When I woke up, I wondered for a moment where I was. My hopes of waking up in my own bed were dashed as I felt the scratchy straw underneath me. I rubbed my eyes, sat up, and looked around.

My cell was small. I judged the length of it to be just as tall as I was, if I stretched my arms above my head. The width seemed just enough to allow me to lie down in.

The bars resembled those of the cells on the Black Pearl, horizontal and vertical ones creating squares that I could fit my arms through. Three sides of the cell were made of these metal bars, but the back one was the wood of the ship. Upon further inspection of this wall, I noticed several nails that hadn't been hammered in all the way and that stuck out at odd angles.

There were piles of musty straw in the corners of the cells. There was also straw covering the floor of the cell, allowing me to sit on it without much discomfort.

I realized that the door that Spraggins and Decklan had come through earlier was not the only one leading to my room--there was another one to my right, in a different wall of the room. I called this the side door and the other one the front door.

The room was littered with empty wooden crates. I knew they held no cargo from the number of times they had fallen from their precarious perches atop one another to come crashing into the metal bars of my cells. Lemme tell ya, this did not make me one happy prisoner, especially when this happened in the middle of the night when I was trying to get some sleep.

I also noticed my belt laying in a corner of the room. It looked like it had been stripped off me when I was brought here and thrown unceremoniously into a corner.

Well, at least I know where my weapons are, I thought grimly. Not that they'll be any use to me in here...

When I was done scanning the room, I thought of what I was planning. My thoughts turned to a day that seemed so long ago--the day I had told Jack I feared everyone thought I was crazy. "It can work to your advantage," he had said. I remembered how ridiculous this had sounded at the time, but now, I thought I was finally understanding what he meant.

I sat in silence, contemplating my plan. I hope it works, I thought grimly. 'Cause if it doesn't--well, this could be my only ticket out of here, so I'll definitely be screwed if it doesn't go as planned!

At that moment, I heard the creaking of the front door. I glanced up to see the black-haired pirate standing there, holding a plate and a cup.

He didn't say a word as he calmly unlocked the door and handed me my meal. I blinked at him, keeping my face blank. Now's not the time, I thought. Later...

"What's this?" I asked calmly, eyeing him warily.

"Lunch," he grunted.

I nodded, noticing the light streaming through the cracks in the wood. I must not be too far down in the ship, I thought.

The man stared at me disdainfully as he locked up the brig. Then, he took a seat on one of the crates.

Well, now's as good as ever!

"What do you want?" I sneered at him.

He looked quite taken aback. I could understand his astonishment, as when he had met me I had been a scared, trembling damsel in distress.

"Hello?" I said angrily. "You deaf?"

"No," he said quickly.

"Then what the hell are you still doing here?"

"Making sure you eat."

I frowned at the food, which was still in my hands as I sat on the straw. "Why? Did ya poison it?"

"No, I'm just makin' sure you don't go and try to starve yourself," said the black-haired pirate, glaring at me. Clearly, it wasn't his choice to be here. "Not that I wouldn't mind that...after what you did to me."

He turned his head to the side, tipping his hat sideways with a finger, and I recoiled as I saw that some of his hair was missing, revealing a nasty-looking scar on his scalp.

Hiding my revulsion, I chuckled. "You let a girl do that to you? Pathetic!"

The man's nostrils flared, and I could tell I had pissed him off. He adjusted his hat without a word, though, his jaw clenched tight.

"Just eat the damn food," he growled, looking furious.

Grinning openly, I held my cup up to him in a mock salute. I then proceeded to eat the peice of meat and slice of bread I had recieved in as disgusting a manner as humanly possible.

I saw the man's lip curl. Grinning, I just ate even faster, smacking my lips as much as possible, chewing with my mouth open, and rolling my food around openly in my mouth. I saw the man turn away in disgust. Pleased, I forced a hearty belch.

"I'm eatin' it...happy?" I said, my mouth still stuffed with food.

