The rest of the night was spent in relative unease. No matter where James rolled, he always found a rock sticking into his back that made him more uncomfortable than those damnable bunks aboard the Dauntless. On the one occasion he had found a comfortable spot, Turner had reached out to him in his sleep and started petting him, calling him by the blasted dog's name. Deciding he didn't want to spend the rest of the night being pet, he made his way to the opposite side of the fire and laid down, curling up and using his rolled sleeping bag as a pillow. It was there he finally was able to sink into a deep sleep.

Seeing both men with their guards down, the shadow crept out into the clearing. The fire snuffed out and the campsite was plunged into darkness. She cackled low and snuck up to Norrington, crouching down beside him. Her fingers touched the space just above his cheek. Norrington grumbled something about shaving cream and suddenly his fist lashed out. The shadow reared back, shaking her fist at Norrington, who rolled over but the grumbling had yet to cease. Her gaze turned to Will and soured slightly. She didn't like him much at all. But it had been a long time since she'd had victims in her woods and she decided to drag out their fates as long as possible. With another quiet cackle, she glided back towards the woods.

Norrington woke to incessant grumbling and shielded his eyes against the morning sun to look across at Will. The ex-blacksmith was standing over a bundle that had been set beside him in the middle of the night. Leaves and twigs stuck in his hair and there were dark circles under his eyes.

"What is it?" He lowered his hand to cover his mouth as he yawned and got to his feet, ambling over. When he came to a stop beside Will, his nose wrinkled up. "Isn't that pleasant. An animal left you it's leftovers during the night."

Will looked up at him, narrowing his still sleep hazed eyes. "Yes. It's also been watching Martha Stewart since it gift wrapped it nicely in a doggy bag for me to take home." He grumbled, nudging the bloody cloth with his foot.

"How considerate." Norrington stretched his arms over his head and returned to his side of the campfire, crouching down to shove his things into his pack.

"It's not even considerate. It gave me all the uneatable stuff." Will groused as he used the toe of his work boot to launch it into the forest. The gross gift flew into the woods and landed at the feet of a dark figure, who promptly turned and started banging its head on the nearest tree.

"I keep hearing things!" James got to his feet, pointing towards the trees. "It's all around us. Last night it was over there and now it's over on that side. What is it?"

"It's a wood pecker." Will snapped and sat back down on his rolled sleeping bag. "Now finish packing up so you can get us out of here with minimal yelling at me."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"NO! Would you shut your mouth, Turner, so I can have one moment of quiet to think?" Norrington turned on his younger companion, pulling himself to stand over Will, trying to put on an air of authority.

"Now do you see why I don't want kids?" Will asked, raising an eyebrow. "Imagine hearing that an entire day."

Norrington wanted to say something, but he shut his mouth. After all, it had been his fault. He had asked Will why Elizabeth and he had yet to settle down and have children. "Point taken but shut your mouth for awhile. I'm trying to concentrate." He turned just in time to miss the mock salute from Will and started down the path again.

"Didn't we pass that rock an hour ago?" Norrington closed his eyes and massaged his forehead as Will spoke not but two minutes later. He whirled around to tell him to please be quiet when he realized that Will was right. They had just passed that rock.

"It's impossible..."

"But it is! You admit it! Why James, did you get us lost?"

"Why Turner, did you lose your sense of respect?"

"Yes."

Norrington scowled and sat down on the familiar rock, spreading the map across his knees. "I want to get out of this forsaken forest, perhaps leave you here, and lay down in my nice warm bed after a nice warm shower and forget this ever..."

Suddenly something hit the map from up above and the scowl deepend. It was only with his luck that of all the places for the bird to go, it had to go on the map.

The Pirates Household

Bill's enraged scream echoed through the entire house. He appeared downstairs a moment later, clad only in a towel and soaking wet. Elizabeth's eyes widened and Anamaria nearly spit out the orange juice she was drinking. Gibbs stared over his coffee, but there wasn't really much more of an expression than that. Jack was trying to remain absolutely deadpan, but it was near impossible for him. "Is there something wrong, Bill?" He pirate asked, feigning innocence as he picked up the paper to hide his smile.

"Something wrong?" Bill started calmly. "Is there something wrong?" He shouted and grabbed the paper from Jack. Already exposed, Jack burst out laughing and fell out of his chair, landing on the ground with a thud. Anamaria was still trying to be polite by not laughing, but was losing fast. Elizabeth was still staring and Gibbs had gone back to his coffee already. "My hair is...blond!" Jack burst out into laughter again, trying to climb up on the chair.

