Well, um, hello there, everyone. It certainly has been a while, hasn't it? Over two years and whatnot. I'm truly sorry about that. I regretted every day I wasn't updating, but, you know, life is happening. So instead of offering excuses and updates about my life, I've decided to just reiterate my promise: no matter what, this story will be finished. It may take a while because I have no idea what free time life will grant me, but I promise this story will find its conclusion even if we all turn sixty and I have to use bullet points of my intended plot. (Though I pray it will not take that long and I won't have to do that. Haha!)
Normally I would respond to four or so people here, but I don't know how many of you are still reading. Thank you so much to those are still with me, though, and to the new people who left such lovely reviews that motivated me. I'll try my best to be quicker, but that's all I can really say without raising too many expectations.
Thirty-two reviews for one chapter? I feel so honored, everybody :) Thank you all so much! I hope I'm able to make it up to all of you somehow. But in the meantime, make sure to review, whether you're a first-time reviewer or a passionate review-continuer. I love them all! And please, feel free to leave long reviews. They're honestly my favorite.
Happy Reading! I hope this doesn't disappoint!
~MisticLight
~.~.~.~.
"No killing," I emphasized after explaining the plan. "These men could be our allies and we don't want to start that off with murder." Fortunately, they understood my point and also didn't protest my sudden command of the mission. Never would I have thought I'd be in control of something so huge, let alone a group of pirates.
Ragetti then leapt into the room and wrapped his hands around the large man's neck. We needed to take him out first because he was the biggest threat and also closest to our position. There were two other workers pumping some sort of mechanism while a third patrolled their station, so there was a chance we would avoid detection so long as we remained silent. Ragetti's success in choking the man was, therefore, important, but only to a point. The man was holding a shovel. Even if he didn't drop it to alert the others, becoming unconscious would cause it to fall anyway. That's when Marty came in. He originally wanted to knock the man out, but, seeing as he was too short, I told Marty if he caught the shovel before it clattered to the ground, he could do what he wanted.
So Marty darted towards the larger man and positioned himself under the shovel. There were hardly any sounds escaping from the commotion save for shuffled feet and a few grunts; nothing the noises of the surrounding mechanism couldn't cover. When the shovel was caught and the large man fell to his knees, I sent the rest of us out. Pintel took the three men's attention away from their work by choking the one patrolling with some rope. "If any one of you says anything, he dies." The two men looked from their partner to Pintel and I casted him a warning look. The pirate shrugged. "They don't know."
"And hopefully they don't understand you," I mumbled as I twisted a piece of cloth to uses as a gag.
Gibbs and I tied the workers to a wooden support while Marty hit the larger man until he was unconscious. Mumbling could be heard from upstairs as Cotton dragged our supplies into the humid room. I easily recognized the ragged voice of Barbossa and the higher pitch of Elizabeth from the rest of the crowed upstairs. We had officially gained access to the bath house from above and below; Barbossa's plan was working.
I looked to Gibbs. "With us down here, Elizabeth and Barbossa up there, and Will securing the charts, Sao Feng will have no choice but to agree to our terms. This may actually work."
"Don't be thinkin' like that too soon," he warned while harshly tightening his ropes. "Sao Feng could have something in store even Barbossa wouldn't have guessed. We can't count our successes until we're done."
I would have countered with how significant it was that our small crew managed to surround and outwit a Pirate Lord and all his crew, but the wooden squares in the corner started turning over each other. Their slight clattering stilled the air and froze our blood.
Ragetti snatched the weapons from Cotton and began directing Pintel by pointing where he wanted him to go. They went to the far side of the room, seeming to think we were running out of time, but I knew even with this limitation there was no possibility of us finishing our task. We still needed to prepare the swords and attach the other weapons to ourselves. There was no possibility of us doing all that within a couple of minutes. We needed more time, and in order to do that, we had to produce what I hoped Sao Feng was asking for.
"Get that steam going," Gibbs whispered as he rushed to the others. He sent Cotton back to help me.
