Chapter 5
"Gibbs, have you told Ana-Maria about our plan? She looked pretty clueless." Elizabeth asked once they were seated around the small table.
"Nay. I 'aven't told 'er."
"Don't you think you should?" Will questioned.
Gibbs shook his head. "Don't see a point in raisin' 'er hopes. She'll just 'ave t' remain clueless until we know for sure whether 'e's alive or not."
Will and Elizabeth didn't look quite convinced that this plan was the best course of action, but they had no choice but to go with it.
"Alright, so where are we heading? You must have some idea of where Jack might be if he were alive." Will said, leaning forward on the table.
"Well, the best course o' action at this point is t' search the islands near where 'e went down."
~*~
"We can't lose Sparrow." Kohler protested. "I 'ate 'im as much as the rest of you, but we need him."
The others nodded.
"But 'ow can we save 'im? None o' us know anythin' 'bout medicine." Grapple pointed out.
The group members exchanged glances, then grins appeared simultaneously on their faces.
~*~
"Get in there, wench!" Twigg snapped, shoving a girl through the now- open door of a cell.
The girl stumbled through the doorway, her long, braided blonde hair whipping behind her. She landed on her knees, but quickly composed herself enough to glare over her shoulder at the man who had treated her so roughly.
"Everythin' ye'll need's right there." Twigg said, gesturing to a table sitting outside the cell with various wraps and medical bottles sitting atop it.
The girl looked at the table, then turned back to look at Twigg with a very confused look. "For what? I'm not ill." She protested.
However, before she could get an answer, Twigg was already heading for the stairs. "And don't try anything foolish. There're guards at the top of the stairs." He added before disappearing up the stairs.
The girl slowly pulled herself to her feet, brushing out her skirts as she did so. She mumbled in an annoyed tone to herself as she finished dusting her skirts and looked around the brig.
"Th' only way out's th' stairs, lass." A slurred, masculine voice muttered from the darkest corner of the cell.
The girl jumped quite noticeably at the sound of the voice and whirled to face it, her skirts wrapping around her legs before righting themselves again. She squinted into the darkness and was just able to make out a figure lying slumped against the ship's inner hull. "Who are you? Who's there?" She asked, trying to mask the fear in her voice.
"Who're you?" The man asked, his voice sounding very heavy.
"Answer my question first." She said, trying to sound strong and demanding. "And get out of the shadows. If you want to know who I am, I want to be able to see your face first."
There was a hollow sigh from the corner. "Love t' oblige, lass,"
"But?"
"But I can't seem t' get up from 'ere," the voice drawled heavily. "Savvy?"
"And why not?" The girl asked indignantly. "Are you afraid to let me see your face?"
There was another sigh. "Nay, not 'fraid. Just can't git up." The voice replied, the slur growing slightly heavier. "Now can we stop thi' lil' questions game?"
"Fine. If you can't come into the light, I'll bring the light to you." The girl replied, stepping from the cell to fetch a lantern. She returned not a full moment later, lit lantern in hand.
The figure shifted uncomfortably, then slowly and very shakily rose to his feet.
The girl lifted the lantern up higher to better illuminate the corner without having to get too close. She gasped when the dim light showed her a man of medium height and age with long, dark hair. Various beads and other trinkets were strung in his hair and his eyes were outlined in black. He wore the regular attire of a sailor-loose white shirt, breeches, and a dirty red bandana around his head. He seemed somewhat unsteady on his feet as if he were drunk.
This description fit only one man that she had heard of, and that man was a pirate. Her eyebrows came together in confusion mixed with concentration.
"Jack Sparrow?" She asked, hoping she was wrong. Though the stories she had heard of the infamous pirate were entertaining, she didn't exactly fancy being stuck in a cell with him.
"Captain, CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow." The man replied, rolling his eyes a bit.
"Apologies Captain." The girl muttered, not quite sincerely. "But you claimed you could not stand."
