Hello my lovelies! I am so happy to read the reviews I get after each new chapter! Thank you and please continue to support me! If you missed it, I edited the ending of Chapter 4. It doesn't change the story but it does have a more satisfying feel in my opinion.

Chapter 5: Cat ears you say?

Harry sat at the Chip Shoppe bar absentmindedly shoving soggy potato wedges into his mouth as his mind wandered.

Ever since their meeting a few nights ago Harry had found it increasingly difficult to keep his mind from drifting to a certain someone.

He still had no clue who she was to him but a part of him that he had thought he had lost years ago held hope that she really was connected to him. Either that or he was losing his mind.

He gave a derisive scoff, being a blank-slate and losing his mind would just be too much.

No, he much preferred the idea that she was something special. She certainly felt special. In the short encounter he had with her she had shown herself to be unlike any other Isle kid. She was feisty enough alright, a corner of his lip lifted up into a lopsided smirk, but she also wasn't willing to hurt him.

Harry knew this is where his ego might be getting away with itself, but he liked to think she just didn't want to hurt him.

Though her words certainly gave nothing of the sort away.

With a frown he recalled the cutting words she had used to get him off-balance enough for him to attack and her to escape.

'It's no surprise really though, someone as broken as you wouldn't have a soulmate would they?'

Broken. His lips turned into a dark frown.

Harry had struggled with the idea that something inside him was broken for years, ever since he realized he truly was that 0.001 percent without a soulmate. And she had zeroed in on and dug into that particular insecurity with pin-point accuracy. Oh it had stung, but a small part of him was begrudgingly proud of her for it.

She might be above physical violence but evidently the kitty still had claws.

She had read and played him perfectly. Not too many people could say they could do that.

He wished he could say the same.

Over the past few days Uma had sent a few crew members into the inner isle to ask around about his little kitty. So far they had been unsuccessful though. Either she had lived a very secluded life or she had an unreasonable amount of loyalty from the inner isle residents. He found that second prospect unlikely.

How someone lived on the Isle their whole lives without anyone knowing who they were or even seeing them was a mystery he had yet to unravel. She obviously got supplies from the Goblin's Wharf when the new shipments came in, but that was only once every two weeks. He would have to wait a whole week to try that tactic again. What did she do with the rest of her time? Surely she didn't spend it alone.

A small frown. Harry felt an unfamiliar feeling at the thought of that. Surely not...

Even the worse of villains had companions.

The more he thought about it the more he felt like he was still chasing a ghost.

"Hey Harry."

Harry turned in his seat and looked up at Gil who was beaming down at him.

"Gil." Harry offer by way of greeting as the blonde took the stool beside him.

"You were thinking about Cassie again right?" how the thick-headed blonde managed to deduce that was beyond Harry, "Have ya found her yet?"

"No." Harry's frown deepened.

"If ya want we could see if any of the people I know have heard of her." Gil offered.

"Sure Gil," Harry grunted, doubting anything would come of it.

~...~...~

Outside of the center of the Isle and to the south was a two story narrow building with a red door. Above the door hung an unlit neon sign that read Queen of Hearts' Salon.

Inside the walls were decorated, or rather covered, with an assortment of thick and rich red and black drapes. The interior was surprisingly clean. There were big mirrors with leather high chairs in front of them and shelves filled with jars right below each mirror. The floor was designed to look like a chessboard.

A tall beauty was standing behind a client, measuring carefully with her thin fingers before snipping strands of hair, when a new customer entered. The daughter of the Queen of Hearts was certainly nothing like what any who hadn't seen her would imagine. The queen's daughter, Elizabeth or more commonly Lizzie, had a beautiful heart-shaped face. She smiled politely at the customer who had just entered. She had clear ivory skin, pronounced cheekbones, and striking ruby-red lips. Her fair-skin was perfectly framed by the darkest brown hair that was set in tight curls that flowed from the ponytail at the crown of her head. She wore a red leather corset that had her spilling out of the top and a black choker with a heart-shaped faux-ruby dangling from it. Her hips were perfectly hugged by a black pleated mini-skirt. Heart stockings covered the skin from her skirt to her knee-high black boots.

She directed the new customer to take a seat and said she would get to them next. A stylish black leather jacket rested on an empty high chair, presumably hers. The customer passed this chair. Instead opting to take the one beside it.

Something about being a hairdresser, people talked to her. Her mother had taught her this was a valuable asset. The Queen compared it to how, before being banished and imprisoned on the Isle, she used to receive regular reports on her kingdom and subjects from her information committee and advisers. In a similar way Lizzie always knew whatever was going on around the Isle. Every bit of gossip and news came to her through her customers. Today, however, something very interesting came to her.

