Sunlight glared into her comfortable darkness as the hatch leading to the deck above swung open. Red blinked her eyes and buried her head in her knees as she sat on the floor, openly moping. It had been days - or so she imagined since she couldn't actually see the sun to see how long she'd been down here in this smelly hold of a pirate ship - since Hook had first visited her, believing her to be a wolf. Since, she'd been alone except for the few meals she did receive, always delivered by the spritely first mate. She'd tried scaring the little man the first time he'd come with her meal by growling, her eyes glowing a dangerous shade of red and her fangs snapping at him as she began to shapeshift. To her chagrin, the little man seemed immune to fear and he'd watched her in awe as the magnificent black fur grew in over her body and her wolf form took over.

Since she was a werewolf, and not just a beast, she had trained herself to think clearly even in wolf form, and she still remembered the little man approaching the cell with his eyes wide not from fear but from a morbid curiosity. She had snapped at him, daring him to come closer, but he'd kept a respectable distance. Realizing he wasn't afraid of her and intended to deliver her food anyway, she'd given up the charade and shifted back into her human form, fuming irritably that the show hadn't warranted the desired effect.

Instead of standing to greet Smee as he brought her the meal she was sure was coming, she sat with her head resting on her knees, content with ignoring him until he was gone.

"I've brought you something."

The voice was male (as was every other voice on the ship), and she recognized it, but it wasn't the tiny first mate. Lifting her head, she affected a glare as she looked up at the captain who stood smirking at her from the other side of the bars. She momentarily considered shifting and trying to bite off his good hand, but she knew he was too far away. He was too clever to get that close to her. Instead, her eye was drawn to his black gloved hand and a sparkling talisman resting in his palm. Tilting his hand, Hook allowed the pendant to fall free of his palm, swinging independently on its gold chain and catching the light in the most brilliant way.

The ruby was so beautiful it took her breath away, and she sucked in a gasp but struggled to maintain her composure in front of the pirate. Gliding to her feet, she tore her gaze away from the trinket to look up at her captor, her anger and growing hatred for him allowing her to glare at him once more. "Do you expect to fool me with your gifts only to allow you to murder me when we reach the shore?" she growled, crossing her arms over her chest and carefully keeping her eyes away from the beautiful gem. She had always loved red things (perhaps due to her name), and rubies were her favorite jewels. There was no way this disgusting scalawag could know such a thing about her, and she didn't intend to allow him to find out.

"Don't flatter yourself, werewolf," he laughed, his tone sharp even as he chuckled at the absurdity of the idea. "I will have your pelt when we get to shore. In the meantime, I would assure myself and my crew the safety of your presence. This," he lifted his arm so the talisman swung between them once more, drawing her eye to it unwillingly, "...is a magical trinket designed to suppress your wolf side. Surely, it won't work as adequately as whatever trick your heritage concocted for you to protect your more... bestial tendencies, but it will do the trick for now."

He tossed the necklace at her and it fell to the floor between them as Red refused to catch it. She wanted to catch it, badly, to feel the gold chain dripping over her fingers and to see the ruby gleaming against her skin, but she wouldn't. She wouldn't allow him the satisfaction of getting what he wanted. Instead, she glowered defiantly at him as he raised his eyebrows and smirked at her reaction.

"Put it on."

Red smiled darkly and leaned her hips slightly backward, using her bare foot to kick the necklace through the bars toward him where it slid to a stop at the tip of his black boot.

"No."

Hook glanced down at the necklace, a mixture of admiration and irritation crossing his unfortunately handsome features as he looked back up at her out of the tops of his eyes. "If you ever want to see the light of day again, I suggest you agree." He smiled politely (if such a thing was possible for a pirate to do), leaned over and retrieved the necklace with his hook, and offered it to her through the bars, his hooked hand glinting menacingly in the sunlight.

"If you think you can threaten me with that thing, then you are mistaken," Red remarked in a low voice, her eyes glaring into his as the necklace swung lazily between them, matching the rhythm of the ship shifting on the sea.

"If you think you aren't going to wear this talisman, then you are mistaken," Hook replied with an easy smile. He was the type to threaten without ever being aroused to anger. It irritated her - she just wanted him to get angry so she knew she was getting under his skin - but instead he simply told her his demands and she knew she must follow them. She was going to die once they reached the shore anyway and arguing with the captain of the vessel where she was imprisoned was merely futile. She hated being forced to acquiesce, but he was right: if she ever wanted to breathe fresh air again, she must give in.

Without a word, she snatched the necklace from the hook and tossed it unceremoniously over her head, trying not to look at it. The instant it touched the bare skin on her chest, she sucked in a breath. The magic of the talisman washed through her like a hot, forceful thing and she felt it suppress that basest part of her: the wolf. Testing it, she tried to change anything, but she couldn't even feel her claws grow out of her fingertips. Panic flooded into her chest, and she reached to remove the necklace but found it was impossible. It felt like a lead weight around her neck and it glimmered complacently as it remained stiffly around her neck.

Looking frantically up at Hook, she saw his smug grin as he watched the realization dawn over her. "I suppose I didn't mention you had to put it on willingly, but I'm the only one who can remove it once it's on," he remarked offhandedly, shrugging as if it was no big deal she was still imprisoned, only in a different manner.

