Hi! This fight scene in Rum Island is taking way longer than I imagined that it would. Sorry about that. The story's hardly begun yet! If this were the film, this would be the bit where the pirates break into Elizabeth's house at the beginning, and take her to the Black Pearl! Oh dear oh dear. This story really could turn out to be long. And sorry to everyone in Jack's team, you really will be coming back into the story soon! I promise!

Chapter 8 – Strange Pirates

Tanuki and Diana raced up the staircase, knocking any pirates coming down them over the rail, to where there were several Disney heroes and more soon- to-be Disney heroes waited for them. When they reached the top landing, they looked up and down the hallway, but didn't see any pirates; quickly Diana pulled Tanuki down the corridor and into her room.

She crossed the room over to her desk and pulled open the drawer while Tanuki stood guard, sword in hand. "Here they are," she said, pulling out her and her sister's bead fairies.

"Where's Eos?" asked Tanuki.

"She's–"Diana suddenly realized that she'd left her when she jumped over the balcony, and said something that was VERY improper for a debutante at that time.

Even Tanuki blinked. "By that profanity, I'll assume that you don't know?"

"I left her upstairs when I came to save you!" said Diana.

"Upstairs?" said Tanuki.

"Yes!"

"Where there were pirates?"

"Yes!"

"Pirates looking for her?"

"Yes!"

Tanuki seemed deep in thought. "Crud," he said finally.

"Well said," said Diana, "Take the bead fairies, I don't have a pocket." Tanuki shoved them into his pocket and they both crept out onto the hallway, swords held out in front. Down below in the hallway, Will and the others were still fighting some of the pirates; or rather, Will was fighting most of them, and the others kicking them towards Will.

"Where's Eos then?" asked Tanuki again.

There was a shriek from one of the rooms on the other side of the hall; the pirates which had been standing on the stairs trying to look as though they were doing something useful, but had really been hiding from Will, looked up and ran towards the room. "There, I'm guessing," said Diana.

"I'd second that," said Tanuki. Without hesitating, they ran silently along the balcony above the hall towards the room, from which they could now here Eos shouting.

"Let me go!!! What are you doing??? Look, I really will hit you, I mean it- "

Judging by the laughter, followed by the loud "OW!" from the room, Eos had carried out her threat. And judging by the following more feminine "Ow!", either the pirate hadn't been too happy about Eos hitting him, or there was a pirate there who was – well, let's say more interested in eyeliner than Jack. Diana and Tanuki judged this extremely unlikely and ran faster.

"Let her go, you pilferers, plunderers, riflers, looters et cetera!" said Tanuki dramatically, jumping around the door frame into the room, sword outstretched.

The pirates who were, at that time, holding onto Eos to stop her escaping, all stopped and stared at him. "Who the hell is that?" asked one of them.

"Do you know?" another one of them asked Eos.

"Never seen him before in my life," said Eos bewilderedly. Diana ran into the room shortly after Tanuki. "I know her though!" she added excitedly.

"Eos, are you OK?" said Diana anxiously.

Eos looked around – at that moment, she was being held by about five pirates, with a sword blade to her neck. "Can't complain," she shrugged.

Meanwhile, the pirates seemed to have got over their shock of having such an obvious Disney hero and heroine burst into the room, and were running forwards with their swords at the ready. "You go right, I go left!" hissed Diana.

"My right or their right?" asked Tanuki.

"Your right!! Why on earth would I confuse myself like that??"

"I don't know, probably the same reason that I do-" They didn't have much more time for talking, as each were suddenly hit by the onslaught of the attack by the pirates. They tried to stay together, but in a fight, you have to take what opportunities you can when dodging blows (and causing a few of your own), so before Diana knew it she was on completely the opposite side of the room from Tanuki.

"Take the girl down to the ships!" shouted one of the pirates fighting Tanuki to the ones still holding Eos. Tanuki and Diana looked up to see them pushing Eos out of the door, her still fighting to make them let her go.

"Tanuki! Follow them! I'll be along in a minute!" called Diana, parrying a sword thrust from a pirate, and then hitting him. Tanuki nodded, ducked a sword from another pirate, used that pirate's sword hand to pull the pirate over, then jumped over his back and ran towards the door.

"That's my boyfriend," said Diana proudly to another pirate. The pirate stared at her in confusion. Diana sighed and hit him. She then turned round to see the room still full with about ten pirates, all standing there with their swords out. "Oh."

Frankie, Mro and Hanna ran through the now nearly-deserted streets. "How far was it to the ship?" asked Hanna.

