Disclaimer: I wish I could say I owned Pirates of the Caribbean, but I cannot, so I won't, okay?
A: N: Hey everyone! Sorry that this took so long but I wrote this while I was in Seabrook Island and I didn't have any internet access! Anyways, I hope that you like this chapter, because I sure do!
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Taylor's Point Of View
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"Uhh! Maria, it's all your fault that I have another hangover." I moaned as I rolled over and tried to block the sun and the sand from affecting my aching body. Maria groaned from the general direction of my right and I shielded my eyes from the sun to see her. Her brown hair was matted to her forehead, her tank top was bunched in the middle, and her shorts were falling down. I laughed at her quietly and she moved her leg out as if to kick me, but her leg only got about 2 inches from its original spot. "I don't even want to know how many bottles of that stuff we had last night. And do you smell burning?" I asked her, sitting up and putting my head between my knees. I heard Maria mutter lightweight, and then she put her arms around me in a hug.
"I'm so sorry Taylor; Jack Sparrow is an ass if he doesn't realize how beautiful you are." Maria said to me, and then she smiled slyly. "Although, this morning you do look a bit roughed up." I rolled my eyes and looked down at myself, grimacing at my current state. My black skirt looked greyer than black and had sand inside of the beadings, my green shirt was wet and one of the sides had a small hole in it. I could already tell that my eyes were probably bloodshot and I was missing a shoe. "But, look on the Brightside, Elizabitch burned all the rum." She said, handing me back one of my pirate boots. I turned towards where the burning smell was and saw the massive flames were rising into the blue sky. When I looked back up, Maria was holding my shoe out to me. I frowned and then took it back from her, shoving it on my foot gently. My stomach lurched at my jerky motion and I closed my eyes.
"What did we do last night and why was I missing a shoe?" I asked her and she shrugged, telling me that she had about as much of a clue as I did. "At least we're having a better morning than he is going to be having here in a minute." I told her, motioning with my head towards where Jack was laying down on the sand. Leaving Maria to sit back down, I marched over to where Jack was laying and stood over him. I took in a deep breath and then started to belt out the lyrics to Maroon 5's Through with You (Quick Disclaimer: I do not own these lyrics, they belong to Adam Levine. Carry on.). "Can you see me, floatin' above your head as you lay in bed thinking about everything that you did not do, cus saying I love you has nothing to do with meaning it!" Jack started to stir as I continued with the verse, wondering if I would be to the chorus before my head burst open with the noise I was making. "And I don't trust you, cus every time your here your intentions are unclear, I spend every hour waitin' for a phone call, that I know will never come. I used to think you were the one, now I'm sick of thinking anything at all!"
Jack blearily opened his eyes as Maria whooped and whistled for my singing. When he looked up at me, I fixed him with the fiercest gaze I had and then waited for him to stand. He was looking around for the burning smell as we had earlier and I felt bad for a minute about the fact that Elizabitch was so mean to him. However, it was only for a minute and then I didn't care anymore. "Captain Jack Sparrow, you suck." I said, and then promptly roundhouse kicked him (a feat for me, because I am so clumsy) in the stomach. He doubled over and I smirked at him before flicking my hair over my shoulder and walking over to Elizabitch. Maria caught up with me halfway and we put our arms around each other's shoulders.
"That was a pretty impressive kick. I wasn't quite sure if you were going to land it, but I give you a 9.3, maybe a 9.5 if you round." She said, smiling at Jack as he hobbled by to get to Elizabitch and yell at her. We stopped about a yard away and watched as they 'exchanged words.' "Why do you think she has to be so uptight about everything?" Maria stage whispered to me as Elizabitch dramatically pointed up towards the column of smoke that was billowing into the sky. I shrugged.
"I don't know, maybe because she's a bitch? But anyways, doesn't that cloud look like a nuke just went off or something?" We turned our heads to the side and watched the smoke form into a mushroom shape. Maria gave a thoughtful look and then stroked an imaginary beard. I laughed and pretended to pull out a monocle and dust it off with my shirt. Pulling the pretend monocle up to my eye, I cocked my head again. "Cheerio, old chap. I do believe that this is a sign of treason!" I said in my best old, British man's voice.
