complicit | sam drake

Chapter Nine: Shipwrecked

Nathan carefully drove through the multitude of small islands as we approached them, looking for anything resembling pirate structures. I leaned against the side of the boat as Sam joined me. "I have this strange feeling. Like we're finally on the verge of something great and I'm... I'm excited and terrified all at once. You know what I'm talking about?" Sam asked me, looking out towards the water. 

"You're nervous Sam." I chuckled. He rolled his eyes, but still flashed a small smile my way. 

"We're so close to finding Libertalia, which in turn leads us to Henry Avery's fortune. The fortune I've spent most of my life dreaming of, and you're chalking all those feelings up to nervousness?"

"Yes that's exactly what I'm doing. It's the perfect emotion to describe you." I said poking his arm. Sam just made a talking motion with his hand and I shook my head. "Hey Nate, over there!" I called, pointing to a tower on the bigger island. Nathan pulled the boat up to shore and we hopped out. 

"Definitely man-made." Nathan commented. 

"Ah ah. Pirate-made." Sam corrected him. 

"You're probably the biggest nerd I've ever met." I said with a laugh as Sam shot me a look. We walked the island towards the tower. The sun beat down as clouds began to build. "It's definitely gonna start storming soon." I commented as we walked up to the tower. 

"Scared of a little rain?" Sam teased as we walked into it. I rolled my eyes as we climbed up. We walked up the watch area, with a wall stopping us. Sam walked over and pressed a button engraved with an arrow in the middle opening the window. A stone with an arrow engraved rose through the sand by the boat. "Let's go find out where that's pointing." Sam smiled as he got a head start. Nathan and I laughed a bit before heading back to the boat. 

We got back on the boat and Nathan began driving. We drove through the small cluster of islands, Sam making sure to point out every arrow. He ran up to stand with Nathan as I sat back. I smiled looking up at them, at him. In the small time I've known Sam, he's become everything to me. He glanced back at me and shot me a big smile. I could feel his excitement from here. 

The arrows led into a cave. We climbed up to a platform, which led to ruins of a temple. "You've outdone yourself, Avery." I mumbled. 

"Not one for subtlety." Nathan commented. Sam joined us and we continued forward. 

After trekking through more island and cliffs, we made it inside. We approached a door, with a button on the floor branding Avery's sigil. Nathan stepped on it causing the door to open slightly before crashing back down. "Shit it's broken." Nathan sighed. 

"Oh no. We're getting in there one way or another." Sam protested. He leaned down, lifting the door up. I joined in, and so did Nathan. We pushed through and the door crashed behind us once again. We turned to see a light shining on a wheel in the middle of the room. 

"Shit." Nathan and I breathed at the same time. The walls donned an elaborate collection of globes. Another trial. Nathan began moving the wheels, and the mechanism on the walls followed. He clicked each globe into the right place, revealing statues of all the infamous pirates we've come to know. All but one. A room opened, with a lever in the middle. We all piled around it. Nathan pulled the level and the floor began to move. 

"An elevator. Nice." I chuckled. Sam and I locked eyes as his smile grew. The elevator stopped at the top, and across at the first island, an Avery statue rose up. 

"Well there's the missing one." Sam said, standing closer to me. I leaned back so we were touching and he pat my side. "You know, I'm starting to believe our friend was a bit of a narcissist." 

I rolled my eyes and Sam chuckled. We made our way back to the boat. As we stepped aboard, I raced up to the wheel. Both of the boys looked at me as if I grew another head. "What? Can I drive at least once today? We're just going around the corner." I argued. Nathan surrendered and sat back. Sam walked up, standing right next to me. 

"I'll chaperone, in case someone needs to keep us from crashing." He said smugly. I shot him a glare, but of course he didn't mind. I started the boat and took off around to the other island. The wind began to pick up as the clouds grew darker. I docked the boat and we made our way to the statue. Nathan climbed up and gazed through the eyeglass, at Sam's request. "So? Big skull shaped island or what?" Sam called to Nathan. 

"A big island." Nathan said jumping down from the platform. 

"That's gotta be Libertalia!" Sam gushed. 

"That's optimistic, considering everything." Nathan sighed before turning to the stairs. 

"It's just us here. You're allowed to feel even a little bit of excitement over this." Sam told Nathan. I walked up and put my hand on Sam's back but he didn't seem to notice. 

"I'll be excited once Alcazar's noose is off your neck." Nate replied. Sam tensed again. The kind of tense he gets when Rafe is mentioned. He moved away from me, exhaustedly laughing. 

"Okay..." He trailed, something obviously bothering him. 

"Shit. Guys." I walked up and pointed to a group of boats speeding our way. "We better get going." We all glanced at each other before heading back to the boat. 

"Care to drive again?" Nathan asked as we hopped back in. 

"I'll let you do the honors." I retorted, throwing him a sarcastic smile.  

I couldn't remember much. The storm picked up, Rafe's men gained on us, and then the crash. I touched my forehead, where blood pooled out. The rain pounded against myself and the sand around me. I sat up and looked around. I was totally alone. Standing up almost caused me to fall back over, but I kept my ground. 

"Sam! Nathan!" I yelled as loud as I could muster. I began hiking towards the island. I climbed up a cliff and looked around. I still couldn't see a soul. Shit. What if they're dead? No I can't be thinking like that. 

I climbed another cliff, almost slipping but luckily I caught myself. I turned a corner through some brush and was met with the barrel of a gun. My head shot up and I pulled my gun out. 

"Thank God, you're alive." The gun lowered and Sam stood in front of me, relief filling his voice and face. I put my gun away as he wrapped his arms around me. "I'm so glad you're okay." He breathed against my neck. 

"I thought you were..." I trailed, not wanting to say what I feared. "Where's Nathan?" 

"I don't know. I put a signal out. I just hope he saw it." Sam sighed. I rubbed his back and we pulled apart. "C'mon, let's go set up camp." He took my hand as we ventured deeper into the jungle. "I haven't seen any of those goons yet. I have a feeling they're on another part of the island." 

"I hope far from where we are. Not exactly in the best shape to take them on." I groaned. Sam rubbed my lower back in an attempt to comfort me. "I thought I was dead when I washed up on the beach. I can barely remember what happened." 

"Yeah well you must've hit your head pretty hard." He said as he pushed my hair back, exposing the blood soaked wound. 

"Can't even feel it." I chuckled. Sam didn't show any emotion besides concern during our whole exchange. 

 The rain finally stopped as we approached a clearing on a cliff. "Here will work." Sam said, sitting down under a tree. I joined him and he looked at my head. 

"I'm okay, I promise." I assured him. He didn't look convinced but didn't press any further. I leaned into Sam, feeling sleep take ahold of me. "We can take turns keeping watch tonight, then get started early." I yawned. 

Sam chuckled from under me. "I'll keep watch, just get some rest." He whispered against my hair. I closed my eyes. I could feel sleep within reach when he whispered once more to me. 

"I love you, Mara."