And here's chapter 36. Hope ya like it! Oh, and I'd love to thank FunnyLittleMe and SoftlySpokenHeart. Thanks a lot for the wonderful reviews!
Disclaimer: POTC doesn't belong to me.
The sun's first rays were touching the cool waters and I was on a ship, this time sailing towards Comino to save my crew. The plan was that the knights were to drop me in the water a little way away from the isle and on the opposite side of where the corsair ship was docked. I was to swim towards the island, creep on their ship, unlock the prisoners from the brig and unleash hell on their capturers. Then we were to leave the corsairs on the island and sail away on their ship while the knights' ship docked and captured them one by one.
If my plan succeeded, I was to become the ship's new captain, meaning that I wouldn't be sailing back to the Caribbean on the Pearl but on my ship, if everything went according to plan. As the knights estimated, the damage should have been repaired, concluding from similar past adventures. My question was why they hadn't captured the Pearl. And according, to the knights and my assumptions, they were afraid that it was a bad omen. Quite stupid, really.
"We've arrived, miss," a native sailor said. "Aye," I replied as I climbed on the gunwale and dived into the sea. The only thing that bothered me was that, if the need arose, I couldn't fire my gun due to the wet gunpowder. The swim towards the isle was uneventful, and my fingers nearly froze off in the morning breeze, you know the wind was coming from over the sea, the sun wasn't yet up and I was soaked to the bone.
To cut a long story short, I managed to escape the enemy pirates and found my way on their ship. As the knights had predicted, the damage was already repaired and the ship was uninhabited, apart from the prisoners and the (one) person keeping guard. "Stupid idiots," I muttered to myself as I crept in the brig after knocking him unconscious with my pistol's butt.
As soon as the door creaked open, an avalanche of curses and insults were thrown towards me. I cocked an eyebrow as I stepped in the little light emitted by the small lamp. "You know, it's not very wise to insult the person trying to free you," I commented as I searched around, trying to find the key. "Ah-ha!" I said victoriously as I spotted a ring of rusty large keys. "Pia?" Jack asked in disbelief. "The one and only," I said flashing him a smile as I took the rings from the nail.
"Do you know where your weapons are?" I asked everyone as I started to unlock all the doors. "Aye, lass. What's going on?" Gibbs asked. "The knights are going to surprise and take them hostage, and we'd be gaining a new pirate ship for the Caribbean's collection" I said, "Now go get your weapons and let's set sail!" I said as I opened the last door. "Aye Captain!" the crew answered as everyone rushed out. "Captain?" I asked to nobody in particular as I smiled to myself. "Seems I won't be having problems with people remembering my title," I murmured as I looked around to check that no one was left behind and found Lisa and Jacob with Monika and some crying children and women.
"Come on, get out! Hide in the galley if you're too afraid to fight!" I said, opening the door even wider. They stepped out uncertainly and once they realized that I wasn't going to harm them, they ran out on deck. "Pia?" Monika asked hesitantly as she stepped out towards me. "Forgive me?" she asked holding out her hand. I looked at her skeptically and slapped her hand away. "Handshakes are for strangers," I said smiling as I hugged her. She was my sister after all. "Now come on, there's a battle awaiting me!" I said as I hurried upstairs.
"Captain!" Gibbs greeted me as I stepped outside. "What is it?" "They have another ship, they're about to attack us," he informed me. "They are, aren't they?" I mused. "Ready the guns and the cannons, send them to Jones' Locker," I said as I surveyed the commotion on board my ship. My ship. How sweet the word tasted on my tongue. "Aye, Cap'n," Gibbs replied, trying not to smile as he hurried away, ordering around the crew.
I turned to the crowd of natives that were lurking around on deck, uncertain of what to do. "So, any of you ever sailed before or know how to fire a cannon?" I asked. A couple of men raised their hands. "Right then, Mr. Gibbs!" I said, shouting the last part. "Aye, miss?" he said, materializing beside me. "Take these fine men down to the cannons, we found a temporary addition to our crew. Oh, and by the way, they don't understand our language, so you're aware of our situation," I said. He nodded and motioned with his hand for them to follow him. I turned to the remaining people, which included small children, women and a couple of old men. "The rest of you, hide in the galley and be prepared to defend yourself if need be!" and with that, they scampered away to their hiding places.
