Chapter 8
Swords clanged, fists threw, and madness had been unleashed. The fury with which the battle inside was happening could not compare to the small brawls in progress outside. It was pirate vs. pirate, a lethal fight no matter how you looked at it.
Will was the most ferocious. Since he was a blacksmith, he had more experience with swords than anyone else in the room. The pirate creature he was currently squaring off against, however, seemed to be a pretty fair match. Will maneuvered his blade in every way possible, outmatching his opponent easily. The two fighters made their way around the room, each one of them never losing focus.
Will lunged with his blade and it was easily dodged. The pirate then advanced on Will, the two blades a blur. Will managed to slip in a slice on his opponent's arm, causing a deep gash. Unhinged, the pirate kept on going. After a few more swipes and maneuvering, Will managed to swing his blade down on the creature's left hand, cutting it off completely. The crewmate paused momentarily to examine the damage, and then, angrier, he continued on.
Will retreated to a piece of floor that stepped up, and hopped on it. Just as he did, Will's opponent swung his sword at Will's feet. Will caught this motion and jumped up just in time. Then, Will swung his blade back and forth, cutting into the monstrous pirate's chest. The cuts were deep enough, and small sea creatures spilled out from the gashes. Will glanced at them in brief disgust, but went back to his duel. Will kicked the nasty figure in the head, causing the pirate to be out of commission momentarily, but that's all Will needed.
In that instant, Will ran his blade through the spot on the villain's chest where the heart should have been. And thankfully, it was there. The gruesome pirate dropped lifeless to the floor as Will removed his blade. Will then jumped back into the chaos.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth was doing pretty well herself. Will had trained her well with a sword over the years, and it certainly had paid off. She was nigh untouchable. On top of that, she was battling two of Davy Jones' crew at once. She kept her focus on both pirates as she swung her blade back and forth. When the first pirate tried to slice her, she easily shoved the blade away, spun on her feet in a circle, and swung her own blade under the first pirate's knees. The force of the blow sent both legs rolling away.
"Bugger," the pirate yelled.
While that pirate was trying to steady himself on the stubs, Elizabeth started dueling with her second opponent. The two duelers fought steady, anticipating each other's next move. Elizabeth didn't show any signs of being exhausted. She put every ounce of her strength into each swing of her blade as the battle persisted.
Meanwhile, Will was now on his third adversary. Will kept on fighting until his blade was knocked out of his grasp. He dove to retrieve it, but the pirate was too quick for him, having picked it up and was grinning sinisterly. Will smiled back a little sheepishly, looking around. His gaze settled on a hatchet hanging from the nearby wall.
Dodging a double attack, Will raced for the weapon. He reached it almost immediately. He then lifted it up, grasped it firmly, and launched it toward the charging enemy. It hit its mark: the middle of the chest. A look of triumph on his face, Will ran over as the pirate's body fell to the ground. Instead of just his sword, Will picked up both swords. He was now twice as dangerous.
On the other side of the room, Elizabeth was finally gaining the upper hand. The two blades met in midair, and Elizabeth was able to sling her opponent's blade away by forcing hers in circles and pushing. Elizabeth smiled dangerously as she advanced.
"Sorry," the pirate said meekly.
Elizabeth grasped the handle of her sword even better and used it to knock out the creature. She turned back toward the legless pirate and ran her blade horizontally down his front. Victorious, she proudly replaced her sword within the hilt and turned around. When she did, she saw another monster charging her. Looking around her, she spied a shovel lying on the ground. Elizabeth slammed her foot down on the handle of it, causing it to flip up into the air. Catching it when it came to arm level, she swung it full-force against the pirate's head. The force of the blow knocked out the brute easily. The deed done, Elizabeth eyed the shovel rather admiringly before dropping it. Her eyes then found Will, who looked like he could use some help. Drawing her sword once again, she raced over.
Will had to admit to himself, that for the first time today, he could use a little help. Thankfully, his prayer was answered as Elizabeth raced up to his side, sword drawn. Side by side, they were able to take down the pirate in three clean swipes. But just then, four more came up, bloodthirsty. Will and Elizabeth glanced at each other and nodded. Placing their backs against each other, they began to circle around with their swords blazing.
This allowed them to at least not get killed faster. They both swung their blades in full arcs, deflecting ninety-nine percent of the opposing swords; Elizabeth got briefly sliced on her sword arm. She simply tossed the sword into her other hand and kept it up. Realizing that this little exercise could go on forever, Will and Elizabeth both yelled the same word at once.
"Duck!"
They did so just as all four pirates plunged their blades at the couple with synchronized precision. The result was all four blades being stuck in all four chests. Will and Elizabeth then stood up to admire their handiwork.
"Good job," Will commented, breathless.
"You too," Elizabeth replied, winded as well.
