Chapter 11: When Men Take Initiative

Disclaimer: I don't own Pirates of the Caribbean

Author's Note: That was fast, right? Well, I'd like to thank all those who reviewed! I'm here to serve you the only way I know how, and I'm glad to know that I've been doing my job by giving credibility to this story. Enjoy this chappie!

Human Nature

by Quilapayuna

When Men Take Initiative

1720, Caribbean Sea

The dirty brunette laughed as she took a bite of the peach that seemed to taste better than heaven itself. The juices so sweet of nectar were both delicious from the intense hunger she felt…and from the fact that not a single pesticide was ever added. After a near three days of starvation, anything – even stale bread – would have been mouth-watering. Iris Uriquizá grinned with happiness and not only because the fruit was good.

"That's pretty funny, I can't believe she actually tried to fight you with a real sword – that's freakin' hilarious!" Iris chuckled as she heard the boy she came to know as Will Turner began to tell her a childhood story of his.

They were now in the forecastle of the ship, the quarters reserved for the crew members, and all though it was a little dark down there, it was a lot cooler and of course, there was food. Iris feeling completely relieved of her bladder problem, ended up engaging Will in conversation. It first started with small talk and then gradually progressed to telling stories. He was in the middle of his.

"Yes, well, we were young and although it was inappropriate, I suppose it's the lack of propriety that make most children behave so recklessly," he said smiling but with all seriousness.

Iris, who was about to take another bite, stopped short, "You're joking right? You were kids for god sakes! How is that at all inappropriate?"

"Children disregard rules of society," he answered.

"They disregard malice, you mean. Children don't follow society's rules because they do things out of pure innocence – it's adults who make these rules to control their own perverseness."

It was a difficult to accept the form of thinking of this century, decided Iris. Of course it was easy for her to accept that girls and boys had a right to play together, to study together, and to work together. The 18th Century however held so many regulations against basic freedom and all because of the dirty minds of men. How else could anyone explain why it was men who invented manual guides of etiquette for women. Rationalizing things through the eyes of males was an easier form for women to accept and conform to the restrictions men placed on them. Unfortunately, Iris wasn't going to conform even if she was stuck in this retrograde time period – she had the same rights like any man and she wasn't going to be convinced otherwise.

Will looked at the muddled girl unconvinced, "But she was a girl and I a bo—"

"You were children! Gender doesn't matter when you're that young. So what if girls aren't supposed to play with boys? It's inconceivable that a child could be thinking of anything but horseplay at that age. Nothing else."

"Perhaps," he uttered quietly looking down in what seemed something between guilt and embarrassment. "But that didn't stop me from falling in love with her."

For Will Turner it was difficult to converse of these things – especially about his feelings on a certain governor's daughter. Yet, looking at Iris, he realized that although crude and somewhat unrefined, she was easy to open up to.

Leaning close to Will, Iris asked with curiosity, "Is this girl…is she the one you're going to find?"

"Yes," he whispered almost inaudibly. "She was kidnapped by a crew of scoundrels and I don't care what bizarre ghost stories are behind them, because I will save Elizabeth if it's the only thing worthy I do for her."

Looking at him with knotted brows she dug further, "Do you even know why they might have taken her or something?"

Will looked at her for a second – it was the first time he had even bothered to think as to why they might have wanted to take Elizabeth. "I assume it's because she's the governor's daughter."

Nodding her head Iris stated, "So they're holding her for ransom. "

"I suppose…" responded Will. A concentrated look came over his facial expression and with a glance he brought up his gaze to Iris and asked, "Is it true that you're a spy?"

Rolling her eyes for the millionth time she had been sucked into this time-era, Iris sighed in frustration, "Not you too. God, no – I'm not a spy for the Spanish, I'm not planning on overthrowing British rule from their colonies or steal their resources – although, in all honesty, that wouldn't be at all a bad idea." She bit into the peach and chewed the soft tasty fruit while waiting for Will to say something back.

"Is it true what you said on the Dauntless about Lieutenant Gillette…?"He questioned further.

"Yeah, that motherfucker," said Iris as Will winced at her language, "tried to rape me…which is probably why he accused me of being a spy, because he couldn't get what he wanted." Growling in anger she added, "I swear to god, that if I ever get the chance to have that fucker one-on-one again, I'll castrate him in the most painful way possible."

