Title: The Fifth Stroke

Author: Legolas-gurl88

Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean.

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The first stroke fell and Will released a small groan, biting his lip hard as to not scream. The rain beat down on his head as his senses were jumbled. He knew from stories that the bite of a whip hurt a great deal, but nothing he had heard from old pirate tales could have prepared him for the sensation that thousands of hornets had burrowed into his flesh, biting at him constantly. He felt blood trickle down his back.

There was a pause before the second stroke came down upon him, finding new, unscarred skin, striking him from a different angle. His head reared up in pain and his arms convulsed and he ripped unconsciously against the grip of the two crewmembers holding him in place. The second blow hurt, if possible, worse than the first. Will soon realized that knowing what to expect was no better than not knowing. No one, he decided, should be put through this utter torture.

The third stroke came in slow motion, sending his hurt body into agonizing spasms. Will's lip became numb where his teeth had been biting hard into it. He shuddered without meaning to. The rain beat down on his back, running into his wounds and stinging him. It was so cold… he was so cold.

A fourth lash was added onto Will's already badly bleeding back, adding injury on top of injury, cutting into already-made wounds. Now Will's mind was numb… he could not believe he was here, on this ship, being beaten by his father. Memories flooded back into his mind of when he was a child and his father would belt him for misbehaving. Will knew he deserved what he'd gotten on those occasions, but what had he done now that was so horrible that his own father would volunteer to hurt him this way? The Bo 'sun would have gladly done this job; why did his father decide to inflict this pain on his own son? The son he thought he had lost? It hurt him to think his father was behind him, gladly striking him, a smile on his face. Will could not turn to see… he did not want to see.

The fifth stroke fell.

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I know this is quite short… I'm not used to writing stuff as short as this… normally my stories are longer. I hate how short it is!

I wrote this for a contest to see who could write the best story about Will's punishment on the Flying Dutchman, and once I reached the fifth stroke, I felt that the story didn't need to go on… you all already know how it goes! The contest, so you know, was not offering money or anything like that, I swear! I wrote this for enjoyment!

Let me know what you think by reviewing!

LG