Hullo it's me again!!! ^.^ Just got done watching some Anime and I'm feeling pumped!!! (If you like Anime and ever have the opportunity to watch The Getbackers, see it. It's definitely worth your time ^.^) Anywho I got a lot of good respond from the last chapter so I'm pretty excited about this chapter!!! No more angry Sky but some plot movement at last (though it isn't much)!!! Is it just me or have I been digressing? Hmm... probably have. ^_^ Still I hope you like this next installment!!!
~Chocolate Covered Jack Sparrow Forever FloatingFeathers
To my seasoned reviewers, you guys amaze this poor, humble writer with your amazingness!!! (is that a word hehehe) Three pans of brownies today!!! Thank you!!!:
Dawnie-7, ping*pong5, PED-sarah, Sammamaria, PepaMynt, Vittaria, Lelena the Moonstruck, Shanelover1, Reese Sparrow, and lil-teddy-bear (aka dazednconfused2)!!!
To my new reviewers, thank you very much!!! glad to have you on board!!! Two pans of brownies for everybody!!!: matrixie, Me, and Lady Light!!!
Question: Who was the "bluecoated pig"?
Answer: Gillette; POOR NORRINGTON!!! *cries and huggles Norrington* I didn't realize the man was so unloved!!! Gosh guys, isn't that a little harsh? He's really not that bad of a guy once you get past his anal retentiveness.
Question: Who guessed it the first time?
Answer: ping*pong5!!! Another pan of brownies for you!!! ^.^ Everybody else well... half of a pan of brownies for everyone!!! ^.^ Hey when I write a chapter, no one goes hungry!!!
Question: Why didn't you e-mail us like you promised?
Answer: I am SO SORRY!!! *huggles everybody* My life (what little there is of it) of late has been quite chaotic and busy. Some problems with my mum, choir, school... not a good mix which is also why it has taken me an eternity and a day to post this chapter. . I'm VERY unhappy that it has taken me nearly a month (but not quite) to post and so I apologize to you one and all. If anybody still wants me to try and e-mail them I'd be more than glad to!!! ^.^ I love talking to people (as you can obviously see)!!!
Question: What does "Papu" mean and who is Michaelis?
Answer: Papu is another Greek word (yeah!) for grandfather, a rather endearing way of saying it if memory serves me right (aww!). He isn't really Sky's grandfather but she likes to think of him that way. ^.^ As for Michaelis, I'm sorry if I wasn't too clear on his relationship with Sky. I didn't mean to be vague, honest!!! He is a childhood friend of hers and a rather "close" friend. hehehe but we'll see how that pans out won't we? ^.^
ping*pong5: lol yeah I'm a Heinz 57 variety garden veggie!!! Whoo hoo!!! Being British is pretty darn spiffy though so don't worry I think you're cool (and I don't mind the ranting either, I do it all the time!!! ^.^)!!! Am I sensing some unrest within the family sphere? Evil brothers?! o_O; That's not good!!! Well then you can talk all you want if you need someone to blab to!!! I don't mind!!! ^.^ I need the company myself!!! Dey no likey me at my school *sniffles, sobs* But I shall recover. ^.^ lol well if your family begins to fear for your sanity then tell them that they can blame it on me, katalaba? ~.^ ^.^ hehehe *sniffles then sobs again* I'M SO SORRY ABOUT NOT SENDING YOU AN E-MAIL!!!! *huggles* I've been so busy and it's been so chaotic that I haven't had time!!! If you still want me to e-mail you please tell me and I'll try!!! Will a cookie help? *holds up a pan of cookies* Please? Misa sorry... forgive me and thankey you for the review... ^_^
Reese Sparrow: No it's me talking you silly goose! I reckon it's kind of my view on love (at least I hope we're talking about the same part right? It's been so long I can't remember!!! *cries*) Cookie? *holds up her pan* ^.^ Maybe this will help with the spelling (don't worry about it though, I have to use spell check myself ^_^)
matrixie: "Jack's goat-screwing-strumpet" o_O; I'm sorry that just sent me into a fit of giggles as I said "What?!" Thank you for the laughter and the compliments!!! *holds up her pan of cookies*
PED-sarah: well if you think about it you can be exact!!! All you have to do is look at how much of a mutt your "greats" were!!! ^_^ That's how I figured it. hehehe *holds up bottles* GET YOUR BOTTLED SKY AND CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW HERE!!! ONLY $5!!! I NEED THE MONEY SO COME ON DOWN! ^.^ sounds good? lol aww but really I don't know much in Greek. I can count to 5, say a few words and phrases, and the best part... I CAN SWEAR!!! WHOO HOO!!! ^_^ It's always good when you can curse at someone in another language isn't it? *holds up her pan of cookies* Cookie for your compliments!!!
