A/N: Ha, I have no idea where I was going with that last chapter–I just wanted something interesting to happen. This is what being alone all summer without your friends and listening to weird rock bands non-stop leads you to...so-I hope you like this chapter and bear with me if it seems boring.
TriGemini-Thank for reviewing again! Sorry to confuse you. I'm glad you liked the twist–it was unexpected, even for me...and I know a lot of people are going to hate me for it...Thanks for reviewing!
Katweenathesmiley- Yeah, I love little kids...really, I do...hah! Elli and Jack are a cute couple...when they're not arguing...Thanks for reviewing!
Jinxeh-I love those quotes. XD Johnny Depp is...well...different. I have yet to see him play someone 'normal' in a movie. Lol. Yeah, I added a 'Harry Potter' crossover because they had to get their world hopping skills from somewhere, so why not 'Harry Potter.' Possibly I'll make a 'Harry Potter' story explaining their backgrounds and stuff. I sunk the Pearl! Hahah! Now people are gonna be after me, but hey–at least it's something different, right? That's not helping, is it? Anyways, thanks for reviewing!
Windvuur–Yeah, Jinxeh is a cool person. She told me about you–so it's cool to hear from you. Yeah, I'm a Harry Potter fan too, so I thought I'd throw that in to explain some things. Thanks for reviewing!
The White Masque-I'm glad you liked the idea. It was something that just came to me. I hope you had a good vacation and thanks for reviewing!
Mouse10-Yay! People aren't mad at me for sinking the Pearl! XD! I'm glad you liked the last chapter, even though I thought it was a little odd...thanks for reviewing!
Blossomlite-They are cute, aren't they? Thanks for reviewing!
Ms. Evermore–Cookies! munches cookies Hah! Thanks! I'm glad someone here likes Adam! Everyone else was really mad at him...and me...I try to update soon, but I'm lazy during the summer. I update faster during the school year, believe it or not...thanks for reviewing!
Disclaimer–I don't own Will or Jack–sadly. But I do own pretty much everything else in this story–so don't sue me! It's not like I have any money anyways...
Chapter Eleven–Oasis
Thin rays of sunlight streamed through the large leaves of the palm trees, which were fastened to the top of the huts as makeshift roofs. I slowly sat up and stretched, looking around the small hut that had been given to us. At first I had thought that this was some vivid dream, but now I was fully awake and remembered what all had happened last night. I winced as I remembered the Pearl going down.
How were we going to get off this island? Oh, don't get me wrong–it's not like I was in a hurry to leave this island, I just wondered how we were going to leave when the time came. Maybe Kenan and the rest of the tribe would help us build another ship.
I stood up and saw Elli and Jack still sleeping. They were part of the reason why I couldn't sleep last night. They were talking to each other, quite loudly I might add and then when I told them to shut up, we started shouting back and forth at each other until we woke Will up and he told us all to shut up.
I smiled to myself as I walked out of the hut, shielding my eyes from the bright glare of the sun. I think this is just what we all needed, a kind of vacation from being out on the sea so much. I loved sailing and I loved being a pirate, but sometimes it became tiring or mundane, but I needed a break from it.
"Good morning." A voice next to me interrupted my thoughts. I turned and saw a tall woman standing next to me. She was thin, but looked powerful at the same time. Her sleek black hair was twisted into a long braid and all she wore was a blue sarong and a string of green beads around her neck.
"Good morning." I replied.
"Your friend...is she awake?" The woman asked.
"Elli...no, I think she's still sleeping. I can go get her though." I suggested and the woman nodded. I walked back into the hut and saw that Elli was still sleeping. I sighed and knelt down beside her, shaking her. "Elli, get up!" I hissed. She opened one eye and then rolled over.
"Leave me alone, it's too early."She muttered.
"That's my line!" I replied, shaking her still. "Now get up, some woman from the village is here to see us." With that Elli sat up and glared at me.
"This better not be something pointless." She snarled.
"Don't blame me! She just showed up wanting to see the two of us." I reminded her. She threw off the thin blankets that were given to us and stood up, stretching a little and smoothing down her hair.
"How come they get to sleep?" She asked.
"I don't know, maybe someone will come by for them later." I replied, walking out of the hut. Elli followed me, still muttering dark things under her breath. I rolled her eyes and was about to tell her to shut up, but as soon as we made our way over to where the woman was waiting for us, she stopped.
"My name is Mara, Abasi wished for me to show you our village and let you know what will be expected of you." She informed us, her voice soft and commanding
"Expected of us?" Elli asked. I elbowed her in the ribs and she shot me a look, which I returned. Instead of being offended, Mara smiled at Elli, her brown eyes shining with amusement.
