Upon A Painted Ocean - Part 9
Author: Daisy Sparrow
Pairing: Jack/Will, Will/Elizabeth
Rating: PG-13 and rising
Summary: Port Royal is infected with a strange disease, Will and Elizabeth enlisted the help of the Black Pearl to go after the stolen medicine. On the way, they encountered old nemesis, crazy priest, mermaid and a demon who is after Jack's soul.
Disclaim: Pirates of the Caribbean and all its characters are not mine. I am making no money off this. Don't sue the colleage kid who are already broke. Credit for the title goes to Coleridge's poem and P.Speare who wrote the most wonderful Weiss Kreuz fic. Also special thanks to Darkdancer for the betaing.
Warning: Same as always, first fic ever and English not my first language. The trick that Jack used, I learned it from Shanghai Noon. Jackie Chan kick ass!!!! ^_^ Please please review!
" " - speech // // - thought *** *** - flashback
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's nice to know that those strict military training hadn't completely killed off imagination, and that a half-finished sewer tunnel with a few bars can be, in emergency, substituted as a prison cell. Jack had not known that Tortuga had a sewer system, no matter how ill constructed and obviously nonfunctional it was.
// Well, ye learn something new every day. //
It was getting uncomfortably crowded in his current residence. He had shoved one of his cellmates, Mr. half decomposed skeleton, as far to the wall as possible. He would have commented on his hygiene if he thought the man would listen. But there was really nothing he could do about Mr. Rat, Mr. Beetle and Mr. Beetle's relatives who were all happily chewing up what's left of Mr. Skeleton's intestine.
The guards had left as soon as they disposited him inside this dump. He must had not been the only one who found the atmosphere not so agreeable. The air was damp, the ground was mostly wet, and a lone oil lamp on the other side of the bars illuminated the small space. The key and his things were hanging on the hook just outside the cell, and incidentally, just out of his reach.
// So close, yet so far away....... Curses, must my thought always return to that wretched boy, that wretched and lovely boy..... the lovely boy who might be lying on the bottom of the ocean at this very moment. //
He flopped down on the only dry ground inside the cell, hugged his knees and refused to let the shrillness of that thought upset his already weakened stomach. Agitated further by the sudden hopelessness stirred in his heart, he gave a vicious kick to the steel bars in front of him. The bars stood as unyielding as ever without any dent or deformation, and he did not kid himself into thinking they could be uprooted.
Something brushed against his left boot. He looked down through the slip between folded arms, it seemed that Mr. Rat had decided to be sociable. He picked it up by the tail. The rat squirmed and trashed violently, it was a solid weight in his hand. He stared at it sullenly and swing it around like a pendulum.
// Oh, why the hell not. //
He squeezed half of his upper body between the bars and flung the rat against the wall, where the key and his things were located. The rat hit his sword with a dull sound, fall down, bounced a couple of times and rolled out of sight. The sword stayed where it was hooked by the hilt, but the steel and leather holster was lying on the ground. Determined to make the best out of this god forsaken predicament he had gotten into, Jack pulled the holster inside as quiet as possible. He then proceed to search the cell thoroughly, and grinned lopsidedly when he spotted Mr. Skeleton's mostly intact scarf.
// I've heard about this trick, let's see if it actually works. //
He unfastened the long piece of fabric, it was soaked with water, blood, gore and other things Jack did not care to know. He coiled the scarf around two bars, tied it up end to end and inserted the holster into the space in between. Firmly took a hold of both end of the holster, he turned as if it was the steering wheel of the Pearl. The more he turned, the more scarf twisted around the holster, and began to deform the bars to bring them closer. With each rotation, more force was applied until finally the bars gave out and broke with a wailing squeak. He smirked, satisfied, and bend the broken bars outward a little to allow more room. He squeezed his body through, hastily grabbed his things and made up through the stone stairs. He waited with bated breath at the door.
// No guards. The commodore must had hoped for me to rot in that hellhole. Pity, I always disappoint him. //
Sensing the coast was clear, Jack quietly slipped out into the darkness.
