speak of the devil

so jack wanted her here but at the same time he didn't? he was so confusing. she wished he would just chose. she smiled gently in her pretend sleep, thinking that maybe jack actually did want her here with him.

after listening for awhile she actually fell asleep. by morning she woke up. it looked like jack had pushed her off of him or she had rolled off. she sat up and scratched the back of her head. " morning." she whispered she looked from jack to fritz neither looked like they had gotten any sleep. both pirates had bags under their eyes. Meredith sighed softly

" jack its your turn to sleep. me and fritz can row for a bit." she stated

she tried to take the oar away from him but h wouldn't hand it over

" jack just let me help!" she said

"No! It's MY oar!" He snatched it back. He was afraid to share with her. He was afraid to...feel for her.

He was a PIRATE DAM IT ALL...or so he believed.

"Gala, are we there yet?" Refusing to sleep. What if he woke up next to her again?

"Almost. We need to go through a valley, across a river, then up a mountain side."

"All that?" Fritz sighed as if exhausted by the very thought.

merdith " fine then fritz you sleep." she said taking the oar from him nicely

she glared at jack I was trying to be nice you know!" she snaped at him

beginning to row she looked at jack ' you don't have to be mean 24/7. its not like it would kill you to be nice for five minutes." she said and looked out at the water remembering how the water heals. she thought about it

"How else do you think I've lived for so long?" He mused, teasing her. Finally when they got to the shore, Gala had them get off. Fritz was rested so he got up pretty easy. Jack looked haggard.

"Now we walk through the trees, to the valley. Come on." Gala motioned.

"Ugh..." Jack swayed with exhaustion.

Meredith " ive gotten along just fine and ive been nice." she said and walked with them.

" jack you look tired." she said and smirked " maybe youll fall asleep on the way and get eaten!" she said then chuckled and started walking. she looked back at him " sorry that was mean." she muttered. and kept walking looking around.

she touched one of the trees leafs softly and it crumbled at her touch. shesighed and looked at the boys " fritz. what kinda trees are these?" she asked

"Lay off..." Jack grumbled. Then she spoke of him getting eaten. It was the first real attack on him that he's heard her say. Although she did apologize, he was intrigued with her roughness.

"I have no idea, Lass." Fritz told her.

"They are caramel trees. You can eat the leaves." Gala giggled.

"Hn?" Jack popped one in his mouth. "Oooo..." He took handfuls.

Meredith looked down and sat against the tree. she felt bad for being harsh to jack. she watched the boys eat the leafs. she took one for her self. she had never really liked caramel, she sighed and looked at jack. he seemed to be enjoying himself.

"she stood up and picked one of the flowers near by, it was red. it smelt of cherries " whats this gala?" she asked just then she saw another fairy appear from inside the flower

"Chikory, hello!" Gala waved. The silent fey fluttered and then saw Jack munching away. His handsome features captured her heart instantly. And fairies hearts were so small that they had room for one love, and Chikory chose Jack. Shifting, the new fey was as tall as Meredith. She walked up to Jack, turned him around and SMOOCH.

Meredith looked at her shocked. she watched for a second. then stood up and walked off. leaving the group. she walked over to a differint tree that was quite away from every one and sat against it crying softly.

no why was she crying. she shouldn't be crying because some one kissed jack. jack wasn't hers and she wasn't his. but why was she being so affected over that kiss? jelous? no she didn't love jack! she thought for a minute. jack was jack. she couldn't love jack. she put her head in her hands wiping at her eyes. but if she didn't love him why was she crying?

"Mff." Jack pushed the fey away, but Chikory only smirked. "What the hell? Who- who are- Where's Meredith?"

"She ran off over there." Fritz pointed. Chikory followed after Jack. She didn't hold on to him, but she was very close.

"Mere? Mere?" Jack called for her.

Meredith stayed silent. she backed up against the tree. whyhad he come looking for her? and why was he calling her mere. her name was Meredith! she had to admit that she liked the idea of him giving her a nick name. she saw his feet. and held her breath not wanting to be found. she wiped her eyes.

if he saw her crying hed ask whats wrong then shed have to explain why she was crying; and that she dosnt love him but dosnt like the fey kissing him. she still wasn't sure why it affected her that way, its not like jack kissed the fey the fey kissed him. plus she didn't even know jack she barely knew him. it wasn't her place to get jelous he was just her savior nothing more right?

