Chapter 10 – Trifling Needs
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The assortment of trinkets in his hair echoed throughout the dark stone room as he paced back and forth. His mind racing wildly from Isabella's curious proposition, knowing that Barbossa and his men will not be pleased to know that there is no longer a guarantee for their immortality.
'Perhaps it'd be best to not inform the dear ol' captain of our current situation…or Gibbs, he won't be too happy either,' he thought.
He turned back to Isabella, who was gently blowing out the candles near her bed. "Love, do you think there could be any possibility of convincing our dear friend, Barbossa to captain your ship while I make my way on the Black Pearl?" he stiffened, looking quite pleased with his idea.
She raised a skeptical brow. "Why would I want to be doing that?"
"Well, seeing that the Black Pearl is, in fact, my ship, it would seem that Captain Barbossa would be in bloke without a vessel and would be much obliged to captain yours, as it were."
"Jack," she interrupted, turning away from him to blow out the last of her candles. "I, personally, don't own the Black Pearl. Therefore, putting any effort in getting it back for you seems a bit superfluous to me. On the other hand, if you could 'convince' Barbossa to let you captain the Pearl, then I wouldn't mind, you might not be the right man to captain my ship anyway."
He crumpled his features in disappointment, looking out toward the balcony, watching the moon sparkle in the dead of night.
"Touché, love," he cringed at the thought of him 'convincing' or let alone, doing anything, with Barbossa.
"We shall set sail with the morning tide, then?"
"What time would that be?"
"Dawn."
"Impossible. That's not happening."
"Why not?" Jack replied, clearly irritated.
"The ships are not ready yet. We shall have to wait until the preparations are complete."
'There'll be no livin' with this woman,' he thought, taking a deep breath as he composed himself.
"There is no time to lose under these circumstances," Jack urged, swaggering toward her. "And furthermore, you'll be sailing under my command, whether it be your ship or not, I am still captain. So, we'll be sailing under my terms, savvy?" he stated. "We'll speed up the preparations of the ships - work all night if we have to and weigh anchor at dawn."
She narrowed her eyes sternly, not many men questioned her authority, not even Lieutenant Moore on a bad day. Her men know their place and moreover, know consequences of contradicting her word. But Jack was not one of her men; he was free to do what he wished without penalty or knowledge of the consequences – a notion she had longed to experience, for centuries and it certainly didn't look like the good captain would be changing his way of doing things just for her. For a moment, she felt drawn into him; drawn by his free spirit, and wished to awaken the spirit within her that lay dormant for most of her tormented existence.
"Very well then, Captain, we shall set sail on your terms," she began, walking toward him.
"Now, that's what I like to hear, love. Where are you going?" She brushed past him in a hurry towards the balcony.
"You know there really is no point in sleeping, it's almost dawn anyway," she said, walking through the threshold, looking out over the edge as Jack followed behind curiously.
She lifted herself up onto the stone rail, allowing the wind take over her loose nightdress, letting it travel through her long, dark hair and glide over her pale skin. She held out her arms, embracing the moonlit sky.
"Jack, do you know why I picked this room out of all the rooms in this godforsaken dungeon?"
Jack looked down over the railing; it was a straight drop down into the ocean.
"Lieutenant Moore thought it would be more proper for me to be in the larger bed chamber in the tower. He should know out of anyone that I am in no way proper. But then I wouldn't be able to go swimming late at night when no one's watching," she said, smiling down at him.
"Ready to catch me, Jack?" she inquired, letting herself fall over the edge.
"You know, I still think you're bloody daft woman!" he screamed down at her while he climbed over the rail, watching her plummet and hit the water with an unforgivable force. She did not resurface.
Jack swayed back and forth on the balcony rail, arms in the air, trying to find his balance. He looked down at the spot she had landed in.
'You know, I'm quite daft meself, love,' he pondered aloud as he dropped his hat onto the balcony floor, diving down after his mad accomplice.
