That night, I found it nearly impossible to get to sleep. I don't know why, I just did. Staring up at all those stars... it filled me with peace, and unfortunately, insomnia. I would have tried counting (prehistoric) sheep, but that actually doesn't work at all. Seriously, go check it on the internet. (Oh, and just for other reference, cheese doesn't give you nightmares either! :P)

I looked around at the rest of the herd, all of whom were sleeping soundly: Ellie, Peaches and the possum twins (Both of which I was still pretty annoyed at) hung from their tails on an oak branch, Manny sleeping soundly beneath them against the trunk of the tree, Shira and Diego cuddled up together (If I took a picture of that, it would have made AWESOME blackmail!) inside a mini-cave, Sid and Granny were sleeping in a separate shelter, where I was sat cross-legged, wondering why the heck I was still awake. Louis had gone home to his family, so there was no one to talk to. No one else except - wait, what was the noise that I had heard just then?

My eyes darted towards the bushes, where the familiar sound of a twig snapping had come from. I scrambled to my feet, anxious to find out whatever made the noise. Perhaps it was one of the pirates... ? No, wait, stupid idea, Tasmin! Huh, would you look at me, I was referring to myself by my new name already.

Well, whatever that noise was, I was bound find out, otherwise I'd never get a good night's sleep with the thought of being watched hovering in the back of my mind. I edged further towards the bush, feet silently padding across the clearing. Reaching the edge, I slipped through the barrier of leaves, unprepared for the sight that met my eyes.

A cowering rabbit stood in front of me, one paw protecting her face, the other shakily poising a fishbone dagger at me. Her fur might have been a gentle cream colour before, but now it was stained a faint auburn with blood and dirt. There was signs of warfare on her body - three crusty scars on her neck, scabs on her knees and elbows, as well as a large chunk of flesh that had been ripped savagely from the tip of her right ear.

"Нет! Уходи! У меня есть меч!"

"Huh?" I replied, with no clue as to what she was saying.

"Begone! I have a weapon!" she repeated, in English this time.

"Hey, hey," I held up my own paws, backing off very slowly, "I'm not gonna hurt you! You're safe here!"

The doe lowered her sword, hesitating, her expression lightening slightly.

"Yes, that's good," I said softly, encouraging her, "Now, drop the skull, okay? I promise, you'll be fine. I won't lay a finger on you as long as you don't hurt me."

She paused, before following my instructions. The swordfish head made a dull 'smush' on the dew-soaked greenery underneath our feet. The girl sighed.

"извините. You must excuse my actions. It has not been easy recently."

"I can tell," I replied sympathetically, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder, which she did not shrug off. "What's your name?" I asked, as I didn't want to have to refer to her as just "rabbit".

"My name?" I saw her hesitate again before answering my question, "My name is свобода. In your language, it means freedom, or liberty."

"Okay then, I'll call you Liberty. But is Libby okay, just to make it easier?"

'Libby' nodded. "дa, Yes, that is fine."

I smiled. "So, Libby..." I wondered what I should say, "What brings you here?"

Liberty looked around as if to check there were no prying ears, before she whispered, "I am running away."

"Running away?" I repeated, baffled.

"SHH!" she snapped urgently. I nodded, lowering my voice too.

"Why are you running away? And who from?"

She sighed once again. "Everything. I have had a dark past, I needed a new start. Travelling to Switchback Cove seemed like the only way."

I raised one eyebrow. So Liberty knew what the island was called? Had she too, perhaps, known of this place before?

"I used to be a member of a sea crew," she continued, "But the captain was a harsh master who knew only of evil deeds. It was only by seeing through the eyes of his victims that I was able not to be brainwashed by his bitter lust for revenge against the world."

My eyes widened. Surely, she didn't mean who I thought she did... "Did this captain, by any chance... was a he a giant ape named Gutt?"

"Yes!" she gasped, shocked, "How did you know?"

"Well, I... I've heard of him," I confessed, "He's famed for his flesh-ripping claws, right?"

Liberty nodded, shuddering. "Yes, he is. I should know, too." She gestured towards the marks on her neck. Now that I saw her wounds up close, they looked pretty grisly. And that was saying something, since I wasn't too bad with gore. I'd made it through a complete dissection of a sheep's heart and lungs during Biology, whilst Becca (along with some other weak-stomached students) was forced to retreat to the other side of the lab to avoid throwing up.

I winced. "Ouch, that looks... painful."

She laughed shakily. "It was! So was this." she pointed towards her ear. "I had it torn out by пиранья, the piranha."

"Ay ay ay!"

We laughed and talked for a while. I learnt that Liberty had been born here on the island, and first set out to sea at the tender age of nine (in rabbit years XD) after her parents and siblings were killed in a raging fire. Liberty herself had been playing with her friends at the time, so she was the only kit left in her family. She thought joining the pirates would mean she would have a new family and exciting time sailing to far-flung places of the world, finding exotic new fruits to feast upon. However, she soon discovered her new daily routine to be a boring composition of mopping deck floors and running errands for each member of the crew.

The only thing that kept her going through the day was knowing that Squint (who she had taken a shine to) would be there to tell her stories and make her laugh at the end of the day, when everyone else was asleep. I smiled at knowing what it was like to have that brotherly comfort. My older half-brother Damien always stopped by to see us every once in a while when he wasn't working, and he usually had me in stitches from all the ridiculous stuff he did. As a child I always used to 'glomp' him whenever he walked through the door to greet us after a long day at college. I could see that Liberty had been blessed with the same sort of bond to Squint as I had to Damien.

I could tell how fond she was of him because of the way her eyes shone when his name was mentioned, either by her or anyone else. I can imagine a younger Liberty babbling to Raz about what Squint had been up to while the Procoptodon rolled her eyes and chuckled.

It was only later Liberty realised she was being drawn into a way of evil, especially when she was deemed 'old' enough to take part in a pillaging. I remember her saying to me, "One glance at the terror on our targets' faces was enough to let the fact dawn on me that this was wrong. I knew then I had to get out of there, and fast."

That night, she tried to escape by jumping off the ship, only to run into the piranhas who took away a little fleshy momento after their fight with her. However, Squint had spotted she was missing and alerted Gutt, who had pulled her to the deck on a vine.

"He said he had rescued me because he thought it was a pity to see such a promising pirate go to waste," she shook her head sadly, "But I saw past his motives to keep me alive. He only wanted me there to slave after them, almost as if he enjoyed watching me scrub my pawpads raw day after wretched day. I eventually managed to sneak off when we docked here..." she gestured around us, "and I've lived here ever since. Which brings us to now."

I shook my head. "You've definitely not had the best of times, have you?" I said, spurting my thoughts out right there in the cold night air.

Liberty smiled weakly. "You could say that. I've been moving around the island every month. The hyrax always help me though, they keep me safe. They're a lot tougher than they look, you know."

Hm, I guess Sid isn't the only one who can communicate with those fuzzy little creatures!, I thought, grinning inwardly. A new thought suddenly struck me, and I turned to face Liberty. "Look, if there's anything you need, any herbal remedies for those injuries..." I saw Liberty tut at the though of using medicine, "Or even just a little bit of food, I'm only in the clearing over there." I nodded towards the bushes. Her eyes flickered over the greenery, trying to see through into the herd's home. It was a while before she spoke again,

"I accept your help. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some - uhm, business - I need to take care of. Goodbye for now, Tasmin Possum."

"Bye, Libby." I replied quietly, watching her hop away into the darkness.