"Mere!?" Jack was getting annoyed.

"Hm..." Chickory hummed. Jack looked down at her, a frown on his face. "If you like me so much, then find my friend!" He snapped. The Fey sighed and fluttered around to search for Meredith. When she saw her, she made a little twinkling noise. Jack pulled Meredith from the shadows, confused to see her tears.

"What's the matter?" He asked. "Are you hurt?"

Meredith pulled out of his grip." im fine." she said and wiped her eyes.

" just go back to kissing your fey." she said and looked down. she sighed.

she didn't want to seem mean but she didn't want him to figure out what she was trying to decide. did she love him? she couldn't. he hated her. even if she did love him then he would tease her for it. its what he did... that was just his personality now.

why did he even have to come find her? hes the one who wanted her gone. he had made that very clear. but then agin what happened when she was 'asleep' made her question what he wanted.

"Hm..." Jack grumbled. Well if that's how she was going to act. Jack turned away, but before he left he spoke.

"Well, at least your not hurt." He was right, she had not one scratch on her...not physically anyway. Fritz, Gala, and now Chikory, joined Jack and Meredith for the journey to the valley. Along the way, Jack began falling asleep as he walked.

Meredith " we should stop for the night." she spoke up.

" jacks gonna fall asleep soon, and I think we all could use a bit of sleep." she said and looked at them.

she hadn't spoke the whole time expect for that moment. you could see some of them were surprised she ws talking again. she looked at jack holding up for he was already half asleep.

"Hm." Chikory pulled him away from Meredith, laying him to the ground. Jack was knocked out from being so tired. The fey sat on his shoulder when she shifted to be small. Curling up next to his face. Fritz patted Meredith on the shoulder.

"I hear faeries are fickle. Don't get too upset."

Meredith looked shocked " upset?! im not upset!" she lied and moved away from everyone leaning agasint a tree. she wasn't doing very well at her plan to distract from getting home she wasn't sure if she wanted to use the plan anymore. she looked at jack sleeping.

he looked so peaceful sleeping. but that damn fairy ruined the whole image.
( sorry writers block)

Waking the next morning, the group trudged on to the valley ahead. The day was not eventful, compared to the days before. The faeries, Gala and Chikory were chit chatting on and on as they flew ahead of the group. Jack was whistling. He had a great night's sleep, a fun dream, and the day was warm. He was too occupied with whistling that he did not see the booby-trap he was walking into. Jack was in the middle of a song, just feet away from getting to the valley out of the trees, when his foot was caught.

"AAAAH!!" He yelled, getting swung upside down. Dangling from the tree, an alarm was set off. Gala freaked out and vanished. However, Chikory was not going to leave her love! Fritz pulled out a knife, but he couldn't reach the rope.

"Can you do it?" He asked Meredith. Chikpry flicked her gaze at the knife, then at Meredith. Was the fey going to steal Meredith's thunder?

Meredith was listening to jack whistle softly someone sure was in a good mood. It wasn't that she was in a bad mood, she was just not in a good mood either. her feet and legs were sore from all the walking and she was hungry since she hadn't ate any of the carmal trees leafs. all of a sudden jacks whistling stoped and jack was hung up side down by his ankle. at frits it was silent,but the silence only lasted about 1/3 of a second then a loud and quite obnoxious alarm started ringing. fritz was quick on his feet pulling out a knife and trying to cut jack loose. but he couldn't quite reach the rope to save his friend. fritz looked over at Meredith with a look of dismay.

Meredith grabed the knife quickly and glared at the fey for a second before cutting jack lose.

jack would have fallen on his head if fritz hadn't been quick to think. fritz had caught him he quickly put him down then looked at Meredith. who simply smiled.

Meredith handed the knife back to fritz " watch were your going cap'n" she said and began walking

Jack was wide eyed and stood up. Chikory nuzzled his wrist, wrapping herself around his arm. He ignored her and walked after Meredith. He was about to call her, but then Orc came thundering over.

"Watch out!" Jack said, grabbing Meredith's hand and running. All four of them yelled and ran, going straight through the meadow. Deer and rabbits and skunks jumped out of the way as the four passed by.

"Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-" Jack screamed, an Orc gaining on them. Chikory blasted a tiny barrage of fire crackers at the thing, which made the Orc fall. Just as this was happening a rain cloud formed above them and fog dragged through.

