Hey, sorry i didn't writ much as way of reply but like i said i had a bad day. Um, drive safe, live everyday to the fullest and dream BIG! PPL, DREAM BIG!
Chapter twelve-a whispered goodbye
Commodore Norrington sat in the Captain's cabin of the Dauntless, pouring over maps and such with Lieutenant Gillette. Both men were tired and ready to call it quits because it was well past one in the morning already. Little red dots littered the maps in various spots, all belonging to Sparrow. There were blue dots for Ethan Barbossa, green for Fredrick Marco and yellow for Edward Mulan.
"By all rumors sir, Mulan has now joined Sparrow." Gillette said, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "It's only a matter of time before those two cause more trouble and with Barbossa on the loose with Marco, things are looking bad."
"They haven't attacked any towns...yet. That's at least counting for something." Norrington replied. He'd been following Sparrow for four years and felt that he was at last close to catching the slippery bugger once and for all. Now, however, Sparrow had the Turners and, weather it was on their free will or not, they were on board and in danger.
"Barbossa's ship was spotted just outside here." Gillette pointed to a small coastal village. "Marco apparently met up with him there. Of course, you can always count on Sparrow to land himself in Tortuga and he was spotted there a few days ago." Norrington nodded and rubbed his eyes again, trying to rid them of their blur.
"Very well Gillette." He sighed. "You may leave for the night, we'll pick it up in the morning." Gillette nodded and left. Norrington laid his head on the table and fell asleep almost instantly, his dreams turning to Elizabeth like they did every night.
Bill sat in his corner, his head against the wall and his eyes tight shut. He was nauseated from the continuous rocking, lack of food and water and the continual beatings that left pain all over his body. Worse yet were the constant jeers of his old crew on the Black Pearl when one of them came to bring him what little food he was aloud.
"Lookie lookie." Ragettie jeered through the bars. "Yer awake, eh? Wan' some water?" And he threw the cup into the cell were it spilt all over the floor and sent the water into the cracks on the deck's straw covered surface. Bill watched it collect in the grooves between the planks and run in rivers down the deck towards him.
"Way to go." He said thickly, his voice cracking with thirst. "Now I have nothing to drink and you are in trouble with the cap'n. The only way I'm good to any one is if I'm alive."
"Actually." Came Ethan Barbossa's voice from the stairs. "Yer no good alive or dead." He came to rest at the bars, his hands clenched on the iron, Ragettie slinking away back into darkness behind him. "You haven't given me much and I am ashamed of you Bill...I really am." Bill smiled slightly. "We're almost there any how and I have a little surprise in store for the Black Pearl and for you."
"It's not y birthday yet." Bill said. "But thank you anyway." Ethan laughed roughly.
"Wit. You're brother has it to but I'm not sure about yer son, William. He's a fine lad." Bill's eyes narrowed.
"Shut up about my son you scum bag." He hissed. Ethan smiled.
"I have a surprise in store for him to, when I see him." He said. From behind him two men suddenly appeared from the darkness as if they were shadows suddenly becoming flesh. Each held a rope and left no doubt in Bill's mind what the ropes were for. "Tie him and let's get this started."
Jack woke slowly, his world trying to come into focus against a tide of pain that crashed inside his chest. It felt like he had been stabbed but when he looked there was nothing there, no bandages, no cloth...just his skin, whole and the same as it always was.
Elizabeth was in a chair beside the bed, her head back against the wall and her eyes closed, a small smiled on her lips. She was obviously having a good dream and, mastering the impulse to scare her awake, Jack slowly and silently sat up.
His chest ached harder then ever, a pounding that seemed to beat inside his ears to, so loud he was sure Mulan would hear it. Elizabeth didn't move or make a sound and so Jack got to his feet and moved across the room to find his boots. They weren't there by the door.
He turned swiftly and moved to the bed, getting to his knees and looking underneath. They weren't there either. He then noticed the room was clean. "Damn woman!" Jack growled under his breath, deciding he'd have to have the meeting with Mulan in his bare feet. Abandoning his cabin, Jack made his way to the deck and up to the wheel where Will sat talking with Gibbs in hushed voices.
"Where are my boots and what the hell happened to my cabin?" Jack asked, loudly interrupting their conversation. They both looked up, alarmed and obviously surprised at his sudden appearance.
"Jack." Will said, jumping to his feet. "We didn't hear you coming."
"Obviously. It's because I'm not wearing my boots. I had them last night and now they're gone, where are they and what the hell happened to my cabin?"
"Elizabeth happened to you're cabin Jack. When you're a married man you'll understand."
"I won't be a married man William, now where are my boots?" Will sighed and looked at Gibbs significantly before setting off towards the Captain's cabin with Jack right behind him.
