Now the final battle is beginning and the story is coming closer to the end! Wow, I would have never thought I would finish this trilogy but here I am and here you are reading this too! Thank you for riding along with Sarah and Abby as they found their places in the world of Pirates of the Caribbean. It means so much!
Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Pirates of the Caribbean. I only own Abigail Unger and Sarah Williams.
Chapter 12: Malestrom
In the waters between the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman, a whirlpool opened up, sucking the two ships towards it. The wind was pushing against the mast, giving the Pearl speed and less time for the crew to register how close they were to their enemy.
"Abby," Sarah called over. Abby checked over her gun and looked up at her friend. "Promise me you won't make any stupid mistakes, okay?"
Abby snorted, not sure if Sarah could hear it over the rain. "You know I should be the one telling you that!"
"Too late!"
Barbossa readied at the helm, steering the Pearl off to the side before they could get sucked right in to the maelstrom. The rain was thick and hard to see through. It pounded on Abby's head with the wrath of Calypso.
"Abby, here." Will handed her a second pistol. "You might need this in case yours runs out of shots and you can't reload."
Abby took the pistol from Will's hands and stuck it in her belt. "Thanks. What about you?"
"I have my father's knife if I need it."
Abby licked her now salty lips. "We're going to make it through, right? Just like always?" Will didn't answer. "Right?" Water ran down his face as he looked away, his jaw locking.
"I don't know."
Unable to hold back, Abby stood on her toes and kissed his him. Her lips lingered on his for a few seconds, before she pulled away, taking a step back. "If we make it, I am going to regret that."
Stunned, Will's eyes darted ahead and back at her. "Regret it? Why?"
"Because I know you love Elizabeth and I respect that," Abby shouted over the rain. "I just had to kiss you one more time before I faced that fact."
Will grasped her hand. The Pearl was right at the edge of the whirling water, meters away from coming in firing range with the Dutchman. "We'll make it through. I promise."
"Okay."
They split apart in a flash, Abby running up to the front while Will lingered near the helm. The Dutchman fired the first cannons coming up from behind them. The cannonballs blew holes in the side of the Pearl, wood flying everywhere with some men falling overboard.
"Captain the guns. Bear a hand!" Gibbs ordered as another cannonball flew past.
"Muster your courage, men. At the ready!"
Sarah handed a cannon ball to Marty who shoved it into the cannon, readying it up. She stood aside, waiting for the order to fire. The wait felt like forever. The Dutchman's targets were being hit and it was only for that matter of time before one blew a hole in the hull.
"Batten down the hatches!"
The Dutchman now sailed across from them, leaning over into the hole in the water just as the Pearl. They were nearly in line with each other. "Gibbs!" Sarah called. "When?"
Will answered. "Hold on! Wait for my signal."
Sarah gritted her teeth and turned away. The Pearl rocked, throwing her off balance and she struggled to hold on to something nearby. If Sarah was ever to step on land again, she doesn't think she would ever be able to walk. Solid ground? Overrated.
From afar, curious eyes watched Sarah. How could she be from another world? There was no such thing! Their hand tightened around the hilt of their sword as a grin appeared on their lips. Beckett would like that very much so. They moved along with a group that stumbled past, blending back in the sea.
With the feeling of eyes on her back, Sarah turned and squinted in the rain. No eyes were on her as far as she could tell, but her gut told her otherwise. Damn pirates.
At the helm, Barbossa bellowed, "Fire!" The command followed throughout the decks as cannons went off one by one. Sarah covered her ears as her's went off, trying the muffle the boom as much as she could. Yet her ears rung once her hands lifted away. Cannons fired from the Dutchman as well. Sarah couldn't imagine what it must look like from the other ships that surrounded them. Was it as dramatic as it felt?
Meanwhile, Abby hung on to a rope waiting for the Dutchman to come closer so she could swing over to there. Her arms felt like they were going to fall off from the amount of times she had to hold herself up on the rope to avoid falling over.
Debris, and even cannons flew among the decks, knocking people clean off the ship, or killing from impact. It was chaotic. Straight from a film and Abby could hear a soundtrack play in her head. A familiar soundtrack that had fit the moments precisely as if it was written for this exact battle. An all too familiar soundtrack.
The canons, the yells, the dark sky and the rain. Deja vu swarmed Abby like flies. Only it was that she was living it, not watching. The Flying Dutchman and the Black Pearl sailed side by side, cuing her to swing over. Taking a breath, Abby hoisted herself onto the rope and swung off over the water to the enemies.
Her feet hit the ground and she somersaulted to a stop. Popping up, she ran straight ahead towards to fish people who snarled at her. "Hello, boys," she greeted. "Miss me?"
"Not one bit," growled one. The both swung at her in unison. She ducked and leaned to swipe at one's side. His gut cut clean and his fishy insides spilled out onto the wood.
