It was a long, difficlut journey. The path was rough, covered in sharp rocks, and overgrown with grass. Even Rosie, the unfailing navigator, led the group down a couple of wrong turns.

At least the scenery was beautiful. Lush, deep forests sprawled on either side of the trail and Jillian could swear she once saw a centaur peeking through the shadows of a bush, watching them curiously.

It gave her a sense of relief to know that King Palumer's crusade againt the magical creatures had not extended to other kingdoms. She thought back to her WANTED poster. It still made her anxious. Would she be found and arrested again? The thought made her teeth chatter with nerves. She silently declared at she would never relive Bear's Prison again.

As twilight fell upon the traveling group, they decided to set up camp for the night in a little clearing close to the trail.

Sparky and Robinson created a roaring fire and they all enjoyed dinner around the roaring flames. The night grew longer and JIllian began to hear erie howls and moans all around them.

"Hey, did you guys hear that?" Eye-Eye asked nervously. The other pirates laughed.

"Come on, Eye," Robinson said lazily. "These forests are perfectly safe. I didn't see any signs of wolves or bears when we got here."

That didn't seem to convince him.

"Something feels strange," he muttered. His brown, good eye scanned the shadowed trees around them.

"I don't like it either," Jillian chimed in. It was hard to explain but the forest didn't seem to like thier presence. Another howl pierced the air and she shivered.

"You're both paranoid," Robinson yawned. "Let's get to sleep." They grabbed blankets and tried to get comfortable on the hard, packed earth.

Rosie offered to take first watch. He sat on a log, sword drawn, watching the trees apprehensively.

When Jillian woke up at some random hour of the night, he was still there, sitting like a statue. She quietly went over to him and tapped on his shoulder.

With a start, he whirled around, almost slicing her in half. "Jillian!" he whisphered furiously. "Don't do that!"

"S-sorry," she said shakily. She down beside him and offered him her blanket. Rosie took it with a grumpy thanks and wrapped it around himself. They sat there in silence, listening to the whistling wind.

"What are you doing up?" he finally said, not looking at her.

Jillian shrugged. "Couldn't sleep." She then stared and dimly saw the bags under the red-head's eyes. "You should go to bed though. Let me continue watch."

"I'm fine," Rosie growled, gripping his sword tighter. He looked exhausted.

Jillian shook her head and inched closer. "No, you're not. You need to sleep!" She looked over at the slumbering pirates to see if her tone woke them up. "Its not healthy to stay up all night."

"I told you I'm fine."

Jillian was fed up with his subborness. She grabbed his shoulders and forced him to look at her. "What's the big deal?" she asked. "Do you think I can't keep watch?"

Rosie pulled away from her. "Yes! No! Leave me alone!"

"Tell me why," she said firmly.

"I'm afraid!" he shouted. The forest became unnaturally quiet. Jillian quickly looked and saw that no one woke up.

Rosie bowed his head and his bangs covered his eyes. "Have you ever slept and when you woke up, you realized you were all alone?" he whisphered.

Jillian was taken aback. "What?"

The pirate sighed. "I used to live in a small town in the Apfeldel Kingdom, which was very close to the border separating it from the Dornen Kingdom. I spent alot of time outside and one of our favorite games my siblings and I used to play was hide-and-seek."

Jillian remained quiet and let him continue. "One day, when I was twelve, we were playing the game and I ran far from my brother and hid behind some thorn bushes. It wasn't until much later, I realized I had crossed the border between the kingdoms. I had been hiding there for awhile and all of a sudden, I felt extremly tired. I fell alseep."

The teen stood up and began pacing, angrily. "Why did I go there?" he asked himself, pulling at his hair. He sat back down on the log. " I woke up and it was nighttime. I thought it was still that day of hide-and-seek so I ran home, not realizing that the thorn bush I hid behind was overgrown and dead.

"I made it to town and I found my house. To my surprise, some people were living in it. I asked where my family had gone and they didn't know. I went to the town sheriff and his records said that my family had all died off fifty years ago. When I told him who I was, he called me a liar because I had been declared dead a century ago."

Rosie began crying. "A hundred years! I tried to tell him that I was really alive and he almost arrested me because he thought I was a sorcerer or something. I ran off. It wasn't until much later that I heard of the sleeping curse that had hit the kingdom. Anyone in its borders was put to sleep for a hundred years. That day," he paused. "That day was the last day I ever saw my family again."

Jillian blinked away her tears. It explained so much why Rosie was always so serious. He felt he didn't belong in this time and he was incredibly lonely. She gave him a hug and he broke down into a fresh set of tears. After he composed himself, he gave her a withering glare. "If you ever tell the crew around this," he warned.

"I won't," she promised. "And Rosie?"

"What?"

"You are not alone. You are a part of a crew and you have me."

"Then I'm in serious trouble," he muttered. They burst out laughing.

Jillian yawned. "Can you go to sleep now?"

The pirate chuckled. The smile suited his face more than a frown. He layed down on the ground and wrapped himself up in the blanket. Jillian watched him quietly as his breathing became slow and steady. "Sweet dreams," she whisphered.

Jillian kept watch for another couple of hours. She was yawning constantly and she was nodding off. She saw the sky was just starting to turn light. I don't think I need to wake someone else up, she thought sleepily. She layed down and was alseep almost instantly.

When she did wake up, hours later, she rubbed her eyes and saw that the pirates were still wrapped up in blankets and a gray, morning light around the dying campfire. Rosie was still asleep next to her. She smiled, "Wake up, lazy bones." She touched his shoulder and screamed in horror. She went to the others and saw the same thing.

Fear and repulsion rocked through her stomach and she fought the urge to throw up. Her head swam and her knees buckled.

All of the pirates had been turned to stone.