The man got up and left without a word. Surprised, I started chewing frantically--I had taken some pretty big bites to gross out the man.

And how about that, I thought, swallowing with difficulty. I just disgusted a pirate! I had no idea I could be that gross...eh, I'll consider it a talent, since it's helping safe my life!

Continuing to chew the bland meat, I ran over my plan once again in my head. I would be as obnoxious as possible, making life on the ship nearly unbearable with me. Eventually, the pirates would have to get angry and get rid of me. There was the part that scared me the most--would they kill me, or let me go? Maybe they would release me to Jack, figuring whatever they wanted wasn't worth the torture of an annoying prisoner, but if they didn't...well, I'd just take this plan one day at a time.

That brought me to another question: what did they want with Jack? If they wanted to use me as bait to lure him into a trap, I wasn't entirely sure it would work. I doubted I meant that much to him. And besides, couldn't they just have killed him in Tortuga?

With these thoughts rolling around in my brain, I slowly finished my meal, chugging the dirty water as fast as I could without gagging. When I was done, I took a minute to let my food digest a litte, then positioned myself on my knees in front of the bars of my cell.

I dragged the tin cup along the bars, cringing at its loud clanking noise. I moved it faster and faster, moving it back and forth, so the noise got steadily louder and more obnoxious. Thrilled with this result, I started yelling at the top of my lungs.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHH! HELLO, IS ANYONE THERE! CAN YOU HEEEEEEEEEAAAR MEEEEEEEEEE! AAAAAAAA--"

I stopped short as the black-haired pirate came running. I cleared my throat a little and sat back on my knees as if nothing had happened.

"What in the fires of hell were you goin' on about!" the man yelled furiously.

"I'm done," I said calmly, holding up the empty plate and cup. "Thanks, it was delicious."

The man, breathing heavlly, just glared at me. I smiled back.

"You'd like to kill me, wouldn't you?" I asked, as if I was commenting on the weather.

"Oh, like you wouldn't believe," the man muttered. He reached behind his back, and for a split second I thought he was grabbing his pistol, but instead he produced the key to my cell.

He came up to the cell door, but before he unlocked it, he grabbed a pair of iron handcuffs that was lying on the ground. He quickly unlocked the door and slammed me against the wall.

"What the--help! Assault! RAAAAAAPE!" I wailed as he turned me around, keeping me pinned me against the wall.

I felt him close the irons around my wrist. "Hey, what is this, 'Cops'?" I asked angrily, shoving him back with my shoulder.

He stood up, looking pleased with himself. He picked up the cup and plate, left the cell, locked the door, and walked off without another word, slamming the front door behind him.

I sat back painfully, grumbling about the nails that had been driven into my arm, stomach, and shoulder. Then I paused.

Maybe...no! But if I could find one long enough, and at a good height...

I backed up against the wall, searching for a nail. I found one eventually, at the small of my back. I fumbled with the cuffs, straining to get the nail in the keyhole. At last, the nail slipped into the large hole of the irons with a small click.

It took me hours, lots of cursing, and even more luck, but eventually I managed to unlock the cuffs. When I heard the telltale 'click', I froze in delight, hardly to daring to believe it. Had I just freed myself with a nail? Yes! The irons fell off my wrists as I moved away from the wall.

I rubbed my wrists, feeling exhausted but pleased. Maybe a nail will unlock the cell door, I thought desperately. Then I could escape...but to what? A shipful of pirates? Talk about jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire, I thought dryly, taking the irons thoughtfully.

I heard heavy footsteps coming near the door, so I stashed the handcuffs under a pile of hay and waited. Sure enough, the side door opened and the black-haired pirate walked in with a plate and a cup. I smiled warmly as he approached me.

"Hey, buddy, what's new?" I asked brightly as he unlocked the door and handed me my food.

As he began to step out of the brig, I looked down in my cup quizzically. "What the--hey! I ordered Snapple!" I said in mock indignation.