Sammamaria: *drools, shorts out keyboard* HOLY CRAP!!! lol actually I was picturing our dear Captain mowing the lawn... without his shirt... sweating... glistening golden dark in the fiery rays of the sunlight... *drools* Now see what you've gone and done!!! ^.^ Yeah!!! My 100th reviewer!!! *gives you 5 pans of brownies and Jack Sparrow in a cage* Enjoy!!! ~.^ ^.^ hehehe
PepaMynt: Seriously?! Yeah!!! There's another mutt Greek in the room!!! *glomps and huggles* That's awesome!!! Do you know any Greek?! If you do collaboration would be pretty spiffy!!! ^.^ *holds up her pan of cookies* Thank you for the compliments and welcome back!!! ^.^
Shanelover1: Welcome back!!! *huggles and holds up her pan of cookies* Dig in!!! ^.^
lil-teddy-bear: I knew it was you... CONFUSITRON!!! lol I had no idea!!! Gee now I just feel stupid and here I thought you were multiple people!!! *smacks her forehead* D'OH!!!
*holds up her pan of cookies* I'm glad you loved my chapter so much!!! ^.^ I hope you like this one just as well!!!
Vittaria: heheh yes Jealousy is a green-eyed little vixen and she does have a tiny bit of a hold over our dear Captain!!! DUN DUN DUN!!! *holds up her pan of cookies* Cookie for the song at the bottom of your review!!! ^.^
Lelena the Moonstruck: hehehe tempers are fun... especially when it's Sky's temper we're referring to!!! ^.^ Poor Norrington *sniffles and sobs then huggles him* Nobody likes him!!! He's just anal retentive!!! But at least he's your second favorite character right (and let me guess who your first favorite is? ~.^ ^.^)? hehehe *gives you the rest of the pan of cookies* For your e-mails!!! ^.^ You have no idea how much you've cheered me up these past few days!!! *huggles* Thank you!!! Write me soon!!! ^.^
Disclaimer: See previous chapter. I own nothing!!! Well except my original characters and that's because I luv 'em all so much!!! *huggles all* I even love the ones I don't own!!! *snuggles Jack* hehehe
Fortune's Pilot
After a few more moments of hugs, nostalgia, and laughter, Jack's clear baritone crashes through the joyous air, his mood cloaked within the folds of his voice. "Wonderful family reunion ye have here luv and I hate to interrupt because all this makes such a pretty picture but ye see there is the tiny matter of the book. Actually it's a great matter if ye think about it. So let's get down to business shall we?" His arms and hands spoke volumes as he said this, importance weighing on his gestures though not on his carefully guarded face.
Still I pay no heed to him, merely shrugging my shoulders in his direction and replying, "Yes and your point is? You're in the house, the book you are looking for is here, and the lobsters are gone. You have two hands don't you? Go get it yourself." I listen to Papu chuckle at my right as Michaelis also smiles at my defiance. My own voice nearly betrays the grin in my heart; it is good to be home again.
Both of his fingers point north as Jack tilts his head toward me to respond, "Ahh but ye see luv the trouble is only ye know where the book is." Jack's eyebrows quirk up into his tattered crimson bandanna as his dark chocolate orbs regard me with a hidden emotion.
Before I can answer, Michaelis interrupts with accent-laden English, his tone biting and his handsome face hardened toward Jack, "And who the Hell are you? You seem to be just another pirate that the tide spat out so why should Sky help you?" I almost cheer for Michaelis except I feel far too much like a damsel in distress while he is a knight protecting me from the wicked dragon in dredlocks.
Jack's face also grows dark with the dislike of the young man before him, the dislike of a challenger approaching him, "Do ye think it's wise to insult me boy?" I watch with increasing concern as Jack's fingertips brush the hilt of his sword and Michaelis' hand inches closer toward his pocket.
In an attempt to deflate this War of the Egos, I grasp Michaelis' shoulder, turning him to look at me, "Michaelis, I invited this man here. His name is Jack Sparrow, " I vaguely hear Jack murmur "Captain" under his breath, "and he was my father's business partner and now he is my business partner so while he is here you must treat him as a guest." As I tilt my head toward Jack, I notice a smug smirk upon his face, a smirk which I intend to remedy.
"And Jack, while you are here you must treat Michaelis with respect as he is my family though not by blood, katalaba?" With a near snort, I watch as Jack's smug, self-assured face falls into a mix of a frown and a pout. Still not completely satisfied, I glance briefly at both men once more, "Katalaba gentlemen?" To my amusement, each grumbles out an 'Aye' or 'Ne' (1) like two little schoolboys, sullen over being caught in a fight. With renewed energy and cheer, I clap my hands together and allow my sunshine feeling to flow freely into my voice, "Alright then what are we waiting for? Let's find that book of yours Jack."
