Reviews are such lovely things, and so, I've decided to take the time to write a quick note to all my reviewers. If you would rather just read the chapter, scroll down the page until you find it. Cheers, mates!
-PeLigrOsa: I didn't the write story about the horn of healing, but I did write Lean On Me (although the story title has changed to Clear Minded). If you wish to read that story just go to my author's profile and you'll find it in my list of stories.
-stitchedpillow: I'm glad you like Scarlett; if you didn't I don't know what I would have to do! And yes, there will be more from Jack's side of the story. I was planning on doing so, and then when you mentioned it I was like, "oh wow, guess it was a good idea then!" Yes, it does take time for Scarlett to give peoples chances, but I can't say much more on the subject because… I would spoil everything!
-Toucan Crazy, Like a Sparrow: You don't have a locker for the entire school year? That sucks. My friend who lives in Florida has the same problem. Anyway, I love getting a review from you. You and a few others really make me feel great about my writing and myself. Thank you bunches!
-Seom: Jack gave up on her because he knows her well and, like I told stitchedpillow, for me to say anymore would spoil everything! I'm glad you're enjoying this story as much as I love writing it. Without my reviewers I would be nowhere!
-screamin-psiren: Yes, Jack does act more like an idiot, I completely agree, and I am trying. I dunno, he's just really difficult, as you well know. And yeah, I really liked how chapter five turned out. That chapter went far better than I had originally planned, and you took the words straight from my mouth. The chapter did make the two seem more intimate.
-Sihaya: One of my very first reviewers. wacky grin Thank you so much! I'm glad you didn't find Scarlett to be a tad wussy when I started to show her other side. I liked how you put it, "Every character has to have depth, no matter how strong-willed they are."
-PineAppleLint: What to say to you… hm…Well, you're one of my avid reviewers, and to be honest I really look forward to your reviews. Yours are so long and make me feel so much better. And YES! Our characters were made to be best friends, I swear. It's rather funny, really. Haha! About the emotional thing, I definitely hear you. I've got to give Scarlett her pride back. She seems to have lost them during the last two chapters. Maybe I've been too depressed about school starting or something…
-Taylor: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you liked the 'interaction', as you said, between Scarlett and Jack, and you're right, she does need someone to talk to, but her pride definitely serves as a strong barrier between them.
-Mrs. Green: No matter how short the review, I still like 'em. Thanks for takin' the time to do so, and yes, I shall carry on!
-SpAnIsH-EyEs2: I'm glad you like my story! The entire point is to grab the reader's attention, and I'm glad I've done so!
-songelf88 and G.H.S the warg: I am not saying whether your guess was right or wrong, because to do so would ruin the entire story and there would be no point in anyone reading further, would there? wink Either way, I'm glad that I'm making you guys think and try to figure out the little mysteries I leave behind.
-Avey: As I told songelf88 and G.H.S the warg, I can't say whether you're right or wrong. You'll just have to read to find out. As for the fight scene were they kiss, thanks for the idea, but it sounds a bit too much like a scene from PineAppleLint's story, but thanks anyway! I do have some scenes you may find interesting in mind, so just stick with me and you'll see…
-Nebbie Star: Thank you for the compliment! I felt so happy when I got your review!
-Holly: Another of my first reviewers! I love you guys!
-Bright Eyes: Yes, I am planning on continuing until the end. I have plans for this story! Mwaha!
Wow. That took up an entire page. Hehe, sorry if that fact bothers you, but I just felt like I had to say SOMETHING to all of you! Anyway, don't think this will take away from the length of the chapter, because it should be just as long as the others, I promise!
Secrets of the Caribbean
Written By: Riley Barton
[Chapter Seven]
Scarlett was not looking forward to facing Elizabeth in the mess the next morning. She just knew the young woman was going to bombard her with questions of how she was doing, if she needed anything, or if maybe she should go back to her berth and lie down? Sighing as she reached the doors, she took a deep breath and, holding her head high, strode into the mess. She looked around in surprise. She had been expecting most of the crew to be inside eating their breakfast, but instead only two people sat at the table on the end furthest away from the door: Will Turner and Jack Sparrow.
"Feeling better?" Will called to her.
"Nothing was wrong to begin with," Scarlett replied, making her way across the mess. She pulled out a chair one down from Will and dropped into it. Completely ignoring Jack, she looked to Will. "When are we due to arrive in Tortuga?"
Will glanced in Jack's direction. Shouldn't she be asking him that question? He was, as he constantly reminded everyone available, the captain of the Black Pearl. Slowly he replied, "We should be arriving sometime around noon, I would think."
