1Chapter Seven-Sailing Away

A/N Sorry! I was down in San Antonio over the weekend at a French competition. My school sucked. Oh well, it was still fun and I met a guy that looked like Johnny Depp from 'Benny and June.' Woot! Hope you enjoy this chapter, I know I did! Je suis une petite crab!

Elli had landed in a tree. A tree! Of all things, it had to be a tree. Actually, she was caught in the tree, as she jumped over the balcony railing, her long nightgown had snagged on an out stretched branch and here she was, hanging from a tree by means of her nightgown.

Elli felt the blood rushing to her head and tried to free herself before it got any worse, but before she could do anything to free herself, a soft ripping sound filled her ears and Elli fell to the ground with a loud thud. She lay there for a few minutes, trying to catch her breath, finding it hard to breathe from the pain in her chest.

At last Elli managed to get to her feet, groaning and breathing heavily as she did so. As soon as she stood up, she looked down at her nightgown to see how bad the damage to it was. On one side it was almost normal length and on the other side it was ripped up to her thigh. Elli shrugged, at least nothing indecent was showing.

Elli looked back at the mansion for a minute, realizing that she had just left Elizabeth in there to fend off the pirates on her own, but Elli shrugged again and ran off for the town. Going back into the mansion would be a plead for death anyways.

The scenes that met Elli's eyes as she walked towards the town shocked her. People were running and screaming, trying to hide from the pirates and the cannons that were raining down upon the town. Hardly any buildings were still in tact, they were either burning or being destroyed by other means. The cries of a small little boy broke Elli's thoughts. She looked up and saw him standing in the middle of the town, frightened out of his mind and calling for his mother. Elli took off running, trying to reach the poor child before some vile pirate did, but to Elli's relief, his mother ran out of the crowd and swept him up in her arms, running off with him.

Elli sighed and then set about to taking care of herself. First of all, having a weapon or some other means of protection would help. As she looked around the town, Elli saw a blacksmith's shop out of the corner of her eye. She bolted towards it and flung the wooden door open. It was utterly still and quiet in the shop, although some of the sounds of chaos still were heard faintly. Elli crossed the room and began scanning the many racks of swords. There were many to chose from and Elli could've been there all night, but the fact that her life was in danger was enough motive to grab a sword and get out of there as fast as she could.

After taking care of that, Elli then decided it would be best to find better clothes than her muddy, torn, grass stained nightgown, but after observing the present state of the shops, Elli thought better of it and decided to get the clothes tomorrow if possible. Now the only thing left to do was find shelter and wait out the rest of this hellish night.

Elli looked off to the left where the harbor was and saw that (amazingly) the boats were untouched. After making sure no on was watching her, Elli took off to the harbor and climbed on board a sleek ship called the 'Interceptor' and found a cabin to stay the night in.

As I fought with the pirates, I noticed that they were exceptionally strong. And no, I wasn't pathetically weak, I was a strong fighter, but for some reason I couldn't seem to beat them as easily as I should be able to.

I had separated from Will again, we had agreed that it would be easier that way and although I told him not to worry about me, I couldn't help being a hypocrite and worry about him.

Finally I managed to stab my opponent through the heart and rushed off to find Will, my fear escalating. As I ran though, I saw a girl being dragged off by two pirates. I looked closer and saw that it was Elizabeth. She looked over at me, fear shining in her brown eyes and I saw her lips form the word 'help.' After seeing her I stood there in the middle of this chaos debating with myself. Should I help her? Should I let the pirates carry her off to whatever fate awaited her? Should I tell Will? As much as I didn't want to do that, I decided that I should.

"Elizabeth?" I heard Will call behind me. Or maybe I wouldn't have to tell him. He took off running and I followed him and over took him. I realized that whether I hated Elizabeth or not I had to save her, because she was what made Will happy and that's all I wanted right now, I just wanted him to be happy.

I looked behind me to see if he was following, but he wasn't anywhere to be found. I started to panic, feeling like my heart was going to beat right out of my chest. Backtracking, I began looking for him carefully, praying that I wouldn't find his body among the corpses of pirates that lined the streets. After a couple of nerve wracking moments, I saw him laying on the ground, knocked out I hope. I knelt down beside him and grabbed his wrist, searching for a pulse. I didn't find one and that panic returned. I couldn't lose Will, it would kill me. I laid my head against his chest and at last I found a faint heart beat.

