Great trees blocked out the sun in the Fiery Jungle, darkening the forest shrouded in mist. Claire gazed about the frightening place in horror. Though Charlie too was frightened, he kept his cool.

"Nice place."

Claire looked at him incredulously. Charlie just shrugged.

"Not that I'd like to build a retirement home here, but the trees are beautiful."

Not saying another word, they kept moving. But they stopped to hear a popping sound coming from somewhere underneath them. As it stopped, they simply shrugged it off as they kept on. Suddenly…

WHOOSH!
A flame shot off from the ground and the hem of Claire's dressed caught fire. Charlie's eyes widen in fear as he pushed her to the ground then grabbed the hem and rubbed it in the dirt, suffocating it. When it finally died, they found themselves breathing hard.

"Well," Charlie gasped as he helped her up, "that was quite the adventure. Scorch you at all?"

Claire smiled as she shook her head. "You?"

"Nah!"

They kept on as another popping sound came. This time, Charlie held Claire back as another flame spurted from the ground.

Charlie grinned as he looked at Claire. "This place does keep you on your toes. We should have a ball here."

As they reached a path, Charlie whipped out his sword and slashed the vines in the way.

"Don't worry, Claire. This will just be bad memory. Sayid's ship, the Nadia, is waiting for her captain on the other side. Sayid. Me."

"I don't understand how though. He's been raiding the seas for twenty years. You only left me five years ago. "

Charlie continued slashing as he spoke. "You'd be amazed at how life surprises you."

There was suddenly another popping sound and Charlie pulled Claire out of harm's way. Then they continued on.

"Remember what I said about saying 'please'? That was true. Sayid was intrigued by it, and smitten by my description of you. So he made a decision and said 'Very well, Charlie. I never had a man servant before. You can try it tonight. You'll most likely die tomorrow.' He said that for three years. 'Good night, Charlie. Good work. Sleep well. You'll most likely die tomorrow.' Fine time for me. I was learning to fence, fight, and just about anything anyone would teach me, including how to drink poison without dying. And Sayid and I finally became good friends. Then, one day…"

He stopped in mid-sentence, as though trying to find the right words.

"What?" Claire asked. "Please, tell me."

Finally, Charlie spoke. "Sayid grew so rich, he wanted to retire. So he took me to his cabin and told me his secret…He said…'I'm not the Dreaded Pirate Sayid. My name is Desmond. I inherited the ship from the previous Dread Pirate Sayid, just as you will inherit it from me.' The man he inherited from wasn't the real Dread Pirate Sayid either. His name was Jin. Turns out, the real Sayid retired fifteen years ago and has been living like a king in Iraq. Then he told me that the name was what was important for inspiring fear. After all, who'd surrender to the Dread Pirate Charlie? So we sailed ashore, took on an entirely different crew, and he stayed aboard for as first mate, all the time calling me Sayid. Once he was convinced that the crew believed, he left and I have been Sayid ever since. But, now that we're together, I'll retire and give the name to another. Makes sense?"

Before Claire could reply, she vanished underneath white sand. Charlie quickly snatched a nearby vine, cut it loose, and after taking a deep breath, while holding on to the vine, he dived into the sand. Underneath, unable to see, he frantically waved his hand about searching for any trace of Claire. He finally got a hold of a silk dress and pulled her over. After feeling a pair of arms wrapped around his neck he climbed up the vine and then…the two of them gasped for air as they exploded out of the sand. Both of them were now laying on the ground breathing and coughing, both shook-up by the near death-experienced.

Claire finally burst into tears of dread. Charlie embraced her, hoping he would be able to calm her. Just as frightened as she was, he could do nothing but hold her tight, as though letting go would be the end of the world.

His thoughts were interrupted by strange sound. A sound of hissing and clicking. Charlie's eyes darted back and forth looking for the source of the terrifying sound echoing around them.

Claire's sobs drowned out the sound. "We're not going to make it. We might as well just die now."

Charlie pulled away, shaking his head. "No, Claire. We have made it."

Charlie stood up and helped Claire to her feet. After grabbing his sword from the ground, they moved on.

"C'mon. What are the three main horrors of the Fiery Jungle? Flame Spurt. Pffft! Piece of cake! Popping sound before each one. The White Sand. You were clever enough to discover it on your own. So next time, we'll be more careful and we'll be able to avoid it."

"But Charlie! What about the U.S.M.?"

"The 'Un-named Smoke Monster?'" Charlie asked incredulously before shrugging. "Probably doesn't even exist."

A sudden CRASH! was then heard! Claire and Charlie looked behind them to see several trees being torn from the ground and thrown aside, as a cloud of black smoke moved in their direction.

"CLAIRE, RUN!! DON'T LOOK BACK!!"

Without another thought they ran for their lives, with a bone-chilling howling sound behind them.

AN: BUM BUM BUUUUUUUUUUM! What do you think?

How's true love gonna survive this one? R&R to find out.

And let this serve as a lesson: Don't say something doesn't exist, it'll prove you wrong.