A/N: Sorry in advance if this chapter has more typos than usual, for some reason I can't get the OpenOffice on my new laptop to highlight my mistakes.
Chloe sat there dumbfounded for a few moments before blinking at the Captain, who was still smiling smugly. "And how do you have a map of an island that doesn't exist most of the time?"
"It exists, we just can't see it."
The redhead was starting to wonder if the Captain was pulling her leg, but an invisible island wouldn't be the craziest thing she's ever heard of.
"I know how it sounds." She continued, her voice low as she ran her pale hand through her wavy brown hair. "But I have a very reliable source of information."
"And that would be...?"
"My Father."
Okay, that was a bit better of an answer than she was expecting, but she still had her doubts. "Which begs the question, how does he know?"
"He's the one who found it." The Captain said, proudly. "Many years ago, he was the Captain of this very ship. But then it was called The Ocean's Overlord. If you can't tell he was a bit cocky." She let out a breathy laugh before going on. "He'd been looking for it since he was a child on his Father's ship, and then when he got his own, he continued the search. Even after he met my Mother and had me, he left for years at a time just to find the damn thing. I didn't understand as a child that once one got their mind set on something as alluring and mysterious as Skull Island, it takes over. Anyway, when he came home one time, I was twelve or thirteen, he sailed into port with the biggest smile on his face that I'd ever seen. He'd found it. Mother and I didn't quite believe him until we saw all the gold and jewels." She got up from the chair and paced around the room, then finally settled at the window, looking out into the deep blue sea. "Suddenly we went from relatively poor and living in a one room house to being filthy rich. It was strange, and exciting. But the best part about it was that he documented how to get to Skull Island on a map. Unfortunately, when they went back to retrieve more gold, the island had disappeared."
"The what happened?" Asked Chloe, entranced.
"They were surprised, and mad as Hell, as you can imagine. When they went to regroup at the nearest island, they met an old man. They told him their story, but he wasn't surprised at all. Apparently he knew something they didn't. The island has been illuding people for so long. He told my Father and his crew the story of how pirates had hidden mountains of their gold there, but when they went back to get it, it was nowhere to be found. He said it was a curse. They had used the beautiful island for their own gain, so in return, it shut them out and kept the gold for itself. But, it gave anyone a chance to reclaim the riches, once every seven years from the date that the last people had stepped foot on it. And seven years from the date my Father left the island is just a couple days away." The Captain took her eyes away from the window and landed on Chloe. "And I'm going to find it."
Later on as Chloe sat up in the crow's nest, she thought back to her conversation with the Captain just an hour earlier. She wasn't as certain as the Captain that they would actually find Skull Island, but she would still do anything in her power to support or help. Not just because it was her job as a crew member, but because she really did care about the Captain. Which is something she seemed to think a lot about lately. Especially after their almost-kiss. While she was thankful that it hadn't come between them in any way, she wondered what the other woman thought about it. If the kiss had happened, would she have pulled away, or would she have kissed Chloe back? The unanswered questions swirled around in her head and nagged at her. Why did things have to be so complicated? It was all just so confusing.
What did this mean for Chloe? She caught herself fantasizing about kissing the Captain's lips, which was something completely new to her. She's never met someone that she's actually wanted to kiss before. Thinking back, she never thought that as strange, just that she just wasn't like everyone else, wanting more out of life than romance. But she has gotten that. Her whole life she got to be herself, roaming the woods, making up adventures. And now...she's on a pirate ship for God sakes! Now that she's fulfilled her dream of exploring somewhere other than Barden, the romance thing seemed a bit more important. Never in a million years did she expect to have such strong feelings for another woman, but it felt right...even after going to church for years and hearing contradictory sermon's about homosexual deviants.
