"Hey Sarah," said Kaitlyn.
"Yeah?"
"What do you make of all this?"
"Well, we're in some jungle looking for a grave, and there's undead everywhere," she responded, not looking back at Kaitlyn. "Why do you ask?" She pushed a branch away to clear her path.
"'Cause it seems like a pretty grave situation," she replied, trying hard not to giggle.
Sarah's only response was letting go of the branch, letting it smack Kaitlyn in the face.
"Ow!" She spat out a leaf.
"That was a terrible joke."
"Sorry."
"Knock it off, you two," said Bonnie, leading the group through the damp undergrowth. The note in Gunn's refuge had led them to the abandoned lighthouse, and the dense jungles of Shady Hollow. They found the lighthouse the note mentioned, but the place was abandoned; the trail was so faint and overgrown that even Bonnie was having trouble following it.
"So," said Kaitlyn, almost jogging to keep up. "What are your stories?"
"What do you mean, our stories?" said Sarah.
"Y'know, like how you guys became pirates. Before we met. Where you're from. That kind of stuff."
"Why are you asking?"
"Figured now would be a good time to ask."
"Well, if you must know, I'm from Scrimshaw," said Sarah. "Worked with another crew years ago." Sarah paused to push away some foliage, preventing any follow up questions. "What about you?"
"I used to be the chore girl on Gale's crew, before I met Subodai."
"Huh. Gale, you say? I think I remember hearing about him a few times," she said. "And what about Subodai?"
"Ask him, not me."
At that, Subodai gave them a rather irritated look, but didn't say anything. Neither of them needed any words from him to pick up the hint.
"Er...some other time, perhaps," said Sarah, looking a little sheepish. "What about you, Bonnie?"
"I'm from Albion," she replied.
"Where's that?" asked Kaitlyn.
"It's a place in Marleybone. Not in Westminster."
"Wow. How'd you end up here?"
"That's...a long story."
"We've got time," said Sarah.
Instead of answering, Bonnie signaled for them to stop, quietly pulling out her musket.
"Another one?" Sarah whispered.
Bonnie fired three times. "Three." She stepped forward into a small clearing, revealing three undead corpses lying on the ground. "Not very tough, though, are they?"
"Nope," said Sarah. She pointed at three headstones at the edge of the clearing, nearly covered in moss and creepers. "And three more graves. Those must be where they came from."
Bonnie knelt in front of one mossy headstone. "Here lies old Ben Harkinson. The Pirate's life he found was fun. Quick to fight and slow to run, one cannon blast and he was done." Bonnie sighed. "Wrong grave."
Subodai grabbed a bunch of vines and tugged them off another headstone. "Pity poor Lieutenant Mark. He went to dinner with a shark," said Subodai, reading the weathered text. "This is not the grave."
"Here lies our own Wesley Moore, buried on this distant shore. Bravely he went off to war, but won't come back: no Wes, no more." Sarah groaned. "I hate puns."
"I could tell," Kaitlyn said flatly.
"How are we even supposed to find Ned's grave out here?" said Sarah.
"We keep looking," said Bonnie.
And they did; hours passed, and more headstones were found, all of them dug up, but none belonged to Honest Ned. They also found the rotten, crumbling remains of several buildings. There were undead left and right, likely the former inhabitants of the graves they found.
"Would you look at this place? The dead are runnin' riot!" said Bonnie.
"I don't get it," said Sarah. "Why is this jungle even crawling with zombies in the first place? There is absolutely nothing out here!"
"That is not true," said Subodai. "The lighthouse. The ruins. This was a town."
"You think so?" said Kaitlyn. Now that she thought about it, the idea of a town being here did explain the graves and the ruined lighthouse.
"Must have been an old one," said Sarah. "Probably one of the earliest settlements from Marleybone. I've heard about them, entire settlements that disappeared. If I had to guess, I'd wager that this was one of them," she said, looking up at the fully grown trees that towered over them.
"What about Honest Ned's grave?" Kaitlyn asked, sitting down on a mossy log.
"The place might have been around while Gunn and his crew were still alive. Who knows," Sarah said. "Look, it doesn't even matter. None of this explains where Ned's grave is, or why the place is overrun with undead! We're wasting time, and this place is giving me the creeps."
