Upon A Painted Ocean - 16
Author: Daisy Sparrow
Pairing: Jack/Will, Will/Elizabeth
Rating: PG-13 and rising
Summary:
When a mysterious plague hits Port Royal Will and Elizabeth go with Captain Jack Sparrow to find a cure. But when Will is captured by the man who unleashed the plague and infected with a strange new disease that feeds on love things start to get complicated. Slashiness!
Archive:
As long as you ask me first.
Disclaimer:
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. I've been told this chapter is really sad. I was in a rather depressing mood, so I took it out on everyone...except Zeke. I just can't picture the little demon brat ever be heartbroke about anything. Please R&R, otherwise there is no point in posting more. ^_~
Thanks to all of you who reviewed last time, your support and ecouragement are more effective and addictive than chocolate and caffine ^_^.
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*
Zeke brought the dagger close and licked the blood off the blade. Anamarie glanced at him with disgust. He winked at her and put the now-clean dagger back into his sleeve.
"Hurry up and roll the boat." She said in a harsh whisper.
He obliged without much enthusiasm. He hadn't been supplying himself with his minimum daily requirement of pain and suffering lately, and the commodore's blood tasted too..... sweet. It just did not have that spiced favor of the damned.
//Good thing I am not one of those who feeds on blood or emotion, otherwise I would have been starved by now.//
The district part of Tortuga was engulfed in a blazing fire. They could hear the calling and screaming of people from a good distance away. Zeke stared dreamily at his handy work and let the feeling of pure euphoria sat inside his stomach with luxurious slowness.
//Fire is so pretty.//
"Did you really have to start that fire?"
He cracked his head slightly to the side at Anamarie. For a pirate, she had surprisingly high moral stands. He smiled at her angelically. He had been told that his smile could charmed the pants off even the gatekeepers of hell, although it had never worked on the people he wanted to.
"I wanted to stop the navy from pursuing us."
That was a perfectly legitimate reason. Anamarie could also see that, she grunted and went back to the oar.
This evening had started out incredibly lousy with the captain's way-off-scale suspicion. Jack Sparrow might not looked the brainy type, but Zeke could still envision the constant turning of gears in the pirate captain's head. Jack was a man who always had a plan.
Zeke pitted him on his restlessness, he heard that too much scheming would make a man bald before his age. Although the pirate certainly did not use his head when it was needed. The sheer amount of gun powder, that is figuratively speaking, in his kitchen early that evening was enough to light up the entire Caribbean.
//There was plentiful of jealousy all right. Ha, Ursella, eat your heart out.//
There was a solid thump and Zeke felt his oar connect with something. He looked at Anamarie who had stopped pulling her oar.
"What was that?" She asked.
Zeke leaned over the side of the boat and searched the water. Anamarie edged towards his side of the boat and looked over his shoulder.
"Can you see anything?" She asked again.
It was well pass midnight. The sky and the ocean were both covered by capes of darkness. The line which usually separated the two was indistinguishable, there was only the blackness stretched endlessly like a hollow void. The moon would occasionally peep from behind thick clouds and showered the surface of the sea with silver sparkles like mercury.
He narrowed his eyes and felt his vision came into sharp focus. The pupils inside gray eyes reshaped into thin slits for one instant and retracted back just as quickly.
A flash of ivory was translucent through the murkiness of the water. Locks of silky threads were flying wildly in the water as if they were wind strewn.
Zeke had an unpleasant flashback involved a certain mermaid. He stared harder into the water. The shape was sinking deeper and deeper. The opposite direction of motion would be expected, he thought, if it was indeed the fish.
"I think it's a girl."
"What!"
Anamarie shouted and bend herself down further. The sudden movement rattled the balance of the boat and swayed it violently to one side. He almost bit his own tongue and hastily put all his weight onto the other side. He really did not fancy another trip down the sea.
The other pirate turned her head and watched him with amusement as he pried his fingers off the side of the wooden boat, one by one. He stared back evenly.
"Will you be saving the girl?" She asked.
"I can't swim." He replied dryly.
She raised both hands towards the sky in a 'why me' gesture before jump off the boat and dived into the sea. Zeke turned his face slightly as splashes of water hit his side.