Will cringed at her words which clearly pained his male sensibilities. He looked at her to say something in response when he noticed she was dressed rather…uniquely, aside from being filthy. But that wasn't the only thing that didn't seem to stand out. Like Jack, Will too noticed her way of speaking that seemed so…rushed; not to mention vulgar at moments. But at the same time, she appeared to be bright even when he barely knew her.

"Where are you from?" asked he asked directly to the point.

"I'm from New York," answered Iris honestly. 'Just not from your century…'

Suddenly interested Will leaned even closer as if to absorb the information better, "Is that why you speak so differently?"

Making a face Iris said, "You mean with an accent? Doesn't everyone from a different region or province speak differently? I mean even in England, people from London must talk differently from those who live in…I don't know, Cornwall."

"Yes," He began trying to express himself accurately. "But…yours is…very different."

She laughed genuinely, "I must sound like a stupid boorish American with my non-British accent. Don't I?"

"No," he laughed along. "I said you sounded different – that's all."

Iris laughed and putting her hands behind her head she was reminded of her body odor. As she stretched her arms out, she got a whiff of her underarms, "Ugh, I really need a bath – badly. I smell like shit...literally. I really hope that wherever we're off to, they'll have somewhere I can take a bath. Although…"

The young man looked at her as Iris zoned out into her mind, "Iris…?"

Looking at him as if something finally had dawned on her she said, "I don't have money…I don't even know what money I'm supposed to use…" This was sort of true because even though she was carrying about 50 with her, dollars were the equivalent of 18th century Monopoly game board money. Dollars didn't even exist yet – hell, the Alexander Hamilton on her 50 dollar bill probably wasn't even born yet. Snorting she said, "Well I guess there goes my bathing fantasies."

Tilting his head in interest he asked, "You don't use the British pound in the northern colonies?"

Iris opened her mouth to respond and preyed a good answer would pop-out because she was having one of those shifty-eye moments, "Well, yeah we do but…uh…those guys in the fort kinda stole it I guess." Hoping he would buy her fabricated excuse, she looked at her hands in sudden interest.

Will, figuring that she didn't seem to be someone who would lie about something so insignificant, he offered his own money to pay her a possible bath.

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly. That would just be shameless for me to accept something like that from you," Iris said in all gravity. "Besides, I like to make my own money, otherwise I feel like whatever I purchased wasn't mine to do so."

"That's a strange concept for a woman to have…"commented Will, "I thought all women enjoyed spending other people's money – especially men's."

"Ha, that's something I'm not going to argue because I think a good majority of women do in fact enjoy spending a man's money, but I couldn't possibly be content if I had to depend on a man to give me permission to use his money and buy things," squirmed Iris. "Eh, I think I'd rather end up poor and lonely than rich and having to tolerate a man's financial dominion."

But even with Iris's refusal Will insisted on her taking some of his money. Pulling out a small bag that seemed to be his savings of shillings and pounds, he handed her a few good heavy coins.

"Will I can't accept this – absolutely not! Besides dude, you should be saving for your future wedding," smirked Iris. "I do assume you're going to marry her, that's what you people seem to have a great interest in nowadays."

Smiling sadly, he declared, "I'm not good enough for Elizabeth…at least not wealthy enough nor do I move in the same social circles as she does. I am nothing but a blacksmith and so I will remain."

Outraged, she nearly shouted, "Don't you dare put yourself down! I mean who on earth is willing to make sketchy alliances with people who aren't of the best reputation just to find the person they love most? Dude, that is way 'O D' right there. And if she can't see you for your love and yourself just because you're not rich or famous enough, then I'm sorry buddy – she doesn't deserve you…But to be honest, you won't have anything to worry about."

Looking up suspiciously, Will asked bemused, "How can you be so sure?"

"How can she not love you when you're so noble, kind, brave and ridiculously good-looking…" Realizing what she had blurted out, Iris quickly said, "Pretend you didn't hear me say that last part."

Breaking out into a smile and then into a full blown laugh, Will chuckled and thought it so strange. Had that statement been said to him by any other woman he would very well have been beyond ill at ease. "Iris, you are probably the wittiest woman I have ever met…"

"That's very sad, Will. You need more friends," she said pretending to be serious.

He laughed a little bit more and then looked at her in curiosity, "By the way what does 'dood' and 'Oh Dee' mean?"

It was Iris's turn to laugh really hard, "Oh boy, I have to teach you my brutish American slang now. Okay, so 'dude' means like friend or 'mate' as I think a lot of you British folks say. Um, 'O D' stands quite literally for the letters 'O' and 'D' meaning overdose or something done in an excessive proportion."

