Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer nor Pirates of the Caribbean, Curse of the Black Pearl. All of the characters, settings, themes, movie, show, titles, witches, slayers, creation, references, ships, and basic gist of the two fantasy worlds all belong Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Warner Bros., Jerry Bruckheimer, Gore Verbinski, and Walt Disney. All rights reserved.
Timeline: Post Season 5 for BtVS—takes place right after the Gift. As for Pirates, although containing some probably major spoilers for Dead Man's Chest, I'm gonna have to go off-canon from that movie on this one. Although it takes place after the Curse of the Black Pearl.
Summary: From some stroke of fate, Buffy lands in 17th century-Caribbean; smack-dab in the middle of the Golden Age of Piracy. From whence she meets the infamous Captain Sparrow, along with the never-ending headache he seems to bring.
Notes: Thank you so much for the reviews! You're continuous support kicked me back to writing, even though I am writing this during my finals week.
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Chapter 9—Lose Yourself
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It had already grown dark when they finally ported Tortuga, and Buffy cringed at the smell that assaulted her sensitive nose, in spite the fact that the winds headed towards land. And the sight was not better off. Underneath the cloudless night, Tortuga proved to be a stark contrast from Port Royal—the drunks and the prostitutes loitered around town, even at the docks. Barrels and kegs stacked up as high as buildings, while gunshots and obnoxiously loud music became the background noises.
It was as if the whole town was a huge nightclub. On crack.
And then she felt it. That familiar tingly-sense that the Powers have granted her to seek out the demons. Narrowing her eyes, she searched for the source, and was surprised to see that it almost thrummed from the very soil of Tortuga, and she found herself berating at her shock. Tortuga was the perfect place to lose yourself into, and the constant supply of rum and whores was enough to make any man forget they even had a life outside of this. Much less later.
The slayer inside of her woke with a feral growl, and Buffy was only slightly hesitant to give her release. Buffy clutched her sword and smiled. I guess the bath will have to wait.
"Ah, so you approve."
Buffy sighed. "Has anyone ever told you have bad timing?"
"I can think of a few." A pause. "But you approve then, aye?"
"I've seen better towns. And cleaner trash." She could feel the wounded look that must have been on his face, and she had to bite her cheek from laughing.
"Which only goes to show your hypocritical tastes again, Buffy," he huffed. "A man has not lived a full life if he hasn't stepped foot and received the luxuries offered by Tortuga."
Buffy stared at a running prostitute who was giggling madly at the chasing man behind her. To Jack she retorted, "Pig."
"I'm only a man, darlin'."
Buffy looked at him archly, then narrowed her eyes suddenly when her senses focused down to a figure several feet away from them. He was staring straight at her with a look that sent up the flaming red flag. The African man quickly jerked his head, and Buffy got the distinct impression that she was to follow him.
"…and it seems I'm not the only one."
Her attention snapped back to him and gave him an innocent look. "One what?"
"You know what I'm—"
"Jack Sparrow!" They both looked to see Elena and her father standing off on the side, a dark look clearly showing what they feel about their current location.
Taking this as her cue to leave, Buffy just airily said, "And that's the sign that says 'leave.'"
By the time Jack realized she left his side, Buffy was already trying to find the eerie man, her usual feminine gait turned into a predatory pace. Had she bothered turning back, she would've seen an unreadable expression on Jack's face before he turned to deal with Elena.
---
"It's an ambush!" A vampire cursed with a snarl.
"You and me both. But hey, I'm liking my odds," Buffy cheerily quipped before giving the vampire a swift uppercut. She slightly berated herself earlier for falling into such an easy scam, but the fight had already began releasing some tension in her back. Another snarling vampire ran towards her and she used his momentum to flip him over and kick him in the stomach.
Although she could've easily dusted either of them, or the next three surrounding her, she refrained from using her sword or any other weapon other than her fists and legs as she pummeled out her problems physically. Jack may have abated her tension somewhat, but it didn't change the fact she was screwed over by the Powers by saving the world. Again.
Ducking from a sloppy punch, Buffy easily knocked of a third vampire and sent him flying over a few feet. "C'mon guys. Aren't you supposed to be all 'gifted' with the extra-heightened senses? Don't take me lightly just 'cause I'm a girl."
One of them finally realized who she was. "You're the slayer!"
"Comma, The!"
The vampire next to him suddenly dropped his defensive stance, a puzzled look on his face, contorting his features even more. "I thought she'd be a bit…bigger." A murmur of agreement rang amongst them, "And quieter."
Buffy quickly became affronted. "Hey! Can we get back to me kicking your butt then poofing you into dust?"
The one with the bloodied lip laughed mockingly. "If you can even kick that hi—aah!" A slight breeze carried his remains away.
"You know, I really wasn't a fan of people making fun of my height."
It seemed that that was all it took for the vampires to remember who they were dealing with before they finally launched back into action. "I will feast on your blood tonight, slayer!"
