Call Me Captain
Part Two: Of Sparrows and Swans
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters.
(It is a proven scientific theory that the more reviews and critiques the faster the writer writes. Hehe)
* I was going to split this into two chapters but felt that it just needed to go up all at once. *
Enjoy! ~@~
Jack leaned heavily against the man that was holding him now. His feet had been bound with tight rope and his hands down were weighed down by heavy metal shackles. His brown eyes flashed dangerously at the now pacing Commodore.
"But what about Will," Elizabeth cried, throwing her arms up into the air and stepping into Norrington's pacing path. She sent a desperate look at her father, Governor Swann, though sighed in disgust as he shook his head and retreated to looking at the moon.
"We honor Will's sacrifice, Miss Swann," Norrington said in a tired voice. He stopped and looked down at the distressed girl. Closing his eyes briefly, he searched for the right words.
No words could be right in this bloody situation, Jack though wryly, hoping to hear Norrington say something that would merit him a knee to the jewels by Elizabeth.
"He's already dead, Elizabeth," Norrington finally murmured through barely parted lips.
Not good, Jack laughed inwardly. He watched as Elizabeth's face turned from frantic to enraged. Her pale cheeks flared with red and her eyes slitted in a cat-like way . She turned away from the Commodore, her back now to his saddened face.
Not even a scratch! Jack rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue.
"If I may be so bold to insert my professional opinion-," he broke the silence though was quickly cut-off.
"To the gallows with him!" Norrington's eyes did not stray from the slumped shoulders of the intensely contemplating form of Elizabeth.
The man at Jack's left tugged at him though with thrust of his shoulders, Jack fell to his knees.
"After the battle, the Pearl was damaged. Lost half her rudder. Imagine, Commodore, the last pirate threat on the seas- limping their way to an island I know how to get to." Jack spoke as if he was attempting to sell the Commodore a new ship.
Jack watched with widening eyes as Norrington's ears perked up slightly. He could tell that Norrington was rolling the thought around in those rusty wheels of his mind.
"For me, Commodore," Elizabeth finally spoke, not bothering to turn and face him, "as a wedding present." The last she barely uttered. The downcast words floated on her breath and reached the ears of all present with a sad underlying tone.
Jack's head shot up and his eyes flicked wildly from Elizabeth to the stunned Commodore. Jack closed his gaping mouth with effort and fought to silence his tongue. Any words from him would no doubt rob the poetic scene that was unfolding.
"Elizabeth," her father said, a large grin spreading upon his powdered face, "are you accepting the Commodore's proposal?"
Before answering this, Elizabeth turned around, though not to the Commodore. Her watery brown eyes met Jack's intensely. Jack furrowed his brows in confusion at her and she only nodded slightly. Jack could see her hands shaking madly. He frantically searched for a safe alteration of Elizabeth's expected answer. He speechlessly moved his lips, testing out words before speaking them, his forehead creased in concentration.
He was too late. Elizabeth's eyes lingered upon his for a moment longer and then traveled to the wide-eyed stare of Norrington's. She looked into his face and found only one answer.
"Yes, yes I am."
~@~
Jack looked out a small hole in the wooden wall of his cell. The nighttime sea was racing with the boat, the waves splashing against the hull in disagreement. The white spray of the ocean crept through the cracks and holes of the bottom-most compartment of the large ship.
The sea was a wild creature; untamed through time and respected. The lolling waves and the peaceful lagoons only wanted to bask in the perpetual sunlight of day and night's turnings. The squawking gulls only wanted to feed upon the fish and the fish only wanted to swim in the dark currents of the ebbing waters.
The sea only wanted the pleasure of being itself, of having and holding what was dear to it- the fish, the gulls, the salt, and the shadows. The wild creature it was would never be at rest if that freedom was in danger.
Yet, it was. Ships tore at its fragile skin day after day, more coming with each riding sun. The dawn of man's wanderlust beat at the terrified feral waters. The colors of the setting sun were now in hues of crimson, spilling blood upon its drifting waves.