I sighed deeply, relieved and sat back on my heels. As I looked down at Will laying on the ground, I realized that I did love him, I really did. It would've killed me if he had been dead because if you think about it, I really have nothing else to live for, no one else to live for, no one else that I care for as much as I cared for him.

But, I also realized that I could never tell him this, because he loved Elizabeth.

Dawn came quickly, making the sky a pale pink color and tinging the clouds a light lavender. It would've been a beautiful morning but the harrowing images of last night's events still lingered in the minds of the survivors and the dead bodies lining the streets and the awful stench the corpses gave off still lingered in the town.

I had been up most of the night, laying on the cold, hard ground pretending to be unconscious or dead so that the crazy, brainless, sex-deprived pirates would just leave me alone. After awhile though, the emotions pounding in my heart and the thoughts that were tormenting my mind were getting to be too much and I was seriously contemplating letting the pirates just killing me.

Those thoughts were forgotten though as soon as I felt Will stirring beside me. I sat up and he got to his knees, rubbing his head and wincing a little.

"Are you alright?" I asked him.

"Yeah, how about you?" He replied, slowing getting to his feet. I followed suit.

"I'm fine." I lied. I wasn't fine at all. Just being next to him was making a terrible pain in my heart form and grow. I wanted to hug him again, to touch him and have him make everything alright with me, even though he was part of the reason why I was in such pain. But, despite all that, I found that I couldn't make these feelings go away, no matter how much I blamed him for my pain, I still loved him.

Suddenly Will's eyes widened as if he remembered something.

"Elizabeth! She was taken by those pirates last night!" He cried suddenly.

"Yeah, I tried to help her, but..." I began. I stopped though as soon as I saw Will walk off to a small table where the Commodore, the governor and some officers stood poring over a map. I felt a sharp pain in my heart and pressed my hand to my heart, trying to make it stop, but I knew that's not what was going to make it stop. I followed Will reluctantly, now drawn to him.

"They've taken her, they've taken Elizabeth!" Will cried in a desperate, worried tone. I started wondering if he would be this worried about me if I had been the one who was taken. A large part of me thought not. He had Elizabeth, what did I matter to him?

"Mr. Murtogg, remove this man." The Commodore ordered dryly, not looking up from his map. One of the officers went to grab Will by the arm and drag him off, but Will snatched his arm away.

"We have to find her! We have to hunt them down." Will said.

"And where do you propose we start?" The governor cut in. "If you have any information concerning my daughter, please share it with us." Will fell silent at that.

"That pirate-Sparrow. He said something about the Black Pearl." Murtogg added helpful. Everyone looked up and either gave him a look of surprise or annoyance. What was so special about this ship?

"Make a deal with him, he could lead us to it." Will suddenly exclaimed, seeming to be proud that he thought of a plan. The Commodore however just waved a hand, dismissing the thought.

"No, the pirates that invaded Port Royal left him in his cell, ergo they were not his allies. We will establish a likely course and..." The Commodore was cut off by Will's sharp voice.

"That's not good enough!" He cried, slamming the hatchet down into the table. I flinched and laid a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him.

"Mr. Turner," the Commodore began, dislodging the hatchet from the table, "you are not a military man or a sailor. You are a blacksmith and this is not the time for rash actions." At that last remark the Commodore grabbed Will by the arm and yanked him out into the road. "Do not make the mistake in thinking that you are the only man here that cares for Elizabeth." He murmured and turned back to the governor.

Will stormed off down the streets to the prison and I had to run to keep up with him.

"Will! Hold on please!" I cried.

"Why are you following me anyways?" He snapped, not looking over his shoulder at me.

"Because-I-care-about-you!" I panted. He stopped in his tracks and turned to look at me. I caught up with him and stood in front of him.

"What does caring about me have anything to do with you wanting to come with me to save her?" Will asked in a gentler tone.

"Just that. I care about you and I want you to be happy and you aren't when she's not here, so I want to help you save her." I replied. Will looked at me as if he was seeing me for the first time.

"What about your own safety?" He asked after awhile.

"That doesn't matter to me." I assured him. 'Because I love you.' I added in my mind.

"Alright." He agreed after awhile and walked off towards the prison at a slower pace, allowing me to follow him.

We arrived at the prison and saw Jack laying on his back in his cell, staring at the ceiling.

