CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Discoveries

The small rum bottle bobbed up and down in the ocean, submerging itself and re-emerging a few seconds later. The message inside; written in a young womans' blood, was so far in tact and had not been damaged by the water it floated in. The weather was sunny and the clouds gleamed with a blinding light, damageable to anyone who dared to cast their eyes skyward.

Faye lay asleep in her Hessian hammock, eyes closed and letting pleasant dreams flood into her dozing mind. Hearing a soft noise, Faye opened her eyes. Being the light sleeper she was, she was always waking to the slightest noise that met her ears. Looking for the source of the sound, Faye rolled over to look at Jack who was sleeping in a hammock suspended on the other side of the room. She shrugged silently to herself, giving up in her search, she was too tired to even bother to get up and look around.

The empty bottle hit the side of the boat with a soft "thud". It rebounded off the side and it's neck protruded back through the clear surface of the water. The small waves pushed it around the front of the boat and turned on its side and lay like a basking lizard on a flat rock.

Inside the very ship the bottle so desperately tried to gain access to, Faye gave up on sleep after being woken by the soft "thud" sound. She guessed it was probably just a piece of litter that had floated into the ocean by accident. Faye pushed herself out of the suspended bed, hitting the balls of her feet on the hard floor. Letting her night slip fall past her ankles, Faye walked up the stairs and onto the deck of the ship. The day was sunny and bright. She squinted as she looked up into the sky; the clouds produced an iridescent light that hit her square in the retinas, giving her a slight headache. Shielding her eyes from the bright illumination with her hand, Faye continued to walk across the deck and looked out onto the ocean, wondering what it was that had woken her up so rudely.

Still floating, the bottle banged once more against the side of the vessel. It was being pushed continuously by the soft waves that lapped up against its glassy shell. The boat was anchored on a hefty oyster-ridden rock several meters down below the surface. The craft drifted pleasantly, swaying in different directions, wherever the tide decided to shift it.

Faye heard another "thud", akin to the sound that had awoken her earlier. Alas, there was no visible source of the noise. Renouncing to the fact that she probably was imagining things, she let the soft breeze blow her hair behind her ears. She smiled as the air hit her face, refreshing it immediately. Another noise sounded behind her, though it was a different noise to that which had roused her. Turning around, she saw a pleasing sight. Jack swaggered onto the deck and walked over to Faye, his braids swaying musically as he moved.

'Good morning, Jack' Faye smiled, folding her arms across her chest, shielding herself from the wind.

Jack walked closer and gave Faye a small kiss on the cheek. 'Mornin'. Sleep well?' Jack inquired.

'All right I suppose.' Faye replied quietly, still watching the glistening water.

'What's that s'posed ter mean?' Jack asked, playing with a piece of Fayes' dark hair.

'Well, I'm a light sleeper. I guess it's from years of being on call all the time.' Faye shrugged and took Jacks' hand in hers whilst he played with her hair.

'You don' 'ave ter worry 'bout tha' anymore' he smiled and watched the water. Seeing something floating, Jack parted with Fayes' hand and climbed onto the railing, trying his best to steady himself. He had to find out what it was. Jack took off his leather bandolier and threw it on the deck of the ship by Fayes' feet.

'I'll be back' just as he said it, Jack readied himself and executed his swan dive perfectly, powerfully plunging into the water. As he broke the surface of the water, Jack closed his eyes before opening them underwater, watching the bubbles dissipate around him.

Resurfacing, Jack looked up at Faye and smiled. He breaststroked over to the small object, which he soon found to be an empty rum bottle. Jack grasped it in his hand and tucked it securely in his belt. Looking back at Faye once more he spoke.

'Toss me a rope' he called from his watery position.

Obliging, Faye found a rope curled up on the ground by the mast and picked it up. She threw it over the edge, watching it unfurl in the water. Faye held on tightly to the rope and waited for Jack to grasp it.

'Alright' Jack called once more from down below.

Faye tied the rope in a secure reef knot around the railing and heard Jack climb, abseil style, up the side of the vessel. After about thirty seconds, Jacks' head appeared. He clambered over the railing and set his feet on the deck, dripping water from his clothes and hair.

'Here,' he handed Faye the empty rum bottle from his belt and picked up his bandolier, replacing it around his body.

Faye popped the cork on the bottle and pulled the small piece of parchment out of the neck. Unrolling it, Faye discarded the bottle, letting it roll across the deck of the ship. She read the note loud.

"To whoever shall read this,

My name is Elizabeth Swann, daughter of Governor Swann of Port Royale. I am being held hostage by a band of about a dozen Pirates just off the coast of Sri Lanka. I am not sure where I am or how I arrived here but if you come into contact with a man by the name of Will Turner please inform him that I am alive.

Yours in hope and despair,

Elizabeth Jane Swann."