I smiled as I watched my crew (temporarily of course) in perfect symphony, preparing for the oncoming battle. "What would you have me do, Captain?" a familiar deep voice said from behind me. I smiled and turned to face Jack. "At the helm, Mr. Sparrow," I said smiling as he winked at me and strode, or should I say swayed, over to the helm. I walked over to side and surveyed the scene unfolding before my eyes.
The situation couldn't have been better for us. From what I concluded, the approaching ship had come from the open sea and it was sailing quite low in the water. Meaning that it was heavy with loot and it hadn't plundered the Maltese Islands, so, if we succeeded, we'd have more swag to add to our holds (had they plundered the Islands, we would've given the lot to the knights, seeing as were staying there at their mercy). My ship's bow was pointing out of the bay, so all we had to do was sail out, not spend time turning her around. The knights' ship was sailing from behind us, still hidden, meaning that if the need arose we were going to have back up in the upcoming fight.
"Change of plans lads! Run a shot across the bow! (Meaning: Send a warning shot to the other vessel's captain) And prepare to board!" I shouted. A cheer greeted my words as everyone took out their weapons and a warning shot was fired. "Cap'n! It's against the Code to plunder fellow pirates!" Gibbs said, as he hurried over to me. "I'm aware of it, Mr. Gibbs. But the Code also states that if said pirates are to attack, you may attack back and take your winnings, meaning their goods. And that is what they're forcing us to do," I said. "Aye Captain, come on lads, look lively! Her holds look fit to burst!" Gibbs said as he turned from me and hurried over to the men.
I grinned to myself and walked over to the helm. "Got any tricks up your sleeve, Captain?" Jack joked. "Aye. We board and win the fight we're about to have, threaten the captain and take the booty," I said. "Very original," he chuckled. "Well, I happen to be in the mood for the traditional attack," I said as I turned and went back on deck. "Let go the anchor! On my word- FIRE!" I shouted, ordering them to open fire. The anchor splashed down to the bottom of the sea, anchoring the ship in place, seeing as it wasn't moving. "Let go the wheel and board the other ship!" I shouted to Jack, as grapple hooks were fired towards the other ship. I grabbed a rope and swung over with half the crew.
As soon as I landed, a portly man came up to me and before I could flash a cheeky smile, we were engaged in a fierce sword-fight. I fought against several pirates, and I'm proud to say that I didn't kill anyone. I knocked out a good number of them, hurt some of them but not killed. As you can conclude I'm not very fond of blood, even though I'm a pirate.
I found myself fighting against a large smelly man. "Where's you captain?" he asked. "Currently? Defending her hide from you," I said, feeling cockier by the second as I dodged a vicious swipe towards my head. "I'm not joking, woman," he growled. "Neither am I," I growled back. "Where's your captain?" I said. "I am," he said proudly, distracting himself. I took advantage of his momentarily pride and knocked his sword his hand. I took out my white pistol aimed it at his head. "Tell them to surrender," I said motioning with my head towards his crew. He frowned at me and spat at my feet.
I raised my eyebrows and cocked my pistol. "I said, order your crew to surrender, if you want your head in one piece," I threatened as I pushed the barrel between his eyes. I wasn't intending to kill him, but he didn't need to know that. Seeing as I was threatening their captain, the crew quickly surrendered. 'My' crew was taking the swag over to our ship as another couple of crew members ripped the sails, making sure that they wouldn't follow us. We swung back to my ship and cut off the ropes binding the ships together.
"Raise canvas! Sail back to the Cave, the Pearl's waiting for us!" I said, earning another cheer. I was passing by the captain's cabin, when Lizzie's shout caught my attention. "Pia, look out!" I looked at the other ship to see their captain aiming a pistol at me. The first thing I noticed was the slightly open cabin door. It wasn't as thick as the Pearl's but it would do, or so I thought.
