The Great Disney Adventure III: Heroes and Villains
A Disney story by talking2myself
DISCLAIMER: See Chapter 1
Chapter 53. Two Dark Horizons
"Oh boy…What to do? What to do? Think. Think THINK!" Kronk mumbled to himself as he made his way through the narrow twisting alleys of the city clutching the bulky sack. "What do we do with the body?!"
Rob darted from shadow to shadow hoping to stay hidden though Kronk was so panicked right now he wasn't paying close attention to his surroundings let alone anyone following him. Kronk awkwardly shifted the weight in his arms and nearly collided into an alley wall.
"He's insane," Sophia whispered as she appeared at Rob's side. "Only crazy people talk to themselves."
Jack stopped short behind her. He glared at the air to his right. "Now is not a good time, Not-Kelsey. When I want the opinion of a hallucination that resembles my dead companion I will ask for it!"
Rob snorted. "I've got to agree with you there." He sped ahead again, the others trailing behind him. Kronk had raced down a short staircase and across a small bridge. Rob took in his surrounding quickly. Kronk was approaching another staircase, this one steeper. At the bottom of the steps was a large square. They were near some sort of market place. Llama pulled carts littered the area with poncho dressed locals milling about. Rob's eyes zeroed in on one of those peasants in particular. A tall broad-shouldered figure trudged forwards hauling a sack filled with supplies and looking suddenly much older and exhausted. Pacha.
Rob watched Pacha load up his little cart directly at the bottom of the staircase, before returning his attention to Kronk again.
"Come on Kronky, come on Kronky," Kronk was babbling loudly as he made his way down a short staircase. "What do I do? What do I do?"
Rob caught sight of the old alley cat sleeping on the step well before Kronk did. Rob let out a yelp of warning, but it was too late. Kronk stepped on the cat's tail. The cat screeched in pain and Kronk jumped in surprise. Both cat and man went down roughly. The sack flew from Kronk's hands.
Throwing aside all subtlety. Rob sprang forwards chasing after the sack. He could see Kronk still tumbling a few paces ahead of him. The sack bounced down the staircase like a slinky. Rob winced everytime he heard the sack hit the steps. Kuzco was going to have the worst headache of his life once all this was over.
Finally, the sack came to halt. It bounced off the last step and landed on the back of Pacha's cart with a plop. Kronk followed a few steps behind.
"BACK! ELBOW! SHOULDER!" he moaned as he hit the steps until he finally came to a stop at the foot of the steps.
"Meow!" the startled cat mewed as he landed on Kronk's head.
"PACHA!" Rob cried he sprang forwards accidentally stepping on Kronk's back and knocking the wind out of him. Rob lunged through the air and landed roughly on the back of Pacha's cart.
Pacha paused and turned towards them. "Oh hi guys." He offered Rob a sad attempt at a smile.
"WAIT FOR US!" Rob heard Emma wail. Kronk tried to lift his head only for the others to trample him as they raced forwards and piled onto the cart.
"Do… do you guys need a ride out?" he asked curiously.
"YES!" they chorused in unison.
"Oh great," Pacha said actually perking up slightly, "My wife love company. She can…"
"DRIVE PACHA," Rob hollered clutching the bag tightly. Pacha shrugged and the little company rambled down the road on their way into a thick crowd of people.
Dazedly, Kronk tried to move, the cat still clinging to his head. He shook the cat off dizzily and looked around. The bag carrying Kuzco sat on the back of the cart. He caught a brief glimpse of Pacha as the man led the loaded cart and the llama across the square. "oh," he moaned. "Hey! Hey, you! Hey!" Kronk paused as he delicately made his way around a heavy-set woman."Excuse me. Excuse me." He hurried forwards as Pacha vanished into the crowds. "Stop!" Kronk called after them. He gingerly made his way around more people. "Pardon me. Excuse me. Sorry about that. Comin' through." He yelled once more, "Hey, you with the cart!" But it was too late. He searched frantically for the man with the cart. But the man was gone.