"This is unnatural." Fritz worried. Everything was dead quiet...then a soft hissing was heard.

Meredith " jack im scared." she whispered as they ran squeezing his hand tightly. she was rreally scared. this place wasn't normal. its like it was set up to kill any humans who some how managed to get there. Meredith whished she hadn't been one of the lucky ones to end up here. she bet jack did too if they werent here then all of jacks crew and his captain would still be a live. but then again Meredith wouldn't be getting closer to jack. jack wouldn't be holding her hand now would he?

she wondered what would happen when they finnaly got home. would jack and fritz ditch her to find a new crew and go pirating or would they stay with her?

"Don't be..." Jack unsheathed his cutlass. Fritz did the same. Everyone was listening, or trying to, through the fog. The noises around them seemed so strange. Like a dull heavy thing was being dragged around. And it was surrounding them.

"Jack." Fritz spoke quietly.

"What?"

"I think we should run...."

"Meredith...you up for it?" Jack was worried she might be too tired, or that her foot would get caught on a rock.

Meredith nodded kind of unsure. she wasn't exactly the most coordinated person. she griped jacks hand. " still hold my hand ok?" she saidlooking at him

she wasn't going to lie she was scared. who wouldn't be scared of a gigantic troll chasing after them? but that wasn't the inly thing she was scared that if she triped that jack and fritz wouldn't stop. that theyd keep running to save them selfs. jack was the one who said next humans they see she was gone right? so if she wwere to die wouldn't it just make his life easier

"Jack, we should run." Fritz was more pressing.

"Yes, I heard you!" Then- "DUCK!" All four dropped to the ground as the head of a massive snake lunged out a them. As it recoiled for another strike, Jack go up, running with Meredith. Fritz and Chickory followed suit. But then Jack ran right into the body of the snake. It had indeed surrounded them!

"What the?" Jack turned around, just as the head of the snake flew at Meredith. Jack pushed her down and rammed the cutlass up the head of the snake, from inside it's mouth. The snake fell, and so did Jack. A fang cut deep into his arm.

Meredith ran over to him " you idiot! whyd you save me?" she questioned grabing his arm.

she looked at his arm. luckily her shirt was a little damp she qrong out one of the ends onto his arm softly then kissed the remaining scar. " please be more careful." she said

she looked up and saw the troll approaching "RUN!"

"Come on Jack!" Fritz helped him up and they dodged a blow from the Troll. Chikory spewed more fire-rocks, but then led the way out of the fog. When they cleared, they were right up against a cliff. The shear face was higher than any of them could see. Chikory was panicking, pointing to the direction they should have gone.

"Follow her!" Jack yelled, reaching out to grab Meredith's hand. They ran wildly, hearing the Troll fading as they went through another bit of fog. Then, Chikory had them stop. She lit up as bright as she could, motioning them to stay quiet. The fog was still around them a bit, but they saw it was a cave she was going through. As they went in deeper, Jack held Meredith close. All this life and death was putting things in perspective, and one thing he was sure about...was that he can't let go of Meredith.

"Are you alright?" He whispered.

"Sh!" Chikory was very serious, and wide eyed. As she pointed up at the ceiling, they saw massive herds of vampire-like humanoids hanging down. They were all asleep for now.

Meredith clung to him tightly. she glanced up at the things above her. then nodded at him to tell him that she was alright.

as they came to the end of the large cave things took a turn for the worse. she had hit a stray rock and triped hitting her knee. she looked up at the bat like creatures. hoping that she hadn't disturbed them. she hadn't except for one. it swooped down at her baring freakishly large fangs. the terrifying sight caused Meredith to scream all the little creatures red eyes popped open as he flung them self towards the group.

"RUN!!" Jack yelled, swiping at the one who came down with his cutlass. It tried to bite Meredith, so Jack wrestled with it until he cut off it's head. The four raced out the rest of the way, dodging the others. Thankfully it was still day light, so the creatures were inclined to shriek and stay in the cave. That had freaked out Jack so much, his worry turned to anger and he spun on Meredith.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT MEREDITH!!??" He yelled, his hands on her shoulders "YOU COULD HAVE DIED! WE ALL COULD HAVE DIED!"

"Jack-"

"NO!" He snapped at Fritz. "You, will not make another mistake like that again, do you understand me?" He blinked away tears. None came out for he was an expert at doing that since he was 7. Beatings tend to harden ones tear ducts.

