"I'm not sure I've ever seen anything quite like it."
"I know…it's…strange…horrific even."
"I don't know whether to look away or keep starin'."
"How long do you think this can go on?"
"I don't know. She has to come up to breath some time…"
While the shocked conversation commenced the object of attention continued to plow face first into whatever food was laid out in front of her. Fingers quickly maneuvered the food around her mouth and teeth made quick work of everything from meat, bread, fruit, and anything in between. Bits of food were lost on the sand below and in the large cuffs of the coat she now adorned, but the young woman made no attempt to remove them. Every few odd minutes she would drop the foodstuffs and turn to the mug, which was being continuously filled to the brim with fresh water to send the clumps in her throat down into the depths of her still grumbling stomach. It seemed that this beast was insatiable.
"Quite an appetite she's got now," Captain Jack Sparrow gurgled from beside his lass before drowning the last of his short rum supply and throwing a limp arm over Ryder's tensed shoulders. The crewmembers only nodded slightly and watched on as the food continued to disappear. The girl mumbled something in response, as she wiped away some of the excess on the borrowed sleeve of Jacks garment, but the quip was muffled by the lump of bread shoved into her open mouth.
The idea to remain on the island for the night did not set well with Ryder for the first few minutes, which was filled with a strange mixture of kisses and petty arguments between the captain and her. Sand and trees were growing old by the minute and she was quickly turning over into a stubborn mood as the crew began to gather wood for the fire after the word from Jack Sparrow. However, all was well once a trunk of food was hauled onto shore with the last longboat. She hadn't said a word since.
Hours passed and the young woman, leaving her belly up on the warm sand, staring up at the slowly darkening sky as her body struggled to digest the massive amounts she had shoveled down, obliterated the food into nothing but various crumbs and bits. Even with the thick layer of the pirate captain's coat covering her torso, she could already tell there would be an amount of weight gain from her feast. But, it was nothing she couldn't work off. Besides…it was worth every gram.
"Ya look like a beached whale, love," a familiar voice rang in her ears as Jack left the small ring around the fire to join her off to the side as she regained control.
"You have no idea," she stopped for a moment and took in a deep breath, "No idea how much I missed those little insults of yours, Cap'n."
Sparrow gave a small chuckle before collapsing on the ground beside her, his hands rarely free of any rum bottles. Running his long fingers over the small dunes of sand, the man glanced up at her for a few moments. "I know what you mean."
There was a stiff silence for a few strange moments afterward. Ryder only lay quietly and absentmindedly counted the stars as they all began to appear overhead, her small hands gripping at the rough material of Jacks coat around her. Her mind went over several thoughts. From how much she had ate, to the letter still up by her little fort from Franklin, to the fact that she hadn't seen her eye patch in days and was walking around exposed to the crew, and all the way to the realization that none of them had grimaced toward the ugly scar.
Jack glared down at the grains of said beneath his palms and clenched his teeth uncomfortably. His mind was clear…too clear. He couldn't remember the last time he had been this sober. In fact, it took him a few days to realize that he was, in fact, sober. A few sips of alcohol here and there did nothing for him, and he was constantly kept in an equal state of mind, able to make sense of all the things he hadn't before. It was strange…nearly disturbing. This girl had driven him to soberness.
Said girl sat up slowly from her resting point and wrapped the heavy garment further around her, bringing another sound of amusement from the captain. She looked terribly small in the thing.
"I hated you for a while," Ryder suddenly spoke up, her voice soft yet strong at the same time. "I spent hours…sometimes the whole day, just thinking about what I would say to you if I ever saw you again. I thought up curses I didn't even think I knew."
She glanced up from her lap to look at the man beside her, who was simply staring past her and towards the forest behind.
"I didn't think I could hate anyone as much as I did you for a few of those seconds…" she rubbed a hand up and down her arm, "I didn't like it. Made me feel even more alone than I already was. I didn't-"
"I'm not a good man," Jack cut in, his voice deep and bitter with self-truth that brought the young woman's head up straight. A few seconds passed before he continued, never allowing his eyes to wonder back towards the girl. "In the end my actions are always justified…they always get buried under the 'good deeds' I did afterward. But…one good deed don't make up for a lifetime of wickedness," the hissed out, his memory reaching back to what a commodore had said to him a few years back. "Tis the way of a pirate, eh love?"
"Jack…you're…I don't-"
"I'm selfish. I did what I thought was right and not what I knew was right," he stopped and tilted his head back slightly so his chocolate eyes were able to observe the dusk sky that Ryder was studying a few minutes beforehand. As he continued, Sparrow rolled his eyes back down toward the young woman with a weary smile on his face. "This ain't something' a man can make up to his lass with flowers and trinkets, is it?"
