After Nicolette had returned from the hold with the two shovels which had been hung up on a shelf in plain view, she handed them to Pintel and Ragetti with an expression nothing short of agitated and then hovered around on deck by the main mast.
Jack's little crew were already gathered up and ready to go now they were in range of the island and the anchor had been dropped. Elizabeth, the former Commodore, Pintel and Ragetti were all lined up by the ladder leading to the longboat, which was still in the process of being lowered, awaiting their captain.
Speaking of which, said Captain appeared from within his cabin and she took a step forward to get his attention before any of the others could.
"What are we to do if the worst should happen?" She asked as Jack swaggered over to her, the large jar of drip he had kept in pride of place on his desk now clutched tightly in his arms.
"We? Do?" Jack repeated the words with a snarl and looked her up and down as she fell into step beside him.
"The crew. What if one of you should fall behind?" She asked again, unwise on how to make herself any clearer.
She wasn't expecting to go along with them. Elizabeth held the compass and therefor the heading, Norrington was only going because the idea of ordering him to do manual labour amused Jack to no end and the lackey twins were needed to row and mind the boat.
However Jack stopped quite suddenly and turned to her, looking down at her with an unreadable expression, although she could see a hint of a smirk pulling at the edge of his mouth. In response to her question, even though he never broke eye contact with her, Jack called to Gibbs who had been standing by her side moments ago.
"Mr Gibbs! Keep a weather eye. And don't go anywhere until we return."
"Aye Captain!" Gibbs responded dutifully and Nicolette was caught between whether to smile at Jack or shake her head at him. Before she could do either however, he stepped to the side and held his arm out towards the longboat waiting.
"After you darling."
She released a sigh, both from confusion and a lack of understanding of why he expected her to come along. Bet there was no arguing with the man and so she stepped forward and easily swung over the railing to climb down the ladder to the boat.
Elizabeth and Norrington and the other two dimwits were already seated and patiently waiting. Nicolette took a seat at the front and when Jack joined them, he took the seat next to her with his jar of dirt taking up most of the room.
"I could have stayed on the Pearl." She muttered lowly for only Jack to hear as they cast off and she shuffled to try to get comfortable without the lid of the jar poking her arm.
"Now where would the fun be in that?" He smirked at her, his dreadlocks swaying with the motion of the boat.
The temptation to utter a remark about what she had seen earlier was painful almost. She had not actually seen it but they had both been too close not to kiss. Nic knew Jack after all and he would not have been able to resist. She wanted to look at him, like he was looking at her now and ask…something... She still had to come up with what that would be, but she knew that when it came to her she would ask it.
Right now the only question she wanted to ask him was if he loved her, the girl. But how pathetically stupid and childish would she sound of those words actually came from her mouth.
"You're pulling too fast!" Pintel's moaning was enough for her to be distracted, and to look away from Jack.
"You're pulling too slow."
"We don't want the Kraken to catch us." Nicolette rolled her eyes while Jack stiffened at the mere mention of the beastie and turned to glare over his shoulder. "I'm saving me strength for when it comes. And I don't think it's Kraken, anyways. Always heard it says Kray-ken."
"What with the long 'a'?"
"Aha."
Sometimes, primarily during times like these, Nicolette found herself wondering why of all the men in the world she would find herself stuck with this motley crew. They were evil, granted they couldn't be trusted as far as they could be thrown, but they weren't evil…just terribly terribly stupid?
"No no no no no. 'Kroken' is how it's pronounced in the original Scandinavian, and "Kraken"'s closer to that." Nicolette found herself frowning and turned to glance at Ragetti silently questioning on if he could read…
"Well, we ain't original Scandinavians, are we? Kray-ken."
"It's a mythological creature; I can calls it what I wants!"
This unfortunately for all not involved but present, carried on until they reached the shore. As soon as they hit sand Nicolette had jumped from the boat and Jack had joined her, stripping his coat off now they were feeling the full strength of the mid day sun and throwing it over the jar to hide it.
