Evewen scoffed. "Well, I figured you didn't care about my sister anymore, considering you never did anything to keep her from being left in the middle of nowhere like a common dog. Whatever happened to your 'undying love'? Apparently, it's not so eternal, after all...is it?" Her dark eyes were focused on him, a bitter glint residing in them.

"What!?" Vincent gritted, eyes snapping, looking like a stormy sea. "I'll have you know, Evewen" he said his tone unfeeling, hard. He leaned in close to her face, his chest heaving steady breaths. "I love your sister. I've loved her all this time. I would have done anything to stop them from marooning her....hear me!? Anything!" he hissed. "But the Captain and the men decided behind my back, they knew I loved her, I was kept in the dark. I found out only the day of....I was kept away from her." he swallowed, feeling his throat dry. "I would have gone to her long ago if I had known she had lived..."

Evewen searched his eyes. Finally she turned away, crossing her arms. "I wish I had known, too..."

The wind whipped through Evewen's hair as she turned to face him again. "I tried to talk my father out of it, but, as you know, he's stubborn, just like everyone else in my family. Whenever I got a chance, I looked for her, but she seemed to have disappeared...only to be found years later by a blacksmith whose name I don't even know."

Her eyes focused on his and she said, "Do you really still love her?"

Vincent held her gaze, and said simply. "Yes". He felt the wind tugging at his own hair. It seemed to be picking up as it became later. He closed his eyes for a minute and just took a breath, smelling the sea in the breeze.

Evewen was silent for a few moments. "She's out there, Vincent. I don't know where, but she is."

She turned on her heels and strode into her father's cabin. He was hunched over a map spread out on a table. "Father, I betrayed the clan. I have no where else to go but here and they will come after me. Are the rings hidden? That's all that matters now. If Sephora finds out they're together, she'll try her best to get them from you."

Vincent looked after Evewen, contemplating what she had said. Isla was out there, alive...did she remember him as he had remembered her? Did she even still love him, or did she also think he should have done more to stop her marooning? What is important is that she is alive...and I must...somehow, see her again. He leaned against the rail, feeling the cold wood against his arms, and the wind tugging at his shirt.

******

Captain William looked up, his face still wearing a displeased expression, but his anger soothed. He thought about her words for a minute then nodded, turning back to his map. "The rings are hidden and only I know where to find them. Even if she does come looking she will not get them." there was a hard note in his voice when he said she, for his wife, Sephora, hardly pleased him either. "And, if I am out at sea she can not find them, now can she?" he raised a brow at her, and pulled out another chart.

Evewen placed two palms on the table and sighed. She was tired, hungry and cold from her journey.

"Promise me, if you find Isla, you won't do anything to her." Evewen finally said, looking at her father.

William took a breath, and met his daughter's gaze. For a moment he said nothing, then nodded. "I don't plan on finding her just to kill her Evewen. But I don't plan on seeking her out. If she comes to me, possibly, we can reconcile, if not, life will go on" he walked away from the table and retrieved a few more measuring tools. "You look tired. Get some sleep.....and eat something. Your much too skinny..." he said, almost chuckling.

Evewen nodded, sliding a few coins around. She turned away from the table, stepped up the stairs and closed the cabin door behind her. Walking toward the gangplank, she stopped just before she went down and looked at Vincent, "I've been ordered to eat something. Be careful what you say to my father; I won't be here to calm him down."

"I'll be sure to remember that" he said with a wry turn of his lips. He was hardly afraid of the Captain, and ever since Isla was marooned, something had been between them. Something penned up that sparked occasionally, resulting in anger on both sides. William was an intimidating man, but not to him.

Evewen nodded and headed to the tavern, where she got a light meal and headed toward a table. Each of the crewmembers from her father's ship recognized her and they each grabbed for her attention.

~~~

The images and memories clouded Isla's dreams. They were her memories. Some she knew well; others were being brought back to her knowledge after a time of forgotten disappearance.

One man frequented her dreams, handsome and rugged, but who he was, she could not tell.

Tristan yanked the reigns of his horse hard, bringing him to a slower pace just outside the harbor town called Paleshore. Blink and Quill were right on his heels, and pulled up beside him. Tristan surveyed the low rows of buildings that made up the small village, behind which the tall masts of docked ships could be seen poking up like swaying reeds. A salty, fishy smell hovered over the whole place.

"Let's see if the little runaway is here," Tristan said to his companions as they rode down the town's main road, an angry glower on his face. He kept a sharp eye out for Evewen or her horse, wanting to see her before she saw them. They reached a stable and dismounted, leaving their horses to the temporary care of the stable hands while they searched. Tristan approached one of these stablehands and waved a heavy silver coin in his face. "This might be yours, if you tell me where I can find Captain William's ship."

The lad's eyes lit up visibly and followed the coins every move. "Captain William? His ship is the Evewen's Star, it's docked just over there," he said, pointing at a specific vessel.

Tristan grinned, and pocketed the coin. The boy began to protest, but Tristan cut him off. "What? I said it might be yours. Never promised." He chuckled cruelly, knowing the boy wouldn't have the guts to push the matter further.

Before Tristan headed toward the ship, however, he noticed a familiar horse in the stable. Evewen's horse. "Hey, hold it... Where's the girl who brought that horse here?" The boy gave him a nearly fatal glare. Tristan sighed, and pulled out the coin. "Alright, this time I promise I'll give it to you if you tell me." The boy merely held out his hand, as if to say "Pay first, then I'll talk." Tristan grinned, and placed the coin in his hand. "You learn quick. Now, answer my question."

"Last I saw, she went into that tavern right next door."

(EDIT: Changed the ending, because Evewen's in the tavern now, not the ship...)

Quill dismounted, her pants rubbing up against the heaving sides of her horse. She patted the exhausted beast's neck, feeling the thin hair over it's muscles damp with sweat. They had ridden hard to arrive here within the same day as Sephora's commission, and the time, she estimated, was about half past mid-night. The milky colored moon was high in the sky, but it was clear that the port town hadn't quieted down at all. Pirates were a rowdy species of human, and she wasn't at all surprised to have seen the tavern still alive with action.

Quill watched Tristan's exchange with the stable boy, then, when they had received their answer turned to walk next door. She wasn't fully thrilled over the fact of having to enter a den of drunken pirates, but they had to do what they had to do. "Take good care of our animals" she called over her shoulders as they left.

"Ah, drunken Pirates!" Blink said pulling a pair of dice from his pocket and rubbing them, "Nothin' better then gambling with pirates! A bunch of guys with access to treasure, and on top of it they are completely and utterly intoxicated! Ha! It's like sharing a few 'friendly' drinks with the King's treasurer. Brilliant!" Blink smiled as he thought of the promise of a good win.
"Of course I won't get to sidetracked from our actual mission. Perhaps I'll get some information from a few pirates I'll meet around the table." Blink said.

Evewen pulled a piece of the bread off the loaf and took a bite. She had entertained the crewmen for quite a while and now she was content to eat in silence while they celebrated their night away.

She watched the activity of the tavern with a slight smile on her face. Pirates were a crazy bunch and it was more than evident within the four walls.

The creaking of the door caught her attention and she turned to look as three familiar faces entered the tavern. Her jaw dropped and she froze.