"Pirates are everywhere." She heard her new customer, Claudine Frollo, grumble with an air of indignant superiority as Lizzie came to stand beside her. Claudine had medium length brown hair with straight bangs that required trimming from time to time to keep them out of her eyes, which made her a regular and very familiar to Lizzie. Claudine's character was defined by the same pride and intolerance her father was known for.

The news that pirates were in the Inner Isle could hardly be considered news anymore.

"Oh?" Lizzie offered her usual indifferent prompting as she placed the smock around Claudine's torso.

"They seem to be looking for someone." Well, that was new at least.

"Who?" Lizzie pursed her ruby-red lips as she held Claudine's bangs between her index and middle fingers, measuring and positioning the hair.

"I do not know." Claudine spoke imperiously in her usual rigid tone, then continued as if to justify her lack of knowledge, "no one seems to know."

Lizzie raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow at what she assumed was one of Claudine's exaggerations. The girl didn't catch it but simply continued with a sense of self-importance, "They asked me. Apparently some girl running around with cat ears must have made enemies with the wrong pirate."

"Cat ears?" Lizzie echoed with interest. Lizzie got a sparkle in her eyes. Now that was interesting...

Claudine did not seem to notice the other girl's interest, "Yes cat ears. How childish. Can you imagine a grown..." Claudine's disapproving judgments passed over Lizzie's head as the tall beauty considered the possible implications.

Cat ears...

Her mother would certainly be interested in this particular piece of information as soon as she was back from her tea with the Evil Queen.

"What else did they say?" Lizzie interrupted Claudine's rant as soon as the girl finished her latest sentence.

At the interruption Claudine pressed her lips together in a frown of disapproval. However she held too much pride in her manners to not answer a direct question, "They said she went by 'Cassie,' I believe they described her as having brown hair and eyes. They also detailed that she wears all black." Claudine's own clothing was mostly black, with accents of white here and there. If the Isle had such things, someone could mistake her for a priest or a nun with her somber attitude and rigid morals, though her morals were by no means flawless.

Yes, her mother would certainly want to hear about this.

If she was right and this was possibly the daughter of her mother's most hated enemy, then Lizzie had quite the bargaining chip.

~...~...~

It came as no surprise to Harry that asking Gil's older brothers, Gaston Jr. and Gaston the third, didn't produce anything. The Gastons' were not known for being a fount of knowledge. The two brawny twins were more like their father than Gil. Unlike their younger brother Gil, the twins excelled in vanity and actually did have a mean-streak in them. They, along with Ginny Gothel, Anthony Tremaine, and Mad Maddy, made up the Fearsome Five.

After leaving Gaston's Duels Without Rules, Harry followed Gil around as he visited various shops, asking the same questions and getting the same answers. No one had heard of anyone fitting Cassie's description. Gil brought Harry out of the center of the Isle and to the the southern part of the Isle.

The two stopped in front of a red door. Harry looked up to see an unlit neon sign that read Queen of Hearts' Salon.

Harry tilted his head slightly as he looked at his friend. The happy-go-lucky teen gave a reassuring smile and opened the door, motioning for Harry to enter first. The tall, fair-skinned teen paused momentarily but entered.

The first thing that the pirate noted, other than the Queen's signature colors everywhere, was the sense that the drapes were hiding something. Other than the drapes and the black and white checkered floor, the salon looked like any other on the isle. Maybe a little nicer than usual considering that the seats actually looked comfortable and the floors were swept clean.

From what he heard the Queen of Hearts was an older heavy-set women with an explosive temper and a penchant for ordering executions over petty crimes and mistakes. She had been a tyrant in her time as ruler and though she was no queen on the Isle of the Lost she had made a reputation of herself. A reputation written in blood.

"Is there a reason we're in this mad wanker's salon?" Harry hissed at Gil. He had a bad feeling about this. Harry didn't know where the feeling came from, sure the queen was right mad but he wasn't scared of her. Something inside of him was warning him that him being there wasn't a good idea though.

Before the blonde could answer him or Harry could urge his companion to leave with him, the two boys heard a feminine voice exclaim excitedly "Gil!"

A tall beauty appeared from behind one of the red curtains. Harry raised an eyebrow at her appearance. The daughter of the Queen of Hearts was certainly nothing like he had imagined. A girl with an attractive heart-shaped face smiled broadly at the blonde beside him. She was a picture, unlike her mother. Harry wondered where she got the looks from and vaguely recalled that the late-king had been considered handsome in his time. Perhaps that was where...

Though she did get some of her mother's features; the heart-shaped face and widows peek along with her ivory skin and dark hair were definitely from her mother. But her figure was lean, curvy, and tall—unlike the short and plump Queen. She had her father's defined cheekbones and obviously got her height and weight from his side of the family.

