Ugh, I really should be studying right now, but of course, I didn't want to leave you all with a huge gap and this chapter has been bugging me to be done that I just had to finish it. Lol, I halved the Kraken scene, so this is the first half. I really should be studying, lol. But I will now! I also wanted to tell you all, that the next story, is called Closer to the Edge. Like this one it is credited to a song and that song is on my profile if you want to listen to it. So this is the first part of the Kraken, enjoy! And I was listening to the Jar of Dirt remix while writing this xD

Chapter Twenty: A Safe Coward

Jack helped Nicolette on board the Pearl while holding his jar of dirt closely by him. She didn't bother showing her usual smile that could show the joy she felt before James had left them. She remained silent as the longboat went and her eyes were locked on the blue capped water. Her brother's heart seemed to drop just watching her and the tension between her and Jack only increased, no matter how much Jack tried to break it. Will was carried onto the deck and Elizabeth, worried over her fiancé, hovered over him waiting for him to stir the slightest. Nicolette walked over slowly to the railing and watched the Isla Cruces stay in its place.

They were successful, in her eyes, in getting the heart. Christopher kept his eyes on his sister while Jack was giving an order to get moving. While the rest of the crew scurried around, he kept in his place. She was grazing her hands over the smooth railing and looked down at it away from the island. She wanted the ship to be moving far from it, why wasn't it moving yet?

She heard Gibbs' voice behind her talking to Jack, "Where's the Commodore?"

Jack's eyes furrowed to Nicolette who kept her eyes on the same island. With his eyes locked on her, he stated to Gibbs, "Fell behind." Jack didn't know whether to go to Nicolette or to the helm, but he knew better than to talk to her. She was private and she liked to think things through sometimes on her own.

Gibbs lowered his head for a moment, "My prayers be with him." Two seconds went by and he picked his head up to see Jack heading up to the helm to direct his Pearl away. "Best not wallow in our grief!" Nicolette winced, realizing that was exactly what she was doing. But she didn't at all move as Gibbs brushed past her to follow Jack. "The bright side is, you're back. And we made it off free and clear."

It was like they were overhearing them. The Flying Dutchman broke surface through the water freezing the crew of the Black Pearl. Nicolette's eyes widened, taking in the ghostly ship for the first time and immediately backing up away from the railing. She didn't know whether to be afraid or actually seemingly afraid since she knew that they were going to be okay with the heart... right?

Nicolette felt her arms being caught from backing up too far and she looked behind her shoulder to see that it was only Christopher who was looking over her protectively. She nodded thanks, not saying a word at all. She looked up at the helm to see that Jack was far from afraid, he actually had a toothy grin plastered on his face as the crew of the Dutchman stayed by the railing with their Captain at the helm.

Jack pushed Gibbs aside who was looking at the crew like they were the grim, "I'll handle this, mate." His words were heard by Nicolette since they were the only words that were heard through the silence of the ship.

Nicolette muttered, "Don't do anything stupid, Jack."

"Oi, fish face!" He started and she rolled her eyes seeing him raise the jar of dirt over his head, waving it around like a maniac.

"Like that."

"Lose something, eh?" Jack started to move across the helm with it still over his head. "Hey, squi—!" Unfortunately to some members of the crew, he wasn't at all paying mind to where exactly he was going. He tumbled down in the middle of his sentence and hit the main deck hard in front of Nicolette. Everyone oohed except her, she rolled her eyes and went to help him get up, but his hands holding the jar of dirt. She moved back with a scowl developing as he shouted, "Got it!" She rolled her eyes and then noticed how taken back Jones was on the other side.

Nicolette went to pull aside Jack, when he moved away from her to strut across the deck. Should she continue to try? Jack yelled over to him, "Come to negotiate, eh, have you? You slimy git!" Nicolette gaped at him, she decided to look at Gibbs who was at the helm looking at his Captain in disbelief. Nicolette shook her head. Cocky bastard. Why in the bloody hell was he doing this? In her dismay, he continued, "Look what I got! I got a jar of dirt! I got a jar of dirt!" Nicolette looked embarrassed and went to look down as Jack finished the jar of dirt song he made up. "And guess what's inside it?"

"Enough!" Jones snarled, looking at Jack in disbelief that he actually had the nerve to start this capering of his. The Flying Dutchman revealed their cannons out of the port holes and Jack's face fell. This was not according to plan. Stunned in his place, his eyes were locked onto the cannons that were being pulled out.