"Those are probably the strangest sayings I've ever heard from anyone who ever spoke English to me…What does 'Oh Kay' mean?," remarked Will who seemed genuinely fascinated.

"'Okay' means like alright, good, fine – take your pick on one of those, they're all synonymous," she explained to Will who was nodding his head in understanding.

All of a sudden out of the blue he asked, "Do you have family in New York?"

Not knowing really what to answer to that Iris thought about it a bit before responding. So far she had told him the truth but hadn't precisely gone into the details. "Yes, I actually do have family in New York – both of my parents."

He stared at his hands as he asked softly, "Are you not married?"

The teenage girl looked at him like he had just grown a second head, "Married? Why would I be married? I'm seventeen. I'm not getting married until I'm in my late twenties."

"How do you kn— Wait, late twenties? Isn't that a little too…old?"

Forgetting that she was in 1720 and not 2008 she couldn't precisely argue with Will about age range for marriage when 18th century marriages were like legal pedophiliac systems. She was more than sure that child brides weren't exactly unpopular either.

"Well, maybe I want to be a spinster – being single is always fun," she said jokingly.

Whispering with all earnestness, Will said, "That would be an incredible waste…"

Shocked with astonishment, Iris looked at Will wide-eyed. He on the other hand turned tomato red with embarrassment. "Forgive me…that was completely out of place for me to say."

Trying to laugh it off in order to break the new uplifted ice, Iris said, "Hey, don't feel bad. That's probably the nicest thing I've ever been told by any man…and considering how freakin' dirty and busted I look right now...Thank you. Thanks, I really appreciate that – in fact I think that just made my day."

The blacksmith looked at her with dark chocolate eyes and smiled amused, "I find it amazing that you are able to twist my words into a friendly compliment."

Grinning like an idiot, Iris pouted like a gangster, "Chillax yo, besides – you're absolutely right. It would be a waste if I didn't get married. Like seriously, who wouldn't want to be with this sex appeal?" She pointed to herself for further emphasis.

"Sex appeal?" asked Will raising a brow in amusement. "What does 'chillax' mean?"

"Chillax is a combined word between 'chill' and 'relax' it means to take it easy or calm down. As for the sex appeal, well that's a whole different story and I won't get into the linguistically compromising connotations behind that one," she said holding the middle seed of the peach that had been completely devoured.

"Linguistically compromising connotations?" repeated Will looking at her with a disbelieving expression. "Those are big words for a blacksmith's vocabulary."

Iris chuckled lightly and was about to add something to Will's response when another voice cut her.

"It means that she doesn't want to be responsible for what her statement may have implicated." There stood Jack leaning against one of the wooden poles that held a tied hammock to it.

Both Will and Iris got up from the hammocks they were both sitting in. Neither of them had heard the pirate come down and who knows how long he was there listening on to their conversation.

"Now if you're done with this little tête-à-tête, I would gladly appreciate if you'd both get back to the deck and do some work," said Jack widening his eyes that matched the sarcasm that dripped from his words. Looking pointedly at Iris he added, "Otherwise I guess that makes an extra element of cargo."

Walking past Jack and up the stairs to the deck, Will left. The pirate captain however continued to stare at the dirty adolescent who was beginning to feel extremely uncomfortable under his gaze. Wanting to break the ice, she said, "I found the stuff you told me to check out down here."

"I can see that, luv." He continued to leer at her and even though he felt some sort of strange amusement from her awkwardness, he was also becoming more and more interested in his little "cargo" after hearing her easy conversation with the boy.

"Okay," she said after a while. Smacking her thighs as she grabbed the food along other essentials and placing it into a net-like bag, she looked at him again to see if he was still looking at her.

He still was.

"Alright, you know what, I'm sorry but I really can't take this shit right now," she said with brimming anger in her words. "Do you have a problem? Because in all honesty I swear to god, I thought you were freaking ataxic or something. I mean either that or just eternally drunk.

"But what I really want to know is whether it's you're natural disposition to be a fucking asshole or are you getting a goddamn kick out of the fact that I'm depending on you right now?"

Unflinchingly and demonstrating no astonishment at her temperament, the pirate smirked a golden grin and said, "No problem whatsoever, luv. I just want you up on deck, savvy?"

