Chapter 10
Marooned
Land was just ahead. Nathan wasn't quite sure if he could make it. The storm was only getting worse, and the wipers on the boat's windshield weren't helping at all. The fog clouded his vision, and the only way he knew land was ahead was when a flash of lightning viciously struck, lighting up the craggy silhouette for a mere second, before the shape disappeared back into the gloom. Gripping the boat's steering wheel with all his might, Nathan gritted his teeth. "Oh no…" he said as he plowed ahead. "This is really not good…" The boat tore through the choppy waters like a razor. Nathan looked to see a massive wave cresting just ahead of them. If he could accelerate fast enough he might be able to make it. "Hold on!" shouted Nathan to his back. He just barely crested the massive wave, but the boat dropped like a rock on the downward side of the wave. Nathan nearly lost his footing as the boat rocked violently to the left. "Nathan!" shouted Sam, "They're gaining on us!" Nathan looked behind him for a split second. Indeed, their pursuers were not far behind, Nathan could see the light from their boat like a search beam. "Yeah I know! I know!" Nathan shouted back, not wanting to see them. "Well crank it!" Sam shouted. "Sam I'm going as fast as I can!" Nathan yelled behind him. Sam took a pistol out of his belt and said, "Hurry! I'll try and hold them off!" Nathan used the backside of a wave to give his boat an extra boost of speed. "Here they come!" Sam shouted. Nathan looked behind him, it was far worse than he thought. Lights were on either side of him. Sam shouted, "Nathan there's about twenty boats! They have smaller boats, ram them!" Nathan tried to swerve into one of them, but it was no use. He couldn't see, and they were too fast. "Hey!" shouted Sam to the boats, "Tell your bosses to find their own treasure!" A lightning flash illuminated a boat, and Nathan swerved into one of them. The smaller boat crashed into Nathan's larger boat and flipped over. Nathan desperately tried moving towards the island. Another huge wave. He drove right up it, and the boat got several seconds of air time, before slamming back onto the water. Nathan suddenly heard Sam shout, "Big boat! Big boat!" Nathan saw a boat twice their size right beside them. The bigger boat smashed into theirs, and Sam almost fell out. Nathan sped up just enough to escape the larger boat. Suddenly Nathan saw what looked like a shooting star explode into the air from the larger boat. They were shooting mines at them! Nathan dodged a mine that exploded on contact with the water. Nathan held his grip with the steering wheel, and then another mine crashed into the water. It was right next to the boat, and Nathan felt himself spinning head over heels before hitting something that felt like cold concrete. He couldn't breathe. He realized he had been thrown from the boat, and was underwater. He ascended up and up before he saw the hull of a boat coming right for him. He dove, and the spinning blades of the outboard motor almost cut his leg off. He spun underneath the water like a ragdoll being flung in the air. When he could control himself again, he arose out of the water. "Nathan!" shouted a voice, it was Sam. Nathan begun swimming towards the voice. Sam was waving, and the boat had stopped. Nathan clambered onboard and coughed before standing up. He rushed over to the cockpit and cranked the engine. Nothing. Sam ran to the engine. "Then engine's out!" he said. "What!?" Nathan shouted. "I can fix it, just cover me!" Sam said. Nathan saw the larger boat slide up right beside them. He crouched beneath the side of the boat. He heard bullets whistling past his scalp. He pulled out his pistol. He quickly stood up and aimed. He shot the man in his shoulder. The man on the boat fell, gripping his shoulder. There was still another man shooting at him. He shot him and he went down. Suddenly another man came out, and his weapon was far deadlier than a pistol. He shot, and a huge explosion hit the water. "A grenade launcher!" shouted Sam. Nathan's clip was empty. He reloaded and shot the man with the grenade. As the man went down, he accidentally fired his grenade right into his own ship. It exploded, orange fire lighting up the water. Nathan gasped, and Sam laughed, "Ha! Serves ya right!" The big boat was gone, but it was far from over. Some of the smaller boats had pulled up beside him. Nathan looked and shot the boat itself. They