Author's Note - Me again. I don't own any pirates. I don't own any Disney movie that was made about pirates. I do, however, own a pirate hat and a love of all things swash-buckling and all things Johnny Depp. I hope my story does them both justice.
Another Author's Note - This story contains my own characters. Rather a lot of them, actually. This is because it is a future birthday gift for a friend and for my own personal pleasure. If you dislike this idea, don't read. If it doesn't bother you, any comments or criticism you have you will be greatly appreciated. Isn't that the point of this wonderful website? Read and review.
Chapter Two
It was only when his opponent's blade cut neatly through his parries and halted a breath away from his throat that Will Turner began to sweat. He eyed the unwavering tip warily, and let his own sword-arm fall loosely by his side. He raised his eyes, and met a pair that glinted with glee, and, Will decided after a moment to catch his breath, far too much confidence.
He dropped deftly into a crouch and swept his opponent's feet out from under her with his leg. She landed hard on her back on the floor of the blacksmith.
"Watch the blade," Will said, standing to place a triumphant boot firmly on her chest. "My eyes are not my weapon."
"Your blade," she growled from the floor, "was still because I had beaten you." She rolled from under his heel and onto her feet. Grudgingly, she allowed him to take her sword and watched as he turned to fix both blades into their places on the wall.
"A duel is never over until someone lies still, Dana." He felt hard metal pressed suddenly into the small of his back.
Dana Flint poked him again with her pistol and grinned. "An excellent point, blacksmith. But there is something to be said for how quickly a good gun will bring that stillness about instead of one of your pointed sticks."
Will laughed over his shoulder and raised his hands in mock-surrender. "Despite your great love for your exploding sticks, you are quickly becoming passable with a blade." Dana chuckled, and tucked her pistol into her belt.
"Of course I am. I beat you, didn't I?"
~
Evening deepened over Port Royale, and the dark of the night sky was kept gently at bay by the brightly lit windows of the Poco pub. Not here were the violent, raucous crowds of Tortuga, although some evenings - especially those that followed routine and uneventful days - Will found himself wishing otherwise.
This particular evening he walked down the road to the Poco, but that was nothing out of the ordinary. He was meeting Dana Flint for a meal, but that was common enough. Since her arrival in Port Royale several weeks prior, he had found in the young gun-maker an eager fencing student, and one with open ears as to the doings of the port. Also, it was nice to have a friend in Elizabeth's absence. Dana would ask if he had received word from the friend that he had sent for, but she always asked him that. And he would tell her that he hadn't. Neither should have been out of the ordinary, but this time was different.
This time he was worried, because now an impossible amount of time had passed since he should have heard from Jack Sparrow.
Will pushed open the Poco's door and slipped inside quietly. Words from Will were hardly necessary, as the air around him was brimming with those and drunken brays of laughter from Poco's regular patrons. He spied Dana at a small table near the wall opposite him, sitting with her boots up on the table and idly toying with one of her pistols.
"Hardly the place for some late-night gun work," Will offered with a grin and slid into a chair. She winked at him and gestured almost imperceptibly towards a nearby table with her chin.
"A fine gentlemen from that table has been paying me rather a lot of attention." She smiled slightly. "I'm attempting to persuade him not to continue."
Will looked in that direction, and a large - very drunk - redheaded man was blearily eyeing Dana's pistol with something a few degrees shy of fear. Its metal glinted quietly in Poco's dim light, and she began to twirl it about her fingers with an unmistakable air of mastery.
"I think he's got the message."
"Well I'm glad. Barely a few months in this port and already I'm being sniffed after by the local wildlife."
" And 'oo says you 'aren't a bit o'wildlife yourself, eh?" a voice crooned over Dana's shoulder. Will looked back in time to see their regular server, Carine, swipe Dana's boots off the table. "Wif manners like tha', Ah wouldn't be surprised to find you in a zoo!"
Dana obligingly tucked her gun away and sat up straight, then wrinkled her nose at the steaming dishes that were set in front of them. "I wouldn't like being in a zoo very much, Carine. You might decide to put me in one of these stews."
Carine looked shocked. "There's naught wrong wif me cookin'! An' besides, if it weren't for me, this place wouldn't be 'ere at all. It's me 'oo balances the ledgers and keeps track o'everythin' what's important."
"And don't think we're not grateful," Will replied and picked up his spoon. "But changes in the menu every now and then might be a good idea, don't you think?" Carine smiled graciously at Will and leaned down, revealing a generous eyeful not-quite-by-accident.
"You aren't developin' a taste for a bit mo' spice now are you, Mr. Turner?" She inhaled deeply and wound a dark curl of hair around her finger. "What wif the gov' and tha' little daughter o'his gone for a bit, the rest o'the port's been takin' quite the naugh'y little vacation." Will cleared his throat uncomfortably.
