Milah and Will find themselves in two spherical cages, hanging from ropes over a deep chasm, the faint sounds of drums echoing from the native camp. They are chucked into the same cage as Gibbs, Marty and Cotton. "What the devil are you two doing here?" Gibbs demands in shock at seeing the couple in front of them.
"We could ask you the same thing," Milah remarks and accepts the hand he offers, standing up. "What the hell is wrong with Jack?"
"Nothing," the man shrugs, "At least nothing that is unusual for Jack Sparrow."
Milah scoffs, "Oh I disagree, unless he's gotten even more insane over the past 2 months. The man aint even speaking English anymore."
"I wouldn't put it past him," Marty speaks up and she frowns at him confused.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
He shrugs and whispers, "You have to have been there."
"Why would he do this to us?" Will speaks up, facing Gibbs. "If Jack is their chief..."
"Aye, the Pelegostos made Jack their chief," the pirate nods, "But he only remains chief as long as he acts like a chief."
"So he had no choice. He's a captive then as much as the rest of us."
"Worse... as it turns out," Gibbs corrects and the pair frown at him confused. "See, the Pelegostosbelieve that Jack is a god in human form, and they intend to do him the honor of releasing him from his fleshy prison." Cotton suddenly bites Gibbs' fingers to illustrate the point causing the man cry out in pain, glaring at the mute. "They'll roast him and eat him!"
Milah and Will look at the older pirate in alarm before she questions worried and slightly afraid of the answer, "Where's the rest of the crew?"
"These cages we're in... weren't built 'til after we got here," Milah and Will look down to where the hands were holding the bones of the cage. HUMAN BONES! They instantly yank their hands with grimaces of disgust and discomfort."The feast is about to begin. Jack's life will end... when the drums stop," Gibbs informs them, and they all begin listening to the sounds of the drums echoing in the distance.
Will looks at them all, "Well, we can't just sit here and wait then, can we?"
~*~*~
Milah sits on the bottom of the cage, watching as the men try desperately to think of a way out. They were failing horribly as any ideas and suggestions turned into arguments and insults far too quickly. It was chaos. She sighs before her eyes catch the cliff face on the other side, vines tangled down the rocks. Looking up, she sees the rope that connected them to the bridge above was quite long. An idea hits her and she jumps up excitedly, "I've got it!" the men turned to face her curiously. "If we swing the cage to the other side and grab those vines to haul ourselves up," she explains her plan to the other with a hopeful look.
"Milah, that's brilliant!" Will exclaims.
"I know, I'm a genius!" She shrugs with a grin.
The plan is quickly told to the other crew members in the other cage and they all began moving backwards and forwards of the cage. They slowly create wider arcs in their swings as they reach for the vines on the others side. There are several loud shouts of annoyance and groans of frustration when they continue to fail and are swung back to the other side.
Finally after what seemed like forever, they are able to grasp hold of the vines and they all held on tight. "Put your legs through, start to climb!" Gibbs orders and they all begin to slowly climb up the cliff face.
"Come on men!" Will encourages. "It'll take all of us to crew the Black Pearl!"
"Actually," Leech speaks up from the other cage, "You won't need everyone. 'Bout six would do!" They all suddenly glance at each other, thinking the same thing. There were 5 people in the two cages each, 6 including Jack. "Ohhh... dear," Leech mumbles relishing his mistake.
Will looks at Gibbs who shrugs, nodding, "Hurry!" The men shout, and each cage group begin racing against each other up the cliff.
"Come on! Go! Go! Go! Come on! Give it all you got!"
Milah glances to the side at one point, only for her eyes to widen spotting a cannibal walking across the bridge they were connected to. "Stop! Stop!" she hisses warningly, realising that if they kept moving, he would instantly be alerted and they would be done for.
Will catches on seeing the figure as well and calls to the other group, "Stop!"