It seemed I had gotten on his last nerve last time. "SHUT UP!" He roared, stepping towards me. Raising a hand to hit me, he grabbed the front of my shirt, pulling me up a little. He stopped at the last second, probably remembering that he wasn't supposed to hurt me. As he stood there, breathing heavily with his hand poised to strike my face, I sniffed, wrinkling my nose.

"Wow. You could really use a Tic-Tac," I said, coughing a little.

He frowned. "A what?" he asked.

I moved his hand away from my face. "It means your breath smells," I stage whispered.

Growling, he pulled his hand away from mine, preparing to slam it into my face. I scrunched my eyes shut, preparing for the blow, when all of a sudden--

"TROY!"

We both turned to see Decklan standing in the doorway, looking absolutely furious. Before the black-haired pirate, Troy, could move, Decklan had strode into the brig and grabbed him away from me.

"Whew!" I said, straightening my shirt. "Thanks, Cap'n," I said, saluting him.

Decklan stared at me before turning to Troy, who he had slammed against the metal bars of my cell. "What did I tell you!" he hissed. "Can you not remember a simple command!"

The captain gave Troy one last shove before releasing him. "Get out of my sight," he growled. Troy took this very seriously and practically ran from the room, but not before throwing me an evil look. I simply smiled back and waved a little.

Now Decklan and I were alone. I turned to him, trying to look innocent.

"Miss Sparrow, I'd like a word in my quarters," was all he said.

"Uh...okay," I said uncertainly. Great, I pissed him off, didn't I? I thought worriedly. I don't mind messing with a few lowly pirates, but this guy I'm afraid of!

Decklan gestured for me to walk ahead of him out of the brig. I nervously obeyed, not sure whether to be obnoxious in his presence. I had seen his temper, and I wasn't too keen to have his rage focused on me.

When we were both outside of the brig, he stood behind me and planted both hands firmly on my shoulders.

"Walk," he instructed. "I'll tell you where to go."

Stumbling up a few flights of stairs found us standing on deck. Decklan turned me in the direction of his cabin, steering me past pirates doing various jobs. I felt like I was being paraded around for an auction, what with one man steering me around and others leering and laughing at me.

When we finally made it to his cabin, Decklan released me to unlock the door. Running off crossed my mind, but only for a moment, as the whole ship was swarming with pirates and I would have nowhere to go. Except overboard, that is. But I had gone for a little swim in the ocean once, and I didn't feel much like trying it again.

I glanced at Decklan's key ring. I noticed there weren't very many on it, and there was one that looked like the key to the jail cell.

Of course, I thought, staring at the key. He's gotta have a copy to all of the keys...hmmm...

When we entered the captain's quarters, Decklan offered me a chair at his table. I looked around and was strongly reminded of the Black Pearl. The table was large, with maps and other papers spread across it. I noticed the logbook from the inn, too.

The windows were dirty and smudged, nothing special. There was only a lantern to light the room, but since it was still light out, there wasn't much need for it.

Decklan sat down across the table, appearing to be waiting for something. I followed his lead and started bobbing my head and tapping my fingers to a song in my head.

I had almost reached the chorus when the door opened. I turned around to see Spraggins and Troy stride into the room.

"Great," I muttered under my breath. "Now the party can begin!"

Troy glared at me as he stood at the table next to Spraggins.

"Thank you, Master Spraggins," Decklan said, smiling. Spraggins smiled back, giving a little bow. I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair, wondering what the hell was going on.

When no one spoke, I put my thoughts into words. "What the hell is going on?" I asked grumpily.

"Troy here tells me you've been quite the...er...excitable prisoner," Decklan said to me, trying to be warm.

"Yeah? And? Why should I care if he had to run to his mommy?"

Troy made a threatening move towards me, but stopped as Spraggins laid a hand on his arm, shaking his head a little. I smirked at him as he adjusted his jacket angrily.

