You've Got the Buckles Now Swash Them!

Chapter 3: Crazy my ass!

Elizabeth stood on top of the fort with the newly appointed Commodore Norrington, who had just asked to speak with her. As they approached the ledge, Elizabeth caught herself on the wall as she discreetly tried to regulate her breathing.

"Uh, you look lovely, Elizabeth," he commented and she put on a fake smile as he turned to look at her. "I, uh, apologize if I seem forward," he continued, turning away from her. "But I must speak my mind. This promotion throws into sharp relief that which I have not yet achieved." He turned back to look at her. "A marriage to a fine woman. You have become a fine woman, Elizabeth."

Many women would have appeared as Elizabeth did in the current situation, flustered and gasping as she was, but her state had nothing to do with the proposal. She had barely heard what he was babbling on about as she was distracted by the losing battle she was fighting with her corset. "I can't breathe…" she choked out finally and he turned away from her again.

"Yes, I, I'm a bit nervous myself," he went on. But as the Commodore was babbling on about his nerves, Elizabeth had fainted, and fallen into the water below with a loud splash. "Elizabeth?" He turned back to see where she had fallen. "Elizabeth!" He jumped up onto the ledge to jump in after her when his men came running.

"The rocks!" They pulled him back. "Sir, it's a miracle she missed them."

XXX

"And then they made me their chief…" The sound of a loud splash cut Jack off mid-story. The pirate and the soldiers looked towards the sound and ran to the side of the ship when they realized what it was. Observing that no one else was going to do it, Jack turned to Mullroy. "Will you be saving her then?" he asked almost hopefully.

"I can't swim." Jack looked to Murtogg, who just shook his head.

"Pride of the King's navy, you are." He grumbled, pulling off his coat, hat and weapons. "Do not lose these," he commanded as he threw them at the officers before promptly swan-diving off of the ship.

XXX

Blair stood, brooding in silence about Lex and her overly imaginative, inane theory that they had landed in a Disney movie. As she did this, she was also surveying the scenery, looking for signs of civilization. Alexis sat, brooding in silence about Blair and her holier-than-thou, I'm-right-and-you're-all-fucking-crazy attitude. And Natalie sat in a circle of purple leprechauns, grinning like an idiot, happily humming the tune to "A Pirate's Life for Me".

While looking over towards the fort, Blair called out as she saw two people appear at the top. "Hey! I see people."

"Are they dead?" Nat asked, getting to her feet with sudden interest.

"No," Blair replied flatly. Nat seemed slightly disappointed and promptly gave an unexpected yell as she suddenly fell on her face. Lex nudged the older girl in the shoulder with her toe and watched in amusement as Nat struggled to pull herself up.

She managed to get herself up so that she was kneeling in the sand, and then her eyes widened as she caught sight of a small, twitchy, brown creature, which was staring at her warily. "Hey! That dog has a puffy tail!" She leapt to her feet and began to run around with her arms outstretched as if she were trying to catch something. "Hehehe, here Puff! Here Puff! Hehehe."

"Nat, would you leave that poor dog alone," Blair called over her shoulder, not willing to take her eyes away from the fort.

"Um, Blair?" Lex came to stand next to her. "There is no dog. I think she's actually chasing a squirrel." They whipped around at the sound of a blood-curdling scream behind them. They turned to see Nat running, seemingly away from something, arms flailing out in front of her, screaming.

"Teeth, it has teeth!" Blatantly ignoring her spaz attack, the other two girls turned away and continued to watch the figures at the fort.

Lex put a hand to her eyes and squinted, trying to focus. "Hey, that's Elizabeth," Lex stated confidently.

"Whoa, that was Elizabeth," retorted Blair with the faintest hint of a giggle as they watched said governor's daughter topple suddenly off the fort.

"I thought you didn't believe me," Lex observed sarcastically.

"I don't," Blair replied in the sweetest of tones. "I'm just humoring your delusion." Lex swatted her hand away as she attempted to pat her head patronizingly.

There was a tense silence, one girl glaring, the other grinning like a smartass. Then someone switched the light on, in a manner of speaking, as realization dawned on Lex for the second time in one day. She was doing well. "If Elizabeth was up there," she began pointing, "and now she's there, then that would mean that Jack is on that boat floating just down there."

When she finished, they both looked towards the boat that could only be the Interceptor. Alexis broke into a sprint in the direction of the docks. She didn't feel like sticking around to hear Blair tell her how crazy she was. Rolling her eyes, Blair turned, grabbed Natalie by the shirt collar as she ran by, arms still flailing, and followed Lex in order to pull her ass out of whatever trouble she was about to get herself into.

The three ran, feet thudding dully on the wooden dock as they reached it, then they came to a halt as they felt an invisible wave pass over them. "What the hell was that?" Nat demanded when she caught her breath.

The sky darkened and the wind picked up. Lex paused, scanning the water. "The medallion calls," she murmured.

She suddenly took off at a run down to the end of the dock. The other two followed, Blair muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "Drama Queen," under her breath the whole time.

Edit-03/03/18