I still wish that I owned Pirates of the Caribbean (and Jack Sparrow), but I don't. . .it sucks. . .

Chapter Eight

The next day was the worst for Ariana so far. She knew that Jack was there, but she also knew that her two best friends weren't. No, they were on another pirate ship miles and miles away, at this point, being brought to some cave in the middle of who-knows-where for sacrificial purposes. None of it really appealed to her that much. She hadn't slept a great deal that night; she was up mostly just tossing and turning, her thoughts on her friends, and when she did sleep, it was just nightmares about the horrible things that could happen to them. She wished that she had been taken onto that ship instead of them.
She wanted to murder that bastard of a captain; she wanted to slaughter him and his entire crew of lewd, disgusting, immoral BEASTS that didn't even have the right to be called people. She wanted to take revenge on them, for bringing her and her friends here, for kidnapping them. . .she wanted retribution. That's what she needed. She reflected on how she had attempted to fight the pirate from The Fearless, and how she had failed miserably. She remembered how frightened she had been, how inexperienced she had felt. If she weren't a girl, he would've easily killed her. She hated that. She wanted to be able to defend herself in this world, to have a way to battle. She didn't want to be a little girl who screamed and ran instead of facing the danger.
She walked over to Captain Jack Sparrow from her position at the side of the boat, where she had been thinking.
He was standing at the wheel, just like he had been the previous day. He shifted his gaze to her as she approached him.
"Jack?"
"What is it, love?"
"Teach me how to swordfight."
He looked at her with an odd expression on his face, and said nothing for quite some time. He was still contemplating what she had enlightened him to last night, and he still found it just a tad bit difficult to believe. But, not entirely impossible, he supposed. . .after all, if pirates could turn into undead skeletons and terrorize people, why couldn't a few teenagers be brought into another world by a medallion? It all tied back to magic, really, to the supernatural – that much he was sure of. "Well, love, women aren't really meant ta swordfight, I mean – it's mainly a thing fa men."
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Typical. Just because I'm a woman means that I can't use a sword? Is that what you're saying?" Her defensive side was coming out.
"Well, yes. Yes, that is what I'm saying." He gave a nod.
"So you're not going to teach me just because I'm a woman?"
"Well, yes and no. Ya see, as I said before, women aren't really meant to swordfight. But SOME women –" he gave her a look, "- can't seem ta go wivout one."
"And you're implying that I'm that kind of woman?" She put a hand on her hip.
"Yes I am. I am IMPLYING –" she could tell that he was trying to imitate her, "- that you are that kind of woman." He gave a nod.
"And is that a bad thing?"
"Not always. Sometimes it make a woman even sexia." He grinned.
She gave a leap of joy inside, smiling like the Cheshire Cat inwardly, and giving him a small grin in return, feeling her cheeks heating up. "So are you going to teach me or not?"
He entertained the idea for but a few moments, then replied, "Fine." He knew that she had to be capable of defending herself, being a girl. Whether she was from another world or not, she still needed the ability. And he was the best around, so who better to teach her than him? Besides, he had been right about one thing – it would make her even sexier, and he couldn't wait to see her in action.
She smiled in satisfaction. "So when do we start? 'Cause I need to learn before we get there." She found herself nearly bouncing from excitement.
'God, she's in a rush,' he thought. "You do know that I can't teach you ta be the best swordsman – woman – in the wo'ld by the time we get there, don't you?"
"Yeah, of course." She waved a hand. "But you can still teach me enough so that I can kick some ass, right?"
'Nice language,' he thought sarcastically. But he liked the fact that she had no problem saying it – prim and proper always had annoyed him. "I can teach you the basics, enough so that hopefully you won't get yourself killed." He said it with nonchalance, but he knew that he would skewer the first man who even came close to harming her.
"Okay – so do we start now?"
He stood up and sashayed across the deck, and she thought for a moment that he had changed his mind. But then just a couple minutes later, he emerged from the captain's quarters holding a long, silver sword in his hand. He reached her and handed it over. She grasped the black handle and took it as he unsheathed his own sword, it glinting in the bright sun.
"All right, now I think the first thing you'll need to know how to do is parry." 'Let's see if she has any skill,' he thought.
"Okay." She held her sword up in front of her.
He swiftly brought his sword down and across, inches from her stomach.
"You see, I could have just sliced you open. THAT is why you need to parry. Now I'm going to do it again, and this time I want you to block it, undastand?"
"Yeah." She nodded.
He swung his blade down a second time and now, she managed to block it with her own.
"Very good." Then, without warning, he lifted his sword and slashed the air in front of her stomach again. "You need to be ready for things like that."
"Okay, do it again." She tried to mentally prepare herself.
He brought the shining blade down and across and she instantly countered, and when he lifted it and tried again, she did once more. He continued repeating the move until she had mastered the block.
"All right, let's try this," he said. With only those few words as warning, he swung the sword straight at her neck, and her immediate reaction was to duck. "Very good." A small grin came to his face. Maybe she did have a knack for this; or it was just reflexes. "That's exactly what you were supposed to do."
She smiled, satisfied with herself as she rose back up. Her smile disappeared, however, as he suddenly swung out again. She dropped to the deck.
