Kat had been walking the entire day before she took a rest. It felt like it had been an eternity since she had given her final goodbye to her friend and ran off into the trees. This was very strange to her because she did not feel tired, or even hot from traveling under the hot sun. Even after she allowed her hood to fall from its place, her skin had not even begun to burn. She sat down on a large boulder along the path and pulled out the map.

"This is crazy. It'll take me almost a week to get to this place." She groaned. Much to her dismay, she had covered very little ground as shown by the map. She would have to travel well into the night if she were to even make it in that time. She rolled the map back up and replaced it in the pocket on her cape. She then stood back up and started off once more. The box she held on her back bounced with each step, growing more annoying
by the hour.

"First my brother, my freedom, and now the ship. I guess this is what they mean when you've hit the bottom." She thought to herself as she pressed
on. It would have been much easier to walk if it weren't for her gown. Every now and then she would trip on it, forgetting that it was even there.
Proof that it had been sometime since she had been lady-like.

"Oh, this is just bloody wonderful." She said out loud as she saw that the sun was dipping below the horizon in the distance. She hadn't noticed it the whole time. Her focus was all forced onto the mission at hand. Yet, soon it would be dark and the pathway hard to navigate. Without a lantern, the going would be dangerous. She wasn't afraid of any person she might
encounter out there. She could easily take care of that. It was the
creatures that a sword would do no harm too that she was scared of.

"That Barbossa and the crew are dead men if I cross their paths again." She said in her mind as the last bit of sunlight faded away, leaving long shadows of her surroundings cast upon her. She had no choice but to stop her journey. She decided to settle herself near a tree by the path. It was clear that others had used this as a camp site many times before she had come. There was a ring for fire, and even a pile of wood that had been
disguarded. Her and Jack had camped like this many times, but Kat was never very fond of it. She preferred the small inns where she at least had
a roof over her head and a brawl to watch.

"I guess something had to go in my way once in this life." She chuckled as
she made a fire. The calm night air was claiming its ground as the sky
turned from a deep blue to black. Clouds covered the moon, leaving everything bathed in a curtain of darkness. Kat felt isolated, alone. The only thing that gave her company was the crackle of the fire and the sounds of the night. She did not feel sleepy, even from not having slept for many hours now, so she pulled the box off of her back and dropped it was a thud to the ground. She then unlatched it open and pulled out the jacket. Her heart sunk just looking at it. All the time she had taken into sewing it for Jack was now lost. Now, it was the last thing to prove other of her
pirate life. She burrowed her hand into its pocket and pulled out her
diary. She thanked the stars that the ink and her homemade quill were still with it. She placed it into her lap as she closed the box and laid
the jacket over it.

"If a man were to tell you that your life would change in mere days, you would think that he has not an idea what he is speaking of. Now, I would
say that he is one of the most brilliant minds of the day. Allow me to explain, my dearest diary..." She wrote by the fires light. She stopped, looking over at the jacket once more. She found herself having to tear her eyes away. She had been the same way whenever she visited the graves of
her parents. She then began again, writing everything had had occurred
since her last time of journaling. It was difficult to recall the most painful of details, but she knew that getting them down would free her from
them driving her into madness.

"Drat." She whispered as she used the last bit of her ink. She picked the bottle up and looked inside trying to find even a drop left, but found that
all of it was now on parchment. She was lucky that she had gotten down everything up until the last few hours. "I'll have to take another when I reach the next village." She returned the cap to the bottle and tossed it
out into the tall grasses. She heard it shatter as it hit the ground.
Suddenly, there was another sound that followed it. Kat listened
carefully. The rhythmic clatter was soft, but she could make it out.

"A horse?" she thought. The sound was coming closer, and in the same direction she had come from. In the distance, she could see a small light
of a lantern. She was felt a tinge of hope come to her. It had to be fellow travelers. Maybe they could take her to a village instead of her
having to remain outside for the night. She began to stand up when she
heard a man's voice.