The smooth surface of the sea was disoriented for a few seconds before the following tides covered the disturbance and buried it underneath the waves.
He waited. There were nothing but strings of bubbles at uneven intervals. He waited some more.
Anamarie's head broke through the water. Her black hair were loosened from their red band and plastered around her face and over her shoulder. Zeke offered her his hand. She accepted the help wearily and pulled herself into the boat, along with another limp body.
She patted the other girl gingerly on the back. The girl coughed while inhaled the air with feverish urgency.
Zeke smiled happily at their discomfort. This really was turning out to be his evening and things had just gotten a lot more interesting.
"Nice to see you again, Miss. Elizabeth."
~~~*~~~
"We couldn't find her."
Will watched that perfectly shaped mouth move. His breath hitched as a pink tongue rolled out and wetted the bottom lip. He stared transfixed at the shiny layers of moistures, as they added even more lushness to those already irresistible petals.
"Will?"
Jack looked nervous at his unresponsiveness. The pirate captain walked up to the bed and put a palm against his forehead. The warmth in that touch sent a ray of quiver down his spine and jolted him out of his trance.
"Yer temperature are still a little high."
"I...I'm fine."
"....did ye hear me? We couldn't find Elizabeth."
The mention of his fiancé thrust a pang of guilt straight through his heart with razor-sharpness. He folded deeper into the blankets.
"The red coats lost her."
"Did.... did they say where...."
"Nay. They told me she fell in the water and they couldn't find her."
He felt as if he was encapsulated inside a small and sealed box, which was tumbling down a steep hill. Every where he touched, there was the darkness and the brick wall. He was suffocating while the uncertainty and impending danger of the situation jabbed him sharply from all angles. He was not looking forward to hit the bottom.
"Is she.... is she...?"
He could not bring himself to finish the question, but there was understanding in Jack's kohl outlined eyes.
"The lass knows how to swim.... and it would have been the perfect opportunity to get away from the commodore."
"O..of course."
"She is all right."
Large hands clasped around his shoulders. The assurance, or perhaps just plain stubbornness in
Jack's voice was enough to rinse away the doubts that surrounded his heart. From those four words, a dawning hope was granted to him.
He was not arrogant enough to think that he could pry away all that pretense, which the pirate wore like a armor. However, he did pride himself on the fact that he could see through the illusion that the other projected to the world. Jack Sparrow was one of the most cunning and intelligent man he had ever known, no matter how opposite the pirate might have acted.
//If Jack said she is all right, then she is.//
"I've given words to look out for anything out in the sea. The Pearl hasn't moved that far from where we were, she will find us."
"I know."
Ebony eyes blinked, surprised at the almost blind faith in that reply. Then Jack withdrew his hands abruptly and stepped away. He looked up at the other with confusion. Jack laughed half heartily, the sound was like nail scratching in his ears.
"Well, as long as ye know. Just leave everything to captain Jack Sparrow."
His left hand reached out towards that unshaven face and Jack flinched back. He froze, heart clenched painfully at the distance that the other insisted on wedge between them.
"Jack, I...."
"Ye are probably tired. I'll let ye rest now."
"Jack!"
He yelled before the pirate could bolt from the room. His brain screamed at him to let the man go. His logic reasoned that time would dissolve whatever animosity between them. But his heart was recoiling in pain at the increasing space which separated them. He could no longer stand it.
//Does he hate me now?//
Was it too late? Was everything irreversible? Did Jack despise him so much that the pirate could no longer bear to be close to him? He wanted to explain everything. He wanted to tell Jack that he wanted him, and god have mercy on his soul, loved him. He would understand if the pirate could never return his feelings, if all he would ever have was friendship. It would have been enough to watch the other man from afar, to swallow down his affection until it aged into a constant bitter sweet ache.
It would have to be enough.
//But would it be worth it?//
There were endless possible reactions the pirate captain could have to his confession, and most of them were not encouraging. If he upset this false security and jaded politeness between them, he could unleash the hidden turbulence that would sweep away whatever little he had left. He could not see any middle ground in which his feelings could be balanced with the crashing reality.
//To keep what I have or to lose everything in striving for more.//
Neither way, he could no longer bear witness to the fragility that has became their friendship. Everything that tied them together was dangling on the verge of a bottomless abyss. Or perhaps their friendship had already been shattered beyond repair and he was only holding onto the broken pieces in denial.