The sea greeted him with a cold and salty burst of ecstasy as his body sank deeply into the tumultuous waters. It was a long drop into the dark blue abyss; Jack felt a faint from the sudden, rigid impact, but was able to shake it off and adjust himself to the underwater atmosphere. He hadn't realized how close he had come to hitting several sharp rocks that shot up uncompromisingly beside him; no doubt she had come dangerously close as well.
'Where's that bloody woman?'
The moon aided in his search by illuminating his underwater surroundings with a bright, iridescent light. He swam around patches of rock and coral, encompassed by schools of small silver fish, including several Queen Angelfish. He let several large air bubbles escape his lips in the effort to sink lower and lower towards the rocky sea floor. He chased after one angelfish in particular, its yellow rimmed scales and deep blue lips on its yellowish face we're so very unique and almost mesmerizing. He lightly grazed its light blue fins as it swam beneath a pink coral formation.
After spending some time searching around the rocks and caverns in his hunt for Isabella, the pressure from the water slowly began to crash down upon him as he sank. His lungs could no longer handle staying beneath the water for much longer. He looked up towards the surface and pushed himself up from the sea floor with his feet, beginning to swim up towards the moonlight.
Jack gasped when his face finally reached the surface, feeling his lungs grow hungry for salty night air. He floated in the swaying water for a bit to regain his breath, looking around and above him towards the fort. He had not realized how far he had fallen from Isabella's balcony and from where he had surfaced it appeared to be a desolate hole on the side of an unyielding black cliff.
Jack's thoughts were interrupted by an unexpected wave of water crashing onto his back. He turned around to find the dark figure floating behind him.
"Haven't found me yet, Captain? I'm rather disappointed," she smiled and pushed his head underwater in jest.
Once Jack was several feet under, she quickly swam away to a large, slippery rock that protruded off the side of the cliff. She pulled herself up onto its wet surface, twisted her hair around her hands to free it from the weight of sea water. She watched Jack frantically rematerialize from beneath the surface, waving his arms and gasping for air.
"I thought that a man of the sea would know how to swim?" she teased.
"I'm getting far too old for this."
"You're too old?" she laughed. "What about me? I should be a lovely pile of dirt by now."
"And a lovely pile of dirt you will become if you keep trying to murder me," he said, swimming to her side, pulling himself up onto the rock.
"I will rephrase that, then," he stated, clearing his throat. "Love, I haven't had enough rum for this," he pouted.
"Now, that's more like it!" she smiled, tucking away a few strands of wet hair behind her ear as she lay back upon the slippery surface, propping herself up on her elbows. "But, in my opinion, it's better to do things like this without the influence of liquor."
"And why's that?" Jack asked, cautiously. She sounded much like Elizabeth that the moment. How could he forget the fiery wench who burnt an entire underground stockpile of rum? He quickly shook off the dismal memory of her, setting his sights on Isabella, who was now on her knees, waving her arms up to her balcony.
"Well, the way I see it is if you jumped off a cliff from having a little too much rum then everyone will think of you as a drunken fool. On the other hand, if you jumped off a cliff, knowing full well that you were, indeed, jumping off of a cliff then you'd be remembered quite differently."
"Your logic astounds me, but it seems to me that with my reputation, I'd still be remembered as a drunken fool either way you slice it, love," he replied sarcastically.
"On the contrary," she retaliated, raising a finger at him, "you'd be remembered as the drunken fool who remembers jumping off a cliff for some viable reason, then you'd have another story to tell."
"You know me to well, love," Jack stated, curling the ends of his mustache with his thumb and index finger.
"That's the second time you've said that to me tonight, Jack. I'm starting to believe it to be true."
