A/N: I joked to MBlair that if I wrote 3 POTC stories that I have to admit that I finally "go here" now. Welp, this is number three XD
Whumptober Day 25: I Think I'll Collapse Right Here, Thanks - Disorientation | Blurred Vision | Ringing Ears
A Way to Live
She wasn't supposed to be the one with the ideas. But with the Black Pearl quickly moving to overtake them, Elizabeth had stepped in where the rest of Will's skittish crew had faltered. The Interceptor was shallower than the Pearl, yes, but it wasn't enough.
The choice to fight seemed obvious. What other option was there? After everything that had taken her to this point Elizabeth wasn't going to leave her fate to the charity of Barbossa or his cursed crew.
It was startling how quickly the world around her turned to madness. Their crew raced to load cannons, calling to one another while above it all Mister Gibbs coordinated with frantic shouts. Will was by her side, though, and that was something. He grimaced when she took a rifle but helpfully pointed out when she was underfilling the shot she prepared. There was a hint of pity in his eyes that spoke even when he didn't. She was the governor's daughter. She wasn't supposed to have to load and shoot rifles to save her own skin.
Elizabeth rammed the rod down the barrel with a vicious twist of her lips. It didn't matter what she was supposed to do; this was just practicality. It wouldn't do anyone any good if she cowered in the hold like a piece of livestock.
The ship erupted with further chaos when the first round of cannon fire went off. The very planks under Elizabeth's feet seemed to shudder with each roar. When the Pearl returned fire, she had to duck down below the siding and just pray that nothing was coming her way. Next to her Anamaria shouted to the others along the line to ready, aim, fire!
Elizabeth popped up over the railing just as the others fired their first shots off. Each rifle cracked, another note added to the cacophony around them. Elizabeth leveled hers against her shoulder and studied down the barrel. There was so much motion on the deck across from her as Barbossa's crew raced from position to position, so much the more invigorated by the madness around them.
"Reload!" Anamaria bellowed while Mister Gibbs surged back to their position. Elizabeth ducked down below cover again, her rifle still ready and her nerves just about fried. They needed a better plan now, didn't they? Couldn't Elizabeth think up something clever now?
They had to hold the line, that was all she knew. Even Will shook his head as he finished reloading. There was too much debris flying through the air to even breathe, never mind think up a new plan. "Here they come!" someone screamed further down the ship.
Again their line popped up and this time Elizabeth with them, her eye trained down the barrel like she saw Will doing. She narrowed in on a single pirate swinging over on a rope. Her focus was solely on him, tracking the arc with her barrel. He swung over their head and dropped down onto the deck. Elizabeth sucked in one last breath and squeezed the trigger.
Pain erupted in her shoulder as the rifle kicked. She blinked through the tears and sank again against the strip of siding they remained behind. Belatedly, she followed the same motions that Will and Anamaria did to once again load the rifle.
Was this it? Was this all they had left?
The man she had shot was sprawled on the deck and hadn't moved. Elizabeth swallowed hard and looked away. The Aztec curse had not been lifted. The man wasn't truly dead; not yet. But she still couldn't look at the way his body was slumped. And there were still more pirates coming in.
An explosion demanded their attention and Elizabeth screamed when the main mast went down. From there on she lost track of it all, not quite able to keep up with her own thoughts, never mind the battle that raged around them until Barbossa's crew had rounded them all up.
Part of her remained in that quiet, not really present, location in her head even as she screamed for Will while the Interceptor blew. His reappearance was reassuring even if his bargain ended with her stepping off the ship to join Jack on the desert island.
At least on the island she could think again even if her ears were still ringing from the battle. When Jack admitted to having no plan other than to devolve into drunkenness, Elizabeth did not quite refuse the bottle he pressed into her hand. It danced between her palms while she sank her heels into the beach and watched the empty seas around them. Even the Interceptor's smoking pyre had sunk into the water to leave behind no evidence that their skirmish had even occurred.
How quickly the world moved around her. Elizabeth felt as though her head was still spinning. The scent of the gunpowder burning seemed trapped in her nose and the ringing of her ears sounded like the clash of swords against one another.
Jack was unperturbed. Whether it was an act or self-defense at this point, she could not reason. He did however work to build a fire while Elizabeth clutched her untouched bottle. "You know, it's better inside than out," he commented before dropping onto the sand next to her.
Even the pirate's drawl sounded tinny. She rubbed at the spot behind her ear to try and coax the irritation away. Nothing would touch it. "How do you do it?" Elizabeth finally asked. She remained transfixed on the ocean, willing the white sails of the King's Navy to appear on the horizon. Or perhaps Will on some freshly commandeered vessel, safe from Barbossa's bloodthirsty clutches.
"Well first you pull the cork out and then you drink it, lass," Jack replied. He plucked the bottle from her and swapped it with his own already opened - and partially emptied - one. Elizabeth finally tore her eyes from the water to look down at the rum.
A laugh bubbled up in her chest. "That's not what I mean," she said. Jack waved a hand as though to say elaborate before relieving his new bottle of its cork with his teeth. Elizabeth's eyes fell on the pistol he had on his belt, the very same that she had handed back to him at Port Royal. "How do you deal with the killing?"
Jack winced, covering the motion up with a long swig of the rum. "I tend to think of it as choosing survival over the alternative," he answered blithely.
"The alternative," Elizabeth repeated with a shake of her head. She hefted the rum and considered it more seriously. She was thirsty, that was true. And her head was still spinning despite her feet being firmly buried in the sand. Cannon fire still rang in her ears and the thunder of her rifle sang in her veins. It was fading, yes, but Elizabeth could feel it there yet.
She downed a hearty portion of the rum, tears welling up quickly in her eyes. "I would not have thought that you would be so worried about there being a few less bloodthirsty pirates on the seas," Jack commented.
Elizabeth eyed him darkly. "It's not about whether they're pirates or not," she retorted. "It's about someone dying at another's hands." At her hands, potentially. She could still feel the cool slip of metal under her finger.
She had been able to see the man's eyes the whole while she had tracked him. Had been able to see his face, what made him his own person. And she had shot him in the back as soon as he landed on their deck.
Grunting and resettling on the sand next to her, Jack rested his drink next to hers. "None of those pirates are dead, love. They can't die," he said softly.
"Yes, but-" Elizabeth pressed. He shook his head again.
"It's no use tying yourself up in knots. Honest. They wouldn't do you the same courtesy, so why bother?"
She frowned and pressed her chin into her knees. That seemed like the easy way out. She looked at her hands wrapped around her legs. They looked the same to her now. There was no obvious evidence that she had tried to kill today. Tried and failed, yes, but tried all the same.
"It still doesn't seem right," Elizabeth murmured. This wasn't who she was supposed to be.
Jack exhaled slowly. "I didn't say it was. But you have to survive somehow, yeah? Gotta find a way to live with it all."
A/N: Blanket statement that I am now putting on my oneshots - Please do not ask if I am continuing these. They are single "chapter" fics which I am considering complete. Thank you. - DragonMaster65