//No. No.//
The pure agony which accompanied that prospect was drilling a crater inside his chest. The pain was far worse than any illness or injuries that he had ever experienced or sustained, far worse than even those previously initiated in him by the possibility of losing Elizabeth.
//I must do something.//
He did not know what that something was, but he knew that he would do anything for things to be the way they were before. If he could never have anything more, then at least allow him the comforts of their routine interaction and the chance to drift back to what was left of his ignorance.
Jack had already moved half way to the door. He panicked and opened his mouth. Nothing came out. The simultaneous thrill and dread rising in his lungs were strangling him.
"What do I have to do?" He choked out.
"What?"
"What do I have to do?" He repeated.
"Will? What are ye..."
"TELL ME!"
His outburst startled Jack, whose _expression was disarrayed with a mixture of concern and indignation. He tried to quite his pounding heart with large gulps of air to no avail.
"Will? What's wrong?"
Jack has half kneed in front of him and the pirate's hands was hovering so close to his cheeks. So close yet not close enough. He felt the shifting of air reverberate softly against his skin, sensitized by the wetness on his cheeks. He did not realize that he was crying. He sucked in another breath.
"...please, just tell me."
"Tell ye what, ...?"
The question seemed oddly unfinished, as if Jack had braked against the sentence at the last moment. His early bravo had already deserted him, and he was drained of all courage to continue.
"Tell me what I have to do?"
"To do what?"
Jack was patiently drawing out each response from him. The pirate's palms were still close, but still not touching him.
"What I have to do to fix this."
"Fix? There is nothing to fix, Will."
"There is.....there is, tell me what I have to do. Anything, I'll do anything. Just... please....you have to tell me....."
His voice died down to silent weeping. He bit the inside of his mouth to prevent the sobbing from getting any louder. The tightness in his heart had no name, yet it was as real and defined as any solid object.
"Will...."
There was pleading in Jack's voice. He tried to control his labored breathing and his melancholic thoughts.
"Will!"
A second voice cried from behind Jack. Neither of them had noticed that the door had been opened. He raised his face to where Elizabeth was standing, and staring at him with joy and relief.
~~~*~~~
He closed the door quietly behind him and sagged against the wall beside it. Cold air rushed towards his face and washed away the last vestige of uneasiness. The growing emptiness that was eating him from the inside out, was complimented by the somber tides of the sea and the black ink of the sky above.
"Captain?"
Anamarie's concerned voice appeared in front of him. He looked up at the female pirate. She was completely wet and her clothes were glued against her body, showing every curve. Jack would have made a few smart-ass comments about the deliciously of the view if he was in his usually mind set.
"Anamarie." He said in terms of greeting.
"Are you all right?"
"Perfect, just perfect."
The bitterness must had soaked through the brick response despite his best effort. Anamarie raised one elegant eyebrow, clearly showed that his pathetic attempts at covering up was not bought. He shrugged and did not bother to explain himself further. Better let her think there was something wrong rather than have her know there was something wrong.
"How did ye find th' lass?"
He tried lamely to redirect the conversation towards a safer ground. She stared at him intently for a few more seconds, before shrugged as well, apparently decided to drop the subject, for now.
"You won't believe this, but on our way back, the cook hit her on the head with the oar.... accidentally of course."
"Oh?"
"Aye, and I had to dive down to save her. Did you know that Zeke can't swim?"
"I don't believe he mentioned somethin'g like that..... but he does tend to have a unusual amount of good luck."
"No more so than you, captain."
"Ah, of course not. I am, after all, captain Jack Sparrow."
He was grateful for her gentle teasing, and laughed softly a few times, although the sound was joyless.
"Ye didn't tell th' lass about Will, did ye?"
"She was *most* persistent. I told her as much as I know, but I think she was a bit skeptical with it all.....would it cause any problem?"
"....what's done can not be undone. ......and th' job in Tortuga was nicely done.... from what I can see over here."
The grayish fume had shot straight from Tortuga; the pillar of smoke was visible from even their current well-hidden location between the cliffs. The smoke had gathered around and loomed above the town like a layer of thick fog.
