(I made up the song in this chapter as well. And the whole 'Challenging the
Sea' thing I made up too.)
Ruby Of the Sea
Chapter 5
The Storm
Part II
Jo had been aboard the Black Pearl for nearly three months, when one day, after cleaning Captain Jack's room, she found him at the helm of the ship, gazing across the water.
"Captain, your quarters have been cleaned. What might I do next?" She asked, wiping her brow. She felt extremely sticky and hot, though the sky was a bit overcast.
"Come 'ere." Jack commanded, patting the rail next to where he stood.
Jo nodded obediently, and came up next to the captain. "What would you have me do, Captain?"
"Jo," Captain Jack began, looking a bit less drunk than he usually did. Jo had come to realize that this meant that they were either going to raid a port soon, or that something was about to happen.
"Jo," the Captain repeated, "There's goin' 't be a storm comin' soon."
Jo looked up at the proud man standing next to her. So that was why he looked semi-sober: a storm.
"Get th' men and tell 'em to go below deck. I don't want any of 'em to go overboard."
Jo nodded again, and scampered off to obey.
"You're a smart lass." Captain Jack said softly to Jo, though it was not intended for her ears.
Soon the crew was all in the hold. The storm had begun, just as Jack had predicted that it would, and it was a terrible storm to be sure.
The storm tossed the Pearl about, though Captain Jack, the only man above deck, was battling it bravely and trying to steer the ship. After nearly thirty minutes, however, the Captain came back in, tired and thoroughly soaked.
"The Pearl'll 'ave to weather it, me hearties." He said wearily, "She's stronger than I be."
The crew was silent and oppressed, realizing that even their captain could not stand the storm.
"Well?" Captain Sparrow asked, suddenly reviving, "Get some rest, you flea-bitten bilge rats! As soon as the storm breaks, we'll be heading for port!"
Echoes of "Ai, Captain!" were echoed by the sounds of retreating feet, and eventually silence.
Jo had begun to follow the crew down to the crew's quarters, when she heard the Captain speak.
"Jo, come to me quarters."
After one quick glance back towards the rest of the sailors, Jo obeyed and followed Jack.
Jo had followed Jack up to his quarters, and had talked with him for quite a while.
During one lull in the conversation, Jo had glanced up into Jack's eyes. Their usual gaiety and joy was gone, and a void of emptiness left behind. Jo realized that Jack was speaking with her just as much to calm her worries, as to take his own mind off the storm.
After a few hours, Jo nearly fell over asleep, despite the ship's crazy swayings and lurchings.
"Go 't bed, lad." Jack said quietly, putting an arm around Jo's shoulders.
"Where, Captain?" Jo asked, stumbling in weariness.
Jack led Jo to his own bed. "I really don't s'pose I'll be do'n much sleep'n meself."
Jo was so tired, that she didn't bother to argue, and fell asleep even before her head hit the pillow.
The sound of a sickening crack woke Jo with a start that could have sent her running across the ocean.
A hard thud followed, and Jo clutched her hands over her ears. She wasn't sure why, but she screamed.
It was high and shrill, and there was no doubt in her mind that everyone within a mile's radius heard her.
Before she was really sure what was happening, Jo found herself in someone's arms. Whoever it was, was rocking her back and forth.
Jo didn't care who it was. She began sobbing into the person's arms, clutching at whoever it was's sleeves, and letting her tears run.
"Shush now..." The person whispered, "Calm yerself, love."
Jo lifted her head, and found herself looking into Captain Jack's eyes. They searched her face intently. His expression then was so much different now than it usually was, but Jo felt that she like his features either way.
"I don't suppose that you still think me a lad anymore..." Jo said quietly.
"No, love." Captain Jack replied, the soberness that had been there a moment before disappearing like dew before the sun, "But then again, I ner did think you a lad. The crew thought you were, and you didn't seem to wish to be known as a lass, so I didn't bother to correct them. 'At way, you got what you wanted, and I didn't 'ave to correct anyone." Jack ranted.
Jo listened to the ranting, quite content not to speak, then suddenly the boat lurched very harshly.
Jo panicked, and clutched at Jack's shirt again. Teas trickled down her cheeks, and Captain Jack held her, soberness returning again.
After a moment, Jack began to rock back and forth again, and sang a song to Jo.
"The waves may reach unto the skies, the waters seem so deep; but Jo Dear, please rest now, close your eyes, and gently fall to sleep. The Pearl's staunch walls will be your shields, my arms shall make sure you stay. The sea may inflict her wound, though it will be healed. But if you cannot stand the wind, then, Dear, I'll drive it away."