were merely rubber patrol boats. "Sam, how's the engine!" shouted Nathan, "Making progress!" Sam replied. Another boat. Nathan shot the driver in the arm and he dropped his weapon. "I got it I got it!" shouted Sam, "It's working?!" Nathan asked, "Yeah!" shouted Sam, "Get us out of here! Head straight for the island!" Nathan jumped into the cockpit. "Rocks! Dead ahead!" shouted Sam, "I can barely see out there!" shouted Nathan as he started the engine. A few spurts, and then they started making for the island. Another blinding flash of lightning cut the outline of the island out of the sky. As he got closer to the island, huge spiked rocks reached out of the water like a monster's teeth. Nathan barely missed one of the crags, and another patrol boat came right next to them. Nathan looked beside him to see one of the men in the boat hold up an AK rifle. He never shot. Their boat crashed into one of the rocks and exploded. Nathan just stared ahead, grim resolve on his cold, wet face. Suddenly he heard Sam yell, "Ahead, Nathan look out!" Nathan saw the flaming boat right ahead of him. They slammed into the boat, and their boat flipped over. The last thing Nathan heard was Sam yell, "Nathan!"
The rain continued to pelt down on the island. Nathan and Sam's boat was in a fiery wreck just offshore, stuck on a massive rock. The wind continued to whip and the thunder and lightning continued to go at it savagely. Gasping, Nathan crawled forwards on his hands and knees, splashing in a huge puddle. He grunted as he struggled forward, dazed and slightly disoriented. He couldn't remember where he was on the island. He didn't remember where they had crashed, and he didn't see Sam anywhere. He coughed and sputtered, then collapsed onto his stomach right into a muddy puddle, water splashing into his face. He spit it out, then, breathing heavily, he looked up. From what he could tell, this island was not only much bigger than the last one, but also just as rocky and mountainous. Libertalia. Now all he wanted was to get off of Libertalia and rejoin Elena. Now, his tie to Elena was severed, in more ways than one, and he felt so awfully cold and alone. The feeling was only heightened by the fact that he was also literally cold and alone. He struggled to his feet. When he did, he felt a cold sensation shoot up his back. He shivered. "I have to get off this beach," he said to himself. He looked out into the gloomy ocean, and saw the utter desolated remains of the boat. There were huge rocks that jutted out of the sea, shaped like crooked triangles, which ended in pointed tips. He put his hands to his mouth, "Sam!" he yelled into the storm, "Sam! Can you hear me!?" No answer. "Maybe further up shore…" he said. He began heading right, towards a tall cliff. The rocks of the beach were slippery, but Nathan maintained his footing. A sudden flash of lightning lit up his path like a strobe light, before everything melted back into darkness. Nathan could just barely see, with the rain falling in sheets. He came up to the cliff. "Alright, first thing's first," he said, "Get to higher ground…First rule of survival, get to higher ground…Well that's not the first…rule…I…Sam! Come on! Answer me!" He shook his head. He pressed on, trying to get inland. Suddenly he slipped and hit the ground. He grunted, and groaned as he stood back up. He felt his head. There was blood on his hand when he looked. "Ah Sam come on," he said to himself, "Sam! Where are you Sam! Saaam!" Still no answer. He sighed and kept jogging along the beach. He shivered. He knew that if he couldn't find shelter, he would be at a huge risk of hypothermia, even in a tropical place like this. Suddenly he saw something washed up on the beach along with some wreckage from the boat. It was their supply box. Nathan quickened his pace to reach it, "Oh thank God," he said. He crouched down and opened the lid. Nothing. It was empty. Nathan closed his eyes and punched the rocky ground with his fist. "Of course," he said, "Everything's gone." He punched the ground again, then realized something. In actuality, the fact it was empty might be a good sign, he figured, maybe Sam had already been there and taken it himself. He saw the cliff flash in front of him. The thunder followed quickly. He began making in that direction. While Nathan didn't quite realize it, his movements were beginning to get sluggish, and he felt dizzy and disoriented. Still he desperately made for the