"Good." Scarlett reached across the table to grab an apple from the fruit basket and took a large bite out of it. "Let me know when we're about to arrive." Contently chewing away at her apple, she left the mess and strode out onto the deck, letting the cool ocean breeze tug at her long blonde hair, casting thin wispy strands across her vision. She reached up to tuck the runaway strand behind her ears and leaned against the bulwark, gazing out to the sea. The ocean had always been the one thing that could calm her. It had always been that way.
"Shouldn't ye be workin' instead'a bein' lazy?" a sarcastic voice asked from behind her.
Grumpily Scarlett turned around, leaning back against the wooden railing as she took another bite from her apple. She finished chewing the large bite and swallowed before replying. "Do you always stick your nose where it's not wanted?"
The young woman standing before her growled, giving Scarlett a quick glance over. What was this girl's name again? Ah yes… Anamaria. "Yer mouth an' mind may be quick, but how fast are ye with a blade?"
Scarlett raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Let's just say I've learned from the best and have managed to beat even Jack in a fight or two." She carelessly tossed the apple core into the ocean over her shoulder. "Now, was that a challenge or just a simple statement from a simple half-wit?"
With a vicious snarl Anamaria unsheathed a sword, although from where Scarlett wasn't certain, and swung out toward Scarlett's arm.
The blonde ducked, the sword blade missing her by a hair. "Ay!" she exclaimed, rolling to the side. "What happened to a fair fight?" She dodged another lunge of Anamaria's blade.
"I'm a pirate," was the simple reply. "Remember?" She waited for Scarlett to gain her footing before sweeping the blade out again. Scarlett jumped away, the sword tip nicking her shoulder. "Yer fast, I'll give ye that," Anamaria said through gritted teeth.
"Thank you," Scarlett replied in a rush, jumping back a step.
By now the two women had gained the attention of the surrounding crewmen, and the noise had drawn the attention of the others below. Jack and Will were running onto the main deck just as Scarlett nimbly dodged the blade for a fourth time. Seeing that Jack, who stood closest to Scarlett's current position, had a sword with him, she grinned and ran toward him, swiftly removing his sword from his sheath.
Startled, Jack jumped, bumping into Will beside him. "Careful with that, love!" he exclaimed over the clashing of swords as Scarlett reached up to block a thrust. "That one's me favourite!"
"Shut up!" both women shouted angrily. Jack's eyebrows rose in surprise.
Parry, thrust, parry. The swinging and clashing of swords was becoming monotonous, neither woman striking the other. Both seemed to be equal in skill, though Scarlett seemed to be quicker on her feet than Anamaria, who had just barely managed to avoid receiving an amputated wrist.
Watching as the two women angrily fought, Jack felt his mind start to drift. Maybe it was because of the two bottles of rum he had drank the night before, he couldn't really say. He swayed a bit on his feet, quickly reaching out for something to use as balancing support. Will, who stood beside him, didn't even notice; he was too enthralled with the fight being played out before him. Jack reached up to adjust his hat, hoping to block the sun out; it was distorting his vision. Taking a deep breath, he seemed to gain some sense of rightness again, and continued watching Scarlett and Anamaria fight. He knew he should probably stop them before one of them killed the other, but something held him back. He watched Scarlett thrust at Anamaria's right side, quickly bringing his sword back up as Anamaria retaliated.
Suddenly, the gentle rocking of the boat was gone, and instead of standing on the deck of the Black Pearl, Jack found himself standing on a beach with the blue ocean behind him. He frowned, listening as the sound of clashing swords faded into a steady rhythm of wood against wood. He looked in that direction, still expecting to see Anamaria and Scarlett fighting, but was surprised to find that in their place where two young children fighting with wooden swords, a boy and a girl. Jack looked to the boy.
The boy had dark brown hair that reached his shoulders and wore rather expensive looking clothing. He knew that boy well. He had seen that exact same face years ago whenever he had looked in a mirror. The young boy was none other than Jack Sparrow. Coming to this realization, he knew who the girl would be before he even looked at her.
Scarlett. She looked much the same then at eleven-years-old than she did now. She still had the same long blonde hair and bright green eyes, and the anger and frustration to burn. Living with a drunken father could do that to you.
He watched as his younger self rushed Scarlett, bringing the wooden sword up in a defensive motion before making a quick thrust at her side. She avoided the wooden sword by hopping to the right, and then suddenly rammed into him with her shoulder. Apparently she had surprised herself at the abrupt force and the two of them went sprawling across the beach, sand kicking up around them in a sandy cloud.
Once the cloud had faded, Jack could see his younger self lying flat on his back with Scarlett kneeling on top of him, her wooden sword at his throat. "I got you fair and square," the young Scarlett huffed, breathing from over exertion.
