Jack waited motionless behind a protruding boulder as Thoreau's
rowboat trudged through the murky water. After leaving the Black Pearl,
several miles out of sight at Reed Bay, in a cursed little raft, he'd been
plagued with impatience and doubt. Would he make it in time? Would
Thoreau make it at all? Tabitha had no idea what sort of audacious bastard
Thoreau was. With her short fuse, she could easily do something stupid to
set him off.
Now, with the trembling but breathing figure within a few feet of his fortress, a heightened calm settled through his nerves. Her cream-colored gown, one of the spoils from Isle de Mureta, was completely gone, leaving nothing but a thin cotton undershirt and petticoat. Good, she must've found some way to fend them off. If the crew or the captain would've had her, there would be nothing left.
She must have so much strength in those bones. She was shaken, he could see it as Thoreau yanked her on by reddened wrists. Yet she hadn't broken. Again he felt the guilt swimming up from the depths of his stomach, crashing into his heart. Enough of wicked stepsisters and burning isles and careless captains. Somehow, from this day until eternity, he would see to it that she never knew heartache again. All the wrong, he would set right for her. Whatever he had to do.
The crew loudly clammored onto the small shore, obliviously passing the rock by. Their shuffling covered the noise as Jack unsheathed his sword, waiting for the opportune moment to strike...
***
Two golden pearls of light popped from the corners of the goddess's eyes; sleep sand from her lifetime trance. They shone for just a moment before her, as they split and spread to cover the entire lid. A pair of gleaming, star-bright eyes fixed into Tabitha before blazing in a burst of speed and iridescence, blinding her as she blinked back to behold the entire engraving illuminated by the supernatural light.
The clashing of swords, the hum of the crew had all ceased as the gathered fixed themselves on the appiration before them. Not even a breath could be heard, as all held it in as if the slightest exhalation would send whatever spirit stirred awake skittering back into its immortal hiding place. As the entire portrait glowed, a rousing split could be heard cracking at the bridge of her nose. The infraction spread, producing a fracture from the top of the wall to the floor, which laboriously spread open to reveal a bright passageway.
"Would someone kindly restrain Mr. Sparrow?" Thoreau broke casually, stepping away from the confrontation quickly as a half-dozen crew pulled their pistols on the off-guard Jack. Grossly outnumbered he dropped the sword, lifting his hands up above his head as they swarmed.
The captain swooped her up roughly by the waist, dragging her alongside as he barrelled into the entrance. "Take the treasure!!" She cried, futilly thrashing against his lock of a grip. "Just take whatever you like, and let us go! Let Jack go!! Please, I'll do anything!"
With a careless Thunk! she met once again with the ground, this time soft and inviting under her aching muscles. The cool scent of dewy grass filled her nostrils, and she realized she was indeed lying face down on a bed of sweet, luscious grass spanning the entire floor of the pillar- mountain. Sunlight streamed in from up above, casting everything in hazy daylight reflected off of streams of water creeping down the rock sides. Two trees reached up and blossomed toward the Heavens they could barely see, shading a bedlike rock platform layered in mosses and dainty wildflowers. Orchids and roses bloomed out from the ground in eerie harmony, with an orchestrated spontinaety that only nature's most loved gardens ever achieved. The color and light was overcoming, after festering so long in the dank cavern. The air was clean and fragrant, filling Tabitha's lungs as if for the first time.
They stood, taking it in, for what could have been a moment, an hour, or a day. Finally a lone voice broke through the revered silence. "Where's th' treasure?"
"Yeah!" Piped in another. "There ain't no gold!"
"Th' damn Egyptians di'in't leave a single jewel!" Cursed the first, crossing from Jack's careful guard to dramatically kick at the natural altar. "They sealed this place off t' hide a pretty picture?!"
"That's women for ye," Jack commented, leaning forward to bob his head in gesture, as the binding of hands left him impaired otherwise.
"You!!" The captain fumed, whirling with knotted fists back down to her. "You conniving little whore, you tricked us!"
"I...I had no-"
"Silence!!" His right hand smashed across her face, knocking her back into the ground. He approached her laggardly, backing her behind a wall of disgruntled pirate legs. Her head and shoulders met with the resistance, and he stood above her, pale skin flushed a fiery scarlet. He reached into his jacket, removing a shining silver-plated pistol. He held it inches from her heaving chest, so close she could smell the loaded gunpowder. "You see, Jack and I are very different men. You may have single-handedly brought ruin to Jack Sparrow, but James William Thoreau will never be humiliated by a conniving woman."