A pause.
"No…no it's not," Ryder answered with a small jerk of her head to the side and again let the silence come over them both. They were both sure the others were aware of the tension filled discussion going on a few meters away, but they kept a good job of ignoring it.
"You're not a good man," she finally said, "You're not, Jack. I knew you weren't the first day I saw you. But," she stuttered when the pirate slowly nodded his head in agreement. "You're not a bad man either."
"Darling, we both know that-"
"No," she interrupted just as he had so many times, "You're not a good man, you're not a bad man…is it so terrible to be in the middle? Why can't you bounce back and forth from one to the other every now and then?"
"You're jus' pullin' for excuses now."
"No, Jack," she grumbled, reaching out for the right words to speak her thoughts, "You're a pirate, you're not suppose to be a good man…but you don't have to be a bad one either. I just…just expected a little too much I guess."
"You shouldn't have to lower your expectations, love."
Ryder only glared at him from across the small space that parted them as her mind processed the tone in his voice. It confused her. This conversation was slowly leading up to another fight between the newly reunited couple and his words led her to believe its end wouldn't be the one she wanted. Did he want her to leave after she got off this island? Did he want her gone? Just the thought of it made her shake her head roughly and grimace in disgust. It wouldn't make sense at all. Save her, and then push her away once more?
"Jack…" she drew out silently giving him a cautious look as her mind prepared for what was to come.
"I think you need to-"
"No, no, no, no!" the young woman shrieked immediately before shooting to her feet. To her right, the crew tensed from the sound of yelling behind them and slowly began to shuffle further away. "Don't tell me anything!"
"There are proper ships that can take ya the rest-"
"Shut up!"
"They can keep ya safe better than we can, love."
"Too bad, I don't care," with that said, she stomped off in the opposite direction where her makeshift home of sticks and clothing sat. Behind her, she could hear Jack clambering up and following her closely. It was amusing to see the tiny female move about in his large coat, constantly pulling up the sleeves with an irritated grunt.
"You should," he spat.
"You know what I think, Jack?"
"No, what do you think, Ryder?"
"I think they need to jus' bloomin' lay together and get it done with," a crew member whispered from the sidelines, quickly receiving a firm slap from Ana Maria who then herded the other men away from the growing battle ground.
"I think you need to let me choose what I want to do!"
"Really?" the captain sneered crossing his lanky arms over his chest.
"Yeah…I mean…" she paused and took in a deep breath, only to release it in a huff, "I'm not a picture of goodness either."
Jack only gave a face that told he was becoming highly irritated at her attempt at rationalities or he was about to laugh in her face. That, of course, made the woman angrier.
"If someone gave me the chance, Jack Sparrow, just a chance to hitch a ride to Port Royal with someone else…the Navy perhaps…I would've turned you in so you could rot in a cell. Just a word from some officer or commodore and I would have handed you over in a flash, Jack!"
Sparrow tilted his head back slowly as she spoke before he allowed himself words.
"Bloody liar."
"Am I!"
It only took her exaggeration on those two words to bring Captain Jack Sparrow tumbling into realization. She wasn't bloody lying. Her little face was beet red with truth and her fists were balled up tightly beneath the cuffs of his jacket. Her mouth was clasped shut fiercely and her eyes, both seeing and not, sent a harsh truth slamming into Jack.
She would've done it.
"You know what else?" she continued, her rage not quite done yet. Turning from the man, she disappeared under her tiny tent for a moment only to return with a small baggy. Its rough brow exterior was immediately recognized as the same bag he had attempted to take during their first meeting. Its presence matched the situation perfectly. That was the beginning, and judging by the way things were going, this could be the end.
"Bringin' up old arguments, are ya?" Jack mumbled with a titled eyebrow.
"No," she hissed before plucking something from the back and tossing it roughly at his chest. He was taken aback by the small show of violence, but soon recovered and snatched the object from the ground. It was a ring. A simple gem incrusted ring that appeared to have seen it's better days, though it would still fetch a healthy price at any market.
"And here," another worn piece of finger jewelry was tossed at him, "Bet you didn't even notice they were gone did you? I was gonna trade them in for some money when I came across a town, but as you can see, there's not many merchants 'ere."
"Notice?" Sparrow puzzled for a few seconds before returning his concentration on the two items in his hand. They were nothing out of the ordinary, just simple little trinkets that could be found aboard any pirate vessel.
Pirate…vessel…
Slowly turning over his other hand, Jack examined the long, dirtied fingers carefully. Everything was in order, except for the strange lack of two metallic objects that were generally found wrapped around two fingers. Now there was only pale, un-tanned skin showing through. His brown eyes moved from his fingers to the rings, rings to the fingers, then back again. A few feet away, Ryder placed her hands on her hips and waited for some sort of reaction from the captain, who was taking his time in figuring the situation out.