A moment of silence had plagued their conversation once more. Isabella focused on the waves softly crashing against the dark cliff. She looked down at her toes and let her thoughts wander with the sounds of the surf. The water had calmed tremendously since she had initially dived in. It was a small warning from Poseidon, no doubt. It was his duty to ensure that she did not leave this land, which made it a tad bit difficult for her to swim, sail, or even fish if she wanted to.
'Hera knows me too well and perhaps she knows I'd leave in a heartbeat just like I had done when they kept me in England.'
Escaping was not a problem, but being caught is another matter.
She recalled the time she had spent in solitary confinement while in Scotland, formerly known as the Kingdom of Picts, as punishment for escaping from England and more importantly, forming her first rebellion against Hera. She outwardly smiled at her insubordinate behavior.
Once she was released to a standard stone cell, she met Alastair Moore, her malnourished and timid cellmate. He was only a young lad of eighteen; thrown in prison for stealing food for his family.
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'What are you in for?' he muttered from his cot.
She laughed, menacingly only answering him in her thoughts.
'Where do I begin, lad? If he only knew of the things I have done…' she thought.
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"You know, you're not as harsh as you try to make yourself look," Jack slurred, observing her closely, noticing that she had been smiling, but did not understand why.
"Is that so?" she asked, turning her smile to him, yet he did not answer. She bit her lip softly, savoring the taste of salt with her tongue. 'I have no choice. I must be harsh.'
Jack looked out before him. 'You don't scare me at all, love. And I think you know that.'
He could now see the horizon dotted with specks of early morning light. Their late night escapes had to come to an end; dawn was approaching fast and leaving its mark in the distant sky.
"Well, as much as I adore sitting on this godforsaken rock with you, I'd really rather be enjoying the morning on my ship while sailing away to meet up with that," he confirmed, lifting himself up carefully as he pointed forward into the horizon line.
"Well there's no way of getting back up there, unless you know how to fly," she said, staring up at her distant balcony. "We could swim to the docks - they're just around these cliffs."
Jack looked at her skeptically, knowing that they would be confronted by several of her men, along with his crew. "How are we to explain this?"
"We'll just tell them the truth." She shrugged.
"Rum and cliffs never seemed to mix together so well, now did they?" he confirmed.
"They never really have."
Captain Barbossa, Lieutenant Moore and Colin Andrews we're up before dawn to finish the last minute preparations on both the Hellride and the Black Pearl. Mr. Cotton spent most of the morning assisting Murtogg and Mullroy in securing the Black Pearl's rigging. Meanwhile, Pintel and Ragetti were on deck in the act of storing the last bit of the food in the Pearl's galley.
"Ya know what I found the other day?" Ragetti asked anxiously.
"It better be shiny or I don't want to be hearin' about it," retorted Pintel, as he lifted the last box of dry foods into the galley pantry.
"It's even better than shiny! I've found this salmagundi recipe that me mum gave to me before I went off piratin'," Ragetti began happily, lifting a large sack of potatoes over his shoulder. "I used to 'ave it all the time when I was a lad."
Pintel waved off Ragetti's sentimental nonsense, clearly not interested in his recipe. He quickly made his way up the galley's wooden steps, Ragetti closely followed behind, searching through his pockets as they appeared on deck.
"Well?"
"Well, what?" Pintel answered, clearly irritated.
"Well don't ya want ta know how it's made?" Ragetti asked eagerly while taking out a grimy piece of paper from his pocket. He rubbed his wooden eye and started reading out the ingredients to Pintel as they walked down the gangway onto the docks.
"We'll be needin' some onions and a bit of goat meat … but we'll be needin' to cut the meat into little cubes and such! To-ma-to sauce … We'll be needin' tomato sauce!"
"You know you can't read!" Pintel exclaimed.
Ragetti had not realized the fact that they were now in close proximity to the area where the Barbossa had been discussing the logistics of their journey with the Lieutenant and Colin. Pintel slapped Ragetti in sternum with the back of his hand, which startled Ragetti away from his recipe. Pintel passed by Captain Barbossa and waited intently for new orders.