"I agree with Sarah," said Bonnie, still alert as ever. "Something's not right here." She looked up, noting the first tinges of orange in the sky. "It's getting late. We should head back after we check the next clearing, I don't reckon any of us fancy being out here at night."
"Watch your step," said Bonnie, pointing out more dug-up graves in the clearing; the jungle canopy overhead was dense, making it dark enough that it was easy to accidentally walk right into one. "Wouldn't want to fall and break a leg."
The group began to make their way across, carefully stepping around each pitfall. It didn't help that what little light that made it through the trees was fading; It was becoming much harder to see in the gloom. It was quieter too; no bird or bug seemed keen on making noise here.
It was almost like the forest was holding its breath.
Watching.
Waiting.
Kaitlyn turned to look behind, but saw nothing. She turned back to the others, still on edge. "Are you guys getting the feeling that we're being watched?"
"Yeah."
Kaitlyn shifted uncomfortably, feeling like a bug under a magnifying glass. "Maybe we should turn back."
"I second that," said Sarah.
"Yeah, it's too dark to see much of anything—"
Kaitlyn was interrupted by a yelp from Sarah; she whirled around to see that a zombie had reached out from the grave she was standing next to and grabbed her shoe. Instinctively, Sarah kicked it squarely in the head, making its head sail across the clearing and out of sight, and its arm let go.
"That's it! I really, really hate this place, I'm going back to the ship!"
"Sarah—"
"No! I've had enough, I am not listening to anything you have to say!"
"Sarah!" Bonnie hissed. "Stop yelling, you're going to bring more of them right to us!" Bonnie's ears twitched, and she tensed for a split second. Then—
"Duck!" Bonnie said, grabbing Sarah and pulling her down to the ground; a ball of sickly green magic sailed through the space Sarah's head had been less than a moment ago.
Kaitlyn looked in the direction it came from; now that her eyes were adjusted, she could make out a figure on the other end of the clearing, a skeletal one with tattered, faded purple garb. They held up a splintered wooden wand, the tip already charging up with luminous green magic. Instead of hurling it at them, though, the spell split into several smaller projectiles and shot straight into several graves around them; they flashed the same green color, and out of each climbed more undead.
The group, however, wasted no time getting ready to fight.
Subodai made quick work of several, using his strength and skill to hold his own despite being outnumbered. Sarah and Kaitlyn used the terrain around them to avoid and trip up their enemies, weaving and darting around and even making some fall into the dug-up graves. Bonnie used her superior vision in the gloom to pick out targets, striking the ones that got too close to her with the butt-end of her rifle.
It wasn't enough, though; as soon as they'd nearly defeated them, another barrage of green magic came from the edge of the clearing, striking more of them. To make matters worse, the undead they'd defeated got back up, looking a little worse for wear but otherwise fine.
"Are you serious?" said Kaitlyn.
"There's only one way to end this fight, then," said Bonnie. It took a second before she spotted the magic-wielding skeleton again; as soon as she did, she fired several rounds at him, making him stumble and switch to more defensive magic. Almost instantly, the enemies around them became less lively, a couple even collapsing on the spot. Realization dawned on their faces as they saw what was happening.
There was no time to celebrate though; a particularly big guy took a heavy swing at Bonnie, only to be blocked by Subodai's sword.
"Keep firing, we'll cover you," said Sarah to Bonnie.
"Captain, you need to get up to him!" Bonnie yelled, taking aim at the skeleton at the edge of the clearing.
"On it!"
Kaitlyn ducked between two undead and made a break for it, swinging her blade directly at the magic-wielding skeleton.
Once again, he moved to defend himself, dropping his spellwork. Another round from Bonnie took him by surprise, making him stumble and fall backwards. Kaitlyn raised her blade, ready to strike when he yelled out.
"Wait! Mercy, pirate!" said the old skeleton, holding up a hand as if to fend them off.
"...What?" said Kaitlyn, still holding up her blade to strike. The mercy plea caught her completely off guard.
"I beg you, spare I, an' I repay thee for the favor. I do anything you ask me."
"Anything?"
"Aye."
They all exchanged a look, one that said the same thing: could he be trusted? He did just try to kill them.
"Tell him to drop his spells!" said Sarah. Without a word, the undead surrounded them dropped to the ground like rocks.
