Run! We'll have to jump across the rooftops".
"Right behind you"!
One by one the buildings fell like dominos in a line, the Pirate and princess leaped across rooftops making their way out of the city. As it was all crumbling under their feet, but it was happening much faster than their legs could take them.
"Were not going to make it" Emma cried out aghast as she realised.
"No, we have too "
Captain Hook reached for his grappling hook, running as he did, he swung it around gaining momentum and aimed for the nearest tree.
"We really are cutting it close, again". She said.
Captain Hook wrapped his arm around Emma's waist, almost scooping her up, as the rope went tight and they both swung off the roof. Their feet lifting off the stone moments before it disappeared into a cloud of dust crumbling into rubble. Landing rather roughly on a hill behind the once great city.
Emma stood up offering a hand to Hook, who took it nodding as he did in agreement with her assessment of the unfolding events. They felt exposed out in the open and both instinctively began walking over to the trees for cover, were there was a dirt path.
"We should move quickly; this path must lead the rest of the way"
"You never hesitate, Captain".
"What do you mean"?
"Every time we find ourselves in mortal danger, you jump right in, just know exactly what to do".
"I'm a survivor, I'm used to it".
This wasn't the response Emma expected, and she stopped in her tracts reaching for his hand, seeing him in a whole new light. Captain Hook didn't seek danger wasn't excited by it, just willing to face adversity and see things through.
"Hey, that's not nothing, you're a fighter".
Captain Hook smiled appreciating the compliment for once he seemed shy, scratching the back of his head a little.
"Should we stop here, look over the clues we gathered"?
"Actually, I know where to go".
"Well let's keep moving then, Blackbeards crew would have heard that, won't be far behind us now".
As they stepped forward, Emma noticed Hook admiring the sextant in his hands, as if he had known it before and was reconnecting with some lost forgotten part of himself.
"Are you familiar with that".
"Liam, he had a drawing of the sextant, used to carry it around with him everywhere we went, I think it might be the final piece to this puzzle".
"Really, that's great we might just make it out of here".
"You sound surprised".
"You amaze me, figuring out all these secret languages and clues, I usually just blast my way through problems".
Emma looked down on her scar again as she embraced this new way of observing an obstacle in front of you. The raw power she was used to, was still absent but for the first time since arriving in Neverland, she didn't feel helpless or lost without it.
"Hey, we all use what we have, I'm sure you've faced worse than pirates and crumbling old buildings".
"That may be true, I actually fought a dragon once".
"Really how'd that go"?
"Well, she turned out to be a childhood friend of mine, we mended some fences, ended up at the Starwood tavern".
"Oh, I love that place, right by the pier".
"You've been there as well"?
"Many times; we must have missed each other though".
"What makes you say that"?
"If I saw the likes of you in that tavern, I would have asked you to share a drink".
Emma smiled shaking her head again as she blushed, still trying to resist the warm feeling growing inside her, the more time she spent with Hook. Continuing to tell stories from there pasts as they followed the path through the jungle. Coming across a large canyon with a rope bridge, there only way across. On the other side large stones emerged somewhat hidden behind overgrown vines and moss, they stopped taking a moment to catch their breath.
"It's beautiful"
"I hope it's stable".
"It will hold, it has for hundreds of years".
"True, but we seem to have developed a bad habit of bringing down these ancient structures and this bridge seems a little flimsier than the city".
"Just keep an eye out for traps".
"Maybe this is just another game".
Captain Hook reached out his hand and the princess took it, stepping onto the wooden plank they held their breaths hoping it wouldn't break. After a moment went by without a sign of collapse, their fears eased slightly, and they continued across the bridge steadily.
Reaching the other side of the canyon, finding themselves under a stone archway into a courtyard of a temple, all around were large statues of each of the Pirate captains, that once ruled here. There monuments had rusted and began to fall apart, grass and even some deadly nightshade was sprouting from every crack in the rocks.
"Even their monuments are not safe from this curse, we better be careful walking through here".
"Right the poison… that reminds me".
Emma reached down grabbing the scrolls attached to a vial of clear liquid, she had shoved into her satchel earlier, recalling mention of a possible cure to the nightshade. Emma unrolled the small piece of parchment, her expression surprised as she read the words aloud.
"Please be advised those who drink, may find a fate worse than death… ok not what I had in mind"?
"What is that supposed to be"?
"I thought this was a cure for the nightshade poison. Must be labelled wrong".
"Honestly none of this adds up, why were all those journals hidden".
"Not hidden, preserved…. just like the story in the cave, as if the pirates wanted us to seek it out".
"You think they laid out the clues, to get us to follow some sort of narrative".
"I'm starting to believe, in order to find the treasure, we have to understand what happened here".
Emma continued to walk as she read the scrolls, riveted by the information they held, wanting answers to her questions desperately.
