Hey everybody! Please enjoy chapter 9!!! This one took awhile!
Sailing away from Tortuga, you chew your bottom lip nervously. You hate storms. You've never been at sea during a storm, but you know full well that it's no picnic. You stand, rooted to the spot, at the very back of the Interceptor, watching the ever looming closer storm clouds. An occasional flicker of lightning causes your stomach to turn in knots.
Since there is now a crew on board, your presence is no longer needed at every position on the ship, so Jack dutifully gave you the job of manning the ropes attached to the larger sails near the stern. This is fine by you, running every which way during a storm isn't what you would call easy.
You suddenly get the feeling that you are not standing alone. Turning to your left, you see Will beside you, giving you a worried expression.
"Jack sent me here to see if you were still alive." Smiling a bit, whilst relaxing your grip on the backside of the ship, you reply,
"I'm fine, it's just that I....well, I just really hate storms."
"That's understandable," Will shrugs. "I had a fear of them when I was young. But then one day, I thought to myself, 'they're just two bits if air, moving together as one'. And from then on, I haven't been frightened of them! Does that help you at all?" Will asks.
"Yeah...tons." you reply dryly.
"Good!" he says, obviously not catching on to your sarcasm, and clapping you on the back in a friendly gesture, returning to his post at the bow of the ship with Gibbs.
For the next hour and a half or so, you maintain your task of tightening the ropes whenever they loosen a tad, causing the sail to hoist back to its original position. Over the course of time, however, the wind picks up an unnatural pace, making your rope tightening more and more frequent. Glancing upward anxiously, you see that the eerie storm clouds now hover above you threateningly. You hear Jack shout commands at the crew as they prepare for the storm. With a sickening thud, your heart drops into your chest as you feel a plump, fat raindrop land on your cheek. No sooner do you wipe it slowly away, when a clap of loud thunder roars across the sea. Presently, more rain begins to fall, until eventually, it seems as if buckets of it are being tossed from the heavens. With your hair plastered to your face from the rain, you turn to look at the rest of the crew. They scurry about unafraid, doing their jobs urgently, but without fear. How they can remain so calm, you have no idea. You've never been more terrified in your life. Jack stands calmly at the wheel, every once in a while glancing at a compass in his hand and turning the wheel in accordance to it. Remembering your task, you turn hastily back to the ropes to find that they are loose and flapping in the violent wind. Grabbing hold of them, you immediately pull with all of your strength to keep the sails up higher. The storm proves a mighty opponent, however, seeing as the ropes are blown loose again in a matter of minutes. The dark clouds rage low upon the water, causing all light to be cut off from the sun. It might as well be midnight judging upon how dark it is now.
An unwelcome gush of water flows over you as a rogue wave splashes onto the deck, causing you to be even more drenched if possible. Tiredly pushing your fear behind you, grab hold of the ropes again to tighten them. You are hardly able to stand as the ship rocks back and forth amongst the angry waves of the sea. Hearing shouts from the crew, you turn back slightly and squint to see through the sheets of rain and see the crew clinging to the sides. It seems as if fear has gotten the better of some of them. The only one who seems to remain calm is Jack, who still, amongst the reckless lurching of the ship, stands firm in front of the wheel, compass still clutched in his hand as he steers the ship through he raging storm.
You see the figure of Gibbs stagger towards Jack shouting,
"We should drop canvass sir!"
"She can 'old a bit longer!" Jack shouts in return.
"What's in yer head, that's put ye in such a fine mood, Cap'n?" Gibbs shouts back as he is nearly thrown from the ship. You yourself are having trouble maintaining balance as another shuddering roar of thunder is heard.
"We're catching up!" Jack yells, as if to himself.
You can only guess that he means The Black Pearl when he says that. Quickly wiping your soaked hair out of your eyes, you turn back to your job.