"Miss Sparrow, it's very important that you be a good girl for us here," said Decklan. "Otherwise, we might have to hurt you. You wouldn't want that, now would you?" He gave me a knowing look, sure I would give him a fearful answer.

I glared at him. "What do you want with Ja--I mean, my father?" I asked.

Decklan chuckled, rising from his chair at the head of the table. "I see you like to get right to the point. So, I'll get right to mine." He began walking slowly around the table, on the opposite side of Troy and Spraggins. "Your father has something very valuable to us, something that we would like very much. We--"

"Cut the crap," I interrupted. "I'm not a little kid. Tell me what you want."

As Decklan shot me a glance, I felt my insides shrivel. Shit! Did I go too far? I thought fearfully.

I relaxed as he continued walking slowly towards my end of the table. "Jack Sparrow has a compass that we want," Decklan said matter-of-factly, stopping to stand over me. "Do you know of it?"

I nodded slowly. I knew the compass pointed to whatever the holder most desired--I had read that on the Internet somewhere in a synopsis for Dead Man's Chest. How did these men know of it?

"Why didn't you just take it from him when we were at the inn?" I asked. "That probably would have been a lot easier than sending your cronies after me to get beat up," I smirked at Troy, who gave me yet another murderous glance. I stuck my tongue out him and looked back at Decklan.

"Well, clearly it wasn't too hard, Miss Sparrow, as we have you now," said Decklan, leaning against the corner of the table closest to me and crossing his arms.

"True dat," I muttered.

Decklan didn't hear me. "Anyway, your father would have noticed his precious compass was missing too soon," he continued.

"And he wouldn't notice that his own daughter was missing?" I asked dubiously. "Brilliant plan. Really. I applaud you." I clapped my hands sarcastically. "Whoo-hoo!"

Decklan only chuckled again as I stopped my applause. "We figured Jack would willingly hand over his compass for someone he loved very much," he said.

I snorted, trying to hold back a laugh. I clapped a hand over my mouth.

"Is something funny, Miss?" Decklan asked politely.

I shook my head quickly, my hands still clamped over my mouth.

Decklan rolled his eyes. "What is it?" he asked dangerously.

I shut up. "Uh...I don't think Ja--my dad feels that strongly about me," I said, letting a smile creep across my face. Jack Sparrow loving a woman? Classic!

Decklan frowned and shook his head, saying, "Anyway, Miss Sparrow, this brings us back to my original point. If you continue this erratic behavior, we will hurt you."

I considered this. "I thought you said my father would want me back in one piece," I said innocently.

All three of the men stared at me.

"O-kay. Apparantly I wasn't supposed to know that," I muttered.

Decklan shot murderous glances towards the other two men in the room, who shrugged and shook their heads, looking clueless. Which wasn't much of a feat, actually.

Decklan turned his glare back onto me. "Lock her in the brig," he said darkly.

"What, not trying to be nice anymore?" I asked coolly as Troy and Spraggins seized my arms and hoisted me out of the chair.

"Well, nice party, thanks for inviting me!" I called to Decklan as his two men dragged me out of the room.

When we entered the brig room, the men shoved me inside, slamming the door shut and locking it quickly as if I might turn around and pounce on them.

"Thanks, guys, I had a lovely evening," I said, smiling brightly. "We absolutely must do this again sometime! How about your place; mine's a little cramped!"

I grinned at the joke, giving a little laugh. Spraggins chuckled a little, but his smile faded as Troy shot me a withering glance.

"You are the most obnoxious little piece of filth I've ever had the misfortune to meet," he said in a low voice, as if afraid his captain would overhear him and hurt him for insulting me.

"Your mom was a piece of filth," I muttered, sitting cross-legged on the floor, crossing my arms as well.

Troy and Spraggins looked at each other exasperatedly and then back at me.

I waved mockingly. "Buh-bye! You can get out of here now. Unless you wanna let me out! No? Well, then, have a good night, boy-os!"

I laughed as they left the room, shaking their heads.