Meredith shrunk down. " Im sorry..." she said she wasn't as good at holding back tears as jack was. although she attempted to keep them from spilling out they did. soon tears were streaming her cheeks


" I didn't mean to jack.." she said looking down
(sorry its so short. im just so happy right now! hahah )

"There now...Are you happy?" Fritz spoke cruelly to Jack. The man knelt down the comfort Meredith. Jack suddenly felt like an ass. A Jackass. Even Chikory shook her head at him. Jack didn't know how to fix it. He didn't want to make her feel bad...but that's what happened. Fritz helped Meredith up, and the three walked ahead of Jack. The man felt so awfully bad. He dragged his feat as they made their way up to the top of the mountain. He didn't say anything. Not a thing. They set up camp and he did first watch, although he kept resting his eyes upon the sleeping Meredith. Jack wished he could talk with her, now that everything was so quiet.

"Hn." He sighed, leaning against the cavern wall. It was raining just outside.

Meredith sighed and glanced at him as they walked they walked ahead of him. after awhile they stoped to sleep.

during jacks shift she woke up and looked at him then turned away saddened automatilly what had happened. now she knew for sure that he hated her and wanted her gone. she sat up but faced away from jack she ran her fingers through her hair watching the water drip from the grayish clouds

"Hey." Jack spoke softly. He heard her wake up. Jack got his chance...or so it seemed. Now it was here, he wasn't sure what to say. Looking over, he relayed the expressions of a man of sorrow. He knew he messed up. Jack lowered his eyes for a time, then went back at the raining. He was silent for a long time, then when he shift was almost done, he turned back to Meredith. He shuffled around to sit next to her and spoke.

"I'm sorry." He told her. "You didn't know that was going to happen...you screamed because you were scared...I was an ass...a Jackass." He tried a nervous smile.

I was just afraid...that I would lose you so quickly after just realizing that I didn't want to let you go...

"You can call me Jackass if you want." He said softly.

Meredith shook her head " I don't want to." she said not looking at him.

" I didn't mean to scream I got scared..." she said and glanced at him then looked back down at the rain droplets. her shift was next. she looked t him " whyd you yell at me?" she asked

"Because I was freaked out..." He told her. And it was the truth. Then he looked around. "It's your shift."

(ooc- sorry for the one liner, writers block at the moment.)

Meredith nodded " will you stay up with me?" she questioned him softly she looked at him. then looked down.

( me too haha)

"I was just freaked out I..." Jack sighed. So how long will this go on? How much more can they survive, before he regrets not saying a thing? Jack turned to her and spoke.

"I was just afraid...that I would lose you so quickly after just realizing that I didn't want to let you go..." He had even said it exactly as he thought it. No deceit. No lies. "Not very much like a Pirate to say that...but it's the truth."

Meredith looked at him then hugged him tightly" really?" she asked

she kissed his cheek. " I didt think you felt that way... I thought yo hated me and wanted me dead." she said looking down she pulled away what if he was just joking. would he do that? she really didn't know if he would or not.

"I did." He admitted with a guilty sigh. "But that was before it was possible...before it almost happened..." Jack tugged her over, so she leaned against him. "I'm sorry..."

Suddenly the rain stopped. But not everything was happy. The dawn was breaking, but so was a tiny-tiny heart. Chikory raged, and cried when she saw what had just happened. In a blink of an eye...their guide was gone. She had been too upset to stay.

Meredith leaned into jacks arms softly " do you mean it jack?" she asked

she looked up at him but before he could answer chicory was gone. Meredith looked at him

" jack shes gone... how will we get home?" she asked looking up at him tears filling her eyes

"Dam it!" Jack got up, peering out of the cave. He was pretty sure they could just go up the mountain like they were going to do, but what about the rest? "Ugh..."

"Hn?" Fritz woke up. "What's going on Cap'n?" He yawned, looking worried.

"Chikory left because I told Meredith I didn't want to lose her." Jack growled. "Now look at this mess. Ugh. Come on, let's get going. Not like things will get better if we just sit here."

The rest of the day was spent hiking up more of the mountain. At the top...the dragon will be waiting. But that was at least a day or more of hiking. What would happen to them next? Rock avalanche? Trolls? Snakes? Goblins? Booby traps? Shadow things that ask you question just to steal your soul? What the hell was this place!!!

"Do you hear that?"