For a long while, you do nothing but tighten and loosen the ropes. No longer thinking of how tired or afraid you are. But as you once again grip the ropes, you can't help but notice that the ship is not swaying back and forth as much as it was. And now that you think of it, you can't remember the last time that you heard the sound of thunder. Ceasing your work, you look up. A slight rain sprinkles onto your face as you see clouds bunched together in the night air. Groups of starlight sky are visible through certain holes in the blanket of cloud.
"Fer those of ye not on deck duty, ye can take a rest before morning!" you hear Jack shout. Achingly rubbing at your rope burned hands, you see a few members of the crew disappear below the hatch to the levels below the ship. Swinging back to face you, Jack says,
"Ye can take yerself some rest, lass. Ye did a fine job of it tonight." He then turns back to continue steering the ship towards Isle de Muerta. You smile inwardly. A compliment from Captain Jack Sparrow is rare indeed, and you feel privileged to have received one.
"Thanks, Captain." You say as you head to the hatch. Lowering yourself below levels, you see a row of at least 20 beds against the far side of the room. Some of the crew, such as Cotton are already asleep on their beds, snoring away. For them , this was just another day at sea. Hearing your stomach growl, you tiredly walk over to the other side of the room where the food and provisions are stored in many boxed crates. Hastily grabbing a few rather damp rolls from the nearest crate, you shuffle to the nearest bunk against the wall of the ship and drape your body against it. You feel rather uncomfortable laying there, with your hair and dress still rather soaked. But then again, what can you change into? You absent mindedly shovel a few bits of bread into your mouth as you gaze out of the window that rests slightly above your head. More starlight is now seen, and the ocean is unrecognizably calmer. Almost as if there had been no storm at all.
The unwelcome feeling of insomnia comes over you once again as you lay there, staring of into the night.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**************************~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Dead...men..tell..no...tales.." Ugh! What is that awful sound? ....Oh, it's that damn bird. You open your eyes and sit up. You obviously must have drifted off some time last night, seeing as how you're waking up from sleep. Glancing out the tiny window near your bunk, you see that it might be late morning. A cloudy fog hangs over the sea, preventing you from seeing any further.
As you come back onto the deck, you see the whole crew leaning against the side of the ship, staring off into the fog. Quietly taking your place beside Will and Gibbs, you hear Gibbs mutter to Will,
"Puts a chill in the bones at how many honest sailors have been claimed by this passage. " Focusing your eyes more intently on the water, you see debris from previous ship wrecks glide by as you sail quietly past. You shudder. Gibbs was right. It is creepy. You turn back to see Will suspiciously gazing at Jack, who is currently inspecting his compass, and finally clicking it shut.
"How is it that Jack came by that compass?" Will inquires to Gibbs. Gibbs then pulls away from the side of the ship and takes a swig from his flask of rum.
"Not a lot known about Jack Sparrow before he showed up in Tortuga with a mind to go after the treasure of the Isle de Muerta. That was before I met 'im. Back when he was Captain of the Black Pearl."
"What?" Will's questions, "He failed to mention that!"
"Well, he plays things closer to the vest now," Gibbs sits himself down upon a nearby step, as you and Will both sit down as well, eager to hear more,
"And a hard learned lesson it was," Gibbs continues, "See, three days out on the venture the first mate comes to him and says everythin's an equal share as should be the location of the treasure, too. So..Jack gives up the bearins'. That night....there was a mutiny. They marooned Jack on an island an' left 'im to die. But not before he'd gone mad with the heat!"
"Oh! So that's the reason for all the.." Will, then does a surprisingly funny imitation of Jack, which makes you laugh.
"Reason's got nothin' to do with it," Gibbs continues gravely, "Now Will, Violet, when a man is marooned he is given a pistol with a single shot. Well, it won't do much good fer huntin' or to be rescued. But after three weeks of starving belly an' thirst, that pistol starts to look real friendly," He imitates pointing a pistol to his head, "But Jack made it off the island, and he still has that one shot. Oh, but he won't use it though, save for one man. His mutinous first mate!"
