Angie watched Franz ready the ship, he was way more experienced than her, but she could pull her own weight. No way Morty would of let her sail with him and not work, woman or no she had to earn her keep just like the other pirates on Morty's ship.

She jumped when Pearl bellowed her name while standing so close, but tried to not show it. "Do ye have any maps Pearl? I don't know names but I think I could recognize where we were when I hid the treasures."


Angie moved towards Pearl and looked around for some maps to give her a clue about where she was looking for. If she could find a name for the island she felt it would make things easier.

Pearl smirked at Angie. "Do I have a map?" She chortled and eyed the girl. "What do ye think? We gonna just sail around blind? Of course I gots a map, gots several in fact."

She put her hand on Angie Ray's shoulder as she could see in the girl's face that she was a little dejected and the look on her face suggested she might be a little put off as well. "Now don't go and git yer panties all knotted. I'm just funnin ya. Once we get out of the port and out in to open water we'll go in to me quarters and take a look. Hell, I ain't even been in the quarters yet. Could be a rat infested hole for all I know. We's in such a hurry to git out we haven't even looked around the ship yet. We can leave Franz at the helm for a bit. Give him some peace."

Maddie had trouble sleeping. She kept reliving the horrors from the boat and tossed and turned. It didn't help that the palm fronds and grass were making her itch. She opened her eyes, her left eye she could not open at all, and lifted her hands to her face. From what she could feel it seemed to her that her face was very swollen and it hurt to simply run her fingers along her cheek.

She felt a large scabby area above her left eye and her hair was matted with dirt and blood and there was a huge tangled rats nest on the back of her head. She looked down at her hands, which were also swollen, and noticed that two of them had been splinted together and tied with twine. It still hurt to breathe and she was sure that her ribs were broken. Her lower abdomen also hurt. She had to pee and did not wish to wet herself laying there so she struggled to get up. The pain hit her hard once she was up and she doubled over and stayed crouched for a while, her arms wrapped around her stomach.

She seemed to be in a small hut that almost appeared as though someone had erected it around where she lay on the beach. She was thankful to whomever had done that for her as she had no idea where she was. She managed to stand up and walk out. It was a lovely day and the sun was sparkling off the sea. She smiled in appreciation and took a few steps further away to do her business. She pulled her pants down and squatted and only then noticed dry smears of blood on her inner thighs. Skylar had done quite a bit of damage to her as she examined herself. Everything was raw and painful to touch, both front and back. She felt the anger swelling inside of her for what he had forced her to endure. She would survive of course but would always be stained with the horrific memory of him. It always seemed that things happened to her just when her life had taken a turn for the better.

She wasn't sure if she could face Franz. She was afraid of what he might think of her. She couldn't concern herself with that now. She pulled off her clothes and noticed bite marks on her breasts and bruises where Skylar had gripped her arms. She wandered down the beach and in to the cool water, relishing the feeling it gave her. She began to scrub at herself to try to wash all of the dirt and memories away.

Skylar pulled himself from the water and on to the beach and rolled over on his back. He was thankful to have found land at last. He couldn't believe that the crew had failed him and he blamed Maddie. If it wasn't for her none of this would have happened was his reasoning. Placing blame on himself did not even occur to him. Now he was stranded somewhere with nothing. He would find her and make her pay. That, he was sure of.

Angie was a little taken aback when Pearl first yelled at her about the maps, but realized that Pearl was a pirate and to expect anything else would be stupid on her part.

"Should be interesting to see what we find down below, and Franz seems pretty durn capable . . . never seen a man so intent on his work afore. Ya want me to head below now and scout out what we're dealin with- or do ya need me on deck?"

"Aye lass, go below and find out just what we got wit me money. We should be fairly well stocked as the captain of this 'ere vessel was 'aving good loaded before we sailed. I's more worried 'bout the hull and makin sure we ain't got no holes and ain't taken on water."

Pearl turned and watched Franz as he puttered about, making sure everything was ready. She could see he was determined to find Maddie at any cost. She hoped that later down the line it wouldn't become a problem. She couldn't afford having a loose cannon on board, especially not with what she had planned. She decided she would tell him once they found Maddie what she planned to do and what they were after. She hoped that his mind and heart would be at ease then. Right now she didn't believe he could handle being told that Maddie was only secondary to her main goal. She absentmindedly twirled a piece of stone around in her pocket as she watched.