When the song had ended, Jo looked up at Jack curiously. "'Drive it away'?" She asked, "How would you do that?"
"Don't you know, love?" Jack asked, smiling, "It's a bit of a tradition;" Sparrow turned his gaze towards the wall, "if'n a pirate captain requires that a storm withdraw, 'en he goes to the stern, and shouts out 'is challenge." Jack returned his gaze to Jo, "'At's when th' fun begins. If'n th' captain can stay at the stern, then the storm'll be obliged to withdraw."
Jo frowned dubiously, but Jack's eyes met hers with complete sincerity.
Jo cocked her head, "Have you done it before?"
"Ai!" Jack replied, "Several times. It always worked, and I've not died yet." Jo was forced to smile.
With one nod, Captain Jack stood up, and headed for the door. He placed his three-cornered hat on his head, positioned one hand on the latch that held the door shut, then seemed to hesitate. He turned around, then said: "I've one request to ask of ye, Jo."
"What, Captain?"
"Would you give me a good-luck kiss, love?" Jack grinned.
Jo was a bit surprised to say the least, but after a moment, nodded.
Jack took off his hat again, walked back to Jo, and cupped his hands around her face.
Jo felt her cheeks blush, but Jack did not care, if indeed he even noticed. He firmly kissed her.
After a moment, Jack released her, and Jo fell dizzily onto Sparrow's bed.
Jack returned to the door, while placing his hat back on his head, and after a quick: "Gu' bye, love" lifted the latch and charged into the storm.
Jo raced to the doorframe and watched the nearly insane pirate captain head to the stern. 'What's he doing?' Jo wondered as Jack took up a rope and tied it about his middle.
Captain Jack was nearly at the very front of the ship, when a wave crashed over him, and he was washed overboard.
"Jack!" Jo screamed, as she flung caution to the howling wind, and ran to where she had seen Jack's head before he had gone over the edge into the crashing and crushing waves.
When she reached the edge of the ship, Jo looked over, and saw Sparrow dangling at the end of the rope that he had tied about his waist.
Jo wasn't sure weather to think the figure heroic, or comical, but hauled on the rope to bring him up either way.
"Captain Jack, love. Captain." Sparrow corrected her when he was back upon the deck.
Jo was about to shout something rather crude above the storm, but Jack put an arm about her waist, and said to her: "If'n you plan to stay out 'ere in th' storm, then you need a rope."
Jo nodded, and Jack found a rope, and tied one end to a huge splintered stump in the middle of the ship, and the other around Jo's hips.
Jo gaped as she realized that it used to be the main-sail, and that it's falling was what had caused her to wake.
While Jo had been staring at the stump, Jack had already made his way back to the stern, and was motioning to Jo to follow him.
Jo fought her way against the storm, and eventually reached Jack.
Jack placed Jo in front of him, one arm about her shoulders, and then shouted out into the storm a challenge.
"Ocean deep, Ocean fair, I be Captain of me ship! The Black Pearl challenges yer reign of terror! If I stand, then get ye gone, but if I fall, then sing yer song."
As though in reply, a streak of lightning crashed into the sea, and a thunder crashed so loudly, that it left Jo's ears ringing.
Jo looked up at Jack, and found him to be concentrating on the storm with as much intensity as though mere will-power alone could stop the waves.
Jo felt a wave crash over both of their heads, but when the water had gone, Jo found Captain Jack's arm around her shoulders just as it had been before, and Jack's expression likewisely unchanged.
The storm bellowed and crashed, screamed and crawled, punched and kicked, but nothing it could do seemed to be able to make the captain reconcile or leave.
After nearly three hours, Jo watched as the sea became calm, and the wind howled less and less until it stopped altogether.
"Well," Jack said seriously as the sun broke over the horizon, "That was a fair bit o fun; wasn't it, love?" His drunken character had returned.
Jo laughed, threw her arms about Jack's neck, and kissed him; Jo seemed to be floating in a dazed, happy, pink fog.
When the kiss was over, Jack pushed his hat on his head over in a crazily cocked manner, and announced that he would buy Jo some rum at the very next port they came to.
"No offense Captain," Jo said, seriously, "but I think your ship could probably use your gold more than I could." She motioned to the broken mainsail behind Jack's back.
Jack frowned and turned around. His expression changed immediately when he saw the condition of his ship.
"My ship!" He exclaimed, running towards the stump.
Jo shook her head, and walked to the side of the ship. There in the water was floating the mast. It was going to be a long day.
----------------------------------------------- Ta-da! It's the next chapter! Takes bow Wow! A whole chapter of story! LOL Who doesn't like a good story?
PiratePrinces91: Enough Jack? Grin I prefer to tell the story as it happened rather than how they tell it.