"You-" he started.
"Yes."
"How did you-"
"Not sure, but I did."
A lengthy pause.
"You were able to lift jewelry…right from a pirates hand?"
"You need to learn to not get so distracted, mate," again she pulled something from the sack and let it fall to the ground. A bracelet. Then an earring was pulled out, then a small red pendent.
"Where did you…"
"A man on Bolomeirs crew, Charlie, and a bloody whore in some tavern you dragged me into," Ryder explained and pointed to each idem in order. Afterwards the two were silent, Jack still trying to figure out when and where the girl could have taken the rings, and Ryder preparing another outburst if he were to go into another speech about how she should leave him.
"You're a thief?" the man questioned with a small twitch of a smile. She only jerked her eyes up toward him and shifted on her feet.
"No…no. Jus'…sometimes I like to have what…ya know…I like," she licked her lips anxiously and brought a harsh tone to her voice, "Except for that second ring. I took that out of spite."
"You're a thief," Jack stated plainly, finally allowing a gold-toothed smile to spread mercilessly over his face. Rolling the rings around in his palm and slipping them back into place on his fingers and approached the young woman, his face beaming with some odd sort of pride. "You're a damned little pickpocket, love."
"Maybe a little," she murmured and grinned with a soft shrug of her shoulder.
"Jus' a little," he whispered throatily and stepped over the fallen jewelry to move his hands up to smooth over the sides of Ryders face and into the tangled, greasy locks of hair that any other man would scoff at. It was strange how something that could break apart any other 'relationship', if it could rightfully be called that, did the exact opposite for them. It was strange, and yet comforting.
The thoughts of Ryder going away seemed to seep away as the inches disappeared between them. She climbed up carefully on the thick ends of Jacks boots to give her a little more height, though was still forced to raise up on the balls of her feet. The array of kisses ranged from light to rough as soon as their lips touched. Jacks beaded hair tapped the side of Ryder's face every now and again and the buttons on the wrists of the jacket she still wore dragged along his skin when she moved, but they paid no attention to such things.
"Jack," Ryder spoke hoarsely and difficultly from the attention the good captain was giving to her bottom lip.
"Ryder," he replied absentmindedly.
"Jack…where's my horse?"
"I swear, I don't know how he's going to survive the rest of this, Jack," Ryder said as the two stood below deck where they had been only a few weeks ago when the first encounter with the Bolomeir family left Nero injured in the bowels of the Black Pearl. This time, however, the large stallion was only able to stand for short amounts of time, mainly only lying heavily on the leaking floor. His already pained leg was again out of commission, though the rest of his appendages weren't up to the task of holding up the near two thousand pound animal by themselves. Cuts marred his flanks and belly, the fresh meat standing out terribly against his midnight pelt, even though some friendly member of the crew had cleaned up the majority of the damage.
"We thought he was dead," Jack rolled out and leaned against the doorframe, "He got lucky."
"Yeah," she bent down and patted the horse lovingly on the cheek, "Old thing."
A pregnant pause.
"Do you know who the men were that came for you, darling?"
"I'm assuming someone who knows that fella with the ships," she guessed correctly while going over the wounds on the animal in front of her.
"He's Vincent's kin, it would seem." Ryder instantly stiffened by the name. There was only one Vincent she was familiar with, and frankly she didn't want anything more to do with anyone connected with the man. "Name's Victor."
"After the amulet I'm assumin'?"
"I suppose it serves as a material goal, but I believe, love, that his intent is on blood rather than treasure."
"Blood?" she paled instantly.
"Revenge is a powerful motivator."
"Course it is," Ryder brushed past the captain and toward the staircase up toward the deck that held memories, both good and bad, for the two.
It was good to set foot on the Pearl again. Its stableness was a relief from being on the loose, grainy sand of the beach for so long. Though the bustle of the other crewmembers was absent, Jack and her returning alone briefly to the ship, the creaks and groans of it were enough to make it feel like home. The pops that came from the steps when she climbed up them reminded her of the times when she would be forced to turn around and face Jack and whatever was happening between them at the time. Be it her return from murderous captors, or his traitorous manners.
Luckily, at the moment, she didn't feel the need to deal with either circumstance and instead retreated in the direction of her small cabin, leaving a quiet Sparrow down in the hold. She wasn't angry with him, he knew, she was tired. Tired of it all. Though the idea of dumping her in some well-to-do town with money to buy safe passage to Port Royal was abolished after the 'conversation' on the beach beforehand, Jack still wasn't thrilled with the idea of having to drag her through the wrath of another Bolomeir.