"Blah blah blah. Can't you see me yawn, dick-face?" She elbowed another vampire on the nose before performing a roundhouse kick to his side. "I mean seriously, no matter what century, you guys will always have the lame one-liners, won't you?"
"You forget your place, wench!" another growled menacingly, and Buffy saw that the others began to pick themselves up, anger and blood-lust thrumming in their veins.
"Says the walking corpse." Time to end this.
The five vampires gave a simultaneous scream of aggravated fury and circled her with a few quick strides. With a single leap, Buffy jumped and tucked over their heads, and swung out her sword in one graceful move. Before the vampires realized what happened, she decapitated two in a sweep, then leaped into air when a vampire tried to kick her.
A shot suddenly rang out and Buffy gave a loud yelp when the bullet grazed her shoulder. Not good. With a few more rapid moves, Buffy decapitated the other one before the last vampire could even reload his pistol, and Buffy was on him in a flash.
"That was really rude," Buffy mockingly scolded, before she sliced his head off and he was nothing more than dust in the air. "Jerk." Satisfied that she dusted every single vampire, Buffy regretfully tore her shirt open to see the damage. She hissed when she prodded her broken flesh. It was a lucky thing that the bullet merely grazed her arm, but she still never had a bullet that close to her before.
Someone applauded behind the crates, and Buffy immediately went into fighting stance, bullet-grazed arm or not. For a second, her heart lurched at the painful memory of meeting Spike so many years ago, but she quickly came into her senses. It was the same man as before, with the same eeriness about him that put her instincts into alert.
"Who are you?"
"I am no one of great importance," he started with a thick Jamaican accent. Then he smiled, revealing several white teeth, "It is you, who holds great significance out of all of us, Slayer."
She put her fists down, but she remained even more alert. "And who exactly is 'us'?"
"Me. My lord. The island."
"You mean the rest of the whores and pirates of Tortuga?"
"Yes. And no. But enough questions, Slayer, you are hurt and my lord wishes to see you," he held out his hand, but Buffy remained determinedly unmoved.
"And lead me to another ambush? No thank you."
He chuckled, sending shivers down her spine. "I am sorry if it raised your suspicions. Or caused you pain. But it was only a test, something to make sure that you were Her."
"Yeah, yeah. The slayer, I get that part, but why does your 'lord' want to see me."
"To keep Tortuga alive, and of that I can say no more. If you wish to learn more, Slayer, then you are to follow me," without waiting for her response, he turned around and left.
Buffy sighed, and forced her feet to follow. "Why do I always get stuck with the weirdoes?"
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Jack tried to lose himself into the booze and good company as soon as he got into The Unfaithful, he really did. But that blissful headiness he could only get from rum always seemed a bottle or two away. And he indeed got those next two bottles, sometimes even three, but it never seems to be quite there.
Finally fed up with his lack of success, he took his remaining bottle, gave one last cope to a pouting redhead, and stepped outside The Unfaithful. He took a deep breath, savoring the distinct smell that could only be found in Tortuga. There were several strong contenders of course, but none so distinct as his favored island.
"Are we there yet?" A familiar voice whined, and Jack snapped his eyes open, the moment lost.
"We will be there soon enough," a thickly accented voice commanded quietly but strongly. Jack stiffened visibly, but dove towards a pile of barrels before the two could see him. He watched the larger man turn to Buffy. "It will be worth it."
And they kept on walking.
How very interesting…For some reason, Jack didn't press the raging curiosity that coursed through him, and instead, forced himself to walk back towards the tavern. Had he waited a moment awhile longer, he would've seen Buffy's glance towards his direction, and the bloodied sleeve of her left arm.
With a purposeful gait, Jack slammed his hand on the table and called loudly, "Get me the strongest rum in the house!" while he grabbed an attractive brunette, who saddled his lap with much enthusiasm.
He was gonna drink himself to sleep tonight, and by god was he not gonna do it alone.
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Jack woke up from a loud slam, a deep pounding in his head signaled his activities last night. He hissed loudly when a flash of light pervaded his sensitive senses, and he had to blink several times before he could finally focus on his surroundings. Although still confused, he managed to make out the form standing at the door. He licked his lips.
""uffy?"
"The next time you'd like to fuck a whore, Captain Sparrow, kindly refrain from using my room," she greeted coldly, and Jack took several moments to process what she just said.
And then he heard her.
"Jack?"
Next to him, Elena was curled up to his side, dress barely covering her in the least decent of manners. Then he felt a breeze, and Jack looked down at himself, with some surprise, without a shirt and sporting an unbuckled belt. When the pieces finally clicked into place, Jack turned towards Buffy but groaned when a bout of dizziness hit him like a canon.
Just the same, she left the room with quick and angry steps before Jack could say anything comprehensible. But one word repeated itself in his head without stopping anyways.
Fuck.
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BWAHAHA. How's that for an ending? Please review, and don't hate.
