I really appreciate every review I get. It means more than you all know. *I do not own Skins or Skins characters*

In other news; it's my best friend's 7-year anniversary today: Congrats invisimeg on 7 years with a girl as wonderful as you. Few people are so lucky outside of stories and I wish you two all the best; you are the best friends I have and I love you both.

Chapter Twenty: Dead Man's Chest

"Ok!" Captain Stonem yelled as she stumbled after Emily, "…I'm really going to have to insist you turn around now…for one, we are headed in the wrong direction…which is still better than the right direction I'll admit…and two, I'm not clear on, but you always need to have a two just in case…seriously, stop!"

The redhead continued making her way numbly up the large hill they were climbing.

"…is it the whole sex with Campbell? I'm over it…she's over it…she bloody well stole my ship to make a point of that…so I think you should just move on…" Effy called, stopping for a moment to catch her breath. "Only could we stop moving on so fast…and so very up hill? Ok…I can think of something to take your mind off of it…"

"Just stop following me! Nothing you can say is going to matter…" the girl called back behind her.

"…I've been sleeping with your sister…and I think I'm in love with her...oh, I was never going to admit that…" the wild girl bellowed, her head throbbing from the exertion and lack of alcohol and tobacco.

That stopped Emily in her tracks.

"It's a sad tale I'm afraid…someone should write a book about it sometime…" the brunette slurred almost incoherently as the redhead headed back down to join her.

"You're lying…" Emily said.

"Well of course they'd have to make one of the characters male…who would publish it otherwise…" Effy mused.

"Hey…Capt…Stonem…what's your name again?" the redhead asked.

The girl staggered as she tried to manage a grandiose gesture. "I am the dread pirate captain Stonem! Or Effy….I'm ok with Effy too…"

The captain staggered again and Emily lurched forward to steady her.

"Jesus…you're burning up." The girl gasped.

"No I'm not…" the pirate argued; she reached up and stroked the redhead's face. "You're utterly not quite Katie…"

"Ok, whatever you say, but we should go back now…" Emily soothed.

"Finally!" Effy slurred as she leaned against the other girl.

Emily struggled to guide the brunette back to the shelter while also supporting her most of the way; once they arrived, the captain stretched out on the sandy floor and asked for water, her voice becoming raspy. The redhead scurried over to pick up the cup and let out an involuntary "yuck" as it slipped out of her hand. She crawled over to the bucket and tested it with her fingers; the water just below the surface was thick and slimy. Most of the bucket was filled with some sort of algae along with, if she was not mistaken, tiny moving creatures. She jerked her hand back in disgust and wiped her hand clean on her trousers.

"I think there's something wrong with this water…" Emily said nervously.

"Yeah…there's no alcohol in it…" Effy grumbled as her head lolled to the side, "but it'll do…"

"No, it really won't…" The redhead shook her head.

"Lazy…" The pirate groaned as she rolled over and stretched out to reach the water.

The other girl batted her hand away. "No…it's making you sick."

"You'll say yes eventually…" the wild girl crooned, her eyes wild with thirst.

"Stop, Effy." The redhead huffed.

When the captain wouldn't stop, the girl stood up and kicked the bucket over; it's murky contents bubbling against the sand leaving a an unpleasant sticky ooze across the surface, along with several disgruntled toads – their red eyes squinting as they croaked their frustrations to the world at large.

"Do you see that?" Effy wheezed.

"Yes, I see them," Emily assured her.

"Such pretty birds…" the wild girl murmured, "…but why don't they sing?"

"Those are frogs…" the redhead corrected, giggling a little.

"Such pretty wings…are those real colors? I've never seen them before…" the brunette continued. "…but they should be singing…sing pretties!"

The smile evaporated from the other girl's lips as the wild girl began to hum, her blue eyes darting after some imaginary song birds.

"Effy…" she said as she waved her hand in front of the other girl's face. "…there aren't any birds…can you hear me?" She snapped her fingers trying to catch her attention.

Captain Stonem shrieked and lurched up, covering her face with one arm as the other flailed wildly out in front of her, before falling back and cowering on the ground.

"What? What is it now?" Emily asked shakily, still dodging the pirate's arm that continued to flail from time to time.

"Oh god…Katie…I'm afraid…" she screamed, her blue eyes opening wider than seemed possible as she grabbed at Emily's hand.

