Author's Note-- Sorry it's taken so long for this update. School is like a madhouse at the moment, if our noses were pressed to the grindstone any harder I'm sure people would be sueing for loss of limb (not that the nose is a limb... but still...). Anyway, here you go!

Chapter 6

I pretend to be thinking about the matter, but really have my mind already set- the hurt and anger from being betrayed did that for me.

"Well, Sierra… What say you?"

I look up into Jack's dark eyes.

"I'll go do it. Anything to wipe the silly smug looks they have no doubt been wearing off their faces. In thinking that they could trick a woman such as me… The daughter of a… pirate… Then they have grossly miscalculated". I jut my chin into the air defiantly, determined not to show how much I am affected by having to verbally admit that Denver Falcon was my father- it just seems to finalise this nightmare as real.

"Excellent! Let's have a drink to celebrate!" Sparrow rummages under the papers on the desk, and brings up another bottle of rum. Uncorking it, he takes a huge swig and then offers the bottle to me. However, he withdraws his hand slightly at the look on my face, and a slightly saddened look crosses his face.

"No?"

"Captain Sparrow, this is hardly the time for celebrating. We have a pirate and a man who would rather trade me in for a chest of gold… or whatever this treasure is… on our heels, and all you can think about is having a drink. No, instead, tell me how my locket is going to help find this Island where Falcon has hidden his treasure."

"There's never a wrong time for rum, luv. But, if you insist…"

"…And I do…" I interrupt.

"… Then I will explain about the locket." Sparrow continues. Flipping the locket so it is open, he gestures at the painting.

"Now this is your father here… A striking picture I must say, and you do bear such resemblance to him… But it is of no interest when it comes to what we're trying to find. The interest comes when we look at this rather unusual rock here…

"This rock in itself is a clue- and a fairly obvious one, I must say- Falcon apparently had no real desire to set any challenge to anyone in his family when it came to finding what he has left behind. This type of rock…" With this, he tilts it under the light so the iridescent colouring shines out, and then continues. "…Comes from only one place in the Caribbean- a small and hard to find place known as Isla Del Espejos- which roughly translates as The Island of Mirrors. The name comes from the type of rock it is made from- this stuff here."

I remember Gibb's entry and his words- "Captain, we're still on course for Isla Del Espejos". Somehow, Jack had known that I would have accepted his story and agreed to join him in finding Falcon's treasure. He obviously knows me better than I know myself.

"So, by using my tremendous intuition… And a good bit of guesswork… I have come to the conclusion that this island is where Falcon hid the treasure. So, all that's left to do is find the island, grab the treasure for ourselves and leave Serpiente and Chalmes with nothing. Simple, aye?"

"In principle, yes." I reply. "But there are a few problems- one, how are you going to find this Island? Have you ever been there before? And two, just how do we set about stealing the treasure away from Serpiente and Chalmes when they are hotter on our heels than a bloodhound after a fox? We surely could not get there, take the treasure, and slip away before they arrived?"

"In answer to question one- no, I've never been to this Island before, but for me locations have never been a very big problem. You see, I have a rather handy piece of equipment…"

Sparrow leans past me and picks something up from the table. I see it is the compass that I had discovered earlier when I was rummaging around on the table, and I try not to laugh.

"Captain… I am afraid that compass is broken. It does not point true, if you hadn't noticed. So, unless you have a better one, I think we may end up going around in circles..."

Jack rolls his eyes, looking impatient.

"Just because it doesn't do the job everyone expects it to do doesn't mean it's broken, Sierra. It works just fine for the job I need it for. Trust me on this one."

I still feel doubtful, but before I can press any further Jack moves on the conversation.

"And as for question two- we're on the fastest ship in the Caribbean, luv. Nothing can keep up with us for long, although I do intend to give the 'Serpent' a fair chance at following us. Just follow orders and you will have your revenge. You have my word on it. Now…" Jack rises and strolls over to the door "… I have some business to tend to. And no doubt you wish to have some time alone to think this all over, Sierra. A cabin has been prepared especially for you- I will just find a hand to show you to it."

Opening the door he pokes his head out into the sunlight, glancing around.

"Cotton!"

I walk up behind Jack, and see over a man with grey hair and a beard come rushing over, a brightly coloured parrot sat on his shoulder.

Jack looks pleased to see him.

"Ah, Mr Cotton. Would you kindly escort Sierra to her cabin?"

Curiously, it is the bird who answers.

"Raawk! Wind in your sails! Wind in your sails!"

"Thank you, Cotton. Sierra, please follow this fine gentleman. I will see you later, no doubt- feel free to come up on deck whenever you feel like it, but just be careful you don't get in the way too much. I doubt you will, you look like a nice, self-contained woman… But just to make sure." Jack gently guides me out the door by putting his hand on the small of my back- just high enough up to be deemed acceptable. Once out the door, I turn around to make some comment about this, but find the door has been quickly shut behind me.

Sighing, I follow Mr Cotton and his parrot down below decks, not noticing the crimson sails that are just visible on the horizon.

The bed I have been given is mildly more comfortable than the one I had previously, but not by much. However, all of a sudden I am too tired to care- I can only have been awake for a couple of hours, and yet it feels like days.

