Days passed, and still, Rose was rendered useless by Will's secret intent to keep her out of harm's reach. Therefore, Rose spent the next painstakingly long days on the ship trying to make water move. If she was to be the most useful, she had to know how to control the element of water to the utmost extent of her newfound powers. One particular day, when the ship was anchored in the harbor of a new island and the vast majority of the crew were ashore looking for one of Jones's forgotten prisoners, there was barely anyone aboard save a man or two performing various odd jobs as the ship bobbed peacefully on the Locker's calm seas. Rose took the opportunity to practice her powers. She leaned across the starboard rail and stared at a centralized spot of water floating beneath.
She began by emptying her mind of all thought, concentrating on only what she was seeing. She stretched out her hand and...nothing. She tried again.
Nothing.
She beat her hands on the rail, cursing under her breath. Her head wasn't clear, it was spinning. She was flighty and finicky.
Stop thinking. Concentrate.
Nothing. Not even a ripple of a wave. Just stillness.
James had arrived shortly thereafter. If there was one thing that Rose noticed since discovering that he too was a crewman aboard the Dutchman, it was that James never went on the scouting missions. She noticed that Bootstrap would approach him occasionally, presumably extending him an offer, but James would always refuse, electing to stay separate from the others. When he approached her this day after yet another refusal to go ashore, he let out a sharp exhale of air. "Back at it again, I see."
"Yes." Rose felt mild annoyance. She didn't need his teasing right now. Progress was eminent, she knew it. She just needed to focus…
Concentrate. CONCENTRATE.
She stared into the waves, now black, reflecting dark clouds that loomed overhead. She held both of her hands outstretched and closed her eyes.
"Perhaps its time you rested," his voice pierced through the silence.
Rose opened her eyes. He was standing adjacent to her, just a few meters away, hoisting a bucket of water into the ocean. Rose felt anger boil through her blood. "I'm doing just fine, thank you."
He peered over the edge. "Doesn't look like it."
"Do you mind?"
He raised his eyebrows, and put a hand up as if to say, "Alright, I'll leave you alone."
Rose turned back and closed her eyes, her pulse elevated. Now you have an audience. Now you are being judged...
Splash.
What?
Rose opened her eyes and to her great surprise, she saw beneath her ripple upon ripple coming from the waves beneath her. Her eyes caught James's. They shared a bewildered glance, then together their eyes turned back to the sea.
She leaned forward closer to the water and held out her hand.
Nothing.
Rose was incredulous! That couldn't have been her imagination! She pounded on the railing again, letting out an exasperated growl. "It's not working!" she yelled.
"What exactly are you trying to do?" James asked, moving slightly closer to her.
"I supposedly have been granted power over the seas."
He nodded. "I've heard rumors of that going around. How's that going?"
She glared at him and motioned to the waters below. "Clearly, it's not going anywhere! It's impossible! I can't get this right."
He leaned over the railing. "Well come on. Try once more."
Rose looked skeptical, but closed her eyes again.
Please. Please, just once more. James is here.
Splash.
That time she saw it! As though she had thrown invisible sand into the sea, the beads of water on the surface had bounced to all sides, creating those endlessly growing ripples. She beamed.
"See?" he said. "Do it once more."
Rose brought her focus forward again, and swiped her hand across the water's surface.
Nothing.
"But how?" she cried. "I don't understand. Why is it so inconstant?"
"Just calm down," James said. He hoisted his bucket of water up and set it on the rail. He moved closer still to Rose and put a hand on her shoulder. "Just try once more."
Rose was certain that this time would end in failure. All she could think about was the person who was at present touching her. Still, just to appease him, she closed her eyes and... Water splashed to the left. She swiped to the right. It moved to the right!
She whooped with joy and turned to James to share the moment with him, but she felt her heart sink as he gave a slight smile and turned away to return back to his work.
Then it hit her! Well, actually, it hit him, because Rose swiped water to her left and upward. It missed her target, which would have preferably been the back of his head. It hit the top of the railing and sprayed in every direction, hitting his arm instead.
He stopped and looked back at her skeptically. Rose's eyes were wide with anticipation, awaiting his response. She raised an eyebrow, silently challenging him to retaliate.
She saw him stand straight, slowly reach into the bucket and toss a handful of water in her direction. She quickly dodged out of the way, but the water hit her foot. She let out a shriek as she ran to the opposite end of the ship and directed another stream of water at him. This time it hit his shoulder. He grinned mischievously and grabbed more water from the bucket and chased her across to the port side. The water hit her hair.
Swipe! Rose got the right side of his face.
Splash! He hit her back.
Swipe! She missed him.
He grabbed the bucket in its entirely and tossed it at her. Rose anticipated the action and held up her hand, causing the water to stop its motion toward her and break into small droplets that fell over the two of them like rain.
This merriment was not to last, however, as the quartermaster noticed the commotion and approached. "Oi!" he yelled. "Clean this up! The both of ye! That's an order!"
James struggled to contain his laughter, and Rose failed altogether, her shoulders shaking. Finally, James managed to say, "Yes, sir."
