"Damn their stinkin' hides" I cursed under my breath, "why won't they leave?" It had been three days since I escaped their bile filled brig and two and a half days since I've had water. clean water. They had docked at the only clearwater spring on the island and they were waiting for me to crack.

Though in truth being captured again was beginning to feel like a preferable option to dying of thirst. I'd thus far been able to squeeze a few drops from Macquooi nuts and wring the sweat from my shirt, but I was getting desperate. It was so close and yet so far from my sun baked lips.

I was determined to steal into their camp at nightfall. It would only be a few minutes, a quick in and out. Surely they had guards, but I'd slipped their watchful eyes once before already. It was decided, once I got some water I could disappear into the vine coast and never be heard from again. Any pirate worth their salt could live on a deserted island for months or even years. I shook my head to refocus my hazy eyesight, "it's time."

I daubed my entire body in the volcanic ash-mud, I would be an onyx ghost. I crept along the rocky beach, letting the lapping waves and shifting sand mask my approach. Their campfire reflected on the small coves walls just enough to help me guess how long they'd been sleeping. I just have to locate the night watch and then I can sneak around.

I crawled into the warm surf and moved carefully around the beach, keeping my eyes trained like a stalking alligator. Now that I had a full view of the cavern and my luck looked to be improving, the guard was slumped over. My excitement got the better of me and I stood out of the shallow lagoon too soon. The firelight licked at my soaking form casting my shadow as drowned specter. 

An acute creak jolted from the beached rowboat and I dropped to the sand like a sack of potatoes. Another series of creaks and groans from the wood and then a soft splat of boot on sand meant they were moving. A few more moments passed without a shout or shot fired, this must be the one-eyed crew. I took my chance and kicked my body and leg to the side and in one fluid motion flung a knife from my boot. It found its mark in their jugular, another soft thud told me it was safe to exhale.

Now the final test stood before me. The sleeping figures in the hollowed out rock looked as if they were tossed about and simply slumbered where they landed. The flickering light was making it difficult to keep track of them as I approached. Little trickster shadows galivanted along my peripheral vision, causing me to sweat even harder. Humid jungle air was swept away and usurped by a cool salty breeze. The call of a night gull startled me as I tip toed my way through their sprawled limbs and supplies. I twisted on my heel and lost my balance over an emptied keg crashing into a spare crate. 

I was a dead man now, surely they would have heard the clumsy elephant in their den. But they slumbered on, Calypso must have enchanted them wickedly. A head jerked to face me, and I flinched in anticipation of a hot lead welcome. No shot was fired, not even an eyelid. My legs shook like a ship hand in the throes of wave sickness, knees nearly clattering. But not a gun was raised, the mate who had looked my way appeared to have a puppetmaster.

Crabs. Crabs the size of cannonballs crawled the bodies of my former jailors. Each a dazzling hue in the dancing lights. As if a reef had grown legs and taken a liking to the land. The made their winding way to the center of the cave and raised their claws in turn. I was enchanted by their choreography, they looked like priests at an altar, hands praising the divine. 

The fire burned more brightly, roaring into life from dying coals. Its flames licked the ceiling and illuminated the cove in brilliant detail. I turned to shield my eyes and caught a glimpse of the previously veiled depths. The cove wound further into the bedrock marked by a glittering river. 

My pants rustled as the crabs scuttled past along the pathway, each with a trinket or gold piece in claw. Visions of a great horde luminesced in my mind and I walked to follow the strange congregation. The fading bonfire behind me cloaked the island coast in dusk and before me marched twinkling stars leading me to their Temple of gold.