The sedative might not have worn off fully yet… I remind myself, lying back. My head is swimming with all the information I have received, and yet at the same time I feel oddly calm. Soon, my eyelids are drooping and I drop off to sleep.

It is not the deep, dreamless sleep though. My subconscious must be more troubled than I had previously thought, because strange dreams punctuate my rest, making me start awake a few times. Many times, I see faces- my mother, next to a man I have only recently begun to recognise as my father, both with jet black hair that blows in a wind I can't feel. They are staring down at me, as though I am held in my mother's arms, and the happiness I can see on their faces is almost too much for me to bear.

Other times, I see Robert Chalmes, but he seems to have subtly changed since the last time I saw him. Now, what I considered before to be a rather jolly rotund figure is now grotesque, bulging out of all the gaps in his clothes. The look in his eyes is one of pure greed, leering at me and straining forwards to grab his prize. In contrast, the man nearby to him has no sign of emotion, whether good or bad, in his eyes at all. They are completely cold and lifeless, and staring at me without wavering. It is these eyes-Serpiente's eyes- that seem to shake me the most, as after I see his face seems to be when I start awake, only to fall back into the same restless sleep soon after.

This trend continues for an eternity. I constantly toss and turn, desperately trying to rid myself of these visions, but to no avail- they haunt every corner of my mind. Finally though, I am brought out of my sleep by a loud knock on the door, causing me to shoot upright on my bed, nearly falling off it.

"Who is it?" I call, trying not to sound too flustered. However, there is no answer, so I have to stand and walk over to the door to investigate for myself.

It's probably Sparrow trying to play a joke on me… I could see him enjoying that…

However, when I swing the door wide open I see nobody there, Jack or otherwise. The corridor is completely deserted- I even check behind the door itself to make sure no-one is creeping up on me.

Shrugging to myself, I turn to head back into my cabin to tidy up my bed before I head onto deck- although I have no idea what time it is I am sure there will be an able hand up there to help me out.

I find myself staring into cold, dead eyes.

Screaming, I stumble backwards into the door that has shut behind me. There is little light now, but this only makes it worse- I can hardly see where the man is. Only fleeting movements in some corners of the room help me to guess where he might be. However, his eyes are still burnt into my memory, holding me in their icy grip.

Then I feel a hand grip my arm, cold and clammy. Screaming again, I try to shake it off, but the hold it has on me only tightens. A voice whispers out of the darkness, softly calling my name and sending ice-cold shivers up my spine.

"Sierra…"

Then the voice gets louder, and more insistent. Instead of being such a sinister whisper, it takes on a warmer tone, with a slightly slurred accent. The hand gets warmer too, although its grip does not loosen.

I open my eyes, which I had squeezed shut at some point, and find myself staring, not into those dead colourless eyes, but a pair of rich chocolate ones.

"Sierra!" Jack calls my name again then, seeing I am awake, relinquishes his grip on my arm.

I look around, confused. Once again I am lying on my bed, but the darkness has gone, along with the figure that was here. I sit up, feeling slightly shaky.

"Wha… What happened?"

"You were screaming enough to raise Davy Jones, luv… some sort of bad dream I expect?... I came in here to wake you, but you were having none of it, just screaming and trying to shake me off. You're quite strong when you need to be." Jack grins slightly.

"There was a man… Serpiente, Jack! Paul Serpiente was in here!"

"No luv, no… It was all in your head… Relax, he was never here. It's only been me the whole time."

"Well, that's almost as bad…" I mutter to myself.

"Sorry? I didn't quite catch that last bit." Sparrow cups his hand around his ear, as though it will enable him to hear better.

"Nothing…" I reply. Now I find out it was once again all in my head I feel very stupid. Nevertheless, it all seemed so real at the time…

"Don't let it get you down, Sierra. Dreams are only dreams after all- they can't hurt you in real life. Now, let's forget about it and what say you to coming up on deck to enjoy some fresh night air, ay?"

Jack stands, walks over to the door, then looks behind expectantly at me. Shaking my head, I rise as well and briefly try to smooth my very crumpled and worse-for-wear dress. Sparrow watches with an amused look in his eyes.

"And I think we're going to have to find you some more clothes, don't you?"

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Jack's Savvy Lass-- Aww, thanks very much for the compliment! I like to know that people like my style... Sometimes I think it's a bit long-winded and... well... English. Lol!

Twadrummer-- Yep, bet you just thought that Almsworth was going to be some random guy who just randomly appears at the start, and then is never heard of again... HA! Fooled you! Lol.

Lady Kiara Skywalker-- Yes! Revenge! Always Revenge! Muahaha... Ahem... Excuse me...

Crazy-Obsessed-Jacksparrow-Fan-- Aye aye Capitan! I will strive to add to this story whenever I can... Dodging around my mountains of A-Level work...

Chocolat Pirate-- Good to know this story is keeping up the same level of quality! I write some bits later at night than others (as in a LOT later!) so I'm glad my mind is still functioning at that point! And yaaarrr! Was is really around the 19th of September I last updated! Slaps self on wrists. Bad HamsterBall, must update faster!