"And there's the code to consider…"
"The code? You're pirates! Hang the code! And hang the rules! They're more like guidelines, anyway!" Elizabeth snapped, and Gibbs looked away, he knew that, but still….
~- Night, Rowboat, the Lagoon -~
Elizabeth and Roxanne were alone in a rowboat, the Black Pearl, behind them, under sail and moving away.
"Bloody pirates…" Elizabeth grumbled under her breath, as she rowed towards the cave, while Roxanne gripped the sides, letting Elizabeth get out her frustration by rowing furiously. Roxanne was angry to, but she at least understood why the other weren't helping.
It was a stupid ass reason, but she understood it. So, instead of focusing on her angry friend, Roxanne watched as the skeleton pirates climbed aboard the Dauntless, when a somewhat crazy idea struck her.
"Lizzie… Keep going, find Victoria, and get her free." Roxanne said, already having made up her mind.
"Roxanne?" Elizabeth asked worriedly. "What are you-"
"I'm going to try a distract them… Just, be careful." Roxanne explained, giving Elizabeth one last look, and she dove into the water, the cool water bringing her home.
- Night, Main deck, HMS Dauntless -
The fight aboard the Dauntless continues. Pintel and Ragetti make their way on deck, killing as they go. Ragetti notices; eyes fixed on the ship as it sails past.
"Is it supposed to be doing that?" Ragetti said to pintel, Pintel looked to where Ragetti is looking, registers what's happening:
"They're stealing our ship!" Pintel cried out, looking slightly hurt. Ragetti gripped the rails with rage.
"Bloody pirates!" He spat out, before turning his attention to Norrington's boats, which have just arrived.
"Boarders away!" Norrington shouted, and his men began to climb up the side to join the others in the raging battle above.
As Norrington climbed up, he listened to the fighting above, the sound of gunfire and clashing swords. When suddenly, something hit his shoulder. Norrington cried out as pain erupted from his shoulder, causing him to lose his grip, and fall back into the icy waters as his men continued to climb. His head hit something hard as he his the water, a piece of wood maybe? His vision started to blur as he sunk deeper down in the cold waters.
He struggled to swim towards the surface, but it was getting harder to see and his arm was killing him. Red started fogging up his vision, and he couldn't think clearly. He just hopes his remaining men made it to the ships… He hopes Roxanne is alright, he hopes she's safe…
- Night, Main deck, HMS Dauntless -
"Come on!" Pintel shouted, and several of the pirates charged the new arrivals.
Officer Gillette stood up on a railing and swung a large block and tackle across the deck at the Bo'sun. Bo'sun saw it and ducked before taking off after Gillette. The block and tackle swung back and hit Ragetti in the head. Ragetti's eye popped out, and he began to chase after it.
Murtogg and Mullroy finally make it up to the railing of the ship, react to the fighting. They shook hands, then climb on deck, letting out a battle scream.
- Night, Underwater -
Roxanne, while ripping apart the skeletal pirates underwater, turned at the sound of something hitting the water, and saw some of Norrington's men sinking in the water, she frowned, about to go back to her task, when she noticed James struggling to swim back to the surface. She let out a heavy sigh, and swam over.
She felt an obligation to save him, Norrington being her fiance and all. As she swam over, she circled him, trying to see if he was conscious or not.
- Night, Caves, Main Cavern, Isla de Muerta -
Victoria was still dueling Jacoby, dodging and blocking as best she can, but he has the clear advantage with more practice with a sword. And the bombs….
But she didn't exactly realise he had them until he threw one at her, and she sprinted away in time, but the explosion threw her to the ground, along with precious things tossed up by the battle, burning her where they touched her.
Jack glanced at her for a moment, startled by the explosion, before focusing back on the fight that neither of the dueling skeletons would lose...
But for Victoria, she'd lost her sword, and Jacoby was laughing as he neared her, his feeting kicking up precious jewels and gold coins. As she scrambles backward, she thinks desperately, looking around for anything that would help her.