"Guard the boat; mind the tides…" He ordered Pintel and Ragetti as he picked up one of the shovels. "Don't touch my dirt." They watched after Jack in despise, turning to each other with a snooty face, until they realised Nicolette still stood watching them.
"You're both right." She said partly to please them, yet partially to agitate each of them. They were both left stood there agape in thought after she turned to follow Jack…she gave it to the count of three before, as she expected, the bickering broke out between them again.
From there the four of them crossed the Island, all of them following Elizabeth's lead. It felt as though they walked for miles by the time Elizabeth stopped and she started walking in circles. Nicolette watched with a grimace as the girl paced back and force, stomping her little legs in frustration before she came to a stop and huffed.
She saw Elizabeth look down at the compass and then it seemed as if she was following the needle, turning her head until she was looking at Jack. Nic followed the girl's gaze and frowned, also watching Jack as he looked out at their surroundings.
"This doesn't work." Elizabeth exclaimed and shook the compass. "And it certainly doesn't show you what you want most." She sat down cross-legged on the sand, resembling a little girl throwing a tantrum which caused Nicolette to scoff sourly as the compass fell open on the sand.
Jack walked over and at this point it would have been to no surprise to Norrington or Nicolette if it were to console the pouting child, when he stopped and crouched to look at the compass. walks
"Yes, it does, you're sitting on it."
"Beg pardon?" Elizabeth turned and squinted up at him through the sunlight but she was simply shooed off by Jack who kept his sight set firmly on the spot in the sand.
"Move." He demanded and whistled for Norrington to start digging.
Jack moved back to sit atop a small sand dune as Norrington took up his spade and began to dig. Nicolette looked between him, now lost in meditation…, to Elizabeth who was still sat amongst the clean sands, staring out towards the water.
"Here, let me help." Nic called out to Norrington, walking forward to the spot Jack had marked which the man had barely made a mark in. She missed Jack's peep through one barely opened eyelid as she picked up the spade and balanced it against her hip. "I knew he asked me for a reason." She joked, smiling at James as she loosened the cuffs of her shirt and rolled up the sleeves.
"Thank you." The sun didn't make the job easy and she was going to grow bored quickly if she just sat in the sun watching Norrington struggle. So in reply to his thanks, Nic simply nodded her head as a gesture of welcome and started to dig.
A great deal of time passed under the sweltering heat of the Caribbean sun, before suddenly Norrington hit something solid. Jack was quick to jump up and run over the the deep hole they had dug and Elizabeth joined them as they all peered down into it.
With James' help, the large wooden chest was listed out and dropped with a thump into the sand as Jack fell to his knees in front of it, brushing off the sand which hid in all of the nooks and crannies of the details engravings. The lock was broken and as the lid was flipped open and a sea of letters and trinkets was unveiled.
Nicolette frowned, standing behind Jack and leaning over his shoulder as he swept the papers aside and revealed the smaller hidden chest inside.
Elizabeth knelt on the ground by Jack's side as he took hold of the chest and Nicolette did the same on his other side. Curiosity hooked them and reeled the, in one by one until all four of them were pressed closely together with their ears perked, listening.
And then came the thump.
"It's real." Elizabeth gasped and pulled away. Nicolette turned with disbelief as the hollow hushed sounds continued and breathed a sigh of relief that he had been right.
"You actually were telling the truth." Jack's grin was wide as he slowly sunk backwards, staring at the chest in admiration before looking at Norrington, borderline offended.
"I do that quite a lot, yet people are still surprised."
"With good reason!"
"Will!" Elizabeth explained, running to the boy who was still out of sight behind Nicolette's back as her lips twitches in instant anger. "You're alright, thank God! I came to find you." As she finally turned she saw the couple engaged in a deep kiss and grimace, casting a second glance to Jack and Norrington who both wore the same expression, jealousy.
Jealously fuelled by a man wanting more from a girl who didn't love him in return, and another wanting what the young couple had, with someone else.
"How did you get here?" Jack was the first to call out with a grimace after they separated. Not by much however, the boy still kept his arm wrapped tightly around Elizabeth's waist and she clung to him like a leech.
