The Devil's Temptress: Dead Man's Chest || Jack Sparrow

V. Found

A branch snapped to her left and for the hundredth time in the past five minutes Nicolette gasped, stiffened and felt the need to be sick. She held her breath, counted to ten and when no one jumped out from behind a tree and there was no other sounds apart from her heart beating violently against her chest, she carried on.

Why in the gods name had she bothered?

She should have just sat and waited on the beach or, better yet, hidden in the Pearl. But no, she fancied being brave and adventurous and a little independent so she wandered down the beach a little way until she found a small clearing in the trees and ventured into the jungle. Alone.

With every flap of a birds wing or croak of a frog she was a nervous wreck. Apparently she had a strong fear of cannibalism, something she deemed to be quite bloody rational at this moment in time. Every time her brain told her something was behind her the image of the man Matthew had found with no fingers and bite marks covering his skin flashed in her mind and it was doing nothing to help her nervous stomach.

She didn't even know what she was doing, never mind where she was going. She had came into the jungle and only after a few minutes, when it was too late to turn back and she could no longer see the shore line through the trees, she realised she did not have a plan. She had done what she had just mentally chastised Will for doing. And now she was lost on an Island inhabited by cannibals, looking for a man who was no doubt amongst them now...if not already digested.

"Stupid Will." Nic kept hushing herself but she just couldn't help muttering curses to release some of her nerves and anger. "Bloody Miss Swann." She never should have left Tortuga. Why had she even offered to help Will.

But boy oh boy who was she kidding? The only reason she was hear was because she knew the boy was up to no good. She needed to find out what nonsense he was up to this time and gloat to Jack about how she told him all along he would live to double cross them.

Jack. Jack could look after himself. He had done perfectly fine for ten years without her... She didn't need to protect him, no matter what her gut said, but look what good her stupid feelings had gotten her into now.

"Bloody Sparrow, what has he ever done for me. Stupid girl should hang anyway for all the trouble she's caused me...stupid little wench."

There was suddenly a loud rumble and Nic's head snapped up from its hunched position as she had been closely studying the overgrowth below her feet for traps. She stilled once more, frowning as she heard movement...but then nothing.

Whatever it wasn't hadn't been close but the loud noise had echoed through the valleys of the mountains. But now it had either stopped or stilled...

"You're loosing your mind Nic." She muttered to herself before she became wide eyed and grimaced. "You're starting to sound like Jack." When she was only seconds away from scolding herself again, another sound distracted her.

This one wasn't movement in the trees or an animal, it was drums.

A slow beat seemed to be coming from all around her, giving her very little clue of what direction she should follow them to...or avoid. Then it quickened and very soon it sounded as though more drums had joined as the beating got deeper and quicker.

"What have you got yourself into Jack?"

Everything; her blood, her bones and her mind were all screaming at her to turn and run, to find a way back to the Pearl and wait for them to return. But something wouldn't let her feet obey the voices. Some strange form of curiosity and the looming possibility that the crew may never return to the Pearl prompted her to keep going.

It was a while or so before she reached a large clearing and under any other circumstance the view would have been breathtaking. There wasn't another living creature or soul in sight and the mountains, covered in thick green jungle, surrounded the area forming a barrier from the elements which echoed the sounds of the ocean down onto the floral jungle floor Nicolette stood within. Over the sounds of the breeze and the tropical birds, she could here a waterfall somewhere close by. It was a paradise.