They then pulled each other into a kiss. When they broke apart, they spied Barbossa battling with Davy Jones in the center of the room. Without hesitation, they both rushed over to help.
Both Barbossa and Davy Jones were skilled swordsman, so them combating each other was a sight to behold. Given Barbossa's old age, the guy seemed pretty fit, moving with catlike reflexes and not appearing to be tired at all. The same thing went for Davy Jones. Their blades could hardly be seen as they clashed and clanged against each other; harder than any other pair of swords battling each other anywhere else in the room. The look in each of their eyes was so fierce, that you'd expect fire to come blazing out of them at any moment. Neither showed signs of letting up at any moment.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Will and Elizabeth rushed up to Barbossa's aid and started to help combat Jones. Barbossa gave them both a brief look of annoyance as if to say "I can handle this", but quickly got back into the game.
Three against one, Jones knew, were not good odds. At least to him. So, he decided that then was the moment to carry on with the next part of the plan. While still swinging his sword, Jones lifted his foot and kicked Barbossa away, as well as Will. Elizabeth quickly abandoned the duel, immediately going to Will's aid. Smirking, Jones put his sword back in its hilt , grabbed a torch from the wall, and yelled out to his men.
"Time to light up the town!"
Smirking, Jones' men shoved their opponents away and retreated from the building; each one picking up a torch of their own. The Pearl crew took a few seconds to regain themselves before giving chase.
Outside, Tortuga had been cleared of its hangover and was now on fire! By means of the firelight, they saw Jones and a few of his men retreating back to the Dutchman. Will moved to chase after him, but a firm hand gripped his shoulder. Barbossa's.
"Don't worry about that now," he yelled over the roar of fire, "We'll catch up to them later! Right now, we need to put all this out!" He indicated the flaming buildings.
"But how?"
Elizabeth looked around, hoping to find an answer. By fate, it seemed, she found one.
"The well!" She pointed at the well in the middle of the city.
"But how can we use small buckets of water to put out a whole town on fire," Will asked.
"We'll just have to do what we can," Barbossa replied.
Ten minutes later, every Pearl member had filled up as many buckets with water as they could. It may have not been enough, but just enough to make a difference. Everyone was throwing the buckets of water over all the flames they could. Instantly everyone could tell that the water definitely was making a difference. Most of the fires had been put out just in time before they had been able to escalate into towering infernos. About three of Jones' crew had stayed behind to observe the chaos and were instantly infuriated over what was happening. Those very sea creature humans went to put a stop to it. Will saw the coming immediately. He was standing in front of the well. When one of the beasts was close enough, Will stepped out of the way, elbowed it in the back, and watched it fall down the dark abyss of the well. He then dived in between the remaining two, and was able to pull both their swords from the hilts. Raising to his feet, Will placed both blades at both pirates' throats. They both raised their hands in defeat before dashing away in fear. Will rolled his eyes at the stupidity and dropped both swords. He then turned around to examine the damage.
All in all, not too bad. Only a few small buildings were burned to the ground, but nothing that a few days of rebuilding couldn't fix. To all the town inhabitants' delight, thankfully the pub was still standing. To celebrate the town not burning down, most people went in there for a few rounds of rum. Will went to find Barbossa.
"You know," Will said as he approached him, "you really have changed, Barbossa."
"You've just realized that, have you," Barbossa asked, "What finally made you see that?"
"The fact that you were willing to save the lives of many innocent people."
"As I said before, Mr. Turner, I'm a changed man. I'm glad that you and your future wife finally see that in full focus."
"So, uh, can we still get the supplies we need?"
"Well, seein' as the supply building wasn't burned down, I'd say yes."
"Good. Then we need to get loaded and ready for take off as quickly as possible."
"Agreed."
Barbossa then ordered the crew to go back inside to get the supplies while Elizabeth came up to Will.
"Are you alright," he asked genuinely.
"Fine," she replied reassuringly. "I just got cut in the swordfight a while ago, but it's nothing serious." She showed him the red stain on her left sleeve.
"Let me take a look at it," Will said, carefully rolling up the sleeve. The cut was definitely caused by a sword, but it wasn't anything life-threatening. Still, Will was concerned, as all loving boyfriends should be. "It isn't that bad, but we should probably clean it up and put a bandage on it."
"Fine."
Will guided Elizabeth over to the well, where there was an unused bucket of water. He pulled out a cloth, soaked it, and tenderly started cleaning the cut. When he was finished, he ripped off a small piece of his sleeve and gently wrapped it around the wound. When he was done, he smiled.
"Better," he asked, starting to trail kisses down Elizabeth's arm.
"Much," she answered, smiling.
Forty-five minutes later, the Black Pearl II was off again, heading to find the ship's real captain. But little did they know that they would find Jack Sparrow sooner than they would think.
