Disclaimer: Sadly, we don't own King Arthur, The Pirates of the Caribbean, or Fruit Loops. Our mom won't even buy us Fruit Loops. She doesn't think we need sugar cereals. Bah.

In Which Our Heroes Set Out Upon Their Noble Quest

"She's me reincarnated?" Guinevere asked.

"Yes," said Mortimer with a smile.

"That would account for the remarkable resemblance," Gawain commented.

"So that's why I have strange dreams and can read old, mysterious writing," Elizabeth reasoned.

"Yes."

For a moment, this seemed to make sense. Then Elizabeth asked, "Why did I just start having the dreams now? If I'm her reincarnated, then why haven't I had them my whole life?"

Mortimer shrugged, "Don't ask me. I didn't write this."

twilight-pixie sighed impatiently. "Don't question the all-powerful authors. You have the dreams now because we said so...that and the fact that the whole thing seemed like a good idea when we wrote it."

Everyone stared for a moment, then went back to the discussion at hand, no doubt blocking the encounter from their memories.

They were interrupted a few minutes later by a pebble flying through the open window and hitting Will on the head. He ran to the window and peered down.

"Sorry," said AnaMaria guiltily. "I thought the window was closed."

"What are you doing?" Will asked.

"Looking for Jack. Have you seen him?"

Jack shoved Will out of the way of the window. "You rang?" he asked.

"Well, I have some bad news for you, Captain."

He sighed. "What it is this time?"

"Um...you know these ugly, hairy guys who've been running around setting everything on fire?" she asked slowly.

"Yes."

"They...um...well, they stole your ship."

"What?" he cried, nearly falling out the window in shock. "Not again!"

"There was nothing we could do. By the time we figured out what was happening, they were sailing away on The Black Pearl."

Jack groaned. "Why does everyone always steal my ship? Alright, we'll just have to get it back then."

"That's not even the worst of it," said AnaMaria, looking devastated.

"What could be worse than that?"

"They've taken Mr. Cotton's parrot as a hostage!" she cried, her voice high with emotion. "They'll kill him if we try to stop them!"

"That's terrible!" Elizabeth cried.

"We have to save him," said Will bravely.

Guinevere and the knights stared blankly as the others discussed the parrot's fate.

"Who's Mr. Cotton's parrot?" Lancelot asked Arthur. Having awakened only a minute previous, he had even less of an idea of what was going on than anyone.

"I don't know," Arthur admitted.

"He's a parrot," Will explained.

"We know that," said Guinevere, exasperated.

"Oh."

Jack looked around the room at everyone and said brightly, "So what's our plan of action?"

"Our?" groaned Will. "Why do we have to come along every time your ship gets stolen?"

Elizabeth stood up and crossed to where Jack and Will stood at the window. "We can't let them take Mr. Cotton's parrot. How else will the poor man talk? Besides, since I am very suddenly a reincarnated version of her-," she pointed dramatically at Guinevere, "I should get to test my newfound battle skills." She looked at Jack, "I'll come with you, Will as well."

Will's jaw dropped. "But-but-."

"Who else is with us?" Elizabeth shouted in an overly heroic voice.

"WHERE ARE THE FRUIT LOOPS?" Governor Swann's voice wailed from downstairs.

"I think he's the fruit loop," Gawain muttered, curling up under Elizabeth's blankets. It was very fortunate for him that Will had yet to notice him.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, annoyed having her heroic/inspiring type moment interrupted. "Who is with us?" she pouted.

Not receiving an answer, she grabbed Lancelot by the front of his shirt. "You're coming," she informed him. Then she proceeded to seize Gawain by the ankles and drag him out of her bed. "You are too."

Lancelot stared at Elizabeth blearily. "Another mission?" he moaned. "We're already on a mission."

"Oh," snapped Elizabeth, "Well I'll have you know that this mission is for a far nobler cause."

"I will join you for a cause such as this," Arthur told her.

Guinevere nodded, "Where Arthur goes I will go."

"I'll come as well," said Dagonet.

"Does this involve kicking Saxon arse?" Bors asked eagerly.

"Of course it does," Jack told him, grinning. "Kick arse, rescue parrot, save ship, kick arse, get drunk, kick arse." he counted off on his fingers. "All in a day's work for a pirate."

"I'm in," Bors replied at once.

"Me too," Tristan yawned. "I'm in need of a great Saxon arse to kick."

"I guess it's settled then," said Elizabeth, clearly pleased with herself. "Let's go."

Will sighed. He found this new, heroic Elizabeth slightly irritating.

"What's settled?" asked Gawain. "I haven't agreed to anything!"

"Doesn't matter," said Tristan, pulling Gawain to his feet. "You're coming anyway."

Bors prodded Galahad with his foot. The knight had fallen back to sleep on the floor. "Get up," he growled.

"What?" Galahad asked, rubbing his eyes.

"We're going to rescue Mr. Cotton's parrot," Elizabeth told him as she finished packing her suitcase and attempted to shut it.

She failed miserably as this particular suitcase was not designed to hold 20 dresses, 25 pairs of shoes, and a changing screen. After three tries, she gave up in disgust. "Mortimer," she said and gestured to the stubborn piece of luggage.

Without a word, the huge man sat on the suitcase. It smashed shut with a sound of splintering wood. Actually, it was splintering wood. The legs of the bed collapsed.

---

When they finally made it downstairs, Elizabeth distracted her father while everyone else snuck outside unnoticed. There was moment of uncertainty when Bors and Jack knocked over a lamp, but she managed somehow to convince the governor he'd imagined the loud crash and muttered curses.

"I'm going away for a couple of days, Daddy," she told him gently. "Mortimer will look after you while I'm gone." To Mortimer she said, "Remember his medication please. I don't want to come home to find him on the roof in one of my dresses again."

---

Jack stood on the pier, staring at the place where The Black Pearl had been. It was, as AnaMaria had said, gone. The rest of his crew stood nearby in silent mourning of their feathered companion. Mr. Cotton looked the most devastated of all.

"Alright then," said Elizabeth. "Let's get another ship so we can go after them."

"But they'll kill Mr. Cotton's parrot if we do," AnaMaria protested.

"Then we'll have to look inconspicuous. Here's the plan, Guinevere, AnaMaria, and I will distract the soldiers-."

"I like this plan already." Lancelot grinned.

"Shut up. As I was saying, we'll distract the soldiers, and you can all go steal the ship while they're not paying attention."

"A diversion," Gawain said.

"Here's a smart one," said AnaMaria, rolling her eyes.

"We can't just steal a ship." Arthur looked appalled.

"Commandeer," Jack corrected.

"Yeah Arthur. Don't you know anything?" asked Galahad.

"We'll we can't just commandeer a ship."

"Of course we can," said Jack. "Why not?"

"It's not right."

"Of course not! But we're pirates after all."

Thanks again to reviewers. chiefhow (heehee I noticed that the first time I saw KA), Mustang Gal, and LadyRiddle62442.

-pixie