In a whisper that only Nicolette could hear in her shock, "Hard to starboard."

"Hard to starboard!" She yelled out in a more audible tone and noticed Christopher bolting in action on deck. Will swept past her as she ran to the railing, feeling the ship turning away from the Dutchman. She grabbed a hand of the rigging leading up to the sails and leaned forward.

The Flying Dutchman could do circles around the Pearl. It was clear to her. It might be the fastest ship on the Caribbean, but the Dutchman was faster. She looked up to see the sails bellowing up above her.

Nicky turned her head sharply as a cannon ball shot through the Captain's cabin. Her hair fell out of the bun she had it in and then she got off the rigging, walking over to see the perch she made overlooking the window blown with the dreaded book that she still loathed flying out of the hole and then noticed a man being hit by it, sending him flying off the Pearl. They were doomed. The realization of them being doomed caused her eyes to widen. Jones was a loose cannon like she had heard before from rumours.

She looked up at the helm to see Jack clinging onto his dirt while his hand was steering the ship away. She quickly joined them on it, dodging men who were running down in a hurry.

When on top, she ran to the back of the ship to see the Dutchman reveal to them their triple cannons. If it was possible her face dropped even further and the sounds of the crew shouting at each other to make the ship more faster than it was going became faint to her hearing. "Mary, mother of God." She muttered under her breath, putting a hand to her black trinket that was faintly touching the crook of her neck.

She turned on her heel sharply and rushed toward Jack who looked the fiercest he had ever been around her. "Jack," she started unsure if it was a good idea to ruin his vibrato on the wheel.

Jack grimaced at her, "What do you want, Nicky? I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment."

"They have two triple guns on the bow." Jack's face dropped and he looked over at her.

"Triple as in three?"

Nicolette cocked her eyebrow and asked him, "What else could triple mean?" Jack groaned, great, exactly what he needed. Nicolette went to look behind her, seeing the Flying Dutchman farther behind. She then looked up to see the sails still bellowing above them. The wind. They were with the wind, which was good, the Black Pearl was known for its speed rather than everything else that made it a ship. Maybe they weren't as doomed, but they were still doomed in her eyes.

Elizabeth looked over the railing and smiled broadly, seeing the Dutchman falling out of their sights. She said amazed, "She's falling behind!"

"Aye, we've got her!" Gibbs stated showing up next to her and taking in the glorious advantage over them. It was their advantage after all.

Christopher looked at Gibbs puzzled, seeing for himself the Pearl far off from it, "We're the faster?"

Gibbs explained to him excited, "Aye! Against the wind the Dutchman beats us. That's how she takes her prey. But with the wind..."

Will finished for him, showing up next to Elizabeth, "We rob her advantage?" Gibbs nodded with the smile only growing more triumphant. For a second, a hope to get away entered in on Will's eyes and the corners of his mouth actually almost twitched into a smile, but then, they stopped. He almost forgotten his promise to his father, he needed to go back. He ran up to the helm.

Nicolette overheard a cheer from Marty, "They're giving up! Yeah!" She cocked her eyebrow and turned her head sharply to see the Flying Dutchman out of range for the Pearl. That wasn't right. She shook her head in disbelief as Jack next to her smiled feeling successful in outrunning the devil. It wasn't right at all. Jones wouldn't just give up. She continued to look at it to see that the ship remained still in the water. They seemed like they were waiting for something rather than giving up entirely.

She stated to Jack with her eyes locked on it, "That's so... strange."

Jack inquired to her over the cheers of the crew, his smile engulfing half of his face, "Why is it that, darling?"

"I thought that Jones never gives up and that he's a loose cannon. For him to just give up, it's just..." She trailed off as she turned around to see Will looking at Jack worried. He was glancing back and forth between Jack and the ship that they had seemed to outrun. She looked Will up and down, for the first time, she noticed something... different about him. His stature, his paranoia, he didn't seem to be the same like she had left him or like he had left the Pearl as. He seemed less idiotic, less naïve, less... sane. "Will?"

Will ranted to Jack, ignoring Nicolette's concerned tone, "My father is on that ship." Bootstrap was with Jones' crew? Oh, right he said that on the island. Nicolette heard his voice again in urgency, "If we can outrun her, we can take her. We must turn and fight." She looked at him like he was crazy, now why would they do that?