"I do say that seems quite possible. Traitor to the crown!" She yelled out, pointing towards Elizabitch, who gave us a scathing look and threw a rum bottle rather violently into the ever-growing fire. "Now that wasn't too very nice. Ms. Swann? Do you believe that we will be rescued anytime soon or do you think that we will die before they get here? At least we know we won't get cold." Maria asked Elizabitch, but she directed the last part of her questions to me. I smiled and looked back over to where Jack was walking. I really wanted to talk to him, but I didn't want to be seen as weak or let him think he can push me around. I sighed. Maria and I walked over to the waters edge, where we sat down. I took off my boots and Maria wiggled her bare toes.
"Where are your shoes?" I asked curiously, staring at her bare feet. She had been wearing some cute cream-colored flats, but now they were nowhere to be seen. She looked around the beach for a minute and then seemed to remember where or what she had done with them. Maria opened her mouth to speak when a rather loud, and close, bang went off. I whipped my head around to give Elizabitch the meanest glare I could muster. She threw up her arms in surrender when she saw the fire in my eyes. Then, she walked over and plunked down next to us. Maria's eyes widened and we exchanged a look before turning back to Elizabitch. "Yes?" I asked cuttingly and I could have sworn lightening flashed behind me because I was being so evil. Elizabeth looked down at her feet that were resting in the water and then back at me. She looked a bit apologetic, but I wasn't about to fall for her puppy dog eyes.
"Taylor, I just wanted to inform you of the fact that that pirate and myself were doing nothing indecent last night. As much as it wounds me to admit it, you probably should not have been as bitter with him as you were." Elizabitch said with her perfect British accent and her formal speech. I let my eyes soften some and allowed myself to feel a little bad for the girl. I could afford it, I thought, especially since she has to live with the Governor and doesn't get to have any fun, what with the British of this period not giving the women any rights. I sighed and finished throwing my boots over my shoulders so I could put my feet into the water. I walked out to about shin deep water and threw my head back to let the sun heat my face. This day had been turning out as weird as when we first got here.
As if out of thin air, Maria shouted, "Ships Ahoy!" We all looked up at the miraculous Dauntless as it sailed closer and closer to the shore. There was scurrying on the deck and then a dinghy was lowered and men began to climb down the ladder and into the boat. Elizabeth jumped up from her spot and clapped her hands excitedly. Maria mocked her with more sarcasm and I looked up to the hill where I saw Jack stop and look at the ship. "There'll be no living with her after this." I stated and Maria and I giggled about the fact that we couldn't help but steal the character' lines. I grabbed Maria's hand and we walked closer to the fire until we reached the edge, just where my boots had landed. I put the now very warm boots on and then hugged Maria. "Thanks for, well you know, beating Jack for me." She shrugged and smiled very roguishly.
"What are best friends for if we aren't going to beat up the guys who mess with our best friends?" She asked, and I took a moment to comprehend the question before smiling and laughing with her. "Oh," She said as we walked back over to where the men where climbing out of the dinghy, "I threw my shoes at Barbossa before we jumped off the Pearl." I rolled my eyes at her, walking closer to one of the boats. Well, walking closer to the boat that Captain Sparrow was not walking closer to. As I was climbing into the boat and trying not to tip it, Jack saw me and changed his direction closer to mine. I hadn't noticed him next to me because I was watching the soldiers make a big to do about Maria's state of undress, (and Elizabitch's when she had mentioned she was cold, she just can't take it when the attention is on someone else.) and I was surprised when he decided to start speaking to me.
"Taylor, I wanted to explain to you about what you think you saw and what was really going on." He said and automatically my mind went "Strike one: You never begin an apology with accusing the other person of being wrong." He continued on, oblivious to me trying not to think about how good it felt to kiss him and how much I wanted to do it again. "I just want to say that what you saw was Miss Swann and myself having a little argument about if I really was a great pirate or not." He took another breath to go on, but I held my hand up to stop him. He let his breath back out and put on a mega watt smile, thinking that I was going to believe him. When he saw my face, he stopped and his smile dropped a few watts.