"Yes. Everyone on our island is to do something to help the village. The men, they hunt and build our homes. The women make clothes, cook and watch over the children. Everyone does their part." She replied, speaking slowly. I could tell that speaking in English was difficult for her, and I wondered where she learned it from, perhaps Kenan taught her.
"Sounds fair to us." I said cheerfully. She nodded and motioned for us to follow her.
xXx
For the majority of the day, Mara lead us around the village, introducing us to the members and telling us their rules. There weren't many of them, but Mara assured us that Abasi was strict when it came to the rules. One of the rules was that no one was to wander off alone, you always had to travel in a group of three, at the least. No one was to wander off at night, especially the children. No one was to leave the village and go to the beach, you must always stay within the shelter of the trees.
As Mara explained the rest of the rules to us, I found myself wondering why no one was to wander off or go out onto the beach. I worked up the courage to ask Mara this, but she just gave me a sad smile before continuing on. I figured it was one of those things you obey without questioning.
Once we were done touring the village and learning the rules, Mara lead us back to the heart of the village where everyone was gathered for lunch. She explained that all the meals were to be eaten together, it helped them keep their bonds and unity strong. Also, at these times we could discuss and debate about things and work out ways to improve the parts of the village that needed it.
She motioned for us to sit down next to her and we did so, looking around for Jack and Will, who were at the far end of the table, talking with Kenan. Everyone else around us were talking in their own language, so Elli and I began our own conversation.
"I wonder where Will and Jack went." Elli said, grabbing a small, red fruit and putting it on her plate.
"Probably to learn the same things we did." I replied, going for the seafood rather than the fruit. Elli eyed my plate with disgust and I taunted her by grabbing more shrimp and placing it on my plate. "I wonder why one of the rules is to not wander off alone or go to the beach." I said and Elli shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know. Maybe they're just all really attached to one another." She suggested.
"I have the feeling it's something else." I said in a low voice. Elli looked at me, wondering what I meant–but we didn't know that we would all find out soon enough.
xXx
It was later in the evening when Elli and I were called to Mara's tent. When we arrived, we found a circle of women sitting outside her hut, sewing various clothes. I cast Elli a look and we both knew what was coming next.
Mara stood up and gestured for us to sit with them. The women moved over a bit, making a space for Elli and I.
"Do you know how?" Mara asked us, holding out a torn tunic and a needle. I knew was she was asking and took it from her.
"A little." I replied. "I'm not very good though." Mara nodded and handed a sarong and a needle to Elli as well. She took it hesitantly, trying to smile. She and I both hated sewing and were paranoid about being poked with needles, so for us--this was hell. But we didn't complain and sewed carefully, trying not to stick ourselves with the needle.
"You're holding it too hard..." Someone whispered to me. I turned my head to see a young girl looking at me, a slight smile on her face.
"I am?" I asked and she nodded and reached over, taking the tunic and needle from me.
"Like this." She said and threaded the needle through the tunic delicately. She handed it back to me and I stared at it stupidly. She gave me a gentle nudge in the ribs and I started sewing again, trying to hold the needle delicately, but it didn't feel right, so I gripped it harder. Before I knew it, I had poked myself.
"Ow! Dammit!" I shouted, dropping the tunic and looking at my finger. At this all the women looked up at me, giving me shocked looks.
"It's unladylike for you to swear." The young girl, who had instructed me on sewing, whispered to me.
"Forgive me." I snapped, my voice full of sarcasm.
"Yeah Ari, shame on you." Elli chided, grinning.
"You're worse than me!" I cried. Elli put a hand to her heart and looked at me with a sad expression on her face.
"That hurt–right here." She said.
"Shut up." I muttered and bent over my sewing again. Elli laughed and went back to her sewing as well.
"Are you a pirate?" The young girl asked me again. I sighed and closed my eyes before answering. She was really getting on my nerves by now, here I was–trying to sew and she kept distracting me. Oh wait, I hate sewing.
"Yes, I am a pirate–how did you know?" I asked her.
"The mark on your wrist." She replied and I looked down at my pirate brand.
"Do a lot of pirates come here?" I asked.
"Yes, but they never stay long–they come here for trade or for..." She trailed off at this, casting a glance at Mara, who was frowning at her. "Why did you come here?" She asked quickly, trying to fill the awkward silence.
"Well, our ship capsized, so we had to come here." I replied, smiling slightly–deciding to ignore what just happened.