Jack's smiled turned into a smirk and he rested his jar of dirt on top of the railing of the helm with his hand on top of it. Patting it lightly, he said to Will, "Why fight when you can negotiate? All one needs is the proper leve—."

Nicolette looked over at Jack with her face falling. She intruded, "Jack, did you even tell Jones that we have the heart in that little chatter you were doing before?"

Jack's face fell and he looked at Nic grimly, "Say again?"

She looked at him with the same grim look starting to develop, "Oh God, you didn't." Jack didn't know what to think of that. How in the bloody hell could he be so stupid? Jack couldn't do anything about it now, and it sort of didn't matter. They were safe! Why was Nicolette so bloody worried? The Dutchman turned away and they were in the clear! But then the ship lurched to a stop in the water. Everyone felt it and staggered by the supernatural force that made them halt. Even the jar of dirt felt it as well. It toppled off of the railing Jack had set it on top of and shattered on the main deck, the dirt was scattered all around the shards.

Jack's face dropped as he looked over the railing along with Nicolette's. The heart. The god damn heart was in there. Not caring for the helm any longer, Jack immediately went into action, dashing to the deck where the jar shattered. Nicolette walked a slower speed down the helm and stopped gripping the rigging of the Pearl. Jack was patting the dirt flat, searching for what was supposed to be there.

Her heart slowly broke seeing Jack's face dropping even further, worried by what might come to him now. The heart wasn't there. "Where is it?" Jack questioned, still searching desperately for it. "Where is the thump thump?" Nicolette slowly knelt down next to him and lightly touched the dirt. She shook her head in disbelief. In Jack's words, there was no thump thump. And she almost felt her heart not do a thump thump. But then she felt her blood boil within her.

"James." She whispered to herself, "That bastard." Jack looked up at her to see her hands starting to ball up in fists on both her knees. She gotten up and looked around to see Christopher kicking the wood of the Pearl hard. He figured it all out. He couldn't agree more with Nicolette, that man was a slimy bastard. He caused his sister that hurt from making her believe that he was sacrificing his life for them when really he was sneaking off with the heart and took the chest as a decoy intentionally.

Not only that, but now it was he who was going to get his life back, not him and his sister. He was more than furious. The sibling fury was hidden beneath the shouts of worried crew. Gibbs' voice shouted as he looked over the railing seeing the water swirling and becoming a paler blue in one area, "Must've hit a reef!" Will's eyes became widened, he saw this before.

"No." He said to himself, before hurrying over to get Elizabeth away from the railing. "It's not a reef!" He took Elizabeth by the elbows to drag her away from there. "Get away from the rail."

Elizabeth cocked her eyebrow, seeing a fear from her fiancé that she had never seen before. "What is it?"

Will replied, "The Kraken." Nicolette's eyes widened and she looked over to see Jack's face slowly rising up. He looked to his hand with the Black Spot, being reminded that it never left. Will brushed past her, shouting orders since he knew he what they were up against. "It'll attack the starboard! I've seen it before. Bring out the cannons and hold for my signal!" Christopher went to where the pikes were kept, opening and handing them to men to provide others that weren't going to go below to the cannons a means of defence.

Nicolette went to go get one herself when Jack gripped her arm, stopping her to go any further, "No, Nicky," he started. She slowly turned on her heel to look at him worried. "We can't stay here, we'd be goners."

Her face fallen and she looked around as Jack dragged her to the longboat that was already halfway down. No one would notice them leaving and now was the perfect time with the crew scurrying. Nicolette's eyes followed Jack as he entered the longboat quickly so he wouldn't be seen. He held the rope to lower them down into the water with him and then he noticed Nicolette starting to look away deep in thought. She couldn't just leave everyone aboard to die. It wasn't right, nor was it right to leave the place she had come to know as her home.

"Nicky?" Jack held out his hand to her so she could take it and be helped in, but she only looked at it questionably. A deep frown started to develop on her face as tears started to well in her eyes. He looked so determined, so set on leaving like it was a dire need. Jack kept his hand out for her, but he knew that they weren't going to have any more time soon if the Kraken were to catch them at that very moment. "Nicky, we don't want to be caught by the Kraken, take my hand so I can help you in."

She shook her head slowly, "I can't." Her breathing started to become uneven as she looked at him nervously biting her bottom lip. Jack's face fell even further than it had before when he heard the word Kraken escape from Will. No, she had to come it wasn't really an option to just say no. They would die. Did she want them to die?