"Captain Sparrow, do you really expect me to believe the word of a pirate when I've seen you double, triple, and quadruple cross people?" He stared at me for a moment, but had nothing to say. I smirked at him, smiling on the inside about how cute he was when he was clueless. "Didn't think so. Now, if you would be so kind as to get out and go into the other ship so Maria can sit there, I would be very happy about it." I said, motioning for him to get up. He met my gaze for a second and then when he spoke it was to someone behind me and not to me.
"I do hope you're happy Ms. Swann." He said regally, stepping out of the dinghy and into the water where he climbed into another dinghy. Elizabeth smiled sardonically and Maria frowned as she sat in the boat with me. We watched as Norrington eyed Jack suspiciously, then as he eyed Elizabeth, and found that everything was in order and she had not been violated in any ways. "Thanks for checking on us, Norry." I muttered under my breath to Maria, who helped me glare at Norrington. Sigh. It seemed as if I was doing that a lot lately, the glaring part anyways. The soldiers in our boat started to paddle and the Dauntless loomed closer until we were right next to it and there were ropes being thrown down for us to tie the dinghy to. As we were hoisted up to the deck, swaying dangerously I might add, I tried to figure out what I could say to get me out of the hangman's noose and into the cave to save Will. I didn't come up with anything.
"How are we getting out of this one, Sherlock?" Maria questioned, putting on a fake prim and proper accent. I rolled my eyes, shrugged my shoulders, and focused on the problem at hand. After about 30 seconds, Maria noticed the small smile that was making its way onto my face. She smiled back at me slyly. "I can practically hear the gears in your mind working, so you either have a great plan to get us out or just a great way to distract everyone so the attention is off of us and onto, oh I don't know, Elizabitch?" Maria whispered to me now that we were climbing off the dinghy and onto the not so safe deck of the Dauntless. I made my face innocent quickly when the Governor rushed over to meet his daughter. He glided past us, giving us a head nod that I was sure meant we were to be dealt with later, and my stare followed him as I saw him fuss over his daughter. Maria sighed and I looked over to her. She gets all the attention. Maria's eyes said for her and I gave her a closed lip smile.
We began to sneak off towards the ship's cabins, when someone clapped their hands over both of our shoulders and we froze mid-step. "I do believe we need to have a chat with all of you." Came the voice of Commodore Norrington as he turned us and led us to where Elizabeth was trying to bargain with her father. We stood silently with Jack and some other soldiers as Norrington walked over to where Governor Swann was standing. "Then we condemn him to death." Elizabeth was saying and her father turned around to face her.
"The boy's fate is regrettable, but then so is his decision to engage in piracy." Governor Swann said gravely. I rolled my eyes at him. Like he really cared about Will in the first place. All he wanted was his precious daughter safe. Elizabeth opened her mouth to rebuke, but Maria got there first. She looked livid as she spoke directly to Norrington and not the Governor. Hm, I smell a plan.
"To rescue her!" Maria shouted, pointing an accusing finger towards where Elizabeth was gaping like a fish. "To prevent anything from happening to her." Maria finished off, and I noticed that her accent she kept hidden so well was starting to come out in her anger. While everyone gaped at her and Norrington eyed her expectantly, Jack decided to interject.
"If I may be so bold to inject my professional opinion." He said, breaking away from Murtogg and Mulroy the soldiers and walking into the middle of the circle that we had unconsciously formed. I muttered something along the lines of, "No, but you're going to do it anyways," and Jack gave me a tired look. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, holding on to my elbows to stop myself from beating him up. He continued as if nothing had even happened. "The Pearl was listing near scuppers after the battle. It is very unlikely she'll be able to make good time. Think about it." Jack almost whispered, swaggering closer to ol' Norry, who took on a disgusted face. "The Black Pearl. The last real pirate threat in the Caribbean, mate. How can you pass that up?" Jack glanced around, slowly losing the grin that had taken residence on his face. He gave a little half smile to Norrington who raised an eyebrow before replying.