~~~*~~~
His cheek was pressing against cold stone. His limbs felt boneless. He couldn't remember anything. Where was he? What time was it? Who was he?
// Is this a dream? //
It was freezing. His body shivered uncontrollably, but there was a flame inside of him. Each breath grew more difficult, the flame was consuming him.
"Hey, lad. Are ye alright?" An old and weatherworned voice asked above him, a callused hand gently touched his arm.
He reacted with pure instinct, arms flailed out blindly. "NO! DON'T TOUCH ME!"
// It burnt. //
His skin was redden where the old man touched him, the area around the burn was already bruised and wrinkled from the heat. He burrowed himself into the corner, body curled as small as possible. Face hidden inside folded arms, he rocked back and forth, muttering incoherent words. "What the....??!! I .... I didn't..." There was astonishment and fear in the old man's voice. Unsteady footsteps clapped the ground, quickly began moving in the opposite direction. Then it was gone.
// It burnt. It hurtd so much. //
The flare of pain started to perish, the air around him was already cooling. A soft cough escaped his throat. The flame inside was threaten to burst out, but his body felt as if it was submerged under ice water. Was it possible to be burnt and frozen at the same time, he wondered. He clawed at his own skin, leaving shallow red marks behind.
// No. No. Make it stop. //
His frantically searching hand enclosed around something, a small round object, dangled on a chain which hanged around his neck. He brought the ring before his eyes, the red glow of the ruby eased the heat and the cold, pushed them into the back of his mind. They were not gone, but now they were tolerable. A soothing voice was humming and whispering some foreign incantation in his ears.
// Follow me. //
He pushed himself up on shaky legs. The voice was calling out to him, like an invisible thread leading him. It was the only sign in the midst of this maze of confusion and pain. He followed it.
~~~*~~~
Jack eyed his boat from the street corner, it was still tied and securited around the dock, exactly where he had left it. There were no patrons in sight.
// The commodore is gettin'g sloppy. The pretty little lassie must be the real thing for him to divert most if not all of his attention to her. Well, I ain't gon'na complain. // Jack reasoned.
The dock was unusually quite this evening. There were only a few drunkards lurking around. He had heard the exciting shouts about the all-on-the-house- rum-drinking event brought on by some recently returned pirates, who had hit the big one and was throwing gold around like sand. Commotion like that was never good, it would be the same as paint 'Gold-Rob Me' on someone's face with red ink. He smirked mirthlessly at the thought of the stupid sod or sods who were about to be gutted soon, but grunted, annoyed at the fact that he would miss the free rum.
He looked left and right, then swaggered towards his boat. In the distance, the Dauntless was lighted up like a Christmas tree against the first ray of sunlight. It looked more like a cruising ship than a battle ship. He watched the flashiness of the small torches with appreciation, those oil and coals could not have been cheap. He thought the ship made a very well decorated and posh cage, especially for a gorgeous little nightingale like Elizabeth. He undid the knot of rope which bind the boat to the pole.
// Farewell, lassie. I am certain the good commodore will take up the task of caring for ye with great enthusiasm. I'll give yer greeting to the lad..... who will no doubt be heartbroken by this.... who is also just stupid enough to do something rush..... like challenge the commodore to a duel? .... and perhaps getting hurt in the process..... or mortally wounded.... or even di..... That's not good. Wait, no Elizabeth means no payment. That's even worse! What in the name of the seven seas am I doing? I can not leave the lass in the clutch of a lusty and dishonorable sea dog. //
After convincing himself that a plan of rescue is in order, Jack retied the boat to the dock and started swaggering in the direction of the Dauntless. He assessed his situation conscientiously. It would be disadvangetous to get the Pearl involved, three against one simply wouldn't be a fair fight.
There was a hiss from the alley to his left. Jack stopped and swirled his body around on guard. Whatever it was, it was veiled by the darkness. He took a tentative step back, the hiss grew louder and closer. Remembered the old saying about curiosity killing the cat, or in this case, the bird, he decided a quick get away would be top priority.
Arms burst out of the shadow with lightening speed, grabbed the front of his tunic and pulled him inside the dark alley. He was slammed against the wall. A familiar voice growled out a single word beside his ear.