"You'll pay for that!" His companion sneered, throwing his sword down at her. Abby held up her sword to block it and swung them both low before swiping again only this time at his neck. The fish man sidestepping, twisting his blade around to knick at her side. A warning.
But Abby wasn't in the mood for receiving warnings. Not caring if she got cut, she screamed and swung her blade, parrying his blade again. The returning moves went on for minutes. Her arms screamed at her to stop, but her adrenaline told her otherwise. A jab here, a cut there, but not enough damage for one to fall.
"Just die already!" Abby barked, switching her blade to the right hand. Having her sword in the opposite hand felt wrong, but her left arm was killing her. The fish man laughed in agreement. But his reply was cut short by a member of her crew slicing his head off.
She didn't know the name of the person, but she thanked him. With mischievous smile that should have made Abby weary, nodded and ran. "Okay, then." She twisting her sword around and lowered it as she marched toward her next opponent.
"When do you think Jack will get over here?" Sarah wondered aloud over to Marty at the cannons.
Marty's eyes were up towards the masts. "I don't think it will be long." Furrowing her eyebrows, Sarah followed his gaze to see Jack and Davy Jones dueling on top of a mast.
"How the hell is that even possible?"
Marty shrugged, cocking his pistol and shooting down a fish person that was swinging over. "I thought we were already over questioning what goes on with Jack."
"We are, but this? This is a whole new level of extreme." Sarah left the station in search of Abby because of course she wanted to make sure her friend was seeing that as well. Old habits tend to die hard even in battle. Scanning the deck, not a red head was to be spotted. Panic set in as Sarah checked every inch over. "Abby?"
Abby wasn't on the Pearl. And if she wasn't on the Pearl that meant she was on...
"Abby!" Sarah growled in frustration. She lunged for the next rope just as one of Jones' men came over. They didn't see her as she grabbed the rope and swung over. Her footing was wrong as she landed, twisting her ankle. Sarah growled for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past hour. The red head stood right in front of her. Red streamed down her cheek.
"What are you doing over here?" Abby demanded.
Sarah pushed herself off the ground and ignored the pulsing pain in her ankle. "I should ask the same about you. I thought I told you not to do anything stupid."
"Sorry, but you didn't specify."
"Watch out!"
The antennae headed, Penrod, attacked. Sarah swung down to his abdomen, and Abby to his throat. He fell within a second.
"You know for one that's as skilled as the other in Jones' crew, that was way too easy of a kill," Abby commented, looking down at the body.
Sarah pulled her away. "Then we should get away before he regenerates or something."
"What is this Doctor Who?"
Sarah nearly dropped her sword. "What did you just say?"
"What?"
"What did you just say?"
Abby looked at Sarah with a bewildered expression. "I...I don't know! Now is not the time to be asking questions!"
"But you just said-"
"Sarah, shut up and just swing behind!" Sarah did as Abby told and her sword impacted a hard surface. The fish person howled in agony as his split arm. A body dropped down, knocking him unconscious.
"Sorry about that," Jack muttered, regaining his balance. He peered up at the girls. "Ah, it's nice to see you two again."
"Did you plan that drop because it was coincidentally convenient." Abby switched her weight from foot to foot, feeling not able to stand still. The rain still beat down at them, slowing their movements of attack. Sarah said some words to Jack that Abby didn't catch, probably making another smart comment as usual and he went off to who-knows-where.
"Let's get back to the Pearl," Sarah suggested, starting to limp away.
Abby didn't move. "Wait." Sarah stopped. "You go back. I will stay here. Someone should keep taking Jones' men down before they get over to the Pearl."
"Abby no-" Sarah started.
Abby cut her off. "Abby yes. Now go!" She pushed her friend off before jumping back into action.
Pain scorched up Sarah's leg as she had her weight thrown onto it. Limping, Sarah made it successfully back to the railing of the Dutchman once again before swinging back over. She forgot to check Abby.
Her third trip on the swinging ropes didn't go well this time. Her abdomen hit the railing in one hard punch. She doubled over the side, releasing the rope, and slid off. Her hands clung to the side as her legs dangled over the water. She screamed for someone to help and she pushed her way through the pain to climb over. Many curses later, someone finally helped her.
"You should get under decks," he told her, pushing her off towards the stairs. As she headed towards them with no questions, she heard his throat being cut. Thanks, buddy, she thought to his now lifeless corpse. She thundered down the stairs, collapsing on the bottom. It was silent down there compared to above.
"Sarah!" Ragetti exclaimed, running over and pulling her away from the stairs.
She pulled away from him. Pintel stood beside him. "Why are you two down here? You should be up there with the others!"
"You see we were," Pintel started. "But we went down here to get something and decided not to go back up."
Sarah scoffed at the excuse. "Cowards."
"We are not cowards!" Ragetti fought back.
"Sure you aren't." Sarah shifted herself into a sitting position. "Now, someone help me splint this ankle so I can get back to fighting."
