The song is 'The Abolition of Man' by Thrice. If you've never heard them you really should check them out. They're a great band!

I'm sorry this chapter is sooo short, but I liked where it ended. The next one should be up fairly soon, but only if you check out Thrice ^^^ .

~*~

Chapter Twelve

Independence  

~*~
Wake up everyone 
It's not too late 
To save the remnants of 
Our hearts stop giving up 
Our last shattered love 
Our only chance to find the meaning of 
The beat beneath the blood 
~*~
 
                   The first cannon fell with the sun, landing on the deck of the Black Pearl and sending ropes of flame up the ropes leading to the crows' nest. "Get that out!" Jack called to no one in particular. Will grabbed a bucket and went below for some water. The discharges of the cannons off the sides of the Pearl were shaking the entire gut of the boat. Besides the roar of the guns, however, there was no noise. The bowels of the ship were silent, save for the distant thunder. Will hurried to fill the bucket and returned to the deck as quickly as possible. He tossed the brackish salty water onto the ropes, extinguishing the blaze. He could not tell the extent of the damage in the growing dusk, though, and he turned his mind away from the ropes and back to the battle at hand.
 
                   Had it been lighter out, Will would have found the ship to be none other than the Bloody Vengeance, and he would have had to live with the irony that his ship was currently firing cannons at the ship that Serenity was on. They would, unbeknownst to themselves, fight each other to death's end to win a battle that no one really could. Right now the Vengeance was just another pirate ship to be captured and raided. Knowing how Jack was a great pirate with an independent streak as wide as the Atlantic itself, Will doubted that he would take the other ship in to make a fleet should they win. Instead, the ship would be sold in Tortuga or some other shipping town, and the money would surely go towards reimbursing the ever-waning supply of rum on the Pearl. 
 
                   He didn't pause to think about what would happen if they didn't win this battle. 
 
                   A cannon fell somewhere aft to the ship, but they wouldn't be missing for long. The Pearl had just blasted a hole as high as the ceiling of Elizabeth's home in the side of the other ship and he could hear angry yells from the enemy deck. 
 
                   One of those yells, indeed, sounded oddly feminine. 
 
~*~
 
                   Serenity had just uttered the only curse she had ever uttered in her entire life, and then some, as she stood on the deck of the Bloody Vengeance clutching her arm. The ship that was firing at them- Serenity had begun thinking of them as the enemy when she realized she wasn't on the Vengeance's side- had hit the side of their ship and a flying piece of debris had smacked her arm. It was twisted oddly- probably broken, but there was no one on this ship that could or would help here if she opened her mouth. So she didn't. She snuck down below to a place that felt relatively safe to wait out the storm outside and hoped that no one would notice she was missing. They wouldn't. 
 
                   The hole was dank and musty and smelly and a rat crawled out of the corner when Serenity entered, but it had a window that she could look out. She could see the other ship from the porthole- a dark mass blotting out the stars and blending in with the sky and the sea. The knot in her stomach was pounding in sync with the noises in her head, and her stomach muscles were doing strange contractions. The nerves had gotten the best of her and she longed to lie down and cry, sob like a baby, but she knew she couldn't, not here, not now, not when her dignity was at stake with no one but herself.
 
                   "Save me," she whispered to the black lump on the horizon. "Send help." 
                   
 
~*~
 
                   They had gotten too close. Pirates from the other ship were swinging aboard the Pearl, hollering a fearsome battle cry that would strike a horrific chord in Will's heart later but failed to at that exact moment. His sword was in his hand and they were one, as he swung wildly with it. Anamaria screeched and lunged towards a pirate, he fell with a thump on the deck of the Pearl. "Aiiii," she called to the corpse on the deck. 
 
                   Will was probably screaming too but he couldn't hear a damn thing as he cut a man down. Soon he found another and they were engaged in a fearsome battle. Jab left, parry right, step- Will remembered when he fought Jack in the blacksmith's shop. At least it had been light in there. The darkness and loneliness out here on the plate glass ocean was nerve shattering.
 
                   Finally Will felt his blade hit home, but hastily drew it out in revulsion of what he had done, a revulsion to be forgotten in the next moment when he spotted an almost timid looking pirate shape lurking near the rail of the deck. Will grabbed his dagger and flung it at the shape. It fell into the ocean.
 
                   Serenity would never see Christian again, and the glass was broken.