Author's Note: Hey everyone! Sorry for the long break! I don't have time to respond individually to the reviews, but I just want to thank everyone for the encouraging words! It's been a busy time as I have just moved into my dorm at college and am getting settled in, but I'll try to continue to update as much as I can! :D I hope this chapter holds up and please let me know what you think by dropping me a review. I'm here to please my audience! *bows and walks off*
Failing Hope
Chapter Five
Another crash of metal upon metal made Will grimace and grind his teeth together in annoyance. Ever since Barbossa's men had left to attack Norrington's fleet, Jack Sparrow had been rummaging through the glittering piles of treasure. The spoken of pirate haphazardly tossed aside another silver piece and immediately took up another, holding it close to his face and eyeing it carefully.
Already, Jack looked utterly ridiculous. An over-the-top crown adorned with multi-colored sparkling gems sat lopsided on his head, and more rings than physically possible were decorating his grungy fingers. After staring at the treasure currently in his hands, Jack easily discarded it also, apparently not satisfied with its appearance.
Will watched the pirate's actions, stuck with only standing on a relatively small rock, surrounded by the shallow cave waters. Bo'sun stood next to him, assuring that no escape would be attempted. During the entire time since the other pirates had filed out, Will tried to figure out just exactly how Jack Sparrow's mind really worked. All that the young blacksmith succeeded in doing was procuring himself a rather intrusive headache. None of the pirate's actions made any sense nor did they follow any common track. It seemed as though all of Jack's dealings were completely random and arbitrary. While his decisions would seem ill thought one moment, the very next they would reveal themselves as borderline genius.
Barbossa stood a distance away from where Jack continued fumbling about the treasure, a distant smirk on his face. "I must admit Jack, I thought I had ye figured. It turns out that you're a hard man to predict."
Decisively, Jack dropped yet another inadequate bauble and glanced up at the other pirate before moving away from his current gold mine. He pointed to himself, looking surprised. "Me? I'm dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest…honestly." At this point, Jack glanced over to Will for a split second before waving his hand about lightly and returning his dark-lined gaze to Barbossa. "It's the honest ones that you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly…stupid."
It was once again in a single glance that Will could discern a indication of imminent action. The blacksmith's dark eyes watched Jack's actions fastidiously, waiting for an unknown signal. Moments like these restored Will's wavering faith in the ambiguous pirate.
In the instant after the last word left Jack's mouth, his hand unsheathed his sword swiftly and was swept up into a vicious but nimble swordfight with Barbossa, who had quickly realized what was happening.
Knowing that he must take advantage of the moment of shock, Will spun around, lashing out at Bo'sun, his captor. His foot firmly connected with the large pirate's midsection, and Will hastily took advantage of the pirate's sword and managed to cut the bonds from his hands. Bo'sun, so shocked with the sudden change of winds, did nothing to retaliate against the rebellious blacksmith as Will took one of his swords.
Surprised at the simplicity of his actions, Will lifted his sword to the neck of the black pirate, only to find another sword resting precariously against his own throat. He stared coldly at Bo'sun, who held the other sword.
"A pirate always carries more than one weapon, boy. Ye should know that." To emphasize his point, Bo'sun pressed the sharp blade slightly harder against the soft flesh of Will's neck. He stared with empty eyes at the blacksmith. "I can't die, Turner. What d'ye propose on doing?"
Unable to break the blackness that Bo'sun's gaze filled him with, Will quickly lashed out with a foot. Taken by surprise, the pirate's sword fell away from Will's neck as he landed roughly on the cold rocks beneath. A sickening crack echoed in the air when the man's back struck the hard surface. It was a blow that should have broken the vertebrae of any typical human. The undead, however, were an entirely different story.
Will stared down frigidly, pinning the pirate to the rocks with a single foot as he struggled to regain his footing. "What will I do? I will kill you." His voice grew softer as he spoke, but his threat grew stronger. "Somehow I will make you pay for everything you ever did. Everything you ever did to me, everything you ever did to Elizabeth, and everything you put my father through. I vow that you will know the pain of a sword's sting before the end."
