Title: PROLOGUE: Of Blindness and Vision
Author: Frost AND Kacey
Rating: PG-13 (for sexual implications--eventually)
Summary: Jack gets injured, and Will has to play nurse-maid. Or at least try.
Disclaimer: Don't own it. But we do own this story. So take THAT.
Archive: O_O Yes..! Tell us first, though.
Authors notes: This is a response to the plot bunny illness challenge given by glitterundine@yahoo.com. It is affectionately called "Pity Jack Please Will". You'll see why.
Uh, anyway, this is actually a part of our "Of…" series, which is ongoing and being spewed out in no particular order. Enjoy!
Oh yeah. Jack is played by Frost, and Will by Kacey.

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The Independence was a notorious and recognized vessel. A long and thick bellied ship known not for it's strength, or speed, but highly coveted for it's merchandise: an ample burden of Caribbean Rum. Stacked barrels of the intoxicant filled every available space of the Independence's two layered, cargo hold, proving without doubt, to be a temptation for any pirate with an acquired taste for the drink.

A man with an eye out for unlucky signals would've been hesitant to leave his quarters on a day like this. Ash fog lay it's dense blanket over the expanse of ocean in every direction, until the view of the water was swallowed up, and any passing ship appeared to be sailing white clouds instead of green sea. The Independence never saw the approaching shadow of a stealthy craft on their bow, until it was too late, and The Black Pearl was already on them.

- - - Jack - - -:

"Fire a few warning cannon shots, and then board this ship," Captain Jack Sparrow was running coolly around his ship, making sure all the crew was prepared for what promised to be a short and sweet battle. Over take the Independence, take the rum and whatever other profits there were to be had, and then get clear without any other problems. Simple. "Make it fast and they'll never know what was coming!" And they likely wouldn't. He un-holstered his own gun and then smiled a wicked smile for all of his crewmembers to see--enchanting charcoal eyes fierce --glittering with the excitement that was about to come. They always did that--this was the sort of thing he lived for, it made his heart beat faster-- his very life seem more worth living.

- - - William - - -:

Amongst the anxious crew, there was but one unprepared for this siege. William Turner, a boy who's new life of piracy had developed him into a man, and a fine contribution to the black ship under Jack Sparrow's command. However, this new mission wasn't sitting well with Will, not because it was theft to plunder the rum shipment, but because of the ominous setting into which their mission was to take place. While within arm's reach of the scurvy Captain, Will got the hook of Jack's arm and reeled him to the side, out of hearing distance of the excited crew. "Jack. Are you quite -sure- of this?" His creased brow displayed an apprehension, and narrowed eyes translated to the Captain, that he wasn't confident at all. There was foreshadowing in this fog -- misfortune ahead.

- - - Jack - - -:

"Oh, honestly, William..." The Captain raised his eyes skyward for a moment, and then with his free left hand--the right was still holding his pistol--he made a show of dusting off the ex-blacksmiths shoulders. "I'm very sure. You're worried about the weather," he interpreted--eyes drifting past Will to look out at the fog. "But that's what's going to make this more successful." He flitted a hand in front of the younger man for a moment, and then took a little breath--repeating something to him that he'd said not too many months before. "Tell me, have I -ever- given you a reason not to trust me?" The Captain pirate gave something of a sly smile, and then turned away before any more arguments could be heard. "Anchor now, men! Get the cannons ready!" He was off then--proving how much of a captain he really was--running back toward the cannoned side of the ship, even as the orders were being carried out.

- - - William - - -:

"What if--," Turner was left arguing his point to no one but the retreating back side of his stubborn Captain. The low, imploded thunder of cannon fire quaked each plank of the deck and the stench of sulfur assaulted each unprepared nose. There was no more time to attempt halting the plunder, the battle had been triggered. Yet, Will still had that final choice to make. He drew the cutlass from his belt and propelled himself to the edge of the Pearl. Even if he disagreed with this mission, there was a loyalty to Jack that wouldn't allow the blacksmith to deny his Captain. In any way.

The fog muffled each shouted outburst from surprised Independence crewmen. Pirates! Don't let- ! Fire at will! Bullet shards sparked in the blanket of cloud, which made it difficult to decipher where one ship ended and the other began. Two groups, traders and pirates, merged in hopes of conquering the other. It would be a battle without contest, the Black Pearl's crew out numbered that of the cargo vessel's by twice a count. But Will was not about to underestimate them yet.

- - - Jack - - -:

Yes, this would be an easy battle indeed--Jack's mind frame was much different than Will's it seemed. He had already boarded the Independence--along with some few other crew members--and was firing away at the men who thought to oppose the crew of the 'Pearl. They stood no chance, really. Jacks eyes--one of his most defining features really, (lined with dark charcoal, they seemed precariously large making them even more enticing than they would be without)- glittered in mirth as he let out a shot, and dodged another bullet at the same time. "Surrender," he called out to the passengers of the Independence--his voice almost singsong. The fog didn't seem to be bothering him in the least--just as he'd told William it wouldn't!

- - - William - - -:

But William was seeing things from a different angle than Jack himself. He had crossed over onto the second craft, with stealth, he had maneuvered his blade's tip under the chin of a man controlling the Cargo ship's helm. With no intention of actually murdering the innocent, Will used the blade only to support the Black Pearl's take over. That was until, his eyes sought Jack, prepared to find the glaze of triumph splashing over his Captain's features. But instead, Will's vision was filled by the ominous pistol he saw leveled at the back of Sparrow's head. The man aiming was encased in a gust of fog, and no one else seemed to be aware of his presence except for Turner. "No! Jack go!"

- - - Jack - - -:

Jack's head turned swiftly to the side--but his eyes only found William to gaze upon--not something he was -terribly- interested in doing at the moment. He was busy trying to steal rum and profit--couldn't the boy just get it through his head that nothing was going to go wrong? It was just -too- easy for that. "What, Will?" he sighed in an aggravated way and moved to stride over to the boy--maybe he was having problems with his one captive.

- - - William - - -:

Helm forgotten, Will's swift bounded leaps closed the distance between himself and the pistol. Will's thoughts consumed with a fear so profound he did not know such a terror could exist within him. Jack could not die. Not here. Not today. Not like this. Not over a few barrels of rum. In his peripheral vision he saw Jack swivel around, but William was looking straight at the gunner, for in that split second he might divert his attention, all could be lost. The Jack filled with life would be stripped of that existence for good. Saber connects to torso, sinks, and Will felt nothing of remorse, only a strength of a crushing wave, his world focused on the direct thrust of his arm, until his blade leapt free again on the other side of his enemy's ribs. The man aiming the pistol was dead before the muscles of his fingers spasmed, sparking the trigger and announcing to the entire ship with a crackling pop, that the bullet aimed at Jack Sparrow had been sent.

- - - Jack - - -:

Seeing the encounter between Will and the pistoled man was enough to make Jack glad that William was a member of his crew--and he was about to tell him so--or something along those lines, anyway. But the gun still went off, and Jack Sparrow receives a full-on collision with the blast of two exploding gun powder kegs beside him. There is an agonizing flare of brimstone and sulfur, a deafening shrill crack of cinders and a black smoldering burst of smoke. How could anyone survive? When the combustion of ashes faded with the quick sweep of ocean wind. There was only one man down. Jack Sparrow.