Jack nevertheless kept his hand still out to her, "No, you can. You must. You shan't stay here and die. You'd die, you know that, love." Nicolette looked at him dimly and instead of taking his hand like he wanted her to do, she walked over the rope taking it in her hand tightly. She tugged it away from his grip gently. Jack only looked at her, slowly retreating his hand back to him. "Nicky, what in the bloody hell are you doing?"

She closed her eyes, to shield her view of him being lowered into the water. Nicky only stated to him, "As long as you're not going to die, I'm fine. But I cannot go with you, Jack." Jack furrowed his eyebrows at her and tried to continue looking at her, so she would sense it and look back at him, but whatever he was trying to do wasn't working and it wasn't going to. Nicolette couldn't bear to cast her eyes on him, if she did, she would want to go with him. Spend a life with him without a worry, but she couldn't now, it was wrong.

To Jack's dismay, he felt the boat starting to be lowered in the water and Nicolette was who he was locked on while going down. She wasn't at all trying to look at him, but her restraint was didn't have a good grip on her. When she heard a splash of Caribbean water below, not sure whether it was the Kraken or Jack, she decided to crack open her eyes and lean over the railing only a little. Seeing that it was only Jack, who wasn't moving at all and just staring up at her aggravated that she wasn't there with him, she pursed her lips and let go of the rope.

"Go!" She shouted in a small, cracking tone for no one but him to hear. Jack saw an intensity in her eyes that wasn't foreign at all. The determined look she would always carry was spread all over that beautiful face of hers and her hazel eyes changed into an auburn colour. Jack reluctantly went to pick up the rows and with one final hesitant look at Nicky he rowed off as she smiled lightly at his fading image. He was a safe coward. But she really didn't care about the coward part, it was something that wasn't worth caring about.

"Nic, are you daft?" Christopher's voice was suddenly pulling her away from the railing and her thoughts as was his tight grip that was suddenly on her arm. Nicolette looked at her brother who was holding two pikes, one for her she assumed. Christopher inquired to her annoyed, "What is the matter with you lately? First you were going to let a man attack you and kill you and now you are at the rail when Will said to stay away from it. Didn't you hear him before? We have to stay vigilant if we are to survive it, so focus, will you?"

"Shut up for once." She retorted with her eyes emotionless. Christopher looked at her with a taken back frown and she ignored it, taking the pike out of his hand roughly and walking away from him unnerved. Christopher turned on his heel to see Nicolette watching over the deck carefully, awaiting for what was to attack them.

The ship groaned and rumbled, leaving the men of the Pearl frozen in their spots on the deck. Nicolette's heart dropped and she gripped her pike tighter with both her hands, getting in a stance to be able to attack it if necessary. She felt something already have the feel of the ship and was creeping further up the black wood slowly, trying to catch them off guard.

Will quickly ran down the steps to go down below, "Easy boys!" He demanded, already seeing the gunmen's fallen faces from the sight. Some jumped, including Pintel and Ragetti, hearing a voice in the near silence. They turned only to see that it was carrying a staff to direct them.

Elizabeth saw the tips of the Kraken's tentacles starting to reveal themselves over the railing, probably trying to feel if there were any men for it to take below already. "Will?" Her voice cracked as her eyes followed them up. Nicolette held her breath and tried not to gape as she backed up in a steady rhythm like every other man that was on her side of the ship.

"Steady!" Will ordered sternly, some men were getting impatient with the amount of time it was to hold their fire. That was a bit too stern, though, he tried again in a more calmer, but stern voice, "Steady."

Nicolette's breath caught up in her throat, worried. She cried to get Will's attention softly in fear, "Will?"

Will was only focused on the cannons to be held. "Hold. Hold..."

Pintel was getting impatient like everyone else. He turned to Will, "I think we've held fire long enough."

Elizabeth was getting more and more worried and annoyed about how Will wasn't doing anything yet. The Kraken's tentacles seemed to go to their highest point and that was only when her amount of worry peaked to its highest point. When close to the steps, she shouted down to him in a cry, "Will!"

Nicolette backed up into her, hearing the word, 'Fire!' roar from her. The two fell back, but caught themselves on their own two feet as the cannons blasted the tentacles off the side of the ship. It wasn't expecting it at all. The cannons hit each one, hearing the monster squeal from the burning sensation. With each shot, Nicolette watched stun seeing the Kraken's tentacles sinking beneath the ship. She smiled triumphantly, one round down. And they had won that round, no less.