"Fine, but would ya get off me?" the young Jack replied.
Scarlett pushed away from him, getting to her feet. A satisfied gleam was in her green eyes and a determined smirk on her lips. Her facial expressions hadn't changed much.
As Jack watched the two young friends talk and argue in a friendly banter, a voice entered his mind...
"Jack, you've got to do something. Jack?"
Will's voice wafted through the air, bringing Jack back to the future in a snap. He jerked, stumbling forward two steps. He caught his balance and swung his head back.
"Hey, Jack, you okay?" Will asked his friend in concern. "You don't look so well."
Jack looked at him, forcing a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine," he replied. Upon hearing the sound of steel against steel he looked toward Anamaria and Scarlett. How long had he been out of it?
Will followed his gaze. "You've got to do something. Those two look as if they'll fight until a death occurs."
"What do yeh expect me to do 'bout it? Scarlett has me sword."
Before Will could offer his own sword to Jack, the sound of a body slamming against the wooden deck resounded in the air. A rousing cheer erupted from the crew, and Jack quickly strode through them. He walked up to the two women, one of which lying on the deck with a sword point at her throat, while the other glared down at the dark-skinned women beneath her. Jack couldn't help recognizing that Scarlett had pinned Anamaria beneath her in the same manner in which she had done to him that one day on the beach many years ago.
"Let 'er up, love," Jack said, the small smile on his lips catching Anamaria's eye.
Scarlett moved the sword tip dangerously close against Anamaria's throat before jerking away, giving the defeated woman room to breath. She glared down at her. "Better luck next time, wench," Scarlett growled, roughly passing Jack his sword back and briskly walking across the deck to the ladder that would take her below. Since Scarlett's back was turned and all eyes were following the victor's retreating back, nobody saw Anamaria stumble to her feet, remove a small dagger from inside her boot, and launch it across the wide deck.
Jack noticed Anamaria too late. His free hand swung out, grabbing Anamaria's raised right wrist in a tight grip, and quickly looked to Scarlett. The dagger had been poorly aimed and instead of implanting itself into Scarlett's back, it had merely sliced through her upper right arm, exactly where Mr. Cotton's parrot had cut her a few days ago. The dagger, with blood soaking the blade, had implanted itself into the bulkhead beyond.
Scarlett let out a surprised noise that sounded much like a gasp and a scream rolled into one. She dropped to one knee, gripping her bloody upper arm and gritting her teeth in an effort to contain the loud scream she wanted to let out. Elizabeth, who had been standing in the back of the crowd, ran to her with Will at her heels. The crew stood dumbstruck, alarmed at the fact that Anamaria could hold such a deep loathing for someone she barely knew.
Jack stood frozen where he stood, his grip on Anamaria's wrist preventing the woman from getting away. For the second time that day he snapped back to reality. "Anamaria," he hissed through gritted teeth, slowly turning his head to glare at the only female in his entire crew.
The hate for Scarlett was shown loud and clear on Anamaria's face as she glared at the fallen women across the main deck. She didn't feel shame for doing what she did; the woman deserved it. That scarlet woman was lucky the dagger had been thrown at the wrong angle.
"Take her to the brig," Jack shouted at Gibbs and another man standing beside him. He yanked on Anamaria's arm and shoved her toward the two men. "Give 'er only bread and water until I say t' do otherwise."
"Jack!" Elizabeth shouted to him from her kneeling position beside Scarlett. The expression on her face was one of distress. He hurried over in that silly, drunken way of his. He had only just reached them when Scarlett went limp, falling against Will. He caught her in what looked like a hug, glancing toward Elizabeth and then to Jack; the fact that Scarlett's blood was soaking his clothing didn't seem to affect him.
"We've got to get her to a doctor," Elizabeth said, looking at the unconscious blonde woman. "She'll get terribly sick if she doesn't. The dagger reopened her other wound, and we can't stop the blood from flowing. We'll be changing the bandages every ten minutes."
"Take her to me berth," Jack instructed, jerkily motioning to the cabin door with his arm. "I'll get us to Tortuga." He stumbled away while Will, holding Scarlett in his arms, carried the woman into Jack's berth.
A/N: Okay, so maybe I am making the chapter shorter than the others, but I thought this was a good place to stop. Not much of a cliffhanger at all, but hey, it works, right? Well, I'm not really certain when the next chapter will be out. School starts on Monday, so that's going to be a problem, and then I've also got to keep updating my original story, which is also about pirates, though I swear that I started that story BEFORE Pirates of the Caribbean came out. So anyway, basically what I'm trying to say is look out for the next chapter, though I can't really tell you when it will be out. –Please leave a review and tell me your thoughts about this chapter. Cheers!