Disclaimer: See chapter 1.
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Pirates of the Caribbean 3: Are We There Yet?
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Chapter 1: Soft Conversation
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I sat by Will and gently cleaned his left ear lobe. I glanced at his face. He stared straight ahead, back rigid in the anticipated pain. He wore a red shirt we stole from a merchant ship and his hair was tied back. I inhaled through my nose.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked, eyeing him. He nodded without a word. I held an ice cube on the front of the earlobe for a good minute before setting it down and picking up an apple slice. Placing it in his mouth, I took another one and placed it behind his ear. I picked up the long needle that had been soaking in hot water. I cleansed the tip in the candle flame. I looked at him. "Okay Will. Breathe with me." In the second inhalation, I pierced the ink pinpoint. He bit into the apple slice; nothing dramatic, just a flinch. I hastily took a small gold ring that I had been wearing. I clipped it in. I cleaned the area once more and sat back. His tan, calloused hand flew up to feel the tender flesh. He winced slightly.
"Doesn't your father give you all your earrings?" He asked softly. I shrugged.
"You can have one and I'll have the other." I tucked my hair back to show him the gold ring as my second piercing on my right ear. Will nodded and exhaled deeply. We sat in the quiet for a moment. "How long do you think before we reach Singapore?" I asked. He shook his head.
"I don't know." I fingered the end of my sleeve.
"I don't want you to get the charts by yourself." Running a hand through my loose hair, I stared at him evenly.
"You're not coming with me." He stated firmly. The breath hitched in my chest,
"I've lost one person I love, Will, don't make me lose another." A look passed through his eyes and we fell into silence. I shifted and reclined, placing my head in his lap. His hand rested on my head, almost instinctively. My fingertips curled into a fold of his pants.
"What do you think will happen when we find Jack?" Will asked quietly.
"I don't know." I whispered. I felt him hold his breath for a moment.
"Ashlyn… you're a woman…"
"Excellent observation William." I replied sarcastically. He made an impatient noise.
"What I mean is… well, you know women, you know what it's like at least… do you- do you think Elizabeth is in love with Jack?" He paused, waiting on baited breath. I rose and looked at him evenly. I studied his face, the features that I had grown to love over the time I had spent trapped in the Caribbean. I reached out and cupped his cheek in my palm. I grazed his skin with the pad of my thumb and sighed, saying,
"I don't know."
"Ashlyn? Child, where are ye?" It was Tia Dalma. Will and I separated almost immediately and I busied myself with the remaining apple slices. She appeared in the doorway of the storeroom. Her eyes studied me for a moment before she beckoned to me. "Come child." Obediently, I stood and followed her, not daring to look back at Will.
We had been at sea for several weeks and in the course of that time, Tia Dalma had taken me under her wing. Even then, I wasn't sure if she did so for my sake, of her own loneliness. I bunked with her at nights and she had grown slightly protective over me for reasons I did not understand. I never bothered to ask her. It felt… nice, actually, to have that maternal guidance in my life after spending so many years without it. The sentimental side of me gave way completely to the cycles we fell into. She would brush my hair late into the night when I could not sleep and dared not to seek out Will. She provided me more piercings and a female companion that I did not want in Elizabeth. Tia Dalma taught me some of her magic, something that surprised me.
"Does this mean that I have an inherent ability for magic?" I asked. She laughed, shaking her head.
"Do ye still have tha crystal I gave ye?" I nodded and pulled it out from beneath my shirt. I handed the warm necklace to her and she held it up. "It is dis dat I gave ye."
"What about it?" I asked rather stupidly.
"It will protect ye when nothin' else can." After that, she spoke no more of the subject and my apprehension of her forbade me to press on.
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Just wanted to establish a beginning before we hop right into the third movie. I actually rather like the relationship between Tia Dalma and Ashlyn. She seemed so sad and lonely in the third movie…
But I was wondering how/when Will got his ear pierced. Anyone else notice that?
Reviews are Love,
The Idiot Author