It had always been her dream to at least find the other pieces. She wasn't sure about the whole set, and if rumors be true, the entire voyage to find just these would be hard enough. She couldn't imagine what looking for the rest of them would be like.

When Pearl gave the word, Franz hoisted the sails and secured the riggings, then pulled up the anchor. With Pearl at the helm, he busied himself with other tasks, not in the mood to talk or be bothered with anyone else.

He didn't know where they were heading but he figured Pearl had some idea of where to look for Maddie. She knew people from around these parts and had probably delved up some information while going about the task of securing a ship for their use.

It was all he could do to keep himself from going insane with worry, and so he threw himself into his work, checking everything twice to make sure he'd made no mistakes.

Skylar sat on the beach and looked out at the ocean that had almost claimed him. His bitter hatred of Maddie only festered inside and gave him a purpose and a reason not to just roll over and die. He took his boots off and dumped the water out of them, letting the air and the sun both warm and dry his body.

He rose from the beach once he was satisfied that he was dry enough and that he wasn't injured and began to look around. As he scanned the horizon he saw the bodies of his fallen crew floating about pieces of his now sunken ship. He growled and turned to wander further up the beach, intent on figuring out where he was.

Angie headed down below and began to investigate the ship. The ship had been altered to make it faster to move about below decks - it was definately meant to be a pirate ship.

There were barrels lashed to the wall filled with drinking water and dried meats and other foods. Along the other wall were bunks and small storage spaces for personal effects.

The captain's quarters were still walled off, and Angie decided to not enter there for a bit yet out of respect for Pearl.

The lingering smell of burnt pitch assaulted Angie's nose and the squeaks of rats could be heard. The ship needed a good cleaning and the rats would have to be killed before they got someone sick. The supposrts seemed to be in the right places and the bunks were sturdy. There was very little on the ship that couldn't be eaten or sold - so there was no worrying about having to lighten the load.

Finally Angie made it to the Captain's quarters and slowly opened the door. The room was fairly clean and in god repair. there was a large curtained bed on one wall, a good sized table bolted to the floor in the center of the room and 4 good chairs around it. A built in wardrobe was on the opposite wall and there were still some jackets and hats in it. An unlocked chest stood next to the wardrobe and there were some maps and navigation equipment in it.

Angie pulled out the maps and laid them on the table, one of the maps was on the local area. They were sailing out of Bristonia in the Yaukita Province and according to the map there was a small series of islands to the north. Angie leaned in closer to the map, almost resting her head on the table while she studies the little dots to be sure that these islands were where she had hidden Morty's treasure.

Pearl's brow furrowed as she looked off in to the distance. She could see that they were making decent speed and had put a great deal of distance in between them, as Bristonia became smaller and smaller.

"Avast, where is that girl?! Franz, take the wheel and head in the direction you saw the ship sail off to. I gotta go find what's keeping that girl."

She headed below deck and did a little inspecting herself. Overall it looked good, but the squeaking she heard didn't sit well. She hated rats. Once crossed her foot and headed in to the darkness. Pearl kicked at with it her foot. "Git out ya damn vermin! Enjoy it now, cuz we's gonna kill ya sooner or later." Pearl laughed at herself and continued on to the captain's quarters where she saw Angie Ray looking at various maps. Thank goodness there were some too, Pearl thought to herself since she had lied about them earlier. Where did the girl think she had them? Up her rear? She chuckled and entered the room. "Angie Ray, what are ye doin?"

Franz took the wheel at Pearl's request. They were already headed in the direction he'd seen the ship go, so he kept the ship on course.

Standing idle, his mind wandered once again to Maddie, and he thought of when he'd first met her in the tavern. She had that horrible cut across her cheek, yet he didn't really see it, all he saw was her beauty.

Her green eyes had captivated him, and even as he cleaned and bound her wound for her, she had triggered emotions in him that had been long since forgotten. Franz thought about his wife, and how different the two women were, yet they both had amazed him so. Maddie made him feel whole again.

Anger began to seeth through him again, at the men who had snatched her from him. This time it was a controlled anger, not the blind rage he'd gone into before. He was ready for them now, and when he found them, there would be hell to pay.