All the pirates freeze in place, waiting for the cannibal to cross the bridge. However Leech decides to push his group on, taking the risk of climbing.
"You idiots!" Milah hisses at their stupidity.
"Stop!"
The other group still continue to climb, smirking victoriously. At least that was until Leech grabs hold of a coral snake. He instantly shouts loudly in alarm, "Snake!" and they all begin to panic, letting go of their vines. The others watch as their cage falls backwards and the rope snaps. The pirates scream as they fall to the bottom of the chasm and to their deaths.
The remaining group look at each other and hesitantly look over at the shocked cannibal standing frozen on the bridge. His eyes widen, and he begins running to alert the camp. "Move!" Will shouts panicked and they quicken their pace to climb the cliff frantically.
They finally reach the top of the cliff, the cage rolling onto solid ground. "Cut it loose! Find a rock!" Will orders. They all snatch up a rock and begin to try and break the cage.
It was barely working when they heard shouts coming towards them, "Uh-oh," Milah mutters in alarm, spotting the raging cannibals charging for them. "Roll the cage!" she orders, thinking quickly on her feet.
The group quickly grab an edge and begin moving the cage away from the cannibals, before they roll down the hill. Cries of panic sound out as they roll down at an alarming fast pace with no signs of stopping. Of course their luck just got worse as they go flying over the edge of a cliff, screaming their lungs out.
They smash to the ground and continue rolling down the hill, only to roll up a coconut palm trunk. They grunt in pain as the cage crashes to the ground, unbroken and they all fall to the ground inside it, landing ontop of each other uncomfortably.
Despite their loud groans and curses, they suddenly hear the cries of the cannibals coming towards them. "Lift the cage! Hurry!" Will shouts and they all jump to their feet, sliding their legs through the gaps, holding it up as they run; though Marty's short legs make a running motion but are unable to reach the ground.
"Come on, men! Lift it like a lady's skirt!" Gibbs calls, and Milah scowls at him.
"Hey!"
"Sorry."
They continue to run through the jungle, screaming as the cannibals chase after them, "Come on!"
The group suddenly lose their footing as they fly over an edge. They all scream as they fall into a small chasm holding a river. Luckily, as they smash into the water, the cage splits in two. They quickly swims to the surface, helping each other out of the cage. "This way!" Gibbs gasps as they swim through the water.
The cannibals appear at the top of the chasm and begin to throw spears and shoot arrows at the group in the water. They quickly dive into the waters and continue to swim, the spears and arrows losing their momentum in the water and were easy to dodge.
Milah suddenly feels Will grab her hand and he hauls her to the surface. She gasps for air as they hide behind the rock, quickly helping the other pirates take cover as well.
The cannibals suddenly race around so they were in aim of the group but before they can shoot, there was a loud shout and they all disappear. The group breathe in a huge sigh of relief, relaxing into the water with slight laughs as the adrenaline floods out of them.
~*~*~
The 5 of them race across the beach to the Pearl, which was already in the water, the tide having come in. Milah is surprised to see Pintel on the beach below, "Pull-loose the mooring lines! Mooring lines!" he shouts up to Pearl, waves crashing into him. "Pull loose the mooring lines!" he repeats as they trudge through the waves behind him.
Ragetti suddenly appears on deck, "He's got me eye! He won't give it back!"
"Well, how'd you get it back last time?"
Gibbs pats Pintel on the shoulder as he moves past, "Excellent work! Work's half done!"
"We done it for you! Knowin' you'd be comin' back for us," Pintel smiles innocently, like they hadn't been planning on leaving them all their and taking the Pearl for themselves.
"Make ready for sail boy!" Gibbs calls to the group and the pirates quickly climb aboard.
Milah stops in the water, suddenly remembering a certain pirate captain, "What about Jack?" she calls, looking towards the others.
"I won't leave without him." Will agrees.