The age of freedom was at the turning point. Jack was like the ocean; the past was being shackled by a future another man was setting out for him. He would never walk that path, just as the sea never ceased it's churning. It would always be ebbing and flowing, waning and waving. Beauty lies in eternal slumber amidst the depths of the deep.
As the ship sped to the island, the stars ceased to shine upon the waters around them. No light of the moon could be reflected upon the canvas of dark indigo as the ship's wake left only white. Now, the ship began to slow until it stopped eventually. Jack could see rocks and crags out of his tiny hole.
"My stop," he murmured to himself and began to look around. The gallows of the splendid ship did not match the upper decks of dirt-free gleaming planks of wood. Water sloshed from one side of the compartment to the other as the ship stood waiting upon the waves. Dirt, scum, and rot were allowed to breed here.
The bars of the cell were of equal stature. The words of a certain blacksmith rang in his head and he smiled greedily as he took the small stool that was inside his cell in his two hands.
"Such wonderful and ironic accommodations," Jack said to the stool. He positioned it under the lock as he had seen Will do in Port Royal.
In a few minutes his cell door had been popped off.
"Remember to thank Will for that," he said to himself as he softly walked up the winding stairs. No guards were present and by the soft murmur of voices that was coming from behind the thick door to his right, Norrington and the Governor were no doubt debriefing their men on the upcoming battle.
Jack wove through the shadows to the upper deck. One light was coming from a small chamber under the command deck.
"Elizabeth," he whispered to himself.
He softly rapped upon the thick glass of the small window. He could see a soft shadow come to the doorway. Elizabeth opened the door and her mouth opened wide.
"Ja-," she exclaimed though was silenced as Jack cupped a hand around her mouth, looking frantically from side to side. His hands were ready to pull his sword out in any given second.
With a nod of his head, he motioned her inside. She nodded her head, his hand still upon her lips, and she stepped back into the room.
When the door was closed and locked, Elizabeth looked frantically at him. "You escaped," she questioned with a renewed light in her eyes. The candlelight danced in her eyes and Jack could have sworn he saw her brown orbs spark.
"A certain blacksmith gave me a tip with the common cell structure," Jack said with a smug smile.
"Oh, Will," Elizabeth sighed, sitting on her bed and putting her head in her hands. "What are we going to do with Will?" She looked up at him, those brown eyes now watered with tears. "What if he's dead?"
"He's not. Not yet, at least." Jack walked around her room, touching the little trinkets on a shelf and passing his fingers through the candle's flame idly.
"And if he is alive, Jack," she asked, standing up now, "what will we do?"
"Well, you'll go off and have a fancy to-do wedding with the Commodore while he blubbers around the seas in search of himself, I imagine," Jack said, a thin air of sarcasm drifting with his words. Elizabeth stepped back, as if the words stung her ears.
"I'm not marrying the Commodore," she said defiantly.
"Well, then you'll send him over the edge and he'll massacre the lot of us," Jack laughed. Elizabeth's defensive walls crumbled for a second and she let a reluctant laugh pull up the edges of her red lips into a feint smile.
"I don't think Commodore Norrington would have the heart," Elizabeth once again sighed. "He does love me. One can see that kind of thing."
"Oh can you, love," Jack asked, stepping closer to her.
"Yes, though you can't feel his kind of love," she said, her eyes never straying from Jack's flaming brown eyes. "It's one-sided."
"One is such a lonely state," Jack mumbled, taking yet another step closer.
"And if Will is alive-," Elizabeth began, then paused as she saw the lopsided grin on Jack's face fall. He did not take another step forward. He forced himself to arch an eyebrow. Captain Jack Sparrow always found a slight to make the charged air less of a burning pain. His stern lips fell to a soft frown at the thought.
Always fighting, he thought with a depressed exhale of air.
