Oh, and italics= flashback, savvy?
~*~*~
Will and Elizabeth were down in the hold for a while. In the meantime, I had been steering the ship with detached interest. I really wasn't in the mood for doing anything. 'I have a ship to myself!' I thought, trying to be cheerful. It was to no avail. I still felt like shit. Naturally, the next question that popped into my head was 'What the hell is wrong with me?' I had never acted like this before. For me, it was a law never to show my emotions, and here they were plain as day so that everyone could read them like an open book.
"Bloody feelings," I grumbled under my breath. Hearing a bang accompanied my a sniff, I turned to behold a very annoyed looking Elizabeth. She was standing impatiently behind me. Raising an eyebrow, I asked her, "May I help you?" It was all I could do to remain civil. Having my thoughts interrupted irritated me.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you," she answered, looking slightly surprised that I had spoken.
I sighed. "Normally I consider door-slamming, followed by disconcerting noises, and then someone standing behind me and staring at my back, to be kinda disturbing."
"Such a large vocabulary for a pirate," she snipped and eyed me with great distaste.
"Miss Swann, kindly inform me if I've done anything to offend you. If I not, then get the hell out of my sight."
She now looked slightly apologetic. "It was something Will said."
"Ah, well, your dear Will doesn't have a way with words." I smiled slightly at the thought of the extremely naive blacksmith. I made a mental note to give him a hard time about this.
"I suppose it's partly my fault," she continued.
I interrupted her quickly. "As fascinating as this may seem to you, it is of little interest to me. So, if you'll excuse me, I'll just be getting back to steering my ship." I turned back and replaced my grip on the wheel.
"Well!" she sniffed incredulously, and huffed off.
I hummed a ditty under my breath, and kept the Interceptor on its path with automatic corrections of the wheel. The time slipped by as I marveled at the ship's speed, and the speed of ships in general. Gradually, my mind wandered away from the topic of Sparrow, and into the world I had created as a refuge from all of my miseries.
"You didn't think you'd really make it as a Captain, did you?" John asked. He laughed sadistically.
I gritted my teeth and didn't answer. If my arms and legs weren't bound to the chair I would've killed him.
He ambled over, and grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him. "I asked you a question, now I expect an answer."
I stared defiantly at him. My wrists hurt like hell from the chafing of the rope.
John made a tisking noise. "You leave me no choice." He slapped me across the face. Hard. "Now, answer me."
"You really don't scare me," I simpered, trying to act as if his slap hadn't hurt.
Obviously this wasn't the answer he was expecting. He threw me a punch that sent my head reeling. Blinking away stars, I felt blood dripping from my nose. "The only reason I didn't make it as a captain is because of people like you," I snarled once I was able to focus. "I should've seen it coming," I muttered to myself.
He seemed somewhat entertained by my answer. "Kayla seemed to think you were captain-material. Look where it got her."
That did it. "Don't you dare talk about her!" I screeched, and threw all my weight forward and bowled him over. For a moment, he was pinned under me, but he soon righted himself, leaving me flipped over backward in the chair. He looked really pissed.
"I was going to kill you the easy way, but not anymore."
I smiled darkly at the nice shiner I had given him. 'Bloody deserves it,' I thought savagely. Strangely enough, I wasn't afraid of dying.
John rubbed his black eye gingerly. "Any last words? Any pleas for mercy?"
I spit on him.
"Well then. Have it your way." He picked up the candlestick holder, and whacked me in the head with it. All went black.
"Oh shit," I cursed when I had awoken from my involuntary flashback. Gibbs had informed me off the ship that was following us. I twisted around so I could see it. Appearing to be the Pearl, it was about an hour behind us.
"How did it catch up so fast?" I asked incredulously. Gibbs shook his head.
The crew was in a tizzy. Everyone was dashing about in a chaotic state. 'This won't do,' I thought. Handing the wheel to Gibbs, I walked out onto the main deck. "Everyone freeze!" I bellowed at the top of my lungs. It took a few seconds, but eventually everybody stopped what they were doing. I noticed that Will had emerged from the hold and was standing next to Elizabeth. "Now, ye all know that running around like a bunch of frightened maids isn't going to get us anywhere. We need a plan of action." My statement was followed by a thoughtful silence.
Elizabeth broke it. "How can they catch us? This is the fastest ship in the Caribbean!"
Everyone, Will included, stared at her in shock. I rolled my eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. "You can tell them that after they've caught us," Anamaria growled.
Elizabeth looked affronted, but otherwise ignored her. "We're shallow on the draft right?" she asked. 'What is she getting at?' I wondered. I nodded in reply.
"Well, then can't we lose them amongst those shoals?"
I smile crept to my face, and I mentally berated myself for not thinking of it sooner. "Aye, we could. The Black Pearl is a much heavier ship in the water than this one." To the crew I called, "Lighten the ship, stem to stern! Throw anything unnecessary overboard."
