Disclaimer: I don't own much. Possibly the rum fetish, but even that's debatable.

Chapter 5: The Voyage Begins

The next morning dawned bright and beautiful. To Will, who hadn't slept all night, it was the most horrible sight he had ever seen. Elizabeth was furious that he had been captured, and irate that Jack had dared to berate her in front of all those people. Elizabeth being Elizabeth, she had taken it all out on Will. His ears were still ringing. Elizabeth could be very shrill, and loud, when she was angry. Through all her ranting, Will sat, elbows on knees and head in hands. She had paced around him waving her arms wildly. Will would be very surprised if anyone had gotten any sleep last night. Elizabeth had gotten tired of yelling at him a few minutes before, and had stormed out of the tent (probably in search of a new victim). Will looked up as Cortez entered the tent.

"It's just about time to go, lad" Cortez informed Will. Will nodded and slowly rose to his feet. Cortez hesitantly put his hand on Will's shoulder. "I'll take good care of her while you're gone. You needn't worry about her." Will gave him a brief glance then left the tent.

As he emerged he saw Elizabeth standing with Anamaria. They were talking quietly, and both women looked worried. Jack was sitting by the embers of last night's fire drinking a bottle of rum. Where he had found that, Will had no idea. Cortez noticed the direction of Will's gaze.

"We can take corporeal form when we wish to. It takes a little concentration, but since we still need to eat and drink, it's rather necessary." Cortez stepped forward. "Today is a great day," he announced in a loud voice.

"Oh bloody hell," Jack muttered. "He's going to make a speech." Cortez gave him a nasty look.

"Fine." He snarled at Jack. "The ladies will stay here with me. Once you have freed me an my men from the curse you can come back here and collect them."

"Collect us?" It seemed Elizabeth had found her next victim. "Collect us?" Her voice grew more shrill.

"Oh shut up." Jack said disgustedly to her. "You'll have plenty of time to punish him after Will and I have left. If you had had the good sense not to be captured…to do what you'd been told for once, we wouldn't be in this position."

"How was I supposed to know I was going to get captured?" Elizabeth demanded. "Anamaria and I were walking through the forest, trying to find you, and the next thing I knew, I had been grabbed from behind."

"That's why you should have stayed on the ship." Jack pointed out.

Will rubbed his head. "Look, Jack-"

"For the last bloody time it's Captain Jack!" Jack interrupted. Will sighed.

"Captain Jack, Elizabeth, this isn't getting us anywhere." Will turned to Elizabeth. "I don't like this anymore than you do, but there really isn't any choice. We will break the curse, and we will be back for you." Elizabeth embraced him briefly then pushed him away.

"Go." She commanded the two men. "The sooner you're gone, the sooner you'll be back." Will nodded, and grabbed Jack's arm. The two men left, surrounded by an escort of Cortez' ghostly men carrying a new mast for the ship. As soon as they were out of sight, Elizabeth collapsed against Anamaria, her whole body shaking with sobs.

Will and Jack made it safely back to the ship. Cortez' men had left them and the mast at the edge of the forest. The crew looked on with worried expressions as the two men climbed aboard.

"Beggin' your pardon Cap'n" Gibbs ventured hesitantly, "but where be the women?" Jack and Will shared a silent look.

"They fell behind," Jack stated curtly. Will slammed him up against the railing. His forearm pressed tightly against Jack's throat.

"The Pirate's Code doesn't apply in this case." Will hissed in Jack's ear. "We will be coming back for them."

"Of course we will," Jack reassured the irate Will. "It's just that first, we have to figure out how to break the curse." Will released Jack incredulously.

"You mean you don't know?" Will demanded.

"Not exactly," Jack hedged. "But I think I know someone who might." With that cryptic message Jack headed for the wheel. "We'll be setting sail as soon as possible, Mr. Gibbs," Jack informed the bewildered seaman.

"Aye, Cap'n," Mr. Gibbs replied. All the sailors hurried to retrieve the mast. "It'll take us a little while to get the mast up."

"Very good Gibbs. In the meantime, Will and I will be having a little talk. Come find us when you're done." Jack gestured Will into his cabin and closed the door behind them.

"So?" Will asked as soon as the door had swung shut.

"I know someone who can help us." Jack informed him. "I haven't seen him in quite a while, but if anyone knows how to break this bloody curse, it'll be him."

