~*A/N: Howdy all, sorry it's taken me so long to updated. School's been stressfully and I've been trying to keep mentally stable. I hope you guys are enjoying this so far, and continue to like the next chapters.*~

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Changes in the Wind

Chapter 7: Tortuga

            The remainder of the trip to Tortuga was a tedious one. Jack spent most of his time perched lazily on the masts or laying at the base of the bowsprit and watching the surf break. He got many a curious look from the crew, and rumors were spreading like wild fire. The younger, naïve crew boys were faithful and believed their captain's story, that Jack was a guard from Spain. But the older more experienced seamen knew that something was up; for if Jack was from Spain, wouldn't they be sailing in the direction of Spain? There was also the question of where the merchant from Spain really was. Some of the crew had thought he was on the ship, others thinking they were just bringing his guard home; neither of which made sense. But the most common rumor that William and Elizabeth were trying their best to detour was that Jack was really Jack Sparrow and not a simple guard named Jorge Fernandez as he had deemed himself to be.

            Elizabeth stayed calm about the situation, and when asked stuck to the story that Jack (Jorge) was a guard of Mr. Smith's, and that they were taking him back to his master. Her hand maid wasn't exactly convinced, but did not voice her opinions for fear of being reprimanded. Will on the other hand avoided the subject completely, getting nervous when anyone approached him. Lying was not his forte.

            Jack didn't really care much how things went. He came down off of his perches every now and again to filch some buttered bread and roasted meat from the kitchens, or for his mid day rum or simply to relieve himself twice a day. If he wasn't staring aimlessly at the horizon, he was sleeping. He wasn't used to not being captain, and had no idea what to do otherwise. Elizabeth tried to talk him into joining her in bridge or shuffle board, but gave up when he ignored her, leaving him to his musings for the remainder of the trip.

            Jack was bored, but playing nice sociable games with Elizabeth didn't strike his fancy. Elizabeth herself struck his fancy, but that was the reason for him ignoring her. The only women on the ship were Elizabeth and her plump hand maid, and the hand maid had a face like a pig and an appetite to match. She didn't have social grace or a shining personality, so all that left was Elizabeth, whom was engaged and looked happy to be at that. He kept to himself so that he could try and stay in a state of lethargy. It was difficult, but not impossible. If he got too antsy he would want to entertain himself or go skirt chasing; and for once in his life he dreaded the simple thought of skirt chasing. He settled with carving scraps of wood into little odd figurines that only he knew what they were. He ended up chucking those into the ocean after a couple days of playing pillage and plunder, getting even more bored then before. His last refuge was sleep, which passed the time quicker. He was quite proud of himself that after three weeks of sea fairing he had stayed behaved, and they had safely met their destination of Tortuga; without deflowering the grand two ladies, or getting a rise out of any of the seamen.

            It was deep into the night when the Gorrión anchored near Tortuga's rocky banks. Will and Elizabeth had convinced the crew to head back to Tortuga, and that this was a small patch of land that "Mr. Smith" owned as a social getaway. It was a decent excuse considering it was pitch black and no one could see the banks, or hear the rowdy inhabitants over the lull of the surf. The crew set to work setting up a dingy for the captain and his fiancé and Jack (Jorge…). Elizabeth had given her hand maiden a heavy dose of some alcoholic concoction that would make her sleep the remainder of the night, making it easier to leave her behind. As Will gave the last bit of instructions to his crew, Elizabeth took it onto herself to go check on how Jack was doing with his 'packing'. She walked to the main hatch and down into the forecastle making hardly a sound, rounding the corner only to find that there was no Jack to be found.

"Jack…?" she hissed into the darkness. She squinted hard, but she couldn't make out anything. None of the lamps were lit, and the boat was facing the wrong direction for any of the already sparse moonlight to trickle through the windows.

"Jack, this is no time to be playing games!" she hissed in a harsher tone into the darkness. Jack snuck up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. She jumped and stumbled forward, raising her hand and readying herself to strike who ever had touched her. The crew may have been hand chosen by her father but that in no way gave her grounds to trust them.

"Relax it's just me!" Jack hissed, raising a kerosene lamp to his face, a slightly amused twinkle in his eyes. Elizabeth sighed and put a hand to her heavily beating heart.

"Curse you Jack!" she said in a normal tone as he set the lamp up on a shelf, spreading the dim light across the room as much as possible. "You should know better then to sneak up on a woman in the dark!" she snapped. He just smiled and gave her a sly, yet almost serious grin and leaned on the bedpost closest to her.

"Some gals like it tha' way…" he whispered in a sultry tone. Elizabeth scowled at him through the shadows, thanking the Lord silently that the light was too dim for Jack to see her flush the way he had. Jack shook his head and rolled his eyes as he grabbed a khaki bag and stuck four rum bottles in it hastily.

"What are you doing!?" Elizabeth asked, recognizing the label of the khaki bas as one of the other cabin boys'. Jack rolled his eyes yet again, shifting from bunk to bunk and rummaging through the crew's belongings.

"Looking for barter goods…" he said casually, pulling out a gold pocket watch from an old leather messenger bag and throwing it in the bag along with the rum and other trinkets.

"Those are the crew's belongings Jack!" she snapped, looking up the hatch nervously as she wrung her hands.

"Not anymor'." Jack grumbled, his patience wearing thin.

"Well, you'd better give them back now!" Elizabeth said in a calm yet threatening tone, trying to seize the bag from him. Jack caught her wrist as she clutched her fingers around the bag. She stared into his eyes with fear as he gritted his teeth, pushing her up against the wall, her arm twisted upward above her head. He breathed heavily on her, but she wasn't aware of it as she continued to stare at him in shock, to afraid to yell for help, lost in his golden eyes, pleading with her own to let her go.

"Don't tell me what to do Ms. Porter…" Jack hissed through his teeth. He suddenly released her hand and let his arm fall back to his side, Elizabeth not moving her arm at all. He stared at her for a bit longer; his body still a mere foot from hers. She still gawked at him in fright, and his expression went from anger to regret in a flash. He tried to hide it by heaving the bag onto his shoulder and storming up the stairs as if she had caused him a good deal of anger, but she knew what she had seen.

            Elizabeth took a minute to regain herself and collapsed onto one of the bunks. Why did he do that!? She thought she had been rather fair with Jack. She had invited him to do all sorts of things with her and with Will during the trip, and he had refused. It was as if he wanted to distance himself from them. But why? She had been kind enough to invite him on the boat in the first place. Maybe she was the problem after all…

 I was rather overbearing…but, I didn't know he would react like that!