"That li'le wench couldn' 'ave gone far. She 'as to be stark naked." It floated from afar. Kat's eyes grew about an inch around as she listened.
It was the voice of Grapple, a member of Barbossa's men.

"Look there! That 'as t' be a camp!" A voice belonging to Jacoby came to her ears. She was filled with a panic. She could have taken them both on, but pirates usually traveled with sword and pistol in tow. She only had one of them and it couldn't inflict as much damage as a shot. She stuffed the diary that she still held into her cape along with the map. She looked around for any place to hide. Her gaze fell upon the tree. As fast as she could possibly move, she climbed up it. Her experience from the ships was working for her, but the dress made everything seem in slow motion. She kept getting caught in the branches as the voices and the horse's footsteps came closer. Finally she crouched among the branches, safe from eyes as
the two men on horse back came into view.

"Must have stolen that." She said softly as they approached the camp. It was then she realized that the jacket was still laying there in the open.
She has never returned it to the box.

"No one 'ere." Jacoby said dropping down from the horse the two pirates shared. Grapple followed suit and began looking with him. Kat's insides
leaped as he picked up the items.

""ave a look at th's." He grumbled to his comrade. Jacoby snatched the jacket away from him and looked at them. A smile displaced across his dirt
crusted face. He then drew his sword.

"I know ye'r 'ere Sparrow. Ye'r goin' t' come out, aren' ye?" He taunted. Kat didn't dare move. Her muscles seemed paralyzed. The two didn't even think to look up in the tree. Jacoby then proceeded to the fire and held
the jacket over it.

"Come out poppet!" Grapple shouted, drawing his sword as well. Her fear turned to anger as the fire was coming dangerously close to taking the only thing that mattered most at this moment. As she pulled her sword from its sheath, she jumped down from her branch. Both turned and sneered when they
saw her land. Her eyes shown in the fire light were menacing.

"Drop it!" She yelled, getting into ready stance. Both of them laughed
dryly at her.

"I don' know 'ow ye escaped, but ye are dead now." Grapple jeered. Before she knew what was happening, Jacoby threw the jacket aside and they both
attacked at once. Her training was going to come in good use now. The sounds of metal clashing echoed in the night as Kat did her best to ward off the two men. Neither of them knew that this teenager could fight so
well. Each time their blades would come close to cutting her, she skillfully ducked and dodged. She ran around the fire, trying to get away
from the prospect of death.

"You're going to have to do better than that to kill me." She snickered.
No matter how much they tried, Kat was not going to be easily defeated. Her movements were as graceful as a dancer. When both of them took at her,
she deflected both blows by putting her sword sideways. As they were
pushed away, they grew impatient with the girl.

"Cap'n never said we brin' 'er back alive." Jacoby said. She hadn't seen that he had lit one of his bombs with the fire. When he threw it at her, it was far too late for her to do anything. She was blown backwards as it
exploded at her feet.

"Good one!" Grapple cheered as the disoriented Kat moaned. She didn't feel any pain, but was stunned by what had just happened. She hadn't even begun to recover when Grapple grabbed her from the ground and held her from
behind. She couldn't see what was happening as her hair had fallen in front of her eyes. She didn't see that Jacoby was holding his sword with
both hands, aiming it.

"Say good-bye!" He laughed. At that moment, Kat blew the hair out of her face only to witness Jacoby pierce her with his blade. She let out a gasp as it entered her between two of her ribs. There was no pain, only shock
of what just happened...

I know it's a bit short, but I couldn't get this part out of my head last night. It was just yelling at me to get it written down. The best is yet
to come as she will be arriving in Port Royale in the next chapter and
meeting Gov. Swann and Elizabeth for the first time. How do you think everything is going so far? I'm a little disappointed that not many people are reviewing. Anyway, I hope to update again soon...but I'm getting ready
for my 19th birthday next Monday so it might have to wait. In the
meantime, happy reading!