The redhead shimmied back a few inches. "I'm not Katie…"

"Don't leave me Katie…don't leave…" the brunette howled. "Oh god, don't leave me here…I'll die…"

"I don't know what to do!" Emily shouted, more at the emptiness around them than at the girl on the ground.

"…that never stopped me…" the captain whimpered.

Emily covered her face in her hands for a few moments as she tried to think of the right thing to do and trying to figure out what was even happening to the other girl. She fumbled through her pockets and pulled out the flask she had brought along in case of emergency nerves; she took a large swig before fastening the cap back into place. The redhead crawled towards the pirate and pulled her head into her lap, stroking her brunette hair the way her sister used to smooth hers after a bad dream.

"Please, Katie…" the feverish girl mumbled as she began to drift off, "please stay…"

"Everything is ok," Emily lied. "I'll stay…"


The beach was littered with bodies and the sand soaked up the blood thirstily. The naval ship had caught on the reef and was unable to turn about to counter attack; it was dead in the water, but on the shore, the navy had quickly over powered the pirates. Captain Stonem's few surviving crew made a dash for the longboats and were retreating to their ship while Campbell's men continued to struggle with the naval sailors, who by now had run out of ammunitions and were drawing their swords. The remaining pirates were sorely outnumbered until the Bloody Whore began firing cannons towards the beach.

Freddie crawled on his belly, dragging himself along with his badly scared arms, as blood pulsed from the open wound on his leg. He gritted his teeth and tried to shake the shaggy black hair out of his eyes as he pulled himself towards the tree line. The air was thick with screams, curses, the sound of metal against metal, and the sickening sound of the cannonballs crashing down around them. His eyes set on the place where one of the twin's had been dragged off by the wild looking brunette, who had questioned him night after night at the Rowdy Dancer. If he could get out of the line of fire, he could mend his wounds and pursue them.

As he reached the first tufts of long wispy grass, he found his path blocked; the sandy haired boy lay bloody, limp, and still tied up. The dark haired boy did not have the strength left to try to crawl around him. With a disgusted look in his eyes he began to pull him self over the obstacle, willing himself to ignore that it was the dead body of a stranger and steeling himself against the swell of shame that weld up in him at the disrespect being given to the dead.

"Sorry…" he panted through roughly chapped lips.


"How many more?" Katie asked through chattering teeth.

"I don't know," Naomi reminded her again. "That was the last of the one's I am familiar with."

"Marvelous." The redhead groaned.

"Don't move!" Captain Campbell snapped as the girl shifted uneasily behind her. "Don't move…don't touch the walls…don't take a step unless I say so…"

"Mind if I breathe?" Katie scoffed.

"Yes, but for Emily's sake, I won't ask you to stop," the blonde quipped.

Katherine huffed as they both rolled their eyes.

"I don't understand what she sees in you," the redhead grumbled.

"We're making progress…you finally admit she sees something in me," the captain teased.

The brown eyed girl shifted the torch between her hands, since she couldn't do much more to with her nerves.

"Hold that still," the other girl snapped.

"Hurry up!" Katie snapped back.

"You want to try?" The blonde sighed. "Go ahead."

The redhead muttered under her breath, holding the torch steady as Captain Campbell peered into the darkness. She'd maneuvered them through the obstacles in the smaller part of the cave since they were easier to spot, but now, the roof of the cavern reached higher and the walls widened to the extent that the torch light didn't illuminate the whole room. The floor rippled with water ankle deep where they stood, but impossible to tell how deep it was further out. Yards away was a raised dry patch of ground, a shelf of stone piled high with wood already stacked and ready to be kindled; the fire would easily light the entire grotto, but the captain already knew that getting there could turn disastrous. The first time she had attempted it, one of her crew had drowned; two feet towards the shelf, he had been suddenly yanked bellow the water and never resurfaced. She and her first mate had tried for hours to find him, and eventually Cook had been forced to drag her back to the dry floor of the tunnel. The men refused to go any further after that, making superstitious claims of mermaids and curses. The blonde didn't believe in such nonsense as that, but had relented, realizing her men would not consent to go any further, unwilling to risk loosing more crew.