"You have good reflexes. For a woman." He added the second sentence to irritate her, to get her to fight back more.
She brought her sword at him and he easily parried, then swung his back at her. She swiftly blocked it, but this time he didn't pull away. She could feel the pressure of his sword pushing against hers and it was starting to hurt her hand and wrist.
"When this happens, you let go and duck," he told her. He knew that would be easier for her than trying to get her to push him off and continue fighting.
She complied, pulling her sword away, and as his came at her she dropped down.
"Good."
They practiced those moves until she had them down, and then Jack moved on to something else.
"Now, if someone comes at your legs, you either jump up or back, depending on how much of the blade is coming at you. You have ta pay attention ta that." He struck out at her legs, and as it came slicing through the air she quickly observed how much of the blade was going to try and collide with her. She decided it was too much to jump back, and so she jumped up, forgetting to pull her legs up with her. The side of the blade hit her leg. "The bottom of your legs are gone, love," he said, grinning slightly, obviously amused.
"Do it again," she told him, determined to get it right.
He brought the sword back and once more swung it at her legs, and now, she jumped up and pulled her legs up as well. The blade cut through thin air and she landed back on the deck.
"Betta." He struck out again, and she jumped backwards this time, deciding that there was only a small amount of the blade coming at her. The blade missed – she smiled again in satisfaction.
"Ha," she said. He swung at her again, and she wasn't ready for it. The side of the blade once again hit her leg, and she narrowed her eyes at him. He only grinned at her.
They spent some time practicing those moves, and after he said, "Now if someone sticks their sword straight out at you, you have to push it to the side with yours." He stuck out his sword – he was far enough away so that it wouldn't touch her – and she brought hers up, knocking it to the side. "Let's try that again – you have to push it away BEFORE I'm able to stab you." He began to try again, and she swiftly his blade with hers and shoved it to the side before he had even stretched his arm out.
After they went through that a few more times, he said, "Now to teach you how to actually hurt them."
'Finally,' she thought. 'That's what I WANT to do.' She couldn't wait to use one of these on those evil, disgusting pigs.
"Swing your sword out at me," he ordered. She did – he parried. "Not that easy."
"Obviously."
"You have to try to confuse them. Make them think you're going fa one spot, then attack in a different spot." He raised his eyebrows.
She struck out at his legs, then as he went to jump, she quickly struck out at his chest. Since he had been in midair, it was easy for him to block it. She swore under her breath.
"That would have been pretty good, if you had started somewhere otha than my legs."
"So where should I start?"
"Side, arm, stomach. . ." He moved his free hand in circles as he listed the options. "Things like that."
"Okay. . ." She made a quick decision to start at his arm, and when she did, he countered, then she moved to stab him in the stomach. He blocked that as well.
"Much betta." They both knew that she wouldn't be capable of actually getting him, but they did knew that she could practice the moves.
And so that was what they did for quite a while, until she got the gist of it.
"Now to show you how to properly swing." He held his sword out to the side, then swiftly swung it out in front of him, and she could hear it as it slashed through the air.
She tried to copy him; she sword ended up flying out of her hand and landing about seven feet away with a clang. She tried not to laugh at herself as she went over and picked it up.
"Try again," he told her.
She did, and this time she held onto it, but ended up almost hitting herself in the head with the end of the blade after she swung it. She felt like an idiot – she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of him, though she felt she had probably already accomplished that.
"Okay, here, let me show you," he said, sheathing his sword and going over to her. He stood behind her and put one hand on her left shoulder, the other on her right arm, the one that had a hold of her sword. She inhaled sharply at his touch, but said nothing. "Like this." She heard his voice right next to her ear, and it sounded very low and quiet, sending shivers of delight cascading down her spine. He moved her arm and the sword swung out in front of her, this time not becoming airborne, or smacking her in the head. It was perfect.
She felt his hand slide down and come to rest on her side. Her right arm fell and she knew what was about to happen. She readied herself for it.
She slowly turned her head around to look up at him – he was gazing down at her, his chocolate brown eyes holding hers as if nothing in the world could ever make him look away. Before she knew it, his face was coming closer, and soon their lips met in a passionate kiss.
She closed her eyes and felt as if she were floating; just floating in the air. No, better than that, she had just been flown to heaven. Everything else seemed to just fade away, and she wanted that moment to last forever. She wished for time to just stop; all the watches in the world could stop ticking, all the people could stop moving, the Earth could stop spinning; just so she could prolong it; just so she could keep this beautiful instant going until the sun burned out in the sky.
But eventually he pulled away and was still staring down at her. She was brought back to reality, though she didn't want to be there.
'What am I doing?!' she suddenly realized. 'My two best friends are on a pirate ship miles away, who knows what's happening to them, and I'm here kissing Jack! What's wrong with me?!' She felt horrible, as if she didn't deserve to live. At that moment, she just wanted to crawl into a hole as overwhelming guilt washed over her.
She dropped the sword and ran into the captain's quarters, closing the door behind her.

A/N: You like? I hope you like. Next chapter will be up very soon!