Not sure what happened last chapter, something must have gone weird... that or nobody actually reviewed... :( Anyways, read and review this chapter then!
Chapter 8
The gummiship landed amidst a pitiful drizzle on the ramparts of the fort in Port Royal. Sora and Roxas stepped out of the craft and looked around. It was suspiciously quiet. There were no voices, no birds, nothing. Just the sound of the rain.
"Something's up," Sora noted unnecessarily.
"No kidding," Roxas muttered. Both summoned their Keyblades and walked along the ramparts, watching for any movement. Then, a panicked shriek came from the beaches below.
"Will!" a female voice shouted, shooting through two octaves as she cried out.
Sora leaned over the rampart to look down at the beach, where Elizabeth, dressed in a dirtied white dress, was running across the beach towards the portcullis. Sora looked over to Roxas, and then they both looked back down over the rampart. Armed men, two of whom were holding a thrashing Will Turner, became visible as a short man led them out of the shelter of the archway towards the apparently angry Elizabeth.
"What is going on?!" she demanded.
"Good afternoon, Miss Swan. I'm here as a representative of the East India Trading Company. I have a warrant for your arrest, as well as that of your husband-to-be and your father."
"For what crime?" Elizabeth demanded, ignoring the rain rolling down her face and further soaking her dress.
"Aiding in the escape of a known pirate, Jack Sparrow," the man answered smugly.
"Captain!" Elizabeth and Jack both corrected savagely.
Sora stepped away from the rampart and pulled up the sleeve of his leather jacket, watching Roxas warily. He summoned his Keyblade and pressed the tip of it against his forearm, his face twisting into an expression of pain and release. Flames escaped from the point of contact where skin met metal, licking up the sides of the blade.
"Sora! What are you doing?" Roxas hissed furiously. The voice seemed to draw Sora back into reality and he removed his Keyblade from his arm, pulling his sleeve immediately back down. He leaned back over the rampart, seeing now that the armed men were handcuffing Elizabeth.
"Follow me, and play along." In one smooth motion, he vaulted over the wall, landing cat-like on the sand below. He heard Roxas land behind him with a dull thud in the sand.
"Afternoon," he greeted, letting an uneducated accent seep into his speech.
The armed men, the short man from the East India Trading Company, and both Will and Elizabeth had stopped whatever they were doing to stare at the intruders from the sky.
Sora grinned lazily. "I love a good beheading," he commented. Then there was a long pause. Sora looked to each of the armed men. "Well? You gonna cut some heads off or no?" he demanded. Then he chuckled. "Or are they slated for hanging? That's always fun, too." He mimed a hanged man, holding his fist against the back of his neck, and let his head tilt forward, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.
The short representative seemed to finally realize what was going on, and glared at Sora. "Just who do you think you are?"
Then Will seemed to recognize the two strange characters who had interrupted the arrest.
"Sora?!" he asked, surprised.
Sora's faltered for barely a moment, before cocking in eyebrow and crossing his arms. "Sorry kid, you must got the wrong man. Name's Avery, and this is my associate, Stone," he said, bowing and motioning to Roxas. Roxas bowed in suit.
"What do you want?" one of the armed men asked, pointing his rifle at him.
Sora shrugged. "Well, to be honest, I think this might be a few too many men for an arrest like this. I mean, these two aren't even pirates, they just associate with them. Do you really need eight armed riflemen to lock up these two?"
"Caution is the best policy," another riflemen answered.
Sora chuckled. "I believe the saying is 'honesty is the best policy', but close enough. And yes, caution to a point, but this is just stupid. One of the two you're arresting is a woman, and I don't think she would be able to put up much of a fight in one of those corsets. The other, well, he's just scrawny. Like I said, you don't need eight men."
"What's you're point?" the representative snapped.
Sora smirked at him. "What's your name?"
"Lord Cutler Beckett," the representative answered, puffing out his chest and trying to look important.
Roxas snickered. "Can I call you Shorty?" he asked.
Beckett growled. "How dare you speak to me that way!!" he shouted indignantly, his voice sounding very much like a female shriek. This only caused Sora and Roxas to laugh more.
"What is your business here?!" he asked, clearly getting angrier by the second.
"Well, as I was saying, you have far too many soldiers here for such a boring arrest. I thought I might make it a little more interesting. Give your men a good challenge, and if you actually manage to catch us, you'll be able to claim that you caught two pirates instead of two friends of pirates, eh?" Sora suggested, winking at the nearest man.
Instantly, Will and Elizabeth were forgotten and all guns were pointed at Sora and Roxas. Beckett lifted his hand, palm out, a signal to his men to hold.
"How do I know this isn't a ruse to help your friends?" he asked, motioning to the couple, who were now clinging to each other.
"These two? I've never met these characters in my life, though if I heard correctly, they be friends of Cap'n Sparrow. I dunno how he could possibly stand spending time with these straight-laced types. Even some of the lovely ladies of Tortuga are far too land-lovin' for my taste, eh?" Sora grinned evilly. "Though, this one's certainly pretty enough," he added, winking at Elizabeth, earning a gasp of distaste from her, and a growl from Will.