cliff. He threw himself up a ledge, but the ledge quickly ended. He jumped off, but he didn't land on his feet. He smacked into the cold ground on his stomach. It took him a while to get up, but he did. He saw the cliff right next to him had some footholds, and he slowly clambered up the side of it, slipping several times. The ocean crashed beneath him. He reached a tiny ledge just barely wide enough for him to shimmy through. He cautiously inched by, and reached a wider ledge. His head was starting to pound, and his vision would blur. He shook his head and plowed forward, reaching another cliff-side. He climbed up the side, and suddenly water began draining down from the top of the cliff. It splashed onto him, drenching him and making him lost his grip on the rocks. Just below him was the cold, hard ground. Suddenly the water splashed into his eyes with even harder force. Nathan yelled, and lost his grip. He fell down, and hit the ground on his back. He groaned, unable to move. A flash of lightning burned through the air, but Nathan couldn't see it. He couldn't see, or feel anything.
The dripping of the cave was constant. Nathan had fallen into an out-cove inside the cliff-edge. It formed a sort of cave that only reached into the cliff about ten feet. Nathan had fallen through a hole in the cave's ceiling, which had crashed in long ago. He grunted and tried to get up. He looked around him, beginning to remember what had happened. The storm had blown over, but everything, including himself, was still soaking wet. He felt his head, which was still aching terribly. His left temple was bleeding, but not profusely. He felt blood on his chest, and dripping down his arm. Nothing too serious though, most of the bleeding had stopped. He got up, and he walked over to the entrance to the cave. He could see out over almost the entire island. One thing was for sure, this island was far larger than the last one, and at its center was the most terrifying looking mountain Nathan had ever seen. It looked like the top jaw of a dragon rising out of the earth itself. With an eye, and teeth curving downwards towards the ground, which were of course huge stalactites. The island was several miles away, and the rest of the island was also craggy and rocky. It was a mountainous island, but nevertheless, it was incredibly lush and green. It was a tropical rainforest sure enough, and its beauty was enhanced by the faded sunrise that was just beginning to poke out of the pinkish clouds. As he looked at the mountain, suddenly he saw a flashing light. It looked like somebody was flashing a spotlight, and Nathan soon realized it was Morse code. It read, "Sic Parvis Magna." Nathan knew who it was. It was Sam, only he would know what that meant. Nathan however didn't have any way of communicating back. He sighed. He'd have to move. "I have to get up to that…creepy mountain," he said to himself. He began walking along the cliff edges again. "Just stay put Sam," he said, "I'm coming to you." He began heading in the direction of the light. He had to risk navigating the cliffs that were just above the ocean. He began climbing the footholds of the cliff-side. Water was trickling in some places, and near-waterfalls of drain off were gushing down in others. He climbed for at least an hour, slowly progressing upwards. At this point he was now at least four-hundred feet in the air above the ocean. If he was to fall into the ocean, it wouldn't be like jumping into water, instead it would be like jumping into cement. "Alright," he said, "Up we go…" Suddenly his hand slipped. He fell about seven feet before he grabbed a crevice in the rock with one hand. He dangled several hundred feet above the crashing waves. He grunted and grabbed the crevice with his other hand. "That's a long way down…Long, long way down…" he said. Sunlight was slowly beginning to light up the island. It was foggy down towards the ocean, and the sun still hadn't quite poked above the horizon line yet, since Nathan was on a cliff at the West side of the island. He could see the top of the cliff, and he grunted as he reached for it. He heaved himself up, and made it to the top of the cliff. He caught his breath and looked out into the ocean far below. Suddenly he saw something in the water. It was another patrol. He sighed. "Rafe…" he said to himself, "Ah, watch your back Sam." He looked around. While he was at the top of the cliff edge, the cliff still rose above