Angie snapped upright when she heard pearl's voice, blushed, and plopped her finger onto the map between two islands "I think that's where we were when I hid the treasure. The islands have weirdos who didn't want to be part of the world anymore livin there - they're strange but harmless. I put the stuff in an area with no people, I just hope they didn't find it. I had planned on going back "

Maddie soaked in the cool water for a long time before she decided to get out. The skin on her fingers was wrinkly and the coolness of the water seemed to bring down the swelling in her hands.

She felt better and some of the pain had dulled so she could walk a little better. Her legs were still stiff and sore but she was much better than she was before. She wandered back to the little hut and sat down. The warm breeze felt good on her naked body and soon she lay down and went in to a sound dreamless sleep, unaware of the man that was making his way up the beach.

Pearl eyed the map at the place where Angie Ray had put her finger. "Move ye damn finger. I cain't be seein through it," Pearl snapped as she moved herself between Angie Ray and the table. She took some small square reading glasses out of her pouch and slid them on, leaving them to rest on the bridge of her nose. "Ye tell anyone I be wearin these and I'll kill ye dead Angie Ray," she chuckled as she folded one of her legs under her and sat down in a chair. She squinted a little in order to see the already magnified writing. She ran her finger along one of the compass rose lines charted on the map. "Aye, looks like we'll be sailing right through the trade route. We's gonna need ta be careful since thar's rocks in between. There and there," Pearl stated as she tapped the map.

A rat crawled up on the table and sat and watched the two as they were chatting about where the rocks were and the best way to move around them. Pearl raised her eyes from the map and stared at the vermin before her. Pearl slowly leaned back in her chair and removed the glasses, carefully folding them and putting them back in her pack. She hadn't taken her eyes off the creature since it was intent on staring at her. She reached down in to her right boot for her boucan and flung it, hitting the rat and sending it across the room to crash with a crunching squish on the wall. She silently rose and removed her blade from the wall, letting the rat fall to the floor where she immediately stomped on it with her foot. She wiped the blade on her pant leg before sticking it back in her boot. "I hate rats," she muttered to Angie Ray as she walked out, leaving the girl standing alone, and headed back up top toward Franz.

"Franz, keep heading north by northeast, vary by 10 degrees east. We're headin through the merchant route to those little spits of islands. Keep yer eyes out, thar be rocks the size a this ship. We don wanna sink before we find her. We seem ta be travellin bout 20 knots give or take, we should make it by nightfall. I'm goin up on the poop deck to check the mess. We's gonna need ta eat soon."

It had been a long time since Franz had sailed, but he'd spent so many years as a pirate, it all came back to him quite fast. Steering the ship was a breeze, even as the ship approached an outcropping of rocks.

Franz guided the ship around the rocks expertly, hoping there were no hidden reefs in the water beneath the ship. It wouldn't do to tear the ship apart before they had gotten anywhere.

As they passed the outcropping of rocks, he saw wreckage and debris from another ship that had passed this way. It couldn't have been more than a day old as the wooden planks were still floating on the surface of the water.

Spotting a patch of wood with a ships name on it, he thought he recognized the name as something Angie had mentioned previously, though he couldn't be certain.

Bellowing out quite loudly, he yelled "Angie! Besuchen...Come here!" He didn't know if she would be able to hear him below deck, but he dared not leave the wheel unattended due to the rocks jutting from the water.

Angie pressed her mouth into a thin line to keep from laughing when Pearl put on her glasses. When the rat climbed onto the table Angie kept as still as possible while Pearl reached for her knife.

The thud of the rat hitting the wall made her jump, and after Pearl left Angie began looking around for something to pick up the rat with so she could throw it overboard. Finally settling on a scrap of dirty cloth stuck to a nail in the wall she picked up the bloody mess by the tail and headed towards the deck.

At the bottom of the stairs she heard Franz calling to her and so hurried up the rest of the way, tossing the rat overboard before heading back to Franz "What's up Franz? What ye be needen me to do?"

Maddie's reprieve from the pain was short lived. Her body had started aching and the wound above her eye began to throb. She must have messed with it in her sleep since fresh trickles of blood began to run down her face. Shit, she thought to herself as she struggled to get up. She threw on her trousers and her blouse, letting it hang loosely. She left the bustier in a pile on the floor. She didn't think her hands would cooperate with tying it.