Three circular stones hung beside the wooden squares. I followed the ropes up, but I couldn't tell what each was used for because they crisscrossed one another and disappeared in the darkness. Somehow the stones made this contraption work, but there was no telling how each one functioned.
I locked eyes with Cotton. "Do you know which one provides steam?"
Cotton looked over the stones, followed their ropes, and nodded his head. I was relieved, but then thought of Barbossa. If we acted as the workers did, how was he to know we were down here? He could assume, but even he knew, there was a possibility of our failure. If he and Elizabeth got into trouble, what would he do based on an assumption? He never seemed like one to rely on pure faith. We needed to give him a sign.
Cotton was about to pull on the far rock, but I grabbed his arm. The sudden movement caused the rocks to hit one another, silencing the room with their noise. Despite having rushed around in a panic to attempt finishing our assignment, the crew stopped their preparations as the rocks swayed away from each other. Gibbs shot me a warning look that I matched with a glare.
"Let the delay act as a sign to Barbossa," I harshly whispered. Gibbs sighed and forced Pintel and Ragetti back to work, which I assumed meant he agreed. I released my hold on Cotton's arm. "Wait until they ask for more."
He nodded then focused on the rock in his outstretched hand. I tilted my head to better hear the commotion upstairs, but it turned out that action was unnecessary. After only a few tense seconds, a shout of "More steam!" echoed through the floorboards. I could only assume that was an irritated Sao Feng. Barbossa and Elizabeth were doing something to set the Pirate Lord on edge because I doubt he was that angered by a pause of steam.
When the wooden squares rotated again, Cotton pulled the rock. Steam instantaneously filled the room as though it had been anticipating release. I also released a breath I wasn't aware I'd been holding, but the slight relief that gave me was only brief. Although we were in the bath house, we still had to do our part of the plan.
I sighed and motioned to Cotton, "Come one." On our way to join the others, I noticed Marty still sitting on top of the large man, shovel in hand. "Marty, let's go!"
He met my whisper with a frown as though he knew something I didn't, and, sure enough, the man started to come to. Marty quickly slammed the shovel into his head, which smacked back down on the floor. It was enough to stop me in my tracks. Apparently that was satisfying enough for Marty because he immediately slid off the man's stomach and ran over to us.
"Evelyn, let's go!" he mimicked on the way over. I scoffed and took the remaining steps towards the others.
Ragetti rolled the weapons onto a small table at the far end of the room. Mostly we had pistols, which we took no time in securing to the sash holster also gained from the pack. It was comforting to have those out so I could no longer carry the secret pistol Barbossa gave me before the mission. There were also swords for all of us with four additional ones we would pass to Barbossa and Elizabeth if trouble arose. Cotton, Gibbs, Pintel, and Ragetti were in charge of that task.
"Wait for the signal," Gibbs reminded us right away.
"What signal?" I asked. I didn't remember Barbossa ever mentioning that to us.
"We'll just have to figure that out on our own, Missy," he said while passing a grenade to me. The weight of the grenade matched the heaviness I felt in my stomach.
"Are we supposed to blow up the bath house? Barbossa failed to tell me about these." My eyes never trailed away from the charcoal circle in my hand. So much for thinking he trusted me. Unless this wasn't part of his plan… I glanced up at Gibbs, eyes narrowed. "Or is this something he doesn't know about?"
I was finished with betraying people, even those I formally called an enemy.
"Of course they're Barbossa's orders! He probably didn't tell ya because sometimes you think too much. If you stopped worrying and paid more attention, you'd see the grenades aren't large enough to blow up this place." Gibbs said, shoving more into my hands. His tone had me jumbling the balls around, so I handed some off to Marty. "We're just going to hook them up there," he pointed to where some pillars met the floor above, "and use them if something unexpected happens."
"Unexpected as in the East India Trading Company?" I grabbed some rope to begin hooking up the grenades. Although I didn't necessarily enjoy Gibbs being so harsh with me, he had a point. I was harsh with him before, anyway, so I supposed we were even.