The crew cheered and Nic cheered along with them. But the cheering stopped when she felt Will pull her to the side along with Elizabeth. "It'll be back." He said in a hushed tone, looking around the deck cautiously to see if anyone would overhear him. "We have to get off the ship."

Nicolette questioned him, she was still unprepared to leave everyone, "Get off the ship?"

Will ignored her, she wasn't going to be able to say no to it this time she figured. Elizabeth looked over to see the boats wrecked in the corner and said to Will, "There's no boats." Will face dropped, they were going to have to deal with this. Nicolette didn't bother looking at them, she knew that there was only one left and it was absent from the rest of them.

Will walked away from the two of them with the realization that they might actually die starting to hit him painfully. He looked around the ship, he needed to wrap his head around this. He needed a plan. Turner, needed to think like a Captain would. He looked to see the barrels of gunpowder rolling away from the wreckage. Gunpowder. And that was when the idea hit him, "Pull the grates!" He shouted, running across the deck. He continued the order, "Get all the gunpowder into the net in the cargo hold!"

He retrieved a long gun and went back to hand it to Nic who was looking at him in awe. He seemed to be good at taking charge. "Whatever you do, don't miss." Her eyes furrowed toward the musket and her breath caught up in her throat as she hesitantly took it.

Her aim with pistols and muskets weren't good at all. She wasn't a terrific marksman. But she had to try at the very least. Nic nodded to him slowly, answering, "Don't worry about that. As soon as you're clear, I'll shoot." Will nodded back to her, leaving her alone with Elizabeth. She gulped, "Elizabeth?"

"What, Nic?"

She pursed her lips and said to her friend, "You know, I don't really hate you."

Elizabeth cocked her eyebrow, but remembered that she had said that before the fish-like crew attacked them. She stated back to Nicolette, "I know you don't. I don't either." She smiled lightly at her, receiving one back with a nod. Elizabeth said to her before she had gone to help below, "Nic, be careful please."

She chuckled back, "Likewise." When Nicolette was about to go below deck she once again felt a hand drag her away from there. She saw Christopher looking at her with concern, he noticed something or rather someone missing among them. Nicolette rolled her eyes annoyed that he needed to do this now of all times. "Can we talk later? I'm busy trying to act vigilant."

"No, we cannot." His voice was more stern than she actually ever heard it be. Nicolette took her arm back from him as he continued to ask, "Where's Jack?"

She gulped and looked away from with her face fallen, "Jack who?" Christopher looked at her puzzled and slowly smirked at her. She knew very well of who and where this man was.

"He's not here, is he?" Nicolette looked over at him and instead of answering, she remained silent. She didn't want to say it. But Chris already knew, so there was no point in telling him. Christopher then left her to go below the deck himself, but she did not go like she originally wanted to do, instead, she found herself walking toward the railing on the starboard side to see a faint longboat. Her heart didn't drop, no, it should have but it did. She remained frozen watching him with the oars firmly in his grip.

"Step to!" She heard Elizabeth's voice come next to her and she tried to look away from Jack, acting like he wasn't seen by her. Elizabeth stopped at the rigging, seeing a glimpse of him, rowing away. This was his ship! And here he was... just abandoning it with all that care for him? How absurd that might sound to others ears. And how much of a betrayal it was to her and probably to others around her. She tapped Nicolette's shoulder, who was making it her great mission in getting away from her.

Nicolette swallowed her pride and turned around to face her with a worried glare, she knew what it was about. "Yes, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth kept her eyes on the boat and pulled Nicolette closer to the rail, "Is that Jack there?"

Nicolette tried to act like she didn't know already, but she couldn't help her voice cracking as she spoke, "I believe so."

Elizabeth couldn't believe it and as she continued to bore her eyes on Jack rowing away, she only came to one conclusion. She stated to Nicolette, "What a coward."

Though, it hurt her to say her thoughts to Elizabeth what she had thought before, she stated them to her anyway, with tears starting to sting her eyes, "He's a safe coward, no less."

It hurt her to agree, but one hope clung to her that Jack would actually come back to his friends and his beloved ship. He gave up too much to just lose it now. He had to come back, right? Though, Nicolette was the one who helped him get away, though she was the one who actually wanted him to get away safely, she hoped that he would be the greater man and come back. But there was a small part of her that doubted it.

I hope you all enjoyed the new chapter. The next update will be soon, I hope. I'm not going to leave you guys off on that for too long don't worry. Love you all xoxo

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