I saw something right ahead, in the walking path of my assignment. "Jack, look out!"

My warning came too late, as Jack fell into an open grave with a grunt. "Oof!"

I looked down at him with a slight smile. I would have been very amused, but my knee was draining my humour away somewhat. He looked around, wondering what had happened. When he realised what it was, all he could say was, "Oh."

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"Fine, fine," he said, dusting himself off and trying to climb out. Once again, the metaphor of my assignment literately rising from the grave did not go over my head.

Behind us, Will and Norrington's battle had moved onto the massive, eighteen foot diameter wheel. The ancient wood connecting the wheel to the building gave way under the extra weight of the fighting men and the wheel started to roll right towards Jack and me, with Will and Norrington running along the top, trying to keep their balance and fight at the same time.

Alarmed, but at the same time also slightly bemused, I moved out of the wheel's way. Jack poked his head out of the way and seemed to wonder what that rumbling noise was behind him. I wondered briefly if I should bother trying to warn my assignment. I shrugged and gave it a go.

"Jack! Behind you!"

Jack didn't even have time to look behind him as the wheel crashed over his head. The wood was so old, Jack's body went right through it. He got stuck, the wheel lifting him out of the hole as it rolled away. I watched Jack's legs kick the air and I followed the wheel as it made its way through the coconut tree forest.

Jack got turned upside down and watched helplessly as the cord with the key around his neck fell off. He couldn't grab for it, as his arms were pinned. Will and Norrington were forced to dodge Jack's legs as they ran along the top of the wheel. The key rolled along the bottom until the cord got snagged on a protruding nail. When Jack's legs hit the ground, he was able to jump through the hole into the wheel so he could run along inside it like a hamster. I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the whole situation as I glided alongside them, weaving around trees.

Jack's moment of victory was extinguished as a metal bar rolled along with the inside of the wheel and hit him on the head, knocking him silly and causing him to fall to his right. He landed on the floor of the jungle amongst the ferns. I flew down to him.

"Jack? Jack!" I smacked his face lightly. "Come on, Jack." He slowly came to, blinking hard. "Come on!" I urged him again, pulling him to his feet. "You gotta catch up with that wheel and get that key!"

My words seemed to flip a switch in Jack and he bolted after the wheel as it crashed through the forest. I followed close behind.

Our path brought us past Elizabeth's confrontation with Pintel and Ragetti, who still had the chest. They had just realized that they only had two swords between the three of them, Will having taken Elizabeth's sword. They saw the giant wheel rolling along with Will and Norrington running at its top still engaged in a dramatic fight and Jack Sparrow running through the foliage after it, desperate to catch up. Pintel and Ragetti shrugged at each other and turned to Elizabeth again. I knew that those three were going to be dealing with Davy Jones' crew any minute now, as were the rest of us.

Sure enough, I could begin to hear the roars of the charging crew over the rumble of the rolling wheel. I bit my lip and urged myself onwards with Jack towards the wheel.

We managed to catch up with it, running alongside it until Jack saw an opening where he could leap inside. He ran along like a hamster once again, his focus of getting the key that was still snagged on a nail.

Above us, Will had ducked to avoid Norrington's sword and fell onto the wheel. He saw Jack inside reaching for the key, and climbed inside himself so as to be better able to grab it. Jack scowled and swiped at him with his sword, but Will managed to hold on and defend himself. Norrington also climbed inside the wheel to battle the others. The three men climbed all over the revolving wheel, trying to get at each other without falling out or being hit by a blade.

Keeping pace with the wheel, I managed not to collide with any trees, a feat I am very proud of myself for, considering my knee was still killing me. That sword strike to it must have gone right to the bone, though I didn't know for sure since I hadn't yet been able to actually examine it.

Through the pain, I grinned in victory when Jack managed to grab the key off of Will, breaking it free from the cord. Will looked at the cord in despair and swiped at Jack. Jack was able to escape and climb out of the wheel, and onto its top. Swaying his arms for balance, he rode the wheel for a second and grabbed at a dangling frond from a tree. The wheel continued to spin away down a hill with Will and Norrington still inside, the added speed of the revolutions making them too dizzy to fight. Jack, the frond and several coconuts hit the ground a moment later, Jack landing safely on his feet.

I drifted down to his side. "Good job," I congratulated him.

Jack smiled at me and sheathed his sword. He was about to say something when we spotted one of Davy Jones' crew running through the forest clutching the chest. This particular man had a conk shell around his head.

Jack eyed the coconuts on the ground with a thoughtful, "Hmmm…"

"Oh, go for it," I said with a grin. "You know you want to."

Jack picked up a coconut and spun it in his hand, testing the solid weight of the giant seed. Then he took aim and hurled it at the running crew member. Jack's aim was fantastic; the coconut spun through the air, hitting the crewmember right in the head and knocking it clean off his shoulders with a surprised cry. The cursed man didn't die, only suffered an extreme annoyance. His body dropped the chest.

I clapped my hands and Jack took a small bow before rushing over to the chest. The head of the man Jack hit was trying to call his body back to him, but without much success.

"Follow my voice! Follow my voice! To the left! No, turn around. Go to the right!" The body collided with a tree and I laughed. "No, that's a tree," the head said in despair.

Jack glared at him from his place at the chest. "Oh, shut it!"

I landed gingerly on the ground and took the chance to look at my injured knee. The cut was slightly to the right of my kneecap, and it was indeed deep enough to hit the bone. I winced. The scar was already mostly formed over it, but it was still very stiff and sore; not for the first time, I was grateful for my ability to heal quickly. One of the perks of having the job, I suppose. Still, Jack looked at me with concern.