"Barbossa..." Will adds.
"Aye!"" Gibbs agrees.
"So," you enter the conversation with a slight sarcasm to your voice, "tell me. How DID Jack get off that darned island?"
"Well, I'll tell ye!" Gibbs turns to you, "He waded out into the shallows, and there he waited for three days and three nights till all manner of sea-creatures became acclimated to his presence. And on the forth morning, he roped himself a couple of sea-turtles, harnessed them together, and made a raft!" Gibbs seems to be very proud of this story. Too bad it's not true. You can't help but let out a snort of laughter as he finishes. They, then, both look at you curiously.
"Sorry!" you say, still smiling. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Jack standing a short ways away, listening to your conversation.
"He- he roped himself a couple of sea-turtles?" Will asks Gibbs earnestly.
"Aye! Sea-turtles!" Gibbs nods.
"So Capn' Sparrow...what was it that you used for rope?" you call to Jack, who now stands closer. Taking a while before answering, he finally states,
"Human hair....from my back." Will and Gibbs both share rather startled glances.
"Let go of the anchor!" Jack commands loudly to the crew. "Young Mr. Turner and I are to go ashore." He adds walking toward the edge of the ship.
"Wait!" you call, standing up. "Can't I come?" Jack suddenly stops in his tracks, and swivels around to meet your gaze.
"You, Violet, wish to come?" But before you reply, you think to yourself, 'do I really want to? I'll be up against a lot of evil pirates if I go with them, and I don't have a clue on how to use a sword or anything!'
OK! It's YOUR decision on whether or not you go into the island with them! I'm writing the next chapter based on what you say, so when you review, please post which way you'd rather go: To the island with Jack and Will OR stay on the ship with the crew and wait for Will to return with Elizabeth. I know that most of you might want to go to the island with Jack and Will, but think about it first! What would you REALLY do? I know I'd be too scared to go! But then again, I'd still luv the adventure! Post your opinions please! The majority will when the passage of the next chapter that I write! Bu-bye!
Sailing away from Tortuga, you chew your bottom lip nervously. You hate storms. You've never been at sea during a storm, but you know full well that it's no picnic. You stand, rooted to the spot, at the very back of the Interceptor, watching the ever looming closer storm clouds. An occasional flicker of lightning causes your stomach to turn in knots.
Since there is now a crew on board, your presence is no longer needed at every position on the ship, so Jack dutifully gave you the job of manning the ropes attached to the larger sails near the stern. This is fine by you, running every which way during a storm isn't what you would call easy.
You suddenly get the feeling that you are not standing alone. Turning to your left, you see Will beside you, giving you a worried expression.
"Jack sent me here to see if you were still alive." Smiling a bit, whilst relaxing your grip on the backside of the ship, you reply,
"I'm fine, it's just that I....well, I just really hate storms."
"That's understandable," Will shrugs. "I had a fear of them when I was young. But then one day, I thought to myself, 'they're just two bits if air, moving together as one'. And from then on, I haven't been frightened of them! Does that help you at all?" Will asks.
"Yeah...tons." you reply dryly.
"Good!" he says, obviously not catching on to your sarcasm, and clapping you on the back in a friendly gesture, returning to his post at the bow of the ship with Gibbs.
For the next hour and a half or so, you maintain your task of tightening the ropes whenever they loosen a tad, causing the sail to hoist back to its original position. Over the course of time, however, the wind picks up an unnatural pace, making your rope tightening more and more frequent. Glancing upward anxiously, you see that the eerie storm clouds now hover above you threateningly. You hear Jack shout commands at the crew as they prepare for the storm. With a sickening thud, your heart drops into your chest as you feel a plump, fat raindrop land on your cheek. No sooner do you wipe it slowly away, when a clap of loud thunder roars across the sea. Presently, more rain begins to fall, until eventually, it seems as if buckets of it are being tossed from the heavens. With your hair plastered to your face from the rain, you turn to look at the rest of the crew. They scurry about unafraid, doing their jobs urgently, but without fear. How they can remain so calm, you have no idea. You've never been more terrified in your life. Jack stands calmly at the wheel, every once in a while glancing at a compass in his hand and turning the wheel in accordance to it. Remembering your task, you turn hastily back to the ropes to find that they are loose and flapping in the violent wind. Grabbing hold of them, you immediately pull with all of your strength to keep the sails up higher. The storm proves a mighty opponent, however, seeing as the ropes are blown loose again in a matter of minutes. The dark clouds rage low upon the water, causing all light to be cut off from the sun. It might as well be midnight judging upon how dark it is now.
