Do I Have To Cry For You?
Chapter Eight
The indolent, crystal-blue waves of the tranquil sea soothingly continued to pull the Black Pearl along with her. Overhead, dusk had slowly begun to set in; casting golden, shimmering shadows across the sea for as far as the eye could witness. Golds and oranges, reds and yellows… the colors had joined as one, creating that line that every pirate craved, that every pirate chased. It was a beautiful sight… a breathtaking sight… enough to make any pirate feel as if he were on top of the world.
"Betrayal, Jack, it's a knife whose blade cuts so deeply that the wound never stops bleeding."
The Black Pearl… the last real pirate threat in the Caribbean; the fastest ship in the Spanish Main… she was his. He had his ship back. The horizon lay shimmering in the distance with both adventure and opportunity lying just out of reach beyond it; beckoning him and whispering to him to come chase them. And he could. And he would. He should.
Who was he trying to fool?
"William and I… we are not so different, Jack, we have a lot more in common than you could ever believe."
Certainly not himself. Not this time. Not anymore.
It hurt. He did not know how to make it not hurt. Was that even possible? It would not surprise him in the least bit if it weren't. He missed William, he missed their friendship, the incredible bond that they had once shared; the bond that had lasted for so many years, that had grown stronger and stronger, withstanding time, withstanding life, but not withstanding him, not withstanding Jack Sparrow. Everything that they had been through together had not been enough. Their incredible bond had been effortlessly mangled beyond recognition, torn to shreds, and then brutally murdered; all by betrayal's blade, all because of Jack Sparrow. That God damned Jack Sparrow…
He had tried to kill Jack; had tried to hurt him as badly as he had hurt him. A severely broken wrist was all that he had been granted.
It was not enough. It would not be enough until Jack Sparrow was dead; until he was lying six feet underneath of him with worms consuming what would be left of his body whilst his soul rotted and burned in the depths of Hell. It would not be enough until William Turner had paid; had paid in blood, had paid with his life, had finally realized just how badly he had hurt him that day that he had marooned him. They would both pay, and they would pay with their blood and their lives, just like he had the day that his best friend had left him to death.
He would no longer allow betrayal's blade to hurt him; to keep the wound that was his past open. They would sail back to Port Royale.
William Turner.
Jack Sparrow.
Both of them would be dead within days. Seth was sure of this.
* * *
Bootstrap slid two fingers along the Dauntless' railing as he made his way to the helm.
He had forgotten to forget this feeling.
Had he remembered, like he had promised himself that he would, he would not feel the way that he was; he would not feel content, he would not feel… this way. The jagged wood beneath his fingertips was sparking a flame that he was supposed to have put out three years ago.
He had forgotten to forget this feeling, and he was not strong enough to pretend that it was not there.
"If everything goes alright, we should be arriving at Tortuga about this time tomorrow." Guilt and shame swallowed Bootstrap's mind and being as his hand touched the wooden wheel and his son's optimistic words filled his ears. "We need a plan of sorts, though." Will continued. "A plan would be safer than an ambush."
Elizabeth nodded. "Yes, I agree."
"Just get your son and Jack." Bootstrap's tone was unusually hushed. "I'll take care of Seth."
"Are you sure that that's wise?" He winced at Will's concern. "I mean… -Seth managed to get you unconscious, father, if you were to get hurt, and we weren't around-"
Bootstrap cut him off. "Stick to the code. I don't care what happens, you just get your son and our friend and you get the hell away from there." Silence. "Besides," he slowly began to add, "I'll be fine." Will really did not know exactly what it was that had kept him from walking to his father and smacking him in the face. He was not a simpleton. His father's words could not be trusted. His tone had deceived them.
"Right," Elizabeth sighed a few seconds later. "We'll abide by the code, then, William. Any man that falls behind," she shot a look at Will; noiselessly warning him to drop the anger that he currently held against his father, "is left behind." The blacksmith dropped his eyes from off of his father's back, cursing the older man as he did. Even in a time of crisis, his words remained letters and sounds that could not be trusted. After twenty three years he was still lying to his son.
Will said nothing as he turned away from both Elizabeth and Bootstrap.
Elizabeth cursed Will for his juvenile measures whilst the hand that Bootstrap had lying on the Dauntless' wheel tightened into a fist as another wave of guilt and shame literally ripped the air from out of his lungs.