As she finished reading, Faye looked at Jack who was standing in shock, frozen on the spot. Faye knew who Elizabeth Swann was, Jack had told her stories of her and Will and their adventure after the Aztec Gold. Jack scoffed slightly in disbelief. How in the world had the message travelled and found them. It seemed so strange, so coincidental. Alas Jack was just thankful that he knew where she was, although he had-had no idea Elizabeth and Will had become separated along their journey.

'It's written in blood' Faye said, as she rolled the note back up. 'Her blood?'

Jack was still quiet, he walked over to Faye and took the message from her, reading it for himself. Where was she, the coast of Sri Lanka? If Jack was not mistaken, Sri Lanka was not that far from Singapore, they could just go and fetch her now, providing that she was still there of course.

At the moment, Jack and Faye were somewhere between Cambodia and India. So, it would take them a day or so to get to Sri Lanka to gain Elizabeth from the grip of the pirates.

Faye, noticing Jack was still staring at the note, placed a hand on the Pirates' shoulder. 'Jack?' she asked tentatively.

'Mmm?' he replied, raising his eyebrows, finally snapping out of his trance.

'Are you all right?'

'I'm better than all right! This is wonderful.' He said, a wide smile spreading across his lips. 'You are finally going to meet Elizabeth.'

'And what if she is no long at Sri Lanka? What then?' Faye sat down at the base of the mast and pulled Jacks' coat tighter around her.

This phrase seemed to offend Jack somewhat. But it was true, what if she wasn't there? 'We will fin' 'er, even if she is no longer where she says she is.'

'You're a determined man, Jack' Faye said, a slight tone of admiration in her voice 'I hope you are right'


Her head was spinning, it seemed the rum had had an effect on her thinking. So far, Elizabeth had tried to stand up and had found her legs buckle beneath her. It was the first time she had actually drank a considerable amount of the brown liquid and she could tell. Though, it was not her fault, far from it. As far as rum was concerned, Elizabeth would rather drink a whole flask of seawater.

It had been exactly a day since she had sent her message on its merry way and Elizabeth held onto the belief that someone somewhere would find her desperate plea for help. She hoped that the right people may find it and at the best, Will or Jack. She seriously doubted the tide would push it all the way to Jack, after all he had been sent to Terra Australis, or so that was what she had been told.

Today was a warm day, Elizabeth had been tempted to jump out her broken window and into the cool sea below. But she resigned, after all she would probably be found by Pintel, Ragetti or Jacoby again. So, she just sat in the corner, waiting for someone to take her away, in her opinion, anywhere but where she was would be a welcome change.

Last night Elizabeth had been woken up time after time by the pirates playing drinking games. Elizabeth guessed the competition was to see who could drink the most without keeling over in a mess on the deck. The winner would be admired by the crew, the loser, on the other hand, would be told he "could not 'old 'is rum" and in turn be the subject of running jokes for about a month after.

But now she was welcome to sleep all she liked for all the time she wished before the pirates returned to their drinking after nightfall. Elizabeth had been pleasantly surprised by how much the pirates had ignored her.

Though, Elizabeths' surprise was soon to be put to an end in the next hour or so. The Governors daughter, sighed as she sat in her corner, slightly wishing the pirates to take another prisoner in to keep her company.

And so they did.

As Elizabeth ran a hand through her hair, she saw a young man fall down the steps, shortly followed by Pintel. The man stood up and Elizabeth noticed his nose bleeding, she winced in sympathy. The bleeding figure stood to full height but was soon kicked in the behind by Pintel.

He crawled on his hands and knees toward an empty cell and Pintel picked him up by the collar and threw him into the cell next to Elizabeth and locked the door.

'Stay in 'ere. I'll deal with yer la'er' the pirate said gruffly and walked back up to the deck to join back with his peers.

Elizabeth looked at the prisoner and sighed. He had tanned skin and bright blue eyes. His long dirty-blonde hair hung down his face and looked as if it hadn't been cut in some three years. Clothes of a peasant farmer hung on his body and several scars lined his neck and face.

'Hello' he said, holding his sleeve up to his bleeding nose. His voice was rough as if it had been overused for many years time.

Elizabeth smiled in greeting 'Hello' she may as well introduce herself, it seemed they would be sharing the ship for some time. 'I'm Elizabeth Swann'

'Irving' he replied, still holding his now bloody sleeve up to his seemingly broken nose.

Elizabeth picked up the almost empty flask of rum and handed it to him. 'Put this on it,it will help'

Irving took the flask through the bars and smiled, dabbing some of the liquid onto his sleeve and holding the fabric up to his nose. He winced slightly as the alcohol touched his wound but soon smiled, the liquor seemed to be numbing the pain somewhat.

'Thanks' he replied, passing the rest of the flask back to his newfound friend. 'Where are you from?'

'Port Royale' Elizabeth noticed he spoke reasonably well for a peasant boy, then again she hadn't really had much experience with lower classes, so perhaps they all spoke that way. 'You?'