Harry watched nonplussed as Gil rushed to lift the girl, or rather woman, into the air and twirled her once before gently placing the giggling beauty back onto the checkered floor.

To Harry's confusion Gil asked excitedly, "Is he awake?"

The beauty smiled wearily in response, "I just put him down and don't you dare wake him up." She leveled him with a stern look.

Vaguely Harry recalled that Gil had once mentioned that he was an uncle. He had neglected to mention however that his nephew's mother was the daughter of the Queen of Hearts.

"What are you doing here Gil? Gaston Jr. didn't say anything about you coming here." she didn't seem angry that they had arrived unannounced, rather she seemed pleasantly surprised if the grin on her ruby-red lips was anything to go by. Harry assumed from context clues that Gaston Jr. was the father.

"Harry an' I are looking for someone." Gil gave as explanation, this caused the woman to look at the first mate for the first time. She seemed surprised at his presence. A small frown darkened her ruby-red lips, but when she turned back to Gil her smile quickly returned.

"A friend of yours?" she asked of the blonde.

At this the blonde turned squirmish, not quite knowing how much he was allowed to say in response.

"Just someone we ran into." Harry offered, "She-" he grappled for the right phrasing when Gil interjected this time, "No one knows who she is Lizzie. We were hoping that maybe you had heard something about her from your customers."

Harry dimly realized that a salon would be a perfect place to collect information on all the Isle residents.

"Hmm," she pursed her painted lips in consideration as her eyes flicked over to Harry and then back to Gil, "Well, if it will help you Gil. Who is she?"

Harry took this question, "She's about this high," he measured her height, holding his hand flat to around his shoulder's height, "brown hair, brown eyes. She wears all black and has custom-made lookin' cat ears. She goes by Cassie."

"Cat ears you say?" Lizzie's eyes seemed to spark with something behind them.

"Aye." Harry had a strange feeling looking at that spark in her eyes.

"Where have you seen her?" Lizzie asked.

Harry paused, the feeling inside of him practically screaming now. His own suspicion at the question deepened. Harry had no intention of answering, Gil however had no such feelings or thoughts.

"We think she's in the Inner Isle." the blonde responded with ease. Harry's features pinched in chagrin. Gil...

"Have you seen her?" Harry followed up, hoping that for once his feelings were wrong and that it didn't matter.

"Seen her? No." Lizzie answered promptly, quickly followed by what Harry thought was a bone-chilling giggle. However that wasn't the end of her thought, "But my mother, she might know something, she runs the salon more than me these days. She's not here right now though. She's having tea with the Evil Queen."

Well, it was better than they usually got.

Gil didn't look so sure though, Harry noted.

"Okay," Gil seemed nervous at the mention of the Queen of Hearts, "Uh, can you ask her?"

Lizzie giggled at Gil's apprehension, "I'll ask her first thing she gets back. If anything comes up I'll make sure Gaston Jr. tells you."

Visibly relieved Gil smiled tentatively, "Thanks Lizzie."

After some more small talk between Gil and Lizzie, the two boys finally left and began their way back to the Lost Revenge.

Somehow Harry couldn't shake the feeling that talking to her wasn't the right thing. He got the sense she hadn't told them everything she knew.

Author's Note: So if you are familiar with Helena from Here Kitty Kitty by BabyBearxox: though I have incorporated some similarities such as her relationship with Gaston Jr and them having a baby, I would say that Elizabeth's personality is different. Elizabeth's mother is still very much alive though her father has passed.

Review Recognition:

Historic Soldier: You had three questions! Wonderful! 1) Harriet, CJ, and Captain James Hook do in fact exist in this world/story but in the outer edges. At this point they will not be included in the story except in possible flashbacks. 2) Harry lives on the Lost Revenge in the Captain's Quarters. That might lead you to ask where Uma lives-still at the Chip Shoppe with her mother. Uma recognized that though she has the title of 'Captain' she does not know much about running a ship or being a pirate captain which is where she leans heavily on Harry who takes care of a lot of the day to day tasks that a captain normally would take care of. 3) I believe this third one was answered in this chapter.

SARITA1998: Thank you! You will have to wait a bit longer until Harry comes to that realization.

Lottielue1: After your review I did some research and got mixed answers, some saying it is impossible because of the blood pressure others saying it is possible because of the hyperventilation and because the brain can shut the body down in response to certain emotional events etc. Thank you for bringing that up, I did take your comment as an opportunity to perfect chapter four's ending just a little more.

GreatBigBookofEverything: Thank you so much for your review~ I love reading what readers think of the stories I write. To answer your question Cassie does NOT know Mal. When the events of Descendants 1 left Bargain Castle raided but empty, she just recognized an opportunity and took it. She moved it figuring that Mal would never return.

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