"Sea turtles, mate. A pair of them strapped to my feet."
"Not so easy is it?" Jack was growing uneasy and Nicolette was growing more livid the longer she had to stand there acting as if nothing was wrong and like she didn't want to rip his stomach out through his throat.
"But I do owe you and Barker a thanks however." Will cried and Elizabeth looked between the two Pirates in wonder. It could not even go up against the look Nicolette sent the boy however, twisted and uncaring.
"You do?" She called back, bored.
"After you both tricked me onto that ship, to square Jack's debt with Jones…"
"What?" Elizabeth exclaimed, horrified.
Jack jumped at the noise and squeaked. "What?"
"…I was reunited with my father."
Then why on earth was he complaining? He was still alive, he had escaped and he got to have a catch up with dear old daddy Bootstrap so what was the problem?
"Oh, well, you're welcome, then."
"Everything you said to me, every word was a lie!"
"Pretty much. Time and tide, love." As Elizabeth's face dropped and Nic saw something in her eyes fade, the woman smirked and shifted on the spot with satisfaction. If the girl wanted Jack then she would have to learn to live with that little quirk of his.
"Oi, what are you doing?" Nicolette looked to Jack and saw him running to Will after he had approached the chest and was leaning over it was a sword which was familiar to Nicolette. She had seen it before, long ago. Bootstraps knife.
"I'm gonna kill Jones." In a heartbeat, Jack's sword had been unsheathed and it was level with Will's neck.
Nicolette however could not stifle her agony at the situation. Of course the boy thought he could show up and stab the heart. Simple, easy as that wasn't it. He was so stupid it sometimes physically hurt her.
"Can't let you do that, William." Jack's voice had turned dark. "'Cause if Jones is dead, who's to call his terrible beastie off the hunt, eh?" The boy appeared to look defeated and he stood up, dropping the hand which held the knife. But Nic wasn't satisfied and her hand slowly went to grasp her own sword in preparation. "Now, if you please." Jack reached out for the key, watching out the corner of his eye as Nic moved to stand behind the boy. "The key."
There was a pause, and it was that pause which told both her and Jack this was not going to to be as simple as they had planned.
Will snatched the sword from Elizabeth belt, pointing it at Jack and keeping him back. Will's face dropped when Jack smirked back at him, glancing passed his face and over his shoulder. When Will followed his gaze he saw Nicolette stood behind him, smiling, with her sword already drawn and held inches from his spine.
"I keep the promises I make, Jack." Will bit out, determined. "I intend to free my father. And I hope you're here to see it."
Norrington stepped up and took his own sword out, also pointing it at young Turner. "I can't let you do that, either. So sorry."
"I knew you'd warm up to me eventually." Jack grinned until Norrington swung his sword to point at Jack, leading Nicolette to point hers at Norrington and giving Will the chance to jump back and point his own at her. They formed a square and took turns glancing at one another.
"Lord Beckett desires the contents of that chest. I deliver it: I get my life back."
"If you want to give Beckett the Chest then you'll have to make sure I am dead first." Nicolette spoke strictly but followed it with a dark chuckle, her aim wavering as Beckett's face flashed in front of her. "Even if your dark side of ambition is admirable." Norrington's sword turned on her and she focused solely on the rusted blunt end, smirking. Shame, just as they were becoming friends.
"Oh, I prefer to see it as the promise of redemption."
She was taken off guard as the man suddenly swung for her but managed to block it. And then block Will and then Norrington once more as she managed to duck from Jack's sword as he swung at Will.
"Stop it!" Elizabeth cried but it landed on deaf ears.
At some point, while Will threw Norrington off to the side, Nic found herself clashing swords with Jack and it took a moments glance and a double take for them to realise they were on the same side.
But then immediately after Jack turned and struck at Will, and Nicolette was granted with the opportunity to swoop under Will's arm and snatch the key from his belt.
Behind her Norrington tried to run after her, but was pulled back by Jack and thrown into Will, the impact taking them both down into the sand.