"Mine."
~~~*~~~
"We don't know wha' ye did wit' th' other two." The fat pirate grinned and Zeke was almost blinded by the mouthful of gold teeth. "Bu' who cares, th' more loot for th' rest of us." The more time he spent in the company of such humanity, the more confidence he had in Satan's little apocalypse project, Zeke rolled his eyes and sighed softly.
// I am starting to take after Will, sighing at everything. //
He parted his legs as far as possible on the narrow board to keep balance, the shackles around his feet clapped and the cannon balls almost slipped off the wood. He jumped forward a small step as something pointy was jabbed none too gently into his side.
"Mov'e it!"
The other pirates cheered loudly with cruel jests. Zeke looked down at the sea with disdain, his posture tense. The island of La Tortuga laid peacefully in the distant horizon. The sun was rising and enveloped everything its brilliance touched in a gold and red glow.
// Sea *and* sunrise. What does the Fates have against me? // ".....oh well, I've been through worse."
"Wha' cou'd be worse than walkin'g th' plank?" The fat pirate asked with honest curiosity.
"Jumping from them." // Poor sucker probably doesn't go out much,// Zeke mused sympathetically, // I can relate with that. //
He turned around and put his hands in front of his chest, palms outward. "Now, gentlemen. I am sure we can come to some kind of agreement. There has to be something you want...or wish for? Let's all just sit down, and work out some kind of mutually beneficial pl...."
He was cut off by the sound of a loud splash. Then a force rammed into the bottom of the plank caused it to spring upward. Zeke lost his footing and fell.
// I am going home empty handed. The management is not going to be happy about this. //
The air bubbles were swirling around him like rains of broken glasses. They reflected back the light like crystal balls, basked Zeke in the colors of rainbow. Something was pulling him down.
// Oh, yeah, the cannon balls. At least I didn't panic this time. //
He shut his eyes, the sea water really sting. There was some kind of motion beneath him. He was half hoping it was a shark. At least then he would have a more interesting story to tell; drowning was such a boring way to go. Suddenly, something solid connected with his ankle, and the weight that bind him was gone. He sprinted his body upward, and let the water float him up. His hands almost touched the surface, only to have a sideway jerk pulled him under again.
// Maybe it was a shark. //
Something was pulling him across the bottom of the ship, and pushed him up when the last few inches were closed. His head broke through the surface and he gasped for breath. The pirates were still cheering on the other side of the ship. Now he could feel the arms around his waist, holding him up. He opened his eyes and tried to blink the water out of them. A hard tap on his shoulder, and he turned his attention to his rescuer.
"Miss me?" Tisha said smugly.
"You." His voice was hoarse, the sea water tasted more bitter than salty in his mouth. "How?"
She flapped her tail and began swimming away from the ship. "I flipped around in the barrel and spilled all the water. Then I convinced the guards to take me to the upper deck to get some more.....and then....well, you did say that my scales are very slippery."
// And the guards couldn't have been very smart, // Zeke watched her face broke into a proud grin. // I might have to readjust my opinion of the fish. //
"So what do I get in return?"
"What?" // I definitely should readjust my opinion, she might not be an air head after all.//
"I saved your life and you *are* a wish master. I want something in return for all my trouble."
Zeke wanted to warn her that it's never a good idea to demand rewards from a demon, but he doesn't like her *that* much. "I'll reward you later..."
She cut him off hurriedly, "Do you promise?"
"Across my black little heart, but you have to get me to Tortuga first."
"No, I won't. It's where those bad men are going." Apparently, she also showed evidence of higher brain activity and more survival instinct than an headless ant.
"Yes, and it's also where they are taking Will."
"Tortuga it is."
// Then again, I could be wrong about the brain cell and the survival instinct.//
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zeke: *smirk* Now what to reward the little fishie?
Me: You can't kill her. She hasn't served all her purpose yet.
Zeke: *pout* just a few cuts and maybe a little roasting...
Me: .....you know what they say, you always hurt the one you love.
Zeke: *outraged* What are you IMPLYING??!!!!