Breathing in a long breath after her exertion, she grabbed her things as well as the resources she found. Hearing boots walking up the stairs, Iris muttered, "Asshole" softly under her breath.

"Oh and one more thing, luv," said the voice of the pirate from the stairs making Iris jump in surprise. "Chillax darlin', you're the most productive cargo I've ever shipped."

Tying her greasy hair back, Iris wanted to cry. Never in her life had she ever been so filthy – never. Not even when she was covered with car grease from her mechanics classes did she ever become so disgusting. She probably smelt worse than a NYC hobo and Jack put together. Just thinking about how awful that would smell like, Iris wanted to throw herself overboard; at least the water would remove part of that crusted dirt on her skin.

Breathing in the air, she tried to ignore her own stench and concentrate on the smell of the ocean. To be honest, Iris always thought the ocean, back when she was in her own time, smelled funky – like rotten fish. Yet, maybe it was the Caribbean that was different…or maybe it was the lack of pollution. Either way, the wind in her face was refreshing and the view…well the view was spectacular. The water was crystal aquamarine, not that mucky sea green that was so familiar to the beaches in New York. The sun was bright playfully heating the waves out on the blue infinity that made her feel so insignificant. A small meager human at the feet of Mother Nature – insignificant she was to the beauty of the earth.

But the sky was perhaps the most breathtaking. They were so blue, so wide with only a hint of white cotton clouds. If she weren't dirty, if she weren't lost, if she were in control of her circumstances, everything – all of it – would be tenfold the magnificence. Even the polished wood of the ship and its bright white masts would have been better appreciated had she not felt so miserable.

And she would certainly be enjoying it more if that Jack Sparrow weren't such a douchebag. She really didn't understand how things could have gone so…wrong. It was all topsy-turvy and even if she were to blame Frankie for her sudden fate, that didn't solve her predicament. True, it was creepy enough she was having strange dreams with who knows what demons or devil or whatever evil wanted to communicate with her. Then she had also been assaulted by navy soldiers and was even close to being raped. And to top it all off she was ultimately in the hands of a drunk pirate who was the only one who really knew what was going on and who she was in debt of because he sort of, kind of, was the catalyst of their escape.

But there was Will Turner, and he was obviously the only decent thing in this whole scenario so far. He was so sweet and overall noble…but she couldn't stay around Will Turner because he was going after his rich girlfriend and she sure as hell didn't want to get caught up in that whole whirlwind. God only knew where they were going to end up at.

Sighing in resignation, Iris sat down on the deck leaning against the ship's hull. Taking her time to finally look through the stuff she had with her, she opened the wearing plastic bags and dumped out its contents.

Well surprise, surprise, she thought looking at the many things that Frankie had brought over her house during their sleepovers. There were, obviously, pajamas – rather scandalous really and sadly completely useless. Frankie was a rather thin girl and enjoyed wearing tight sleeping garments, that was a con for Iris considering that she herself was rather more thick although not necessarily fat either.

Putting the pajamas aside she looked at the other clothes. 'Jackpot,' thought Iris looking at the wife beater muscle shirt. There was only one but beggars can't be choosers so she didn't complain. Folding the green sleeveless shirt, she placed aside to take. There were a pair of shorts, although they didn't seem like they would fit, but considering that Frankie wore them lose like the wannabe ghetto gangster she was sure she could manage them on…besides there was no way in hell she hadn't lost weight after three days of being starved.

There was a pair of flip flops that seemed somewhat impractical if she was going to walk around all day, but who knew – she might find some use for them so they went along with the jeans and the shirt. And then there was something so wonderful and beautiful that Iris wanted to shed tears from happiness – in the pile was a small pouch with little sample shampoos, conditioners, soaps and other cleansing products. Of course they weren't fit for survival, obviously. Frankie had brought them over for quick showers and nothing more. But they were going to come in handy and she would have to make do – make them last till the very end if she could.

Oh, but what was this? Iris picked up a small silver device and what do you know – it was a camera. "Does this even have a memory card?" Iris asked herself out loud as she opened the camera's battery-card slot. Whistling and nodding her head in approval she stated impressed, "A four gig card. Way to go Frankie." The batteries were half gone but they were lithium so they could very well last a good while.