"That was the cook." Anamarie snarled good naturally.
"Was it?.... well, I always did thought th' lad was something of a pyromaniac."
"And apparently had a appetite for blood." She added.
"Ah, which unlucky bastard did he cut up this time?"
"Commodore Norrington."
He chuckled. "That was to be expected."
He tried to imagine the commodore's face when the man had a overly sharp dagger at his throat. He still recalled the first time he met Zeke. He had felt like he was about to be dissected by those slate eyes. The cook still creeped him out from time to time, which was an admirable feat in itself.
"Is he dead?"
"Nay, but the commodore will no doubt be after us with more determination now."
That would depends on the severity of the wounds, he thought silently to himself. For some reason, those that Zeke hurt did not tend to live long. When the cook first came aboard, more than one man had tried to force their ways into the youth's pants. They had lost two crewmen due to unstoppable bleeding, and no one bothered the cook after that.
"That he would.....which is why we ar' setting sail now."
"Now?"
"The wind is strong an' we have the cover of the night. Go wake up th' rest of th' lazy slackers."
"Aye, captain."
Anamarie turned and finally left him in peace. He closed his eyes and relaxed into the gentle sway of the ship beneath his feet. Behind tightly shut eye lids, Will's tear streaked face was still haunting him with vicious persistence.
//I... made him cry.//
Dark lashes brightened by moisture, fluttered softly against pale cheeks like butterfly wings. Crystal droplets of tears slide down like broken strings of pearl necklaces.
//What would they have tasted like?//
They would have tasted bitterly salty like the sea, ash coppery like his bleeding heart and honey sweet like Will. He had to bite his bottom lip to relinquish the insane urge to lick away the wetness. He knew if he had followed his impulse, he wouldn't be able to stop.
//I would have wanted more.//
More of the tears, more of the soft skins, more of the warm flesh. But he had vowed on whatever honor he had left, that he would not succumbed to his darkest and basest needs. Not when Will was still weak and would be helpless to resist his advances, and not when the youth's heart belonged to another.
//I had to get away then.//
His obsession with the youth had sprouted to almost uncontrollable proportion. He had always been fascinated by the blacksmith, ever since the first time they've met. But now just being near the youth was no longer enough. The glances and the touches could not satisfy his ever-widening hunger.
//But he doesn't need ye, not when his bonny lass is here.//
He was plagued by the memory from those few minutes inside the alley. He had a single taste and was instantly hooked. There wasn't a single minute that went by when he wasn't thinking about Will.
He looked down on his hands, the same hands that were so close to Will. So close, yet not close enough.
//If Elizabeth hadn't come in.....//
That was when he heard the scream. He jumped and yanked open the door. Elizabeth stumbled out, swirled around and ran as if the devil himself was on her trail.
He gawked at her retreating back before snapped around and entered the room.
"Will?"
The room was completely ingrossed in blackness, his left foot hit the oil lamp that was laying on the floor. The broken glasses squeaked and the lamp rolled out of sight.
"Will?"
He called again. There was soft sniffing from the direction of the bed. He walked up to the dark bundle trembling on the bed. He swallowed and half kneed in front of the bed.
"Will? What happened?"
He started to unravel the blankets-warpped form slowly, layer by layer. Will's eyes were strangely bright in the darkness, he swallowed at the look of stark terror in brown orbs. He untangled covers from limps with maneuverability and long practices. Will murmured something under staging breathing.
"Her touch hurt me."
A streak of long red mark was spotted on each shivering shoulders. They were as thick as the width of a human arm, horizontal and cycled around like rope burns.
//Oh, god.//
His heart clenched and he caress the tender flesh with his finger tips. Will sucked in a another breath at his careful ministration.
"Why? Why did her touch hurt me?"
He felt deflated under that searching gaze. He had no answer.
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Me: Errr...!!! it's only a week, and I am already sick of summer school!!! Not only is the stupid course mandatory for graduation, I also have to pay like $600 bucks for a two weeks course. Where is the justice in this!!!! DAMMNN!!!!!!
*cough, cough* Ok, I feel better. Sorry about the bitching over there.
Anyway, please review. Any kind of feedbacks are welcome and will be worshipped, they make the next chapter come out faster.