"Haha! Haha, ha, oh, God!"

My jovial laugh faded into a miserable groan as I sat back against the wooden wall.

"Ohoho, why me? Why me?" I asked, dropping my face in my hands. "Even I didn't know I could be that obnoxious!"

I heard a squeaking below me. I peeked through my fingers to see a tiny gray mouse staring up at me.

Instead of jumping, I sighed, raising my hands out of my hands.

"Don't judge me, mousey," I said pathetically.

The mouse scuttled away as if in answer to my remark. I watched it miserably, thinking about how lucky it was to be able to slip through the bars. It crawled into a pile of hay...the pile of hay I had hidden the handcuffs in.

As I watched the adorable mouse disappear into the straw, an image began to form in my head.

I doubt it would work, I thought. But it's the only thing I've got to use, so I might as well use it well!

I spent two weeks on that ship before I had a chance to act. Two bloody weeks of my life wasted in the brig of that stupid ship, with idiotic pirates and a temperamental captain, all because someone wanted a special compass.

On the fifteenth day of my life as a hostage on this ship, my chance came. For the past two weeks, I hadn't let up in my plan to be the most obnoxious prisoner ever in the history of pirates. Troy never brought me my meals anymore. Usually my "waiters" varied, since I had done my best to scare them all off. I tried very hard to be annoying, and my plan worked well. I treated Spraggins to the complete lyrics of "Found A Peanut", sung by yours truly in a very high-pitched voice. I couldn't leave out "The Song That Never Ends" and "I Know A Song That Gets On Everybody's Nerves", either. I asked if any of the pirates knew if straw and hay was the same thing. When they couldn't answer, I insisted that they call it "stray" or "haw." While all of this was much fun, my favorite thing to do was to tell them stupid jokes.

"Why didn't the skeleton go to the party?" I asked one particularly dull pirate.

"Why?" He always got very excited when I told him jokes. This was common with some of the duller crew members, including the huge man, Jerry.

"Because he had "no body" to go with!" I said, beaming.

The pirate didn't get it at first. I had to explain a lot of jokes, but it sure was worth it to see their faces when it finally clicked.

Sometimes, I hosted virtual comedy nights: there would be a group of some of the dumber pirates in the room, all crowded around my cell as I earnestly told jokes, hands clasped to the bars and my chin resting on one.

"What do you call it when an elephant is doing a lot of things at once?"

"What?"

"Multitusking!"

Out of all the corny jokes I told, I never told my favorite--the one my father told me, the one about six being afraid of seven. It just didn't feel right to me.

After a long night of making the pirates laugh, I came to my next favorite joke.

I stuck my arms through the squares of my cell, to gesture better. "So, there was this bear in the woods--" I began.

We heard a door slam. We all looked around to see Captain Decklan standing inside the side door.

Frozen, we stared at each other, the happy, laughing pirates and the captain. Finally, he spoke.

"You idiots!" he roared, taking another step into the room. "Don't ya see? She's trying to get you on her side!"

Everyone stared at him. No one was prepared for what he did next.

Pushing his way through the crowd of rowdy pirates, he pulled out his long black pistol and pointed it through the bars at me, grabbing my wrists with his free hands.

There was yet another moment of silence. Then one brave pirate spoke up and said, "Aw, come on, Cap'n, we was just having some fun."

Decklan turned his gun away from me and shot the man in the chest, still with a firm grip on my wrists.

As the man fell, no one moved, not even to catch the pirate who had spoken up for me.

"I want everyone out of here now," said Decklan in a dangerously low voice. "Or does anyone else want to be shot?"

The pirates all hurried out of the doors, leaving me at the mercy of a psychopathic sea captain.

When the two doors shut, Decklan at last seemed satisfied. He turned to me, smiling as if he had not just killed a man. Who was still laying in the room, I might add--it seemed none of the pirates wanted to risk their lives for their fallen comrade.

