hey everyonee! so today's my birthday, so I've decided to update all of my stories (maybe even multiple times :) ) as kind of a birthday present for my readers/reviews. enjoy!

SkyFirestorm - yupp. this takes place in the middle of Curse of the Black Pearl, so Barbossa and his crew are still zombies

Catherine walked through the thick brush as she continued to walk away from the loud sounds that came from behind her. She cursed under her breath each time branches and underbrush scrapped her legs.

"Catherine!" she could imagine her adoptive mother scold. "Running away and walking in the forest is not very proper for you to do! How do you think boys will fancy you if you are acting like one yourself?"

She could remember the first time that she was told that. After her mom died, Will's mother took Catherine as her own. Will was her only child, and so Catherine became her only daughter. Since Will's mother was the very epitome of a woman, Catherine was stuck doing "proper" and "lady-like" things, and she was scolded if she acted improperly.

"Proper never got me far," she muttered to herself. "If I was proper, I probably wouldn't even be alive right now."

She kept on walking in the woods for, rarely stopping to take a break or rest. After a few days, she found herself in an open area at night. As she continued to walk, she found a large doorway near a lake.

She tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. The only change that she saw in her surroundings was her hand turn from flesh to bone, but she expected it. It always happened when she went into moonlight.

Defeated, she turned around and walked over to a small alcove in the mountain that surrounded her. She rested her head on the rock jutting out of the wall of the opening. She still needed to find Will, but it was going to be much harder than before. Emotionally drained, she closed her eyes and let her mind wander.

Aragorn walked back to the Fellowship after he made sure that Frodo was alright and the Ring was safe. The Fellowship sat around a fire, while the crew of the Black Pearl was a little bit away, drinking rum.

"Where's Catherine?" Pippin asked, moving his head around to try to find the missing girl.

"She left. She didn't want to be in the Fellowship anymore, so she decided to take off on her own," Aragorn said, stretching the truth. Legolas gave him a pointed glare, sensing that he was lying.

Pippin looked down at the ground dejectedly. "I had something really cool that I wanted to show her today," he said. He walked off, and Merry followed him.

"Did she say where she was going to go?" Frodo asked.

"No," Aragorn said. "She just stalked off and never looked back." He conveniently left their fight out, because he didn't want to Fellowship to go against him. "I'm going to get some more wood for the fire. It's almost dark, and the fire's almost out."

Aragorn got up from his seat and walked to the woods. He started gathering up wood and continued far into the forest.

"Why do I get the feeling that you weren't being truthful to us back there?" Legolas asked.

Aragorn jumped and hit his head on a brach, which hurt like hell. He looked up and saw Legolas leaning against a tree, with his arms crossed on his chest and a smirk on his face.

"I thought that rangers were supposed to be ready for anything," Legolas teased.

Aragorn scowled.

"Can't think of a better response?" Legolas asked. Aragorn shook his head in defeat. "I won another round, but that's not what I came here to do. What really happened back there with Catherine? The others may be daft enough to believe what you said, but I've know you forever Aragorn. I know that you're lying."

"I was telling the truth, Legolas. Nothing more happened. She just left."

"Even though I've only know her for a little while, I know that that isn't like her. She wouldn't have just left Jack behind, and she needs us to find Will."

Aragorn sighed. "Fine. We got into a fight. She knows a secret about those pirates, and she wouldn't tell me. So I accused her of being against us. She took our argument out of proportion, and she ran off."

Worry consumed Legolas. "But you know that she shouldn't be out there alone!" he exclaimed. "She knows nothing of Middle-Earth, or of the Ring, or of Saruman and the war! We need to find her before she gets hurt!"

Legolas started to run off, but Aragorn quickly took his arm and stopped him. "We don't know where she went, Legolas. It would be useless to try and find her now, and if we tried to look for her, Frodo and the Ring would be put in more danger than they are now. We need to keep moving, and hope that we see her along the way," he said.

Legolas sighed. "I guess that your right. Look at us. I'm so much older than you, and yet you are being the wise one," he joked.

Aragorn smile, and the two returned to the Fellowship. Gimli was keeping watch that night, so the rest of the Fellowship went into a weary sleep.

Catherine woke up from her daydream by a commotion outside. Wiping her eyes, she looked out and found about 20 disgusting looking creatures outside of her alcove. They had pointed ears, wispy hair, and just a horrendous face.

She wouldn't be able to run away from them - there were too many, and one would catch her. So she took out her sword and went into a crouched position. She knew that she would win if she fought against them.

She had one advantage that none of them had.

The same advantage that she prevented Aragorn from knowing.

Sure, she might get hurt, but she wouldn't feel anything. The creatures wouldn't be able to do anything to her. So, she tightened her grip on her sword and barged out of the alcove, starting to kill the creatures before her.

Her secret would protect her, and she knew that.