Ruby Of the Sea
Chapter 5
The Storm
Part II
Jo had been aboard the Black Pearl for nearly three months, when one day, after cleaning Captain Jack's room, she found him at the helm of the ship, gazing across the water.
"Captain, your quarters have been cleaned. What might I do next?" She asked, wiping her brow. She felt extremely sticky and hot, though the sky was a bit overcast.
"Come 'ere." Jack commanded, patting the rail next to where he stood.
Jo nodded obediently, and came up next to the captain. "What would you have me do, Captain?"
"Jo," Captain Jack began, looking a bit less drunk than he usually did. Jo had come to realize that this meant that they were either going to raid a port soon, or that something was about to happen.
"Jo," the Captain repeated, "There's goin' 't be a storm comin' soon."
Jo looked up at the proud man standing next to her. So that was why he looked semi-sober: a storm.
"Get th' men and tell 'em to go below deck. I don't want any of 'em to go overboard."
Jo nodded again, and scampered off to obey.
"You're a smart lass." Captain Jack said softly to Jo, though it was not intended for her ears.
Soon the crew was all in the hold. The storm had begun, just as Jack had predicted that it would, and it was a terrible storm to be sure.
The storm tossed the Pearl about, though Captain Jack, the only man above deck, was battling it bravely and trying to steer the ship. After nearly thirty minutes, however, the Captain came back in, tired and thoroughly soaked.
"The Pearl'll 'ave to weather it, me hearties." He said wearily, "She's stronger than I be."
The crew was silent and oppressed, realizing that even their captain could not stand the storm.
"Well?" Captain Sparrow asked, suddenly reviving, "Get some rest, you flea-bitten bilge rats! As soon as the storm breaks, we'll be heading for port!"
Echoes of "Ai, Captain!" were echoed by the sounds of retreating feet, and eventually silence.
Jo had begun to follow the crew down to the crew's quarters, when she heard the Captain speak.
"Jo, come to me quarters."
After one quick glance back towards the rest of the sailors, Jo obeyed and followed Jack.
Jo had followed Jack up to his quarters, and had talked with him for quite a while.
During one lull in the conversation, Jo had glanced up into Jack's eyes. Their usual gaiety and joy was gone, and a void of emptiness left behind. Jo realized that Jack was speaking with her just as much to calm her worries, as to take his own mind off the storm.
After a few hours, Jo nearly fell over asleep, despite the ship's crazy swayings and lurchings.
"Go 't bed, lad." Jack said quietly, putting an arm around Jo's shoulders.
"Where, Captain?" Jo asked, stumbling in weariness.
Jack led Jo to his own bed. "I really don't s'pose I'll be do'n much sleep'n meself."
Jo was so tired, that she didn't bother to argue, and fell asleep even before her head hit the pillow.
The sound of a sickening crack woke Jo with a start that could have sent her running across the ocean.
A hard thud followed, and Jo clutched her hands over her ears. She wasn't sure why, but she screamed.
It was high and shrill, and there was no doubt in her mind that everyone within a mile's radius heard her.
Before she was really sure what was happening, Jo found herself in someone's arms. Whoever it was, was rocking her back and forth.
Jo didn't care who it was. She began sobbing into the person's arms, clutching at whoever it was's sleeves, and letting her tears run.
"Shush now..." The person whispered, "Calm yerself, love."
Jo lifted her head, and found herself looking into Captain Jack's eyes. They searched her face intently. His expression then was so much different now than it usually was, but Jo felt that she like his features either way.
"I don't suppose that you still think me a lad anymore..." Jo said quietly.
"No, love." Captain Jack replied, the soberness that had been there a moment before disappearing like dew before the sun, "But then again, I ner did think you a lad. The crew thought you were, and you didn't seem to wish to be known as a lass, so I didn't bother to correct them. 'At way, you got what you wanted, and I didn't 'ave to correct anyone." Jack ranted.
Jo listened to the ranting, quite content not to speak, then suddenly the boat lurched very harshly.
Jo panicked, and clutched at Jack's shirt again. Teas trickled down her cheeks, and Captain Jack held her, soberness returning again.
After a moment, Jack began to rock back and forth again, and sang a song to Jo.
"The waves may reach unto the skies, the waters seem so deep; but Jo Dear, please rest now, close your eyes, and gently fall to sleep. The Pearl's staunch walls will be your shields, my arms shall make sure you stay. The sea may inflict her wound, though it will be healed. But if you cannot stand the wind, then, Dear, I'll drive it away."
When the song had ended, Jo looked up at Jack curiously. "'Drive it away'?" She asked, "How would you do that?"
