Playing Tag
He was a drunk. He was a respectable drunk. He followed the horizon, in a never ending game of tag. Bring me that horizon, he would say. The game would then resume. People say he was mad, people thought right. Yet, he was thankful for that. The Black Pearl was his freedom. The Pearl gave him refuge and safety from those vile nooses. He was Captain Jack Sparrow.
She was a lady. She was a proper lady. On the outside at least, but that lasted for a few hours. She would wear a dress, and shred it by the end of the day. She was a rebel at heart, a rebel like the pirates, like Jack. I'm coming with you, she would say. When those words slipped, society looked down upon her. She held her dirt covered face high and walked aboard the ship. She was Faye Veykon.
Faye joined in the game of tag when she came aboard. Jack gave Faye her first dose of rum. By the second glass, she was drunk. A few bottles later, and Jack accompanied her in the land of old folk songs, and staggering. They danced and sang and fell on top of each other. When face collided with floor, the sand man came and went.
Morning hit their stomachs like jumping children. Bursting through the doors, they ran to the rails and emptied their stomachs. That's how life was at some points. Other times, they really did raid places and ships like in the fairy tales Faye heard and read about. Life was good. Faye's skin crawled with goose bumps as life got better.
Soft lips met with hers. He was not drunk, and she was not dreaming. It was midnight and they were at the wheel. His arms slithered around her waist and hers coiled around his neck. He whispered sweet words into her ear. What he got was a sugar coated giggle. The night continued with sweet words, sugary giggles and soft kisses.
The crew was used to the entwined hands and butterfly kisses by now. They teased and taunted their captain about him going soft. He retaliated by giving them double work and less food. Now, the crew made sure to keep their traps shut after that. Not that they did not like the idea of them together, in fact, they WANTED them together, but it was strange to them, to see such an eccentric captain be so gentle and careful.
Port Royal came into view. This was Faye's homeland, and she despised it. It was agonizing for her to know she was birthed in such a place. It was where the men were too uptight and proper, and the women were snooty and weak. Jack said the ship was running out of necessities. As they set dock, people almost immediately gave them strange looks. They laughed and went about their way.
Faye was a rebel. The people knew it too from memory. Her and Jack separated, she wanted to get some food and he wanted his cutlass sharpened, and she got herself into trouble again. Yet, it was not she who caused it. A beggar man wanted just one shilling. Pity fell into her heart and gave him one. He wanted more though. He grabbed her and dragged her to the alleyway that was only a few feet away. She writhed and squirmed until she got loose. With a swing of her cutlass, the beggar man lay in a heap of his own blood and dirt.
She was spotted though, by a government official. Instantly, she was constricted in shackles and chains on the wrists and ankles. She was put on the line of pirates, without even letting her voice out the truth. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jack, being held down along with the crew. The path to death was shortening by the minute. Jack was struggling to get out of his confinements, screaming out pleas and profanity. Those horrid steps revealed themselves to her minutes later. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she stepped onto the stand.
A thick prickly noose wrapped itself around her neck. The contraption was just beckoning, for the sickening sounds of gagging and suffocation. Bystanders were wearing sinister smirks on their painted faces. Faye only glared coldly at them, disturbed at how cruel these people were. The list of convictions went on, some were false, and others were true. After what seemed like forever, the platform beneath her gave away, leaving her to her demise.
Jack felt his heart shatter. He dropped to his knees and watched as his beloved's body spasm with pain. He could not breathe for a few seconds. Eventually she lay limp within the merciless grip of the rope. They released her as soon as she ceased her movements. He walked up to her lifeless body and picked her up with ease. As he walked through the crowd of monstrous beings, a single tear slid down his cheek and dripped onto her cheek.
Jack gathered up the crew and set sail to God knows where. He caressed her face and kissed her lips one last time. Jack knew she loved the sea. So he lowered her down into the cerulean, sparkling depths. Jack watched with watery eyes as she became one with the ocean. The crew watched in sorrow, some even had tears streaming down their eyes. Jack took his hat off and placed it to his chest, whispering an old prayer his parents taught him.
He turned around and told everyone to get back to work. Slowly, the crew went back to their posts. He placed his hat back on top of his head and headed to the wheel, coiling his sun kissed hands around it. He looked out into the vast sea, and for once, did not notice the horizon. Instead, what he saw was Faye's grinning image. He smiled his devious smile and went to play tag with Faye.