^_~
Author: Daisy Sparrow
Pairing: Jack/Will, Will/Elizabeth
Rating: PG-13 and rising
Summary:
When a mysterious plague hits Port Royal Will and Elizabeth go with Captain Jack Sparrow to find a cure. But when Will is captured by the man who unleashed the plague and infected with a strange new disease that feeds on love things start to get complicated. Slashiness!
Archive:
As long as you ask me first.
Disclaimer:
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. I've been told this chapter is really sad. I was in a rather depressing mood, so I took it out on everyone...except Zeke. I just can't picture the little demon brat ever be heartbroke about anything. Please R&R, otherwise there is no point in posting more. ^_~
Thanks to all of you who reviewed last time, your support and ecouragement are more effective and addictive than chocolate and caffine ^_^.
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*
Zeke brought the dagger close and licked the blood off the blade. Anamarie glanced at him with disgust. He winked at her and put the now-clean dagger back into his sleeve.
"Hurry up and roll the boat." She said in a harsh whisper.
He obliged without much enthusiasm. He hadn't been supplying himself with his minimum daily requirement of pain and suffering lately, and the commodore's blood tasted too..... sweet. It just did not have that spiced favor of the damned.
//Good thing I am not one of those who feeds on blood or emotion, otherwise I would have been starved by now.//
The district part of Tortuga was engulfed in a blazing fire. They could hear the calling and screaming of people from a good distance away. Zeke stared dreamily at his handy work and let the feeling of pure euphoria sat inside his stomach with luxurious slowness.
//Fire is so pretty.//
"Did you really have to start that fire?"
He cracked his head slightly to the side at Anamarie. For a pirate, she had surprisingly high moral stands. He smiled at her angelically. He had been told that his smile could charmed the pants off even the gatekeepers of hell, although it had never worked on the people he wanted to.
"I wanted to stop the navy from pursuing us."
That was a perfectly legitimate reason. Anamarie could also see that, she grunted and went back to the oar.
This evening had started out incredibly lousy with the captain's way-off-scale suspicion. Jack Sparrow might not looked the brainy type, but Zeke could still envision the constant turning of gears in the pirate captain's head. Jack was a man who always had a plan.
Zeke pitted him on his restlessness, he heard that too much scheming would make a man bald before his age. Although the pirate certainly did not use his head when it was needed. The sheer amount of gun powder, that is figuratively speaking, in his kitchen early that evening was enough to light up the entire Caribbean.
//There was plentiful of jealousy all right. Ha, Ursella, eat your heart out.//
There was a solid thump and Zeke felt his oar connect with something. He looked at Anamarie who had stopped pulling her oar.
"What was that?" She asked.
Zeke leaned over the side of the boat and searched the water. Anamarie edged towards his side of the boat and looked over his shoulder.
"Can you see anything?" She asked again.
It was well pass midnight. The sky and the ocean were both covered by capes of darkness. The line which usually separated the two was indistinguishable, there was only the blackness stretched endlessly like a hollow void. The moon would occasionally peep from behind thick clouds and showered the surface of the sea with silver sparkles like mercury.
He narrowed his eyes and felt his vision came into sharp focus. The pupils inside gray eyes reshaped into thin slits for one instant and retracted back just as quickly.
A flash of ivory was translucent through the murkiness of the water. Locks of silky threads were flying wildly in the water as if they were wind strewn.
Zeke had an unpleasant flashback involved a certain mermaid. He stared harder into the water. The shape was sinking deeper and deeper. The opposite direction of motion would be expected, he thought, if it was indeed the fish.
"I think it's a girl."
"What!"
Anamarie shouted and bend herself down further. The sudden movement rattled the balance of the boat and swayed it violently to one side. He almost bit his own tongue and hastily put all his weight onto the other side. He really did not fancy another trip down the sea.
The other pirate turned her head and watched him with amusement as he pried his fingers off the side of the wooden boat, one by one. He stared back evenly.
"Will you be saving the girl?" She asked.
"I can't swim." He replied dryly.
She raised both hands towards the sky in a 'why me' gesture before jump off the boat and dived into the sea. Zeke turned his face slightly as splashes of water hit his side.
