Chapter Five
Will awoke, a sharp pain in the back of his head. He gently touched the spot where he felt the most pain, and came back with a bit of blood on his fingers. He struggled to remember what happened the night before.
I was...there were pirates! Yes, and I had been taken aboard their ship. That's where I must be now. And...their captain, Barbossa. He kept mentioning someone by the name of Bootstrap. Then there was moonlight...and skeletons. The whole crew was made up of bloody rotting skeletons! Oh I must have dreamed that part! It couldn't possibly be true...right? Ah the pain. They must have knocked me out. I wonder if I panicked. I have to find my way out of here and back to my Elizabeth. I have to be with her before she decides to marry that pansy, Norrington.
Will's fantasy of having Elizabeth all to himself was interrupted by the opening of the cabin door. He realized then that he was in the captain's quarters. He shuddered and hoped that all they'd done was knock him out. He turned to see Captain Barbossa and his monkey standing in the doorway. The feather in the captain's hat moved in the slight sea breeze that flitted through the cabin.
"Sleep well, boy?" The sarcasm was notable and Will wished he could have wiped that rotting smirk from the man's weather worn face.
"You know very well that I didn't sleep at all. You knocked me out. Why?"
The grin grew. "You put up such a fuss at the sight of our true selves. There was no other way to shut you up."
Will stood on shaky legs. He wasn't used to being at sea. "I demand that you release me. Why do you have a need for me? You're a bunch of rotten pirates and I'm naught but a blacksmith."
"Release you? We're in the middle of the ocean, Turner. Just where do you think you'll be going? No, we won't be releasing you any time soon. We've got business with you. Or I should say, we've got business with your blood."
"My blood? What for?"
"Ah, you poor, clueless whelp."
"Answer my question!" Will slammed his fist down upon the table Sparrow had acquired long ago from a ship he'd ransacked. The table creaked and for a moment seemed it might fall apart.
Quick as a wink, Barbossa was in front of Will, newly sharpened dagger pressing into the tender flesh of the young man's throat. As Barbossa spoke his rancid breath assaulted Will's nose. "You'll not be the one threatening me, boy! I'll answer your questions when I please. Do not force me to drain your blood here and now."
Will swallowed hard and remained silent. Barbossa kept the blade against the blacksmith's throat for just a moment longer than necessary. He took it away and then seated himself in one of the sturdy old chairs that were placed sporadically around the old table.
"We need your blood to free us of a curse that we brought unknowingly upon ourselves. Have a seat boy, and perhaps something to eat as well?"
Will sat, but declined the food. He was in no mood to eat.
Barbossa continued, not really caring whether the whelp ate or not, as long as they had his blood, and the medallion. He could feel it calling to him. It was getting close, he knew it. "We found some rare Aztec gold a while back. Traded it, spent it; fretted it away. When it was gone, we realized the curse that had been set upon us. We're skeletons boy. Unable to feel, taste; we're not really alive. But because we're not alive, we're unable to die."
"Why then, do you need me?"
"Well, really we just need your blood. Your body, well that might come in handy later, but it's not necessary. Once we have the last medallion we'll use your blood to free us of the curse."
"Buy why? Can't you just use someone else's blood?"
"Ah, would that we could. If we'd been able to, we'd be freed of this curse long ago. But no, we need yours, the only living descendant of the great pirate, Bootstrap Bill Turner."
"William Turner, my father?"
"Aye, that be the one. He was one of our crew long ago. Back when Jack Sparrow was our useless captain. We mutinied against Jack, and that didn't sit well with Bill. So we were forced to strap Bootstraps' bootstraps to a cannon and let him join Davy Jones."
Again Will's fist met the table, hard. "My father was not a pirate! He was a decent man! A merchant sailor!"
Barbossa laughed, a cruel sound. "Whatever ye need be telling yourself to get sleep, boy."
Will sighed angrily.
"So we're off to an island, where the gold is kept. There we will wait for the last medallion to arrive and then we'll be slitting your throat and having ourselves a jolly good time." Barbossa grinned and the monkey mimicked his action, jumping and screeching.
"Wait for the last medallion? So you don't have it? How do you know it will arrive?"
"The gold calls to us, boy. I can feel it growing ever nearer. Someone must care enough about you to try and save you, and they have the medallion."
Elizabeth? Though Will, It must be her, no one else cares. Unless...could Jack Sparrow know where I've been taken? Barbossa said he was the old captain of this bloody ship, so perhaps he's after it. I wonder if Barbossa knows Jack is alive. Oh there's got to be a way to get out of this. I must think of a plan! Think, Will, think! You're life depends on it. You must get back to Elizabeth! Oh Elizabeth!
"Elizabeth, take the helm!" Jack commanded as he cut the Interceptor loose from the Dauntless. The two had disabled the runner cables on the Dauntless, escaped onto the Interceptor and were now on their way to the island of Tortuga to get themselves a crew.
Liz did as she was told, standing awkwardly at the head of the ship, not quite sure what she was supposed to do. She held the wheel in place, watching as the men on the Dauntless scurried around, trying to fulfill Norrington's commands. She knew that they wouldn't be put off for long. Eventually they'd follow them, trying to save her. She sighed, thinking, I don't want to be saved.
When Jack had cut the ship free, he took over the helm and waved his hat at Norrington and his crew as they quickly sailed away. Jack laughed. Once they were far enough away, he turned to Liz, picked her up and spun her round.
"My goodness! What do you think you're doing?" Liz was startled by the sudden show of affection. True, she enjoyed it, but the lady in her still clung to a shred of propriety.