************** An hour later*************
Cold shivers wash over my trembling, color-drained skin as I stand outside of what was once my bedroom within this house of dreams. Gingerly I touch the mahogany wood and it burns me with an icy chill that races into the depths of my bones. Little ice faeries dance about my head, whispering into my ears of untold memories that they will not reveal. Each one giggles and mocks my plight as I linger on the threshold of a room I once loved, of a life I once lived. Deja vu creeps over me with its tiny, hairy legs as I know not just in my mind but in my heart that I seen this place before. Though I long to open this door into the past, I find myself afraid of what lies beyond it, what memories it will bring. Yet I know that I must enter this place, not just for myself but to honor my father's memory and discover what our lives were like, discover why our lives were torn asunder. I open the door.
A force compels me forward into a haunted den of remembrance as I gaze around. Though my old bedchamber glows with a bright, periwinkle pigment and though the Caribbean sunlight pours in to smile upon the lovely furnishings, I cannot help but feel a sharp pain to my heart. Not even the sweet sunshine can stretch its beaming rays completely across the room to chase away the shadows to my left. Not even the cheery blue of the room can frighten the ghosts dancing beneath the white, billowing curtains of my window. In a ghoulish, mesmerizing pattern, I watch them turn about, rustling papers upon my desk and blowing through the canopy above my bed. Ghosts floating and falling through the room, faceless ghosts that cry to me, reach out their hands to me, silently moaning to me. Why do they moan? Oh but they long to be free of the purgatory that is my sea-washed mind, filled with holes where emotions and people should be. Only when my mind is whole may the ghosts be at peace; only when my mind is whole may I be at peace.
In the back of my mind I hear voices calling to me, however, the invisible hand drawing me forward takes me from them as I take several quaking steps toward the bed before me until I stand beside it, facing the shadow with the light at my back. Mechanically I kneel upon the floor and dip my head under the bed, seeking, searching for something of great importance though I cannot remember what right now. Seeking, searching, seeking, searching oh so longingly but unable to grasp it. Finally I touch a notch on the floor and, wrapping my shaking fingers about the catch, I yank it open with a resounding thud. With almost a fear of the object disintegrating within my palms, I painstakingly remove the dark box from the hole within the floor. Slowly I pull my tense arms and my burden from under the bed and sit on my heels once again, the oaken box upon my lap. More calls to me but I do not hear them as I grasp the lid of the box and open it with care and thought laden in my gestures.
Red satin lines the box as bans of deep sky at sunset. I gaze in wonder at the hat and deep ocean colored bandanna within even as I gingerly set down the box and lift the black, wool hat into my hands. I smile as I remember that father gave this to me when I was only 5. "Papa is this for me?!" An excited child squeals as her beaming father presents her with a hat much like the one that perches upon his head. The hat feels rough with the texture of wool in my hands and red also lines the inside of my beautiful fisherman's cap. A small smile graces my lips as I place the soft midnight blue bandanna within the embrace of the dark cap; however, the box is not quite empty.
As I reach into the box once again the voices grow more and more persistent but soon I find what my memory has been seeking. A worn book sits upon my palms, looking back at me with sleepy, curious eyes. 'Hello, it's about time you were back here', it seems to say but before it can continue I awaken from my daze with a deep, shuddering breath and a pounding heart.
"SKY!" Michaelis practically shakes my head from my shoulders as he rattles my body back and forth in hopes of eliciting some response from my dazed form. A thunderous storm pours into my brain not from overexposure in the sunlight but from overexposure in the scalding rays of my memories. My heart feels resoundingly empty as I grasp the tattered book within my hands and look upon its silent cover.
"Ye know boy I think she's had enough shakin' to rattle her brains around. I do believe she has come around," Jack's dark voice rumbles into my left ear, his emotions still somewhat guarded. In my peripheral vision, I watch as Michaelis glares daggers at Jack's sarcasm but says nothing, not wanting to upset me any more than I already am.
I force a smile and a laughing comment to lighten the mood though my head still spins and the room still moves for some strange reason. "Boy oh boy, if I would have known that losing my memory would get guys to argue over me I would have done it sooner." Suddenly Jack, Michaelis, and the room decide to whirl about me in a myriad of colors and shapes and sensations, my entire world melting into one indistinguishable blur as I can only feel, see, smell, taste, touch nothing but that endless night. My vision blackens as I quickly fall into a depthless darkness, ready to consume my pounding, aching mind into a lightless oblivion. Before the floor crashes into me, I sleep and I know no more.
