Disclaimer: Refer to Chapter One
A/N: Thank you for the comments.
X-Mangle: Aww, you make me all warm and fuzzy inside. I should expect a few more chapters from your story as well. * cough *
Dragonpink: I was listening to Tori Amos's "Crucify" while reading your comment and right as I passed over the word 'purrfect', the line "I know a cat named Easter..." sounded. * shrugs * I don't know, I liked it, I'm a fan of irony.
VagrantCandy: First, I must say, kickin' name. Rock on. And yeah, I know, the story is kinda taking it's sweet time. But here's the first little part of their time-traveling. Now, the crew doesn't know they've been time- traveling. If you're not a fan of motive, or are just really impatient then, I'll post the fourth chapter along with this one and that does have a wee bit of time traveling. Alas, our dear Captain Sparrow doesn't seem to come along until a chapter or two after of that. Hey, you knew he was never a very punctual person.
Chapter 3
It all seemed like something from a bad dream. No, Sparrow corrected herself. It was like something from a bad movie. "'Get me to America.'" She mocked Gin's accent. The lilting Southern American accent touched by her years in Columbia. Sparrow ran a hand through her tangles, pushing the hair from her face as she pored over the maps, marking with a pen where she was, where she needed to go and how. It was a favor. It was her word to Gin, though Sparrow wondered if the woman even remembered. Van Halen's 'Running with the Devil' boomed over the $2200 stereo system. ".I've found the simple life." She bobbed her head to the music, ran a pen along the lines and sketched a few notes on a piece of paper, numbers and letters that would make sense to no one else but her. A sigh escaped her lips as she looked over an hour's work of numbers and plans. Roxy and Pogo were passed out in the quarters. Probably not really resting but lying on the beds with pillows shoved over their heads. It was rude of her to be blaring her work music over the stereo but if they didn't like it they could bloody well tell her. Gin was on deck, cutting through the early morning. Sparrow sighed again. She needed a cigarette. She dropped the pen, grabbed her pack of Lucky Strikes and headed to the door.
A gasp passed her lips at what she saw, what she felt. Beads of moisture surrounded her, cold against her skin. It was still somewhat dark, the grays and greens of sea fog slowly exposing themselves in the opaque light of morning. She lit her cigarette and wandered around deck to see if the whole boat was surrounded like this. Something foolish but some part of her felt it was necessary. It was something to make the notion of fog more tangible-real. She ran to the helm, needing to rid herself of the loneliness that over came her in a shiver. There stood Gin, her hands on the wheels, squinting like Pop-Eye as her cigarette smoke waved around her in a pale aura.
"How long has it been like this?" Sparrow asked, her shoulder resting on the threshold. Gin let out a scream, dropping the cigarette that she had been nursing for the past five two minutes, in a rush; she stomped on it like a spider.
"Fuck." She muttered to herself, looking at the half smoked cigarette. She glanced up, seeing Sparrow standing at the threshold; an amused grin on her face, lined with urgency. "A few hours now." She said, bitterness lacing its way through her words. "My cigarette." She whined, not taking her eyes off the crushed tobacco.
"That's why we try not to smoke at the helm."
"I saw the Skipper do it when I was a kid."
"Look what happened to him."
"You got a point." Gin glanced up as Sparrow shifted to look out at the fog. She lifted her cigarette to her lips and took a drag, forcing Gin to pull out her own and place the cancer stick in her own. With one hand she lit it and took a drag. Savoring the silence between them. She wasn't much for conversation. Give her the consistent beeping of that damned board and the break of the water any day. She was always an easy to please child. Suddenly, there was an awkward pause in the silence.silence. The board wasn't beeping any more. She looked down to see that all the lights had gone out. Whatever kept the boat in top shape was gone. She opened her mouth to call Sparrow but the woman had already turned around and was striding into the room.
"What's wrong?" Gin could hear the concern in her voice as she played with a few switches pressed and repressed a few buttons.
"I...I don't know. It just stopped." She answered. Her voice was almost on the verge of panic.
"It stopped? It doesn't just stop. Things don't just stop. What happened?"
"I don't know."
"Well, go see." Sparrow commanded, taking the wheel. Gin saw her captor slowly taking over the body of the woman that had gotten her drunk, given her 50 kilos out of the kindness-well, she was sure that there was some underlying motive but she liked to think that it was the kindness of her heart.
