"I sense some-ding," Tia Dalma said, freezing in mid-step in a sort of trance, the prominent blood vessels in her eyes expanding. "Dere is another boat here."
"Another boat?" Gibbs repeated. "Sorry lot, windin' up here. How close?"
"Close, dey are."
Will inhaled, running on ahead to clamor up a small bluff. Just the texture of grass underneath his boots instead of a wooden deck or sand calmed his nerves, allowing him to think. It wouldn't be hard to tell if the boat was full of allies or enemies once it came near enough for them to spot it, but if they were indeed enemies, that would be too close.
He made a half-circle on top of the mound to face into the vast wilderness ahead of them. Somewhere, Elizabeth was in there. He would find her, rescue her one more time, well, make the attempt to rescue her one more time, and then break the news to her once they were both safe, both warm, both preoccupied with something other than mere survival. He would tell her about the choice he would have to make once they returned to the real world. He had no idea why, but he dreaded facing her more than breaking the news to her.
A white substance caught the corner of his eye, much like the time before, but when he snapped his head in its direction, it disappeared.
"Tia Dalma," he said. "What sort of creatures might…"
"She's gone!" Barbossa blurted.
"What happened? She was down there with you two!"
"Ain't but turned me head for one second and she was gone, boy," Barbossa barked back. "If ye know the secret to controlin' a witch such as she, better be sharing them details thusly."
"What if she went to find that boat?" Gibbs offered. "Might be a good thing she's gone, finding help."
"We're the one with the charts," Will sighed, running back down to them. "We'll be the ones to act as help."
"Aye, well, do we keep lookin' or go back to the ship?"
Will shrugged. "At this point, we might as well go on. Something's in those woods there. I saw it."
The three of them traipsed into the overgrown, uneven brush. The trees were so tall in some areas hardly any sunlight reached its way down to them, leaving them in long patches of dusk, which made it even colder.
"I wish it would warm up," Will mouthed, hating to complain in front of the others. Compared to men like Barbossa and Gibbs, his own life had been a tame one, learning a trade that could get him by, honest work. The two of them…maybe only Jack would know about all the skirmishes and bad luck they'd run into over the years. A ray of sunshine broke through the tree line and encased his whole body in a warm brightness.
"I think you got your wish, Will," Gibbs said in an eerie tone, removing his coat. "It ain't even cold anymore."
Will and Barbossa followed suit, removing their coats.
"It went from winter to spring in an instant."
"Foul magic afoot. Could use the likes of Tia Dalma now," Barbossa mumbled.
"Hello there."
Everyone tensed; only their eyes moving, darting to and fro to find the source of the voice, the female voice, which just greeted them.
"Hello?" Will tried.
"Hungry?"
Will bit the inside of his cheeks. On the one hand, it was no more unusual than finding a body with its face sucked clean off by a kraken or a crew of undead pirates, but then, to not see something—that seemed to always be worse.
"I've laid out a table for ye, gentlemen, filled to the brim with all that'll make your mouth water, to be sure."
"Who are ye?" Barbossa tried next.
"How's that then? Ye be askin' such weird questions lookin' like chicks with their heads cut off and who am I, ye ask. What's it matter when there's food, asks I? Just stay on the path, lads. Stay together. Ye can't miss it."
"I'm not so sure I dare." Gibbs baby-stepped to Will. "Not that I don't fear for all them what's lost out here, but headin' back towards the ship starts sounding more and more tempting by my way of thinking."
"I don't think it means us any harm," Will said in a staged whisper, hoping to arouse the voice's eagerness. But there was nothing more. They all looked at each other and simultaneously continued their trek. Wondering if it had anything to do with the ship Tia Dalma sensed, Will shoved his hands into his pocket, his coat strewn over his arm. Even his pockets were dry. Such a simple pleasure almost formed a grin on his face. "If you can still hear us and you had anything to do with getting rid of the cold…thank you."
"Er, yes, thankee," Barbossa muttered, nudging Gibbs.
"Oh, yes. Thank ye so very much."
Governor Swann and James Norrington helped pull each other to their feet. Dusting each other off, they spun back around to look at the ocean. Calm, crystalline water that had only moments ago been an icy green. Of course there would be no ship, James thought. It was only Beckett's way of getting rid of us without dirtying his hands.
"I don't suppose your compass would work here, would it?" Swann asked. He looked so, not small, but…James pursed his lips…approachable without his wig, like a regular man, a bit like some tailor or cobbler's grandfather that would sit on a barrel outside a shop and tell stories to the children.
"No. We'll find a way out, sir. I can promise you that." Erasing all doubt from his tone exhausted him. He had protested loading the late Sao Feng's personal effects onto the ship, but Beckett insisted, and it was all James could do to stand there and watch the men carry the plunder onboard. Pillaging, the East India Trading Company and the Royal Navy pillaging. How similar the hunters and the hunted now seemed to be. The charts had looked particularly dubious, but at the point of a pistol, he and Governor Swann got into that longboat and headed straight for the falls. That was the last thing he could remember, besides Mr. Mercer sneering at them. "You want to find the little lady so bad, we won't stop you."
"Stay here," James said. "I'll pull some branches out for a fire."
"If you don't mind, I'd like to come with you. I may not be much help on a ship, but I do have two arms for a reason."
James smiled, the muscles finally being used. He didn't used to think the governor and Elizabeth had much in common, but their stubbornness soon remedied that false assumption, as did their enthusiasm.
"Very well. Watch your step, though. This terrain seems a little hillier than Port Royal."
"Ah, Port Royal, how I miss being there."
"We all do, sir. We all do. I think I see some olive trees up ahead, though. Our luck's not completely out."
They cleaned a few branches of them, filling them into James' hat. The sun almost beat down on them now, but its position told James however the days worked here, this one would end soon. He wasn't sure if he liked the notion of Elizabeth being here. True, it would be a joyful reunion for her and her father, but if she was here, what hope could the two of them give her? If anything, she would know more about getting out than they would if she didn't run a sword through him first.
"Do you suppose Will will also be here?"
"I was just pondering that myself," James lied. "I hope so. I think seeing Mr. Turner's face would do Mr. Turner Senior a great deal of good, help him remember himself. It's ghastly to go down in that brig, sir, and see them. The poor man speaks of two things: his son and becoming a part of the ship. Pirate or not, that is absolutely heartbreaking to have to listen to…Governor Swann?"
He was alone.
A/N: Short chapter, I know, but that is why you are getting a treat and I am posting two chapters tonight. I do not own POTC. The chapter title is a quote from Aristophanes, who I am liking more and more. The full quote is, "Your lost friends are not dead but gone before, advanced a stage or two upon that road which you must travel in the steps they trod."