Her legs had stiffened once again and it took her a while to get out from under the makeshift hut. She walked two paces and turned to look at the sunset over the ocean. She thought about how beautiful it was when she felt something crash against her back, new pain shooting through her body. She fell to the sand and curled up in a ball on her back. She saw Skylar standing over her with a piece of wood from the ship. She was too weak to fight back and resigned herself to being killed by him. Franz was gone as was everything else she knew and loved so it didn't matter anymore.

Skylar was sickningly delighted that Maddie had washed up on the same island as he. She hadn't seen him yet which gave him the perfect opportunity to look for a weapon of some sort. He found a splintered 2X4 that had washed up on the beach and took it in his hands. He had waited patiently for her to come out of the little hut before he struck. He was going to take his time with her, killing her slowly and making her suffer. He looked down at her as she curled up in the sand and decided he was going to have her once more before he killed her. He lowered himself to his knees above her and began to pull at her pants until they were off. He spread her legs wide and lowered his breeches. She didn't fight it and let him do with her what he wanted. Once he was done with her he threw her pants at her and told her to get dressed. She complied very slowly, fresh blood running on the inside of her legs. Once she had managed to get them almost all the way on he grabbed her up by the hair once again and threw her in to the hut, causing one side to collapse on top of her. Skylar decided to find something to build a fire with, as it would be night soon and it would get colder, and it would also give him something new to hurt her with.

When Angie came up topside, Franz pointed out the name on the piece of wood. "Ebenda...There, do you recognize that?" He looked at Angie expectantly, hoping it was what he thought it was, though it would mean Maddie might have ended up in Davy Jones Locker. He prayed it wasn't so. If the ship had been wrecked, he would search every island in the area before he would give up on her, and kill every blasted man he came across, that had been on that ship.

Maddie could feel her whole world crashing in on her just as the hut had come falling down around her. She hurt.. BAD. Thankfully the hut was comprised mostly of palm leaves and bamboo so there wasn't anything truly heavy that landed on her. She rolled out from under the debris and sat on her knees. She watched as Skylar made his way down the beach looking for something. Now was her opportunity to make a run for it. She crawled off in the other direction practically dragging herself with her hands in the sand. She pulled herself along until she reached a large old tree trunk that had washed up to shore from places unknown. She pulled herself over it and tried to bury herself in the sand below. She figured he'd find her but she had to try, had to keep that single flame of hope open that perhaps Franz would look for her.

Skylar combed the beach until he found enough driftwood to start a fire. Upon returning to the little hut he realized that Maddie had freed herself from the debris and had attempted to make a run for it. "I'll look for her later," he muttered aloud. "She ain't goin far." He felt around in his pockets and realized he had no matches and his tobacco pouch had been claimed by the sea. He rummaged in the sand and found a couple of nice rocks that sparked when he banged them together. He thanked God for blessing him with both finding Maddie and giving him something to start a fire with. He sat down and proceeded to bang the rocks together until enough of a spark caught the grass on fire that he'd put under the wood. He continued to stoke it until it was going well and he didn't fear it would go out. He sat and contemplated whether he should go after her now or wait a bit. He figured he'd wait a bit. Might as well enjoy the warmth and let the bitch freeze.

Angie ran to the railing and leaned over staring in open mouth awe at the words printed on the fragment of floating board "The Mischievous Cat she mumbled to herself."

She turned towards Franz and pointed excitedly "The Mischievous Cat! That was Morty's ship!!! It crashed - she might be around here somewhere. Where's the nearest island?"

"Pearl!! Pearl - I think we're near Maddie and the island!" Angie looked around for Pearl, wondering where she had gone and ran back towards Franz in her excitement.

Pearl heard Franz yell for Angie and came out of the mess and looked over the rail to the deck below. She heard him ask her if she recognized something but Pearl wasn't sure what. She looked out at the water and saw that it was littered with debris and dead men. She swallowed hard knowing that if Maddie had been on this ship she may not have made it. She went down to the main deck standing next to Franz and Angie. "Keep yer shirt on girl." She didn't want to say what was on her mind as she didn't believe Franz would take the prospect that Maddie may be floating in the water somewhere too lightly, although he had to have had the same thought as she. He looked determined but rather bleak. Pearl looked out at the dead bodies and whispered a little prayer for each of the dead. She cocked her head to the left and squinted. "Is that fire?"