Author: Daisy Sparrow
Pairing: Jack/Will, Will/Elizabeth
Rating: PG-13 and rising
Summary: Port Royal is infected with a strange disease, Will and Elizabeth enlisted the help of the Black Pearl to go after the stolen medicine. On the way, they encountered old nemesis, crazy priest, mermaid and a demon who is after Jack's soul.
Disclaim: Pirates of the Caribbean and all its characters are not mine. I am making no money off this. Don't sue the colleage kid who are already broke. Credit for the title goes to Coleridge's poem and P.Speare who wrote the most wonderful Weiss Kreuz fic. Also special thanks to Darkdancer for the betaing.
Warning: Same as always, first fic ever and English not my first language. The trick that Jack used, I learned it from Shanghai Noon. Jackie Chan kick ass!!!! ^_^ Please please review!
" " - speech // // - thought *** *** - flashback
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's nice to know that those strict military training hadn't completely killed off imagination, and that a half-finished sewer tunnel with a few bars can be, in emergency, substituted as a prison cell. Jack had not known that Tortuga had a sewer system, no matter how ill constructed and obviously nonfunctional it was.
// Well, ye learn something new every day. //
It was getting uncomfortably crowded in his current residence. He had shoved one of his cellmates, Mr. half decomposed skeleton, as far to the wall as possible. He would have commented on his hygiene if he thought the man would listen. But there was really nothing he could do about Mr. Rat, Mr. Beetle and Mr. Beetle's relatives who were all happily chewing up what's left of Mr. Skeleton's intestine.
The guards had left as soon as they disposited him inside this dump. He must had not been the only one who found the atmosphere not so agreeable. The air was damp, the ground was mostly wet, and a lone oil lamp on the other side of the bars illuminated the small space. The key and his things were hanging on the hook just outside the cell, and incidentally, just out of his reach.
// So close, yet so far away....... Curses, must my thought always return to that wretched boy, that wretched and lovely boy..... the lovely boy who might be lying on the bottom of the ocean at this very moment. //
He flopped down on the only dry ground inside the cell, hugged his knees and refused to let the shrillness of that thought upset his already weakened stomach. Agitated further by the sudden hopelessness stirred in his heart, he gave a vicious kick to the steel bars in front of him. The bars stood as unyielding as ever without any dent or deformation, and he did not kid himself into thinking they could be uprooted.
Something brushed against his left boot. He looked down through the slip between folded arms, it seemed that Mr. Rat had decided to be sociable. He picked it up by the tail. The rat squirmed and trashed violently, it was a solid weight in his hand. He stared at it sullenly and swing it around like a pendulum.
// Oh, why the hell not. //
He squeezed half of his upper body between the bars and flung the rat against the wall, where the key and his things were located. The rat hit his sword with a dull sound, fall down, bounced a couple of times and rolled out of sight. The sword stayed where it was hooked by the hilt, but the steel and leather holster was lying on the ground. Determined to make the best out of this god forsaken predicament he had gotten into, Jack pulled the holster inside as quiet as possible. He then proceed to search the cell thoroughly, and grinned lopsidedly when he spotted Mr. Skeleton's mostly intact scarf.
// I've heard about this trick, let's see if it actually works. //
He unfastened the long piece of fabric, it was soaked with water, blood, gore and other things Jack did not care to know. He coiled the scarf around two bars, tied it up end to end and inserted the holster into the space in between. Firmly took a hold of both end of the holster, he turned as if it was the steering wheel of the Pearl. The more he turned, the more scarf twisted around the holster, and began to deform the bars to bring them closer. With each rotation, more force was applied until finally the bars gave out and broke with a wailing squeak. He smirked, satisfied, and bend the broken bars outward a little to allow more room. He squeezed his body through, hastily grabbed his things and made up through the stone stairs. He waited with bated breath at the door.
// No guards. The commodore must had hoped for me to rot in that hellhole. Pity, I always disappoint him. //
Sensing the coast was clear, Jack quietly slipped out into the darkness.