"Aye, that be what I was thinking."
With a nod, I scampered off to the pillars Gibbs pointed to as he fetched Pintel and Ragetti from the side of the room. Marty followed after me. With my height and his knowledge of explosives, we determined the proper way to successfully attach each grenade to the wood. I also calculated how many grenades should go on each pillar in order to make the floor above fall into a bridge we could use to join the fight. There was no sense in going back through the sewers.
We worked with haste, the shuffle of our boots being the only sound emitted from us. There was no telling how long we had to make our preparations before things turned, and we couldn't risk missing another demand for steam. Thankfully we hadn't needed to produce more since that first one. I suspected that meant the conversation was becoming serious with a mention of the Brethren Court. I hadn't specifically heard those words said, since I could only make out only ones said loud enough, but that was our claimed purpose for summoning Sao Feng. We weren't supposed to mention our actual purpose of rescuing—
"Jack Sparrow."
"Will?" I breathed, nearly dropping a grenade.
Marty's reflex had him ducking away even though I caught the grenade in time. "Hey, watch it! You almost—"
"Quite, Marty." I stretched my arms towards him as a means of shushing him, not bothering to look down. It was all I could manage to say with the lack of air going into my lungs. My attention was elsewhere.
Will wasn't supposed to be here. We were to get him from the uncle's temple once we had a ship and Sao Feng's compliance. How did he get here? Unless he got caught… The thought itself was enough to make me feel like ice.
"He's one of the Pirate Lords." Will's voice again. Then heavy footsteps crossing the floor. I doubted they belonged to Will. They were too arrogant, angered, even.
I turned to Marty. "Something's happening upstairs. We need to hurry. Tell the others." As he ran off, I finished my knot.
"Evelyn, what's going on?" Gibbs asked from across the room. He clutched the handle of the sword sitting in his holster so tightly I could see his knuckles turn white despite our distance and the dimness of the room.
"Will is up there." My statement had him straightening and caused the others to clump together. Only Marty remained slightly detached as he inspected one of our first grenades. I jogged over to them. "I don't know how long he's been with them or why, but he mentioned—"
"…is so I can send him back myself!" a foreign voice I now recognized as Sao Feng shouted. A crash of wood tumbling over wood quickly followed.
"—Jack Sparrow."
More footsteps from upstairs and then murmurs I couldn't understand. My eyes jumped up. I felt that if I looked at those floorboards long enough, I could hear more of what was happening, get a better understanding of it all. When nothing happened, I looked back to the crew. They were all staring at me, as though putting me in charge since I realized danger first.
But how was I supposed to know what to do? We were all equally on edge. Should we position ourselves? Or continue the preparations? A lot of the grenades were set up, but we hadn't used all of them and still had to inspect them. If Barbossa and Elizabeth needed an explosion, they could not go off. And what if it wasn't large enough? Yet if we busied ourselves with finishing that, we could miss them needing a sword. We could always launch the swords up now and have more time to finish and possibly set another trap, but then we'd alert Sao Feng of our presence down here. Then guards would come down here and possibly overpower us. The timing needed to be perfect, and I wasn't the right person to be in control of that. They'd all been pirates longer than me, and I still doubted I was one. Any one of them would be a better leader at the moment.
What would Will do? What would Will do? I chanted in my head.
My eyes darted from the crew's faces to the planks above. Barbossa and Elizabeth depended on us knowing what to do. If we failed to see the signal Barbossa never told us about, they died, whether by Sao Feng or the East India Trading Company. And now Will, too. He would've known what to do, too, but he was up there, just as dependent on us as the others. He was of no help to us… to me.
So what would Evelyn do?
I would protect.
With a final intake of breath, I looked back at the crew, locking eyes with Gibbs immediately. "Ready yourselves."
No sooner did I give my order than the call of "Weapons!" came from upstairs. Sao Feng sounded even more furious than before.