"I'm sorry Jack, it's just that we needed to work a lot with you last night and we needed room to move. When we weren't tending to you we were cleaning...Elizabeth was cleaning."
"Working with me?" Jack asked as they entered the clean cabin. "What do ye mean working with me?" Will pulled Jack's boots out from beside the dresser and handed them to him.
"You were very ill last night Jack. We almost lost you a couple of times." A sudden yearning for the gold of Cortes hit him and Jack sank into a chair, waiting for it to pass and pretending to be fixing the bottoms of his shoes so Will wouldn't notice.
"Well I'm fine now so you can fix my room." Will smiled and went over to Elizabeth.
"I'm afraid you'll have no trouble doing that by yourself very soon Jack." He said. Leaning over, Will kissed Elizabeth on the lips and she woke with a start.
"What's wrong? Is he okay?" She looked over to the bed and Jack saw her eyes go wide before they moved across the room with Will's gaze and settled on Jack sitting in the corner of the room at the table.
"He's fine." Jack said, pulling on his boots. "But his cabin isn't. So, if you please, I need to change and get back to the order of things." He stood up and usured Will and Elizabeth from his cabin, ignoring the woman's protests. When he was done changing, he left his cloths on the floor near the door, just so in the case a crewmember got a glimpse in, they wouldn't think bad of him.
The two ships were coming together. The Black Pearl had stopped and was now waiting for the Blue Sphere to come along side her. Anamaria stood at the railing of the Sphere, the wind pulling her long black hair from her face. It was hard to keep her eyes on her old home and found that she needed to let them do their own thing and dart to the island a little ways away when ever they felt the need.
Jack was standing at the railing of his ship and, as the two ships were finally level and the Sphere stopped, they ended up face to face, both watching each other. Jack smiled slightly but didn't speak as he moved away from her and up the Pearl's deck to the plank that was being dropped. Mulan called over Anamaria and together they walked across to the Pearl with a few other crewmembers.
Jack and Mulan shook hands making Anamaria's stomach clench. There was something in Jack's eyes that she didn't like. There was a hidden pain there, a hidden secret and, as he looked over at her quickly, she suddenly remembered his voice in the dark the night before.
"Sparrow." Mulan said, extending a hand which Jack shook with two of his own. "Shall we?" Jack nodded, his jaw set so tight it looked like he had lockjaw. Elizabeth, who was watching from the railing, left Will's side and moved towards Anamaria who smiled slightly as when she saw her.
"Anamaria, can we talk?" Elizabeth asked under her breath as the two men moved away, Will joining them. Jack looked over his shoulder once at Anamaria before leading the way into his cabin. "It's about Jack..."
Anamaria raised a hand and looked deep into Elizabeth's eyes. "I have to go to the meeting, we'll talk later." Before Elizabeth could protest, Anamaria had joined Mulan at the door. She watched Mulan's hand move down Anamaria's back before she was pushed gently inside and the door closed.
"Now." Jack said, sitting down on one side of the table in the corner of his cabin, Will beside him. Anamaria sat down beside Mulan, directly across from Jack, her eyes in her lap. Jack, deciding he couldn't risk glancing at her, put his feet up on the table and blocked her from view. "Lets get on with it."
"Right." Mulan said blandly, glancing at Will. "Let's start with Bill. I know he knows what the treasure is."
"Bill was the only one who knew about it." He said, smiling. "Ain't that just the piss, eh?"
"Eh?" Mulan mocked him. "Yes, very. Continue."
"Okay. I got a letter from Bill a while back in Tortuga. It talked about the treasure of The Fated Parting. You know the story?"
Mulan sat forward in his chair, looking very interested. "I know the story...slightly. Why? Is it real?" Jack smiled and nodded. "How do you know?"
For an answer, Jack reached under the table and pulled out a small box. He set it on the table with a loud thunk and opened the lid. Anamaria stared at the items inside. The ring with a sparrow indent, the map with the five altars and the letter in French.
"I can't read this." Mulan said, picking up the letter and waving it in front of Jack's face. "It's nonsense."
"Well, no one said the French were not a nonsense race but, seeing as I can read, I shall read it to you." Jack took the letter back from Mulan and began reading it out loud in French. Anamaria sat there, listening to him, a strange feeling inside her. She'd never heard anything so sexy. He spoke clearly and quickly, his tongue wrapping around the foreign words as though he were born to speak them. Mulan sat there patiently for a few minutes before bursting out.
"I can't understand a damn word you're saying you bloody fool! Read it to me in English!" Jack stopped, a weird look in his eyes as though he had just thought of something...as though he'd just realized something.