"Will!" Elizabeth screamed and ran to him, cradling him in a sweet ball. Just another knife in the Commodores back as he laid right by the other mans side.
But Will didn't care for any of her doting and grunted, "Guard the chest." before clambering to a stand and running with Norrington after the two Pirates sprinting ahead.
"No!" She tried running after them but gave up as Will and Norrington caught up with Nicolette and Jack, and engaged in a four way fight. "This is no way for grown men, never mind a woman to – Oh, fine!" She gave up and started stomping through the sand, not one of them hearing, they dare not even glance away from each other. "Let's just pull out our swords and start banging away at each other, that's all there ever is. I've had it! I've had it with wobbly-legged, rum-soaked pirates!" She hadn't noticed Pintel and Ragetti coming up behind her.
Pintel, watching Norrington, Will, Jack and Nicolette fight, caught up with Ragetti and squinted at the scene, trying to catch his breath.
"How'd this go all scwiffy?"
"Well, each man wants the chest for hisself, don't 'e?" Ragetti started, his arms crossing over his chest as he continued to watch the chaos ensue. "Mr. Norrington, I think, is trying to regain a bit of honour. Ol' Jack's looking to trade it, save his own skin. And Turner there – I think 'e's trying to settle some unresolved business twixt him and his twice-cursed pirate father."
"This is madness!" Elizabeth could be heard screaming in the distance.
"And Mrs Barbossa I think, is trying to stop Beckett from gaining control of the chest, after their ugly rendezvous many moons ago." Ragetti finished and Pintel winced as he remembered how the girls screams had once kept them awake at night.
"Sad." He sighed and his mate nodded, before he began to ponder as he spotted the chest a little way away. "That chest must be worth more than a shiny penny."
Ragetti nodded his head tsking. "Oh, Terrible temptation." He tutted.
"If we was any kind of decent, we'd remove temptation from their path." They looked at each other, laughing sinisterly, before beginning to giggle like school girls. After a quick glance towards Elizabeth, who was too busy beginning to throw rocks at the fighting pirates, they started to sneak off to get the chest.
"Enough!" Elizabeth screamed and threw another small rock, once again missing by miles which was starting to wear her patience even thinner. The girl stopped for a second, frowns at the blur of feet in the distance and huffed. "Oh. Oh! The heat." She pretended to faint but, obviously, they ignored her and the sound of swords clashing continued.
She sat up like a perfectly little spoilt princess, crossing her arms and legs with a huff, until she saw movement in the corner of her eye. Turning, Elizabeth did a double take as she saw Pintel and Ragetti running off with the chest and, after a glance back towards Will, she stood and run after then.
Meanwhile, Jack and Nicolette had managed to slip away from the duelling love sick men for long enough to put some distance between them and get back to the chest with the key Nic still held. However, it wasn't enough distance as they thought as Norrington came up behind Nic and swung heavily at her upper left arm. She saw it coming though, given how he was not the most graceful of men these days, and she threw the key to Jack before blocking Norrington's blow.
But then, the man turned onto Jack and the key was quickly thrown back to her. She grinned at herself, very smugly, though it lasted for all of two seconds before Will ran into her, sending her into Jack before they both collided with the sand.
"Ouch, bloody brat." Nicolette hissed under her breath as the boy snatched the key from Jack's hand.
"Bugger." Jack jumped back up whereas Nicolette took a second to roll back onto her front with a groan and follow. She had landed right on the handle of her dagger, sending it jabbing into her side and winding her. She was going to kill that boy if it were the last thing she would do.
By the time she had gathered herself and caught up with the other three men, she was just in time to mercifully witness Jack snatching the key from Will and, just to add insult to injury, she grabbed the baldric crossed over his shoulder and pulled Will back to throw him into Norrington as he had just done to her and Jack.
She giggled, skipping away after Jack as she saw the two men begin to fight. Unfortunately, she turned just as the Commodore threw Will to the ground and kicked sand into his face.
"By your leave, Mr. Turner." Norrington growled, his voice low and threatening as he gave the boy a mockingly low bow and then ran after Jack and Nicolette.