"Hey, you're the pirate that was in the blacksmith shop." I said and pointed to him. He sat up and looked at me carefully.

"Hey look, it's the little girl and boy that got me in this mess." He replied.

"Are you familiar with the Black Pearl?" Will asked, ignoring that last comment.

"I've heard of it." Jack replied casually, laying back down again.

"Where does it make berth?" Will demanded. Jack sat up again and looked at him oddly.

"Where does it make berth? Have you not heard the stories?" He asked in reply. Will and I were silent at that.

"Captain Barbossa and his crew of miscreants sailed from the dreaded Isla de Muerta . It's an island that cannot be found except for those who already know where it is." Jack replied.

"Wow, how vague and not helpful at all." I muttered. Jack looked at me and Will smiled a little. I looked up, surprised. I didn't know I had said that aloud.

"The ship is real enough, therefore it's anchorage must be a real place, where is it?" Will demanded, getting impatient.

"Why ask me?" Jack replied.

"You're a pirate." Will muttered, looking at the ground. Jack smiled slowly, amused.

"And you want to turn pirate yourself?" He asked. Will lunged forward and clutched the bars of the cell.

"Never." He seethed. Jack's smile grew wider and more amused.

"The lass standing next to you is a pirate if you haven't noticed, I can see her brand." He pointed out. Will turned and looked at me with a look of shock on his face.

"Is it true?" Will whispered.

"What?" I replied, worried. This was so wrong! How was I a pirate?

"Look at the inside of her left wrist." Jack put in helpfully. I looked down at my wrist and saw a blood red letter 'P' on it. Will saw it also and fixed me with such a hard gaze that I took a step back.

"You...you're a pirate...you never told me." He stammered, his voice shaking with anger. I shook my head furiously.

"I can't be a pirate, I didn't know what that brand meant until now, I swear." I cried, not wanting him to hate me. That would kill me too. Will sighed and rubbed his head as if it hurt.

"So you hate pirates, but you're alright with pirate girls-I see how it is." Jack said suddenly.

"You are not helping at all." I hissed, glaring at him. He just shrugged his shoulders.

"They took miss Swann." Will explained suddenly. I guess he was just choosing to ignore this whole ordeal, which was a good thing and a bad thing at the same time.

"Well, if you are intending to brave all, hasten to rescue her and so win fair lady's heart-you'll have to do it alone mate, I see no profit in it for me." Jack replied casually. I sighed.

"You are so frustrating, why can't people just do a good deed and not ask for anything in return?" I demanded.

"If only the world were like that lass. But sadly, it's not." Jack muttered.

"I can get you out of here." Will interjected.

"How's that, the keys have run off." Jack replied dejectedly. Will looked irritated and I smiled a little. Jack would drive him mad.

"I helped build these cells." Will said, looking at the cell bars. "These are half pin-barrel hinges. With the proper application of strength and the right amount of leverage, the door will lift free."

"What's your name?" Jack asked out of nowhere.

"Will Turner." Will replied, looking like he wanted to ask Jack why he wanted to know his name, but he didn't.

"No doubt named for your father eh?" Jack asked another weird question.

"Yes." Will said.

"Hm, well Mr. Turner, I changed my mind. If you spring me from this cell, I swear on pain of death I will take you to the Black Pearl and your bonnie lass. Do we have an accord?" Jack then stuck his hand out through the bar.

"Agreed." Will said and pushed down on the table, making the cell door snap off it's hinges. I stared, wondering where he learned how to do that. I looked up at him and thought of how I could get on his good side again. He seemed really upset when he found out that I was a pirate and I wondered why he hated pirates so.

Jack had gathered his effects and was walking out of the cell. We followed him, walking a couple feet behind him. I tapped Will on the shoulder as we walked and he looked at me.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked in a soft voice, bracing myself for his answer. Will sighed, but then he smiled at me a little.

"No, I'm not mad at you Jordan." He assured me. I smiled brightly and hugged him quickly.

"Hey you two, this is no time for your various forms of affection. Hurry up now." Jack called over his shoulder at us. I let go of Will and we followed Jack, laughing at his choice of words. I looked at Will and smiled softly to myself. We were going on an adventure together and even though we were rescuing Elizabeth, I didn't think of it that way. Who knew what was going to happen while we were gone? Maybe Will would end up loving me instead.