A twisted smile grew on the man's face as Will spoke and his hand traveled illusively until it was several centimeters away from the blacksmith's boot. With a flip of the wrist, Bo'sun grabbed Will's ankle and ripped it out from beneath him, sending the young man crashing down onto his side. His hands landed in the shallow waters, but his side caught the unforgiving surface of a jagged rock and the young man exhaled quickly, all of the breath leaving his lungs. Pain ripped through his stomach and his fingers instinctively loosened, sending his sword clattering from his grip and landing a foot away in the pools of water. Suddenly all of Will's attention focused on pulling another breath into his burning lungs, and he gasped agonizingly from his floored position.
Taking advantage of the situation, Bo'sun regained his foothold and stood over Will, his sword raised and its tip pointing downward to Will's chest. "I could run ye through right now, lad. We could get the blood good enough from your worthless corpse."
Unable to do much more than stare up at his impending death, Will reached a hand backward, his fingers scrabbling desperately for his lost sword. If only he had noticed the pirate's movements before he would not be in this situation. His fingers came up empty and his heart plunged into despair. He could not save himself. Not this time.
The dark sword that hung above him was raised slightly as Bo'sun prepared to plunge it downward, unmindful of his captain's demands that the Turner boy be kept alive. Blood was blood, after all. It mattered not whether it came from a live or dead man. He could see the fear that was shining in the boy's brown eyes, despite his pathetic attempts to hide the fright. "Are you ready, whelp?" He harshly whispered, relishing every moment. "I'm gonna teach you the meanin' of pain."
Closing his eyes, Will could not help the tremor of terror that raced through him. This was facing death far too many times in one day. His resolve had been worn down like a stone that lay on the beach, being beat repeatedly by the ocean's waves. There was nothing left to draw from. He waited tensely for the blinding pain of a blade tearing through him. It never came.
Suddenly a familiar voice ripped through Will's thoughts. "You like pain?"
The blacksmith's eyes flew open just in time to see a young female dressed in an oversized army uniform bring a large staff directly into the chest of the looming Bo'sun. It took Will only an instant to identify the voice, and he watched, stunned, as the woman straightened back up. "Try wearing a corset."
"Elizabeth." Will's words were hardly a whisper, but the longhaired girl turned her face to him, concerned eyes sweeping over him. She knelt down slightly and held her slender fingers out to him to help him to his feet. He accepted her hand and crawled back to a standing position.
After he was upright, she lightly squeezed his hand, running her thumb over his knuckles. Her gaze, however, was turned to Barbossa and Jack who were both still locked in battle. Her jaw slipped open when Jack backed up through a beam of moonlight, suddenly revealing a skeletal form. Her dark eyes turned quickly to Will, who was watching, but was not quite as shocked. He had seen Jack take the coin, after all.
"Whose side is Jack on?" Elizabeth murmured, still somewhat stunned to see Jack take on the deathly form in the cold, distant rays of the moonlight.
Will smiled ironically at that statement, the sparkle of the grin never reaching his eyes. Whose side was Jack on? He had been willing to betray Will at the beginning, but he had obviously also betrayed Barbossa, not to mention that he had lied to Norrington, as well. After listing several of the people, Will gave up trying to understand completely. Jack was on Jack's side, and there was no way to change that.
In order to answer Elizabeth's inquiry, Will cryptically responded with another question. "At the moment?" That was the truth. All one had to do was give the pirate another ten minutes and perhaps it would once again appear as though he was on Barbossa's side.
The blacksmith's musings were abruptly cut short as a group of three skeletal pirates attacked from both sides. Elizabeth, still holding the long pole, took advantage of their exposed forms and rammed the long rod through all three of them, binding them together. They tugged back and forth uselessly, unable to remove the long staff. Elizabeth quickly backed away, seeing what Will held in his hands.
Will, gaining a small bomb discarded by one of the pirates, shoved it in the middle pirate's ribcage as it burned. Then both Will and Elizabeth gave all three a hard shove, sending them stumbling back out of the moonlight and returning them to human form. A panicked expression appeared on their faces as they realized that they could no longer remove the still burning bomb.
The middle pirate glanced up at Will, his eyes wide in horror. "No fair!" He exclaimed moments before the bomb went off.