"Where are we going?" Nic called out as she glanced over shoulder to find the Commodore following close behind. She was following Jack through the heavy greenery until they reached a clearing at the top of a small hill and ran into the grounds of a seemingly ancient church.
Jack didn't answer as he ran straight up to the crumbling building and into the steeple with her following close behind.
By the time they entered through the small door, Norrington had caught up with Nicolette and she was forced to go backwards up the first flight of rotten wooden stairs as she clashed swords with the old sailor.
"Ah!" She gasped as Norrington's sword nicked her upper arm, creating a nasty cut in her shirt as well as her arm. Hearing her yelp, Jack jumped down a flight and blocked Norrington's next blow before it could take out her leg and pushed him back enough so they could climb.
But it wasn't long before he caught up again, tripping Jack and himself in the process, leaving Nic the chance to grab the key and run up the stairs further. Then, just as she was about the clear the fourth flight of stairs, Jack made the disastrous error of bumping into her and down went the key...
Both of them tried to reach for it but ended up peering over the edge just in time to see it fall perfectly into Norrington's hand.
Nicolette groaned and slowly turned to look over her shoulder at Jack who was readily waiting for her with a sheepish grin.
"Well done." She muttered with pursed lips, glaring at him as they gathered themselves to run back down.
The next few minutes were a blur once the three of them met with Jack and Nicolette taking turns at blocking Norrington as the other tried and get the key from him. Eventually Jack succeeded and cut the string of the key Norrington held to snatch it from him.
Then…well then Nic must have looked away or blinked or something because she beat off one of Norrington's attacks and the next thing she knew Jack was screaming and clinging onto a rope tied to the bell at the top of the tower, falling towards the ground and Norrington was holding the key.
"Gimme." Nic snapped and hit the pressure point on Norrington's elbow to make him release the key but before she could grab it, it was snatched by Will…who came up on the other end of the rope Jack pulled down.
Both Nicolette and the Commodore followed the boy, leaning slightly over the edge so they could watch him land perfectly on the top level of the tower.
"By your leave, Mr. Norrington." He taunted over the sound of the bell chimes with a grin and Nicolette ground her teeth.
With haste, and a fair amount of shoving and pushing on the way, the pair took off after the boy.
Nicolette purposely allowed Norrington to take the lead as they neared the roof, glancing around for any sign of Jack as she hopped over stones on the roof, avoiding any which looked dangerously loose, and blocking any random attacks the two men decided to direct her way on the route.
She could see the key hanging loosely in Norrington's weak hand, so close and in reach, but with the way he was swinging it and dodging it was hard for her eyes to follow it, never mind her eyes, and she did not want to risk loosing a hand.
Then she felt a presence against her back and turned to see Jack who shooed her into getting he key quicker. So, with a roll of her eyes and and annoyed grunt, she snatched the key from Norrington's hand and grinned proudly at her Captain.
In her eagerness to prove herself however, she became forgetful and when both Norrington and Will turned on her with their swords ready, she panicked. With a squeak and with her eyes drawn wide, Nicolette ducked but slipped upon the narrow wall edge. With a scream she fell, sliding down the roof on her backside before landing very ungraciously on the grassy floor below.
She groaned out of what could have been embarrassment, pain or both and then rolled onto her back to sit up. She could hear Jack trying to talk himself out of whatever sticky situation she had left him in and rolled her eyes until the stinging on her arm caught her attention and she looked down to see the pool of red spreading through her shirt.
"Bloody Navy." She tutted. Nic jumped a second later however, when Jack landed on the grass next to her, regretfully a little more gracefully although he did look quite confused.
Nicolette sighed as she pulled herself to her feet and pulled Jack's sword from the ground where it had landed, flipping it in the air and offering the handle to Jack as he looked up, smiling at her.
He stood, taking his sword and sheathing it as the two of them started to walk off together side by side.
"Still rooting for you, mate!" Jack called over his shoulder before catching the key Nicolette threw to him and smirking as he hung it around his neck.