But we were just as ready. Gibbs looked to the others. "Weapons."
"Position those swords between the cracks in the floorboards, on either side of Barbossa and Elizabeth, and wait for my signal," I commanded Gibbs, Cotton, Pintel, and Ragetti. "Will is up there, too, but he wasn't part of the plan. He'll have to make do without a weapon." For a moment I paused, convinced I had sentenced him to death.
Will is smart and I don't know his situation. He may not have any free hands. If he does, he'll figure out what to do.
I sighed and turned to Marty. "Finish the trail of grenades as best as you can, and don't forget about the fuse. Cotton!" I glanced at him. "Help him once you shoot your sword up. Both of you inspect them if you have time."
Marty shuffled off in one direction, hands full of grenades, and I walked in the other. I peeked through the cracks as best I could, adjusting the swords when needed. Then I circled back to Barbossa. If he told Gibbs to wait for a signal, we were going to do just that.
"Sao Feng, I assure you, our intentions are strictly honorable," Barbossa said. His hands had been outstretched the entire time, but as he finished his sentence, I noticed his fingers flinch out wider. He was ready.
"Now!"
All four swords made it through the cracks in the wood and I watched as they easily slid into the hands of Barbossa and Elizabeth. I couldn't see Will from where I stood, but that became a minor concern as a stillness continued throughout the bath house.
"What's happenin'," Pintel whispered.
"I can't tell…" I trailed off, still trying in vain to see the scene beyond what the floorboards allowed.
"Drop your weapons or I kill the man!" shouted Sao Feng.
My chest tightened. Was Will being threatened? He had to be. He'd been captured and brought to the bath house. No one else would be up there distinctly belonging to our crew.
When I saw Barbossa look around and callously wave his arms, my fears calmed. Although a cruel man, Barbossa would've taken action to secure Will's safety. To him, Will wasn't disposable yet. None of us were, though that could shift if we managed to leave this place alive.
"Kill him. He's not our man."
"Something's not right," I relayed to the crew despite the possibility that they heard. I needed to think this through out loud. "Sao Feng is threatening to kill someone, but Barbossa claims he's not one of us. And if he's not with us…" I trailed off when I heard Will's voice pick up. All eyes shot to the floorboards.
"If he's not with you, and he's now with us…"
I followed the sound of his voice until I reached the end of the room. When I was sure he stood above me, I peeked through every crack in the wood until I properly saw him. His arms were bound to the ends of a piece of wood. It warped over his neck, and the paleness of his hands showed how tight the ropes were around his wrist. He was also drenched, and I doubted long exposure to steam caused it.
What sort of torture have you been through? I thought. A guilt I knew was unnecessary jolted into my stomach and I bit my lip. I wasn't the cause of his capture, but I couldn't help but feel responsible for it all the same.
"Who's he with?" Will continued.
The moment he finished his question, the sound of a door slamming open and a cry of "Charge!" erupted from the far end of the bath house. Something crashed onto the floor, but the slam of boots on the wood and the shouts of men covered it up before the crash had the chance to echo. Gunfire followed. They were coming from every direction.
"How are those grenades coming along, Marty?" I shouted above the chaos.
"They're all tied, but we haven't checked them. There could still be faulty ones."
For a moment I turned away from Will to observe his and Cotton's work. Everything looked fine, and even if something did go wrong, at least there would still be an explosion. We'd cause some damage. I nodded and looked back up. "It'll have to do."
"Light 'em and take cover!" Gibbs called, but I didn't heed his advice. I was too focused on Will. Once the gunfire started, he leapt into action and hit the guards on either side of him, which was great except that he was still tied to the wood. I knew he would be fine since he'd always gotten out of tight situations, but still I worried for him more than myself.
Pintel had to come and pull me away. "You can stay here and die, or" he pulled on my arm with such force I looked from the scene to him, "you take cover and die later."