Just as I heard the tell tale bang, I stood against the bulkhead and pulled the door towards me, hiding and pressing myself further into the bulkhead. The only thing I felt was a jarring impact as the bullet made contact with the door. I stuck my head out the door and shouted, laughing all the time, "Missed! Next time, aim a little better!"
At first, I felt nothing. No pain, nothing out of the ordinary. But then, a searing pain ripped through my chest. I pulled my head back behind the door as I chocked on a gasp and grabbed the door's knob for support. I didn't dare to look down to where the mind-numbing pain was coming from, so after composing my face I stuck my head out and said. "Sail as fast as we can to the next port, where the Pearl is preferably. And don't disturb me," I said, and rushed in the cabin, closing the door with a sharp snap.
The first stab of pain gave way to a wave of agony. I walked towards the cabin's window as if in a daze and looked down at my chest where the pain was coming from, between my ribs and slightly lower than my heart. Blood was flowering and staining my, once white, shirt scarlet rapidly. Every breath I took was utterly and excruciatingly painful.
I tore my open my shirt and nearly fainted at the sight. Blood was pouring freely out of a small circular wound which was situated where my ribs separated, just above my stomach and under my heart. I put my hand over the puckering wound and observed my blood covered hand in a trance, while more blood pooled down around my feet.
Jack's Point of View
My relief at Pia's way of escaping the shot was something I couldn't explain. For a moment, I was convinced that she had been hit. "Mr. Cotton, man the helm," I said as I passed the wheel in his hands and made my way over to the cabin. I put out my hand to turn the knob and stopped. There was a whole in the wood, a small one, as if a bullet had passed right through. "That's odd," I muttered to myself. I was certain that Pia hadn't been shot; she had walked unattended in the cabin. That doesn't happen when a person's shot in the midriff. However, a thread of uncertainty ran through me and I burst in.
She was standing with her back towards the door, standing oddly still and facing the windows. I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her waist. Something wet, slippery and warm spilled over my arms. "What's this, love?" I said as I turned her around. A gasp of pain escaped her lips as blood dribbled all over me. "Pia! You've been shot!" the words flew out of my mouth in horror, stating the obvious, as her head fell back and the strength from her knees escaped, causing her to lose balance. My arms tightened instinctively around her and I carried her to the bed, leaving a trail of her blood behind us.
"Mr. Gibbs! Remington!" I bellowed as I placed her gently on the mattress. "Jack," she gasped. "Where's that bloody doctor?!" "Jack," she whimpered again as she raised her blood stained hand weakly. "Aye, love, I'm here." I said as I took her hand in mine and kissed it, smearing her blood on my lips unintentionally. "Am I going to die?" she coughed. "No, love. We're going to pull through this, together," I said as I held her hand tighter. She chuckled and said "Don't sugar-coat the unavoidable." At this point, Remington and Gibbs burst in, only to be stupefied by the blood.
"Jack," she said again. "I want you to know before I die-" she paused and drew a shuddering breath before continuing weakly "-I love you." The look of adoration in her eyes broke my heart and I couldn't stop the small tears from gathering at the edges of my eyes. "You won't die, love. I won't let you. You're not going to be taken away from me again, darlin'," the sweet assurances sounded convincing enough, but my firm belief was being shaken as I saw the life dulling from her eyes.
I kissed her forehead and she chuckled once again. "You smell like a-wet dog," she said, indicating my wet hair. "Pia, this isn't the best time," I sighed. "But I still love you, always have. It's always been you, you were the only one." She said. "Captains, we're pulling up beside the Pearl," Gibbs said uncertainly. I turned to Remington and growled "Go get your stuff, now! Or I'll keelhaul you!"
As he ran out, Gibbs said "I'll keep everyone out of the way," and he hurried out as well. I looked down at Pia, to see her start losing the battle for consciousness. "Stay with me, love. Fight it," I whispered as I squeezed her hand, trying to give her the courage and hope that I didn't have. "I'm sorry," she murmured as her eyes closed.
Don't hate me too much, please? What do you think? Will Pia survive? What about her ship and Jack? What do you think the ship's name would be, if Pia survives and becomes her Captain?
Next chapter will be up soon, I hope. The more reviews I receive the faster I update, just so you know. Till next time then!