him, gently sloping up. He saw a depression in the rock, which turned out to be a small cave. Curious, he entered. Instead of seeing any signs of Sam, he saw something far more disturbing. Painted on the wall of the cave were the words, "No quarter for thieves." A skull and crossbones was painted right above it, the paint dripping down the cave walls like blood. Beside the graffiti was a skeleton. The skeleton was slumped over, with moss growing over his disintegrating bones, and a cutlass thrust through his ribcage. Nathan suddenly saw a small detail on the skull and crossbones he had overlooked. Scratched on the skull's forehead was a horizontal line, with three parallel lines crossing it vertically. Nathan couldn't help but wonder if this was referencing Jesus, Dismas, or the other thief on the cross, but then again it was also the nautical symbol for shipwreck. Nothing else to see, so he left the cave. He walked around towards the center of the island, but would have to climb up another cliff. He sighed and looked around. Hanging from a rope was yet another dead pirate. His skeleton was hanging off of the cliff, with the rope tied in a knot around his leg. He had died there hanging for who knows how long, unable to untie the knot and free himself. He looked at the rock face, which was much different on this area. It wasn't a flat surface, but the rock was porous, and was much softer than the normal rock He climbed up the normal rock beside the pirate. In the pirate's skeletal hand he clutched a piton. Nathan reached, and grabbed it. The rope snapped, and the skeleton crashed to the ground, old bones flying everywhere. Nathan looked it over. A piton is a small stake-like climbing tool that mountaineers still use, and this one was fairly similar. It was made of metal that had somehow hadn't rusted, with a tight rope grip. Nathan looked it over, shimmied a little closer towards the porous rock, and jammed the piton into the rock. It sunk in deeper than Nathan had anticipated. Carefully he tugged at it. It didn't budge. He tried climbing up it, and held. "Well…" he said, "It's working…" He made it to the top of the ledge, but he would have to jump down to another porous rock to climb up further. He clenched the piton in his fists and jumped. When he landed, he jabbed the piton into the rock, and it made a deep slash mark as he slowed to a stop. He shook his hand. It felt like he had tried to hang on to a comet's tail. He shook his head and walked out to the end of the cliff. Now he was walking into the jungle on the island. He walked until he saw a higher cliff ledge above him. Suddenly he saw a man walk out onto the ledge, but it wasn't Sam. It was a Shoreline mercenary. Nathan gasped and ducked into the high grass. The man looked around, and then shot at the ground dangerously close to Nathan. Nathan gritted his teeth and froze in the grass. He saw another mercenary run over. "What is it?" the other mercenary asked, "What are you shooting at!?" The mercenary that had shot at Nathan replied, "Ah, I thought I saw movement down there, but I don't think anybody's there. Alright guys! False alarm." "And the gang's all here…" Nathan muttered to himself. He slinked along in the high grass, knowing he would have to stealth his way out of the situation. He slowly crept up to the cliff and cautiously climbed up, not making a sound. After only a few jumps he made it to the top of the ledge. The area was crawling with mercenaries. He could just barely hear the two of the ones from earlier talking to one another. Nathan listened as he stood on a foothold only a few inches from the top of the ledge. "So which one did you see?" asked the first, "The older brother," the man replied, "He shot a few of our men and ran off." "Do you think the other one's alive?" asked the second, "Well until we find a body I'm going to do with yeah," The mercenary said. "How did they survive that wreck?" asked the first, "They keep getting lucky!" The second mercenary huffed and replied, "Well luck eventually runs out…" Nathan saw a mercenary walking dangerously close to the cliff edge. Nathan was hanging off the very top of the cliff ledge now, and suddenly the mercenary saw Nathan. The mercenary crouched, but Nathan didn't give him any time to fire his weapon. When the mercenary crouched down, he saw Nathan, but Nathan grabbed his throat and threw him down off the ledge. The mercenary fell, but then grabbed Nathan's foot. Nathan