"I'm a mechanic. Not an electrician." She said calmly taking a drag of her cigarette. Sparrow just starred at her.
"What's the difference?" Gin let out a noise of frustration and just starred at her incredulously. What's the difference? She worked with machinery not wires. Wires were for wimps. Finally, Sparrow sighed. "Fine. Go wake Pogo and Roxy, find Dani wherever the hell she may be. We'll figure this out." She looked down at the incapable board and swallowed the urge to whip out her pistol and shoot it. She looked out at the horizon as Gin left the cabin. "Should have shot her when I had the chance." She mumbled without emotion. "Damned girl is bad luck." In her mind Sparrow tried to figure out a detour in her panicked mind. "Shit." She muttered, knowing how hard things were about to become. She mumbled the word over and over again as she starred out into the brightening greens and grays.
Two hours. Two bloody, sweaty hours, Dani had been beneath the stupid board with it's stupid wires and the stupid, singing drunk that lay beside her. Toying with something that neither of them knew much about. Nothing seemed wrong to her, everything was where it should have been, and she probably did more to hurt the boat than to help it. With a sigh she pulled herself out from under the board and starred at the floor. It was still hazy outside despite the growing day. Behind her, Gin, the bleeding stowaway was still singing the same verse over and over, reminding herself of what she couldn't have. Sparrow refused the both of them any liquor until they fixed the board. She made a grimace and opened her mouth to sing along with the words, she knew the song by heart now. "Hey ho! To the bottle I go.to heal my heart and drown my woe. Rain may fall.and wind may blow.and there still be.many miles to go. But under a tall tree I shall lie.and let the clouds go sailing by."
"Is that Irish?" Dani asked before Gin could sound up another rousing rendition of the same song. She'd rather converse with the drunk than hear that song.again. Gin pulled herself out from board and lit a cigarette.
"No.it's Hobbitish-Hobbitese--Hobbit." Gin took a drag and glanced at the pale, confused face of Dani. She looked more like she belonged in colder, gentler climates rather than the Caribbean. "Tolkien. Lord of the Rings. I was a fantasy geek when I was a kid, or rather my father was. He used to encourage me to write out the stories that I told him. Imagine his surprise when I said that I found my calling in mechanics, eh?" She let out a light laugh and nudged one of Dani's delicately tanned arms. How did she keep from burning? Gin idly wondered.
"Yeah." Dani shifted her ash colored eyes from the brunette to the bit of sky that she could see from her spot on the floor. The fog should have been clearing but she could have sworn it was getting worse; bits were seeping into the helm. She let out a sigh, trying to fill the silent void. What was she supposed to say, 'Yeah, I've been there'? She had never even considered mechanics as a child. A ballerina, an actress, a lawyer because it was expected of her. She had never genuinely been sure of what she wanted. A cry from the deck pulled her out of her musing.
"What the hell-" A pounding echoed through the decks, neither Gin nor Dani knew what to make of it so they both stayed still for a moment, sitting on the floor, heads cocked, listening. Soon, Sparrow's figure took over the doorway, she threw something resembling a pocket book in front of Dani.
"Pogo spotted a ship headed our way, just out of sight, they'll be here in a few minutes. I want you to take every thing you can. And put on some loose clothing. We'll stash what we can where we can and throw the rest over. See if maybe we can get Cassandra to land." Before the whole statement could settle in, Gin was on her feet nearly screaming.
"What do you mean throw the rest overboard?! That's a good half a mil! You can't just toss that overboard." Something passed in Sparrow's eyes that showed that she knew that.
"Your crew was willing to toss it, just to keep it from us." She paused and glanced out at the grays. "In any case, we take our rescues where we can. My ship and my crew is worth more to me than risking the chance of getting caught." Gin opened her mouth again; she was showing some bravado for just joining. Sparrow cut her off before she had a chance to protest again. "I want you two to go into the quarters, Pogo and Roxy are already packing up, get your stuff." The girls starred at her as if she had just asked them to jump overboard. "Now!" She raised her voice and stomped her foot for emphasis, almost feeling like a mother. She shook the thought off as the girls ran past her. Her eyes followed the bow up to the growing shadow, it was just a shadow now but soon it would be their judgment. Despite the confident façade, Sparrow felt like a woman who was about to die. Waiting for what waited beyond the mist, the curtain. Her salvation. "I hope."