~~~*~~~
His cheek was pressing against cold stone. His limbs felt boneless. He couldn't remember anything. Where was he? What time was it? Who was he?
// Is this a dream? //
It was freezing. His body shivered uncontrollably, but there was a flame inside of him. Each breath grew more difficult, the flame was consuming him.
"Hey, lad. Are ye alright?" An old and weatherworned voice asked above him, a callused hand gently touched his arm.
He reacted with pure instinct, arms flailed out blindly. "NO! DON'T TOUCH ME!"
// It burnt. //
His skin was redden where the old man touched him, the area around the burn was already bruised and wrinkled from the heat. He burrowed himself into the corner, body curled as small as possible. Face hidden inside folded arms, he rocked back and forth, muttering incoherent words. "What the....??!! I .... I didn't..." There was astonishment and fear in the old man's voice. Unsteady footsteps clapped the ground, quickly began moving in the opposite direction. Then it was gone.
// It burnt. It hurtd so much. //
The flare of pain started to perish, the air around him was already cooling. A soft cough escaped his throat. The flame inside was threaten to burst out, but his body felt as if it was submerged under ice water. Was it possible to be burnt and frozen at the same time, he wondered. He clawed at his own skin, leaving shallow red marks behind.
// No. No. Make it stop. //
His frantically searching hand enclosed around something, a small round object, dangled on a chain which hanged around his neck. He brought the ring before his eyes, the red glow of the ruby eased the heat and the cold, pushed them into the back of his mind. They were not gone, but now they were tolerable. A soothing voice was humming and whispering some foreign incantation in his ears.
// Follow me. //
He pushed himself up on shaky legs. The voice was calling out to him, like an invisible thread leading him. It was the only sign in the midst of this maze of confusion and pain. He followed it.
~~~*~~~
Jack eyed his boat from the street corner, it was still tied and securited around the dock, exactly where he had left it. There were no patrons in sight.
// The commodore is gettin'g sloppy. The pretty little lassie must be the real thing for him to divert most if not all of his attention to her. Well, I ain't gon'na complain. // Jack reasoned.
The dock was unusually quite this evening. There were only a few drunkards lurking around. He had heard the exciting shouts about the all-on-the-house- rum-drinking event brought on by some recently returned pirates, who had hit the big one and was throwing gold around like sand. Commotion like that was never good, it would be the same as paint 'Gold-Rob Me' on someone's face with red ink. He smirked mirthlessly at the thought of the stupid sod or sods who were about to be gutted soon, but grunted, annoyed at the fact that he would miss the free rum.
He looked left and right, then swaggered towards his boat. In the distance, the Dauntless was lighted up like a Christmas tree against the first ray of sunlight. It looked more like a cruising ship than a battle ship. He watched the flashiness of the small torches with appreciation, those oil and coals could not have been cheap. He thought the ship made a very well decorated and posh cage, especially for a gorgeous little nightingale like Elizabeth. He undid the knot of rope which bind the boat to the pole.
// Farewell, lassie. I am certain the good commodore will take up the task of caring for ye with great enthusiasm. I'll give yer greeting to the lad..... who will no doubt be heartbroken by this.... who is also just stupid enough to do something rush..... like challenge the commodore to a duel? .... and perhaps getting hurt in the process..... or mortally wounded.... or even di..... That's not good. Wait, no Elizabeth means no payment. That's even worse! What in the name of the seven seas am I doing? I can not leave the lass in the clutch of a lusty and dishonorable sea dog. //
After convincing himself that a plan of rescue is in order, Jack retied the boat to the dock and started swaggering in the direction of the Dauntless. He assessed his situation conscientiously. It would be disadvangetous to get the Pearl involved, three against one simply wouldn't be a fair fight.
There was a hiss from the alley to his left. Jack stopped and swirled his body around on guard. Whatever it was, it was veiled by the darkness. He took a tentative step back, the hiss grew louder and closer. Remembered the old saying about curiosity killing the cat, or in this case, the bird, he decided a quick get away would be top priority.
Arms burst out of the shadow with lightening speed, grabbed the front of his tunic and pulled him inside the dark alley. He was slammed against the wall. A familiar voice growled out a single word beside his ear.