"As far as it is to the ocean?" said Frankie.

"Oh yeah..." said Hanna thoughtfully, "So what's going on?"

"Well, those pirates are after our bead fairies, so we had to get you out before they took it from you-"

"The bead fairies?" said Hanna, stopping suddenly.

"Yes..." said Mro.

"I don't have mine! I left it up at the house!" said Hanna in dismay. All three of them looked at each other.

"Should we go back for it?" asked Frankie anxiously.

"I don't know," said Mro, looking up at the house on the hill, "It might be too late, and we don't know what's happening up there-"

Suddenly they heard footsteps in the shadowy street which they had just run down. Frankie and Mro glanced at each other nervously and pulled out their swords, moving out of the middle of the street into the shadows underneath the surrounding houses.

The footsteps came nearer and nearer, and soon a group of pirates came into view down the street. Strangely, they didn't seem to be the sort of raucous- pirate-band-returning-to-ship sort of group – they seemed to be more the following-someone-stealthily group. "Oh bugger," thought Frankie, tightening her grip on her sword.

"It's a sad day when pirate groups become that easy to distinguish," muttered Mro. All three of them glanced at each other and sighed.

"RAAAARGH!" shouted Frankie and leapt out from the shadows, brandishing her sword wildly, closely followed by Mro and Hanna. The pirates started at her sudden appearance, but quickly recovered, and rushed towards them as well, drawing their swords as they went.

The three of them found themselves fighting vigorously. It was all Frankie could do to keep the pirates away from her; glancing at Mort and Hanna, they seemed to be having the same sort of problem. This was much harder than it usually was – not that she'd been in many fights, of course – but for some reason, these pirates were putting up a very good fight.

Suddenly she realized what was wrong. "Mro!" she shouted.

"What?"

"These pirates! They're-" She was forced to pause mid-sentence in order to duck a sword and jump between two pirates both fighting her at once, and ended up next to Mro and Hanna "They're not attacking one by one while the others dance around in a vaguely threatening manner! They're actually all attacking as a group!"

Mro stopped fighting and stared at her in shock. "Oh my god, they ARE..."

It turned out to be a bad move to stop fighting. The pirates, taking advantage of Mro's temporary distraction (another thing most pirates never did), pushed him over onto the ground, and quickly pushing Frankie and Hanna down next to him. Frankie tried to sit up, but found a cutlass blade just inches above her chest, so she decided that it was a bad idea.

"This isn't really good at all," commented Hanna, eyeing the sword blade above her.

"Thank you, Lady Obvious," said Mro.

"Ummm... parley?" ventured Frankie hopefully.

"I'm the First Lieutenant," said one of the foremost pirates, "The captain appointed me in charge of these discussions. What is it that you want?"

"Uhh..." said Frankie, momentarily baffled.

"Are you interested in long-term liability insurance?" remembered Mro, trying to look assertive.

"No. We're not. Is that it?" said the First Lieutenant, "Because we're in a hurry, and I'd like to kill you and get it over with." Frankie and Mro glanced at each other, minds working desperately.

"Hey! You're looking for bead fairies, right?" said Hanna suddenly. The pirates stared at her in shock.

"How did you know that?"

"Because we know where some are," said Hanna, kicking Mro, who'd just opened his mouth to say something, "We can take you to them!"

"Or you can tell us where they are," said the First Lieutenant, moving his sword blade slightly closer towards her. Hanna stared at it, and it seemed that for a moment, words failed her.

"They're hidden," said Frankie hastily, "Really well hidden."

"Oh, like we've never heard that one before," said one pirate sarkily.

Suddenly Frankie noticed something. One of the pirates at the back of the group had suddenly collapsed. Another one next to him soon followed suit.

"Well, if you were expecting a bunch of bastard pirates to turn up and take them, wouldn't you hide them?" said Mro, glaring at the First Lieutenant.

"I suppose. Well, get up," ordered the First Lieutenant. Before they could, some pirates came round and dragged them to their feet. Frankie was starting to feel scared; these pirates were different from most. They were in a lot of trouble.

But before the pirates had raised their sword blades again, a foot came out of nowhere, hitting the foremost one on the side of the head. As he fell over, his fellow pirates turned round to see a figure forcing their way through the group, pulling out their sword and forcing them to fight. The three of them stared in shock, then quickly grabbed their swords from where they'd fallen, and joined in.