"I'll live," I told him. "Just open the chest and get that heart. Leave the key and chest behind."

Jack nodded and stuck the key in the heart-shaped lock. He turned it to the right and the heart turned into a crab. Metal bars also popped out, that had been securely holding the lid in place for who knows how long. Jack opened the lid and he and I looked inside.

Lub dub… lub dub…

Settled in the left hand corner of the small chest was a pulsing, beating heart. Tiny barnacles dotted the flesh. I gave a suitable "Ew" as Jack picked it up and looked at it closer.

Just then, Elizabeth, Pintel, Ragetti and the pirates they were fighting against with their shared swords came crashing through the forest. Jack tucked Davy Jones' heart into his shirt, (earning a disgusted look from me, but how else was he going to hide it and carry it?) and slammed the lid shut on the chest. It locked again automatically. He and I made a break towards the shore where we had left the longboat.

Behind us, Elizabeth was showing an impressive amount of skill fending off the pirates. Pintel and Ragetti grabbed the chest and ran with it, thinking the heart was still inside.

I was almost out of breath by the time Jack and I reached the boat. The tide had started to come in so Jack had to run through ankle-deep water and soft sand.

"Put the heart where Jones can't get to it," I advised Jack.

"Jar of dirt!" he agreed, finding the item in the bottom of the boat. He opened the lid and tipped half of the sand and dirt out onto one of the seats of the boat. Then he plopped the heart into the jar and put as much dirt back in the cover it up as he could.

"Come on, hurry!" I urged him, looking over my shoulder anxiously. There was a cursed crew member coming up on us fast. "There's a guy coming!"

Jack just closed the lid on the jar again as the attacker swung his sword at him. I cried out and ducked away as Jack dropped the jar into the boat. He grabbed an oar to defend himself with and fought his grotesque opponent.

In the distance, I saw Elizabeth, Pintel and Ragetti running down the beach towards us, still fighting off the rest of Davy Jones' crew. The giant wheel, with Will and Norrington still handing on for dear life inside, came crashing onto the beach. It crushed some of the cursed crew into the sand as it passed Elizabeth. Everyone paused for a moment to watch it. The wheel finally ran out of momentum and rolled to a stop, falling to its side in the shallows. A very dizzy Will and Norrington climbed out, too disoriented to run straight, let alone fight. Will tried to stagger off to help Elizabeth, falling flat on his face in the water several times before succeeding. Norrington saw Jack fighting by the adrift longboat and managed to make his way towards it.

I bit my lip and looked anxiously at Jack; he was still caught up in his fight and couldn't afford to be distracted. If I alerted him to Norrington, who was now finding the Letters of Marque from Jack's coat and figuring out what Jack had done with the jar of dirt and Davy Jones' heart, he may well be killed by his attacker. I decided not to tell him, and probably saved his life in doing so at the cost of Norrington getting the heart and escaping, knowing that it was to later give it to Lord Cutler Beckett.

As soon as Norrington ran away from the longboat, Pintel and Ragetti reached it. They still had the chest with the key inside the lock. They plonked it in the boat and began to push it out to deeper water. They were stopped by Will Turner, who braced himself against the front of the boat and pointed his sword at them. Pintel and Ragetti reached for their swords, only to remember that Elizabeth had them. They shrugged at Will and grabbed the other oar and a fishing net, brandishing them threateningly.

"Come on, Turner!" Pintel challenged.

Will saw the chest in the boat and turned his attention to it just as Davy Jones' crew closed in, distracting Pintel and Ragetti. Jack hit his opponent in the head and noticed Will holding the chest, a suspicious look upon his face. He hit his attacker again with the oar and swung at Will. Jack caught him off-guard, hitting him in the head and knocking him out. I was briefly reminded of a time when Will had done the same thing to Jack, and I smiled at the justice.

Elizabeth rushed to Will's side. "Leave him lie!" Jack told her. "Unless you plan on using him to hit something with."

Norrington appeared at Elizabeth's side. Pintel and Ragetti edged back towards us, too. We were surrounded by Jones' snarling crew. We couldn't fight them any longer.

"We're not getting out of this," Elizabeth realized.

"Not with the chest," Norrington said. "Into the boat." He grabbed the chest and Elizabeth looked at him with alarm.

"You're mad!"

"Don't wait for me," he told her, taking off back towards the mainland.

Pintel threw his net over an attacker and Ragetti hit him with his oar, but they knew as well that the fight was over. The crew began to follow Norrington through the shallows and away from us.

"Er… I say we respect his final wishes!" Jack declared, his oar still raised.

"Aye!" Pintel agreed.

Jack, Elizabeth, Pintel and Ragetti all climbed into the boat and began to head back as quickly as they can towards the Black Pearl. Jack didn't care about the chest because he thought the heart was still in his jar of dirt, which he made sure was safe. I couldn't tell him what really happened; not yet, as it would make him follow after Norrington, which could get him killed. Elizabeth cradled Will's head, trying to make sure he was okay. Pintel and Ragetti once again rowed. They moved considerably faster this time than they had on the trip over.

With a sigh and a groan, I wearily settled down in the longboat beside Jack, careful not to hurt my knee. He looked at me with a frown, his eyes drifting over my wounded joint. I gave a small chuckle.

"Funny how the only person other than Will to be hurt in all of that fighting was me, eh?"

Jack smiled slightly, but it didn't hold much humour. He shrugged, just seeming relieved to be out of there.

I sighed again and closed my eyes. I felt exhausted, and my knee still stiff and sore. However, I was almost more pained to remember that our fight wasn't over yet. There were still more dangers to come, and these were going to be the biggest ones yet.