"Who is he?" Will demanded.

"He's a…well, I guess you could call him a wise man." Jack answered. "He and I go way back…nothing that you need know at this time," He added when he saw Will's curiosity. Will nodded.

"Fair enough."

It had been a week since Will had left, and Elizabeth had made sure she was as busy as possible since then. It seemed Cortez and his men were just as corrupt and Jack, and they drank just as much rum. Unfortunately for them , Jack and Will had forgotten to warn the ghosts about Elizabeth's and Anamaria's habit of disposing of said rum. Imagine the ghost's surprise when half their rum went missing the first night after Jack and Will had left. They had lost another fourth of the rum the second night, but after that they grew wise and started to guard the rum. That was o.k. with Elizabeth, because it just meant that it took more thought and effort to get to the rum. If she was thinking aobut the rum, she wasn't thinking about all the danger Will could be in.

"Pst!" hissed Anamaria. "I'm ready when you are." Elizabeth nodded, and rose up from behind the pile of logs where she had been hiding. She started to slowly walk past the rum guard, but suddenly she tripped and fell against him. Thankfully he was corporeal at the time, so she didn't have the unnerving sensation of falling through him.

"My ankle!" she gasped. "I've hurt my ankle!" She reached down to grab said ankle, and tried to look as innocent and helpless as possible. "Please," she looked up at the guard with wide eyes, "won't you help me back to my tent? I'm sure I'll be all right if you just help me."

The guard was torn. He was supposed to be guarding the rum, but Cortez had given orders that the women were to be treated with every courtesy. And Elizabeth couldn't well steal the rum if he was escorting her to her tent…could she? No, she was injured, and needed his help.

The poor, unsuspecting guard had no idea what was going on. Anamaria and Elizabeth hadn't used subterfuge the past two nights. He didn't realize that they would try to trick him in order to get to the rum. And so, he assisted Elizabeth to her tent, and didn't even notice when she made a 'thumb's up' sign to Anamaria behind her back. He didn't see Anamaria sneak over to the rum barrels he had been guarding. He certainly didn't have a clue when Anamaria carefully put holes in the back of the barrels so that no one would see the rum pouring out. And by the time he got back to his post, Anamaria was long gone, making her way slowly to the tent she shared with Elizabeth.

Will stared into the night sky. Ever since he had left Elizabeth with Cortez, he had had problems sleeping. He wondered where she was, what she was doing. And, with a wry smile, he wondered if Cortez had managed to keep any of his ale. He stayed that way, staring into the sky, thinking of Elizabeth through the rest of the night. When the crew stirred at dawn, he was still there.

It happened just as the crew was switching duties. Those who had watched the ship all night were going to bed; those who had been sleeping where coming up on deck, rubbing their eyes. Will's eyes had long since glazed over, and at first the other ship didn't register. When it did, he gave a great shout. The crew scrambled about, trying to turn the ship so they could escape, but to no avail. Just as the second ship came along-side the Pearl, Jack came running out of his cabin, shirt un-tucked but hat firmly in place. It was, however, too late.

Pirates swarmed onto the Pearl, easily capturing the sleepy crew and Will. As five pirates with swords advanced on Jack he looked around desperately. There was no hope. His ship was taken. Jack took a deep breath as a sword came to rest under his chin. Jack licked his lips and took the only chance that he had left.

"Parley?"

Author's Note:

The next chapter in Cursed Isle! Yay! Actually, the inspiration for this came to me today at work. You should have seen me. I hunted desperately for a note card, and scribbled thoughts down frantically. I'd just like to say that I definitely have this story all figured out now, and I really like where it's going. I'll also assert my right as the author to torment you by saying that within the next couple chapters we will be meeting some old friends again. I won't tell you who. That's the torment. I expect another chapter to be coming relatively soon, barring unforeseen homework and circumstances. I could have made this chapter longer, but this seemed like a really good place to stop.

For my dear Dreamstrifer…just wait 'til you see what I have planned for our beloved Elizabeth. It's gonna be fun. Oh, and I like the Cockroach that Ate Cincinnati. It was far better than the creepy dancing skeletons.

Quote of the Chapter:

"I'm going to put this in my private place" me (no it's not as nasty as it sounds)