"Uh-oh," Kronk said quietly. "This is not good. Hope that doesn't come back to haunt me." Kronk flinched again as he thought about telling Yzma how badly he had botched her plans.
-888-
Two dark horizons loomed on either side of the ship. The night sky was full of stars but for some reason both of the views seemed ominous to Will as he sat on the deck whetting his sword for the fifth time today simply because it gave him something to focus on.
To one side, the dark silhouette of the jungle's trees framed against the sky. There were plenty of strange sounds coming from the darkness interrupting the familiar cadence of the waves lapping against the side of the ship. Growls and hoots and some animal sounds that sounded almost like human screams. It was driving the crew mad and most of them had retreated to the lower decks.
…And Rob's out there in the middle of it. Will frowned and focused on his sword again. If he kept thinking about all the terrible things happening to Rob he would never get to sleep tonight. The truth was Rob could probably handle himself. He had been left to fend for himself alone in the Kingdom with a strong case of amnesia and yet he had somehow managed to survive until they had found him. But then again, Kelsey had been able to take care of herself too… Will shook his head briskly hoping that the thoughts would spill out of his ears.
The view from the other side of the ship didn't bring him any more comfort. The dark black sea roiling out behind was a familiar sight true. But he kept expecting the sails of the Jolly Roger to materialize out of the mist and swoop down on them. If that happened, Will wasn't sure what they would do. They could run, but that would mean leaving Rob and the others behind. That thought didn't set well with Will. And he had a feeling the crew wouldn't relish the thought of abandoning the only remaining Hatter.
Will was so tense that when he heard the faint sound of footsteps behind him he leapt to his feet brandishing his sword. Elizabeth froze in place holding up her hands placatingly.
"It's me," she said.
Will let out a sigh of relief feeling some of the tension flow out of him. "Sorry," he said sheathing his sword.
Elizabeth nodded. "It's getting late you should come below."
"I'll be there soon," he said quietly. An awkward silence hung between them. "Did you need something else?" he asked.
"No," Elizabeth said shaking her head. She turned and started to head back down below. Suddenly, she turned around sharply and stared at him. "Yes, there is something I need." She said. "I need to say something."
Will stared back at her. His expression unreadable. "Then, say it."
Elizabeth drew a deep breath. "It wasn't my fault Kelsey died." Will frowned and opened his mouth to say something. "No," Elizabeth clipped him off holding up a hand. "You need to hear this. You can't keep blaming me for that. I never meant for Kelsey to get hurt. She chose to go back for Jack. She should have never been on that ship. She decided to go back for Jack and she was killed on accident. I didn't do it." Will didn't look completely convinced. "As for Jack," she said coldly. "I made a choice. Yes, I killed him. I was trying to protect you, you and Emma and Kelsey and Jackie…" she trailed off helplessly. "I made a terrible choice to protect the people I love. The same way a certain blacksmith freed a pirate in order to protect the woman he loved." Will didn't say anything. "I'm going to have to live with what I did with Jack for the rest of my life," Elizabeth said quietly. "But forgive me if I wasn't going to weep over the man who would have gladly traded both our lives for a ship." She paused and drew a deep breath. "I traded Jack's life. I didn't want Emma to spend her time here being chased by a kraken, I didn't want Davy Jones getting his hands on Jackie or turning Rob into a fish. And… I know I would have never liked Kelsey as much as you do, but I didn't want her to die…" Elizabeth stopped suddenly as hot tears sprang to her eyes. She wiped at them angrily. "You have to believe me, Will," she begged. "I didn't want her to die."
Will suddenly rose to his feet and approached her. He gently pressed a hand to her cheek wiping away her tears with his thumb. "Elizabeth," he whispered gently. Elizabeth lifted her face and met his eyes, her face shiny with tears in the dull lantern light. He hated the sight. Even after everything that she had done. He still loved her. And that hurt most of all. He wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her that everything was going to be alright. But images of Jack brandishing his sword and Kelsey flying back to the ship kept coming back to him and the hurt struck him hard in the stomach.
