Ladies and gentlemen......
We have reached 125 review!
And you know what that means.
150!!!!
I know you can do it. I have great faith in you!
Huntress16: Yes, Jack is a sly dog!
Ellina: *eyes wide from being tackle-glomped* And we're not all Mary-Sues! *dances, then snatches up as many Jack and medallion plushies as possible!*
COTG: Why, thank you! I'm flattered!
Lyssa2: Hooray! Someone that doesn't think I'm insane for having them banter! *huggles*
Lady Riddle: The saddest thing is, I've only seen this movie once.....though I would happily just live in the theater and watch it over and over again! Marooned? Mwa ha....wait and see!
The-ringspell: Aww! Don't cry! *hands you a tissue* I'm sorry, really, I'll try to listen to my conscience from now on, and will update. Glad you like it that much, by the way! I too, am Canadian. From the good ol' province of On-tari-ari-o. Go Canuckleheads!
Spidergurlroxs: Gack! I have to make the chapters longer?! *groans* I do have a photographic memory, so I've been reciting the movie ever since I saw it, but the exactness of my writing is helped by having the script. :) Thank you very much for your faith in my writing skills....as soon as I finish this story, I might actually get back to working on my Harry Potter fiction....I have two on the go: Pillars Four and Of Infinite Possibilities.
Andi Horton: I know, chapter waiting is the worst part of reading.....*hint hint nudge nudge wink wink* But seriously, I'm glad you like it. Yours is getting better and better too!
Completeopposites: Aww...thanks!
Kayt Sparrow: Wow, really? People keep saying that, but I can't believe it! *huggles* You're the best!
Oil Pastel: Curse me? NOOOOOO!!! *hides* Okay.....am updating! No cursing, please?
Valor: Thanks! Hopefully I won't give this up......
Mark's girl: *Huggles* My partner in crime and conspirator in all things Orlie and Johnny! And besides, I got my "cliff-hanger" tactics from the Wachowski brothers!
Spontaneousxhumanxcombustion: I know, I'm bloody writing the story, and I sometimes find myself wondering if everyone's going to be alright! And it still wasn't love-worthy yet? Darn, have to make this chapter as redundantly love-worthy as possible!
And since there seems to be a growing fanclub for this sort of thing.....
*happy rum dance*!
Okay, let's count the things I don't own here: the Evanescence music, with which I am driving my roommate insane; Jack; Will; Christine; Pirates of the Caribbean; etc. etc. etc. What do I own? Well....Heather. And the plot. Whoot!
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The scurry and fervor outside on the deck was enough to make me curious, and I abandoned my self-imposed isolation in the captain's quarters to look outside. Gibbs, at that moment, was shouting, "Hands aloft to loose t'gallants! With this wind, she'll carry every sail we've got!"
"What's happening?" Elizabeth cried, winding her way through the running crew.
I didn't need to hear Gibbs' response to know that we were in considerable trouble. Clumping on the wooden deck in my stiff, buckled shoes, I raced back to the quarter-deck of the ship, where AnaMaria stood at the wheel. The Black Pearl, in all it's ragged, tattered glory was only perhaps a shot and a half's length away.
"The Black Pearl, she's gaining on us." AnaMaria muttered.
"This is the fastest ship in the Caribbean!" Elizabeth protested.
"Well, when they've caught us, you go ahead and tell them that!" I snapped over my shoulder.
There was silence from the other girl for a moment, then she asked, "We're shallow on the draft, right?"
"Aye." AnaMaria nodded.
"Well, then, can't we lose them amongst those shoals?"
A trace of hope flickered on Gibbs face. "We don't have to outrun them long; just long enough."
"Lighten the ship, stem to stern!" AnaMaria ordered.
"Anything that we can afford to lose - see that it's lost!" Gibbs ordered, rushing to help with the tossing of barrels and chests.
At my feet, neatly set in a coil of rope, sat Jack's rum bottle, still a quarter full. Shrugging, I bent, picked it up, and chucked it as hard as I could into the waves. Just contributing to the effort, I thought with a wry grin.