"Oi!" they all spin around at the sudden shout and watch as Jack appears at a distance, running down the beach toward the crew and ship. They stare at him in amazement when a crowd of cannibals suddenly run down on the beach behind Jack, pursuing him.
"Time to go!" Will nods and both he and Milah race to climb up the Pearl.
"Cast off those lines!" Gibbs shouts as they all move towards the Pearl, climbing up the nets in a panic. "Make ready to cast off!"
Jack comes racing through the water and grabs ahold of the rigging on the side of the departing ship. He turns to the crying crowd, "Alas, my children! This is the day you shall always remember as the day that you almost –" a big wave splashes Jack from behind and he scowls, mumbling, "...Captain Jack... Sparrow."
He climbs aboard and turns to Gibbs who states, "Let's put some distance between us and this island, and head out to open sea."
Pintel and Ragetti throw on Jack's coat as he nods to Gibbs, "Yes to the first, yes to the second, but only insofar as we keep to the shallows as much as possible."
"Uh, that seems a bit contradictory, Captain."
"I have every faith in your reconciliatory navigational skills, Master Gibbs, now where is that monkey?" Jack questions looking around, "I want to shoot something."
The monkey screams from above and drops Ragetti's eye. The pirate quickly dives for it, grabs his eye, spits on it and then rubs the spit around on it. The monkey chatters and climbs onto the rigging and Jack is ready to shoot him with his pistol when Will and Milah come up to him.
"Jack," Will begins.
He looks at them and jumps, "Ah!"
"We need that compass," Milah states, not bothering with pleasantries anymore, but his eyes only narrow slightly.
"And why is that?"
"If we don't have that compass, we'll be facing the gallows," Will explains.
"You owe us for helping you escape Port Royal," Milah points out when she sees his indifference at the thought of them facing the gallows.
Jack rolls his eyes at her, "You and your debts," he begins to back his way to the wheel and the couple quickly chase after him, "Haven't you ever heard of taking responsibility for the things you've done?"
Milah glares after him angrily.
Will suddenly pulls a sword from the waistband of a pirate who is turned around, and points it at Jack. "Nothing is going to happen to Milah while I'm alive and right now that compass is putting her at risk. I'm not afraid to do whatever means necessary to eliminate that risk." He warns.
"Marriage's made you a bit protective there has it?" Jack replies, his face remaining calm despite the blade at his neck. He pushes Will's sword aside, "Mister Gibbs!"
The man turns to him from the wheel, "Cap'n."
Jack goes over to him and whispers, "We have a need to travel upriver."
"By need, d'you mean a... trifling need, uh, a... fleeting, as in say in a passing fancy?" Gibbs whispers back hopefully.
"No, a... resolute and unyielding need."
The couple glance at each other in confusion, overhearing the pirates' whispering. Will rolls his eyes and calls over to them, "What we need to do is make sail for Port Royal with all haste."
"William..." Jack spins around to face the couple, "I shall trade you the Compass, if you will help me..." he reaches into his jacket lapels and pulls out an old, faded piece of parchment "...to find this" he opens it up, revealing a faded drawing of a key.
Will frowns at him, "You want me to find this?"
"No," Jack shakes his head and corrects him, "You want you to find this. Because the finding this finds you incapacitorially finding and/or locating and your discovering the detecting of a way to save your darling girl over there, Savvy?"
Will frowns at him; it was almost like Jack was speaking gibberish all over again. He grabs the parchment from the captain, "This... is going to save Milah?" He asks in clarification.
The women in question rolls her eyes in frustration, "And you," she points to Will, "After all if we return with that compass, we'll both be pardoned, because I'm not about to watch your hanging while I walk free," she states, leaving no room for argument with her final tone.
Jack suddenly leans forwards and whispers to Will, "How much do you know about Davy Jones?"
Will shakes his head with a frown, "Not much."
"Yes, it's gonna save Milah," Jack nods but Milah clears her throat unimpressed, "And yourself."