"Don't you know, love?" Jack asked, smiling, "It's a bit of a tradition;" Sparrow turned his gaze towards the wall, "if'n a pirate captain requires that a storm withdraw, 'en he goes to the stern, and shouts out 'is challenge." Jack returned his gaze to Jo, "'At's when th' fun begins. If'n th' captain can stay at the stern, then the storm'll be obliged to withdraw."
Jo frowned dubiously, but Jack's eyes met hers with complete sincerity.
Jo cocked her head, "Have you done it before?"
"Ai!" Jack replied, "Several times. It always worked, and I've not died yet." Jo was forced to smile.
With one nod, Captain Jack stood up, and headed for the door. He placed his three-cornered hat on his head, positioned one hand on the latch that held the door shut, then seemed to hesitate. He turned around, then said: "I've one request to ask of ye, Jo."
"What, Captain?"
"Would you give me a good-luck kiss, love?" Jack grinned.
Jo was a bit surprised to say the least, but after a moment, nodded.
Jack took off his hat again, walked back to Jo, and cupped his hands around her face.
Jo felt her cheeks blush, but Jack did not care, if indeed he even noticed. He firmly kissed her.
After a moment, Jack released her, and Jo fell dizzily onto Sparrow's bed.
Jack returned to the door, while placing his hat back on his head, and after a quick: "Gu' bye, love" lifted the latch and charged into the storm.
Jo raced to the doorframe and watched the nearly insane pirate captain head to the stern. 'What's he doing?' Jo wondered as Jack took up a rope and tied it about his middle.
Captain Jack was nearly at the very front of the ship, when a wave crashed over him, and he was washed overboard.
"Jack!" Jo screamed, as she flung caution to the howling wind, and ran to where she had seen Jack's head before he had gone over the edge into the crashing and crushing waves.
When she reached the edge of the ship, Jo looked over, and saw Sparrow dangling at the end of the rope that he had tied about his waist.
Jo wasn't sure weather to think the figure heroic, or comical, but hauled on the rope to bring him up either way.
"Captain Jack, love. Captain." Sparrow corrected her when he was back upon the deck.
Jo was about to shout something rather crude above the storm, but Jack put an arm about her waist, and said to her: "If'n you plan to stay out 'ere in th' storm, then you need a rope."
Jo nodded, and Jack found a rope, and tied one end to a huge splintered stump in the middle of the ship, and the other around Jo's hips.
Jo gaped as she realized that it used to be the main-sail, and that it's falling was what had caused her to wake.
While Jo had been staring at the stump, Jack had already made his way back to the stern, and was motioning to Jo to follow him.
Jo fought her way against the storm, and eventually reached Jack.
Jack placed Jo in front of him, one arm about her shoulders, and then shouted out into the storm a challenge.
"Ocean deep, Ocean fair, I be Captain of me ship! The Black Pearl challenges yer reign of terror! If I stand, then get ye gone, but if I fall, then sing yer song."
As though in reply, a streak of lightning crashed into the sea, and a thunder crashed so loudly, that it left Jo's ears ringing.
Jo looked up at Jack, and found him to be concentrating on the storm with as much intensity as though mere will-power alone could stop the waves.
Jo felt a wave crash over both of their heads, but when the water had gone, Jo found Captain Jack's arm around her shoulders just as it had been before, and Jack's expression likewisely unchanged.
The storm bellowed and crashed, screamed and crawled, punched and kicked, but nothing it could do seemed to be able to make the captain reconcile or leave.
After nearly three hours, Jo watched as the sea became calm, and the wind howled less and less until it stopped altogether.
"Well," Jack said seriously as the sun broke over the horizon, "That was a fair bit o fun; wasn't it, love?" His drunken character had returned.
Jo laughed, threw her arms about Jack's neck, and kissed him; Jo seemed to be floating in a dazed, happy, pink fog.
When the kiss was over, Jack pushed his hat on his head over in a crazily cocked manner, and announced that he would buy Jo some rum at the very next port they came to.
"No offense Captain," Jo said, seriously, "but I think your ship could probably use your gold more than I could." She motioned to the broken mainsail behind Jack's back.
Jack frowned and turned around. His expression changed immediately when he saw the condition of his ship.
"My ship!" He exclaimed, running towards the stump.
Jo shook her head, and walked to the side of the ship. There in the water was floating the mast. It was going to be a long day.
----------------------------------------------- Ta-da! It's the next chapter! Takes bow Wow! A whole chapter of story! LOL Who doesn't like a good story?
PiratePrinces91: Enough Jack? Grin I prefer to tell the story as it happened rather than how they tell it.