The trio climbed up the stairs and into one of the halls of the Fort. Jack felt his foot hit something, and looked down. The body of a solider was laying on the ground, a small lump just visible at the top of his head. He looked down the hall and saw several other soldiers lying unmoving on the floor. "Did she do that?" he asked Will, who smirked.
"Scared of her?" he asked, nudging Jack along.
He followed the young woman out of the Fort, eyeing her movements critically. She moved swiftly, as though she were made of liquid. The poise and soundlessness with which she moved would make her an excellent asset in his attempt to regain captaincy of the Pearl. However, she could be a threat as well. She seemed determined to find her friend, but if she wasn't doing it for the same reasons as her dear friend, then why was she so intent on coming with them?
Will covered them from behind, taking care to block Jack from the eyes of passer's by. The Fort held a small back path, which cut around the back of the island and to the docks.
Jack quickly pulled them both aside and pointed to the Dauntless, the same ship he'd seen the day before. "We're going to steal the ship?" Will asked, peering past Jack. "That ship?"
"Commandeer," said Jack, "We're going to commandeer that ship."
"Nautical term," Charlotte supplied with a whisper.
Jack smiled, but turned back towards the pair of them, looking slightly more serious. "One question about your business or there's no use going. This girl- how far are you two willing to go to save her?" he asked.
"I'd die for her," Will said quickly yet firmly.
Jack nodded and looked at Charlotte. "She's my best friend," She said, echoing her earlier statement.
Jack nodded, his smile reappearing on his face, "Good. No worries, then."
Will and Charlotte exchanged looks before following Jack to a row of longboats. He quickly held it up, and pointed, "Get under there now, in a line."
Will went first, then Charlotte, and then Jack. They squatted in a row before Jack gave more instructions, "we hold this over ourselves, move to the water, and keep holding it tight at shoulder level. Alright? Good." They quickly began to walk and soon, they'd entered the waters of the Port.
Charlotte and Will gripped the boat tightly, as the boat created an air pocket under the water. "This is either madness-" began Will.
"Or brilliance," said Charlotte, trying her hardest not to smile, but failing dismally.
Jack was pleased with his idea, "It's remarkable how often those two traits coincide." He was just about to give himself a mental pat on the back when he heard a crunch.
Charlotte and he looked back to see Will attempting to shake a crab trap off of his leg. "Occasionally they do intersect with stupidity," Jack quipped. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Charlotte smiling. He immediately felt a squirm in his stomach and quickly looked back in front of him. "Here we are, lady and gentlemen," he nodded to the hull of the ship in front of him.
Jack used the rope attached to the crab trap as a lasso and offered the rope to Charlotte, "Ladies first."
"Why thank you Jack," she replied quickly climbing the rope and holding it in place for the other two men to climb. Jack emerged first, and Will followed closely behind. "And now," said Jack, tiptoeing across the deck. "Everyone," he announced, unsheathing his sword, "Stay calm! We are taking over the ship!"
Will hopped over the banner and dropped down next to Jack, "Aye! Avast!"
Jack looked at Will, trying to contain his annoyance. The rest of the men on the ship laughed. Charlotte recognized one of them as Gillette, Norrington's second in command.
"This ship cannot be crewed by two men. You'll never make it out of the bay," he gloated, laughing in Jack's face.
"There are three of us, Gillette," Charlotte spoke, from her place by the helm. She calmly walked towards Gillette pulling out a small dagger from her side and placing it against his throat.
"I stand by my comment, Miss Vaughan," Gillette said. "You three cannot make it out of the bay."
Jack had had enough. They were delaying time. He pulled out his pistol, aimed it at Gillette's nose, and clicked the safety off. "Son . . . I'm Captain Jack Sparrow. Savvy?"
It took a few moments and a warning shot from Charlotte's pistol to get the sailors to move into one longboat. "Mark my words Turner, the Commodore won't let you back on this island ever again!" said Gillette, waving his fist and Will and Jack lowered the boat into the water. Will looked at Charlotte, worry in his eyes.
Charlotte laughed, "Sorry 'bout this Gillette!" she said. She grabbed her daggar and cut the ropes, causing the longboat to fall the last few feet. A few of the men fell into the water, and they watched as the longboat headed back to the docks.
Jack turned to her, "let me give the orders next time. Alright, love?" he said.
Charlotte nodded, "Fine Captain. What are your orders?" she asked.
Jack was silent for a few moments, his mind reeling with potential ideas. He watched as his lack of response caused Charlotte's mouth to slowly work its way back into her signature smirk. "Get the ship moving, pull to starboard, and make way. We need to look like we're leaving." He wandered over to the helm and began to steer, looking back at the docks, and the longboat.
Norrington was standing on the deck of the Interceptor, which was currently being moved out of the dock and onto the seas in search of Elizabeth. He was giving orders on the deck of the ship when Lieutenant Groves came up to him, holding his telescope tightly. "Commodore! You need to see this!" he said, thrusting the scope into Norrington's hands. Norrington placed his eye to it and followed Groves's directions.
