Please excuse the cheesy ending of the last chapter. Glad to see I have a couple of reviews!
PLEASE review, review, review: please, or there's no use in writing.
Chapter 3
The Secret's in the Telling
Jack and Theo weaved through Tortuga at light speed, both worried that a group of certain pirates just might wake from unconsciousness and shoot at them any second.
Improbable: but not impossible.
The raging storm was finally ending, as was the day. The dark clouds faded into light grey colors and the rain came down at a slow pace, only soft drizzles. Theo tied her hair up in a high knot, a bead of sweat falling from her brow. The fact that the warm stormy day had brought a humid night wasn't pleasing Theo. The two pirates slowed to a walking pace, thin fog dancing around their ankles.
"You run fast." Jack said after taking a deep breath. He attempted to roll the sleeves of his jacket up, but the old leather was too thick.
"Gotta know how to run to live, no, to survive in Tortuga." Theo said with a coy smile.
"Chased around by secret lovers, eh?" Jack asked suspiciously, but his eyes were playful.
"Let's just say that a girl like me gets a lot of attention: not for the best though. Besides, I've only been in Tortuga for a couple of weeks now." Theo said as she twisted the little black earring that was dug into her ear. Jack didn't bother to bring up the subject that she had told him in the bar the night before she was crewing with another ship: it was an obvious lie from the beginning, so Jack ignored it. Jack looked at Theo and raised his eyebrows at the sight of her ear.
"Lots of holes you've got in there." He noted.
"It scares people off: comes in handy."
"Doesn't scare me, love."
"Yes, but you noticed them, right?"
"Hard not to notice them: hard not to notice you either."
Theo did a fake sneeze to try to hide her blushing.
"Think I could talk you into getting your ears pierced? It'd look fierce, fierce indeed." Theo said with the slightest hint of sarcasm.
"Eh, I don't know about that love. Would I be able to talk you into a tattoo?"
"That ship has sailed: I've already got five."
Jack stopped walking for a minute.
"You're crazier than I thought."
"I'm not crazy, just daring." Theo noted, not trying to be serious.
"Alright, you are too daring." Jack challenged, beginning to walk again.
"What's this? I'm too daring for the Captain Jack Sparrow? At least I'm polite; I said your full name, didn't I?" Theo pointed out. She blew her bangs out of her face, sighing. She was ready to take out her sword and chop of her overgrown side bangs that had a habit of falling over her eyes every few minutes. Jack laughed lazily.
"Oh, I doubt you're too daring for me, love." Jack said. Theo faked sneezed once again, hating herself from that rose shade that filled her cheeks at the worse times. The truth was, Theo loved how Jack exaggerated words and turned simple compliments and phrases into sentences that she would be repeating in her head for hours.
She shook Jack's words out of her head. He was becoming a distraction. A very good looking distraction though, she had to admit.
After a few more minutes of walking and keeping up the small talk, the dirt ground became the rotting wood of Tortuga's dock. The docks were crowded and busy, but a relief from the larger and drunker crowds behind them.
"It's beautiful." Theo breathed once she saw the Pearl. Her knees felt weak at the sight of it. God, it was a beautiful ship. She knew she had seen it before somewhere, but it looked magnificent. Jack noticed how awestruck she was.
Suddenly, something fell out of Jack's coat pocket. He heard a clunk and felt an empty spot in his pocket. Jack turned on his heel and bent down to pick up what he had dropped. But Theo had already grabbed it and was busy inspecting it with her huge eyes.
"I like." Theo said with a satisfied smile.
"Just…don't do anything stupid with it, please." Jack said slowly, swaying slightly.
"Someone's paranoid. I jus wanna look at it, jeez." Theo mumbled under her breath. She looked down at the compass and watched as the needle spun around. She watched it curiously and looked up at Jack. She noticed he was looking straight at her. She looked back down at the spinning needle, slightly embarrassed. Jack tilted his head and became curious. He peered to see which way the needle was pointing, but Theo turned away quickly.