A/N: Thank you for the comments.
X-Mangle: Aww, you make me all warm and fuzzy inside. I should expect a few more chapters from your story as well. * cough *
Dragonpink: I was listening to Tori Amos's "Crucify" while reading your comment and right as I passed over the word 'purrfect', the line "I know a cat named Easter..." sounded. * shrugs * I don't know, I liked it, I'm a fan of irony.
VagrantCandy: First, I must say, kickin' name. Rock on. And yeah, I know, the story is kinda taking it's sweet time. But here's the first little part of their time-traveling. Now, the crew doesn't know they've been time- traveling. If you're not a fan of motive, or are just really impatient then, I'll post the fourth chapter along with this one and that does have a wee bit of time traveling. Alas, our dear Captain Sparrow doesn't seem to come along until a chapter or two after of that. Hey, you knew he was never a very punctual person.
Chapter 3
It all seemed like something from a bad dream. No, Sparrow corrected herself. It was like something from a bad movie. "'Get me to America.'" She mocked Gin's accent. The lilting Southern American accent touched by her years in Columbia. Sparrow ran a hand through her tangles, pushing the hair from her face as she pored over the maps, marking with a pen where she was, where she needed to go and how. It was a favor. It was her word to Gin, though Sparrow wondered if the woman even remembered. Van Halen's 'Running with the Devil' boomed over the $2200 stereo system. ".I've found the simple life." She bobbed her head to the music, ran a pen along the lines and sketched a few notes on a piece of paper, numbers and letters that would make sense to no one else but her. A sigh escaped her lips as she looked over an hour's work of numbers and plans. Roxy and Pogo were passed out in the quarters. Probably not really resting but lying on the beds with pillows shoved over their heads. It was rude of her to be blaring her work music over the stereo but if they didn't like it they could bloody well tell her. Gin was on deck, cutting through the early morning. Sparrow sighed again. She needed a cigarette. She dropped the pen, grabbed her pack of Lucky Strikes and headed to the door.
A gasp passed her lips at what she saw, what she felt. Beads of moisture surrounded her, cold against her skin. It was still somewhat dark, the grays and greens of sea fog slowly exposing themselves in the opaque light of morning. She lit her cigarette and wandered around deck to see if the whole boat was surrounded like this. Something foolish but some part of her felt it was necessary. It was something to make the notion of fog more tangible-real. She ran to the helm, needing to rid herself of the loneliness that over came her in a shiver. There stood Gin, her hands on the wheels, squinting like Pop-Eye as her cigarette smoke waved around her in a pale aura.
"How long has it been like this?" Sparrow asked, her shoulder resting on the threshold. Gin let out a scream, dropping the cigarette that she had been nursing for the past five two minutes, in a rush; she stomped on it like a spider.
"Fuck." She muttered to herself, looking at the half smoked cigarette. She glanced up, seeing Sparrow standing at the threshold; an amused grin on her face, lined with urgency. "A few hours now." She said, bitterness lacing its way through her words. "My cigarette." She whined, not taking her eyes off the crushed tobacco.
"That's why we try not to smoke at the helm."
"I saw the Skipper do it when I was a kid."
"Look what happened to him."
"You got a point." Gin glanced up as Sparrow shifted to look out at the fog. She lifted her cigarette to her lips and took a drag, forcing Gin to pull out her own and place the cancer stick in her own. With one hand she lit it and took a drag. Savoring the silence between them. She wasn't much for conversation. Give her the consistent beeping of that damned board and the break of the water any day. She was always an easy to please child. Suddenly, there was an awkward pause in the silence.silence. The board wasn't beeping any more. She looked down to see that all the lights had gone out. Whatever kept the boat in top shape was gone. She opened her mouth to call Sparrow but the woman had already turned around and was striding into the room.
"What's wrong?" Gin could hear the concern in her voice as she played with a few switches pressed and repressed a few buttons.
"I...I don't know. It just stopped." She answered. Her voice was almost on the verge of panic.
"It stopped? It doesn't just stop. Things don't just stop. What happened?"
"I don't know."
"Well, go see." Sparrow commanded, taking the wheel. Gin saw her captor slowly taking over the body of the woman that had gotten her drunk, given her 50 kilos out of the kindness-well, she was sure that there was some underlying motive but she liked to think that it was the kindness of her heart.