"I always like a good chase," I said to Anamaria. She and Gibbs joined the rest of the crew in lightening the ship. I made sure the ship was heading toward the shoals, then turned to watch the Pearl. It was a good thing I had too. Barely visible, I saw tiny oars sticking out of the sides. "Dammit!" I swore. 'Should've known.'
Will noticed too. "We have to fight!" he yelled up to me.
"I realize that!" I snapped back, glaring angrily at him. Of course, it wasn't his fault. "Load the guns!"
"With what?" one of the crew members demanded.
"Anything! Everything! Anything we have left," Will said desperately. So the pirates set to work finding anything they could find. Cutlery, whatever leftover cannonballs, and other miscellaneous items.
"The Pearl is going to luff up on our port quarter. She'll rake us without ever presenting a target!" Gibbs called from his vantage point.
'Maybe we can take her by surprise. We can't outrun her, nor can we give her an easy advantage.' "Lower the anchor on the starboard side!" I commanded. Gibbs and Anamaria gave me an odd look, but Elizabeth understood exactly.
"On the right side!" she yelled.
"This way we'll surprise them," I explained, chancing a backwards glance at the Pearl. She was steadily gaining on us, and was almost within firing range.
The ship shuddered and the bucked when the anchor was dropped, and I quickly let go off the wheel. We came to a hard stop and practically about-faced. The Pearl was so close now that I could hear Barbossa shouting orders.
"Keep steady now," Will called. We waited for the opportune moment.
"Now!" I shouted.
"Fire!" I heard Barbossa yell from the other ship.
The ship shivered from the recoil of the cannon. 'Well, there's the warning shot.' "Fire all!" I howled.
From there chaos broke out. The air rung with the sound of cannon and musket fire. Shrapnel and bullets whizzed by. "This isn't going to work," I heard a despondent Anamaria say.
"Aye, we need a few more ideas Captain," Gibbs said, looking at me expectantly.
"Sorry, mates. Fresh out of ideas." I ducked a bullet that flew past my ear.
"We'll give him her!" Anamaria exclaimed, holding her gun barrel to Elizabeth's head.
"She's not what they're after," Will stated. Elizabeth placed a hand to her throat.
"The medallion!" she gasped. I swore under my breath. 'Stupid twit.' Will rushed away to find it.
It was then that I heard Barbossa give the order to board. "It goes down now!" I yelled for the crew's benefit. "Fight for yer lives!" A loud chorus of 'Aye's was heard. I grinned despite myself.
The pirates boarded. They came in a fury, swinging across the deck like rabid monkeys. One landed in front of me. He leered wickedly at me. " 'ello poppet," he slurred, eyeing me suggestively. I sneered at him, and slowly reached for my cutlass hanging in my sash. The stupid oaf didn't even notice. "What's yer name darlin'?" He gave me another look that made me feel slightly nauseous. I drew my cutlass swiftly and ran him through, the force of the blow causing him to teeter over the railing. I withdrew it, and he plummeted down to the depths. 'Stupid bugger wasn't even thinking about defending himself,' I thought smugly, and continued fighting.
~*~*~
"Hello, love," a familiar voice drawled. Smiling happily, I punched out the ugly lout I was fighting and then greeted Jack.
"I heard you were dead," I told him.
"No mate, I'm Captain Jack Sparrow! Ya can't kill me that easily!" He dodged a blade, ran the pirate through, and pushed him overboard. "Kind of fighting a losing battle, aren't we?"
I shrugged. "Well, if you'll excuse me," he said, giving me a mock salute, "I have some business to attend to," and he darted off into the fray.
Knowing that Jack was alive, renewed my confidence, as it seemed it had done for Gibbs. I briefly watched him lay a man out. None of Barbossa's crewmen were particular good fighters, but the fact that they couldn't die made the battle one-sided. You could knock them over the railing into the sea, but if they weren't unconscious, they would simply crawl back onboard and continue fighting.
My crew was growing weary.
Looking up from a fight, I saw Jack scurrying over our snapped-in-half mast. Unfortunately my brief distraction caused me to lose my concentration. My sword clanged to the ground, and the vile-looking man I was fighting approached. I continued to back away, when Barbossa ordered his men to bring what was left of my crew over to the deck of the Pearl. The man turned his attention away from me, giving me enough time to pick my cutlass up and wipe it off on the Interceptor's rail before I was rudely herded across the plank they had laid out.
"Do you mind?" I snapped irritably.
The man behind me simply jabbed me in the back with the hilt of his cutlass. I gave him a nasty look.
Sighing, I stood patiently while they tied us up. Barbossa walked up to me. I tried not to cringe in disgust. "Well, well, well. What do we have here gents?" he asked, smirking at me. "I take it you're the leader of this pathetic attempt at a sea battle."