But she's not Roxanne, she's not as good at thinking on her feet and "going with the flow" so to speak. She doesn't see anything remotely useful, and Jacoby is raising his sword, grinning wickedly.
"I'm gonna teach you the meaning of PAIN!" He laughed
"You like pain?" Jacoby turned, and Victoria moved her head to see Elizabeth coming from the smoke behind him, holding a long gilded gaffe. She swung sharply, knocking Jacoby aside.
"Try wearing a corset." She snarled, before turning to Victoria and smiling brightly. She grinned back, and Elizabeth pulled her up by the gaffe, and Victoria pulled her into a hug.
"I'm glad you're still alive." Victoria murmured, savoring the moment of embrace before the sharp clang of metal against metal brought her back to reality. The pair turned to watch Jack and Barbossa deuling, their smiles gone and the moment ruined as they watched the dueling pirates shift through the moonlight, skeletal monsters one moment, perfectly human the next.
"Whose side is Jack on?" Elizabeth asked as they watched the shoddy form of dance to the death.
"At the moment?" Victoria sighed, and Elizabeth blinked, before nodding in understanding. Because really, with Jack; who can tell? The pair are distracted again by Jacoby charging at them, sword drawn, and before they know it, they're cornered by two others.
The trio of skeletal pirates attack, while Victoria and Elizabeth used the gaffe interchangeably, while moving between the pirates and parrying their blows, Victoria got an idea, and started putting the pieces together, planning out her moves better.
Elizabeth caught on quickly enough, and then when they get the pirates aligned, Elizabeth and Victoria thrust the gaffe, using it to hook all three pirates together, with Jacoby in the middle.
Victoria grabbed one of Jacoby's bombs and yanked it free, and she sparked the fuse. Victoria shoved it up inside Jacoby's rib cage, and Elizabeth and her shoved all three out of the moonlight, turning them human again, with no way to get the bomb out.
"No fair!" Jacoby rasped out, smoke coming from his mouth. Victoria grinned, and grabbed Elizabeth's hand, dragging her away and over the rocks and piles of gold as the bomb exploded.
BOOM!
Jacoby's and the other skeletal remains crashed down in a nearby pool of moonlight, some of them smoking as they floated on the surface.
On the other side of the cavern, where Barbossa and Jack were dueling, the two pirates stopped, and stared at where the explosion had come from. Jack takes this lapse as a chance to slice his palm open, soaking the coins in his blood, before Barbossa slashed at him again, frustrated beyond measure.
With a quick swing, Jack managed to drive Barbossa into a pile of gold before tossing Victoria, who had clambered onto the gold pile nearest the aztec chest, the blood stained medallion.
Barbossa, who was always one quickly to draw, pulled out his pistol. And aimed it at Elizabeth, who skidded to a stop as she registered the danger she was now in.
And then a shot echoed throughout the cavern, bouncing off the walls.
- Night, Underwater -
Roxanne swam quickly over to where Norrington was slowly sinking, some of his other men falling overboard occasionally, but she was focused on him at the moment. As she reached him, she paused, a bloom of red coming from his shoulder.
The smell of prey reached her nose. A sickly grin spread across her face as she started towards him, claws and fangs extending slightly as she circled him like a shark. Then she felt her humanity seep back in.
Not this one. This one not prey.
But she was so hungry!
NO! Not this one… This one we save. Her humanity was trying to negotiate with her… Great.
But fooood.
Food later. Save now.
And so, her humanity took over, and she studied his face for a moment. Was she to late? She tested her theory by gently touching his face, and his eyes snapped open. He stared at her in shock, and his mouth opened, forcing him to let out a bunch of bubbles as he started thrashing.
Roxanne gritted her teeth. She didn't have time for this! She grabbed his face in her webbed hands, and pulled him in for a kiss, forcing him to stop thrashing. When she pulled away, he stared at her again, and she made a series of annoyed clicking sounds before wrapping her arms around his midriff. She hauled him towards the surface, where she would no doubt be faced with many questions.