An entire day of searching, through endless mist, cold and clinging to the skin...

An entire day of wet feet, blurred vision, tramping through underbrush and sand and rock...

An entire day of nothing.

Iale and Emerson both threw their packs down in disgust and frustration when they finally came upon a clearing that would work as a campsite.

"Pah!" spat Iale. "What bloody good is this place? How the devil will we find this thing if we don't even know what it is we're lookin' for? I want off this god-forsaken island!"

"Aye," said Noggin, agreeing despite his best efforts to keep everyone in high spirits that day. He began dutifully setting up the tents, while the rest of the Bad Brothers crew collapsed in exhaustion.

"We haven't covered the lagoon yet," said Emerson, maddeningly patient. "Tomorrow we'll come to the ridge, and we're bound to find it."

Lacey growled, throwing her own pack across the ground. She was wet and cold, and the leeches were getting just a little tiresome. Even with her thigh high boots, they found their way unnoticed onto her legs. Turning on Emerson, she threw her hat on the ground.

"Find what Emerson?! What are we lookin' fer? How do ye know we aint just walked past it? Clocks!" Hands on hips, she stared the man down. Her mood was unusually sour. She hated places like this. All wet and slimy and ookey, with squelchy mud and stinking rotten things. It was disgusting and cloying.

"We didn't," he said, with enough assurance that Iale, infuriated, kicked him with her tiny boot. He glanced at her. "I'm being serious. I know what we have to look for, and I didn't see it. And you all would have noticed if we'd come across it - trust me."

Looking around, he seemed to sense that he wasn't going to be able to get away with this secrecy for much longer; some of the crew looked like they wanted to slit his throat then and there. With a tortured sigh, he reached into his vest pocket.

"Here," he said, pulling out a scrap of some material. "This is the drawing I was given. It's very old, so be careful with it."

He passed the drawing to the captain. The worn, spotty fabric was etched with a strange design. It didn't appear to be representational, but the swirls and geometric lines had a certain strange harmony to them. Looking at the image gave Lacey and the others an inexplicable sense of dread.

"It's a crest," he explained. "It should be marking the place we're to look. The King knew that Joe Billows had found Isla Kura, and Noe confirmed it."

"Well," said Lucius after a moment, exhaling and pushing his no-longer-slick hair out of his eyes. "That's fancy, isn't it."

Lacey studied the crest carefully, the hair on the back of her neck crawling a little. The misty cold jungle felt suddenly close and she shuddered slightly. Looking back up at Emerson, she handed him the scrap.

"Why doesn't that make me feel better? Somethin' aint right here Emerson, but...ye still have my interest, fer now." Looking down at Iale, she jerked her head.

"DuPont, a word?" She said, stepping away from the crew.

Iale snorted, unhappy with having to get up on her tired, sore legs again, but she obliged. Out of earshot from the camp, she put her hands on her hips and faced her long-time rival, waiting for her to speak.

(SFSR)

Turning away from the crew, Lacey crossed her arms, frowning down at Iale.

"What do ye think of all this DuPont? I aint sure what t' think or do anymore. It aint in my nature t' give up on treasure, but this whole thing reeks of...of...of bad!" She scowled in frustration, using Iale to bounce her thoughts off.

"Aye, there's a foul wind in this place," agreed Iale with a scowl. "But for whatever reason we're here, it be valuable. Emerson's shakin' in his lady boots, but he ain't turnin' back. Even if ye couch it in concern for yer crew, ye got the reputation to think about."

Iale was not overly concerned about Lacey's reputation, but rather her own. She would have died rather than admit she was frightened, and it simply wasn't like her to give up on a mission before securing the treasure.

"I reckon he ain't mad enough to risk his own neck fer nothin'," she said of Emerson. "No, there be somethin' on this island, all right. What, I haven't a barnacle's clue."

Lacey nodded gravely. Reputation was everything. Time for the stiff upper lip and all that.



The blonde thumbed her weapons thoughtfully. It was the creeping feeling on the back of her neck she didn't like.

"Ye be right thare DuPont, somethin' on this island fer sure. Right. Fer th' booty!" She said decicivly, turning back to the tired crew.

"Rest up m'hearties! Tomorrow, we continue. Don't get to drunk, ye hear? I want an early start." Walking away from the small pirate, she approached Noe, placing a kiss on her pretty mouth.

"Ye okay lassie?"

She had spent more time than she could have ever dreamed on the cursed isle of Kura'kohotabina. Her heart broke every waking moment, and her dreams were haunted with... strange visions. Not terrors like she had expected, no. Merely flashes of scenes and color that she wanted to remember in the morning but couldn't. The curse was leaking into her skin, her bones, her blood. She would always be haunted by Isla Kura. Even if they left today, her hear would be trapped on the mist covered death-rock.

As Lacey settled beside her, Noe tried a smile. It was a sad, pathetic thing, full of childlike fear and a need to be comforted. She crawled into the captains arms, big eyes closed as she curled up, trying to forget everything.

"I hate it here. I am scared, and I dream of impossible things that slip the mind come sunlight. I wish we would find what we need and be gone..." Her voice was light rain over the sea, skin cool and clammy. She was getting thinner and drawn. The island was making her ill.

Lacey held her close, looking down at the slight girl, brushing a wavy strand of hair away from her face. She was concerned about Noe, deeply concerned. It was a first for the blonde piratess. She didn't get concerned about lovers, she got a new lover. But this girl, she drew her in with those beautiful blue eyes and rich personality. This wasn't the pretty mugrobi girl she'd been watching for weeks. This was wrong. Putting her other arm around Noe, the woman hugged her tightly, resting her cheek on her hair.

"Don't ye worry Noe me love, I'll look after ye. Ole' Lacey will keep ye safe. Ye just rest." She spoke quietly, looking at the dismal fire that Noggin had managed to build. The sooner they found this treasure and left, the better.