***
Will emerged from below-deck at about the same time as I turned to stop one the pirates that was loosening a cannon. "We're going to need that," he informed him, and I nodded to him once, before spotting the oars floating below in the water.
"It was a good plan up 'til now," I admitted.
"Gibbs! We have to make a stand!" Will marched forward, determined. "We must fight! Load the guns!"
"With what?" AnaMaria demanded.
"Anything. Everything! Anything we have left!"
"Load the guns! Take shot and langrage! Nails and cut glass! With a will!" He took an anxious swig from his canteen before one of the pirates stuffing the cannon with silverware snatched it from his hand to add to the fodder. "The Pearl is going to luff up on our port quarter. She'll rake us without ever presenting a target!"
"Lower the anchor on the right side!" Elizabeth suddenly surged forward.
"The starboard side!" I supplied, rolling my eyes.
"It certainly has the element of surprise," Will mused.
"You're daft, lady!" AnaMaria yelled. "You all are!"
"Daft like Jack!" Gibbs crowed. "Lower the starboard anchor! Do it ye dogs, or it's you we'll load into the cannons!"
With a slight shudder, the anchor was dropped into the ocean.
"Let go!" Elizabeth yelled at AnaMaria, who just released the wheel, stepping back. As the anchor caught, the wheel spun, and the entire ship swung hard.
As we came alongside with the tattered ship, now proudly displaying the Jolly Roger, Will yelled, "Keep us steady now! Now!"
As Barbossa, across the water, bellowed, "Fire!" the same order was erupting out of my own mouth.
The world erupted in a cacophony as cannon fire exploded out, and I swore that, despite the sound, I could hear the yelp of Jack's voice, "Stop blowing holes in my ship!"
"We could use a few more ideas, lass," Gibbs growled, trying to find more shot for the cannons.
"Your turn," Elizabeth shot back, and I was fairly certain that Gibbs then turned to glare at me.
"We need us a devil's dowry."
AnaMaria whipped out a pistol, and aimed it directly at Elizabeth, whose eyes widened in terror. "We'll give them her."
"She's not what they're after!" I snapped, as Elizabeth's hands strayed to her neck.
"The medallion!"
Will, playing the hero as always, raced below decks to search for it. My fingers instinctively searched for the medallion around my own neck, then I moved forward. Maybe...if I warned him...could I maybe prevent Will from being nearly drowned? It was possible, after all, wasn't it?
I had only made two steps when a shot knocked out the mast, which fell with a resounding crash reminiscent of falling trees, falling directly across the hatch to the hold, cutting me off from my preemptive rescue attempts. One of the booms came down with the mast, and before I had realized what was happening, I was struck with a rather large - and decidedly heavy - hunk of wood, and was thrown to the deck, boom on top of me, and gasping for the breath that had been knocked out of me.
Only feet away, I could see Will's fingers emerging through the grill as he shouted, "Hey! Hey! Below!" but I couldn't quite seem to catch my breath to alert someone to his location.
"Jack!" Gibbs shouted suddenly, and I had never been so relieved to hear someone's voice when aforementioned pirate answered.
"Bloody empty." Then, a moment later, "That's not very nice. Where's the medallion?"
"Wretch!" Elizabeth snarled.
"Ah, where's dear William?"
"Will...." There was hesitation for a moment, then Elizabeth barrelled past, not seeing me at all. "Will!"
"Elizabeth!"
"Jack!" I finally grabbed enough breath to shout his name at his back.
He half-turned, face twisted into a comically confused look, eyes scanning for the source of the voice. "Jack!" I repeated, and this time, he noticed me.
"Luv!" He dropped to a crouch, and pulled the boom off me. "You alright?"