She could only imagine what her Mother would think. Though now that Chloe thought about it, she had never once heard her Mother say anything bad about "those people", as the nicer people of the community called them. And her Father, well, she remembered he had a friend that had a companion in another man, and he had been more than fine with it. So had she. Never once did she even think twice about it until she actually started to pay attention to what the Pastor was preaching about every other Sunday. All the more reason she was pretty darn happy to not still be trapped at Barden. Shifting into a more comfortable position, she made sure to keep a sharp eye out. Earlier, The Captain had showed her the map her Father had drawn out, and it had been pretty vague, at least to her. But she said that they were getting very close.
Whether the map was vague or not, the older woman seemed to know the exact vicinity in which it was supposed to be located, and said they should be there in the next two days if the weather didn't act up and cause them to fall back. For everyone's sake, she truly hoped that the island wasn't just a myth. Not because she wanted a share of the treasures they may find, but mainly because of the crew. It was like if one more thing went wrong, there would be a lot more that would speak up like Charlie had done. Sure the Captain could handle one out of line pirate, but as soon as more joined in, well...she didn't even want to think about what would happen then. Most of all, she hoped that Skull Island was real because of how the Captain talked about it and her Father. She knew what it was like to look up to someone like that.
When the sun rose, Ropeburn Rob started his shift at the crow's nest and Chloe headed to get some sleep. She barely ackowledged the Captain and face-planted into the bed, only hearing a low laugh before she passed out. Thankfully, her dreams weren't filled with the Kraken, or fighting pirate's with her new sword skills, but her own Father. Of them running through the woods, pretending to be on a very important adventure. They hopped over streams, climbed trees, and chased squirrels. It was a bit disappointing when she woke up later on, but she was happy that her dreams weren't nightmares anymore. The two days that followed were pretty tame. Nothing really happened, which was a relief to everyone. And things seemed to start to go back to normal, the crew pretty much stopped glaring at Chloe and just ignored her.
That was really all she wanted at this point. She'd much rather that they pretend she didn't exist than actively hate her. But everyone was on high alert, so the focus was shifted anyway. Many of the crew were up top most of the time during the day, looking around for any hint that they were getting closer to the island, wanting more proof than the Captain's map. On the day that the island was supposed to appear, excitement was in the air, as well as the ominous mist. They couldn't see too far out, but that wasn't going to stop them, or so the Captain said. Chloe could tell by now that even though the woman exuded confidence, there was worry in her eyes. The day was spent sailing around the area on the map where there was a black X. By mid-day, the good moods of the crew had started to deminish.
They all just wanted to have already found the island, but there was a reason that so many people over the years had never been able to find it. Most the men seemed to forget that. At least the mist had let up a little bit, thinning out, and they were able to see further, but it still wasn't helping being there. It's like it knew they were there looking for something and wanted to make it extra difficult. Chloe didn't doubt it. A mist with a mind of it's own was the least of the problems they have faced thus far. Eventually, the redhead ended up climbing the stairs to the helm and joining the Captain there, having been annoyed with all the antsy crew members wandering the main deck. The woman had her eyes focused on her compass, not paying attention anything but it and steering the wheel every once in a while when needed.
This was the closest look CHloe had gotten at it, and now she could see that it was no ordinary compass. It spun around in in circles, would stop in a direction for a few seconds, then keep spinning. She'd never see one like it. But she noticed whenever it would land on a slightly different direction than last time, the Captain would steer the ship that way. So it was helping lead them to the island? She hadn't mentioned it, and Chloe made a mental note to ask her about it later, not wanting to distract her now at such a stressful time. To keep herself busy, she ended up leaving the Captain and headed down into the ship. She cleaned the galley as best as she could. Then made her way to the crew's quarters, tidying up the mess that never seemed to let up, much like the stench of sweat. She was thankful nowhere else smelled as bad.