"Maybe it was meant to happen. We believe that everything happens for a purpose."The girl said and the rest of the women nodded.
"So do I, but why do you think we were supposed to come here?" I asked. Everyone fell silent at that and I knew they were just like us, they had no idea. I didn't even know how long we were going to stay on this island.
xXx
It was later at dinner when we finally saw Will and Jack. They had been gone the whole day while we were sewing with the women. I would rather be off doing whatever they were doing, which was most likely hunting and such.
My fingers were sore from sewing, not to mention most of them had little cuts on them from when I poked myself with the needle. After awhile Mara realized that I wasn't getting anywhere with my sewing and took the needle away from me, but I didn't care, it got me out of sewing.
"What did you and Elli do today?" Will asked me, interrupting my thoughts.
"Sewed." I replied darkly. Will laughed and put an arm around my shoulders. "What were you doing? Off hunting or doing something fun like that?" I demanded, frowning at him.
"You think killing animals is fun?" Will asked, looking down at me.
"Not exactly, but anything is better than sewing." I muttered, laying my head on his shoulder.
"Actually we just spent the day exploring more of the island and learning the rules." Will replied, taking my hand in his. I sighed deeply. I wasn't going to forgive Mara for a long time.
Soon dinner came to a close and we made our way back to the huts. Once we crawled into our sleeping bag-like beds, we stayed up for awhile, talking amongst ourselves until we drifted off, one by one.
xXx
The next couples of days was pretty much the same as the first one, expect Elli and I were made to wash clothes instead of mend them. Mara lead us to a large spring which was quite some distance from the village and gave us each a large basket full of clothes and a couple bottles of sweet smelling oils to wash the clothes with. We thanked her for letting us do this instead and she smiled at us, saying she knew it was what we would've preferred. Then she made her way back to the village and left Elli and I alone.
"I'm so glad we don't have to sew." Elli said as she knelt down to place another tunic in the water.
"Same here." I replied, folding a pair of trousers and placing them in the large basket.
"Do you hear something?" Elli asked me suddenly. I stood still for a minute, listening–but didn't hear anything expect for a couple birds singing up in the trees.
"No...why? What did you hear?" I asked her. She stopped listening and shook her head.
"Never mind." She replied and went back to washing the tunic. But after a couple minutes, I could've sworn I heard something as well... it sounded like someone running through the woods. Just then, two little boys came racing out of the woods, knocking over my basket of clean and dry clothes.
"Hey!" I cried, but then found my anger disappearing when they started hugging my legs. "What's wrong?" I asked, looking down at them. Elli stood up and walked over to me, looking at the little boys as well.
"What happened?" Elli asked them, kneeling down to be eye-level with them. One of the little boys let go of my leg and looked up at her.
"We saw a monster." The boy said. Elli looked up at me and we exchanged a glance, trying to hid our smiles.
"A monster? Where?" She asked, playing along. The boy said nothing, but pointed in the direction. "Do you want us to go look for it?" She asked, turning back to him. He nodded, still not looking up at her.
"Alright...but you're going to have to let me go." I noted, looking down at the two boys who were hugging my legs still. Slowly they let go and I smiled down at them. "Alright, let's go." I said and Elli and I each took each of their hands before walking off towards where they saw their 'monster.'
It wasn't long until we came to a large cave, half hidden by a large tree which had grow beside it. Instantly the little boys let go of our hands and stood by the tree, not wanting to go any farther.
"Is it in there?" Elli asked them and they just nodded in reply. "Alright, we're going to go in–wait here." She instructed before turning towards me again. I nodded and we walked towards the cave, Elli pulled out her dagger and I pulled out my cutlass before we entered–just incase.
Carefully we made our way through the cave, our feet sliding slightly on the slick ground. Water dripped from the ceiling and made shallow puddles on the floor where small fish made their homes.
"I don't see anything...do you?" Elli asked, wondering what could've frightened the little boys.
"No...oh damn, what was that?" I shouted, having stepped on something that crunched and broke.
"Damnit." I heard Elli mutter and she moved out of the way of the light which was streaming into the cave, as we were still close to the entrance. Now that I had light, I looked down and saw that I had stepped on a human skull.
"Of course...how typical." I muttered, backing away from it. "Well, I think this is what the boys must've seen...I don't see anything else which could've frightened them." I noted, looking around.
"Wait! There's something else." Elli said, bending down and picking up a coin from underneath the skeleton's hand. "Hmm...it looks like there's something engraved on here." She murmured, examining it closely.