"And if Will is alive," Elizabeth repeated, "he'll understand that." She took the final step towards Jack and slowly wrapped her hands around his sun-kissed neck and under his dangling hair. Her hot breath showered his bare neck. She tipped her head up to better meet his incandescent gaze. Her lips parted dangerously close to his own and he basked in the warm air of her breath as it smoothed over his bronzed cheek. They held a vehement stare, so thick with desire that it nearly burst into a fervent spark. His breathing became heavy and coarse as her fingertips made contact with his bare skin behind his neck.
"Is this what you want," he asked with a dry voice, his burning brown eyes set alight by the new movement of lips between them.
"What," she asked in a low voice, "a pirate?"
"Not just a pirate, love," he reminded her, bringing his head down to hers until their lips were almost touching. He could see the longing in her eyes and he felt it within his own.
"Of course not," she replied, the movement of her lips brushing against his. "Only Jack Sparrow."
"Just call me captain, love," he whispered into her parted lips before diving into them. The stinging intensity that had hung between the centimeters of air was now transferred into their dancing tongues. He wrapped an arm around her waist and brought her body as close to his as he could. The other hand brushed against her porcelain neck, rubbing up and down. He felt her shiver and she unwrapped her arms around his neck and grabbed at his layered shirts. With small clutching fists, she fell back onto the bed and pulled him with her. His hat tumbled off and onto the floor.
Now atop of her, he he gently lowered the intensity of the kiss until his lips drifted from hers so slowly. He softly kissed the corner of her lip and then her chin. He made his way down her neck, showering her with light and airy kisses against gossebumped, unflawed skin. She moaned softly and he felt took a moment to look down upon her.
She was more than beautiful; not just a prize to be won or a china doll put up for an auction. She was not a delicate governor's daughter, sitting atop a throne of years of spoiled childhood and inaction. She was not a lowly wench that was easy to conquer and easy to leave.
No, she was not any of these things.
She was Elizabeth Swann. To Jack she embodied all characteristics of a blushing dawn. Her temper was sharp but her kiss the gentler. The smooth white of her skin only brought out the darkness of her eyes. The softness of her lips was unmatched by the passion that burned behind them. Like the dawn, she was a dreamer. From childhood her imagination had flown upon the sea, just as the dawn's hopeful rays brush against the waters; spreading and gliding until they reach their ultimate goal: freedom. With that freedom from the clutches of night, the dawn burst and bubbled with possibilities. Both Swann and Sun basked in the freedom and did not waste upon it only airy dreams. The action of both, and the brilliance those actions radiated, gave true life to whatever they touched- land, sea, creature, and man.
She was now looking up at him, a small smile upon her visage.
"Elizabeth," he began unsteadily, the mirth-clouded vision of the normal Captain Jack Sparrow fleeing him for a moment. "Elizabeth, I-,"
Though a rapping at the door brought his lips to a stop and Elizabeth shot up in a panic, forcing Jack to stand up.
"Elizabeth, dear, are you decent," her father asked through the door. She did not respond and motioned wildly for Jack to hide.
"No matter, I hope I didn't wake you. It's just, well, the Commodore and I have spoken and we have both agreed to wait until the pirates come out and then surprise them. We cannot risk sending our men into the cave. They might be ambushed. So we decided to do the ambushing. I only hope Mr. Turner can hang on until then." He continued to go on, though Elizabeth was no hearing a word of his.
Jack brought his head down to her ear and with the softest of whispers spoke to her.
"This is where I escape, love. I'll find Will and I'll be back. I promise," he said, his parting lips the only thing that could make one word different from another. "You're beautiful," he said, "like the dawn. Always look to the dawn for a sparrow, in search of a swan" He brushed his lips softly against hers, and pulled his hand away from hers.
Making his way softly across the room, he unlocked the window and looked down at the waters below. Two small boats were hung up on the side and without taking one last look at Elizabeth, he stepped out and fell the few feet down into the boat.
From there, he was gone. The Sparrow fled into the darkness of the cave and the Swan's eyes followed him.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters.