Jack shrugged. "Tha' were then, this is now." He slurred weakly. When he lost his balance merely from standing still, the girl began to wonder if he really was drunk.
Then, she noticed what the shadows had been hiding from her: a large red stain was ever so slowly growing larger and darker on the right side of his shirt. "You're bleeding."
"Very observant o' ye, lass." Jack drawled, trying to put a little humor behind his words.
The girl looked over her shoulder at the table, then back at the pirate teetering in front of her. "Well, that explains a lot."
Jack quirked an eyebrow. He opened his mouth to say something, but instead ended up coughing. He covered his mouth with his hand and when he withdrew it, it was lightly spattered with blood.
The girl noticed, even though Jack tired to hide the blood. "You're not fit to be standing; sit back down."
Jack curled his hand into a fist, then shook his index finger at her. "Now look 'ere, missy," he paused to cough and once again, blood coated his hand-this time more heavily. "Don't ye be," another cough, "orderin' me 'round." As he spoke the last words, they came out slower and more slurred than before. His stance swayed more before his knees slowly began to give out.
The girl rushed forward just in time to prevent Jack from hitting his head on the iron bars. She secured his arms and kneeled down next to him, placing the lantern on the ground.
"Lemme go . . . m'fine." Jack mumbled, trying to shake free of the young woman's grasp.
"You'll not be getting up again soon, Captain Sparrow; not on my watch." The young woman snapped, tightening her grip slightly on his arms. Although his attempts to stand again were weak, she didn't want to risk him getting free and hurting himself more.
Jack suddenly stopped struggling and sighed. "Y' win, luv."
"Good." The girl replied, not quite trusting him, but slowly releasing his arms none the less. Much to her surprise, Jack didn't move to stand or even to push away from her. She stood up herself and walked over to the table outside the cell.
A few moments later, she returned carrying a basin of water, some rags and a bottle of rum.
Jack reached for the bottle of rum. "Thank ye very much, luv."
The girl pulled the bottle out of his reach. "Not for drinking." She scolded, shoving his hand away.
Jack closed his eyes tightly and grimaced. "'Fraid ye'd say tha' . . ."
The girl smiled lightly, placing one of the cloths in the basin. Once the cloth was thoroughly soaked, she removed it and wrung out the excess water.
~*~
A sharp yelp of pain resonated through the brig.
"Bloody-woman! What're ye tryin' t' do? Kill me?"
"Sorry Captain Sparrow, but this has to be done." The girl replied, applying more rum to the cloth.
Jack's shirt had long since been removed to allow the girl easy access the bullet wound in his chest. She brought the rum-soaked rag up once again and ever so lightly dabbed it on the wound, receiving a sharp his of pain from Jack.
"Sorry."
"Just finish it quick, lass." Jack growled through gritted teeth.
A set of footsteps descended the brig stairs, and soon their owner came into view. The girl removed the cloth from the wound and turned to face the newcomer.
"Done yet?" Twigg asked, walking to the open cell door.
"Just have to put some salve on it and bandage it." The girl replied, setting aside the bottle of rum and rag.
"Skip the salve and bandage it up quick. Captain's orders." Twigg snapped.
The girl turned to Jack and arched an eyebrow, taking in his appearance.
"S'alright lass." Jack whispered hoarsely.
The girl turned back to Twigg. "Well, you may tell your captain that I'll not comply. In order for his wound to heal properly, the salve must be applied-"
"Captain don't care if 'e 'eals 'properly'." Twigg said, cutting her off. "Just wants 'im t' live long enough t' die. You've got five more minutes; best hurry." And with that, he headed back up on deck.
The girl turned to Jack with a questioning glance. "What did he mean by that?"
"By wha'?"
"'To live long enough to die'-what did he mean by that?"