Jack set her on her feet. "Celebrating, love. Go into the captain's quarters and find me some rum or other sort of drink. Be quick about it."
Liz scoffed. "What do I look like, you're serving wench? Get it yourself!"
With a grin Jack turned the wheel hard, causing one of the booms to swing out and hit Liz right in the stomach. With a surprised grunt she grabbed hold and found herself hanging over the edge of the ship, bottomless depths of the ocean looming under her. She shrieked with the little air that the boom had left in her lungs.
"Now, now, hold on missy. You listen here. You're sailing under me now. You'll do as I say, or I'll be forced to rid myself of you. Right now, of course, I need you to help me get this ship to Tortuga. But once there, I'll have a crew and there will be no more need of you. So if you want to save that Will of yours, then I suggest you learn to take orders from a pirate captain, savvy?"
Liz could feel her grip slipping. She nodded and let out a sigh of relief when Jack brought the boom back into place. She dropped onto the deck with a slightly painful thud and lay on her back panting. She found Jack staring over her, looking down at her still wet shirt. She was thankful once again for keeping her corset on.
"Quit that, you're exciting me. Now go get the rum before I ravage you right here." Jack's voice was heavy with desire.
Liz scrambled up and into the captain's quarters as fast as her skinny legs would carry her. She wasn't sure if Jack had been joking, but she didn't want to find out. As she entered the cabin, she passed a mirror and gave herself a quick glance. With a frown she began to fix her hair, trying in vain to untangle her curls. When she had fixed her hair as much as possible, she adjusted her pants, finding they were a bit loose round the waist, though the material clung wetly everywhere else. After that she wandered around and eventually found a table upon which were a few glasses and a bottle of something.
Carefully, she uncorked the bottle and poured herself a glass. Ever so slowly she brought the glass to her lips and took a large gulp. This having been her first taste of rum, she choked and sputtered. After coughing for a moment, she tried again. If she was going to sail under the command of a pirate, she was going to start acting like one. A little rum wouldn't hurt her.
Eventually Liz drained the contents of her glass, becoming only slightly dizzy. She had come to like the taste of the amber liquid and poured herself another glass, forgetting completely about bringing some out to Mr. Sparrow. It wasn't until she was on her fourth shot that she heard a voice behind her. With a startled yelp she spun round, dropping the glass she'd had in her hand.
"Drinking all me rum and then makin' a mess, are we?" Jack sauntered over as Liz awkwardly bent to attempt to pick up the shattered glass that was now strewn about her feet.
"No. well...I mean, I...well you see. I just wanted to try some rum. I've never had any before."
Jack helped with the task of picking up the tiny pieces of glass. "Pity, tis a marvelous drink."
"Yes." Elizabeth found herself speaking louder than intended. She suddenly wished she hadn't drunk so much. "Well...I think I had too much. At first it was horrid. But then...ahh the sweet burning sensation. Yes, I had too much."
"Quite alright, love. Next time just do as I say. I would have shared you know. Now there's not much left. We'll have to pick some up in Tortuga."
Liz nodded. "Ouch!" she dropped the glass bits she'd collected in her hand and grabbed her index finger. A drop of blood fell from the cut she'd just gotten and dropped onto the floor, splattering a few pieces of glass.
"Foolish girl. Let me see." Jack grabbed Elizabeth's hand. He peered at her finger and frowned. "It's not but a scratch. The bleeding will stop in no time."
"But it stings!"
Sparrow sighed. "Here, let me kiss it."
Jack had said so jokingly, but Liz didn't protest. To humor himself mostly, he brought the bleeding finger to his lips and planted a soft kiss upon softer skin; all the while, Liz's eyes boring into his own. He licked the bit of blood from his lips and smiled. "All better?"
"Quite, yes." The rum still burned and made her forget the fact that the man had just licked her blood.
Jack noted Elizabeth was breathing hard again. He watched the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest and noticed then that she'd left a few buttons undone. The opening in her shirt gave him quite a view of her nearly perfect breasts held in place by a light, crème colored corset.
"Mr. Sparrow, it's rude to stare at a lady so." Liz said, realizing her hand was still in Jack's own.
"I see no ladies here." Jack spoke softly, eyes darting from Elizabeth's face, to her chest, to her face, and back again. Without thinking, without knowing why, Liz leaned closer to Jack until their noses touched. Without a word or warning, she kissed him.
Jack had been trying to remain in control. The girl was certainly beautiful, and the scenes playing out in his brain were certainly sinful. There was something about her that just made him want to take her right there, but he had held back, realizing he was on a quest to get his ship back, not to fuck the girl all over the place. But the view of her breasts, the taste of her blood on his tongue, and now her lips upon his, drove him over the edge.
Not caring what might happen to Elizabeth, or the ship, Jack lifted her into his arms, increasing the fierceness of their kiss as he did so. He stumbled to the bed and threw Liz upon it, enjoying the way she bounced on the mattress. Thinking only about his own needs, Jack hastily undid the remaining buttons of her shirt and threw it to the floor. After removing her corset Jack paused for a moment to stare at the pale breasts that lay before him. Quickly, Jack rid himself of pants and did the same to Elizabeth.
Without a moment's hesitation, Jack mounted the girl, forgetting in fact that she wasn't much older than seventeen, and still a virgin, while he...well he was well over seventeen to be sure, and took her fiercely. Liz cried out in pain at first, for she'd never done such things before, but soon her cries of pain turned to those of pleasure.