"I think what Mr. Turner means," Dana interjected, "is that we'd appreciate a round of rum." Carine straightened with a huff and cast a dark glance in the gun-maker's direction, but she turned to fetch their drinks. "Methinks the predators are out in full force tonight, William," Dana said with a quiet chuckle.
"Isn't it a shame that we're such easy prey?" Will replied with a smile as he started into his dinner. He watched Dana pick up her spoon and begin to twirl it around each finger as she had the pistol. She made no move to touch her dinner. Her opinion on Carine's cooking had been an honest one. "But all these weeks in Port Royale, and you haven't seen anyone that strikes your fancy?"
Dana laughed and shook her head. "Can't say that I have. But if we're speaking about new friends, I am very much looking forward to meeting this sailing friend of yours. Heard from him yet?" Will sat back from his bowl with a sigh.
"No, and I'm beginning to worry. It's been too long."
"How long?"
Will closed his eyes in thought. "A few months. Actually, I sent for him not long after I'd met you." He opened his eyes. "You haven't been in Port Royale more than three months, have you?"
"Not more than that, no."
Will made a gestured helplessly with his hands. "It doesn't take that long to travel to Tortuga and back."
"Tortuga?"
"Tortuga," Will agreed with a slight blush. How exotic and exciting that place had been compared to home! There had been no quiet in that port, and it was precisely the quiet that was beginning to wear on him here at Port Royale. The quiet and the waiting. "Tortuga is a ... different sort of place. There's people from all over the globe there. And all of them are drunk and loud. Actually, it resembles that zoo that Carine would like to put you in," he added as the serving girl placed their mugs on the table with a flourish.
Carine swept up Dana's bowl, not seeming to notice that the meal had been left untouched, and smiled down at Will. "'ow does it taste, then, darlin'?" Will offered up his empty dish as answer enough and Carine beamed, leaving with a swish of her skirts.
"Her food isn't all that bad, you know."
Dana shrugged and took a swig from her mug. "That's not why I come here. I come for the sparkling conversation."
It was Will's turn to wrinkle his nose at the warm alcohol that had been set before him. He nudged it towards Dana with a finger. "You know that I don't drink."
"I do, and that's also why I come. Twice the rum that I can drink, and a gallant young man to point me in the direction of home after."
Will laughed, forgetting for a blessed while the worry that had been weighing on him. "Take it easy there. I want you up bright and early tomorrow to practice some more." Dana drained her cup and reached for his without pause.
"There's naught to worry about there, Master William. I'll beat you easily with my eyes closed and a headache."
Another Author's Note - This story contains my own characters. Rather a lot of them, actually. This is because it is a future birthday gift for a friend and for my own personal pleasure. If you dislike this idea, don't read. If it doesn't bother you, any comments or criticism you have you will be greatly appreciated. Isn't that the point of this wonderful website? Read and review.
Chapter Two
It was only when his opponent's blade cut neatly through his parries and halted a breath away from his throat that Will Turner began to sweat. He eyed the unwavering tip warily, and let his own sword-arm fall loosely by his side. He raised his eyes, and met a pair that glinted with glee, and, Will decided after a moment to catch his breath, far too much confidence.
He dropped deftly into a crouch and swept his opponent's feet out from under her with his leg. She landed hard on her back on the floor of the blacksmith.
"Watch the blade," Will said, standing to place a triumphant boot firmly on her chest. "My eyes are not my weapon."
"Your blade," she growled from the floor, "was still because I had beaten you." She rolled from under his heel and onto her feet. Grudgingly, she allowed him to take her sword and watched as he turned to fix both blades into their places on the wall.
"A duel is never over until someone lies still, Dana." He felt hard metal pressed suddenly into the small of his back.
Dana Flint poked him again with her pistol and grinned. "An excellent point, blacksmith. But there is something to be said for how quickly a good gun will bring that stillness about instead of one of your pointed sticks."
Will laughed over his shoulder and raised his hands in mock-surrender. "Despite your great love for your exploding sticks, you are quickly becoming passable with a blade." Dana chuckled, and tucked her pistol into her belt.
"Of course I am. I beat you, didn't I?"
~
Evening deepened over Port Royale, and the dark of the night sky was kept gently at bay by the brightly lit windows of the Poco pub. Not here were the violent, raucous crowds of Tortuga, although some evenings - especially those that followed routine and uneventful days - Will found himself wishing otherwise.
This particular evening he walked down the road to the Poco, but that was nothing out of the ordinary. He was meeting Dana Flint for a meal, but that was common enough. Since her arrival in Port Royale several weeks prior, he had found in the young gun-maker an eager fencing student, and one with open ears as to the doings of the port. Also, it was nice to have a friend in Elizabeth's absence. Dana would ask if he had received word from the friend that he had sent for, but she always asked him that. And he would tell her that he hadn't. Neither should have been out of the ordinary, but this time was different.