"Monkey!" I yelped, not answering his question at all, but the bloody thing had run right past, clutching the gold pirate's medallion in its skinny fingers. Jack leapt up and chased the miserable creature.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth was still struggling with the grate. I was about to crawl over to see if I could help her any when rough hands grabbed me under the arms and hauled my roughly to my feet. "Elizabeth!" I yelped, trying to warn her, but I was being pulled away, even as others snatched her away as well.
I tried to fight them off. Really. I did try. I tried kicking, and biting, and smacking, but I think, perhaps, that being un-dead has the decided advantage of dulling all pain, and so, despite some annoyed looks, my fighting gained me nothing at all. In fact, as the grinning pirates dragged me onto the deck of the Black Pearl, I was roughly thrown against their mast in time to hear Barbossa bellow, "Gents, our hope is restored!" and see the pirates still on the smaller ship light the match to the powder.
"Will!" Elizabeth screamed, but I decided that more proactive measures were in order. Stomping on the toes of the pirates holding me, I broke away. Racing towards the pirate captain, I wasn't sure just exactly what I was intending to do, but I had to stop that man somehow! Maybe if I had a weapon of some sort.....but, as though he knew what I had planned, Barbossa reached forward, and harshly grabbed the arm of someone who had been trying hard to avoid him.
Yanking his human shield in front of him, Barbossa actually laughed as I drew myself to a sharp halt. "Christine?!" I yelped, hands clenching into fists as the sight of my best friend held by the captain, clad in a dress that looked for all the world to be bloodstained. "What have you done to her?!" I screamed at him, not even fighting when pirates grabbed my arms and pulled me back again.
"Friend of yours, hellcat?" He smirked, then his smirk vanished as he grabbed a fistful of Christine's pale hair, making her cry out. "Then behave, if you don't want her hurt."
Christine's eyes pleaded for help as I was dragged away, but I could only watch helpless as I was pushed onto a barrel, pirate hands holding me there. I'm sorry, I mouthed, wincing as even that little action earned a backhand from one of the pirates. Jack stood only feet away from me, and the look on his face seemed to suggest he was debating whether to just stand there, or run that pirate through.
But everything, everything changed when the Interceptor exploded. There was silence for a moment, in the wake of the explosion, then Elizabeth screamed, "You've got to stop it!" She raced towards the captain, sufficiently surprising him into releasing Christine's hair. "Stop it!"
"Welcome back, Miss." He smiled in a dangerous way. "You took advantage of our hospitality last time. It holds fair now that you return the favour." And with a push, he shoved her towards the crew.
"Elizabeth!" Christine gasped, reaching towards her, when everyone froze at the sound of a new voice.
"Barbossa!"
Elizabeth looked up, relief washing over her features. "Will."
"She goes free." Will ordered, one hand on the ropes beside him, the other on a pistol that was aimed at Barbossa's heart.
Barbossa laughed, and tugged Christine back as a shield. "What's in your head, boy?"
I bit my lip, watching Will carefully. Surely, he wouldn't shoot an innocent girl just to save Elizabeth? He swallowed, assessing the situation, then frowned. "She goes free!"
Barbossa smiled. "You've only got one shot, and we can't die."
My head snapped back to look at Jack as he implored, "Don't do anything stupid."
"You can't..." Will paused, then lifted his chin, turning the pistol so it's butt rested under his jawbone. "I can."
Jack groaned. "Like that."
Barbossa looked incredulous. "Who are you?" He asked in disbelief.
Jack hurried towards his mutinous first mate, distracting him. "No one. He's no one. A distant cousin of my aunt's nephew...twice removed. Loving singing voice, though." Dropping his voice to a whisper, he added, conspiratorially, "Eunuch."
Ignoring Jack's placations to not talk, and the cutting motion I was making with my finger across my throat, Will proudly answered, "My name is Will Turner . My father was Bootstrap Bill Turner. His blood runs in my veins."
"He's a spitting image of ol' Bootstrap Bill come back to haunt us!" Ragetti whispered.
"On my word do, as I say, or I'll pull this trigger and be lost to Davy Jones' Locker." Will threatened.
Barbossa hesitated. "Name your terms, Mr. Turner."
