On the Island: Ceremony and Escape

[bringmethatnpc]

The sound of thunder rumbles through the air, heralding an approaching storm--

--no, wait.

That's not thunder; that's the beating of drums.

It's a beautiful clear day on the island, just perfect for a ceremony and celebration, as the tribe prepares to send their chief to the gods.

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[turned_captain]

Will is a little unnerved by it, truth be told. He looks around at the pirates sharing his cage, then over at the half dozen or so in the second of the pair.

"Where's the rest of the crew?"

[bringmethatnpc]

"These cages we’re in? Weren’t built until after we got here." Gibbs' face is now positively grim. These were good men, for the most part, if lousy pirates. They didn't deserve this. HE doesn't deserve this.

He pauses, hearing the echo of the drums across the island.

"The feast is about to begin. Jack’s life will end when the drums stop."

[turned_captain]

Will studies the cage now. He'd been trying not to look at it too closely, but now he notices that they're contstructed of human bones.

He removes his hand from where it's been holding on to a long bone- maybe a thigh? He's not exactly a doctor.

"Well," he says, suddenly practical to avoid thinking about it, "we can’t just sit here and wait then, can we?"

[bringmethatnpc]

Clearly, they can't.

It doesn't take too long for a plan to form, likely at Will's direction -- and before long, the prison-balls made of bone are being swung back and forth, taking advantage of body weight.

Eventually, the yelling group of pirates make it up against the cliff wall, grab onto the vines and slowly attempt to climb.

[bringmethatnpc]

"Put your legs through! Start to climb!"

Why in heaven's name does it take a lad with not an opunce of pirate in him to think of this? Gibbs doesn't care.

[turned_captain]

Because it involves lateral thinking and a fresh approach? Or maybe the urgent determinism that comes of being a young man with a bride to rescue. Certainly, Will is still thinking more about Elizabeth hanging than his own potential cannibalisation.

Regardless, he sticks his legs through the cage like all the others, grabs a vine and starts the hand-over-hand proceedure to get to the top.

"Come on, men!" he shouts to the other ball to lend encouragement. "It’ll take all of us to crew the Black Pearl!"

[bringmethatnpc]

"Actually," Leech pipes up from the other cage, "you wouldn't need everyone. About six would do."

Pause.

Everybody's looking at Leech, now.

And Leech follows this train of thought to the end, about three seconds after everyone else. "...Oh dear."

[turned_captain]

Will and Gibbs exchange looks.

"Hurry!" Will says unneccessarily, beause everyone is hurrying. As much as Will doesn't intend to leave anyone behind, there's the unspoken fear that the first people out would leave them.

Those pirates.

The race continues, until something catches Will's eye...

[bringmethatnpc]

This particular guard is bored.

He wants to be at the chief's godhood feast. That's where everyone else is. They're probably lighting the fire by now. But no, he had to step on a branch and startle the parrot they were hunting last week, so it flew away and now he's in disgrace, and now he has to guard the stupid prisoners to make sure they won't escape.

They're not going to escape. So he's missing the feast for no good reason.

Sullenly, he tramps across the rope bridge above the prisoner's cage-globes.

[turned_captain]

"Stop! Stop!" Will mutters hoarsely, waving everyone down, and looking up. The pirates all freeze, and wait for the guard to finish his patrol.

[bringmethatnpc]

"Shhhhhh," Leech hisses to the others in his cage, and motions them onward. Handhold by handhold, with agonizing slowness, they work their way past Will's cage.

They're not going to fall behind. Oh no.



There's a critical flaw in Leech's otherwise sound plan. And that flaw is this: it's possible to climb silently by feeling about for vines to grab, and it's possible to keep a constant eye on the guard patrolling the bridge while doing so. It is not, however, possible to keep a constant eye on the guard and meanwhile check that every vine you're grabbing is, in fact, a vine.

"SNAKE!" screams Leech, flinging the reptile away, and there's a confused and noisy flurry that ends with the cage dropping away from the cliff wall.

[bringmethatnpc]

Momentum is a harsh mistress.

So is gravity.

The cage swings nearly to the other side of the ravine, lifts, hesitates, and then drops in a whiplash rebound that snaps the rope binding it to the bridge. It plummets, pirates screaming all the way, to the river below.

Very, very far below.

[turned_captain]

And that attracts the guard's attention, who watches the cage o' pirates fall, then looks back up at the other cage o' pirates still mid-climb up the wall.

There's only one thing to do.

"Move!" Will commands, and his companions redouble their efforts, to get to the top before the guard can get help. It's not far to go, and they do eventually manage it, pulling the cage over the edge of the cliff.

Will has properly taken charge now.

"Cut it loose! Find a rock!"

[bringmethatnpc]

...Okay, maybe he's stuck on guard duty for a good reason.

But he's still not about to let himself get blamed for this disaster, too. Dropping his spear in the nearest patch of solid ground, the guard takes to his heels.

Minutes pass.

Valuable minutes. Time enough to get the cage over the top of the cliff, and make a good start on cutting the ropes. Very valuable minutes.

...And then the horde appears. Bristling with spears and facepaint and fury and, oh dear, that's just about the entire tribe right there, isn't it?

And they're really, really not happy to have their holy ceremony interrupted by escaping food stores.

[turned_captain]

Uh oh.

Will's first impulse is to yell run, but then he figures that pirates don't need to be told that. But then he realises that they probably dont' realsie how to run in a cage.

So he gives a different order.

"Roll the cage!"

That seems to work for a little bit, as the pirates rolls the cage like crazy away from the charging tribesmen, but it's not quite fast enough for Will, and they keep tripping on the bones.

Change of plan.

"Lift the cage! Hurry!"

[bringmethatnpc]

Gibbs throws himself into this now. Will does have a bit of the vision a leader might need, but these men will never truly listen to him. It takes an old salt of far too many years to make things happen.

"Come on lads! Lift it like a lady’s skirt!" Ah, the stories he could tell about such matters (some of them true). But not now. Now is the time for making good their escape.

[bringmethatnpc]

Some of the pirates give Gibbs curious looks. Others have already heard some of the stories. Some even know how to lift a lady's skirt.

After a second's fumbling, they manage to co-ordinate a group lifting with their lower legs sticking out of the bottom of the cage, and they run.

Until someone - and it certainly wasn't Marty - trips again and the ball goes rolling out of control again

[bringmethatnpc]

...Out of control and off a cliff. Luckily, the cliff overlooks the sea, and the sea is surprisingly soft and welcoming. The cage breaks apart, but the men do not.

Being well-trained men of the sea, all can swim, and Gibbs quickly get to the front of the pack.

"This way, lads!" Off in the distance is a familiar ship.

And as they swim, the natives unleash spears and arrows of outrageously poor aim.

[bringmethatnpc]

But running up behind them comes a young native boy, yelling as loud as he can manage.

The chief is running! About to get away! This is not supposed to happen.

With an angry roar, the native hordes turn around and begin the rush back to the camp.