Bait the trap.

Johanna wondered, briefly, at the choices she had made which led to where she was right now. Specifically, the recent choices that most recently concluded with allowing Bone to tie her, naked, to a large tree. The once-proud naval captain let out a loud sigh.

“Not yet, Stern,” Bone chided her, finishing the last couple wraps and knots that secured her in place. “It’s no use bringing her down on us before I’m finished setting up.”

“I really think this is a bit over the top,” Johanna whispered back, “Wouldn’t it be easier to just track her down and have a conversation?”

Bone appeared back in front of Johanna, eyeing her body and his handiwork. “We’ll have plenty of time for conversation once she’s been neutralized. She was the one who started the ****, after all. I’m just returning the favor.” Satisfied, Bone nodded. “Alright, give it about five minutes, then you can start making noise. Do you want a kiss for good luck?”

Johanna narrowed her eyes at the pirate, “It’s not like I can refuse, tied up like this.”

Bone smiled that irritating-yet-handsome smile, then swooped in to press his lips to Johanna’s, and plunder her mouth with his tongue for a few moments. Once he had enough good luck, he pulled away, repeated, “Five minutes,” Then disappeared into the jungle.

Bone’s plan seemed pretty simple to Johanna, but she suspected there was more to it than he let on. She was to sit here, bound and helpless, and when Elara came down to check on her or set her free, Bone would sneak up on her and somehow immobilize her. Johanna wasn’t sure what Bone thought he could do against someone who could move like the wind, jump thirty feet in the air, and carry an adult human with one hand while doing so, but the pirate seemed oddly confident.

“His loss,” Johanna muttered. Bone could use a bit of a knocking-down, she reckoned. She didn’t necessarily want him to be seriously hurt or injured, but she also wasn’t sure that she wanted his plan to succeed. After all, Johanna had taken a liking to Elara in the short time they had been together, and while she didn’t know what Bone intended to do to the other woman, Johanna was sure it wouldn’t be pleasant.

Of course, Elara hadn’t exactly been pleasant to Bone, either. He had clearly taken some light wounds, yesterday, and despite Johanna’s claims to the contrary, Elara didn’t seem at all interested in letting Bone out of the cave where he had been bound. It seemed to Johanna that neither of them were exactly in the right, and neither of them seemed likely to change their opinions on the other at this point. Perhaps this upcoming conflict was inevitable?

Five minutes were probably up, Johanna figured. One way or another, things would be decided shortly. The only questions left, at this point, were who would come out on top, and whether or not Johanna could do anything about it...