A ray of hope and a dread of what it may reveal filled Franz's mind and heart when Angie declared the wreckage to be Morty's ship. Determination to find Maddie filled his mind, not wanting to believe he'd lost her as he had his wife and children. He wouldn't believe she was dead until and unless he saw her deceased body.

When Pearl pointed out the smoke from a fire on the island, a brief sense of elation filled him at signs of life, but it was quickly replaced with apprehension as he realized it could be other survivors from the ship that had built that fire.

Determined to find out who had built the fire, he turned the ship in the direction of the island, heading up the far side of the beach. He didn't want to bring the ship into their view if he could help it, because if it were Maddie's kidnappers, Franz wanted the element of surprise on his side.

Lowering the anchor, he prepared the life boat, so they could row to shore. He offered to assist both women into the lifeboat before climbing in himself.

Pearl watched Franz and marveled at the speed at which he worked. She also realized that he had taken the ship where it wouldn't be seen. She patted herself to make sure she was still armed. If there were any of the pirates who burned her bar on that island she was going to slice through them at any cost.

She wondered about Franz and what other hidden talents he had and how they would be useful to her later. She grabbed Angie Ray by the hand and pulled her to get in the boat. She took Franz's assistance and sat down, prepared to start rowing. Once everyone was in she looked Franz in the eye, "What do ye have in mind Franz?"

Taking up the oars, Franz rowed them to shore. He looked at Pearl, taken a bit off guard as he hadn't really planned anything yet.

He thought for a moment and said, "Der erste...First we see who is there and how many of them there are. I've seen Angie fight with her sword and she can handle herself quite well. It seems you are quite capable yourself, Pearl, so I'm...siegesgewiß... confident the three of us can do some hefty damage as long as we can maintain the element of surprise."

Dragging the rowboat into some bushes, concealing it just in case any of the pirates happened to walk this way, as he didn't want Pearl's new ship being hijacked. Franz then took some branches and scuffed the drag marks and their footprints away. Turning, he made his way towards the fire they had spotted.

Skylar stretched out on the beach in front of the fire and looked up at the stars. It was a clear night and he could see the Milky Way painted across the sky. He thought how he wished he had something to smoke but was glad that if nothing else he had his favorite toy to play with. Where had she got to he wondered as he rose up from the sand and dusted himself off. She'd be good for at least one more round before he bashed her skull in.

"Maddie," he called out. "Where have ye gone Maddie? I just want to play a little."

Maddie was like ice and unable to move. She drifted in and out of consciousness. She was on the brink of death and she knew it. If he found her again and took her, it would kill her. She imagined Franz's face floating in front of her and remembered when she had first met him, which hadn't been that long ago. She remembered him helping her with his face and how things had progressed from there. She remembered him saying something to her in his native language the first and only time she had worn a dress around him, and mustered a very meek laugh when she realized she didn't know what he had said. Her eyes fluttered and Maddie lay still in the sand, barely breathing.

Franz's long strides naturally lead him to leave Pearl and Angie behind somewhat. He wanted to scout out the camp first anyways. Better if only one of them approached, less likelihood of being discovered.

He didn't see Maddie buried in the sand next to the log as he started past her, as she had concealed herself quite well despite her injuries, hidden in the shadows of the night.

Reaching the camp, it appeared vacant. The fire was beginning to burn itself out, and he could see in the dim light that a small hut appeared to be partially collapsed. Franz cautiously made his way into the camp, to see what he could find, since no one appeared to be around. Near the fire he found signs of someone having eaten recently, and it appeared only one person had been there.

He walked over to the hut, and moving some of the palms away, he felt a sudden chill of fear and excitement, for there amidst the debris of the collapsed hut lay Maddie's bustier. He picked it up and brought it to his face to smell her scent, when he noticed the blood on it. Who's blood? He had to find her, to know she was alright.

Franz scanned the camp again for any sign of movement, though he knew she wasn't there, all sense of reason leaving him, panic rising in his throat, he called out, "Maddie! Maddie, wenn du...if you hear me, answer me!"

If the pirates were unaware of his presence, they knew he was here now.