grunted, and gave the mercenary's head a sharp kick. The mercenary fell down about ten feet to the ground below, thoroughly unconscious. He looked down to make sure he was out, and then peeped his head just above the cliff edge. There were two mercenaries just above him. He carefully climbed up the ledge, hid behind a rock, and watched. One of the mercenaries was walking towards Nathan. He could see the mercenary's shadow growing ever larger. As soon as he turned the corner Nathan grabbed the man, covered his mouth, and knocked his head into the rock. He fell down. Suddenly he heard a mercenary just behind the rock, "Hey, Martin, did you see that?" Nathan pushed himself against the rock. Had he been seen? "Look there's another one!" he said, "These bugs are everywhere!" Nathan gasped a sigh of relief. "Do you have any repellant?" the mercenary asked. The other mercenary replied, "Yeah I got some. Don't use too much. I have a feeling this won't be a short mission." The first mercenary sighed, "Well I really don't see the point in this…" he said, "Hundreds of millions worth of treasure is the point," the second mercenary corrected. The first one huffed, "Well pirate treasure is for kid's books," he said, "We keep chasing fairy tales and we'll all end up dead." Nathan saw the two of them part ways. He saw a higher ledge and making sure he wasn't in the direction of any mercenaries he climbed up. He was startled almost to death when he saw a mercenary standing on the ledge. Thankfully, his back was to Nathan. After a bit, the mercenary turned, and noticed Nathan. Nathan jumped up to him, and punched him in the face, before ramming him into the ground. The mercenary had an AK, and Nathan didn't have any guns. He slung the AK on his back and took some of the bullets before making his way through. He jumped off the ledge into more high grass. Suddenly he froze in his tracks. There were two mercenaries on the ledge he had just left. "Hey, look," said one, "That's Allan! Somebody knocked him out!" He heard the mercenary shout, "Hey boys! Drake may have just knocked out one of our men! Keep your eyes peeled!" Nathan growled and slowly crept through the grass. He heard somebody in the near distance yell, "Another body! He's got to be here! Come on out Drake!" Nathan didn't come out, he just kept making his way through the grass. He saw another rock ledge in front of him. He climbed up and hid behind a rock on top. Suddenly he saw a red laser gunsight cut above him. He stared at it, not moving a muscle. Soon the laser vanished. He peeped his head above the rock. It was a sniper with a grenade launcher. He looked to his left. There was a tall cliff edge that raised about forty feet high, and it ran all the way to the end of this particular division of mercenaries. He stealthily slinked over to the cliff, but yet another mercenary blocked his way. There was no way to sneak up on him from the ground. Nathan backtracked to another rock pillar he had seen. He climbed up the side of it, and then he jumped off of it, landing directly on the mercenary, and slamming him into the ground, knocked out cold. Suddenly he heard something boom, then he saw an explosion only fifteen yards away from him. He rolled back into the grass. "I got him!" he heard somebody shout. He had been spotted. He hid behind a boulder and felt the boulder rattle as the grenadier shot it with his grenade launcher. He got out his AK, and aiming, he shot at the grenadier with deadly accuracy, but the grenadier was wearing armor. He saw two mercenaries heading his way. He shot one and he fell. For the other, he got closer, then shot. He moved closer to the grenadier, shots zipping past him as he flew towards his enemy. He saw the grenadier, who lined Nathan up in his laser sight. Nathan shot him square in the shooting arm. The mercenary dropped his weapon, and Nathan finished him off. There were only two mercenaries left, and Nathan saw one of them pick up the grenade launcher. Nathan aimed for the magazine of the launcher and shot. The grenades exploded, destroying both the gun, and flinging the two mercenaries into the air, before the crashed onto the ground. Breathing heavily, Nathan quickly left the area.