(It is a proven scientific theory that the more reviews and critiques the faster the writer writes. Hehe)
* I was going to split this into two chapters but felt that it just needed to go up all at once. *
Enjoy! ~@~
Jack leaned heavily against the man that was holding him now. His feet had been bound with tight rope and his hands down were weighed down by heavy metal shackles. His brown eyes flashed dangerously at the now pacing Commodore.
"But what about Will," Elizabeth cried, throwing her arms up into the air and stepping into Norrington's pacing path. She sent a desperate look at her father, Governor Swann, though sighed in disgust as he shook his head and retreated to looking at the moon.
"We honor Will's sacrifice, Miss Swann," Norrington said in a tired voice. He stopped and looked down at the distressed girl. Closing his eyes briefly, he searched for the right words.
No words could be right in this bloody situation, Jack though wryly, hoping to hear Norrington say something that would merit him a knee to the jewels by Elizabeth.
"He's already dead, Elizabeth," Norrington finally murmured through barely parted lips.
Not good, Jack laughed inwardly. He watched as Elizabeth's face turned from frantic to enraged. Her pale cheeks flared with red and her eyes slitted in a cat-like way . She turned away from the Commodore, her back now to his saddened face.
Not even a scratch! Jack rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue.
"If I may be so bold to insert my professional opinion-," he broke the silence though was quickly cut-off.
"To the gallows with him!" Norrington's eyes did not stray from the slumped shoulders of the intensely contemplating form of Elizabeth.
The man at Jack's left tugged at him though with thrust of his shoulders, Jack fell to his knees.
"After the battle, the Pearl was damaged. Lost half her rudder. Imagine, Commodore, the last pirate threat on the seas- limping their way to an island I know how to get to." Jack spoke as if he was attempting to sell the Commodore a new ship.
Jack watched with widening eyes as Norrington's ears perked up slightly. He could tell that Norrington was rolling the thought around in those rusty wheels of his mind.
"For me, Commodore," Elizabeth finally spoke, not bothering to turn and face him, "as a wedding present." The last she barely uttered. The downcast words floated on her breath and reached the ears of all present with a sad underlying tone.
Jack's head shot up and his eyes flicked wildly from Elizabeth to the stunned Commodore. Jack closed his gaping mouth with effort and fought to silence his tongue. Any words from him would no doubt rob the poetic scene that was unfolding.
"Elizabeth," her father said, a large grin spreading upon his powdered face, "are you accepting the Commodore's proposal?"
Before answering this, Elizabeth turned around, though not to the Commodore. Her watery brown eyes met Jack's intensely. Jack furrowed his brows in confusion at her and she only nodded slightly. Jack could see her hands shaking madly. He frantically searched for a safe alteration of Elizabeth's expected answer. He speechlessly moved his lips, testing out words before speaking them, his forehead creased in concentration.
He was too late. Elizabeth's eyes lingered upon his for a moment longer and then traveled to the wide-eyed stare of Norrington's. She looked into his face and found only one answer.
"Yes, yes I am."
~@~
Jack looked out a small hole in the wooden wall of his cell. The nighttime sea was racing with the boat, the waves splashing against the hull in disagreement. The white spray of the ocean crept through the cracks and holes of the bottom-most compartment of the large ship.
The sea was a wild creature; untamed through time and respected. The lolling waves and the peaceful lagoons only wanted to bask in the perpetual sunlight of day and night's turnings. The squawking gulls only wanted to feed upon the fish and the fish only wanted to swim in the dark currents of the ebbing waters.
The sea only wanted the pleasure of being itself, of having and holding what was dear to it- the fish, the gulls, the salt, and the shadows. The wild creature it was would never be at rest if that freedom was in danger.
Yet, it was. Ships tore at its fragile skin day after day, more coming with each riding sun. The dawn of man's wanderlust beat at the terrified feral waters. The colors of the setting sun were now in hues of crimson, spilling blood upon its drifting waves.