Elizabeth cringed away, shutting her eyes to avoid seeing the messy results of their action. Will rubbed her shoulder consolingly, even though he had been somewhat troubled by the explosion himself. His worries were quickly cut short as he noticed Jack stop his parrying swordplay and run the tip of his sword along the skin of his own hand. Thick, crimson blood trickled onto the face of the shining gold coin that Jack held all along. The pirate's darkly rimmed eyes flashed up to where Will stood, still close to the tomb that held the rest of the cursed treasure. Will nodded, the action almost invisible to those standing around him. He understood what Jack planned to do now, and he had to fulfill his own part.
With a flick of his wrist, Jack sent the bloodstained gold flying toward Will, flipping wildly through the air. Will immediately captured it in his own fist and reached up to pull the final gold medallion from his neck. He glanced over to see Barbossa aiming his gun in the direction of Elizabeth. Will's heart began to race in fury. There was no way that the mutineer would kill her now – not after everything that had happened. Deep in his heart, Will knew that if Elizabeth were ever to die, he himself would also die. Somehow, their hearts connected deeper than most could imagine. There was an imperceptible tie between the two souls that entwined two vastly different lives into one. He couldn't loose her – not now, not ever.
Will's hands moved faster than his brain processed the information and with one powerful yank, the untarnished final medallion falling into his palm. Instinctively, Will drew the blood-tarnished ritual dagger across his own palm, causing deep red blood to well to the surface. The face of the gold was pressed tightly into his hand and the blacksmith hissed softly as the wound stung painfully. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to ignore the sharp pain that shot through his hand.
A shot rang through the empty caverns merely a split second later and Will's head snapped up. Oh god. Barbossa hadn't released his shot, had he? The young man's dark eyes traveled to look at Elizabeth who stared back at him, her jaw dropped a few centimeters. She took a tentative step forward, never breaking eye contact with the blacksmith.
"I'm okay." She whispered, stepping close enough to brush her fingers against his upper arm. A faint smile crossed her face as she could clearly read the relief on Will's face as though she were reading a large print novel.
Reassured that Elizabeth was indeed all right, Will's gaze quickly shifted and traveled to where Jack held a gun steadily aimed at Barbossa, the end of it still smoking. However, Barbossa did not seem to be fazed in the least. Will tensed up. What if the curse had not been broken? His gaze fixed steadily on Jack Sparrow, who did not seem unnerved in the least.
A brusque laugh came from Barbossa lips as he gazed pitifully at Jack. "Ten years you carry that pistol and now you waste your shot." His lips curled upward disdainfully.
Barbossa looked away from Jack as he heard the strong voice of Bootstrap's son. "He didn't waste it."
Disbelief overtook the pirate's face as he watched the young Turner slowly open his fist. Two bloodstained medallions tumbled from his grip as his fingers loosened. Almost surreally, the final two gold coins fell into the tomb with a clatter. The blacksmith looked up, finality smoldering in his ashen brown eyes when he met Barbossa's incredulous face.
Slowly, the ex-first mate of Jack Sparrow unbuttoned his outer coat, and glanced down at his chest. A flower of crimson red bloomed outward from where the bullet had entered his chest, and the captain reached a shaking hand to the wound, shocked at the sight of it. He lifted his head and stared at Jack. The sword that was in his hand weakly fell out of his grip and clattered loudly on the cavern floors. "I feel…" He paused, a blue tinge slowly overcoming the natural hue of his lips. "…cold." He finished faintly, collapsing onto the floor of the caves. A shiny green apple rolled from Barbossa's dead fingers, untouched.
For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, Will let out a long breath and closed his eyes. A soft touch caused his eyelids to flutter open again and he met with the dark eyes of Elizabeth. She rested her forehead against his cheek and laid a hand softly on his chest. "It's over." She murmured reassuringly. "It's really over this time."
Will pulled his still bleeding hand away from Elizabeth, unwilling to allow it to taint her flawless beauty. His unhurt hand relaxed into the rhythm of lightly stroking her soft flowing hair. "So it would seem." His eyes glazed over as his thoughts traveled far away. "Or has it just begun?" The last words were spoken so softly that even Elizabeth did not hear them. The blacksmith's eyes closed tightly and he wrapped his arms around Elizabeth, pulling her closer. Please let it be over…
TBC