Now all they had to do is retrace their steps back to the chest… However the mere thought of staying on this Island any longer made Nicolette's skin crawl. There was just something about it which gave her the creeps. For example, why were there so many graves around them but no people?
"I say we get the chest, head back to boat, leave them both here fighting for all their days to come and-" Nicolette's words fell short and she came to a sudden halt as she turned to look and Jack and found no one there.
"Jack?" She glanced around, at first casually but it soon turned to wonder and panic as she failed to see him anywhere. He had just been there, right beside her…
And then she heard a groan and upon retracing her steps back a few feet She looked down into the old, unfilled grave with a pained look.
"Oh stop being so dramatic. Things are not that bad." She rose her brow and smirked when Jack looked up at her slowly, frowning.
"Get the chest!" He yelled up at her before unsuccessfully starting to hoist himself out of the pit. "Then get to the boat."
"Of course, your majesty." She had just secured him the key, of course it would be left to her to get the chest as well.
With a mock bow Nicolette dipped her head at Jack and then turned from the grave to go back to the beach for the chest. However, as she reached the edge of the jungle she realised she didn't quite know which direction she should be heading in.
"Why does every bloody island need to look the same?" He muttered to herself before putting one foot in front of the other and braving the thick jungle.
She had been so busy fighting and avoiding being hit that she had not really taken any notes on what direction they were going in or what landmarks they had passed. And so, it was with very weary and doubtful steps, upon which Nicolette carried herself through the trees and hanging vines.
She couldn't even hear the ocean for crying out loud. All around her only came the sounds crickets and creatures in the grass and birds and…screaming… Why was there always screaming?
Nicolette frowned as she began to look around at her surroundings eagerly and the screaming grew louder, and more fear filled and clearer.
"Elizabeth?" Nic muttered to herself, her eyes narrowing until she heard movement behind her. When she turned, she first saw Pintel and Ragetti with the chest being carried between them and following in their tracks was the girl. Because of course, leave it to the two imbeciles and the girl to cause trouble.
But, the thing was, Nicolette was confused as to what trouble it could be since the other three crew members were otherwise occupied with each other. So why was she screaming bloody murder?
But she needn't have asked, because she barely even had to wait for her answer, as behind the threesome followed a crowd from hell itself, leaving path of destruction and roaring as pieces of tread and themselves flew through the air.
Davy Jones crew. They had caught up.
She watched, half torn between running to them and hiding until they passed, as Pintel and Ragetti ran on opposite sides of a tree making the chest meet the trunk and be dropped. The moment it hit the ground and the morons made no move to pick it up, fear striking them still, Nic knew what she had to do and she began running through the long grass.
Why she was doing what she was doing, Nic didn't know and the thought to turn and run away did cross her mind a dozen or so times but the minute she saw how close the chest was and remembered what it would bring, she knew it was the right thing to do.
But she was loosing the race against Jones's crew to reach them and a couple of the haunted pirates were going to get to Elizabeth before she could get in front of her. So, she stopped for just a moment and withdrew both of her daggers, lining them up just right so when fish face and shark breath got within inches of the girl, Nic's aim hit them beautifully.
It left her with enough time to start running again and reach the chest, withdrawing her sword just in time to block another of the crews attacks as they were about to slice right though Elizabeth. She slid her sword as strongly as she could, sliding the metal of her own against theirs and pushing to disarm them before spinning and blocking another man who had chosen to arm himself with a hatchet.
She still managed to hold it off just long enough to deliver a strong kick to the mans abdomen, surprisingly pushing him back and to the ground. One positive outlook to the men was at least a simple knock was enough for most of them to loose their heads.
Already breathless, Nicolette ran past the men she had already hit and pulled both of the blades from their skulls, sheathing them in her belt. There was even enough time for her to run back and pick up the chest before it could be swiped again.
"Thanks!" She yelled, barely even looking back at the pair of men and girl.
If only she could have seen their speechless looks before she took off into the trees, but the rest of Jones's crew were on here coattails, a fact the trio soon figured out.