Before they had begun their way into cave, the captain had been able to fashion on torch and get it lit, giving up the sleeves of her shirt and the bottom portion of he trousers below the knee, and had found long metal rods long enough to use for probing ahead of them in the dark. Goosebumps prickled her bare skin as she eased further into the water, the torchlight scattering across the water as it was disturbed, and tapped her rod cautiously in front of her before each step.

"Just stay directly behind me. Go slow and keep the fire high." the blonde instructed.

Katie whimpered a little as the water came further up her legs causing her to shiver.

Naomi let out a somewhat apologetic sigh as she inched forward into deeper water. The murky liquid was now at her waist and she realized, with a quick look back, that they had passed the point where the crew member had been lost; she struggled to remember his name, but her mind came up blank. A few feet along, the water was becoming shallow again, resting just below her hips, and she probed the bottom more quickly with the makeshift cane. The redhead behind her let out shaky gasps from the penetrating cold of the pool and her arms shook, causing the torchlight to jostle.

"Do you want me to take the torch for a while?" the captain offered, turning slightly and reaching her hand out.

"I can hold it; it's just so damned cold down here," Katie insisted, afraid to give up the light source.

"At least you have all your clothes," the blonde pointed out.

The redhead squinted her eyes into a glare, suddenly feeling that she was being called weak or a wimp; she shifted the torch to her other hand and held it higher, forcing herself to keep that arm steady, but it was clear she was becoming exhausted.

"Come on,. The captain sighed. "You don't have to prove anything; no sense wearing yourself out."

"Do I look like I'm having trouble with it?" Katie huffed.

"Yes...you do. You look tired and cold and shaky and if you end up dropping that we're done for," the blonde answered.

"Well I'm not going to drop it!" the redhead snapped. "And as if I would feel like I need to prove anything to you!"

Naomi rolled her eyes and let out a small grunt as she continued forward, looking back often to keep an eye on the other girl. She tapped the rod along the bottom and suddenly it jerked, cutting her hand a little as it whizzed under the water. Katherine shrieked as the water rolled and churned in a line wall. They froze in place as the sound of metal clattering echoed through the cave; the blonde grabbed the torch from her and held it higher, trying to determine where the sound had originated from and pried the second rod from the now shaking girl's hand.

"Stay right here! Do not move…" She ordered. "…Katie…" she added a little softer. "Don't move ok? I will be right back, but…if something…you know…just go back exactly the way we came and wait for someone to find you."

The redhead grabbed her arm so tight it caused the captain to yelp. "No fucking way you are leaving me here."

"I can see the other rod against the wall. I'm just going to get it back," Naomi explained, pulling herself free.

"Leave me the torch." the other girl pleaded.

"I have to be able to see don't I?" the captain snapped.

"Well, you'll need a free hand to get it back won't you?" Katie replied, cocking her eyebrow the way Effy did sometimes.

"Fine…just keep it held high." The blonde groaned.

"I won't need to. I'm coming with you," the redhead stated.

"No, you aren't," Naomi yelled.

"Yes, I am," Katie said, her chin stuck out in determination.

"You're just like your sister…sometimes…" the captain muttered as she began to make her way to the wall.

They made it safely to the wall of the cavern and Naomi handed the rod back to Katie; the rod she had lost was pressed tightly to the wall and she had to feel her way along the metal to find an opening to get a better grip on it. Only an inch of the rod was out of water, the rest was submerged and lay across a deep recess in the stone pool. The rope that had snared it was looped around its middle and it took most of the blonde's strength to pull it back even a few inches. She reached into her soaked boot and withdrew her knife, cutting the thick cord, and retrieving the rod. She studied the knot above water and realized that the pool had been trapped with little more than common snares, much like the ones used to catch small animals in the woods, which had been worked to catch ones ankle and drag them down below the water in the natural dips of the cavern floor. She shuddered; it would not have been a merciful way to die. The rope was slick and greasy, obviously having been soaked in some manner of oil or possibly even animal fat to waterproof it; she tossed it back into the water and rested the base of the rod against the bottom once again.

"I have to hand it to him…your great-great-grandfather had a brilliant, if not dangerous mind." Captain Campbell grimaced.

"My what?" Katie asked.

Hope the chapter was enjoyable. Also, today is my birthday - I thought about waiting till the exact time to post...but I can't wait 9 more hours. LOL I was barely able to wait for midnight. Well...now that I have this up I'm off to update my profile and wait for my love to get back from work.