"Cap'n, we've finished loadin' in the last bit of the supplies."
"A fine job ye both did, gents. Now we'll be needin' to split up the crews accordingly between both ships," Barbossa began, feeling a wet elbow plop down upon his shoulder. He turned his face to discover a sopping wet Jack Sparrow at his side.
"I'll be taking Master Gibbs, Pintel, Ragetti, Marty, Cotton and those two squabbling scallywags over there by the rigging," Jack announced firmly, as he wiped away several beads of salty water from his forehead before they met with his eyes.
Isabella was carefully hidden behind Jack, holding onto his wet shirt, avoiding the skeptical eyes of Lieutenant Moore at all costs. Barbossa spun around on his heel to meet Jack face to face.
As Barbossa stepped forward to meet more closely with Jack, he had noticed something peering over Jack's shoulder.
"What 'ave ya got there, Jack?" Barbossa inquired, sidestepping to the right to examine the contents behind Jack's back. Jack sidestepped to meet with him, smiling as the old rogue became frustrated with his insubordination. Barbossa tried once more to sidestep to the left, and Jack stepped to meet him once again. Barbossa and Jack danced around one another for a few moments as Pintel and Ragetti looked at each other, shrugging as they witnessed a similar scene to the day before, which ultimately ended with Jack landing, arse first, into the harbor.
Barbossa's temper began to rise, quickly took hold of Jack's shoulders and pushed him aside. What, or rather who he found, surprised him.
"General?" Lieutenant Moore blurted out, looking over at Jack. Her thin nightgown was soaking wet.
Moore's blood began to boil within his veins as he raced over to Jack, lifting him into the air by his damp shirt. "What have you done to General Selene, you-"
"James!" Isabella exclaimed. "Put him down! That's an order!"
The infuriated Lieutenant glared at her, growling at Jack through his thickening red beard. He grudgingly let go of Jack's linen shirt, letting Jack plummet down onto the solid dock.
Isabella turned her attention towards Captain Barbossa, who was visibly amused at this unusual situation. She decided that the best thing to do in this awkward situation would be to change the subject.
"Captain Barbossa, did you receive my orders last night?"
"Aye, yer beautiful maid brought them to me early in the evening," he stated, sinfully smiling.
"Very well. So, you are well aware of my need for a captain?" she inquired.
"General, I thought that I was to captain the Hellride on our journey?" asked Moore as he took several steps forward to meet with Isabella and Barbossa.
"I need you by my side, James. Being a captain is not your responsibility, we shall leave that to those who know what they're doing."
Moore grabbed Isabella by the arm, leading her several yards down the docks.
"Are you telling me, we are to let Sparrow captain our ship?" He looked over to Jack, who was now being helped up by Colin. Jack swayed, attempted to regain his composer once he was up on his feet.
"He's been here only a few days, we barely know who he is, or where he comes from, or what he's here for … and furthermore, he's a pirate. He's clearly not here to help us."
"Captain Barbossa is a pirate as well, are we not to trust him?"
"No, we should not, yet we are leaving the lives of our men in his hands as well," he replied quickly.
"You're questioning my authority here, Lieutenant?"
"No, I'm questioning your poor judge of character. If you need me by your side, then I shall protect you from those that you can't even protect yourself from."
"What? Are you jealous?" she raised her brow, placing her hands on her hips as she shifted her weight from one leg to another.
Moore grunted. "I am not jealous of that pirate!"
"James, as I've said - I need you by my side. My word is final. I cannot fight while you are at the helm. Remember, he will not be with us for long," she affirmed sternly, turning to begin her brisk walk toward the fort.
"Now round up the men, and the weapons, we are to leave immediately!" she shouted over her shoulder.
The fact that she needed him by her side soothed his rage. He watched her walk off the docks and out of sight before he turned and paced quickly in the other direction. Moore quickly met with the drenched Jack Sparrow, who was making his way after Isabella. He blocked Jack's passage with his large, muscular arm.