I glared stonily up at him, and spit. It didn't have the desired effect, because he only looked amused. "What's yer name, love?" he asked, baring his teeth in what seemed to be a smile.
"Rachel Harris," I snarled. "Captain, if you will," I continued in mock politeness.
Barbossa seemed to be searching his mind for something. "Ah yes. Captain Harris. I've heard of ye. One of the only and most successful female pirate captains." He curled his lips into a cruel smirk. "You seemed to have stooped pretty low. Last I saw your ship, she was in a right bad state."
"Eat shit," I growled threateningly. 'Not that I can necessarily do anything to him.'
"Well, you're a feisty one. I'll give ya that." He grinned, displaying his rotting teeth. His smile faltered however, and yet again he appeared to be in deep thought. "What brings ye and Sparrow together, I wonder. Not his whore are ya?"
"HELL NO!" Jack and I exclaimed at the same time. Barbossa looked smug. He knew he had struck a nerve. He was about to go on, but the exploding of the Interceptor and Elizabeth's screeching for Will interrupted him. I didn't really care about Will's welfare; all I wanted him for was bartering and if he was dead then there was no way out of this mess.
Barbossa seemed to notice Elizabeth for the first time. "Welcome back, Miss. You took advantage of our hospitality last time. It holds fair now that you return the favor," he purred, grinning wickedly. A felt a shiver of disgust run through me. "Ye can join her," he said, giving me a disdainful look. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jack had an extremely distraught look on his face. Well, distraught for Jack anyway.
He pushed her into the sweaty, vile mass of his crew, and began to do untie me when, "Barbossa!"
I looked up to see Will standing on the deck. 'How did that happen?' I thought dumbly, feeling slightly shocked.
"Will!" Elizabeth exclaimed, exhaling in relief. I wanted to jump for joy. 'Never thought I'd actually be happy to see him.' I curled my lips into a tiny smirk. 'Now I have a possibility of getting out of this and be able to keep what dignity I have left.'
"She goes free!" Will pointed his pistol at Elizabeth to emphasize his point, then trained it on Barbossa. With the Barbossa's crew's attention on Will, I managed to wiggle out from the bonds that Barbossa had already loosened. No one noticed, and I sidled up next to Jack, who was being restrained. He winked at me.
"What's in yer head boy?" Barbossa demanded.
Like an idiot Will answered, "She goes free!"
"You've only got one shot, and we can't die," Barbossa pointed out, that horrible amused look on his face. 'Well, I'm glad one of us finds this situation entertaining,' I thought sarcastically.
"Don't do anything stupid," Jack pleaded. Will ignored him.
"You can't. I can." He held the gun to his own head.
Jack's face fell. "Like that," he muttered.
"Will, you bastard," I muttered to myself. "He's going to ruin the almost non-existent plan that we have," I whispered in Jack's ear. The pirate supposedly watching him sneered threateningly at me. I sneered back.
"Who are you?" Barbossa inquired.
Jack and I leaped forward at the same time. "No one, he's no one," I said, trying to cover up for Will's idiotic, thoughtless mistake.
"A distant cousin of my aunt's nephew twice removed. Lovely singing voice, though - eunuch," Jack continued. We exchanged a desperate look.
And Will made another stupid mistake. He, of course, didn't feel that he had to stick to our extremely well-planned, spur of the moment story. Like usual, he ignored us. "My name is Will Turner . My father was Bootstrap Bill Turner. His blood runs in my veins."
"Stupid, stupid, stupid..." I trailed off. Jack looked annoyed.
"He's the spittin' image of ol' Bootstrap Bill, come back to haunt us!" an extremely ugly pirate with an obviously wooden eye announced.
"On my word do as I say, or I'll pull this trigger and be lost to Davy Jones' Locker." 'Such a drama queen.' (A/N: Was drama queen a phrase back then? Oh well, it fit. ^_^)
"Name your terms, Mr. Turner," Barbossa said.
"Elizabeth goes free!" 'Has a one-track mind too.'
"Yes, we know that one. Anything else?"
Jack and I furiously pointed to ourselves. Will looked uncertain for a moment. "And the crew- the crew are not to be harmed."
Our pointing continued half-heartedly for another second before I threw my hands up in defeat. "He's hopeless," I quipped, and crossed my arms over my chest.
"Agreed." Barbossa turned to me and Jack with a smug look.
"Uh-oh," I realized. "Will didn't say when or where."
Jack swore under his breath.
~*~*~
I watched as Elizabeth stepped onto the plank. I was hoping that Barbossa wouldn't maroon me with her. After making Elizabeth strip out of her dress in front of everyone, a pirate jarred the board, causing Elizabeth to fall.