A few minutes of standing in silence, Captain Jack followed the path of the young woman and moved up onto the barren deck, no sign of the slightly disgruntled Ryder to be found. Forgetting the fact that she still had his coat, he sauntered over the open space toward the Captains Quarters. She obviously wasn't returning to the island, judging by the quickly closing of her door. Glancing back toward the beach, lit up by the fire that had been created a few hours earlier, the pirate pondered the idea of returning to shore to have a few refreshing beverages with his crew. However, the thought of waking up in the morning to a headache and a screeching Ryder, upset at him for leaving her abandoned on the Black Pearl through the night, was not something he felt like living through.
So, leaving the sight of the glowing island, he flicked the handle on his door and pushed through before bringing it shut with a lazy boot. A half-dead horse, a depressed and/or irritated girl, and a slowly tiring captain. What a lively group they were.
The patters of feet echoed over the Black Pearl through the darkness of the Caribbean night. The light, which had radiated from the fire yards away, was long since extinguished and the sounds of voices that once covered the sand and water quieted down to soft snores. The ship rolled in the gentle waves that pushed against its sides, giving the ones resting inside the sense of being in a comforting cradle. The rocking sound gave the perfect coverage to the creeper dashing across the thick boards of the deck and toward the strong door on the far end. A hand reached out and gripped onto the chilled handle, slowly unlatching it and gaining entry into to the pitch room. Feet carried the intruder onto the throw rug that lined the nice floor as the door fell shut behind them with a small thud.
Across the room, the man resting in the bed threw a hand out across the mattress restlessly, causing the being to cease movement for a time until the sleeper fell back into a steady state of dreaming. The moment his breath returned to normal, the supposed trespasser began their movement across the room once more, avoiding any tables or chairs that may bar the way. Articles of clothing splayed over the floor messily, causing larger steps to be taken. The pirate's boots were clumped together next to the bed, surely to do nothing but trip up their owner when the morning came.
"Messy bastard," the prowler spoke and kicked the footwear away from the bed, knowing full well the sound of them clattering against the wall may wake the man. No bother, they were close enough, stealth didn't matter much now. A hand reached into the pocket of the garment the intruder wore and pulled out something hard and metallic. It was moved up and over the slumbering pirate until it rested just above his forehead. Why the constant bandanna was worn during sleep as well was baffling, but it wasn't the problem at hand. The sharp edge of the object was touched carefully by the snoopers thump before it was dangled over the captain for a few seconds. A snort echoed through the cabin, evidently a sign of deep sleep from Jack Sparrow.
"Time to wakey, wakey, dear Captain," the guest of the room chuckled before the object held in the hand was dropped and thudded on the sleeping mans forehead, instantly bringing him from his slumber.
"Hell's goin'…" he mumbled with sleep still rough in his voice. The invader only slapped the object down on his face again with a snort of their own. As soon as they were sure the Sparrow was fully awake, the trinket was dropped on the bed with a chuckle of delight.
"Gettin' hit with that thing always brings you 'round, don't it?"
Before Jack Sparrow could utter a word of reply, another object was tossed on the bed lightly. In the darkness, the pirate gripped around for it, fearing it would be something of ill intent. However, his nimble fingers only found the dirtied fabric of a coat. His coat. Further inspection allowed him to realize the object he had been so rudely awoken with was none other than that accursed necklace that had turned his life upside down and all around. He sat with the pendant in his hand, eyes turned and searching for some hint of a figure in the shadows of his room.
Suddenly, the blankets, which covered the vacant side of his bed, were tossed aside. The mattress caved in slightly as another weight crawled upon it and made it's way closer to Jack. Another hand searched along the sheets for his own and brought up to touch upon bare skin. His fingers fanned out slowly to blindly study the exposed flesh that was offered to him. As his palm moved, the curve of the body was apparent. It was cool, yet held a slight sticky nature from the humidity of the area.
Jacks eyes slowly began to adjust to the dim lighting and was finally able to make up the details of the body and face that was before him. She was small, but could hardly be mistaken for a child no matter what angle you looked at her at this state. His hand easily covered a large amount of her bare hip, while the other quickly did away with the necklace and garment by tossing them aimlessly as far away from the bed as he could manage. In unison with his toss, her hand reached out and snatched away the red piece of cloth that covered his head, flipping it over her shoulder lamely, causing the captains hair to splay forward.
"Let your hair down for a while, Captain," Ryder whispered before yanking the blankets up and over their two bodies. He wasn't sure what had slithered its way inside his lass to bring this mood upon her, but he only had two words in small response before he allowed whatever it was to take him over as well.
"Blasted girl…"
Cat call Whoooooa! Finally made it happen. I suppose I owe it to everyone for making you wait for so damn long. My apologies. But, please, don't forget to REVIEW!