"By remembering that I serve others, Mr. Sparrow. Not only myself." Norrington began to walk away and up the stairs to the helm when Elizabeth broke into a run after him. Maria jerked forward to stop her and I reached out to grab her arm, but was too late because someone else got there before me. I looked around to see Governor Swann holding Maria back and looking at his daughter as she spoke the fateful words. "As a wedding gift." Elizabeth was saying and I felt a little heartbroken at the hopeful look on Norrington's face. Somehow, I knew he knew that she was just using him to save Will. Before Norrington could reply, Governor Swann stepped in, truly the happy father.
"Elizabeth, are you accepting the Commodore's proposal?" He asked gleefully. Elizabeth tried to smile somewhat seductively as she replied and I snorted very unladylike. It was somewhat masked though because at the same moment Jack had cried out, "I love weddings! Drinks all around!" Everyone turned to stare at him and his face became a mask of innocence. "I know, clap him in iron's right?" Jack asked. The Commodore sighed and looked around before his gaze landed on Jack again. He began to walk down the stairs until he was on the same level as Maria was. He spared her a glance out of the corner of his eyes and addressed Jack.
"Mr. Sparrow, you will accompany these fine men to the helm where you will provide us the location for the Isla De Muerta. You will then spend the rest of the voyage in the brig contemplating all meaning of the phrase 'silent as the grave.' Do I make myself clear?" He asked, leaving no room for argument. I hmphed when Jack smiled at him and then they began to make their way up the stairs. The Commodore stopped and turned his steely gaze to me. "Ms. Taylor." He said, motioning for me to follow him, which I did reluctantly. Looks like I get to go have a talk about my pirate ways.
Oh Happy Day!
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Maria's Point Of View
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I laughed as Taylor stomped up the stairs like a little girl, her blonde hair bouncing around on her back in braids. I wonder when she managed to do that. Anyways, I followed her I began to think of a way to set my plan with Norrington in motion. "Hey, wait for me!" I yelled when they got up on deck and set out at a brisker pace. Waiting for me over by the far banister as Norrington told Jack about how he was supposed to steer the ship, Taylor motioned me over and then tugged me closer to her so we couldn't be overheard. "Okay, I think I've kept you in the dark long enough, I have a plan for getting us onto that island." I whispered fiercely to her. She smiled at me and leant further to my side while pretending to scratch her head.
"What's the plan and how can I help?" Taylor's mouth barely moved when she spoke to me, but I caught what she said. Thank goodness for all those times in English class when we weren't allowed to talk but we did anyways. She casually turned around to look like she was watching the ocean, but her eyes darted back and forth between myself and the soldiers standing around on deck. I saw Jack and Norrington glaring at each other, each with a hand on the wheel, and I figured that we had about five more minutes before ol' Norry just gave up and came looking for us.
"Well, I want you to cause some kind of distraction when we get there. Do something like trip or make a big scene with Norrington, I don't care just as long as you can get away from the scene without anyone realizing you're gone. Then, I'm going to hide in a row boat and we will slowly row away before they all leave for the island." I explained myself carefully, knowing full and well that Ms. Swann was just a little ways over and not quite wanting her to be in on the plan with us. Taylor didn't look at me, but kept staring out to the sea, opening her mouth slightly and sticking her tongue out. Good, she's on board with the plan now as well.
"I think I shall retire to the bed chambers for a bit of a lie down." Taylor said, loud enough for a few people to hear, including Norrington and Jack, who were wearing different expressions on they're face. Norrington's looked inquisitive as if he was trying to find out where her accent came from, and Jack seemed to have gotten past the way she talked and was now raising his eyebrows up and down comically. Taylor smiled mischievously and walked back down the stairs that we had just come up. Jack made to go with her when Norrington reminded him firmly that he had a job to do and that as Jack and Taylor were unmarried, it would be rather inappropriate for him to go into the bedchamber with her. "Pirate." Jack said, pointing to himself and rolling his eyes as he placed his hands lovingly on the wheel. Norrington rolled his eyes and went to stand over at the side of the boat staring wistfully at the endless ocean.