The jungle was hot and steamy, and birds with fantastic colors fluttered everywhere. Nathan looked all around. The trees were so thick in place, it almost looked as if you were inside a leafy cave. The rocky look of the island continued to inspire wonder in Nathan. There were cliffs and rocky ledges and platforms made of rock that were raised above the ground itself. Everything was either grey, lush green, or brown. He came to a dead end. The cliff edge towered above him in a horseshoe shape, the only opening leading back the way he came. He looked around when he saw yet another skeleton, sprawled on the ground, with a leather haversack still strung around his bony shoulder. He opened the satchel. Inside was another old note. He picked it up. It read, "To whoever finds this note, know that Jonathan Burns, financier and leader of our expedition, has murdered me – and others – for want of Avery's treasure. He worked the crew to the point of exhaustion, promising them the riches of paradise, but instead bringing them illness and starvation. I witnessed the cur bind a man to the mast of our ship and leave him to die, and then push another crew member off the ship for daring to speak his mind. He found me making preparations to leave for home and he confronted me. I brandished my pistol and informed him that I was making back for England, where I would inform the world of his deeds. The coward shot me, and I returned fire, before he fled into the jungle. I am not certain if my bullets hit my mark. Now, my time grows short, and my hand weak, but in the absence of justice, I beg you pray that Burns receives divine justice for his deeds. Signed, Walter Hayes. First Mate of the Suffolk. 1808." Nathan folded the note and put it in his journal. "Wow," he said, "That's pretty dark. Seems like Burn's crew had about as much luck as me with this treasure…" He looked above him. He would have to climb up the cliff. He jumped up, grabbing the handholds, as he climbed, he noticed there were some loose rocks above him. He avoided them, but suddenly one of them dislodged, and all of them began to tumble down onto Nathan. He clutched the cliff edge and let them pass over him. When it was over, he grunted and clambered onto the ledge. He stood up, and suddenly heard footsteps running over towards him. More mercenaries! Nathan whipped out his pistol, but it wasn't a mercenary. He sighed in relief. "I almost shot your head off," said Sam. Sam put his pistol back in his holster. "Sam," Nathan said, "I'm glad you're OK." Sam shrugged, "Yeah," he replied, "Nothing I couldn't walk away from." Nathan sighed and sat down on one of the rocks. Sam walked over and gave him a pat on the back. "Good to see you alive little brother," he said. Nathan nodded, and Sam stepped back, "Come on," he said, "We got a treasure to find!" Nathan held up his hand. "Just hold on man," he said shaking his head, and chuckled, "What are we doing?" Sam shrugged, "What do you mean?" Nathan shook his head, "I mean our supplies are at the bottom of the Indian Ocean." Sam shrugged yet again and pointed towards the ocean, "So we steal some from Nadine's army." Sam replied. "Yeah and there's that," Nathan said, "We're going up against an army." "We've been holding our own so far!" Sam said. Nathan chuckled, "While being marooned in the middle of nowhere!" he said. Sam shook his head, "We were trying to get here, remember?" he said with a slight tone of either anger or annoyance in his voice, "When we had an escape plan." Nathan finished. He sighed and looked at Sam, "OK," he said, "Just hear me out, crazy suggestion. Let's go down there, and at least secure one of Rafe's boats." Sam shook his head, "The boats can wait," he said sternly, "You want to know what we're doing here? We're buying my life back. OK?" Nathan rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "Now we're going to do that," continued Sam, "by stepping into that jungle and finding Libertalia." Nathan looked back at Sam and said, "Well have you seen any signs of a massive pirate colony? Cause I sure haven't!" Sam shook his head and replied, "It's a little late to be developing doubts don't you think?" Nathan stood up off the rock, "Look," he said, "We can at least entertain the possibility that maybe Avery's idea for a secret pirate utopia didn't pan out." Sam stepped back but Nathan continued, "I mean maybe we're just swept up in this fantasy, when instead we should be finding a real way to save you." Sam looked at Nathan, his face unbelieving. Then his eyes narrowed, "I'm going to scour this island inch by inch," he said in a low voice, "Until I find Avery's treasure." Nathan sighed deeply, "Now if you're confused