I shook his arm away and ran for the sewers. He got to our cover slightly before me, so I pressed myself at the end, watching the flame Marty lit make its slow ascent to a grenade. Once that exploded, the rest would follow. When the flame was only seconds away, I turned from the sight and covered my eyes, shielding the right side of my face with the corresponding arm.
The sound erupted before I felt the heat whip past me. It stung exposed skin and was forceful enough to almost knock me off my feet. Portions of my hair were snatched from my bun and whipped at my face until the last grenade went off. Then I opened my eyes.
A light smoke surrounded us, and I coughed more from the sight than knowing my lungs were filling with it. When I looked over my shoulder, I was pleased to see the wood managed to form a ramp. Shouts and curses still poured from upstairs. The others needed our assistance. I turned back to the crew and took my pistols out. "Ready?"
Gibbs already had his gripped in his hands. He immediately ran for the ramp, shouting out his charge. I followed with the rest of the crew. When we crossed the threshold to the floor above, we all fired into the chests of East India Trading Company soldiers. Except for Marty, though, who had grabbed such a powerful gun that upon firing of it, he flew back through our hole.
The room was emptier than anticipated, but a crowd of soldiers and pirates were swarming out what remained of a doorway. Everyone must have turned to the main square. Will, Barbossa, and Elizabeth included. So I fired my pistol one last time at a charging soldier, hitting him in the shoulder, and traded them for my sword. With such a compacted area, it would be much easier to cut a path with it. Yet rather than use the front entrance like everyone else, I chose one of the broken-down holes in the back.
I didn't know who I was supposed to fight: the unfamiliar pirates or the East India Trading Company soldiers. They could both be my enemies since it didn't seem Barbossa reached a compromise with Sao Feng. So I slashed at whoever attacked at me. In the back allies, I ran into pirates more occupied with slashing their way out of the area than actually attacking. I defended each halfhearted blow and allowed them to escape without a counter. Once I reached the main square of Singapore, though, true madness broke loose. Smoke from gunpowder flew by in small puffs and pairs of men fought in all directions. Right away I had to run away from a squadron of soldiers firing in my direction only to be met by an attacking soldier. He thrust his sword down at me, but I dodged him as I ran past, dragging my sword across his stomach in the process. When he stumbled forward, a pirate ran by and jabbed his weapon through the man's back. He then removed his sword and ran away without attempting to confront me.
So only the soldiers are my enemy.
I took a deep breath and pushed forward, slashing at any soldiers crossing my path. Every moment I could spare, I searched around me for two things: Will and the barrel of guns. There was no sign of Will, but taking a moment to look across the water allowed me to see the same squadron of soldiers preparing to fire again. I ducked behind a wagon of fruit as quickly as I could, but the gunfire never came. Instead, an explosion so powerful it rocked the wood beneath my boots came forth. I looked between the wheels of the wagon as the strong scent of gunpowder wafted my way. Where the soldiers had been was now barren and burning.
Someone had done something, and since I knew we were to meet at the docks yet had no idea where that was, that direction was my best bet. Except when I tried to make my way there, a fresh group of bulky soldiers rounded one of the huts and blocked my path. They split into different directions as fights broke out, but two ran straight at me. I knew I couldn't take on both, especially considering how much bigger they were, and backed away from them before turning and sprinting down the crammed aisle. Pirates and soldiers fought all around me, and I had to jump and slide out of numerous bouts. I slashed at soldiers whenever they approached, not wanting to pick a fight because of the two following me. I also needed to clear a path for my escape. They copied my strategy, though. Each pirate they passed—especially the ones I had just freed from a fight—they brutally stabbed. They worked together, refusing to give up on killing the pirates and coming after me. All I had to do was lose one of them, and then maybe I had a chance.
I looked at the possibilities around me. A bridge was approaching, on which only two men were fighting. I'd be more susceptible to gunfire from the two men if I took this route, but so would they. I hoped a pirate would shoot at one of them first, and if nothing happened and I was still alive, I'd have to think of something else when I reached the other side.