The smooth surface of the sea was disoriented for a few seconds before the following tides covered the disturbance and buried it underneath the waves.
He waited. There were nothing but strings of bubbles at uneven intervals. He waited some more.
Anamarie's head broke through the water. Her black hair were loosened from their red band and plastered around her face and over her shoulder. Zeke offered her his hand. She accepted the help wearily and pulled herself into the boat, along with another limp body.
She patted the other girl gingerly on the back. The girl coughed while inhaled the air with feverish urgency.
Zeke smiled happily at their discomfort. This really was turning out to be his evening and things had just gotten a lot more interesting.
"Nice to see you again, Miss. Elizabeth."
~~~*~~~
"We couldn't find her."
Will watched that perfectly shaped mouth move. His breath hitched as a pink tongue rolled out and wetted the bottom lip. He stared transfixed at the shiny layers of moistures, as they added even more lushness to those already irresistible petals.
"Will?"
Jack looked nervous at his unresponsiveness. The pirate captain walked up to the bed and put a palm against his forehead. The warmth in that touch sent a ray of quiver down his spine and jolted him out of his trance.
"Yer temperature are still a little high."
"I...I'm fine."
"....did ye hear me? We couldn't find Elizabeth."
The mention of his fiancé thrust a pang of guilt straight through his heart with razor-sharpness. He folded deeper into the blankets.
"The red coats lost her."
"Did.... did they say where...."
"Nay. They told me she fell in the water and they couldn't find her."
He felt as if he was encapsulated inside a small and sealed box, which was tumbling down a steep hill. Every where he touched, there was the darkness and the brick wall. He was suffocating while the uncertainty and impending danger of the situation jabbed him sharply from all angles. He was not looking forward to hit the bottom.
"Is she.... is she...?"
He could not bring himself to finish the question, but there was understanding in Jack's kohl outlined eyes.
"The lass knows how to swim.... and it would have been the perfect opportunity to get away from the commodore."
"O..of course."
"She is all right."
Large hands clasped around his shoulders. The assurance, or perhaps just plain stubbornness in
Jack's voice was enough to rinse away the doubts that surrounded his heart. From those four words, a dawning hope was granted to him.
He was not arrogant enough to think that he could pry away all that pretense, which the pirate wore like a armor. However, he did pride himself on the fact that he could see through the illusion that the other projected to the world. Jack Sparrow was one of the most cunning and intelligent man he had ever known, no matter how opposite the pirate might have acted.
//If Jack said she is all right, then she is.//
"I've given words to look out for anything out in the sea. The Pearl hasn't moved that far from where we were, she will find us."
"I know."
Ebony eyes blinked, surprised at the almost blind faith in that reply. Then Jack withdrew his hands abruptly and stepped away. He looked up at the other with confusion. Jack laughed half heartily, the sound was like nail scratching in his ears.
"Well, as long as ye know. Just leave everything to captain Jack Sparrow."
His left hand reached out towards that unshaven face and Jack flinched back. He froze, heart clenched painfully at the distance that the other insisted on wedge between them.
"Jack, I...."
"Ye are probably tired. I'll let ye rest now."
"Jack!"
He yelled before the pirate could bolt from the room. His brain screamed at him to let the man go. His logic reasoned that time would dissolve whatever animosity between them. But his heart was recoiling in pain at the increasing space which separated them. He could no longer stand it.
//Does he hate me now?//
Was it too late? Was everything irreversible? Did Jack despise him so much that the pirate could no longer bear to be close to him? He wanted to explain everything. He wanted to tell Jack that he wanted him, and god have mercy on his soul, loved him. He would understand if the pirate could never return his feelings, if all he would ever have was friendship. It would have been enough to watch the other man from afar, to swallow down his affection until it aged into a constant bitter sweet ache.
It would have to be enough.
//But would it be worth it?//
There were endless possible reactions the pirate captain could have to his confession, and most of them were not encouraging. If he upset this false security and jaded politeness between them, he could unleash the hidden turbulence that would sweep away whatever little he had left. He could not see any middle ground in which his feelings could be balanced with the crashing reality.
//To keep what I have or to lose everything in striving for more.//
Neither way, he could no longer bear witness to the fragility that has became their friendship. Everything that tied them together was dangling on the verge of a bottomless abyss. Or perhaps their friendship had already been shattered beyond repair and he was only holding onto the broken pieces in denial.