Jack sighed, looking more tired than he had just a few moments ago. "S'nothing fer ye t' trouble yerself o'er." He answered heavily, his voice carrying a sense of doom. Then, just as quickly as it had left, his energy returned somewhat. "Now c'mon, best git me patched up quickly or you'll be payin' the consequences."
~*~
The Pearl made her way through the warm, crystalline waters of the Caribbean at full sail. Her crew scuttled about on deck and in the rigging, making sure she was in perfect working order and going as fast as possible.
Ana-Maria was among those in the rigging. She skillfully wove her way through the mazes of ropes, canvas, wood, and tackles. She climbed through the lines and made her way to the yard. Grabbing a guide rope in one hand, she proceeded to make her way to the outer end of the arm.
She arrived at her destination with no problem and set about straightening some of the lines that the wind had managed to tangle together. A few moments later, the lines were free and Ana-Maria stood once again, intending to return to the deck now that her task was completed.
She picked up the guide rope once more and turned to face the main topmast. She then slowly started to make her way across the narrow spit of wood that was the yardarm. When she was about halfway across, a strong wind came up suddenly, hitting her with such a force that she lost her balance. She tried to rebalance herself once the wind had passed, but to no avail.
With a small squeak of defeat, she slipped off the yard and plummeted towards the deck far below. She stopped short from the guide rope going taut, which she clung onto for dear life-literally.
[a/n from AhiFlame: Sorry if some of the scene with Jack and the girl was outta whack . . . ye can blame me for that, but if you have any suggestions on how to fix up those kinda scenes, they'd be much appreciated. Oh, and now onto the REALLY important part of this author's note:
Who all agrees that Zoe Saldana was an EXCELLENT Ana-Maria? Raise your hand. *looks around* Well, since I can't actually SEE your hands raised, you can prove that she was awesome in the first movie and needs to be in the second movie by signing the petition to get her back at:
http : // industriousqueen . com / pirates / petition . htm (Just take out all the spaces in between.)
So yes, go sign and expect the next chapter sometime in the future (hopefully the NEAR future . . .)]
"Gibbs, have you told Ana-Maria about our plan? She looked pretty clueless." Elizabeth asked once they were seated around the small table.
"Nay. I 'aven't told 'er."
"Don't you think you should?" Will questioned.
Gibbs shook his head. "Don't see a point in raisin' 'er hopes. She'll just 'ave t' remain clueless until we know for sure whether 'e's alive or not."
Will and Elizabeth didn't look quite convinced that this plan was the best course of action, but they had no choice but to go with it.
"Alright, so where are we heading? You must have some idea of where Jack might be if he were alive." Will said, leaning forward on the table.
"Well, the best course o' action at this point is t' search the islands near where 'e went down."
~*~
"We can't lose Sparrow." Kohler protested. "I 'ate 'im as much as the rest of you, but we need him."
The others nodded.
"But 'ow can we save 'im? None o' us know anythin' 'bout medicine." Grapple pointed out.
The group members exchanged glances, then grins appeared simultaneously on their faces.
~*~
"Get in there, wench!" Twigg snapped, shoving a girl through the now- open door of a cell.
The girl stumbled through the doorway, her long, braided blonde hair whipping behind her. She landed on her knees, but quickly composed herself enough to glare over her shoulder at the man who had treated her so roughly.
"Everythin' ye'll need's right there." Twigg said, gesturing to a table sitting outside the cell with various wraps and medical bottles sitting atop it.
The girl looked at the table, then turned back to look at Twigg with a very confused look. "For what? I'm not ill." She protested.
However, before she could get an answer, Twigg was already heading for the stairs. "And don't try anything foolish. There're guards at the top of the stairs." He added before disappearing up the stairs.
The girl slowly pulled herself to her feet, brushing out her skirts as she did so. She mumbled in an annoyed tone to herself as she finished dusting her skirts and looked around the brig.
"Th' only way out's th' stairs, lass." A slurred, masculine voice muttered from the darkest corner of the cell.