"Whatcha doing?" Theo asked curiously.
"Oh, nothing love; nothing. Can I have that back now?" Jack said quickly. Theo's dark eyes became hollow.
"Looking to see what I want most?" Theo asked quietly. Her bangs fell in front of her eyes once again, hiding the hollow and dark feeling that was hypnotizing Jack. Jack's eyes widened. There was no way she knew about the compass and what it could do. Impossible. Theo placed the compass into Jack's hand and tried to walk away, but he wrapped his fingers around her arm and pulled her back, not too roughly though.
"How do you kn-"
"Captain Sparrow." A young sailor called loudly. Theo turned around in unison with Jack. Jack's eyes widened and his jaw tightened at the sight of the sailor who had just called for him. Theo watched intently as the two went into conversation. Theo thought the sailor looked unusually…womanly. Theo had disguised as a boy before, so it was easy for her to spot out the wannabe girl pirates. It was obvious that she was a boy in disguise to sneak onto the ship, Theo supposed. Before Theo could mention anything to Jack, a look of bewilderment filled his face.
"Elizabeth? Hide the rum." Jack said, turning to an older looking sailor who was carrying a bottle of rum and a light weight crate, taking an occasional swig from the bottle. The older sailor nodded and ran off quickly, but not before smiling politely at Theo. She smiled back, and then returned her attention to Jack and the woman sailor.
Theo put her hands on her hips confidently and turned to Jack. He put his arm over her shoulders as he led her over to the woman sailor.
The woman sailor shifted uncomfortably as she watched Jack lead over a woman who was… stunning, really. Elizabeth felt a strange feeling in her stomach as she watched the mysterious girl walked over with Jack. Long dark hair and eyes so dark Elizabeth had to look away. Elizabeth immediately became jealous of those eyes: they were very intriguing and probably made Jack leap onto her once he saw her. Was she a whore, or a pirate, Elizabeth wondered curiously. The girl was awfully intimidating. So Elizabeth took a deep breath and tried to appear as nonchalant as she could. She felt like smacking herself because she knew very well the feeling was nothing other then pure jealousy.
But she wasn't jealous of Jack's attention. Oh no, she had an anxious fiancé, running of after Jack. Her insides tingled when she realized that Jack would know where her beloved Will was. She knew Will was looking for Jack, so maybe Will was even in Tortuga, or on the ship already…it made her smile to think about it.
She loved Will very much. William and Elizabeth Turner, Mrs. Elizabeth Turner, ET, WT. She remembered the day the two of them went down to the beach and Elizabeth had written it in the sand on the beach. Will drew a heart around it, uneven though. It made Elizabeth laugh as Will gave her soft kisses and whispered things to her, words she loved to here. She hitched up her dress and ran away from him, laughing and tripping over her own feet. She'd fall onto the soft white sand and Will would lay next to her and give her passionate kisses, running his warms hands through her hair and up her thighs slowly. She missed him, so much. She missed his words and his touch and…everything in between.
"Ah, Lizzie: Liz, Theo, Theo, Liz." Jack said, pushing Theo closer to the woman sailor. Theo blew a piece of hair out her eyes, once again, as the woman sailor observed her, biting her lower lip. Elizabeth extended a hand to shake, which Theo accepted slowly.
"'Theo': that's a… interesting name." Elizabeth said with a sly smile. Theo scowled and shook Elizabeth's hand stronger.
"What's that supposed to mean? 'Elizabeth' isn't all that wonderful either." Theo said bitterly. Elizabeth's eyebrows furrowed and she returned the strong shake. Jack tapped his foot impatiently, knowing that the two women's little meeting session wasn't going so well.
"Lizzie dear, I'd love to have you come with us, ye know." Jack proposed. Elizabeth pretended to look unconvinced.