************* 15 minutes later*************
Soft. Against my back I feel a something soft conforming to my shape as I lay back. Bursts of light fizzle and die within my brain as wicked little pixies set the fuses and giggle aside as they watch the mini bombs explode and throb into my head. Sparks fly about and color shocks my vision where they land, sizzling my already aching head. Pain plops down upon my mind as a giant elephant would plop down upon a hapless mouse, trying to find his way in a great, vast jungle of monstrously large beasts that he fails to understand and so he seeks them out, chittering about on his merry way, unaware of the dangers that await him on his quest.
A deep ache laces my brow as I lie upon this bed, my eyes squeezed shut against the blinding light that would sear my sight if I allow it to enter. My senses shrink away from everything but that constant pain, that dull throb not only within my head but within my heart. The pixies laugh at me, as does the elephant, the mouse, the entire world because they have names and dates and families and I do not, only this ceaseless headache, this ceaseless longing. My legs slowly curl into my body as I refuse to open my misty Aegean eyes to see the light, determined to stay in that comforting dark. Yet I must endure the pain to see myself through, to see the answers that I do search for ahh but it is too painful. Better to stay here.
Tenderness in my tresses. Caressing my limp strands are tender, nimble fingers, beckoning me to come out of my shell. Shivers creep down my spine but they have nothing to do with sexual longing nor fear, merely a calling, a comfort. Those fingers tell me that I must come out though the journey will be long and difficult and painful; that I must come out to experience life at its greatest and at its worst. To live my life fully I must come to terms with myself. I open my eyes.
"Welcome back to the land of the living me bonnie little Greek," Jack chirps from beside the bed, his stroking fingers still buried within the forest of my snarled locks. Though I hear his deep, lush voice, my hazy vision cannot focus on his face nor his emotions. "I thought that I might have to find this island all by me onesies because I sure wasn't going to drag that stick on board me Black Pearl."
Despite my aching condition, I laugh heartily and grin up at Jack, some of my good humor restored, "I'm sure Michaelis feels the same way about you Jack and besides I'm still your partner. You can't worm your way out of our business agreement so easily Captain." I groan at my rather helpless position and lift my hand toward Jack, "Help me up would you?"
My sight has recovered enough so that my ocean eyes bare witness to Jack's mischievous grin and the devilishly wicked quirking of his eyebrows. "Just say the word luv," before I can reply Jack swiftly grasps my hand and yanks me into his lap, forcing my body to tumble right into his chest. "How's that luv?"
The dizzy faeries pay me a brief visit as they spin around my vision and I am left grabbing for Jack to steady me and for my anger to fuel me. "JACK! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?! YOU NEARLY KILLED ME YOU POMPOUS ASS! I..."
Just as suddenly as he had pulled me into his lap, he interrupts my litany of curses to interject a completely random subject matter, furthering my annoyance, "Ye know luv we should get down to business."
"WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING?!" My good humor vanishes as I seethe with irritation from the pain and the dizziness. An ocean of ice cannot quell this growing fire inside me though what this fire wants to consume I do not know as I listen to what Jack has to say in quiet outrage.
"Now ye wanted to know what that little book was all about well here it is. Yer father discovered through his research that there were several booby traps on the island meant to keep the curious and the pirates away from the treasure. Now within that book are the clues to each of these little traps without which our little venture would be cut rather short, savvy?" With this he grins and snuggles me closer, "Which also means that now that we have the book in our possession we can start our journey to the Island of the Shifting Sands. What do ye say to that?"
Before I can react, Michaelis dashes into the room, expressions of worry, concern, and silent anger marring his gorgeous face. "Sky we've got trouble out in the village. You must speak to them quickly!" A feeling slithers into my mind as I glance over at Jack's handsome yet anxious and once again guarded face. Yep that feeling is right, this is going to be a long day.
(1): "Ne" in Greek actually means "yes" not "no"... just in case you were wondering!!!
The Author's Two Cents: I'M SO SORRY!!! *cries and begs at her readers' feet* It's a LONG story as to why I have not updated but there's no excuse!!! I love you guys too much to torture you like this!!! I hope the wait was worth it because I'm sorry!!! *runs away crying* FORGIVE ME!!!
~Chocolate Covered Jack Sparrow Forever FloatingFeathers
PS: If the whole clues in the book thing sounded too Indiana Jonesish I apologize. o_O; It seemed like a cool idea at the time but let me know if it sucks ok? *runs away crying again* I've been doing a lot of crying haven't I? ^_^;