"Run!" Nic heard Elizabeth yell behind her as the crew grew louder with their groans and cheers. They took off in the opposite direction to Nic, leading the men in one direction, as she took off in the other with the chest.
At least, that's what she thought. But then as the noise of the cheers melted away, the distinguishable sound of someone running through the trees behind her became apparent. She hoped it was Jack, in fact she prayed it was Jack but then the heavily accented voice shouted after her and her stomach dropped.
"Eh! Where do you think you are going?" The manic laughter to come with his words confirmed his insanity and also gave Nicolette a sickening realisation of how fast he was gaining on her. "Come back!"
She ran until her legs started to burn, and when they started to tire, a slight dip in the ground caused her to trip and fall. As she rolled through the shrubs, Nic cursed and tried to get to her feet. But by the time she did so and regathered the chest, the…thing had reached her. He had a head resembling a giant hermit crab and his body was covered head to toe with coral growths and moss.
"Give me the chest!" Nic backed up slowly, thinking of a way she could overpower him until her back hit a tree and she gasped. "Give me-"
It was funny, because one second the undead cursed pirate was in front of her, so close she could smell the rotting fish scent of his skin. And then the next, something had took his head clean of his body and with such a force it knocked both parts of the body to the ground.
Casting her eyes down to the ground, she saw a large tropical fruit lying where nothing was lying before and quirked her brow. The name the familiar rhythm of footsteps.
"Back from the grave?" She asked teasingly, turning her head just in time to greet Jack as he rounded the tree she continued to lean against with a wide smirk.
"I sensed there was a damsel in distress." He replied, as cockily as always, his eyes going to the chest she continued to grip tightly, then to her blood stained shirt, and then her face. "I'm going to kill-"
"Anido. Anido! Follow my voice, follow my voice!" The intrusively loud voice interrupted Jack, as the body managed to stand and began stumbling around the area, searching for its own stupid head.
"My lord." Nic winked as she pressed the chest into his arms and Jack took it with a grin, sinking straight to the floor and taking the key from his neck.
"To the left. No! Other left. Go…" the body walked into the base of a palm tree a few feet away and Nicolette winced at the sound. "No, that's a tree."
"Oh, shut it." Jack called and then turned his full attention to the chest. Nicolette sank down beside him, a warm hand resting on his shoulder for balance.
Both held their breath as the key was turned in the lock and the chest opened with a heavy snap. Jack cautious put both of his hands to the lid and then slowly lifted it until it fell back on its hinges. Silence seemed to descend around them as Jack felt Nicolette gasp and the hand on his shoulder grew a little tighter.
Hearing it was one thing but as she laid her own eye on the heart, still beating inside the chest, she was rendered speechless. It looked like it's own living thing, as if it should have is own heart inside of it. It sounded ridiculously stupid, but Nicolette couldn't help but think it looked sad, cowering in the corner of the chest, hiding away from grange eyes. It looked remarkable innocent and vulnerable.
She was about to say such to Jack when a familiar roar of disorganised chanting disrupted them and through the trees came Elizabeth and company, followed by Jones's crew.
"Come on." Jack hissed, stuffing the heart down his shirt and slamming the lid of the chest shut before taking Nic's hand to pull her from the floor and into a run.
Within moments they were on the beach and running through the waves until they were almost knee deep as the tide had came in and started to pull the boat out to sea. With the noise of their company growing behind them and by the time they got to the boat, Nicolette could clearly see them following hers and Jack's path. They couldn't leave the girl now she'd seen them, besides Jack wouldn't choose to leave Elizabeth…
"Jar of dirt!" Nic heard Jack cry and he bent over into the abandoned boat and dug around for the jar. Once found, he didn't hesitate opening it and tipping out some of the sand before stuffing the heart into the course dirt.
When she turned back, Nic sighed as she saw the men growing closer and withdrew her sword, going to stand in front of Jack as he busied himself with the heart.
Just as she heard him close the lid of the jar with a clink, one of Jones's crew came from behind him. Nicolette managed to block him and then Jack grabbed an oar, swinging it with enough force to knock the fish man back and into the clear waters.