"Seems hard to wrap my head around, someone sacrificing their only chance at escape, making those murals just for us to discover it, long after their gone".
"Why didn't they escape with the others"?
"I don't know, maybe they just couldn't let go". Captain Hook said as he stroked the tattoo on his arm wondering if he should have let go sooner.
Carefully they walked through the crumbling temple avoiding the poisonous plants and deadly bugs flying about, they stayed close together mirror their steps. A large nearby tree root had burst through the ground causing the part of the walls to crumble away creating an opening.
"Come on, I found a shortcut".
"How do you know it's a shortcut"
"Well, it's a way forwards".
They stepped through cautiously, but they were unprepared for what was awaiting them a large room with no windows.
"Ughh what that's smell".
"It's death"
"We walked into a tomb"?
It was indeed a tomb filled with large stone coffins, sealed tight each with a large plaque at the front, detailing who was laid to rest.
"Seems like there must be something else here, I'm sure were getting close, the only reason the city would have built out this far, is if they were near their treasure trove".
"And there way on and off the island"
"Exactly"
The kept walking forwards, although it was harder to see where they were going, keeping close together hoping not to set off any more traps. Walking further into the darkness; the stale air felt cold, causing them both the shiver.
"Why does this feel like there is no way forwards".
"I don't know"?
"It has to be here, we followed the clues".
However, they reached the end of the room there was nothing but a solid stone wall, that Captain Hook properly dug his Hook into it with frustration.
"Hey, it's ok we'll turn back, there's got to be another way or a hidden door".
"No... this is it we've reached the north end of the island there is nothing but ocean to great us on the other side, I've led us to our deaths".
"Captain"
"Killian"
"What"?
"My name, it's Killian".
"Well Killian we'll find a way home… hope is the only constant; we lose that we truly have nothing remember".
"We have each other"
He leaned in closer the his face illumined in the candlelight beside her, with no smirk or cheeky grin in his expression. Just an honest loving smile, happy that she was quoting his own words back to him.
"Killian I..." Emma began to say backing away from him.
"After everything you still, you don't trust me"?
"No, it's not that, I can't, I can't rest, I can't get close with you, not while I'm still on mission".
"Right, of course"
The pirates hand clenched around the sextant in his pocket, and he pulled it out wondering if it was more important to solving the puzzle then he thought.
"The legend I remember almost every story, Liam would always quote it, something about faith…. That it's not about seeing, just believing".
"Ok well, we believe in magic".
"Because you've seen it, your whole life, but Neverland has different rules, faith trust it's so engrained here".
"Well, what does that mean for us"?
"This room, it's so dark and cold filled with death, make anyone lose faith, maybe it's designed that way, so only true believers proceed".
"Hook there is no way forward you said so yourself".
"Or it's just another game".
Captain Hook pulled the sextant from his pocket a smile on his face, fiddling with it moving the pieces around to form another shape. Then his gaze went to the ceiling and a confused frown appeared on his face.
"Look up"
"What is it"?
"The ceiling it's not right".
"It looks strange, not quite solid".
Captain Hook walked back over to the tombstones with the sextant, placing it there in-between a looking glass and a candle.
"We just need to go through from a different angle".
"Didn't you just say, there is nothing but the ocean beyond this point".
"Yeah, yeah should be, according to Liams stories" Captain Hook mumbled distracted, as he began to climb up the wall, now hanging off one of ceiling the lamps.
"Why do you do that"?
"What exactly do you mean?"
"You leaped over things, climb across unsteady railings". Her voice going higher as she anxiously watched.
"It's more fun, me and Liam grew up alone after our mother died, and father left, we never had toys or even food sometimes, we'd mostly steal to survive but he'd make it into a game, points were given for the one who could find the most creative way into places, and out" Killian chuckled slightly as he thought back to these happy times with Liam.
"That's amazing, your brother turned what was a difficult situation into a game for you, no pressure, I wonder what that's like".
"Well let me show you" he said reaching out his hand from above.
"Show me what exactly".?
"Just how much beauty and thrills that can be had, if you willing to embrace the adventure".
Emma frowned still somewhat cautious having lived her life by strict guidelines. Looking into his eyes now, all her fears faded away and without much more though she took his hand pulling her up towards him.
"I don't see how their pirates got up here, without your agility though".
"Maybe they had a ladder".
They both chuckled slightly while they grunted, pulling themselves upwards to the ceiling, only they didn't hit a stone at the top. Their heads clearing the roof popping up over the top disorientated when the sunlight shown down on them, the dead end was all an illusion.
"We did it"
"You did it, Killian"
Before them just as Captain Hook had predicted was the ocean but that wasn't all, the water littered with ruins of grand ships like a graveyard. This wasn't what made the pair so excited, beyond this massacre of pirate ships was a sandbank, home to a large skull shaped cave.