//No. No.//
The pure agony which accompanied that prospect was drilling a crater inside his chest. The pain was far worse than any illness or injuries that he had ever experienced or sustained, far worse than even those previously initiated in him by the possibility of losing Elizabeth.
//I must do something.//
He did not know what that something was, but he knew that he would do anything for things to be the way they were before. If he could never have anything more, then at least allow him the comforts of their routine interaction and the chance to drift back to what was left of his ignorance.
Jack had already moved half way to the door. He panicked and opened his mouth. Nothing came out. The simultaneous thrill and dread rising in his lungs were strangling him.
"What do I have to do?" He choked out.
"What?"
"What do I have to do?" He repeated.
"Will? What are ye..."
"TELL ME!"
His outburst startled Jack, whose _expression was disarrayed with a mixture of concern and indignation. He tried to quite his pounding heart with large gulps of air to no avail.
"Will? What's wrong?"
Jack has half kneed in front of him and the pirate's hands was hovering so close to his cheeks. So close yet not close enough. He felt the shifting of air reverberate softly against his skin, sensitized by the wetness on his cheeks. He did not realize that he was crying. He sucked in another breath.
"...please, just tell me."
"Tell ye what, ...?"
The question seemed oddly unfinished, as if Jack had braked against the sentence at the last moment. His early bravo had already deserted him, and he was drained of all courage to continue.
"Tell me what I have to do?"
"To do what?"
Jack was patiently drawing out each response from him. The pirate's palms were still close, but still not touching him.
"What I have to do to fix this."
"Fix? There is nothing to fix, Will."
"There is.....there is, tell me what I have to do. Anything, I'll do anything. Just... please....you have to tell me....."
His voice died down to silent weeping. He bit the inside of his mouth to prevent the sobbing from getting any louder. The tightness in his heart had no name, yet it was as real and defined as any solid object.
"Will...."
There was pleading in Jack's voice. He tried to control his labored breathing and his melancholic thoughts.
"Will!"
A second voice cried from behind Jack. Neither of them had noticed that the door had been opened. He raised his face to where Elizabeth was standing, and staring at him with joy and relief.
~~~*~~~
He closed the door quietly behind him and sagged against the wall beside it. Cold air rushed towards his face and washed away the last vestige of uneasiness. The growing emptiness that was eating him from the inside out, was complimented by the somber tides of the sea and the black ink of the sky above.
"Captain?"
Anamarie's concerned voice appeared in front of him. He looked up at the female pirate. She was completely wet and her clothes were glued against her body, showing every curve. Jack would have made a few smart-ass comments about the deliciously of the view if he was in his usually mind set.
"Anamarie." He said in terms of greeting.
"Are you all right?"
"Perfect, just perfect."
The bitterness must had soaked through the brick response despite his best effort. Anamarie raised one elegant eyebrow, clearly showed that his pathetic attempts at covering up was not bought. He shrugged and did not bother to explain himself further. Better let her think there was something wrong rather than have her know there was something wrong.
"How did ye find th' lass?"
He tried lamely to redirect the conversation towards a safer ground. She stared at him intently for a few more seconds, before shrugged as well, apparently decided to drop the subject, for now.
"You won't believe this, but on our way back, the cook hit her on the head with the oar.... accidentally of course."
"Oh?"
"Aye, and I had to dive down to save her. Did you know that Zeke can't swim?"
"I don't believe he mentioned somethin'g like that..... but he does tend to have a unusual amount of good luck."
"No more so than you, captain."
"Ah, of course not. I am, after all, captain Jack Sparrow."
He was grateful for her gentle teasing, and laughed softly a few times, although the sound was joyless.
"Ye didn't tell th' lass about Will, did ye?"
"She was *most* persistent. I told her as much as I know, but I think she was a bit skeptical with it all.....would it cause any problem?"
"....what's done can not be undone. ......and th' job in Tortuga was nicely done.... from what I can see over here."
The grayish fume had shot straight from Tortuga; the pillar of smoke was visible from even their current well-hidden location between the cliffs. The smoke had gathered around and loomed above the town like a layer of thick fog.
