A branch snapped to her left and for the hundredth time in the past five minutes Nicolette gasped, stiffened and felt the need to be sick. She held her breath, counted to ten and when no one jumped out from behind a tree and there was no other sounds apart from her heart beating violently against her chest, she carried on.
Why in the gods name had she bothered?
She should have just sat and waited on the beach or, better yet, hidden in the Pearl. But no, she fancied being brave and adventurous and a little independent so she wandered down the beach a little way until she found a small clearing in the trees and ventured into the jungle. Alone.
With every flap of a birds wing or croak of a frog she was a nervous wreck. Apparently she had a strong fear of cannibalism, something she deemed to be quite bloody rational at this moment in time. Every time her brain told her something was behind her the image of the man Matthew had found with no fingers and bite marks covering his skin flashed in her mind and it was doing nothing to help her nervous stomach.
She didn't even know what she was doing, never mind where she was going. She had came into the jungle and only after a few minutes, when it was too late to turn back and she could no longer see the shore line through the trees, she realised she did not have a plan. She had done what she had just mentally chastised Will for doing. And now she was lost on an Island inhabited by cannibals, looking for a man who was no doubt amongst them now…if not already digested.
"Stupid Will." Nic kept hushing herself but she just couldn't help muttering curses to release some of her nerves and anger. "Bloody Miss Swann." She never should have left Tortuga. Why had she even offered to help Will.
But boy oh boy who was she kidding? The only reason she was hear was because she knew the boy was up to no good. She needed to find out what nonsense he was up to this time and gloat to Jack about how she told him all along he would live to double cross them.
Jack. Jack could look after himself. He had done perfectly fine for ten years without her... She didn't need to protect him, no matter what her gut said, but look what good her stupid feelings had gotten her into now.
"Bloody Sparrow, what has he ever done for me. Stupid girl should hang anyway for all the trouble she's caused me…stupid little wench."
There was suddenly a loud rumble and Nic's head snapped up from its hunched position as she had been closely studying the overgrowth below her feet for traps. She stilled once more, frowning as she heard movement…but then nothing.
Whatever it wasn't hadn't been close but the loud noise had echoed through the valleys of the mountains. But now it had either stopped or stilled…
"You're loosing your mind Nic." She muttered to herself before she became wide eyed and grimaced. "You're starting to sound like Jack." When she was only seconds away from scolding herself again, another sound distracted her.
This one wasn't movement in the trees or an animal, it was drums.
A slow beat seemed to be coming from all around her, giving her very little clue of what direction she should follow them to…or avoid. Then it quickened and very soon it sounded as though more drums had joined as the beating got deeper and quicker.
"What have you got yourself into Jack?"
Everything; her blood, her bones and her mind were all screaming at her to turn and run, to find a way back to the Pearl and wait for them to return. But something wouldn't let her feet obey the voices. Some strange form of curiosity and the looming possibility that the crew may never return to the Pearl prompted her to keep going.
It was a while or so before she reached a large clearing and under any other circumstance the view would have been breathtaking. There wasn't another living creature or soul in sight and the mountains, covered in thick green jungle, surrounded the area forming a barrier from the elements which echoed the sounds of the ocean down onto the floral jungle floor Nicolette stood within. Over the sounds of the breeze and the tropical birds, she could here a waterfall somewhere close by. It was a paradise.
An evil one, Nicolette had to remind herself as she found herself smiling into the warm sun, closing her eyes. It was as if nature itself set a trap as Nicolette persuaded herself to close her eyes for just a few more seconds to soak up the Caribbean sun.
That was until there was a disturbance, and a one unlike all the others. It started off as a low rumble…nothing like anything she had ever heard before. Cautiously, Nic began to stalk through the long grass like a tigress hunting out her pray, eyes narrowed into slits and ears open.
The noise began to grow louder. It was like thunder but more continuous and uneven…like crunching leaves being kicked by a giants foot. And was that…
Nicolette swept her eyes over the clearing and her face scrunched. Was that screaming?
She turned her head to the side to try and get a better feel of the sound but as she did that, the noises suddenly increased and louder screams pierced the calm air from behind her. By the time she turned, whatever it had been had gone, leaving only a storm of loose leaves and swaying branches behind.