Turning on the camera, she zoomed in onto the landscape and shot a photo. Ridiculously happy with her new found familiarity, she began taking photos of the ship. Looking through the LCD screen on the device, she smiled knowing that this camera would have been something she would have taken for granted three days ago back in 2008. Something so unimportant, as material as it was, made her feel like she wasn't going insane and that somewhere, in some other parallel universe, there was a modern open-minded world waiting for her back home. And even as she took photos of the beauty surrounding her, she felt conflicted because although she felt she could stay in this splendor – she couldn't help wanting to leave away from the backward society that was enclosed behind those lovely landscapes.

"What is that?"

Startled, Iris nearly dropped the camera in a gasp. "Don't do that! You nearly scared the living daylights out of me." It was the second time he crept up on her in the same day.

Jack raised an eyebrow at her expression and looked at the things she had laid out on the deck. "If you don't mind, I'd appreciate if ye picked up yer thing's an' tightened the skyscrapers."

Folding her things neatly back into the plastic bag, she arranged it to fit inside her messenger backpack. She also stealthy put away the camera to avoid further questioning about it. Finally looking at the messy pirate in front of her she repeated, "Skyscrapers?"

"Aye, luv. The top masts on the ship, the really big ones," he said using his arms for further clarification.

"Oh. Those skyscrapers…I was about to say," she muttered the latter portion to herself. She wasn't that bad at history and she was pretty sure skyscraper buildings weren't made until way later at least in the following century.

He eyed her strangely and suddenly announced, "You smell funny."

Giving him the worst glare she could muster, which unfortunately wasn't really intimidating but still got her sentiment across, she responded, "You don't smell like flowers either buddy. I haven't taken a bath in three days but you look like you haven't taken a bath in three years."

Iris almost gagged when she saw Jack lift his arm to sniff his pit. "That's gross," she said giving him a look of revulsion. "What deodorant do you use, Passion Killer?"

"Trifles darlin', I have enough passion in my life as it is," smirked the rogue with that golden smile that seemed to reflect the sun's brightness.

"Oh yeah," Iris embellished by widening her eyes with exaggeration. "I'm sure sweaty armpit smell is probably a major turn on with the ladies. Very sexy."

Grinning like a sly fox he moved towards her and said, "You'd be surprised what some people classify as erotic."

"That's called 'fetishism' where I'm from. And I have a hard time believing 18th century women enjoy smelly men," mused Iris looking at Jack pointedly.

"And what century are you from, luv?" he asked catching her unawares.

"W-what?" she stuttered in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

"You said '18th century women' luv. Are you not from this century?" he asked playfully but at the same time with some degree of suspicion.

"Of course not," she assured him. "I just meant women of this century in general…in a manner of speaking…including myself."

"Uh-huh" he grunted in a low baritone voice. "Well luv, I think ye should get to those ropes. Wouldn't want te have 'em sails not up to their full speed."

"Alright, thanks."

Watching him leave towards the quarterdeck to the wheel, Iris sighed in relief. 'That was close,' she thought thinking at how frightening that one small moment of doubt was. Was it really that horrible for anyone to find out the truth?

'Like anyone would believe me? Yeah right…'

It was true. Something so out of the question like time travel would just send her to a nut house…or jail since they seemed to be one in the same in the era she was stuck in. Besides, even if they did believe her, they would think she was a witch who did some crazy witchcraft to get herself here.

'Well, I wasn't the one who did the witchcraft in any case…oh Frankie what on earth did you get me into?'

There were books on these sorts of things – string theory, alternative and parallel universes, and other urban legends that revolved on time travel. Was she in another dimension, had she fallen into a fabric of time…had Frankie's ritual opened a portal or had her little mumbo-jumbo ritual triggered some unknown force of nature?

Iris was a woman of science. She believed in the advances of technology, she believed in her greasy transmission oils, her 500 horse power model motor and she believed in what humans could do to progress.

Church was something she never went to, although her parents were semi-religious. After all, she was Hispanic and the Catholic Church was inescapable in every part of Latin America. But God was only a holy icon that meant nothing to her – except a part of history…a part of history that was conveniently setup to benefit certain groups. If you don't believe in God, could you believe in the devil? That made less sense to her, but if her dreams were at all credible then there was a Devil…as for there being a God…well a cynical part of her was convinced that God wouldn't bother contacting her unless she set-up an appointment. After all, as of late, he didn't seem to be on her side…if he was there at all.

Why would the Devil bring her here, she wondered…and why on earth would it be in this time period…? Was it punishment for something wrong she did? She'd heard of karma before but this was just unparalleled in all sense of the word.