"That was the cook." Anamarie snarled good naturally.
"Was it?.... well, I always did thought th' lad was something of a pyromaniac."
"And apparently had a appetite for blood." She added.
"Ah, which unlucky bastard did he cut up this time?"
"Commodore Norrington."
He chuckled. "That was to be expected."
He tried to imagine the commodore's face when the man had a overly sharp dagger at his throat. He still recalled the first time he met Zeke. He had felt like he was about to be dissected by those slate eyes. The cook still creeped him out from time to time, which was an admirable feat in itself.
"Is he dead?"
"Nay, but the commodore will no doubt be after us with more determination now."
That would depends on the severity of the wounds, he thought silently to himself. For some reason, those that Zeke hurt did not tend to live long. When the cook first came aboard, more than one man had tried to force their ways into the youth's pants. They had lost two crewmen due to unstoppable bleeding, and no one bothered the cook after that.
"That he would.....which is why we ar' setting sail now."
"Now?"
"The wind is strong an' we have the cover of the night. Go wake up th' rest of th' lazy slackers."
"Aye, captain."
Anamarie turned and finally left him in peace. He closed his eyes and relaxed into the gentle sway of the ship beneath his feet. Behind tightly shut eye lids, Will's tear streaked face was still haunting him with vicious persistence.
//I... made him cry.//
Dark lashes brightened by moisture, fluttered softly against pale cheeks like butterfly wings. Crystal droplets of tears slide down like broken strings of pearl necklaces.
//What would they have tasted like?//
They would have tasted bitterly salty like the sea, ash coppery like his bleeding heart and honey sweet like Will. He had to bite his bottom lip to relinquish the insane urge to lick away the wetness. He knew if he had followed his impulse, he wouldn't be able to stop.
//I would have wanted more.//
More of the tears, more of the soft skins, more of the warm flesh. But he had vowed on whatever honor he had left, that he would not succumbed to his darkest and basest needs. Not when Will was still weak and would be helpless to resist his advances, and not when the youth's heart belonged to another.
//I had to get away then.//
His obsession with the youth had sprouted to almost uncontrollable proportion. He had always been fascinated by the blacksmith, ever since the first time they've met. But now just being near the youth was no longer enough. The glances and the touches could not satisfy his ever-widening hunger.
//But he doesn't need ye, not when his bonny lass is here.//
He was plagued by the memory from those few minutes inside the alley. He had a single taste and was instantly hooked. There wasn't a single minute that went by when he wasn't thinking about Will.
He looked down on his hands, the same hands that were so close to Will. So close, yet not close enough.
//If Elizabeth hadn't come in.....//
That was when he heard the scream. He jumped and yanked open the door. Elizabeth stumbled out, swirled around and ran as if the devil himself was on her trail.
He gawked at her retreating back before snapped around and entered the room.
"Will?"
The room was completely ingrossed in blackness, his left foot hit the oil lamp that was laying on the floor. The broken glasses squeaked and the lamp rolled out of sight.
"Will?"
He called again. There was soft sniffing from the direction of the bed. He walked up to the dark bundle trembling on the bed. He swallowed and half kneed in front of the bed.
"Will? What happened?"
He started to unravel the blankets-warpped form slowly, layer by layer. Will's eyes were strangely bright in the darkness, he swallowed at the look of stark terror in brown orbs. He untangled covers from limps with maneuverability and long practices. Will murmured something under staging breathing.
"Her touch hurt me."
A streak of long red mark was spotted on each shivering shoulders. They were as thick as the width of a human arm, horizontal and cycled around like rope burns.
//Oh, god.//
His heart clenched and he caress the tender flesh with his finger tips. Will sucked in a another breath at his careful ministration.
"Why? Why did her touch hurt me?"
He felt deflated under that searching gaze. He had no answer.
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Me: Errr...!!! it's only a week, and I am already sick of summer school!!! Not only is the stupid course mandatory for graduation, I also have to pay like $600 bucks for a two weeks course. Where is the justice in this!!!! DAMMNN!!!!!!
*cough, cough* Ok, I feel better. Sorry about the bitching over there.
Anyway, please review. Any kind of feedbacks are welcome and will be worshipped, they make the next chapter come out faster.
^_~