An unwelcome gush of water flows over you as a rogue wave splashes onto the deck, causing you to be even more drenched if possible. Tiredly pushing your fear behind you, grab hold of the ropes again to tighten them. You are hardly able to stand as the ship rocks back and forth amongst the angry waves of the sea. Hearing shouts from the crew, you turn back slightly and squint to see through the sheets of rain and see the crew clinging to the sides. It seems as if fear has gotten the better of some of them. The only one who seems to remain calm is Jack, who still, amongst the reckless lurching of the ship, stands firm in front of the wheel, compass still clutched in his hand as he steers the ship through he raging storm.
You see the figure of Gibbs stagger towards Jack shouting,
"We should drop canvass sir!"
"She can 'old a bit longer!" Jack shouts in return.
"What's in yer head, that's put ye in such a fine mood, Cap'n?" Gibbs shouts back as he is nearly thrown from the ship. You yourself are having trouble maintaining balance as another shuddering roar of thunder is heard.
"We're catching up!" Jack yells, as if to himself.
You can only guess that he means The Black Pearl when he says that. Quickly wiping your soaked hair out of your eyes, you turn back to your job.
For a long while, you do nothing but tighten and loosen the ropes. No longer thinking of how tired or afraid you are. But as you once again grip the ropes, you can't help but notice that the ship is not swaying back and forth as much as it was. And now that you think of it, you can't remember the last time that you heard the sound of thunder. Ceasing your work, you look up. A slight rain sprinkles onto your face as you see clouds bunched together in the night air. Groups of starlight sky are visible through certain holes in the blanket of cloud.
"Fer those of ye not on deck duty, ye can take a rest before morning!" you hear Jack shout. Achingly rubbing at your rope burned hands, you see a few members of the crew disappear below the hatch to the levels below the ship. Swinging back to face you, Jack says,
"Ye can take yerself some rest, lass. Ye did a fine job of it tonight." He then turns back to continue steering the ship towards Isle de Muerta. You smile inwardly. A compliment from Captain Jack Sparrow is rare indeed, and you feel privileged to have received one.
"Thanks, Captain." You say as you head to the hatch. Lowering yourself below levels, you see a row of at least 20 beds against the far side of the room. Some of the crew, such as Cotton are already asleep on their beds, snoring away. For them , this was just another day at sea. Hearing your stomach growl, you tiredly walk over to the other side of the room where the food and provisions are stored in many boxed crates. Hastily grabbing a few rather damp rolls from the nearest crate, you shuffle to the nearest bunk against the wall of the ship and drape your body against it. You feel rather uncomfortable laying there, with your hair and dress still rather soaked. But then again, what can you change into? You absent mindedly shovel a few bits of bread into your mouth as you gaze out of the window that rests slightly above your head. More starlight is now seen, and the ocean is unrecognizably calmer. Almost as if there had been no storm at all.
The unwelcome feeling of insomnia comes over you once again as you lay there, staring of into the night.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**************************~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Dead...men..tell..no...tales.." Ugh! What is that awful sound? ....Oh, it's that damn bird. You open your eyes and sit up. You obviously must have drifted off some time last night, seeing as how you're waking up from sleep. Glancing out the tiny window near your bunk, you see that it might be late morning. A cloudy fog hangs over the sea, preventing you from seeing any further.