Kaitlyn mulled over his offer. "Can you answer some questions for us?" she finally asked.
"Aye."
"Okay...so, who are you then?"
"My name be long forgotten. I be called… Old Scratch."
"Old Scratch," said Kaitlyn. She lowered her weapon, much to the other's concern. "Okay, Scratch. If you don't mind me asking—what exactly are you?"
"I be undead, and a magician. I an' I made me home here, where I work me art in the peace and quiet." As he spoke, he stood up, picking up his wand as well.
"Wait, so...you're the one raising all the dead out here?" asked Bonnie.
"Aye."
"Why?"
"There not be a single livin' spirit here. Not in many years," he began. "Some stop, them stay at the lighthouse. No one stay there long," he explained.
"I've got a question, too," said Bonnie. "The town here, the people. Are you the reason they're all dead?"
Scratch shook his head. "I an' I do not remember any of them bein' alive. They be gone long before I wake up," he explained. "It be a grave you seek?"
"Yeah, actually," said Kaitlyn, remembering why they were out here. "You wouldn't happen to know where Honest Ned is, do you?"
"Aye, he be buried here. I an' I never bring him back. Him talk too much."
"Great!" She tucked away her weapon in her sash. "Can you show us?"
Scratch motioned his head for them to follow, and headed to a hidden path leading away from the clearing. Reluctantly, the others followed him. The path was almost completely overgrown, but thankfully short, and before long they stood in front of a single, solitary, undisturbed grave marker; in front of it sat a sealed glass bottle, half-buried in the dirt. Kaitlyn wasted no time taking the bottle and removing the roll of paper inside.
"Yeah, this looks like the next clue," she said after looking it over. She read aloud, "Here lies Honest Ned, the finest officer I ever had. Without him, I would never have amounted to anything. In this is my second lesson: A captain is nothing without his crew." She paused a moment before continuing. "Sail to Bounty Island and find the mermaid statue, she'll show you the way. X marks the spot," she finished. The others began to discuss the message, but Kaitlyn wasn't really listening by that point.
A Captain is nothing without his crew. The thought stuck out to her, resonated with her somehow, like...well. She recalled the Erebus, with Quinn, Subodai, and Shen; the Troggy island with Bonnie, the fight with Ratbeard and Sarah, the Presidio and her reunion with Gaspard. Part of her was always certain she would be a lousy captain, that she would let them down, and yet they'd stuck with her this far. Gunn was right; without her crewmates, her friends, she'd just be one little kid, alone in an Armada prison cell without anyone to call her friend.
The thought filled her with dread. She'd already lost her friends once; she didn't know what she would do if it happened again.
"Captain? You there?" said Sarah, waving a hand in front of her face.
"Yeah. Sorry, just thinking," she replied.
Alone without a friend.
Just like...
"Hey, Scratch," she said. "You wanna join us?"
Scratch's expression (or lack thereof) shifted to one of surprise. He wasn't the only one who shared the sentiment.
"What?" said Sarah, incredulous. "Captain, you can't be serious!"
"Why not? He's not all that bad, and he's all by himself out here!"
"He's a skeleton, not some pet! And need I remind you, he just tried to kill us!"
Before Kaitlyn could think of a retort, Scratch interrupted them. "If you ask it, I an' I follow you, and all my mojo be yours to command," he said.
"Really," Sarah replied, clearly unconvinced.
"Aye."
"And you won't go double crossing us?"
Scratch held up one of his arms over his chest. "I an' I swear it."
"Well..." she said, her tone uncertain. "Alright. If the Captain insists. But I'm keeping an eye on you." She gave Scratch a brief glare before leaving the way they came.
"I thank ye for your mercy, and I promise I will earn it," said Scratch.
"Don't worry about it," said Kaitlyn.
A/N: Finally, this chapter's done! The main reason it took so long was figuring out the fight scene; I had a pretty good idea how the rest of it was going to read out.
Shady Hollow doesn't get much development in-game, or Scratch's recruitment, so expanding on that chapter was fun. It was a nice change of pace too, I prefer adding my own spin on the story rather than just recopying it.
Also, a special shout-out to Si1verwing for beta-reading this chapter! Thank you my dude!