The girl jumped quite noticeably at the sound of the voice and whirled to face it, her skirts wrapping around her legs before righting themselves again. She squinted into the darkness and was just able to make out a figure lying slumped against the ship's inner hull. "Who are you? Who's there?" She asked, trying to mask the fear in her voice.
"Who're you?" The man asked, his voice sounding very heavy.
"Answer my question first." She said, trying to sound strong and demanding. "And get out of the shadows. If you want to know who I am, I want to be able to see your face first."
There was a hollow sigh from the corner. "Love t' oblige, lass,"
"But?"
"But I can't seem t' get up from 'ere," the voice drawled heavily. "Savvy?"
"And why not?" The girl asked indignantly. "Are you afraid to let me see your face?"
There was another sigh. "Nay, not 'fraid. Just can't git up." The voice replied, the slur growing slightly heavier. "Now can we stop thi' lil' questions game?"
"Fine. If you can't come into the light, I'll bring the light to you." The girl replied, stepping from the cell to fetch a lantern. She returned not a full moment later, lit lantern in hand.
The figure shifted uncomfortably, then slowly and very shakily rose to his feet.
The girl lifted the lantern up higher to better illuminate the corner without having to get too close. She gasped when the dim light showed her a man of medium height and age with long, dark hair. Various beads and other trinkets were strung in his hair and his eyes were outlined in black. He wore the regular attire of a sailor-loose white shirt, breeches, and a dirty red bandana around his head. He seemed somewhat unsteady on his feet as if he were drunk.
This description fit only one man that she had heard of, and that man was a pirate. Her eyebrows came together in confusion mixed with concentration.
"Jack Sparrow?" She asked, hoping she was wrong. Though the stories she had heard of the infamous pirate were entertaining, she didn't exactly fancy being stuck in a cell with him.
"Captain, CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow." The man replied, rolling his eyes a bit.
"Apologies Captain." The girl muttered, not quite sincerely. "But you claimed you could not stand."
Jack shrugged. "Tha' were then, this is now." He slurred weakly. When he lost his balance merely from standing still, the girl began to wonder if he really was drunk.
Then, she noticed what the shadows had been hiding from her: a large red stain was ever so slowly growing larger and darker on the right side of his shirt. "You're bleeding."
"Very observant o' ye, lass." Jack drawled, trying to put a little humor behind his words.
The girl looked over her shoulder at the table, then back at the pirate teetering in front of her. "Well, that explains a lot."
Jack quirked an eyebrow. He opened his mouth to say something, but instead ended up coughing. He covered his mouth with his hand and when he withdrew it, it was lightly spattered with blood.
The girl noticed, even though Jack tired to hide the blood. "You're not fit to be standing; sit back down."
Jack curled his hand into a fist, then shook his index finger at her. "Now look 'ere, missy," he paused to cough and once again, blood coated his hand-this time more heavily. "Don't ye be," another cough, "orderin' me 'round." As he spoke the last words, they came out slower and more slurred than before. His stance swayed more before his knees slowly began to give out.
The girl rushed forward just in time to prevent Jack from hitting his head on the iron bars. She secured his arms and kneeled down next to him, placing the lantern on the ground.
"Lemme go . . . m'fine." Jack mumbled, trying to shake free of the young woman's grasp.
"You'll not be getting up again soon, Captain Sparrow; not on my watch." The young woman snapped, tightening her grip slightly on his arms. Although his attempts to stand again were weak, she didn't want to risk him getting free and hurting himself more.
Jack suddenly stopped struggling and sighed. "Y' win, luv."
"Good." The girl replied, not quite trusting him, but slowly releasing his arms none the less. Much to her surprise, Jack didn't move to stand or even to push away from her. She stood up herself and walked over to the table outside the cell.
A few moments later, she returned carrying a basin of water, some rags and a bottle of rum.
Jack reached for the bottle of rum. "Thank ye very much, luv."