'Ireland originally, came to Sri Lanka looking for work.' He spoke in an Irish accent. He took his sleeve away from his nose and sighed deeply. 'Why are you here?'

Elizabeth smiled to herself. 'It's a long story, let's just say I have been on the wrong side of these pirates for a long while. Why did they get you?'

Irving nodded in understanding 'I beat them in a game of poker at the pub. The guys were so drunk they couldn't take the loss so they beat me up for it. When I fought back, they brought me here.'

Elizabeth laughed 'Well, that's pirates for you then.' Elizabeth looked out the window and sighed deeply.

'Waiting for someone?' Irving asked, picking up a rock and throwing it out the bars to curb his boredom.

'Mmm.' Elizabeth replied 'Have you heard of Captain Jack Sparrow?'

'Hasn't everyone?' Irving took another rock and threw it 'He's only the most famous pirate in the Caribbean. You know him?'

'Yes. Yesterday I sent a message out in a bottle, written in my own blood. I'm hoping he may find it and come to rescue me' Elizabeth looked down at her wounded hand, it was still extremely painful, she could hardly move it.

'What happened?' Irving asked, gesturing to Elizabeths' bandaged hand.

'I punched the glass to get my message out. More painful than I thought it would be.'

Irving chuckled to himself slightly. He was glad to have someone to talk to on the journey, he only hoped they would not run out of things to talk about.


Jack hoisted the sails higher, teaching Faye how to pull the ropes. He had a flashback to when he and Will had commandeered to Dauntless, Jack had-had to teach Will how to properly hoist sails then as well.

The pirate smiled as Faye successfully raised a white sail. 'Good work' he said encouragingly. Faye smiled back at him and laughed.

They were heading to the coast of Sri Lanka to at least try and find Elizabeth and take her away from the deathly pirates who held her captive.

'What now?' Faye asked as she leant on the mast, facing Jack.

'Nothin'.' Suddenly Jack realised they hadn't actually had a proper conversation since they had commandeered the ship.

'I have an idea' Faye crossed to the railing of the ship and stood up on it, as Jack had done earlier that day. She dove in gracefully, resurfacing a few seconds later, her hair wet. 'Coming?'

'Aye' Jack took off his hat, jacket, boots and various other effects and he too dove into the water to join her. 'Good god it's cold!' he exclaimed, submerging his head underwater.

'C'mon Jack, don't be so sensitive. A bit of cold water will do you good' Faye joked, swimming onto her back and floating comfortably.

'Very funny.' Jack cast her a mock-glare and splashed her with some salty seawater. 'Absolutely 'ilarious'

Faye in turn, splashed Jack, causing the kohl lining his eyes to smudge slightly. She swam away from him and poked her tongue out audaciously before diving further into the water.

'Oh no yer don'.' Jack said, crookedly swimming after her and going under. He opened his eyes and grasped Faye by the waist, bringing her back up to the surface. 'Not gettin' away tha' easily!'

Faye smiled and kissed Jack deeply. She laughed and ran a hand through his dread-locked hair. 'I love you, Jack Sparrow'

'And I you, Faye Burrows' Jack said with a smile. He let go of her and lay on his back, floating with his ankles crossed.

Faye mimicked him and floated the same way. Her hair was soaking wet. She shut her eyes and let the cool water run over her skin pleasantly. It was a welcome change to the hot weather out on the deck.

Jack thought of Elizabeth, hoping she was fine. The note had said she was alive which was a good sign, but Jack was still worried about her general wellbeing. For all they knew she could be lying battered and bruised on the floor. He loved Elizabeth with all his heart, a different kind of love to that he had for Faye. His love for Elizabeth was that of a great friend. He would do anything for her, Will or the rest of his beloved crew. Jack would risk his life for any of them without a second thought for his won safety and they knew and respected him for it. But Jack still could not shake his worry for Elizabeth. He only hoped they would get there in time to save her.


Anamaria looked out onto the water as they sailed past the coast of Brazil. Anamaria undid her headscarf and let her shoulder-length hair blow freely behind her. At the moment it was race against time to get Jack. The female pirate only hoped Jack was all right and hadn't been enslaved by anyone. She could not picture Jack working for anyone but himself.

Right at that moment, Will appeared at Anamarias' side. 'Should we stop off here?'

Anamaria thought for a moment. 'Perhaps. We are running short on supplies'

Anamaria went to the wheel and steered the ship toward the dock. Will nimbly jumped from the boat to the dock and took the rope with him. He tied a secure knot around the pole.

Will was soon followed by the rest of the crew. They all joined Will on the dock. 'Okay, what do we need?' he asked

'Everything' Anamaria replied, 'Fruit, meat anything we can get our hands on' the crew nodded and split up to cover the Brazilian markets more quickly and efficiently.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please Review, shall have the next chap up A.S.A.P