when you came back from death."

I was doubtful. "How would he have known? He had injuries of his own to worry about."

Her fingers clutched the rim of the bowl even tighter. "You know the bond between you and Peter is possibly impenetrable?"

I nodded. "Yeah. What's it got to do with Hook?"

"Bonds are strong, Remy. And sometimes, they don't only grow from love. They grow from hatred as well. I believe something happened the day James Hook murdered you. Something even the ones who can see couldn't dream of."

Her riddles were annoying me. "Raybha, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that a bond attached itself to you and Hook that day, linking you together. I believe that when you died, so did he. And I believe that when you came back, he also did."

Stress was building. Anger was fizzling. Fatigue was creeping.

"So…it's my fault that he's alive again? I brought my bloody murderer back from the dead?"

She hardly flinched. "In a way, yes."

I tried hard not to yell. "What do you mean, in a way?" I asked coolly.

"You did bring him rather unwillingly back from the dead. But some things can be undone."

I was suddenly aghast. "I…you mean…I can send him back? And he'll stay there?"

She nodded, her face undeniably grave. "You need to accomplish the same thing you are attempting to achieve with the tribe. Break the bonds, but then kill him. If he or you are killed before you find the sword, you will both die."

It was so overwhelming that I became numb. "Do you…do you think he's trying to do the same, Raybha? Do you think he's looking for the sword?"

"I don't know. It's possible." She looked down into the bucket. Reaching her hand in, she pulled out the charm. I was right about it being a bracelet. In the dim light, I could make out the feathers, small wooden carvings of animals, and colourful pebbles. All connected together.

"Here," she said. I held out my hand, but she pulled it over my wrist, knotting it till it was secure.

"For good luck. Do not lose it."

I shook my head. I needed all the help I could get.

I mumbled a thank you and got out of there. With the leaves crunching beneath my feet and the wind whistling in my ears I wondered if I should tell Peter. He had even admitted he blamed himself for Hook still being alive to Curly when I was supposed to be asleep.

I decided to think about that later. What I needed was the sword. The words had somehow implanted themselves into my brain, and I ran through them quickly.

What you seek, What you need
What you know, you don't show.
In your place, a lion will rise
To disturb the enemy's
Immortal eyes.
Kill the Dark, make your mark
To make us show
What we know.

It didn't take a genius to know that I was the future lion, or lioness. There were no games, no crossing the fine line between bravery and idiocy. Not this time. This time wouldn't be a quiet standoff between Hook and me in a cave. For some reason, I knew this was going to be different. This was going to be dangerous, lethal, destructive. In the back of my mind, when I had earlier exchanged silent words with a monster, a voice had told me something. I knew it, and he knew it.

This was going to be a full - fledged war.

But first, I needed to find that damned sword.