"I'll get us ready to cast off," the younger man murmured. "Elizabeth, help me, please?" The woman said nothing as she turned on her heel to aid her husband.
"May I ask why you are stealing the Dauntless?" A memorable voice questioned. Elizabeth and Will both froze whilst Bootstrap shut his eyes in exasperation and shook his head from side to side. This would prove to be interesting, that was for sure. Of all people… -He could not help the smirk that slowly spread across his lips. "According to British Navy law, I have the right to arrest each of you, Elizabeth." Elizabeth unconsciously grimaced at the tone. "So," he continued as he climbed aboard the Dauntless, "one of you better start explaining your sudden show of piracy." Commodore Norrington crossed his arms as he leaned back against the ship's railing; patiently awaiting for one of the three to start. No one spoke. "No one brave enough?" Norrington's attention turned to William almost as soon as he heard the man chuckling softly to himself. "I take it you find this amusing, Mr. Turner?"
Bootstrap shook his head as he slid his finger along the edges of the wheel. "What exactly do you want me to say, Commodore?"
Norrington frowned in annoyance. "Why you are stealing a ship of the Royal Fleet."
"I am not stealing, I am commandeering." Will mentally slapped a hand to his face at his father's choice of words. "And I am commandeering a ship of the Royal Fleet because I am, or will be, on a rescue mission. With all due respect, Commodore, Jack Turner is a subject of the British crown and is therefore under your protection, not to mention that he is the Governor's grandson. Do you really want us to not commandeer this ship to go rescue him and safely bring him back home? Funny. I thought that you were fond of your position… I guess not…-"
Norrington interrupted the former pirate captain. "Jack Turner was kidnapped?" Bootstrap nodded his head. "By whom?"
"A pirate by the name of Seth, Commodore," he answered, faintly turning the wheel to the right and then back to the left. "Cap'n Seth commandeered the Black Pearl and-"
"The Black Pearl?" Norrington repeated as he pushed himself up from the railing. "So it was the Black Pearl that raided Port Royale..."
"Yes, but-"
"I knew Jack Sparrow was behind all of this! I will organize a crew and send for him at once. Dead or alive-"
Bootstrap hurriedly spun around. "I'm sorry, did I say, 'A pirate by the name of Jack'? No. Jack Sparrow was not involved in last night's raid, Commodore; Jack Sparrow was not even aboard the Pearl."
Norrington narrowed his eyes at Bootstrap. "Where is Mr. Sparrow then, William? And how did his ship get here without him?"
"I don't know exactly where Jack is, but I have an idea," Bootstrap sighed at the realization of his words. "And as for how his ship got here… Seth, a man that he and I know from way back when, somehow managed to steal it from him."
"You know as well as I do that Jack Sparrow would never allow anyone near that ship of his, Mr. Turner. Therefore, he planned that raid, but did not allow himself to take part in it."
"You dare to even think that you know Jack Sparrow better than me?" The former pirate captain spat incredulously. His eyes narrowed at the Commodore's certain expression. "You know not a thing, Commodore. Jack Sparrow was not involved with the slaughter that was last night; Jack Sparrow doesn't kill just for the sake of having blood on his sword. Something happened to him, Norrington, something horrific enough to have prevented him from protecting that ship, from protecting his bloody life. And I will find out what that something is and I will see to it that Jack is given justice, whether you see him fit enough to be or not." Norrington's eyes wordlessly roamed Bootstrap's. His love for the pirate captain was equivalent to that of a parent's unconditional love for their child.
Jack Sparrow was a son to William in his eyes.
But in Norrington's eyes, he was a merciless pirate, a bloody scoundrel; just the same as all the rest.
"I will accompany you and aid you in the rescuing of Jack Turner, William, but under no circumstances will I once again save the pirate. I did that five years ago." Bootstrap said nothing to the man as he motioned at Will and Elizabeth with his right hand to go and prepare them to cast off. They nodded and walked away; leaving Bootstrap and Norrington and the suffocating tension that had settled in around them in silence.
To Be Continued…
AN: Once again, thank you everyone for your patience! This story has caused quite a bit of writer's block, but I think that I'm finally regaining control of the wheel. Heh. Let us hope. :)
I'm guessing that this story will be about nineteen chapters. Hmm. We shall see.
I'll get chapter nine up ASAP!!!
Please read and review!!