"Why don't we show it to Kenan or Abasi, they probably know something about it, or this cave." I said. "Besides, we don't want the boys to wander off."
"Alright." She agreed, slipping it in her pocket. We put away our weapons and walked back out into the sunlight again, seeing the little boys still waiting by the tree.
"The monster...did you see it?" One of them asked.
"Yes...you don't need to worry–it won't bother you." I assured him.
"That's right, we took care of it. Now come on, we need to get you home." Elli said, steering the little boys back to where we were washing clothes so we could pick up the laundry and then go back to the village.
xXx
"Where have you been?" Was the first thing Kenan asked us once we arrived at the village.
"We were taking care of a 'monster.'" Elli replied, motioning to the little boys. Kenan nodded, showing that he understood, but then he became stern again.
"But where did you go? Did you wander far?" He asked.
"No, we just went to the spring to wash the clothes and then to a cave to take care of the 'monster'." I replied.
"A cave?" Kenan asked, looking apprehensive.
"Yeah...oh and we found this." Elli replied, pulling the coin out of her pocket and holding it up. Kenan eyed it warily. "We were wondering if you could tell us anything about it." She said. Kenan took it from her and put it in his own pocket.
"There is nothing for you to know...and never go wandering in the caves again." He said sharply before walking off briskly.
"Well someone has an attitude." Elli murmured, glaring at Kenan's retreating form.
"Yeah...or there's something about those caves and the coin he doesn't want us to know about." I noted. Elli rolled her eyes and picked up the basket of laundry.
"What makes you think that?" She asked, walking off towards Mara's hut
"For one thing, people only tell you those kind of things when they have a secret and for another, I've seen a lot of movies." I replied, picking up my own basket and following her.
"Yeah you have." She muttered.
"Not as many as you!" I countered.
xXx
After we had been dismissed from dinner, we told Jack and Will all about what had happened today. They seemed just as suspicious as I was about this and now Elli was convinced that something was going on.
"So...what are we going to do about it?" Elli asked. This was probably the hardest question of the night. Jack thought we should go explore the cave, Will thought we should listen to Kenan and stay away from the cave, Elli agreed with Jack and I was undecided. And so all three of them tried to convince me.
"Come on, we're pirates." Elli was saying.
"True, but don't you think we should listen to Kenan, after all they've done for us." Will pointed out.
"Where's the fun in that?" Jack demanded.
"It's not fun, it's the right thing to do." Will countered.
"You know, sometimes I really doubt that you're Bill's son." Jack said. Will was about to say something else, but I cut him off by laying a hand on his shoulder.
"How about all of you shut up so I can think?" I said in a soft voice. And thankfully, they listened to me and left me alone to think things through. After awhile Elli and Will climbed into their beds and went to sleep, leaving me and Jack alone. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye, but looked away when I turned to look at him. I looked away only to find him looking at me again. I turned to look at him again, but he looked away. It kept going on like this for awhile until I turned to face him.
"Would you stop that?" I demanded.
"Sorry." He muttered darkly and crawled into his bed beside Elli. I sighed and shook my head and went back to thinking, tapping my fingers on the floor.
At last I came to a decision when the moon had fully risen in the sky, shining through the large square holes in our hut that were supposed to be windows. I crawled into bed as well, pulling the thin sheet up over me and curling up into a little ball. I knew I was going to receive a rude awakening in the morning.
xXx
Amazingly, I was right. Someone was shaking me roughly and whispering my name. I opened one eye and found Elli staring down at me.
"What the hell do you want?" I whispered. She looked at me, taken aback.
"What's your problem?" She demanded, sitting down beside me.
"I stayed up late last night thinking and only got about four hours of sleep." I snapped, sitting up and stretching my arms.
"So did you make a decision?" Elli asked me.
"Yeah." I replied, yawning and stretching my arms over my head.
"Well, what is it?" She demanded, laying her hands on my shoulders.
"What do you think?" I asked. She fell silent at this, looking me in the eyes. We stayed liked this for awhile until a smile flickered across her face. I smiled as well and by now Elli was grinning.
"We're going!" She cried, hopping up. "We're going!"
"Shut up!" Jack shouted, throwing a pillow at her head. Elli grabbed it and chucked it back at him. He grabbed another and threw it at her, but it missed and smacked me in the face. I grabbed it and threw it at him and he threw another Will, who had just woken up.
"I have a feeling I missed something." He replied.
A/N: I have to say, I have very proud of how this chapter turned out. nods If you're proud of me, review! If not...review anyways! XD