"I'm a mechanic. Not an electrician." She said calmly taking a drag of her cigarette. Sparrow just starred at her.
"What's the difference?" Gin let out a noise of frustration and just starred at her incredulously. What's the difference? She worked with machinery not wires. Wires were for wimps. Finally, Sparrow sighed. "Fine. Go wake Pogo and Roxy, find Dani wherever the hell she may be. We'll figure this out." She looked down at the incapable board and swallowed the urge to whip out her pistol and shoot it. She looked out at the horizon as Gin left the cabin. "Should have shot her when I had the chance." She mumbled without emotion. "Damned girl is bad luck." In her mind Sparrow tried to figure out a detour in her panicked mind. "Shit." She muttered, knowing how hard things were about to become. She mumbled the word over and over again as she starred out into the brightening greens and grays.
Two hours. Two bloody, sweaty hours, Dani had been beneath the stupid board with it's stupid wires and the stupid, singing drunk that lay beside her. Toying with something that neither of them knew much about. Nothing seemed wrong to her, everything was where it should have been, and she probably did more to hurt the boat than to help it. With a sigh she pulled herself out from under the board and starred at the floor. It was still hazy outside despite the growing day. Behind her, Gin, the bleeding stowaway was still singing the same verse over and over, reminding herself of what she couldn't have. Sparrow refused the both of them any liquor until they fixed the board. She made a grimace and opened her mouth to sing along with the words, she knew the song by heart now. "Hey ho! To the bottle I go.to heal my heart and drown my woe. Rain may fall.and wind may blow.and there still be.many miles to go. But under a tall tree I shall lie.and let the clouds go sailing by."
"Is that Irish?" Dani asked before Gin could sound up another rousing rendition of the same song. She'd rather converse with the drunk than hear that song.again. Gin pulled herself out from board and lit a cigarette.
"No.it's Hobbitish-Hobbitese--Hobbit." Gin took a drag and glanced at the pale, confused face of Dani. She looked more like she belonged in colder, gentler climates rather than the Caribbean. "Tolkien. Lord of the Rings. I was a fantasy geek when I was a kid, or rather my father was. He used to encourage me to write out the stories that I told him. Imagine his surprise when I said that I found my calling in mechanics, eh?" She let out a light laugh and nudged one of Dani's delicately tanned arms. How did she keep from burning? Gin idly wondered.
"Yeah." Dani shifted her ash colored eyes from the brunette to the bit of sky that she could see from her spot on the floor. The fog should have been clearing but she could have sworn it was getting worse; bits were seeping into the helm. She let out a sigh, trying to fill the silent void. What was she supposed to say, 'Yeah, I've been there'? She had never even considered mechanics as a child. A ballerina, an actress, a lawyer because it was expected of her. She had never genuinely been sure of what she wanted. A cry from the deck pulled her out of her musing.
"What the hell-" A pounding echoed through the decks, neither Gin nor Dani knew what to make of it so they both stayed still for a moment, sitting on the floor, heads cocked, listening. Soon, Sparrow's figure took over the doorway, she threw something resembling a pocket book in front of Dani.
"Pogo spotted a ship headed our way, just out of sight, they'll be here in a few minutes. I want you to take every thing you can. And put on some loose clothing. We'll stash what we can where we can and throw the rest over. See if maybe we can get Cassandra to land." Before the whole statement could settle in, Gin was on her feet nearly screaming.
"What do you mean throw the rest overboard?! That's a good half a mil! You can't just toss that overboard." Something passed in Sparrow's eyes that showed that she knew that.
"Your crew was willing to toss it, just to keep it from us." She paused and glanced out at the grays. "In any case, we take our rescues where we can. My ship and my crew is worth more to me than risking the chance of getting caught." Gin opened her mouth again; she was showing some bravado for just joining. Sparrow cut her off before she had a chance to protest again. "I want you two to go into the quarters, Pogo and Roxy are already packing up, get your stuff." The girls starred at her as if she had just asked them to jump overboard. "Now!" She raised her voice and stomped her foot for emphasis, almost feeling like a mother. She shook the thought off as the girls ran past her. Her eyes followed the bow up to the growing shadow, it was just a shadow now but soon it would be their judgment. Despite the confident façade, Sparrow felt like a woman who was about to die. Waiting for what waited beyond the mist, the curtain. Her salvation. "I hope."