As you come back onto the deck, you see the whole crew leaning against the side of the ship, staring off into the fog. Quietly taking your place beside Will and Gibbs, you hear Gibbs mutter to Will,
"Puts a chill in the bones at how many honest sailors have been claimed by this passage. " Focusing your eyes more intently on the water, you see debris from previous ship wrecks glide by as you sail quietly past. You shudder. Gibbs was right. It is creepy. You turn back to see Will suspiciously gazing at Jack, who is currently inspecting his compass, and finally clicking it shut.
"How is it that Jack came by that compass?" Will inquires to Gibbs. Gibbs then pulls away from the side of the ship and takes a swig from his flask of rum.
"Not a lot known about Jack Sparrow before he showed up in Tortuga with a mind to go after the treasure of the Isle de Muerta. That was before I met 'im. Back when he was Captain of the Black Pearl."
"What?" Will's questions, "He failed to mention that!"
"Well, he plays things closer to the vest now," Gibbs sits himself down upon a nearby step, as you and Will both sit down as well, eager to hear more,
"And a hard learned lesson it was," Gibbs continues, "See, three days out on the venture the first mate comes to him and says everythin's an equal share as should be the location of the treasure, too. So..Jack gives up the bearins'. That night....there was a mutiny. They marooned Jack on an island an' left 'im to die. But not before he'd gone mad with the heat!"
"Oh! So that's the reason for all the.." Will, then does a surprisingly funny imitation of Jack, which makes you laugh.
"Reason's got nothin' to do with it," Gibbs continues gravely, "Now Will, Violet, when a man is marooned he is given a pistol with a single shot. Well, it won't do much good fer huntin' or to be rescued. But after three weeks of starving belly an' thirst, that pistol starts to look real friendly," He imitates pointing a pistol to his head, "But Jack made it off the island, and he still has that one shot. Oh, but he won't use it though, save for one man. His mutinous first mate!"
"Barbossa..." Will adds.
"Aye!"" Gibbs agrees.
"So," you enter the conversation with a slight sarcasm to your voice, "tell me. How DID Jack get off that darned island?"
"Well, I'll tell ye!" Gibbs turns to you, "He waded out into the shallows, and there he waited for three days and three nights till all manner of sea-creatures became acclimated to his presence. And on the forth morning, he roped himself a couple of sea-turtles, harnessed them together, and made a raft!" Gibbs seems to be very proud of this story. Too bad it's not true. You can't help but let out a snort of laughter as he finishes. They, then, both look at you curiously.
"Sorry!" you say, still smiling. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Jack standing a short ways away, listening to your conversation.
"He- he roped himself a couple of sea-turtles?" Will asks Gibbs earnestly.
"Aye! Sea-turtles!" Gibbs nods.
"So Capn' Sparrow...what was it that you used for rope?" you call to Jack, who now stands closer. Taking a while before answering, he finally states,
"Human hair....from my back." Will and Gibbs both share rather startled glances.
"Let go of the anchor!" Jack commands loudly to the crew. "Young Mr. Turner and I are to go ashore." He adds walking toward the edge of the ship.
"Wait!" you call, standing up. "Can't I come?" Jack suddenly stops in his tracks, and swivels around to meet your gaze.
"You, Violet, wish to come?" But before you reply, you think to yourself, 'do I really want to? I'll be up against a lot of evil pirates if I go with them, and I don't have a clue on how to use a sword or anything!'
OK! It's YOUR decision on whether or not you go into the island with them! I'm writing the next chapter based on what you say, so when you review, please post which way you'd rather go: To the island with Jack and Will OR stay on the ship with the crew and wait for Will to return with Elizabeth. I know that most of you might want to go to the island with Jack and Will, but think about it first! What would you REALLY do? I know I'd be too scared to go! But then again, I'd still luv the adventure! Post your opinions please! The majority will when the passage of the next chapter that I write! Bu-bye!