Instinctively, Red reached out and slapped him through the bars. The attack actually surprised him, and Hook stepped away, looking at her with a moment of surprise as his composure fell for the briefest of seconds. He recovered with remarkable speed, and there was that irritatingly nonchalant smirk once again.

"I promised you sunlight, and so you shall have it. Smee!"

The flighty first mate appeared through the sunlit hatch, fabric draped over his arms as he raced to his master's side. "Yes cap'n!"

"Get her dressed before she comes above deck." Hook turned and walked away, disappearing into the sunlight as Smee smiled gleefully and held out the fabric on his arms.

"Blue or green?"

"I prefer red," she remarked flatly, feeling the need to be as contrary as possible.

"Well, neither is really closer to red than the other, but I think the green would look nice with your eyes," Smee replied, as immune to her negativity as he was to her dangerous wolf form.

After what felt like hours later (but was in reality only minutes), Red straightened the green dress over her hips and allowed Smee to lead her up the staircase into the now deepening sunlight. To her chagrin, the little man was right. The green looked lovely with her eyes. He had held up a broken piece of a looking glass for her to untangle her hair, and the green dress had illuminated her eyes in the most wonderful way. This returned a thread of confidence to her as she followed the first mate above deck.

The sun was dropping toward the horizon as she emerged out of the hold, and Killian caught sight of her instantly. It wasn't hard, even if the entrance to the hold hadn't been positioned in the direct center of the deck. Her black hair caught the dying rays of the sun, illuminating it with red streaks, and the green velvety dress accented her eyes perfectly. If he'd been able to ignore her natural beauty before, he was incapable of doing so now. Her hair curled in soft ringlets down around her shoulders, and although it hadn't been fixed, it naturally framed her face as she stared defiantly around the deck while her eyes adjusted to the light.

He was out of her line of sight and allowed himself a moment to recover from the unexpected sight of her before setting his face with its usual smug grin as he leaned on the railing and watched his crew circle her. She drew herself up tall and glared them down, daring them to challenge her even though they wouldn't. They may tease her a bit, but they knew better than to threaten her. Although she wore the talisman around her neck suppressing her wolf form, their captain had made express demands not to touch her as they did with the other females they took onto their ship. Unsure of how capable the necklace was at controlling her werewolf form, Killian didn't want her rankled to the point that she would break free of its power. Even so, the crew circling her, openly commenting on her curvaceous form and beautiful porcelain skin and black hair, and her peeved glares in return entertained him to no end. She didn't know he'd ordered them not to touch her, and her discomfort and disgust was amusing to say the least.

"Easy boys," the captain called from his perch beside the steering column, drawing Red's attention to him immediately. "Dinner will be served soon. Let the lass eat before you tear into her." He smiled irascibly as Red glared up at him, and the pirates laughed gaudily, dispersing toward the mess hall.

Descending from the steering area as Smee took over directing the vessel, Killian examined her for her own benefit. She glared angrily at him as he sized her up, humming with approval or tsking in disapproval as he circled her. The game served to entertain him more as she pursed her lips and stared him down with a huffy frown as he returned to face her.

"It fits nicely, although you could do to lose a few pounds in your hips." It wasn't true, but it pissed her off, and that amused him.

"Because you would know," she snapped sarcastically, turning away from him and walking to the railing to look out across the ocean toward the setting sun. Her black hair blew in the natural breeze thrown off of the ocean across the ship, and she raised her chin into the wind, admiring the sunset.

"I consider myself something of a connoisseur on women's body parts."

The comment nettled her further, but she ignored him as she watched the waves lapping the sides of the ship. A swift breeze danced through the full skirt of the green dress, tossing her hair away from her face as Red turned to look back at the sun. This man hoped to irritate her, to push her to her limits, and she couldn't allow him to do so. She would surprise him by remaining unaffected by his crass words. She wasn't a typical lady anyway, and she wouldn't feign offense like those vapid women who felt a need to disapprove simply because society expected it from them. She could disapprove in her own way and prove she was not merely one of his treasures he could do with as he pleased. If he was going to skin her the moment they reached the shore, then she would live her life in her own way until that time.

"I'm sure you think more highly of yourself than is accurate," she commented easily, turning slightly to raise an eyebrow as she looked at him. If he could barb her with his words, then she could do the same.

Hook smirked, seemingly unruffled by the jab, and moved to lean on the railing nearby, carefully out of slapping range. "I have stolen the hearts, and more, of many women, love," he replied, his eyes flashing as he glanced at her. The meaning was clear: he had bedded as many as he'd wooed. She didn't know why the comment sent a hot flash through her stomach when it should have disgusted her. Not sure how to respond, Red looked away, staring intently at the setting sun.

The ship rocked soothingly now that she was out of the hold and could see where she was going. She wondered how many days she'd been in that hold, but the only clue she got was the fact there was no land to be seen in any direction. Not being a seafarer, she had no idea how long it took for a ship to reach open waters with no land in sight, but she imagined it was at least a few days.

"Where are we going?" she asked, finally returning her gaze back to the captain.

Hook smiled mysteriously and stood, turning to head toward the mess hall toward the boisterous sounds of his crew. "That's for me to know and you to find out, lass."