The quartermaster stalked away, furious. James quickly leaned in to Rose and whispered something into her ear. She responded immediately, taking his order, and sent a sharp, solitary spray right at the back of his head. They were silent when he turned back, as though nothing had happened, and waited until he had gone to burst again into a new fit of laughter.
Then, reluctantly, it was time that they both turned their attention to their work; They had to swab the now soaking deck. "It appears you have made my job all the easier," James said. "This was just what I was about to do anyway."
"Not exactly," Rose replied, "For now you're in trouble. Again."
"I'm always in trouble," he scoffed. "Quite honestly, this was my job. You can go back to whatever you need to be doing."
"No," she said. "We'll do it together. I was given an order and I do not wish to be on the bad side of the quartermaster." She gave a small chuckle as she then said bitterly, "Besides, your guess as to 'whatever I need to be doing,' is as good as mine."
His eyes met hers as they worked. "What do you mean?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I have nothing to do here."
"Will's…having you do nothing? Nothing whatsoever?" he asked in disbelief. When she shook her head, he asked, "Has he had any reason to distrust you before?"
"See, I've been racking my mind, and not any that I can think of! He's always held me in high regard. And he's seen me in combat and knows how I sail!" She sighed. "I am easily as good at both as any man here."
James gave a small smile and placed his brush back in the bucket. "Is that so?" he said, voice raised.
She raised an eyebrow, sensing a challenge. "…aye?"
"I can't speak for your sailing, but your swordsmanship needs significant improvement," he said in a superior tone.
Rose scoffed at his arrogance. "Excuse you, I believe I won that fight."
He leaned towards her. "Oh come now, I let you win. I could have ended it far earlier if I had wanted to."
Rose narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance. "Oh really?"
"Aye." He then wiped his hands on his trousers and stood. "Come now, on your feet," he ordered.
"What?"
He unsheathed his sword. "Do you want to learn or not? You claim to be as good as 'any man' aboard, so it's time you learned from the best," he unabashedly boasted.
Rose laughed, which resulted in a swift glare from James as she rose to her feet. "You are not the best swordsman on this ship," she snickered.
"Oh really? Name one better," he challenged.
"Will," she replied instantly.
He opened his mouth to protest, then closed it, defeated. "Fine, yes, he's better."
"Well," Rose admitted, "I only saw you in combat the once. I am far more familiar with seeing Will fighting alongside me."
"No, no, he's better," James sighed. He then begrudgingly muttered under his breath, "He was walking backwards on that bloody mill wheel, wasn't he?"
Rose raised an eyebrow. "You…fought on a mill wheel?"
"It would take too long to explain," he replied. "Come now, draw your weapon!"
Rose pursed her lips and reluctantly unsheathed her sword. "I really shouldn't be doing this," she said, clearly trying to get out of his lesson.
"Oh really? Because I believe you just told me you had nothing better to do," he challenged. When she had no response, he continued, "Come. Raise it up." She sighed, then obeyed. Immediately, he asked, "What is that?"
"What?"
"What are you doing with your wrist?"
Exasperated, she dropped her hands to her sides. "I'm holding it! What, am I doing that wrong too?"
He tensed his cutlass. "Hit me," he said.
Tentatively, she tapped his blade with hers.
"Hexfury…" he groaned in annoyance.
"Fine!" she cried, striking out at him.
"There!" he exclaimed. "You see that? I kept my wrist tight, and my arm took all of the impact. Hit again." She did, and this time, the blade absorbed her force. "See? Loose wrist. That way your hand doesn't get knocked clean off your arm. Now, let me strike, and you block and respond accordingly."
Her attention quickly was fully drawn toward defending herself from his blows, but suddenly, he started moving around towards her left. She began moving left as well, to which he stopped."What are you doing now?"
"You said to respond, so I did!"
"It's truly a wonder you lived as long as you did," he replied with a profuse amount of sass. "You counter my movements, don't move towards me!"
Their lessons continued this way for a few hours, where he would supply a new lesson, she would inevitably fail, and he'd make a snide comment. After awhile, it stopped infuriating Rose, however. She found herself invigorated by his challenges, for she didn't realize just how insatiable she was to do anything. His taking the time to teach her was a welcome break from the monotony, and after awhile, she found herself laughing at his judgmental comments. Clearly he wasn't being cruel, this was merely an extension of his pompous personality.
He had just taught her a maneuver which she had failed repeatedly, and finally once she had successfully completed it, he gave her an earnest look. The both of them were out of breath as he said, "Alright, Hexfury…you're…you're going to have to prove to me that you learned anything today, then I'll let you go. Deal?"
Rose grimaced. "Must we? That means that you're going to test me on everything you've shown me, doesn't it?"
James grinned. "And no holding back this time. …and no water, you cheat!"
She chuckled, remembering how when he had had her backed into a corner, she used her powers to swipe him in the face with a splash of water. "Fine, deal," she finally replied. She then took a moment to consider, then bent over, placing her hands on her knees and breathing heavily. "Just…give me a moment. I'm feeling a bit…lightheaded."
He furrowed his brow and approached her in concern. "Are you alright?" he asked.