"How can I trust you again?" he asked quietly.
"You have to know that I didn't want to kill them," Elizabeth insisted making a loud sniff. "I didn't want to." More tears. "I had to do it, Will."
Will shook his head. "You didn't. We could have run. We could have made it to land."
"That's a chance that I couldn't take. The Dutchman would have run us on down. It's faster than any ship." Will didn't say anything. His brow furrowed. "Will," Elizabeth said softly. "Whether we get married or not…" she paused. The words "or not" seemed to cut into her. "When all this is over. I plan to find a way to bring her back."
Will sighed. "She's dead, Elizabeth."
"That doesn't mean anything," Elizabeth snapped. "Jack was dead. Barbosa was dead. They're here with us."
"Kelsey's Real," Will said. "We don't even know if the rules apply to her here."
Elizabeth's mouth became a thin stubborn line. "Well," she said stiffly. "I intend to find out. I will find Walt Disney and beg him to bring her back if it will undo this."
Will stared at her in disbelief. "Why? You didn't even like her."
Elizabeth frowned and seemed to gaze out at the dark waves in the distance. "Because she didn't deserve to die," Elizabeth said quietly.
For a moment, they were both silent. Lost in thoughts and listening to the dark sounds of the Peruvian coast. Elizabeth finally sighed and turned back towards the cabins.
"You're not going alone," Will said suddenly.
Elizabeth froze in her tracks and spun around. "What?"
Will crossed his arms. "You're not. Going. Alone." He said slowly.
Elizabeth's eyes lit up like the stars and Will struggled to squelch the warm feeling of delight that suddenly sprang to his chest when she smiled at him. "Does this mean…?"
"No," Will said quickly holding up his hands. "Well, not necessarily. I'm not making any promises Elizabeth. I'm doing this for her and for Rob and for Emma." Elizabeth frowned but nodded. "But…" Will said softly. "If we can somehow…. Forget everything." Elizabeth flinched at the word "everything". The word suddenly seemed so heavy and managed to encompass so much. It was hard to hear. "Maybe…during this venture we can remember how to love each other again."
Elizabeth let out a small cry and suddenly flung herself at Will wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in the shoulder. Will slowly returned the hug. He hadn't wanted to. But every loving moment they had together was suddenly flying back at him. The day that they had first met, their first kiss after Jack had escaped the gallows, even their disaster of a wedding when he had glimpsed her in her beautiful gown. He couldn't deny it. He had missed her.
Will slowly lifted his head from her embrace to look out at the ocean. He suddenly froze. All thoughts of Elizabeth were pushed aside and immediately replaced with an icy fear. A dark shape seemed to move behind the mists. He could catch a sight of it in the dim light of the moon. It was a ship.
"Oh no," he whispered.
Elizabeth released him and turned. She squinted her eyes until suddenly she too caught sight of the ship. "Do you think it's them?" she asked.
"Who else could it be," Will said. "It's moving fast and there's no wind."
Will whirled around quickly and bellowed at the top of his lungs. "EVERYONE TO YOUR POSTS!" Elizabeth jumped at the volume of his voice before remembering their plans and moving to alert the others.
Gibbs emerged groggy eyed and still clutching his teddy bear… or at least that was Will supposed that the bundle of sailcloth was supposed to be. "What's… what's happening?" Gibbs asked.
"They've found us." Will frowned.
Gibbs swore under his breath. "We'll have to get out of here immediately."
"But what about the others?" Elizabeth cried. "We can't just leave them."
"Aye, but staying here to get blown up won't solve anything," Gibbs countered.
"Right now we don't have time for either," Will snapped. "There's no wind. We're not going anywhere so we have to hold them off somehow or head to shore and abandon the ship." Both Gibbs and Elizabeth frowned. "Just go wake up the crew for starters." Will said hurriedly. The two nodded before taking off in opposite directions. Will frowned and gazed at the Jolly Roger peeking through the mists. They were in for a very long night.