Roxas shook his head. "Relax, we won't touch your girly. Well, I won't at least. She's too old for my taste. But, Avery here, he'll go after any pretty lady he lays eyes on. I'd watch out for him if I were you," Roxas said to Will, nudging Sora. Sora grinned maniacally in reply.
"ENOUGH!" Beckett cried. "I don't believe a word of it. Smith, Johnson, take these Miss Swan and Mister Turner to the jail. The rest of you, arrest these two!" he ordered, pointing at Sora and Roxas.
Sora laughed. "It's gonna take all of your men, plus some, to catch us!!" he announced, before taking off down the beach. Roxas took off after him, and the six soldiers ordered to arrest them behind him.
About half way down the beach, the soldiers began to fire at them.
"Shit! Rox, this way!" Sora said, veering towards the line of palm trees growing along the wall of the fort. He jumped at the wall and kicked off of it, shooting upwards and towards one of the palm trees. He hit it feet first, the tree bending with the force of his collision, and then whipping back up, acting as a springboard for Sora to clear the wall and land on a roof just inside the fort.
"LOOK OUT!" Roxas shouted. Sora looked up on time to see Roxas land on top of him, sending them both rolling down the roof and into a pile of wooden crates below. Groaning, Roxas sat up.
"Damnit, couldn't we have landed over there?" he asked, pointing at a cart loaded with fresh cut sheep wool.
Sora stood up and brushed himself off. "Of course not. That would be far too easy. At least we lost those riflemen for the time being." He paused looking around at the handful of people who had stopped their activities to stare at two oddly clothed characters who had just fallen off of a roof. "Tell those riflemen where we've gone and you'll all have worse things to deal with than a couple of morons with guns," he threatened, before sprinting off down an alleyway.
They ran down an endless series of streets, trying to keep from getting lost. "Where are we going?" Roxas asked finally.
Sora frowned. "The plan was to go find Will and Elizabeth, and get them to Jack. He can help them make a run for it while we go on to the next planet. But I'm not even sure we're going in the right direction anymore…" he said, looking around.
Roxas crossed his arms. "Well, the jail is over in that direction," he said, pointing towards a wall. "And the beach is in that direction. If we want to cut off the riflemen who have Will and Elizabeth, we don't want to be back tracking that way. I say we go this way," he decided.
Sora nodded. "Lead away."
They ran off in the direction that Roxas had indicated. In a moment later, they heard an angry shout. It sounded like Elizabeth. "This way!" Roxas said, motioning for Sora to follow. The pair raced around a corner and skidded to a stop on the street. About a block away, were the two riflemen with Will and Elizabeth.
Sora tensed to take off at a run down the street, but froze when he felt a sharp point pressing on his back.
"I would advise against moving," a reedy voice said.
"Beckett. Very clever. I'm impressed you caught us so quickly. I must've underestimated you."
"Actually, I think you may have overestimated yourselves. You two are possibly the worst pirates I've ever seen."
Will and Elizabeth, along with their captors, reached them at that moment.
"So, you want to save your friends?" Beckett asked, making a wide motion towards the couple.
"Why'd you ask?" Sora asked in reply, sounding like he didn't care whether or not Will and Elizabeth lived or died.
"If you can prove that you are in fact a wanted pirate, then I'll destroy the warrants for the arrest of Elizabeth Swan, Governor Swan and William Turner, in exchange for your arrest," Beckett offered, feeling far too important once again.
"Fine," Sora answered, tugging at his sleeve. He lifted his arm, revealing a "P" shaped brand scarred into his arm, the mark of a convicted pirate. As something of an afterthought, Sora decided he'd flip off Beckett while he was at it. He knew Roxas saw the gesture, because he could hear the blond snickering beside him.
Beckett went red when he saw it. "ARREST THEM! NOW!" he bellowed furiously.
"Ah, let them go first!" Sora said, speaking now to Beckett little he was a child.
"Release Miss Swan and Mr. Turner," Beckett ordered reluctantly.
"And the warrants," Roxas added, wagging his finger.
Scowling, Beckett tore up the warrants. Then, he pointed at the jail. "Now take them away!" he shouted, giving Sora and Roxas one last look of disgust before turning on his heel and walking away. Two of the riflemen grabbed Sora, another two grabbing Roxas, dragging the boys up the hill towards the jail. Will and Elizabeth were left huddling in the middle of the street, watching the two supposed pirates poke fun at their captors the entire way to the jail.
Will wrapped one arm around Elizabeth's soaked form. "I'm not sure I understand what just happened."
"I think…two pirates just turned themselves in to keep us out of the gallows…" Elizabeth answered slowly.
"Elizabeth!" a relieved sounding voice could be heard from down one of the side streets. A moment later, Governor Swan came running into view, followed closely by a handful of servants. Reaching his daughter, he let himself smile. "Thank goodness you're safe!" The servants gathered around Elizabeth. One of them held a thick, warm cloak, which she draped around her shoulders. Then, she took Will's hand and took off towards the jail.
"We have to go see those two pirates!" she said in explanation, ignoring the surprised shouts of the household behind her.
Will just nodded in silent agreement, and they ran together up the hill and to the jail.