He then pushed Jack towards it. "I'd really rather hoped we were past all this," Jack said desperately.
"JackÉ. Jack. Did ya not notice? That be the same little island that we made you Governor of on our last little trip," Barbossa told him as he pointed out to the tropical beach, serenely nestled amidst the blue of the Caribbean Sea.
"I did notice," Jack replied, looking somewhat helpless.
"That's ironic," I commented dryly.
"You're next," Barbossa snapped.
"Oh damn. And I was hoping I'd get out of this one," I replied easily.
Barbossa turned his attention back to Jack. "Perhaps you'll be able to conjure up another miraculous escapeÉbut I doubt it." He unsheathed his sword and brandished it at Jack's throat. "Off you go."
"Last time you left me a pistol with one shot," Jack pointed out.
"By the powers, you're right. Were be Jack 's pistol? Bring it forward," Barbossa ordered. Someone brought Jack's weapon.
Jack made one last request. "Seeing as there's three of us, a gentlemanÉwould give us three pistols." I expectantly awaited the answer to this.
Barbossa seemed to ponder this a minute. "It'll be two pistols, and you can be a gentlemen and shoot the ladies, and starve to death yourself," he finished cruelly, and tossed Jack's effects overboard. Jack swan-dived gracefully after them.
Now I was pushed onto the plank, while someone presented Barbossa with my effects. He eyed me insinuatively. "Ye'd be a pretty one to have aboard me ship, but I don't take kindly to things that spit."
"I'm not a thing, as you so delicately put it," I shot back. "Besides, I don't want to be within 20 feet of you."
Barbossa looked peeved, and threw my sword and pistol over the side. Before diving in after it, I gave Will a hopeful look, and winked at Elizabeth. I turned to Anamaria, who was glaring furiously in Barbossa's general direction. "Ta, Ana!" I called to my new friend, and dived off the gangplank.
TBC
~*~*~
A/N:Wooo, cliffy! Well, kinda... Y'all already know what happens in the long run. In the next chapter look forward to: Rachel's long awaited life story, and a little romance possibly. Oh, and plenty of Elizabeth bashing! I love bashing people. 'tis so much fun! *grins*
I'm soooooooooo happy with all of my reviews! Y'all definitely went over the 70 mark! *applauds* Now time for responses!
katesparrow- I feel for ya mate! Being grounded from the internet totally sucks. *nods* It does.
Jack: It's yer own damn fault.
Me: Wel, she doesn't have to know that! You shuddup! *snatches his rum bottle away*
Jack: Hey! Give that back! *chases me around the room*
Sirius: *walks in* Hi guys!
Jack and Me: *freeze and stare at him*
Sirius: Hehe. *shuffles feet nervously*
Me: *sighs* Anyway, I love your new story! And I can't wait for your update on your POTC story! Ta luv!
chibichibi386- Was this long enough for ya? Thanks for the lovely review!
PepaMynt- Thanks for yer review! If you thought last chapter was a cliffy you'll really think this one is. ^_^ I'd definitely use yer idea about the potatoes, but the poor Interceptor blew up. It'll just have to be an ongoing habit that'll appear in the possible sequel I'm gonna maybe write!
Lunawolf- Sorry for the short chapter, but this should make up for it! Bloody 3,000 words! Not including A/Ns and review responses. *puffs out chest proudly* And ya guessed right about the island scene. ^_^
BlackHearte11- Aww, bad HP characters for locking you in the closet. *smirks* I'm glad Jack, Sirius, and Rachel don't do that kind of stuff!
Jack, Sirius, and Rachel: *exchange knowing looks*
Me: Uh-oh...
Jessi Lupin- Mi amigo! Como estas?
Sirius: Enough with the spanish already!
Jack and Rachel: Aye, you're not as cool as ye think ya are.
Me: *looks hurt* Thanks for the review! I can't wait for your next story update! Oh, and take me to the Shadow Realm some time! Looks like a party! Lol!
Jack, Rachel, and Sirius: O.o
SS/Destiny Dae- yay! A new reviewer! And you reviewed twice! Double yay! Thanks so much for your compliments. *blushes* Jack is a tough one to write.
Jack: Damn right!
Rachel: You keep thinking that. *rolls eyes* I'm waaaaay better than he is!
Sirius: It's a common fact that I'm everyone's favorite.
*they all get into a fistfight*
Me: Oh, fork monkeys. Well, IM me sometime and we can talk. (if you have a screen name that is. If you don't just email me) My s/n is Sparrowess359. I'm on almost all the time. ^_^
And that's all folks! Now, the goal for this chapter is 80! Can y'all do it!
Jack: Sure they can!
Me: Now, go out and read my other PotC story! Oh, and discard my HP story b/c once I'm finished with this one I'm going to revamp it. ^_^
Until next time,
~TheSiriusSparrow~