As I approached the bridge, I noticed the outline of a rather large hat on one of the figures. Barbossa, I thought with relief. A new plan formed in my head.
I looked over my shoulder to make sure my followers were still there, and sure enough, they were, and closer than I expected. My guess was that by clearing a path for myself, I was making an easier one for them to follow despite them murdering pirates in the process. I took a breath, praying I'd cross Barbossa's path before the soldiers reached me. Then I took a sharp left onto the bridge.
Barbossa, who had just finished off his opponent, spun around with his sword at the ready and a crazy look in his eye. He didn't lowers his weapon when he figured out I was the one approaching him. "You should know better than to surprise a man ready to fight!" he shouted.
I didn't care about his lessons or scolding, and instead passed him by. "Just pick one, would you?" I heard the clang of metal hitting metal before I reached the end of the bridge.
I turned right at the end so I could see in my peripheral. Only one had stopped for Barbossa. When I chanced a look behind me, I spotted the second rounding off the bridge after me. He looked more aggravated than before, making me doubt my ability to take him on. So I continued my strategy of running and slicing until I reached the end of the path. Then I took a right over a new bridge.
I looked over my shoulder again to check how far the soldier was, but I never got the chance to see because I smacked right into another one. The impact caused me to lose my balance and fall backwards. My new opponent only wobbled. He also composed himself faster and wasted no time in trying to slash at me. I rolled to the right and used the rope railing to help me stand. When I spun back around, the soldier had just removed his sword from the wooden floors and was charging at me. I couldn't waste time fighting him because of the larger soldier, so when my new opponent was close, I slid to the side and watched as he toppled over into the water. Then I started my run again, but I was knocked from behind and rammed into a wooden post supporting a nearby hut.
The throbbing of my head proved I wasted too much time after all. I groaned, but refused to crumble to the ground. If I fall now, I'll only end up dead. There is no option except to fight. With a good amount of concentration, I kept myself steady and turned around. He smirked at the clear defeat on my face and the fact that I was leaning on the pillar for support, but that was all I gave him the satisfaction of seeing. I shook my head to ease the pain, pushed off the pillar, and waited for his next move with a readied sword.
He screamed as he charged, preparing his weapon to slash at my side. I glided back onto my tiptoes. The tip of his sword barely missed the fabric loosely hanging near my stomach. Rather than pause his strike and give me time to attack, the soldier continued his momentum and rotated his sword back around. He used a backhand stroke to catch me off guard with an angled attack, but that left him weak after I easily blocked his sword. The twang of our weapons hitting each other reached his hand, and he flinched just enough for me to apply more pressure and flip his sword out of his grasp. He was left exposed. I sighed, thanking everything that this man actually relied on brute strength and intimidation rather than utilizing those features for strategy, but that was where I made the mistake.
The soldier took advantage of my pause and shoved me to the ground. I had no time to react before he was on top of me, pinning both my wrists to the ground with his hands. I couldn't move my sword, and my kicks proved useless each time they contacted his skin. There was a chance using my head would work, but I didn't want to try that for fear of the consequences to me. He was perfectly balanced on top of me since my hands were right by my head. So all I had to do was shift it and maybe then he would fall.
I struggled, pretending to free my wrists when in reality I was trying to get his hands to sweat so I could use it to make my wrists slippery and easier to turn. As expected, he laughed at my attempts. "Filthy pirate," he growled, spitting on my face.
I glared at him with saliva dripping down my cheek. Then I twisted my right wrist so it was sideways in his grasp and glided it above my head. "I am not a pirate!" I fired back. After lifting my left leg up so I could knock him closer to me, I then dropped that leg and used his unbalanced form and my angled hand to roll the heavier man over and onto his back. He held tight to my wrists, but since I managed to angle my right one, I slipped through his thumb and forefinger. With my right hand free, I used the sword I held there and rammed the hilt into his face. Blood streamed from his nose, and he freed my other hand to clutch it.