Heaving noisily, Iris looked up at the clear blue sky that held the sun at its zenith. Closing her eyes for a moment to feel the warmth on her face, she leaned against the ship's rear. Under very different conditions this could very well be paradise. With that she snapped her eyes back open and walked herself towards the quarterdeck to start rigging the masts.

A voice caught her attention and for second she thought she was hallucinating, she swore she saw feet dangling from on top of the lower yard mast…

"Now, as long as you're just hanging there, pay attention. The only rules that really matter are these: what a man can do and what a man can't do. For instance, you can accept that your father was a pirate and a good man or you can't. But pirate is in your blood, boy, so you'll have to square with that someday. Now, me, for example, I can let you drown but I can't bring this ship into Tortuga all by me onesy, savvy? So?" He said turning the yard and Will back into the ship. He offered the blacksmith back his sword and proposed, "Can you sail under the command of a pirate? Or can you not?"

"Tortuga?" asked Will curiously.

Grinning with pleasure, Jack repeated, "Tortuga."

"Turtle?" Iris asked interjecting between their exchanges. Both men looked surprised to see her leaning against the rear of the ship. "We're going to go see turtles?"

"Turtles?" asked Will looking at Iris for further clarification.

"Tortuga – turtle. Isn't that what it means? Or am I wrong, Captain?" she asked staring pointedly at Jack.

"Aye luv, but it won't be turtles we'll be seeing in Tortuga," Jack asserted with an even larger grin and with a strange glint in his eyes.

"It's a pirate haven," explained Will looking out towards the horizon.

"Oh I see. Keeping it all in the family," said Iris beginning to feel the heat and irritation start to boil. "Thank you for having the courtesy to include me in this decision," she drawled out sarcastically. "I always appreciate it when I'm entitled in making my own choices."

Turning on her heel, she stormed the other way before she got any angrier. And even though the 'all in the family' part had been a mean thing to say, especially to Will who had evidently just found out about his roots, she couldn't help but feel her temper rise in having her rights stepped on. Because they were men they had the right to make decisions that were most convenient for themselves and to hell with her?

"Iris," she heard Will call from behind her. "Iris, please wait!"

Ignoring him, Iris walked all the way to the back of the ship. Leaning forward on the ship's aft Iris looked out at the water that was turning a darker shade of blue as the sunset was making its way.

Catching up with her, Will sighed and stood next to her. "Iris, let me explain."

Not responding, she narrowed her eyes focusing further on the horizon. "No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue…" she whispered almost inaudibly while tapping her fingers on the wood.

"Pardon?" he asked not really understanding where that had come from.

"What the hell am I going to do in Tortuga?" she asked succinctly. "Did either of you dedicate even a few seconds to wonder what I was going to do in a pirate haven? Or do you think I'll just fit right in?"

Closing his eyes, he shook his head in a 'no'. "I had simply assumed…"

"Assumed what?" snapped Iris. "That I was going to continue being Captain 'Jackass' Sparrow's cargo? Go take a reality check, won't you – and you can take that son of a bitch right with you. I can't stand him.

"I'm not going to stay with the two of you, first of all because you obviously both disregard me completely. Second of all, I'm sorry but I could really care less about your girlfriend or Jackass's little grudge."

"What?" asked Will who looked confused by what she had just said.

"Oh, so he hasn't told you?" snorted Iris sardonically. "Captain Jackass happens to have had his ship stolen a few years ago by his right hand man, or something like that. I'm not stupid, there's no way in hell that our dear captain took an interest in you for no reason – you were the key to get out of jail and now he has a trail to follow his 'archenemy' with…and get his ship back in the process."

"Unfortunately, it seems that I need him as well, otherwise I won't ever make it to Elizabeth." Will looked at Iris who was staring at the sun sinking into the ocean.

"Isn't she lucky to have you," stated Iris apathetically. "Some of us don't have anyone that'll come to our rescue. On the contrary, it seems that in my case I bump into people who want to screw me over even further."

"Look Iris, I don't know precisely what you're facing but I want you to know that you can count on me if you ever find yourself in need of help," uttered Will Turner who now held her dirty but soft hand in his calloused one.

Removing her hand from his out of both embarrassment and lack of experience with the opposite sex, she asked "Have you ever done metal arc welding with steel?"

Lol, yes I know its random ending, but trust me it has it's purpose. As for the upcoming chapter, there shall be much much more excitement! Keep the reviews rolling :)