Suddenly, Rose leapt upwards, quickly striking at him. Shocked, James managed to dodge himself out of the reach of her blade, then was able to shield himself from another blow with his own blade. "Nicely done!" he said, impressed.
She laughed. "You underestimate me," she said breathily.
"A mistake I won't be making again." He put all his weight into pushing her away, which sent her leaping back away from him. They then countered each other in a circle, waiting for the first to strike. Rose lashed out first, and James responded by swinging right at her head. She dodged beneath the arc of the swing and reached out to jab him from a low angle, which he also dodged. They then clanged away at one another, driving each other forwards and backwards across the deck. James began to best her, pushing her further and further towards the rear of the ship where she was about to be cornered. She noticed a barrel, and leapt atop it, continuing to block his motions as she spun out of the corner and now opening herself to the rest of the deck. James then put his all into his actions, and Rose began to feel real tension as she realized that he was actually providing her with a legitimate challenge. Using spins, kicks, parries, crosses, movements became blurred but her mind was whirring rapidly, calculating every action and all of his counter-actions. Again and again and again and then—
"What's all this?" Bootstrap roared. Before Rose knew quite what was happening, three men had wedged themselves between her and James, wrangling his weapon away from him. The scouting party had returned at the most inopportune moment, and must have instantly read their very intense sword fight to be a real battle.
"Stop! No!" Rose shouted. Suddenly, the ocean reeled, sending the ship rocking precariously and all aboard the Dutchman stumbling to get traction. Rose braced herself, dropping her sword and keeping her hands still and out to her sides. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing. Clearly, the shift in the tides had been caused by her sudden distress.
When the waters grew calm again, Rose opened her eyes to see the men looking about in complete bewilderment, a few more surfacing from a midday slumber below decks. Will and Coats, who had been spending the day charting the new island, emerged from the Captain's Quarters. "What was that?" Will asked.
Rose breathed a sigh of relief as she discovered two things; None of them suspected her as having been the cause, and, for the time being, James wasn't being accosted. While Will and a few of the men looked overboard to see if some abnormally large sea creature had caused the disruption, Bootstrap's gaze was still fixed on Rose. He approached her and James, who still stood where they had been left, looking completely disoriented by the sudden activity.
"What was all that?" Bootstrap said sternly.
"Mister Norrington was teaching me how to fight," Rose explained. "It was completely congenial, I assure you."
Bootstrap tensed his jaw, looking back at Norrington. "Remember your orders," he said simply. "Don't make me get Will involved again."
He then walked away, back towards where most of the men were still debating what could have caused the disruption.
Rose looked up at James. "What 'orders?'" she asked him. "Will and Bootstrap keep saying that. What are they ordering you to do?"
He only stared straight ahead and shook his head slightly. Changing the subject entirely, he said after a moment, "I still won that fight, I'll have you know."
Rose opened her mouth to protest, but Will's voice ordering the men to prepare to make sail called James away to work. He gave her a wry grin as he sauntered away smugly.
"Admit it!" she called after him. "I'm just as good as you!"
He only glanced over his shoulder, giving a very certain shake of his head. No.
She gave a slight laugh and rolled her eyes, then watched him leave. Perhaps friendship was a possibility between them. Rose was convinced that just as she had learned how to make her powers materialize today, she could also learn to overcome her feelings for him from the past, which still continued to plague her. James clearly had no one else as a friend or ally onboard…perhaps their friendship could benefit them both. After all, Rose's swordsmanship had improved significantly by his lessons, and it was because of his encouragement that she discovered the beginnings of Calypso's powers. Which reminded her…now that she could, she should keep doing her utmost to refining her powers. She turned away to go back to practicing in an uninhabited part of the deck, but Will was standing only a few paces behind her.
Rose smiled at him, hoping that this would be the extent of their communication for the moment.
It wasn't.
He caught her by the arm as she tried to pass him. Quietly, he said, "I know what it feels like to hit a reef. I know what it feels like to be tossed around by a storm. I know what it feels like to have an enormous sea monster attack your vessel. None of those was what just happened." He looked earnestly at her, asking, "Was that you? Did you rock the ship with your powers?"
Rose took a deep breath nervously and eventually nodded. "Aye," she replied. "I can't quite control them yet, but with practice I shall. I just discovered how to begin using them today."
Will's face reflected pain as he sighed, reluctant with what he was about to say. "Perhaps…you should wait on those for the time being," he said. "We've already got so much in progress aboard, we can't afford to have anything go awry as you try to get them under your control."
"What?" Rose asked, her heart sinking into her stomach.
Will audibly winced, as he could see that what he had just ordered had completely eviscerated all of her hope. "Don't continue practicing," he said in finality. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, alright?"
He turned and left before she could respond, feeling completely torn. The situation he was presented with was beyond his control, as he had charges from Calypso to strictly obey. This didn't mean that he liked stifling Rose's want for purpose. In fact, he loathed it.
Rose, meanwhile, was almost in tears as she watched him march away from her. Now she truly had nothing. In her living days, she was always expected to do everything in her power to help. Now she had powers to help and couldn't do a thing about it, from the most supernatural to the most mundane.
She had nothing left now. And in having nothing, she was nothing.