The age of freedom was at the turning point. Jack was like the ocean; the past was being shackled by a future another man was setting out for him. He would never walk that path, just as the sea never ceased it's churning. It would always be ebbing and flowing, waning and waving. Beauty lies in eternal slumber amidst the depths of the deep.
As the ship sped to the island, the stars ceased to shine upon the waters around them. No light of the moon could be reflected upon the canvas of dark indigo as the ship's wake left only white. Now, the ship began to slow until it stopped eventually. Jack could see rocks and crags out of his tiny hole.
"My stop," he murmured to himself and began to look around. The gallows of the splendid ship did not match the upper decks of dirt-free gleaming planks of wood. Water sloshed from one side of the compartment to the other as the ship stood waiting upon the waves. Dirt, scum, and rot were allowed to breed here.
The bars of the cell were of equal stature. The words of a certain blacksmith rang in his head and he smiled greedily as he took the small stool that was inside his cell in his two hands.
"Such wonderful and ironic accommodations," Jack said to the stool. He positioned it under the lock as he had seen Will do in Port Royal.
In a few minutes his cell door had been popped off.
"Remember to thank Will for that," he said to himself as he softly walked up the winding stairs. No guards were present and by the soft murmur of voices that was coming from behind the thick door to his right, Norrington and the Governor were no doubt debriefing their men on the upcoming battle.
Jack wove through the shadows to the upper deck. One light was coming from a small chamber under the command deck.
"Elizabeth," he whispered to himself.
He softly rapped upon the thick glass of the small window. He could see a soft shadow come to the doorway. Elizabeth opened the door and her mouth opened wide.
"Ja-," she exclaimed though was silenced as Jack cupped a hand around her mouth, looking frantically from side to side. His hands were ready to pull his sword out in any given second.
With a nod of his head, he motioned her inside. She nodded her head, his hand still upon her lips, and she stepped back into the room.
When the door was closed and locked, Elizabeth looked frantically at him. "You escaped," she questioned with a renewed light in her eyes. The candlelight danced in her eyes and Jack could have sworn he saw her brown orbs spark.
"A certain blacksmith gave me a tip with the common cell structure," Jack said with a smug smile.
"Oh, Will," Elizabeth sighed, sitting on her bed and putting her head in her hands. "What are we going to do with Will?" She looked up at him, those brown eyes now watered with tears. "What if he's dead?"
"He's not. Not yet, at least." Jack walked around her room, touching the little trinkets on a shelf and passing his fingers through the candle's flame idly.
"And if he is alive, Jack," she asked, standing up now, "what will we do?"
"Well, you'll go off and have a fancy to-do wedding with the Commodore while he blubbers around the seas in search of himself, I imagine," Jack said, a thin air of sarcasm drifting with his words. Elizabeth stepped back, as if the words stung her ears.
"I'm not marrying the Commodore," she said defiantly.
"Well, then you'll send him over the edge and he'll massacre the lot of us," Jack laughed. Elizabeth's defensive walls crumbled for a second and she let a reluctant laugh pull up the edges of her red lips into a feint smile.
"I don't think Commodore Norrington would have the heart," Elizabeth once again sighed. "He does love me. One can see that kind of thing."
"Oh can you, love," Jack asked, stepping closer to her.
"Yes, though you can't feel his kind of love," she said, her eyes never straying from Jack's flaming brown eyes. "It's one-sided."
"One is such a lonely state," Jack mumbled, taking yet another step closer.
"And if Will is alive-," Elizabeth began, then paused as she saw the lopsided grin on Jack's face fall. He did not take another step forward. He forced himself to arch an eyebrow. Captain Jack Sparrow always found a slight to make the charged air less of a burning pain. His stern lips fell to a soft frown at the thought.
Always fighting, he thought with a depressed exhale of air.