But that would be the code, then, wouldn't it? I thought wryly as Decklan gently caressed my wrists, as if imagining himself slitting them. I was surprised he didn't, myself.

When he finally spoke, it was still in that eerily calm, quiet voice. "Just what do you think you're doing, missy?" he asked, finally releasing my arms.

I crawled backwards away from him, genuinely afraid. "Telling jokes," I said quietly.

"I could see that," he spat, waving his pistol around. "Did you think you could get some of my men on your side? Hmm?"

I shook my head quickly, wide-eyed. "No, I was just--"

I stopped short as he stood up, still brandishing his pistol. "Of course you weren't." He turned around and nudged the dead man with his foot. "I hope you realize it's your fault this man is dead," he said, looking down at him thoughtfully.

I stayed silent, returning to hold on to the bars with my hands. I didn't want to piss him off, so I didn't say what was going on in my head: My fault? My fault? You're the one who just shot him for no reason, you sick, messed up--

Suddenly he turned and pointed his pistol at me again. I froze, terrified. He smiled, kneeling to my height once more.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you right now," he said calmly, pointing the barrel directly between my eyes.

I found it hard to speak, as my mouth suddenly went incredibly dry.

"Because..." I swallowed. "Because you need me as bait so my father will come for me, and trade his compass for me," I said quietly, never taking my eyes off his pistol.

"Yes, I know that one," he said, cocking his pistol. "Give me another."

Now I stared at him in fear. "But, please, I just gave you one!" I pleaded. He didn't notice me reaching under a nearby pile of hay...

He chuckled. "Well, you have me there, Miss Sparrow," he said good-naturedly--if that phrase can be used for someone holding a gun to my head.

I found what I was looking for. Now if I could distract him just a little while longer...

"So...so you're not gonna kill me?" I asked hopefully, locking his gaze with my own. That's it, keep him talking... I thought, sliding the item to hold one end in each hand.

"I guess not." He lowered his gun, uncocking it, his eyes never leaving mine.

I let out a sigh. "That's a relief," I said, smiling a little.

He sensed something was wrong. "Why?" he asked suspiciously, frowning.

"Because then I wouldn't get to do this!" I yelled.

I whipped the iron handcuffs up and over his head, bringing them around his neck before he had time to react. I had to push his hat out of the way to clasp them on the bars of the cell, pinning him to my jail by his neck.

I knocked his pistol out of his hand and tossed it in the corner of the cell. I slammed my hand through the bars, reaching for Decklan's keys. I grabbed them easily, snagging them off of his belt where I had seen him place them after unlocking the door to his cabin two weeks ago.

With Decklan trying to grab my legs, I stood up and unlocked my cell from the inside, pushing the door open to smack his side. I darted to the corner, grabbed my belt, and buckled it on, sliding the ring of keys onto it.

As Decklan roared with rage, I stopped by the dead pirate.

"Sorry, mate," I said sincerely. "I hope you liked my jokes..."

And with that, I left the brig room, taking one of the lanterns with me to light the way around the ship.

Here came my next problem: How would I escape without one of the pirates noticing me? I decided to hide in the crow's nest. I hadn't seen anyone there the one time I had been on deck, and I dearly hoped that was the way it stayed.

I crept upstairs, miraculously not tripping. I guess fear made me agile. When I reached the deck, I saw that it was quite dark out, and there weren't many men around. I left my lantern on the stairs and stepped on deck.

I let my eyes adjust to the darkness before proceeding. When I had my bearings, I looked around for the mast, hoping to climb up the rigging and hide in the crow's nest.

I stole across the deck, not encountering any pirates. When I reached the mast, I started climbing the net-like rigging.

I was almost halfway up when I noticed someone climbing up after me. I looked down in horror to see Troy right under me. My look had cost me valuable time: When I started to climb again, he grabbed my leg and tried to pull me down. When I wouldn't budge, he yanked harder. My whole body jerked down, and he was able to grab on to my belt.