Soon, the pirates were forced back. "Come on!" shouted the person who'd come to their aid, gesturing down an alley. Without hesitating, Mro, Frankie and Hanna ran after them. They couldn't see who it was, they were wearing a scarf over their hair and their face, but they followed them away from the pirates, quickly losing them in the twisting darkness. But they didn't stop running until they got back to the Black Pearl, and stopped panting on the dock, hiding behind some barrels.

"Who are you?" asked Mro as soon as he could. The person answered by pulling the scarf off their head.

"Cat!" gasped Frankie, recognizing their old shipmate, "But – how-"

"What, you think Will taught me nothing about turning up at just the right moment?" said Cat, raising an eyebrow and smiling.

"But – how – where did you come from?" asked Hanna, staring at her in amazement.

"Well, I saw the pirate crew in Tortuga," explained Cat, retying the scarf so that it didn't conceal her face, "And I saw Jack and you lot, and that you were helping Cirfia escape from the pirates. Since you were busy, and because I guessed this would end up being a quest-"

"Will is way too easy to predict," smiled Frankie.

"Quite," agreed Cat, "But since I knew this would end up being a quest, I stowed away on their ship, and quietly joined the crew. No-one noticed, but I heard lots of things about what they're doing, and stuff. And tonight, I tagged along with the groups, and basically kept an eye on you all. When you three ran off, I followed you, and when you got into trouble..."

"You are USEFUL," said Mro fervently. Frankie and Hanna nodded.

"Thanks," beamed Cat, "Do you know where Jack and the others are?"

"No idea," said Frankie, "But I'm sure they're fine..."

Sadly, they'd forgotten that fate was easier tempted than Jack with a whole barrel of rum.

-

These pirates are really quite odd... they're not cursed... they all attack at once... they don't listen to parleys much... they don't fall for easy tricks... DURN DURN DURN! And lots of people have been wondering what Jackie was saying in the last chapter – she was saying 'Watch out! I'm going to hit you with a hammer!' in elvish, or words to that effect. I can't remember exactly.

Im a Brandybuck – Oh, I know it sounds weird.

O. O. Y. M. F. – Yes, it was elvish. Well spotted!

Theshiz – You two are way cooler than Will and Elizabeth. Maybe cooler than Han Solo and Leia... hmmm...

Alteng – Oh, I'm sure Anamaria will beat the living snot out of Elizabeth! It's only a matter of time!

Hyper-Elf – I could just picture it too. Boy, I'd love it if I could actually turn this into a movie...

Bulma Greenleaf – Mebbe... You're not the only one who wants that, all the Wob-Wobs are threatening to eat my socks if I don't give their representative a good part...

Pirate-strumpet – OK, that sounds just TOO terrifying and evil. I have a rating to work with here.

Gilraen Ar-Feiniel – You're welcome! And I've had an idea, so I might be able to fit you in later.

Jedi from Rohan – Keep thwack forgetting thwack to go to your thwack site. Argh. I will remember! I really do want to come onto it! I just keep forgetting! thwack

Reasonably Crazy – Penguin overlords? Would they be interested in helping me to conquer Poland?

Bev Baudelaire – Sorry, I have loads of other stories to write too, and I've been having lots of exams too.

Terreis – It was elvish, well noticed. And a few people have reached Disney hero levels, but not quite everyone yet. I think you're nearly there...

Tanuki Yasha – (gasp) Not my various pointy objects! You wouldn't dare, you still fear – the spatula!! And thanks, I've been working really hard on writing fight scenes! They're still not brilliant, but they're better. I'll keep practising. More fights to come!

Angelina Sparrow – As I said to Gilraen, I had an idea where I might be able to fit in more people, but it won't be for a while. But send in your form and I'll see what I can do.

Silver dragon 15 – Thanks very much!

La chica mysteriosa – Good! Lots of lovely forms! Thanks!

Lady Shinimegami – Troy WAS a massive disappointment! They say that they were trying to not have any definite good guys or bad guys, but hello, they should have just tattooed EVIL GIT on Agamemnon's forehead. It would have been subtler. Grrrr.

AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS... aka ME...

First of all, I've started writing a Pokemon story in conjunction with Bulma Greenleaf – check our joint account, under the name Wob-Wobs United, to read it. Of course, if you don't like Pokemon, don't bother...

Second of all, I've started a message board for the Official Fanfiction University of Troy, coming soon, so please go and check that out! The link is on my bio!

Third of all, all of the stories in this massive update of mine were dedicated to everyone in the world who have been taking exams recently. Congratulations! You made it through them! Now RELAX! That is an order, dagnabbit! An order from the Wob-Wobs, no less!