Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah, POTC's not mine. Yada, yada, yada, Andrea and Rum are.

A/N: To my wonderful reviewers: You are the wind in my sails. This one's for you, kids.

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Chapter Two: Perchance to Dream

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Rum jumped up into bed after his human. As soon as Andrea's head hit her pillow she was out cold, but the cat circled restlessly. He knew something was wrong, but he just couldn't put his paw on it. Rum was young and had never encountered a ghost before, but he knew, with his deep kitty instincts, that its presence boded no good. He finally settled down at Andrea's feet, restlessly kneading her quilt with his freshly-clipped claws.

The unformed mist was patient. Guardians of the Underworld cats may be, but they were also prone to sleeping whenever an opportunity to presented itself. The mist had hoped to keep the cat trapped longer in the broom closet, but it was weakened during daylight hours and could not prevent the woman from hearing the animal's cries. Now it lurked just out of the cat's sight, waiting for its chance - its opportune moment.

With eyeless sight it watched as the cat's eyelids began to droop; with infinite patience it waited until the cat's breath was as slow and even as the woman's. It rolled slowly along the ceiling's trim, over the cat's head and down the wall to where the woman's head lay. Carefully, slowly, a tendril grew out of the mist and curled itself over the woman's head, covering her eyes...

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Andrea was on a ship. A fine salty spray was moistening her hands, neck and face as she clutched the ship's rail. 'Strange,' she thought, 'I've never been on a ship like this before...I've never worn a dress like this...why am I wearing a corset?!'

The sea below was black, black as starless midnight, with foam that could be described as neon blue. The sky above was a violent purple, streaked with blue and green.

It looked like the Northern Lights on crack.

Hands appeared suddenly on either side of her neck, and Andrea jumped. "Don't turn around, luv, just keep lookin' at the pretty water." Andrea fought the urge to turn, heart hammering in her chest as a necklace appeared, just as suddenly, in those mysterious hands. The hands slowly retracted from sight as the necklace was fastened around her neck. "I bind ye to me, Andrea Talliver, to twine your dreams to mine until my suffering is brought to an end." Andrea shivered under the hands' cool touch, and kept telling herself 'It's a dream, it's a dream, it is only a dream..."

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Rum woke, sensing his human's distress, and moved as liquid lightning to attack the mist that had attached itself to Andrea's head and upper shoulders. Part of the mist was solidifying around her neck, and yet Rum's claws could not tear it away. He yowled in frustration, and then obeyed the instinct which made him butt his head to Andrea's chin, involuntarily breathing in the mist...

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"Unhand her, foul apparition!" roared an adolescent voice. But Rum had entered the dream world just moments too late. The buccaneer had already fastened the soul-binding jewelry around Andrea's neck, and he whirled to face his unexpected opponent as Andrea sank lifelessly to the ground.

"Now, let's just settle down here, mate." The pirate was menace embodied as he stalked toward the enraged man-cat. "The way I see it, you're both in my world now. My world, my rules, savvy?"

Rum growled, a feral sound to be coming from a human throat, as ten nine-inch claws sprang from his very human finger-tips. "No world is governed by the rules of a single man, no matter what his will." The pirate laughed, a low sound that made Rum's short hair stand on end. "Are you sure of that, lad?"

Rum found himself suddenly levitating high above the ship, its crow's nest nearly ten feet below him. Gravity returned in a rush of air, and Rum barely managed to sink his claws into the mast as he was hurtled towards the deck. Sparks flew from beneath his hands even as he felt the supernatural force release him. He yowled, and used his downward momentum to leap from the mast into the pirate's face. The man held up a hand, and Rum stopped a foot from his target, sliding towards the ground as though he had hit a wall. As Rum sank, his form dissolved...

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The cat awoke in his own body, feeling like the mouse he'd dragged in that morning. Rum wearily looked up into Andrea's face before surrendering completely to kitty unconsciousness...

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The pirate sighed. He wasn't one to torment defenseless animals, even cats. And the cat had been defenseless against him, young as it was. "Nine months old if he's a day, and he thinks he can tangle with me?" His sigh turned into a laugh. The wench was in, the cat was out, and things were finally starting to go his way. He looked ruefully down at the sleeping girl.

"Now, if only she could dream up some real rum..."

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A/N: Sorry y'all, wanted to make this a longer chapter, but alas! My computer time is over, and I must now go. You know what they say: "Post what you can...give none of the reviews back!"