"Elizabeth goes free."
One track mind, anyone?
"Yes, we know that one." Barbossa looked exasperated. "Anything else?"
Jack was desperately pointing at himself, so Will added, "And the crew, the crew are not to be harmed."
I waved at the man, trying to get his attention, letting out little coughs, and pointing very deliberately at myself and Christine. A pirate noticed, and quite firmly smacked me to stop that, but fortunately not Will before noticed. "And Heather...and the other lass. They aren't to be harmed, either."
Barbossa's eyes flitted over to where the pirates had me sitting, and smirked. "The hellcat, too? Agreed."
***
It took surprisingly little time to find myself standing near the railing, staring at the small island that was getting closer and closer. My hands had been tied with a short length of rope, and two pirates still stood beside me to watch that I didn't try anything rash, though I noted with some satisfaction that they were keeping their toes away from me.
The plank was set up, and as we drew up besides the island, Elizabeth was pushed up onto the narrow strip of wood. "Go on! Walk the plank!" One of the pirates laughed.
Will fought against the pirates holding him back. "Barbossa, you lying bastard! You swore she'd go free!"
"Don't dare impugn me honour, boy. I agreed she'd go free - it was you who failed to specify when or where." He grinned as Will was gagged with a ragged piece of sail. With his spare hand, he stroked Christine's hair, who shuddered. "Though it does seem a shame to be losing something so fine, don't it, lads?"
"Aye!" His crew agreed, and Elizabeth half turned, hoping.
"So I'll be having that dress back before you go."
Laughter rang out as Elizabeth, cheeks flaming red, ripped the dress off as fiercely as she could manage. "It goes with your black heart," she snarled, and threw it at him, standing only him her shift and pantalets.
Barbossa pressed the fabric to his cheek. "Ooh...it's still warm."
"Off you go!" The pirates resumed to their taunting Elizabeth down the plank. "Come on!"
"Too long!" Bo'Sun decided, and shook the plank, sending Elizabeth dropping off it with a cry.
"Bastard!" I screamed at the massive pirate, stomping on the toes of those holding me again.
"Ah, hellcat. You're next." Barbossa grinned, and I snarled, snapping at the fingers of the pirates as they pushed me towards the plank.
"I really had rather hoped we were past all this," Jack said, as he stood beside me, both of waiting to be thrown over.
"Jack . Jack! Did ya not notice? That be the same little island that we made you Governor of, on our last little trip." Barbossa grinned.
"I did notice," Jack did not sound impressed.
Barbossa smiled. "Perhaps, you'll be able to conjure up another miraculous escape. But I doubt it." He drew his sword, aiming it at Jack's throat, as the pirates around me decided that I'd stalled long enough, and pushed me up the step onto the plank. "Off you both go. You've got company to entertain this time, Jack."
"Last time, you left me with a pistol with one shot." Jack was trying to stall, but then, so was I, as pirate blades were now pushing me nearer the edge.
"By the powers, you're right." Barbossa mocked surprise, then looked around. "Where be Jack's pistol? Bring it forward!"
The small bundle of belongings was brought forward, and Jack held up a finger. "Seeing as there's three of us, a gentleman would give us a pair of pistols, and some shot, besides."
"It'll be one pistol as before, and you can be the gentleman, and shoot one of the ladies, and enjoy the others company as you starve to death."
I took one too many steps backwards, and my foot met with nothing but air. Gasping, I toppled backwards, hitting the clear, warm water. A moment later, Jack's pistol broke the waves beside me, followed in short order by Jack himself.
I kicked against the dead weight of my dress, my head breaking the top of the water. Within moments, my feet touched bottom, and I dragged myself onto the white sand.
Well, fancy that.
I was marooned.
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*winces, rubs fingers* Well, I hope you're all happy. That is the longest chapter yet! Yes, the marooned chapter comes next, and all that comes with it. :D
Well, I hope that earned your 150 reviews. *puppy eyes* Please?