"And if Will is alive," Elizabeth repeated, "he'll understand that." She took the final step towards Jack and slowly wrapped her hands around his sun-kissed neck and under his dangling hair. Her hot breath showered his bare neck. She tipped her head up to better meet his incandescent gaze. Her lips parted dangerously close to his own and he basked in the warm air of her breath as it smoothed over his bronzed cheek. They held a vehement stare, so thick with desire that it nearly burst into a fervent spark. His breathing became heavy and coarse as her fingertips made contact with his bare skin behind his neck.
"Is this what you want," he asked with a dry voice, his burning brown eyes set alight by the new movement of lips between them.
"What," she asked in a low voice, "a pirate?"
"Not just a pirate, love," he reminded her, bringing his head down to hers until their lips were almost touching. He could see the longing in her eyes and he felt it within his own.
"Of course not," she replied, the movement of her lips brushing against his. "Only Jack Sparrow."
"Just call me captain, love," he whispered into her parted lips before diving into them. The stinging intensity that had hung between the centimeters of air was now transferred into their dancing tongues. He wrapped an arm around her waist and brought her body as close to his as he could. The other hand brushed against her porcelain neck, rubbing up and down. He felt her shiver and she unwrapped her arms around his neck and grabbed at his layered shirts. With small clutching fists, she fell back onto the bed and pulled him with her. His hat tumbled off and onto the floor.
Now atop of her, he he gently lowered the intensity of the kiss until his lips drifted from hers so slowly. He softly kissed the corner of her lip and then her chin. He made his way down her neck, showering her with light and airy kisses against gossebumped, unflawed skin. She moaned softly and he felt took a moment to look down upon her.
She was more than beautiful; not just a prize to be won or a china doll put up for an auction. She was not a delicate governor's daughter, sitting atop a throne of years of spoiled childhood and inaction. She was not a lowly wench that was easy to conquer and easy to leave.
No, she was not any of these things.
She was Elizabeth Swann. To Jack she embodied all characteristics of a blushing dawn. Her temper was sharp but her kiss the gentler. The smooth white of her skin only brought out the darkness of her eyes. The softness of her lips was unmatched by the passion that burned behind them. Like the dawn, she was a dreamer. From childhood her imagination had flown upon the sea, just as the dawn's hopeful rays brush against the waters; spreading and gliding until they reach their ultimate goal: freedom. With that freedom from the clutches of night, the dawn burst and bubbled with possibilities. Both Swann and Sun basked in the freedom and did not waste upon it only airy dreams. The action of both, and the brilliance those actions radiated, gave true life to whatever they touched- land, sea, creature, and man.
She was now looking up at him, a small smile upon her visage.
"Elizabeth," he began unsteadily, the mirth-clouded vision of the normal Captain Jack Sparrow fleeing him for a moment. "Elizabeth, I-,"
Though a rapping at the door brought his lips to a stop and Elizabeth shot up in a panic, forcing Jack to stand up.
"Elizabeth, dear, are you decent," her father asked through the door. She did not respond and motioned wildly for Jack to hide.
"No matter, I hope I didn't wake you. It's just, well, the Commodore and I have spoken and we have both agreed to wait until the pirates come out and then surprise them. We cannot risk sending our men into the cave. They might be ambushed. So we decided to do the ambushing. I only hope Mr. Turner can hang on until then." He continued to go on, though Elizabeth was no hearing a word of his.
Jack brought his head down to her ear and with the softest of whispers spoke to her.
"This is where I escape, love. I'll find Will and I'll be back. I promise," he said, his parting lips the only thing that could make one word different from another. "You're beautiful," he said, "like the dawn. Always look to the dawn for a sparrow, in search of a swan" He brushed his lips softly against hers, and pulled his hand away from hers.
Making his way softly across the room, he unlocked the window and looked down at the waters below. Two small boats were hung up on the side and without taking one last look at Elizabeth, he stepped out and fell the few feet down into the boat.
From there, he was gone. The Sparrow fled into the darkness of the cave and the Swan's eyes followed him.