"Mine."
~~~*~~~
"We don't know wha' ye did wit' th' other two." The fat pirate grinned and Zeke was almost blinded by the mouthful of gold teeth. "Bu' who cares, th' more loot for th' rest of us." The more time he spent in the company of such humanity, the more confidence he had in Satan's little apocalypse project, Zeke rolled his eyes and sighed softly.
// I am starting to take after Will, sighing at everything. //
He parted his legs as far as possible on the narrow board to keep balance, the shackles around his feet clapped and the cannon balls almost slipped off the wood. He jumped forward a small step as something pointy was jabbed none too gently into his side.
"Mov'e it!"
The other pirates cheered loudly with cruel jests. Zeke looked down at the sea with disdain, his posture tense. The island of La Tortuga laid peacefully in the distant horizon. The sun was rising and enveloped everything its brilliance touched in a gold and red glow.
// Sea *and* sunrise. What does the Fates have against me? // ".....oh well, I've been through worse."
"Wha' cou'd be worse than walkin'g th' plank?" The fat pirate asked with honest curiosity.
"Jumping from them." // Poor sucker probably doesn't go out much,// Zeke mused sympathetically, // I can relate with that. //
He turned around and put his hands in front of his chest, palms outward. "Now, gentlemen. I am sure we can come to some kind of agreement. There has to be something you want...or wish for? Let's all just sit down, and work out some kind of mutually beneficial pl...."
He was cut off by the sound of a loud splash. Then a force rammed into the bottom of the plank caused it to spring upward. Zeke lost his footing and fell.
// I am going home empty handed. The management is not going to be happy about this. //
The air bubbles were swirling around him like rains of broken glasses. They reflected back the light like crystal balls, basked Zeke in the colors of rainbow. Something was pulling him down.
// Oh, yeah, the cannon balls. At least I didn't panic this time. //
He shut his eyes, the sea water really sting. There was some kind of motion beneath him. He was half hoping it was a shark. At least then he would have a more interesting story to tell; drowning was such a boring way to go. Suddenly, something solid connected with his ankle, and the weight that bind him was gone. He sprinted his body upward, and let the water float him up. His hands almost touched the surface, only to have a sideway jerk pulled him under again.
// Maybe it was a shark. //
Something was pulling him across the bottom of the ship, and pushed him up when the last few inches were closed. His head broke through the surface and he gasped for breath. The pirates were still cheering on the other side of the ship. Now he could feel the arms around his waist, holding him up. He opened his eyes and tried to blink the water out of them. A hard tap on his shoulder, and he turned his attention to his rescuer.
"Miss me?" Tisha said smugly.
"You." His voice was hoarse, the sea water tasted more bitter than salty in his mouth. "How?"
She flapped her tail and began swimming away from the ship. "I flipped around in the barrel and spilled all the water. Then I convinced the guards to take me to the upper deck to get some more.....and then....well, you did say that my scales are very slippery."
// And the guards couldn't have been very smart, // Zeke watched her face broke into a proud grin. // I might have to readjust my opinion of the fish. //
"So what do I get in return?"
"What?" // I definitely should readjust my opinion, she might not be an air head after all.//
"I saved your life and you *are* a wish master. I want something in return for all my trouble."
Zeke wanted to warn her that it's never a good idea to demand rewards from a demon, but he doesn't like her *that* much. "I'll reward you later..."
She cut him off hurriedly, "Do you promise?"
"Across my black little heart, but you have to get me to Tortuga first."
"No, I won't. It's where those bad men are going." Apparently, she also showed evidence of higher brain activity and more survival instinct than an headless ant.
"Yes, and it's also where they are taking Will."
"Tortuga it is."
// Then again, I could be wrong about the brain cell and the survival instinct.//
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zeke: *smirk* Now what to reward the little fishie?
Me: You can't kill her. She hasn't served all her purpose yet.
Zeke: *pout* just a few cuts and maybe a little roasting...
Me: .....you know what they say, you always hurt the one you love.
Zeke: *outraged* What are you IMPLYING??!!!!