This time he was worried, because now an impossible amount of time had passed since he should have heard from Jack Sparrow.
Will pushed open the Poco's door and slipped inside quietly. Words from Will were hardly necessary, as the air around him was brimming with those and drunken brays of laughter from Poco's regular patrons. He spied Dana at a small table near the wall opposite him, sitting with her boots up on the table and idly toying with one of her pistols.
"Hardly the place for some late-night gun work," Will offered with a grin and slid into a chair. She winked at him and gestured almost imperceptibly towards a nearby table with her chin.
"A fine gentlemen from that table has been paying me rather a lot of attention." She smiled slightly. "I'm attempting to persuade him not to continue."
Will looked in that direction, and a large - very drunk - redheaded man was blearily eyeing Dana's pistol with something a few degrees shy of fear. Its metal glinted quietly in Poco's dim light, and she began to twirl it about her fingers with an unmistakable air of mastery.
"I think he's got the message."
"Well I'm glad. Barely a few months in this port and already I'm being sniffed after by the local wildlife."
" And 'oo says you 'aren't a bit o'wildlife yourself, eh?" a voice crooned over Dana's shoulder. Will looked back in time to see their regular server, Carine, swipe Dana's boots off the table. "Wif manners like tha', Ah wouldn't be surprised to find you in a zoo!"
Dana obligingly tucked her gun away and sat up straight, then wrinkled her nose at the steaming dishes that were set in front of them. "I wouldn't like being in a zoo very much, Carine. You might decide to put me in one of these stews."
Carine looked shocked. "There's naught wrong wif me cookin'! An' besides, if it weren't for me, this place wouldn't be 'ere at all. It's me 'oo balances the ledgers and keeps track o'everythin' what's important."
"And don't think we're not grateful," Will replied and picked up his spoon. "But changes in the menu every now and then might be a good idea, don't you think?" Carine smiled graciously at Will and leaned down, revealing a generous eyeful not-quite-by-accident.
"You aren't developin' a taste for a bit mo' spice now are you, Mr. Turner?" She inhaled deeply and wound a dark curl of hair around her finger. "What wif the gov' and tha' little daughter o'his gone for a bit, the rest o'the port's been takin' quite the naugh'y little vacation." Will cleared his throat uncomfortably.
"I think what Mr. Turner means," Dana interjected, "is that we'd appreciate a round of rum." Carine straightened with a huff and cast a dark glance in the gun-maker's direction, but she turned to fetch their drinks. "Methinks the predators are out in full force tonight, William," Dana said with a quiet chuckle.
"Isn't it a shame that we're such easy prey?" Will replied with a smile as he started into his dinner. He watched Dana pick up her spoon and begin to twirl it around each finger as she had the pistol. She made no move to touch her dinner. Her opinion on Carine's cooking had been an honest one. "But all these weeks in Port Royale, and you haven't seen anyone that strikes your fancy?"
Dana laughed and shook her head. "Can't say that I have. But if we're speaking about new friends, I am very much looking forward to meeting this sailing friend of yours. Heard from him yet?" Will sat back from his bowl with a sigh.
"No, and I'm beginning to worry. It's been too long."
"How long?"
Will closed his eyes in thought. "A few months. Actually, I sent for him not long after I'd met you." He opened his eyes. "You haven't been in Port Royale more than three months, have you?"
"Not more than that, no."
Will made a gestured helplessly with his hands. "It doesn't take that long to travel to Tortuga and back."
"Tortuga?"
"Tortuga," Will agreed with a slight blush. How exotic and exciting that place had been compared to home! There had been no quiet in that port, and it was precisely the quiet that was beginning to wear on him here at Port Royale. The quiet and the waiting. "Tortuga is a ... different sort of place. There's people from all over the globe there. And all of them are drunk and loud. Actually, it resembles that zoo that Carine would like to put you in," he added as the serving girl placed their mugs on the table with a flourish.
Carine swept up Dana's bowl, not seeming to notice that the meal had been left untouched, and smiled down at Will. "'ow does it taste, then, darlin'?" Will offered up his empty dish as answer enough and Carine beamed, leaving with a swish of her skirts.
"Her food isn't all that bad, you know."
Dana shrugged and took a swig from her mug. "That's not why I come here. I come for the sparkling conversation."
It was Will's turn to wrinkle his nose at the warm alcohol that had been set before him. He nudged it towards Dana with a finger. "You know that I don't drink."
"I do, and that's also why I come. Twice the rum that I can drink, and a gallant young man to point me in the direction of home after."
Will laughed, forgetting for a blessed while the worry that had been weighing on him. "Take it easy there. I want you up bright and early tomorrow to practice some more." Dana drained her cup and reached for his without pause.
"There's naught to worry about there, Master William. I'll beat you easily with my eyes closed and a headache."