"Where can I find Will, Jack? I know he came looking for you." Elizabeth said sourly.
"That's an interesting story, love, which will be explained in good time. Jus come on the ship and we can settle it all there." Jack said before Elizabeth could even attempt to bring up anything else.
"Well…I don't know." Elizabeth said with a soft giggle. Theo blew her bangs away and rolled her eyes at the dramatic reaction from Elizabeth. She was acting like such an attention whore.
Elizabeth noticed the eye roll from Theo. She stepped towards Theo once again, glaring at her and ignoring the cold icy feeling she was receiving from Theo's black eyes.
"Lets jus get onto the ship, ladies?" Jack said, gently pulling Theo away from Elizabeth. Theo looked at Jack and smiled coyly.
"Oh yes Captains. Lets."
&&&&
In minutes the anchor was raised and the sails were let loose, and the ship began to cut through the dark ocean waters. Elizabeth broke off from the group when she claimed that she would be sleeping in her own cabin. The prude Theo thought with a satisfied smirk. Elizabeth bid Jack goodnight and nodded to Theo. She strutted off without another word. Theo rolled her eyes and looked out into the distance. The dark day was finally bringing some beauty to the night: a sunset bleeding of dramatic oranges, reds, and strong pinks spilled over the dark clouds of the day. Theo sighed deeply at the incredible sight. She walked over the side of the ship and leaned against the rail, propping her chin up her hands. Jack walked over and stood beside her.
"So, what do ye think of her?" Jack asked casually.
"To be honest, Jack, she seems like a jealous bitch." Theo mumbled. Jack suddenly burst out laughing. Theo turned to him and raised one eyebrow.
"I meant the ship, love: what do you think of the ship?" Jack said after inhaling some deep breaths.
"Oh…I love it." Theo said, smiling. She turned to look at the dock that they had just sailed out of. Her smile faded and a sullen and somewhat afraid expression replaced it.
"That one over there is his ship." Theo said quietly, pointing out a huge, aging ship to Jack. From the bowsprit of the ship Theo was pointing to hung three dried out and decaying skeletons. The skeletons wrists were tied together, there bones hanging ghostly over the edge. Jack knew that Theo was talking about his ship: the man who had attacked her earlier that day.
"Why did he attack you, love?" Jack asked curiously. He saw Theo's jaw tightened and her eyes dropped to the floor.
"It's a long story: I'll tell you another time." Theo said quietly.
"Well I love long stories, you know." Jack said, encouraging her to tell him why.
"It's not that I don't think you'll listen: it's physically hard for me to talk about it, honestly." Theo said suddenly. She let her hair down from the bun she had made earlier and let the wave of raven black hair fall onto her shoulders. The wind whipped it around as the dark color blended in with the darkening sky.
"I'm sorry, Theo…"
Theo turned to him, her eyes glazing slightly. She smiled carefully.
"It's not your fault, I'm just not ready. Give me a few days to warm up to you, and then I'll spill it all." Theo said quietly with a playful smile. She still looked a little unsure and uncomfortable, but Jack understood.
"I'm going to go look around the ship, if you don't mind. Get used to the surrounds and stuff." Theo said, stepping away from the rail. Jack was about to follow her, but he nodded quickly and smiled.
"If you don't feel like sleeping downstairs with the crew, which I strongly advise, there's a small cabin two doors down from mine, if you please." Jack suggested. Theo nodded and began to walk away.
"Thanks, Jack: have a good night." She said, slipping away from the deck. Jack watched her, a blur of pale skin and dark hair, disappear. He sighed and shook his head. Gibbs noticed his following gaze and walked up to the captain, handing Jack a bottle of rum.
"New crew member, cap'n?" Gibbs said casually.
"Oh yes…" Jack said, not really paying attention to the old man. He was still clinging to the sight of the sunset and that look on Theo's face when she saw the ship that was docked back in the docks of Tortuga. Jack was growing curious: and he was dying for answers.