As more men approached, they went from fighting together against one crewman to fighting separately against several each. Nicolette was so busy trying not to get stabbed by the spine of a shark one of them held that she hadn't realised Norrington running over to the boat, or how he rummaged though Jack's belongings behind their backs.
Nicolette pushed another of the men back, slicing their arm from there body which landed with a splash, and then heard a dull thump from behind her. She feared the worse, but when she turned to find Jack still holding the oar and an unconscious Will hanging over the boat, she sighed in relief.
"I wanted to do that." Nicolette pouted, settling for giving the unconscious pile of fresh a soft poke with the tip of her sword thankfully before his beloved caught up.
"Will." She ran to the boy, bending over his figure hanging half in and half out of the boat, trying to pat him awake.
"Leave him lie! Unless you plan on using him to hit something with." Jones's crew were closing in on them, most of them beginning to laugh and taught them as they slowly approached one by one, coming at them strong with old coral carvings and axes. It was starting to look hopeless, they were outnumbered, defenceless and very capable of dying.
"We're not coming out of this." Elizabeth sighed breathlessly and Nicolette couldn't help but notice hot Jack protectively moved to stand in front of the girl even though she was armed.
It was then that she took a moment to look between Jack and the girl, a dullness comic to Nicolette's eyes as something finally, truly set in. The jealously she saw Jack feel when Elizabeth had ran to Will, the way he had held the girl's neck on the deck of the Pearl, the way he had been distancing himself from her ever since she had reappeared in their lives.
Nicolette glanced back to the boat, to the jar and then to the chest. She opened her mouth but choked on her words, second guessing whether she could do what she was about to, but then one more look at Jack made it easy.
"Not with the chest." She whispered. "Into the boat." As she turned to reach into the boat, Elizabeth turned to stare at her, as did the rest of the crew when she picked up the chest.
"What are you doing?" Jack asked lowly, his eyes never venturing from her or the chest which they both knew to now be empty. She was far too busy watching how Jones's crew instantly became drawn to her to see how he was watching her.
"I'll lead them off." Nic explained hurriedly. "It'll give you enough time to get back to the Pearl."
"You're mad." Elizabeth said as she looked at the girl and then at the haunted crew, knowing the woman wouldn't even get to shore before getting caught, never mind off the Island. There was no other way off the Island.
"If I don't then you're right, none of us will get out of this." Nic stated and seethed her sword to give her a better chance of outrunning them, at least for a little while. The girl was right. She must have been mad.
But in front of them, Pintel and Ragetti worked to keep the attackers at bay with only a net and an oar as weapons and even though they were succeeding so far, it wouldn't last and they had no other hope.
"Don't do this." Jack caught her arm, uttering the words more like a command than a request. As she tried to pull away, his grip grew tighter and then as she went to argue with him, the chest was ripped from her hands.
"I'll take the chest." It was Norrington.
"What!" Nic tried not to take it to heart how the girl seemed to be so much more distraught at the idea of the former Commodore taking it Elizabeth seemed and told herself he was her ex fiancé after all.
"Don't wait for me." He said and before any of them had a chance to stop him or even to convince him otherwise, he took off running with the chest clutched tightly under his arm.
Just as Nicolette predicted, the crew followed him and left them be to pursue the prize.
"I-I say we respect his final wish." Jack uttered speedily.
"Aye!" All of them but Nicolette agreed at once and they turned in perfect unison to climb into the boat. Whereas she stared off, watching the Commodore until she could no more, thinking of how it could have been her. It should have been her by right, she had suggested it and not to cause another man to die.
"Nicolette!" She turned reluctantly, nodding while not clearly thinking before she felt Jack grab her arm and turn her. "Move it!" He practically pulled her into the boat once she got one foot in and she fell into the seat beside him with a grunt.
"He shouldn't have done that." Nicolette whispered to herself thinking no one else would hear, but she was proven wrong when Jack squeezed her wrist and uttered softly into her ear.
"You shouldn't have tried to."