Rather that writhe in pain, though, the soldier used his free hands to shove me off him. I fell onto my back, but quickly gained my footing and shot up. He was already on his feet, looking around for something to use as a weapon. I couldn't risk him finding one, so I ran at him, prepared to swipe down upon him. Right as I was about to inflict damage, he whipped his arm around and blocked my sword with a thick firework. My sword sunk halfway through then stopped. We were stuck, arms raised and faces closer than I wanted them to be.
I looked around, wanting to find anything to change the tides of this fight, when I noticed a light out of the corner of my eye. It was coming closer to me, growing larger by the second. I followed the smoke trailing it until I was just able to make out the source.
Of course the monkey fires something at me, I sighed. But why here?
When the soldier took advantage of my distracted state and pulled his arm back, launching my sword across the floor and out of his firework did I realize the reason. There were fireworks everywhere. Not just in the soldier's hand, but also in the hut I'd been slammed into and filling every crate around me. I was standing in the middle of a grenade, of sorts, and the soldier hadn't noticed. When he came charging at me again, I kicked a crate at him so he'd fall, and ran from the shack as fast as I could, grabbing my sword as I passed. No footsteps came after me.
Instead, my third explosion of the day sounded off. It cracked, popped, and launched out in every direction as fireworks either launched or exploded. Heat covered my back and I could see streams of my hair flow with the wind around my face. Despite all this, I continued running until a firework zipped past me and forced me to run behind another hut.
I remained there until the explosions stopped and the glow it emitted died down. Only then did I allow myself to breathe, and that only last for a moment. I could still hear shouts, gunfire, and fights going on throughout the burning city of Singapore. Above all those sounds, though, the one I most distinct one came from footsteps approaching me. Multiple ones, from the sound of it. Possibly another new fresh company of soldiers.
The hut I dashed behind to shield myself offered little coverage to hide from the army and left me boxed in between two adjacent huts, so one of the soldiers was bound to see me if I remained still and let them pass. I didn't like the prospect of being overpowered that way, but that left my only other option jumping out and surprising them, hopefully taking out the leader of the unit. Neither option was great because I preferred to avoid a confrontation with the large army altogether, but my choices were limited. So I pressed myself against the very edge of the hut and listened to the approaching footfalls, trying my best to distinguish those of the one leading them. When I determined the steps were close enough, I took a breath and leapt into the path, bringing my sword down upon the one in charge.
The man easily blocked my attack despite my surprise. We were at a standstill until I looked to the man holding the sword. I slid my weapon away immediately and enveloped him in a tight hug. "Will, thank God."
"Evelyn," he breathed, returning the gesture. I couldn't remember a time we held each other tighter. It felt different, this time. More compassionate than the others, but perhaps that was merely my feelings getting the best of me.
"I've been so worried, especially when I realized you'd been captured." I held him tighter then stepped away. The strangeness between us from before had melted away. Near-death experiences had a tendency of altering emotions.
"You saw that?" He seemed a little worried that I knew, but I brushed it off. It wasn't his fault things went awry.
I nodded. "It was through noticing you that I got the men ready for our assist. I don't know how we would've known otherwise." He smiled at me, and there seemed to be a sense of relief in it. Deciding I was probably overlooking things again, I turned to then men behind him. "Who are all they?" Then I looked at his hands. "And how'd you get the charts? You were tied up, so I thought that meant Sao Feng had them?"
"We need to hurry," he said instead of answering. He sheathed his sword and guided me forward, keeping me close. I kept my weapon just in case someone decided to surprise us as I had previously attempted.
"What's going on?"
"We need to meet Barbossa and Elizabeth since we have Tai Huang and his men."
"Who?" I asked, glancing at the men again over Will's arm.
He nodded at the man briskly walking beside me. "That's Tai Huang. I was able to convince Sao Feng to let us take them and a ship so we could rescue Jack."
"And the charts?"
His grip on it tightened. "I told him what we needed and he complied."