If she didn't know herself better, she would have said that as she turned she had just got a glimpse of a giant ball of yarn as it had rolled out of view. But she knew her mind…at least she hoped she did.
"It's nothing." She whispered and then turned a full one hundred and eighty degrees to head away from the giant scary string. "Just an animal…a big round screaming animal..."
Just walk in a straight line. That's what she kept telling herself.
Keep walking in a straight line, keep looking down. Watch out for traps. Look out for people. What was that animal? Look out for Jack. Jack's probably been eaten. Look out for Will. They couldn't have ate Will already. Look out for the crew…they were probably the first to go. Look out for traps. Don't get eaten.
And then. More screaming.
Only this time it was definitely screaming and definitely human…and familiar. How could a persons screams be familiar?
Nicolette lost all care as curiosity fully took over and she began to run through the grass, following the noise. She only made it a hundred or so yards until it stopped getting louder and stopped completely as she came to a still between two mountains.
The peaceful tranquility of the jungle returned and it wasn't until now that Nic realised even the drumming had stopped. It had been so rhythmic and repetitive that she had tuned it out but now, they were gone.
Nic waited a moment and then when she was sure there was nothing to find, she lifted her foot to carry on. But then it started again; screaming, only this time the high squeals were accompanied by dull hollow thumps and the snapping of branches, thick ones by the sound of it.
At first they were random, but then they became so perfectly timed Nic could have clapped along with them. The separate noises all bounced off the jagged cliff faces of the mountains making it impossible for her to find the source of them. But then, a small whoosh and a thump.
The peacock feathers in her hair were disturbed lightly by the small rush of air which brushed her face and when she glanced down, Nic saw the remanence of a small melon which had just narrowly missed landing right on her head.
She frowned, trying to decide whether this was more or less odd than the yarn monster, and then crouched down to pick one of the smashed juicy pieces up into her hand. She studied it hard, squinting at the pale yellow mush as if it was going to speak to her itself, and barely returned to stand before there was a louder, much more forceful, thump behind her.
She was almost afraid to turn, but she did albeit irritatingly slow, and the moment the corner of her eye laid on the shabby figure lying limp in the middle of the grass, she relaxed and dropped the fruit to the ground.
Of course, why try to find Jack when it was always Jack who managed to find her. And in new and intriguing ways it seemed.
She went to approach what she assumed to be an unconscious Jack when a whooshing sound caught her attention and she looked up at the spot which Jack had fell from just in time to catch sight of a pole following. It moved with impeccable speed, hitting the earth with such a force it pierced the soil only inches from Jack's head and soon after other pieces of fruits followed not too far behind, raining down and landing in the halo shape around him like it was all some very odd dream.
Nicolette did a quick check of the air for any other humans or poles or fruit...and when she deemed it safe, she walked towards Jack, her steps still highly considered.
Quietly, she went to his side and stood over him, frowning as she saw the vague colourful makeup painted onto his tanned face.
He groaned and she smirked as his eyes opened into the thinnest of slits, focussing on an undefinable blur until she softly cooed.
"Hello Jack." Nic's smirk widened as she placed her hands on her waist, tilting at the hip to get a better look at him.
Jack's eyes opened a little more and then he groaned, attempting to raise his head before allowing it to drop back to the hard ground, defeated.
"Is this hell?"
"If it isn't then it should be." Nicolette replied sharply, her mouth falling into a hard line. "An-are those thumbs?!"
"Toes actually. But it's been a long day love, could you please not yell?" She gaped, jumping between appalled and offended until there was suddenly movement in the corner of her eye and reality crashed down upon her.
"Get up." Jack groaned again, finally lifting himself into a sitting position where he turned his neck sharply, omitting a sickening crack.
"I just fell from a bloody cliff after being attacked by a bloody pineapple luv, would it kill you to give me a minute!" He ranted, but Nicolette simply smiled unnaturally before they were both cut off by chanting, a mass chorus of it.
Hearing it, Jack peered over his shoulder as the first tribesman came into view at the very other end of the clearing.
"You still want that minute?" Nic asked through clenched teeth as her heartbeat instantly began to beat quicker and a shot of adrenaline was released into her veins.