The girl pulled the bottle out of his reach. "Not for drinking." She scolded, shoving his hand away.
Jack closed his eyes tightly and grimaced. "'Fraid ye'd say tha' . . ."
The girl smiled lightly, placing one of the cloths in the basin. Once the cloth was thoroughly soaked, she removed it and wrung out the excess water.
~*~
A sharp yelp of pain resonated through the brig.
"Bloody-woman! What're ye tryin' t' do? Kill me?"
"Sorry Captain Sparrow, but this has to be done." The girl replied, applying more rum to the cloth.
Jack's shirt had long since been removed to allow the girl easy access the bullet wound in his chest. She brought the rum-soaked rag up once again and ever so lightly dabbed it on the wound, receiving a sharp his of pain from Jack.
"Sorry."
"Just finish it quick, lass." Jack growled through gritted teeth.
A set of footsteps descended the brig stairs, and soon their owner came into view. The girl removed the cloth from the wound and turned to face the newcomer.
"Done yet?" Twigg asked, walking to the open cell door.
"Just have to put some salve on it and bandage it." The girl replied, setting aside the bottle of rum and rag.
"Skip the salve and bandage it up quick. Captain's orders." Twigg snapped.
The girl turned to Jack and arched an eyebrow, taking in his appearance.
"S'alright lass." Jack whispered hoarsely.
The girl turned back to Twigg. "Well, you may tell your captain that I'll not comply. In order for his wound to heal properly, the salve must be applied-"
"Captain don't care if 'e 'eals 'properly'." Twigg said, cutting her off. "Just wants 'im t' live long enough t' die. You've got five more minutes; best hurry." And with that, he headed back up on deck.
The girl turned to Jack with a questioning glance. "What did he mean by that?"
"By wha'?"
"'To live long enough to die'-what did he mean by that?"
Jack sighed, looking more tired than he had just a few moments ago. "S'nothing fer ye t' trouble yerself o'er." He answered heavily, his voice carrying a sense of doom. Then, just as quickly as it had left, his energy returned somewhat. "Now c'mon, best git me patched up quickly or you'll be payin' the consequences."
~*~
The Pearl made her way through the warm, crystalline waters of the Caribbean at full sail. Her crew scuttled about on deck and in the rigging, making sure she was in perfect working order and going as fast as possible.
Ana-Maria was among those in the rigging. She skillfully wove her way through the mazes of ropes, canvas, wood, and tackles. She climbed through the lines and made her way to the yard. Grabbing a guide rope in one hand, she proceeded to make her way to the outer end of the arm.
She arrived at her destination with no problem and set about straightening some of the lines that the wind had managed to tangle together. A few moments later, the lines were free and Ana-Maria stood once again, intending to return to the deck now that her task was completed.
She picked up the guide rope once more and turned to face the main topmast. She then slowly started to make her way across the narrow spit of wood that was the yardarm. When she was about halfway across, a strong wind came up suddenly, hitting her with such a force that she lost her balance. She tried to rebalance herself once the wind had passed, but to no avail.
With a small squeak of defeat, she slipped off the yard and plummeted towards the deck far below. She stopped short from the guide rope going taut, which she clung onto for dear life-literally.
[a/n from AhiFlame: Sorry if some of the scene with Jack and the girl was outta whack . . . ye can blame me for that, but if you have any suggestions on how to fix up those kinda scenes, they'd be much appreciated. Oh, and now onto the REALLY important part of this author's note:
Who all agrees that Zoe Saldana was an EXCELLENT Ana-Maria? Raise your hand. *looks around* Well, since I can't actually SEE your hands raised, you can prove that she was awesome in the first movie and needs to be in the second movie by signing the petition to get her back at:
http : // industriousqueen . com / pirates / petition . htm (Just take out all the spaces in between.)
So yes, go sign and expect the next chapter sometime in the future (hopefully the NEAR future . . .)]