about what you're doing here," Sam said, "then you can go home Nathan." Sam gently pushed Nathan back. Nathan just stood there, incredulous. Sam turned and began walking away. Nathan shook his head and walked forward, "Wait, wait," he said grabbing Sam by the arm, "I can go home!? Are you kidding me!?" They both stood there. Looking at each other. "Do you have any idea what I put on the line to get you here!?" Nathan shouted. "How about what I put on the line," Sam said pointing to himself, "The last fifteen years of my life-" "Oh come on this has nothing to do with that!" Nathan interrupted. "It has everything to do with that!" Sam replied. Nathan was about to answer, but he didn't. He stood there, no longer looking at Sam. "What?" Sam asked. Nathan didn't answer, instead he walked past Sam and over towards a huge boulder that was just behind them. There were leafy vines covering the rock, but Nathan pushed them apart. When he did, he revealed Henry Avery's sigil carved into the rock itself. It was large, about a foot across. Sam smiled and looked at Nathan, "You still want to go home?" he asked. Nathan walked forward, "Let's just see what else we can find." He replied. Nathan looked down. There was a gravel pathway, whether natural or man-made Nathan couldn't tell. There was a ledge and Nathan jumped down. In front of him was a massive baobab tree. Nathan saw two ring tailed lemurs scurry up the trunk like two squirrels. He chuckled and walked up closer to the tree. As he expected, the primate jumped up the tree and out of sight. He could hear dozens of birds all singing and whooping and fluttering around, the beauty of this jungle was magnificent. They were inside a canyon, with cliff walls on either side of them, only about fifteen feet high. Nathan heard Sam call, "This way Nathan," and he followed. He splashed through a swampy patch of ground, and noticed a centuries old cart that had been left to rot. Inside the cart were three huge stones. The wheels were gone, but then Nathan noticed three barrels sitting beside it. He continued along the gravel path, then realized that it was man-made. Just before he realized, it, he saw a stone archway, with a pair of wooden doors rotting off their hinges. It wasn't a large archway, just tall enough for a man to walk under, but it was definitely a very good sign. "Well would you look at that!" Sam said. Nathan huffed, "Yeah well let's just hope the rest of it isn't buried underneath centuries of dirt and rock…" "Glass half full if you please," Sam replied. They both entered through the gates. They were underneath a rotten wooden roof. There had once been a house in this very spot, but it had decayed, and was now almost part of the forest, with plants drooping down from the top. They continued walking, until they exited the ruins and made it to another building. It was made of moss covered stone bricks, and there was a large entryway to the cellar that was open. Nathan jumped down into the cellarway and looked around. Rats scurried away from him as he approached. He saw a shelf full of old supplies, and the masonry was crumbling. He couldn't see any way to the upper floor. Sam chuckled, "This place has seen some better days huh?" he said. "Yeah," Nathan replied, "Looks like the roof could use some work. Let's just hope it doesn't come down on top of us." He saw a small opening to his left. He crouched low and entered. The dust was choking, and every step he took, he heard the floorboards creaking. He saw a set of stairs and he cautiously stepped on one of the steps. It didn't give, and he stepped on the next one. It too stood, and Nathan climbed the rest of them, though the creaking they made was loud enough to wake the dead. When he entered into the main building itself, he was shocked. The roof was gone, though the walls still had fading paint peeling in almost all the places you could still see it. The windowsills was crooked, and the floor was dirt. There were full grown trees growing inside, and it looked like nature had completely reclaimed it. He could see part of the roof caved in on one end, though the other end was almost completely empty. He looked around for an exit, and he saw one, a huge open window without any glass inside. He called Sam over and they took a large box over to stand on. After boosting themselves up, they stood on a balcony, and what it overlooked took Nathan's breath away. There, in front of his eyes, was Libertalia.