She had no choice. Jillian didn't want her friends to be attacked, but they had a better chance of surviving than Goose did. She was an innocent girl. But its a sneak attack, a little voice said snidely. They don't have a chance. They are practically children themselves. Much older ones.

Jillian felt like she was treading on delicate eggshells as she made it to the edge of the campsite. She knew the bandist were watching so one false step could cost Goose her life.

She jumped about ten feet in the air as Robinson called, "Jill! Where have you been?" She swallowed hard as he ran over. The others were on the horses, saddled and ready to go.

Jillian couldn't open her mouth without confessing so she bit her lip hard. The pirates stared at her, waiting for her to say something.

"Where's Goose?" Al asked, his brown eye big with worry.

"We'll search around for her. Don't worry," Robinson said, thinking htat was the issue. "Come on." He began walking back to the horses.

Jillian had to keep them at the site. Goose's life depended on it. She had to distract them the only say she could-with her magic. Without pausing to think, she let all her emotions build up inside her. The fear of the bandits, the guilt of dooming the pirates simmered under her skin. The temperature dropped and the wind began to blow as her icy magic was unleashed.

"What the-." Robinson whirled around just in time to to knocked to the ground as a blast of ice and snow shot in a frozen arc around the clearing from where Jillian stood, coating the trees and ground with frost. The others shouted as the horses neighed in panic.

"Jillian!" the pirate captain shouted, struggling to his feet. But she barely heard him over the roaring snowstorm that was forming in the clearing. Horror loomed over her as this wasn't what she meant to do. She sunk to her knees and put her hands over her head, trying to stop the power that surged out of her, feuled by her emotions. The storm spun in a wintery cyclone, hammering ice into the ground and causing the trees to clash back and forth in the gusts. The other pirates were trying to take shelter but Robinson was inching closer, dogdhing spikes of ice that stabbed into the ground around him. A few feet away, Jillian could see that the air was still among other trees. This was her own personal storm. And she had no way to stop it.

Jillian felt the air come out of her lungs as she was suddenly knocked to the ground. While she had been distracted, Robinson had tackled her from behind and was grabbing her shoulders with an iron grip.

"Stop it!" he yelled, shaking her shoudlers. His green eyes were dark, wild and she could see the panic in them that matched the frenzy of the storm. "Stop, Jillian! Calm down!"

"I-I can't!" she stammered, scared by his shouts. "I-I don't-"

"Yelling at her won't calm her down!" Sparky screamed through cupped hands. He was crouching behind a log with the others.

Robinson led out a fustrated growl and turned back to Jillian, his normally neat hair attacking his face. After a moment, his gaze softened a bit. "You would think someone with a temper like me would know how to calm down, right?"

Jillian nodded quickly. Then she winced as her head began to pound from her extertion of magic.

"Well you're wrong," he snapped.

To Jillian's immediate surprise, he pulled her into a hug. She felt his arms tighten around her and her head was tucked right under his chin. She could even feel him shivering.

"Sometimes, we can't calm down right away," Robinson said, over the howling of the wind. "We just need to let it out."

Jillian instinctively let out just how she was feeling in a fustrated scream that, in turn, made Robinson jump. In a minute or so, the wind slowed and the storm disappeared. The world became warm again.

The two probably looked ridicoulous, hugging on the ground in the middle of a a clearning ransacked by magic-induced snowstorm. After an awkward pause, Jillian pulled away and quickly got to her feet. She surveyed the damage her "distraction" had done to the area and it just made her headache feel worse.

Robinson got to his feet and looked around. "Well that could have gone better."

You think?

The others emerged and cautiously approached them. "I didn't know you could do that," Eye-Eye marveled. "What happened?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Jillian said quickly. "I don't really want to talk about-."

"That was awesome!" Sparky exclaimed, gesturing to the severly damaged clearing. "I knew you were freaky before, but this takes the cake!"

"Sparky," Robinson sighed.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

Jillian was no longer listening as she saw dark shapes flitting between the trees. The bandits. She was about to open her mouth but she clenched her fists and looked away. A single tear slid down her cheek.

There wasn't time for anyone to move as the bandits descended upon the group like a pack of wolves.

The pirates shouted as they were easily taken over by the surprsie attack. Robinson didn't even have time to draw his sword. Boulder had to be subed by three men. Quickly, each of them was held by a bandit with a knife or ax at their throats.

All except for Jillian. She stood in the center of the circle as the leader of the bandits approached, his dark eye glinting with satisfaction. He was dragging Goose by her curls.

"Nice work, witch," he said. "A deal's a deal." He threw the young girl at her feet.

"Jillian! What-!" Robinson tried to exclaim before the bandit pressed his blade harder agaisnt his neck.

Jillian turned to speak but the bandit leader did it for her. "Your girlfriend here made a simple deal with me. Keep you at the campsite in exchange for the life of the child. Now you will all die."

Look of shock and betrayal flashed across all their faces. "N-no!" Jillian stammered. "It wasn't like that. I didn't have a choice..." She faltered as Robinson's eyes burned into her skull. Tears slipped down her face. Goose let out a mournful sob.

The bandit leader circled the struggling pirates like a cattle buyer. "I think we have some suitible stock here," he said, leaning into Robinson's face. "I may let you live if you join us."

"Don't do it!" Eye-Eye shouted. Everyone turned to look at him.

The leader stormed over. He grabbed the boy's face and turned it form side to side, inspecting it. "What do we have here?" he whisphered, his eye narrowing as he ran his thumb across the pirate's eye patch. "A deserter?"

Eye-Eye took a deep breath. "Yes. And I envoke the Comrade's Law: 'All beings in the comapny of one or more members may not be harmed.' "

The bandits shifted and muttered angrily to each other.

"Eye. What are you talking about?" Sparky hissed.

The first mate glaced at the leader for permission to speak. Incinding his head, Eye-Eye said, "I am a member of the Cyclops Bandits. I'm turning myself in for desertion."

Now his eye patch made sense. It was a mark of membership. "You're one of them?" Sparky gasped.

"I envoke Comrade's Law," was all Eye-Eye said in reply.

With a growl, the leader grabbed him by the neck in one swift movement. "Listen here, boy," he snarled as Eye-Eye gasped for air. "I accept your petition. I'll release your compainions but you're coming with us to face the penalties of your crimes."

"I accept."

"No!" Jillian exclaimed. "You can't take him!" The thought of losing one of their group was unimaginable. She didn't want to think about what his punishment would be.

She raised her hand to blast magic but the leader quickly tighented his grip in Eye-Eye's throat. "How about I kill him, right here, right now?" He smirked as she slowly lowered her hand. "That's better." He released the first mate, who fell to his knees, massaging his throat.

The bandits let the other pirates go and began leaving. The pirates didn't move from their spots. They silently watched Eye-Eye struggle to his feet, guilt and pain etched across his face as he looked at Sparky, almost pleadingly. "I don't know what to say-."

"Then don't," Sparky whisphered. "It will just make everything harder."

Eye-Eye turned to Robinson. "Captain, I-."

"Go," the pirate captain snapped. "Just go."