Jack didn't answer but jumped up, watching as the tribesman stopped and stared at them as more started to appear along the jungle line.
"Maliki liki!" Both of the pairs eyes grew wide as one by one the villages joined in with the chant, whooping and waving their spears.
Jack sucked in his cheeks and wrinkled his nose before whispering to Nicolette in an unnecessarily calm tone, "Run."
But when he turned to grab her hand and take off, Nic was already gone, sprinting through the trees a good few yards ahead of him and towards the direction of the beach.
"Oi! Hey, wait!" They jumped over fallen trees and ducked under hanging vine, Nic praying to any god (other than Jack) that was listening for there to be no traps hiding in the path she was running down.
And thankfully at least one had listened as she made it to the clearing in the trees, where dirt turned to sand, unharmed. By the time she hit the beach Jack had caught up with her and they ran side by side as best they could with the dry sand slowing them down.
It felt as though she was running though thick pigs muck, sinking yet never touching the surface at the same time. Her boots slid and her thighs burnt with the effort she was putting in without getting much of a reward in return.
By the time they rounded a sharp corner in the beach, she was out of breath but her body wouldn't allow her to slow, especially as she saw the sails of the Pearl come into view, risen and ready to catch the breeze as the tide came in covering her underside.
"Oi!" Jack screamed as he rounded the corner of the island seconds after her, the cannibals soon following with no sign of them stopping. For a diet of pure people they sure had high stamina.
Nicolette could see the rest of the crew…or at least a few of the crew on the Pearl and she could just hear the commands over the roar of the crowd on her heels.
"Make ready to cast off!"
A raggy shape which Nic soon deciphered to be a dog barked and as if it were a natural impulse from hearing someone else yell, she began to scream as she pushed on running.
"Good doggy." Jack grinned as he ran passed the dog with a striking resemblance to that in the prison of Port Royal but once he caught a glance of what was only now a meter behind him, he joined in with Nicolette's screams.
When she was only meters from the Pearl, which had already cast off, Nick turned off the beach and ran into the waves. She waited until the water reached her upper thigh making it impossible to run and then dived into the water, kicking as hard as she could towards the ship. Although her legs were screaming at her and her lungs barely had capacity to take in the air as quick as she needed, Nicolette would have swam for miles to get away from that shoreline. By the time her hand finally reached out and clutched the Jacobs ladder hanging from the Pearl, she was close to rejoicing.
She coughed as she forced her body to climb until her feet were just out of the water, then she allowed herself a short rest to catch her breath, as Jack just reached the Pearl below her. She didn't care about Jack at that moment though, she just wanted to be on something solid while lying still.
"Alas, my children, this is the day you shall always remember as the day that you almost-"
So as Jack decided to turn back to his people and spew out some speech she climbed to the deck. And she almost made it in a relatively good mood, beyond belief, until a large wave came from nowhere and soaked any part of her which wasn't already drenched with sea water, pushing her hair all into her face.
"Captain Jack Sparrow." By the time Nicolette calmed herself and hoisted herself over the railing of the Pearl, Jack was at her side heaving himself over the wood with just as much despair.
"Sick of running. Sick of being wet." She panted, trying her best not to fall into a heap on the Pearl's deck. "Why must you always insist on running?" Glancing up at Jack, she caught him smirking at her in amusement and she began to chuckle, finally standing upright as the pain in her lungs subsided.
"Let's put some distance between us and this island and head out to open sea." Gibbs' interrupted, placing himself between herself and Jack who instantly lost his smile.
"Yes to the first, yes to the second, but only as so far as we keep to the shallows as much as possible." Nicolette's ears perked with interest but as she turned back to look at him, she physically jumped and yelped at the sight of Pintel and Ragetti stood a few inches from her face.
"At your service Mrs Barbossa." Her jaw fell slack and her mouth bobbed open and closed like a fish. She assumed them dead…hung…out of her life for good.
Not able to find anything to say, nice or honest, Nicolette stepped around the pair to follow Gibbs and Jack, silently avoiding their 'services'.
"Now, that seems a bit contradictory, Captain."