He tried using this to pull me down--or pull himself up, I wasn't sure which. My upper belt cut into my shoulder painfully. I let go of the rope with one hand, straining to reach the buckle on my chest.

I saw Troy's eyes widen as he saw what I was about to do. Before he could say anything, I had unbuckled my belt.

It slid down with the weight of my sword, knife, and Troy. The leather sliced into my neck as it fell, burning my skin. I heard a thump as Troy hit the ground--I wondered if he was okay. But then I kept climbing, ignoring the pain in my neck.

When I reached the crow's nest, I gasped in shock.

There was no bottom to it! No wonder no one was ever in it--it was impossible to stand in it! And I had climbed all this way, disarmed myself, and hurt Troy for this...

I heard an ominous 'click' behind me. I turned around slowly to see Spraggins pointing his pistol at me. I glanced down, seeing nearly the whole crew standing on the deck, all pointing their pistols at me.

"Parley?" I asked sheepishly.

Spraggins had come looking for the captain and had heard his cries in the cell room. After being released, Decklan had told him what had happened, and they had rushed off to find me.

That and Troy falling to the deck had alerted the rest of the crew to my position. Troy wasn't hurt too badly--he had managed to land on his shoulder, just leaving a bad bruise. But he was incredibly angry with me.

I was thrown into the brig again. Fortunately, someone had removed the corpse. I never found out what they did with him.

I had thought I would be punished severely that night, either beaten to a bloody pulp or killed. But miraculously, none of that happened.

I fell into a fitful sleep, dreaming up the horrible fates the crew would come up for me.

The next morning I was woken up by Jerry shaking me awake.

"Hey, I didn't ask for a wake up call," I said darkly, sitting up and stretching. "What do you want?" I asked, keeping up with my reputation as an annoying prisoner.

"The captain wants to see you on deck," Jerry said, letting a cruel smile spread onto his face. I guess he had forgotten laughing at all my stupid jokes and resorted back to Captain's pet.

I trudged upstairs with Jerry, still yawning. I didn't want him to see how scared I was.

When we arrived on deck, the whole crew was assembled there. Not a good sign.

"Hey, guys," I said to random pirates. "What's up?" They just leered at me as Jerry shoved me along.

We came to a large crowd of pirates. I could see the feather of Decklan's ridiculous hat emerging from the center of the group.

The crowd parted as Jerry and I approached, revealing Decklan standing next to...a plank.

"Oh, no," I said, letting my fear show. The crew chuckled, grinning at my terrified expression.

I looked at Decklan and noticed he was holding my belt. As I looked up at him, he grinned and pointed out to the sea.

I followed his finger to see a large island in the distance. I looked back at him in horror.

He swept an arm to the plank as if making a "ladies first" gesture.

"Take a walk," he said, and the crew laughed.

I slowly stepped up to the wooden plank, accepting my fate. There was nothing left to do.

"Any brilliant ideas for escape, Miss Sparrow?" I heard Decklan ask me condescendingly.

"One," I replied, peering down into the churning water. "But I'd need a lightsaber."

I grinned up at him and realized the whole crew was staring at me blankly.

My smile faded. "Heh...yeah. Star Wars," I said, clearing my throat. I had been considering trying to pull a Jedi move from Return of the Jedi, but something told me it wouldn't work as well for me as it had for Luke.

I half-turned to Decklan, eyeing my belt.

Maybe I could distract them and grab it...

"Gentlemen!" I shouted, waving my hands grandly in the air. "This is the day you will always remember as the day that you almost--"

Giving me a knowing smirk, Decklan tossed my weapons overboard.

Horrified, I jumped in without another look at the crew, hearing their cruel laughter as I fell into the ocean.

Once I was in, I swam to my belt, which I could just see under the surface of the water. I seized them and kicked up to the surface, only to be bombarded with spit from the crew.

I dove under and swam a ways away. When I surfaced again, I had had enough.

"BLOODY PIRATES!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Their laughter filled my ears as I swam towards the island.