Once she bored herself with the measly tasks, she found herself going back up to the Main Deck. There, Jay was playing a flute. It was soft and beautiful, and it's notes carried out into the vast nothingness hidden by fog, and echoed in the distance. It was a bit unsettling to be honest. Everyone was finally quiet. No mumbling to themselves or grumbling to each other. Just sitting or standing around, listening and looking out. Leaning against the railing, Chloe felt a splash of ocean mist hit her, and she breathed in the cool air that blew on her face. The creaking of the ship seemed louder than usual as they sailed slowly. They all stayed like that for what seemed like hours, but as more time passed, the more anxious everyone got. To try and take their minds off of it for a little bit, Chloe began to fix dinner.
She cooked the last of the turkey legs and potatoes, and they all ate on the Main Deck, still not wanting to go anywhere in case they missed something. Though the conversations did pick back up as they stood eating in tiny groups. Chloe couldn't hear anything they were talking about, but hopefully there was still no more talk about her being bad luck, or worse, mutiny. Even just hearing Charlie say it that one time left a uneasy feeling in her chest. IF one man thought it, more probably had, and she couldn't imagine them overthrowing the Captain. This was her ship, if they didn't like what she was doing, they could wait until the Captain sailed into port somewhere and they could see themselves off. It was more terrifying because since most didn't like her, she had to worry about what they would do to her as well if that happened.
Once she had joined the Captain up at the helm again, she tried to get the woman to eat, but to no avail. She was still too focused on her compass. So Chloe held her plate and slowly ate her potatoes, even though she didn't have much of an appetite herself. But sure enough, a few minutes later, something unexpected happened. The compass stopped in the direction staight ahead of them and stayed that way. No more jumping around and spinning. Just a few clicked after it stopped, and that was it. It was then that the Captain looked up and gazed around. She pocketed the compass then grabbed the wheel with both hands so tight that her knuckles turned white, keeping the wheel on it's path in the direction they were going. Chloe could tell that the woman was now excited, but she still didn't know if she should be too or not.
"We are close." The Captain whispered to herself, then took a deep breath, closing her eyes.
Chloe was about to ask the woman if she was okay, when out of the corner of her eye she saw a crew member drop his turkey leg on the deck. "Captain!" He shouted not even a second later.
The woman opened her eyes, and everyone turned to look at what the man was looking at. There in the distance was a large, dark blob. They couldn't tell what it was due to the amount of fog, but it was at least something. They hadn't seen or come across anything at all until now, but at the same time she didn't want to assume that it was what they were looking for. Slowly but surely as they drifted closer and closer, the blob turned into an actual form. Even though the fog was still very much present, they could now tell that it was rock. A huge rock that very much resembled a skull. It seemed to get larger and larger the closer they got. The nearly black rock was half above water, the head, eyes, nose, and top of the mouth, but the jaw disappeared into the calm water. There were a few cliffs on either side of it, but that was it.
This was supposed to be the infamous Skull Island? It just looked like a heap of rocks sitting there in the middle of nowhere. She'd been expecting something more attractive...more grand. Not this.
"Cap, you gonna change course?" Jay asked, snapping out of his daze before anyone else.
Chloe hadn't even noticed that if they kept going straight they woud run right into it.
The Captain shook her head. "Sorry boys, we have to go through."
"Through?! Are you crazy?" O'Malley spoke up.
"We have to go into the mouth. It's the only way." She replied.
Chloe looked back at the ominous black hole that was the skull's mouth. It certainly looked big enough for the ship to go into it, but they had no idea what was in there. However, she knew it was a chance that they had to take. Nothing was going to deter the Captain now that they have made it this far. So she stood by the Captain and grabbed onto the nearest thing for support and hoped to God that there were no sharp rocks just waiting for them to scrap against the bottom of the ship. If a major leak happened out here, there would be no one to come and help them. If anyone else had disagreed, they sure didn't voice it as they sailed into the shadow of the gigantic mass. Just before they entered the open mouth, Chloe reached out and found the Captain's arms. Sliding down, she found her hand and held it tight as they were encased in darkness.
A/N: If you're interested, I'm going to start posting some reference pictures to this story on my Tumblr (ceceash).