"I have every faith in your reconciliatory navigational skills, Master Gibbs." Jack, now with his coat draped over his shoulders, removed the pistol from his belt as he dismissed his disgruntled and confused First Mate. "Now, where is that monkey? I want to shoot something."
As if on cue, a wooden eye dropped from overhead and Ragetti instantly scrabbled to retrieve it as the small agile being swung down and through the rigging with ease to land gracefully on Nicolette's shoulder.
She gasped, instantly going to coo at the tiny monkey as a grin grew on her lips and little Jack clicked lovingly in her ear.
"Jack." Will finally got his chance to approach Jack but the Captain seemed just as hard to gain the attention of as Nicolette as Jack was too busy drying out his pistol but keeping one eye on the monkey. "Elizabeth is in danger."
Jack walked off, watching Nicolette carefully as she walked up to the helm still pathetically pawing at her pet. She was practically flirting with it, scratching the buggers head and under his chin as the pest nuzzled into her soaked, bountiful chest which moved as she giggled and pressed herself up against the railing of the upper deck.
"Jack!" The captain jumped, glancing as Will before heading off towards the helm, pistol in hand.
"Have you considered keeping a more watchful eye on her. Maybe just lock her up somewhere?"
"She is locked up in a prison, bound to hang for helping you and Nicolette."
"There comes a time when one must take responsibility for one's mistakes."
As they reached the upper deck, Will snatched a sword off a nearby crew member and brought it to Jack's throat. The action caused him to finally gain Jack's attention, as well as that of Nicolette and the monkey who seemed to be staring at him the most hatefully of all.
"I need that compass of yours, Jack. I must trade it for her freedom."
A moment past, during which Jack glanced at Nicolette from the corner of his eye. When he looked back at Will he saw the boy also watching her and quirked a brow. He hadn't been just looking, it had been with intent and something in the boys eyes gave Jack an odd feeling.
"Mr. Gibbs?" Jack called as he lifted Will's sword from his shoulder easily.
"Captain?" The man answered promptly, coming to his side in an instant.
"We have a need to travel upriver." The older man faltered, hesitant on whether to ask the question on his tongue whereas Nicolette narrowed her eyes, her gaze shifting between each of the three men.
"By need, do you mean a trifling need, fleeting, as in, say, a passing fancy?"
"No, a resolute and unyielding need." Gibbs became worried but dutifully nodded his head before sulking off to the helm to carry out their new heading.
"What we need to do is make sail for Port Royal with all haste."
"William… I shall trade you the compass, if you will help me…" Jack paused for a moment to take a small roll of dirty fabric from his pocket. Nicolette leant forward just enough to see what was drawn on it, but upon seeing a key she rolled her eyes and groaned loudly, sulking away. "…find this." Jack finished with a roll of his own eyes hearing the woman's pained groan.
"You want me to find this?" Will asked, indicating to the etching of a key.
"No. You want you to find this. Because the finding of this, finds you incapacitorially finding and or locating in your discovering the detecting of a way to save your dolly belle ol' what's her face. Savvy?"
Beside the pair, Nicolette closed her eyes and turned away, wishing she had went below. It was starting to become clear why her headaches correlated with Jack's company.
"This is going to save Elizabeth?" Will tried to secure a definite answer as he took the rag from Jack though of course he didn't get one, instead he got a question of his own.
"How much do you know about Davy Jones?"
"Not much." The boy shook his head but for Nicolette, a prickle travelled up her spine and her ear pointed towards Jack.
She knew something was off with Jack beaching the Pearl and then with him insistent on keeping to the shallows...and perhaps she might have just got her first look into the truth, but surely not...surely he was playing...
"Yeah, it's going to save Elizabeth."
Once she heard Will retreat to the main deck, she waited for the company she knew she would receive in the next few seconds. And Jack didn't disappoint as she felt his hand on the small of her back before he came into view, swinging around until he was stood in front of her, their chests almost pressed together.
"Now luv. I do believe I still owe you a proper and honest greeting."
She hummed as she smirked up at him, her tongue playing along her teeth before biting her lip, and then she waited for that stupid slimy grin to come to his face before she dropped the act and put her lips close to his ear.
"What business do you have with Davy Jones?" Jack gulped and before he knew it Nic was stalking towards his cabin with a purpose, and not one he was looking forward to.