"That you are, mate." He held up his hands as Bill's furious gaze landed on him. "It wasn't me, swear on it. For once, I am innocent."

Gibbs glanced over at him. "Savor the moment. Jack innocent for once. It's a big rarity." Jack gave him a look and then returned his gaze back to Bill.

"It's not a bad look..." He said helpfully and just missed the wet pirate lunging at him. He got up out of his seat and rushed for the door. "I'll be next door at Heather's!" He shouted and slammed the door shut behind him. Bill ran his hand through his hair, still scowling.

"What shampoo did you use?" Anamaria asked finally. "I'd like to avoid it, if possible."

"Hydrogen peroxide." Bill replied. Ana's mouth opened slightly.

"You used hydrogen peroxide?" She said slowly, disbelief on her face.

"Yeah. Barbossa told me to since we were out of shampoo." Bill said and his gaze darkened. "It's not shampoo, is it?" The two girls shook their heads in unison. Bill snarled and turned, running upstairs. There were a few crashes, a good amount of rather rude cursing, and then footsteps on the stairs once more. Barbossa was shouting obscenities at Bill as Whelp followed him, tail wagging eagerly. Bill made his way outside and chucked the doll as hard as he could. Whelp took off across the yard after it as Bill stormed back inside. "Bleedin' doll..."

The loud growl might have been mildly frightening had Norrington not known it's source, as he did the slightly quieter growl that followed. He placed a hand on his stomach as he and Will continued down the path in relative silence. It seemed as if they didn't have a thing to say to each other and Norrington liked it that way. Until now, when they finally had to come to some sort of terms.

"Do we have any food at all?" He finally asked Will when the gnawing sensation in his stomach had grown unbearable. Will glanced over at him darkly, still rubbing his stomach.

"If you count a Twizzler as food, then yeah, I still have food." He replied.

"Why is it just yours?"

"Because one, I bought the package of Twizzlers at the gas station and two, you didn't share your candy bar with me, so I think I can eat this last Twizzler." He noticed Norrington's startled look. "Yeah, that's right. Don't think I didn't see you sneaking that candy bar while I was taking a leak."

"You're delusional, Turner."

"You're annoying, Norrington." The two men closed the gap between each other. The shadow that had been stalking them for the last mile suddenly felt the urge to run from the sudden overflow of testosterone.

"Annoying? Well, I suppose that's a small thing in respects to a man who has a phobia of commitment." Norrington replied, crossing his arms over his chest. Will pointed a finger in his face, opening his mouth to say something, but instead dropped his hand, looking about ready to slug him.

"Better to know who you're going to spend eternity with than to jump right in. But I expect you're looking for an opening to come in and sweep Elizabeth off her feet." He tried to stare him down. "It ain't going to happen. She made her choice."

"Turner, I believe you've done something that no man has ever done before. Not even Jack Sparrow."

"Oh?"

"Gotten on my last nerve!"

The shadow stood in shock as suddenly the two man fell to the ground, rolling in the mud, shouting insults, and trying their damndest to make the other man hurt more than they were. It raised what could pass as an eyebrow at the rather creative insults that were hurled.

"Pompous wig wearer!"

"Overdramatic!"

The shadow watched as they continued to roll until coming to the edge of the path...and right into the stream. There was a loud splash and flailing of limbs for a moment before both men surfaced, looking rather humbled. The younger one stayed low in the water, glaring at his companion. The older man got up out of the water and made his way up to the path, shaking out.

"Well, that was rather stupid, wasn't it?" Norrington muttered as he took off his shirt and wrung it, letting the water soak into the dirt. Will inclined his head slightly to say that he agreed but remained in the water. Norrington frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "Is there a problem?"

Will opened his mouth, but it was a moment before the words came out. "I think you ripped my pants." There was a moment of silence between them as Norrington stared at him in disbelief. "Or I should say I did on a rock when we fell in here." Will amended, shifting uncomfortably. "Either way, I'm feeling a bit of a draft."

Norrington stared at him for a moment before bursting out into laughter. Will frowned, planning to commit bloody vengeance on the man, until the ex-commodore reached into their bags and pulled out a roll of duct tape. "Fixes everything, or so Jack told me." He tossed it to Will, who caught it, a look of relief on his face.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Norrington finally managed to get his laughing under control and went to work drying out his pants as Will taped his and emerged from the water. They both stood in silence for a moment before Norrington offered his hand.

"Truce till we find our way out of these woods?"

Will took it and shook it eagerly. "Truce." He said. "But I still very much dislike you."

"Agreed."