I felt my face twist with confusion. "That's all? It was that simple?" Will didn't respond, facing forward and not daring to look at me. There was a hardness in his eyes that showed he wasn't telling me something. Some sort of key information. He had been so desperate to save his father earlier that I doubted he'd give up the idea so easily.
But he promised we wouldn't betray our friends, I told myself. I glanced at the necklace still around his neck, the sincerity of that promise filling my memory. Yet that hardness in his eyes and how it spread to his face told me something, at least, was being kept from me. It couldn't be a betrayal, but something was missing. So I pressed more, my eyes narrowed and back on his face. "How could it have possibly been that simple, William, when I witnessed him getting ready to attack Barbossa and Elizabeth? Threatening a man he thought was on our crew?" He still refused to meet my eye. I straightened myself. "How did you manage to get caught at that temple, anyway?"
Will finally looked at me. I could tell he wanted to tell me many things, but that he was holding himself back. He seemed distracted, guilty, even. I lowered my voice so the other men wouldn't hear us. "You can tell me anything, Will. You know that."
He nodded, but I couldn't tell if he was actually going to answer me or not because suddenly Barbossa and Elizabeth crossed our path. The rest of the crew came shortly after.
Barbossa seemed surprised to see us, more so by what lied in Will's hand. "You have the charts?"
"And better yet," Will said, removing his hand from my shoulders. He threw the charts at Barbossa. "A ship and a crew."
"Where's Sao Feng?" Elizabeth asked. Her eyes briefly slid to me before returning to Will.
"He'll cover our escape and meet us a Shipwreck Cove."
Elizabeth seemed just as unconvinced and skeptical as I had. She looked at me again and I slightly shrugged. We had no more time for questions, however, because Tai Huang ordered "This way. Be quick," to his crew and started leading us to the new ship.
Will, Elizabeth, and I, however, remained where we stood. They were staring tightly at one another, as though having a silent argument. I knew she held secrets from him, and that Will knew of them as well, but Will also held the secret of us from her. Their relationship was crumbling, and I found myself longing for them to resolve everything and prevent more guilt from rising in my throat, despite what I felt for Will. I loved him enough to let him go.
They stared for a long time, daring the other to confess first, but as the last of the men followed after Tai Huang and the others, Will broke the stare by stepping towards her and gently pushing her forward. He was acting strange, but perhaps it had nothing to do with Sao Feng. Perhaps the promise I made him do was enough to pause the feelings for his father. He knew I wanted to save Bootstrap just as much but was willing to play this madness out and see what happened, so maybe I was able to convince him to do the same. Maybe, then, he was simply upset over being captured and riddled by complicated emotions towards Elizabeth.
That has to be it, I convinced myself before following after everyone. It has to be. And if not, he'll tell me in time. Now is neither the time nor place.
By the time Will dropped back to my side, I decided to stop asking about the charts and Sao Feng. He will tell me in time, I internally repeated for reassurance.
"Will?" I said. When he met my eyes, I smiled. "I'm glad you're safe."
"And I'm glad you are," he said, wrapping an arm around my waist instead of my shoulder. It was comforting to walk like this more than strange. Then he laughed. "We don't do so well on our own."
"I did fine. You were the one who got caught," I laughed. Then I thought of all the mistakes I made without him and how distracted I'd been, despite finally stepping up when needed to. I definitely would've felt better had he been there, anyway. "Though overall I must agree. Perhaps we should try harder to not be separated."
"I'd like that," Will answered, his hold on my waist tightening.
My hand went to his and I squeezed it, happy to share this moment yet regretting it all the same. Elizabeth was only a couple feet in front of us and I felt we were doing more than friends should. We were comfortable with each other, especially since of the Dutchman incident, but from Elizabeth's perspective, us walking like this would be unacceptable. He loved her, after all, and hadn't shown signs of changing that. So I removed his hand from my waist, and he didn't fight it. He understood.
We settled for walking next to each other as we made our way to the ship, so close only our fingertips touched if we willed a brush to linger.