There, heading in the direction of the Interceptor was a longboat filled with Gillette and the other members of the Dauntless's crew. He heard Gillette's voice bouncing across the ocean. "Sir, they've taken the Dauntless! They've taken the ship! Sparrow, Vaughan, and Turner- they've taken the Dauntless!" His arms were flailing about and pointing back to the Dauntless. Norrington followed this and- of course he saw Sparrow at the helm, giving Turner directions. Vaughan was nowhere to be seen.
"Rash, Turner, too rash. That is without a doubt the worst pirate I have ever seen," Norrington muttered. He heard Groves agree.
They cut through the water, and past the longboat. Norrington could hear Gillette scream, "Bring her around! Bring her around!"
"Here they come," said Will to Jack, looking over at the Interceptor, which was cutting through the waters with immense speed.
Jack, pistol in hand, turned and saw the ship. He gave a small toothy grin. "Aye," he said.
Charlotte reappeared from below the decks carrying a large sack that looked as though it weighed a ton. She dropped it down on the deck and looked, "Now what?"
Jack gave her a suspicious look, before explaining. "We wait until all of their men are on this ship, and then we swing onto theirs." Jack mimed this all with his hands. "Once we do that, we cut all the ropes" he mimed snipping, "linking the two ships, and off we go." He flapped his arms once more, and turned to the pair, smiling. "Savvy?"
"Sure," replied Will.
"And now they are next to us," Charlotte commentated. She quickly dragged the sack with them, found a long length of rope and lassoed the other end to one of the larger pillars on the Interceptor. Jack and Will watched her carefully, "what do you think is in there?" Jack asked, pointing to the bulging sack.
"No idea," Will replied, equally as confused. The pair shared a look before hiding behind one of the larger pillars of the Dauntless. Charlotte joined them a moment later, her hands slightly red and out of breath. "What-" began Jack and Will.
"You'll thank me later," she replied, as they waited.
As Jack had predicted, Norrington hadn't left any of the men on the other ship. The deck was soon filled with soldiers. "Search every cabin, every hold, down to the bilges." The soldiers began to fan out, Norrington among them. Jack nodded, and quickly grabbed Charlotte's waist. The three of them quickly stepped onto the railing, and swung over onto the other ship.
The moment they landed, Will and Charlotte began to cut the ropes, and Jack quickly headed to the helm, guiding the ship forwards. The sack Charlotte had attached to the Interceptor tore through the railing of the Dauntless, swung high into the air, and landed with a loud think on the deck of the ship.
Norrington had heard the thunk and turned back to the Interceptor. "Sailors, back to the Interceptor! NOW!" They all ran to the side of the ship, and one man attempted to swing back over and landed in the water.
Jack turned to the Commodore and waved his hat, "That you, Commodore, for getting us ready to make way! We'd have had a hard time of it by ourselves!"
"Twenty shilling says Will, Jack, and I get Elizabeth back before you lot do!" Charlotte yelled from beside Jack.
"Agreed!" yelled Groves, which earned him a look of pure loathing from Norrington. "Set top sails, and clear up this mess."
Groves looked at him with disbelief, "With the wind at quarter stern, we won't catch them."
Norrington remained stony faced, "We don't need to catch them, just get them in range of the long nines."
Groves yelled out the Commodore's orders, "Hands, come about. Run out the guns." He turned back to Norrington, "We open fire on our own ship, sir?"
"I'd rather see her at the bottom of the ocean than in the hands of a pirate," Norrington said, resting on the railing surrounding the helm.
One of the sailors emerged from belowdecks, "Commodore, he's disabled the rudder chain, sir!"
"And all the cannonballs are gone!" said another.
The Dauntless was bearing down on Gillette's longboat, "Abandon ship!" he yelled, as they jumped into the frigid waters. The loud crunch was audible to both Gillette, and Norrington.
"That's got to be the best pirate I've ever seen!" said Groves, looking at the shrinking Interceptor with amusement.
"So it would seem," said Norrington, thoroughly tired of Groves's admiration of a scallywag.
"How long until they realize I disabled the rudder chain?" Charlotte asked the other two men, who were also quite pleased with how things had gone.
"IS that what you were doing below?" Will asked, looking surprised.
"Took you an awful long time," Jack said, throwing an arm around her waist. "Now, going to tell us what's in the sack over there?" Jack nodded to the centre of the deck.
Charlotte smirked as she picked up Jack's hand from around her waist and walked to the bag. She undid the rope and out rolled hundreds of cannonballs. "Just in case," she replied, walking back to them.
"Are you sure you're not from family of pirates, love?" Jack said, throwing an arm around her shoulder.
"No, I'm not. Believe me, I'd know if I were." She sounded quite bitter, so Jack decided to change the topic. "What about you Turner?"
Charlotte looked up at Jack, "Now you've done it. He's going to tell you his life story, and seeing as I've heard part and lived most of it" she muttered, "I'm going to take a nap, seeing as I've been up for almost 48 hours."
Will nodded, "You've earned it." He gave her a quick hug before letting her go. "Thanks Charlotte, for everything."
"Thank me when we've saved Elizabeth," she replied, heading off.
Jack watched her go, trying to ignore the desire to join her in bed, but fought that desire off as he pulled out his compass and adjusted course.