I was suddenly struck with a sense of sympathy as I watched him. Normally under these circumstances I wasn't all to worried about how Norrington felt, I just wanted to watch Will be saved and the cave scenes. However, seeing this in real life, if that's even what we could call where we were, was saddening. This man was trying to be the best he could be, all for a woman who doesn't really love him and is just using him to get what she wants. Before I knew what I was doing, my feet were carrying me across the deck and stopping me beside Norrington. My hand reached out and laid itself on Norrington's shoulder and I felt him flinch.
"Ms. Bloom, is there something you need to say to me?" Norrington asked as he turned to look at me. Once again, the pity I felt in my stomach came up as I looked into his sad, weary eyes. I shook my head no and removed my hand from his shoulder, instead placing it on the railing between us. I stared out to the sea trying to find something I could say to make him feel better. As I opened my mouth, so did Norrington and he spoke before I could. "When a man spends most of his life in law enforcement, one sees that some people are not cut out for crime. With you, and sometimes your friend, this is the feeling I get. Why did you become pirates in the first place?" He asked, never turning his head to me. I thought for a moment before I replied.
"We're not really pirates." Replying truthfully was always a good thing. "We just wanted a bit of adventure and we were sort of thrown into this. It's not as if we chose to follow Captain Jack, it just sort of happened." Once again, somewhat truthful. "I won't say we're not enjoying it, especially Taylor." I added thoughtfully. Norrington's lips twitched up and I couldn't contain my laughter because he was trying to fight off the smile. "Smiling is not a crime, you know?" I asked him. He let out a small chuckle and blushed before we fell into a somewhat tense, somewhat calm, silence.
The sun was beginning to set in the distance and I shivered a little. James must have noticed, for he began to remove his jacket. Not knowing this immediately I thought he was leaving and my mouth worked faster than my mind. "She doesn't really love you!" Covering my mouth quickly, I looked over at the Commodore. He had paused and was now looking at me with disdain, the sadness also leaking into the lines that were beginning to form around his eyes. "James I didn't mean it." I said quietly, but he was already walking away. Without turning to meet my gaze, he called out over his shoulder.
"General, please escort Ms. Bloom and Ms. Swann to the female pirate's bedchamber's. They'll be staying there for the rest of the night." I began to panic as three or four guards and the pompous, white wig-wearing, stuffy general came towards us. We weren't supposed to be in the bedchambers with Swann! Elizabitch was also making a racket over by the stairs, yelling things like "This is Jack Sparrow's doing!" and I happened to notice that Jack was no longer present. Shrugging my shoulders and sighing, I ran towards the stairs, dodging the soldiers and running towards the bedrooms. Outside the door, Taylor was arguing very heatedly with Jack about something.
"Plan B, Taylor!" I yelled out to her as I ran closer. She spun towards me and her eyes widened as she saw the people chasing me and holding Elizabitch captive. She ran towards me and we met in the middle of the ship. Jack was still standing beside the door, but now he was smiling his gold-toothed smile. He wasn't even going to help us!
"What's plan B?!" Taylor asked as she followed me to the side of the ship. I looked around frantically until I spotted the dinghies hanging off the side of the ship. Bingo.
"How far are we from Isla de Muerta?" I asked, hastily undoing the ropes and motioning for Taylor to help me. She pointed out to a big rock cave about 80 or so yards away. "Great." I murmured. I glanced behind us to see the soldiers closing in and then I grabbed Taylor's hand. "Jump in!" I cried. She looked at me as if I was crazy before she and I jumped together into the small dinghy. It dropped about a foot, but was caught on the side of the ship.
"Oh, fudge it!" Taylor shouted, pulling a dagger from her boot and hacking at the ship and the rope. Suddenly I felt the wind whipping my hair up from my head and my stomach dropping. I started to laugh and it mingled in with Taylor's scream.
"Geronimo!"
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Gah! Don't even ask me why this chapter took me so long to update, because I'm not even sure why it took so long myself! Haha, anyways it's the day before Halloween which is my birthday (Halloween is, I mean.) and this is my gift to you! I'll forgive you for getting me a present if you leave me a review J lol!
Once again, sorry it took me so long and sorry for any mistakes that might be up there (especially the grammar ones, because I think I might've missed some when I was checking it!)
Happy Halloween!
VIOLET