"Lieutenant Moore, I have a trifling need to retrieve my hat, so if you'll excuse me, I'll be much obliged..."
"Captain Sparrow, I'm afraid you've worn out your welcome by me and if I see you within arms length of her again I'll …"
"Lieutenant Moore," Barbossa interjected grabbing the Lieutenant's arm. "I think there be more pressing matters to attend to."
Moore lowered his arm, cursing under his breath as he marched angrily passed Barbossa and Jack. He quickly began barking out orders on his way to the deck of the Hellride.
"Jack, I think ye might be treadin' on some dangerous waters," Barbossa said, peering over Jack's shoulder.
"I don't know if you've noticed, mate, but we've been treading on dangerous waters for quite some time now. We're practically wading in it," Jack retaliated, clearing his throat.
"Has she said anythin' about the fountain?"
Jack looked over his shoulder at the eager Barbossa, giving him a wicked smile. "I believe we've come to an understanding…"
Isabella quietly entered her bed chamber, shutting the heavy wooden doors as softly as she could with her palms as she walked cautiously over to her armoire to look for a dry bundle of clothing, leaving a small river of salt water behind her.
"Isabella?"
She leaped in her skin, jolting around to find her dear friend Arianna looking at her oddly.
"Arianna, you scared me half to death!"
"Where have you been? More importantly, why … are you wet?" she said, laughing.
"Oh, well, I went down to the docks this morning to aid in clogging a few leaks in the ship," she lied quickly.
Arianna raised both of her eyebrows in a look of surprise, "Oh really? Is that so…" she sauntered slowly over to the threshold of Isabella's balcony, picking up a leather tricorn hat. "You helped clog up a leak with Captain Sparrow?"
"You could say that…" Isabella shrugged her shoulders, innocently looking up at her wise friend. Arianna shifted her brown eyes between Isabella and Jack's hat as she twirled its rounded corners between her fingertips.
"Is that what they're calling it nowadays? Clogging up leaks, is it?"
"You dirty hag!" Isabella laughed as she threw one of her pillows at her.
Arianna tossed Jack's hat onto the edge of her bed. Isabella quickly picked it up and placed it on her head. She looked in the mirror from across the room.
"You know, I quite like this look. I might not even give it back," she said, strutting around playfully.
"I'm sure James isn't too pleased about the captain stealing away your affections."
"Jack is just a friend - a very handsome friend, but a friend nonetheless."
"Ah, what a lovely love triangle you've formed!"
"Oh please, I cannot be attached to either one of them seeing I have nothing to offer either of the two. James is one of my men; I can't be seen fraternizing with him and Jack … well Jack is just Jack, he will never love me like he loves the sea so, I ask nothing of him. You know, I'd rather just have you in my life. At least you can't break my heart."
"What would you do without me?" Arianna asked while taking out several dresses from Isabella's armoire.
"Not sure really, I know I'd be very lonely and I definitely wouldn't laugh as often," she offered, pulling down Jack's hat over her eyes and gave Arianna a small pout.
"So, take me with you."
"With me? On our journey? Absolutely not. I cannot put your life in danger. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something were to happen to you."
Arianna sighed. "What fun it would be, you and I, immortal best friends?" she pondered while inspecting Isabella's ivory hairbrush.
Isabella paused in the mirror, looking at her condition. She stood before herself in a soaking wet nightdress; her hair wild and wavy underneath Jack's tarnished pirate hat. She felt alive for once.
'It would be quite remarkable to have some company…' she thought. 'But, no, I cannot risk it. Not for Arianna's or Jack's sake.'
"Come on, you saucy pirate wench," Arianna interjected, breaking their silence. "Lets get you bathed and in some dry clothes and you can tell me all about your late night leak clogging adventures with your illustrious friend Captain Jack Sparrow!" she giggled.