His fingers tightened around the trigger, and a deafening shot of death rippled and shreiked through the serene paradise air.
Now, with the trembling but breathing figure within a few feet of his fortress, a heightened calm settled through his nerves. Her cream-colored gown, one of the spoils from Isle de Mureta, was completely gone, leaving nothing but a thin cotton undershirt and petticoat. Good, she must've found some way to fend them off. If the crew or the captain would've had her, there would be nothing left.
She must have so much strength in those bones. She was shaken, he could see it as Thoreau yanked her on by reddened wrists. Yet she hadn't broken. Again he felt the guilt swimming up from the depths of his stomach, crashing into his heart. Enough of wicked stepsisters and burning isles and careless captains. Somehow, from this day until eternity, he would see to it that she never knew heartache again. All the wrong, he would set right for her. Whatever he had to do.
The crew loudly clammored onto the small shore, obliviously passing the rock by. Their shuffling covered the noise as Jack unsheathed his sword, waiting for the opportune moment to strike...
***
Two golden pearls of light popped from the corners of the goddess's eyes; sleep sand from her lifetime trance. They shone for just a moment before her, as they split and spread to cover the entire lid. A pair of gleaming, star-bright eyes fixed into Tabitha before blazing in a burst of speed and iridescence, blinding her as she blinked back to behold the entire engraving illuminated by the supernatural light.
The clashing of swords, the hum of the crew had all ceased as the gathered fixed themselves on the appiration before them. Not even a breath could be heard, as all held it in as if the slightest exhalation would send whatever spirit stirred awake skittering back into its immortal hiding place. As the entire portrait glowed, a rousing split could be heard cracking at the bridge of her nose. The infraction spread, producing a fracture from the top of the wall to the floor, which laboriously spread open to reveal a bright passageway.
"Would someone kindly restrain Mr. Sparrow?" Thoreau broke casually, stepping away from the confrontation quickly as a half-dozen crew pulled their pistols on the off-guard Jack. Grossly outnumbered he dropped the sword, lifting his hands up above his head as they swarmed.
The captain swooped her up roughly by the waist, dragging her alongside as he barrelled into the entrance. "Take the treasure!!" She cried, futilly thrashing against his lock of a grip. "Just take whatever you like, and let us go! Let Jack go!! Please, I'll do anything!"
With a careless Thunk! she met once again with the ground, this time soft and inviting under her aching muscles. The cool scent of dewy grass filled her nostrils, and she realized she was indeed lying face down on a bed of sweet, luscious grass spanning the entire floor of the pillar- mountain. Sunlight streamed in from up above, casting everything in hazy daylight reflected off of streams of water creeping down the rock sides. Two trees reached up and blossomed toward the Heavens they could barely see, shading a bedlike rock platform layered in mosses and dainty wildflowers. Orchids and roses bloomed out from the ground in eerie harmony, with an orchestrated spontinaety that only nature's most loved gardens ever achieved. The color and light was overcoming, after festering so long in the dank cavern. The air was clean and fragrant, filling Tabitha's lungs as if for the first time.
They stood, taking it in, for what could have been a moment, an hour, or a day. Finally a lone voice broke through the revered silence. "Where's th' treasure?"
"Yeah!" Piped in another. "There ain't no gold!"
"Th' damn Egyptians di'in't leave a single jewel!" Cursed the first, crossing from Jack's careful guard to dramatically kick at the natural altar. "They sealed this place off t' hide a pretty picture?!"
"That's women for ye," Jack commented, leaning forward to bob his head in gesture, as the binding of hands left him impaired otherwise.
"You!!" The captain fumed, whirling with knotted fists back down to her. "You conniving little whore, you tricked us!"
"I...I had no-"
"Silence!!" His right hand smashed across her face, knocking her back into the ground. He approached her laggardly, backing her behind a wall of disgruntled pirate legs. Her head and shoulders met with the resistance, and he stood above her, pale skin flushed a fiery scarlet. He reached into his jacket, removing a shining silver-plated pistol. He held it inches from her heaving chest, so close she could smell the loaded gunpowder. "You see, Jack and I are very different men. You may have single-handedly brought ruin to Jack Sparrow, but James William Thoreau will never be humiliated by a conniving woman."
His fingers tightened around the trigger, and a deafening shot of death rippled and shreiked through the serene paradise air.