He looked over at Anamaria who was watching him, flicking her eyes pointedly to Mulan with raised eyebrows. She was trying to tell him subtly to tread carefully around Mulan but she wasn't sure if she'd communicated it to him.
"Sorry," Jack muttered. "I forgot you can't read that can you...or understand. Very well." He laid the letter down and pulled out the ring. "This was how Bill told me it was him." He slipped the ring onto his finger and then pulled out the map. "And this is the map of the bottles." Mulan pulled the map towards himself and traced his fingers over it.
"All the bottles are cursed but one." Jack seemed to be weighing his words very carefully. With some it's the bottles...with some it's the potion inside. They contain the souls of female warriors or gods. The one I want is the special one...it brings back the lost."
"The lost? Anything?" Mulan looked up at Jack who nodded.
"Let's say someone's dead, you could bring them back." Mulan nodded. "If we get this, if you stay on my side I swear you'll have enough to bring back May, if that's what you're thinking." Mulan looked up sharply.
"Which one is it?" He asked. Jack shrugged and took the map back.
"I don't know, the letter doesn't say. Bill wasn't sure either. Or maybe he knew and he thought I'd figure it out." Jack shrugged and a sudden shiver ran over him. Will, Anamaria noticed, sat more perched on his chair, watching Jack through curious eyes. "One of these bottles, how ever, is the one I want."
"What will happen if you touch the others?" Mulan asked. Jack looked at him grimly.
"I don't know. We'll find out." Anamaria moved her eyes from the man across from her to Will, who now had the map and was looking over it with sharp eyes. Mulan pulled out a piece of parchment and looked at Jack.
"Do you have a quill and ink bottle." If Jack was taken aback by this he hid it well. Sighing, he got up and went to the cabinet, pulling out the wanted items and placing them in front of Mulan. "Thank you." He started writing, hiding it from Jack and Will. When he was done, he placed it back in his pocket and stood. "We must go Ana, come on." Jack watched Anamaria who stayed in her chair for a moment, watching him before rising.
When they were gone, Jack looked over at Will. "What are you looking at whelp?" He asked. Will looked up, surprised to see they were alone. Jack raised an eyebrow and Will composed himself quickly.
"Oh...um." Will squinted back at the map and then pointed at the direction sign in the far right hand corner. There was the north, east, south, and west pointers.
"What about them?" Jack asked, looking at them to.
"Well, the north. Look at it. It's different then the others."
"Usually." Jack said. "It's the most important."
"No, look at the prong pointing to the N." Jack stared at it and it suddenly hit him. His jaw dropped and he turned his gaze back to the main map, moving his fingers over the parchment surface to northern most bottle, the one that made the top point of the invisible diamond.
"This is it." Jack said. "This is the bottle, it has to be." Jack smiled and looked back at the north prong. The prong was in the shape of a diamond, so subtle he had never noticed it before. "You're more like you're father then I thought."
Mulan grabbed Anamaria's arm as the Blue Sphere moved away from the Pearl. He pulled her to his cabin and shoved her inside. "I saw the looks you were giving that two-bit idiot!" He snarled, pushing her onto the bed. Anamaria stayed still as he fell on top of her, holding her arms down.
"I was doing nothing! He's my old captain, we have small..." Anamaria was cut off by his mouth on hers.
"Shut up, the mood was ruined before, don't do it now." Mulan growled.
"What do you mean?" Anamaria yelled back, "I thought this was about Jack." Mulan smiled widely.
"We won't have to worry about Sparrow any more." He said. Anamaria's head snapped to the widow on her left. She could see the Pearl just out side of it. They were moving away, no longer following. He was going to take them around and shoot at the Pearl.
"No." Anamaria whispered. "No...you can't." Tears were welling in her eyes. "Oh god, Jack!"
"Cap'n." Gibbs was at the door. Jack and Will looked up at Gibbs who was sweating, mopping his brow with a handkerchief. "It's the Sphere sir."
"What about the Sphere?" Will asked, looking over at Jack who was still staring at Gibbs. "Jack?"
"They're attacking." He said, smiling. "The bastard is actually going to attack now." He began to laugh. "They're attacking now!"
"Have you taken the Mickey?" Gibbs asked, shaken from the doorway. Jack shook his head still laughing.
"I knew he'd do this. The moment he burst out at me like that." Jack said. "We're all about to die."
"You can't attack them." Anamaria said, looking up at Mulan. "You need Jack! He has the map!"
"No, I have the map." He pulled out the piece of parchment he'd been writing on in the cabin. "I have everything I need." Anamaria suddenly mustered up her strength and kicked up as hard as she could. She connected with his 'jewels' and he let out a pained moan, rolling off, clutching his groin. Anamaria took off, up onto the deck of the Sphere just as they were turning to shoot.
"No!" Mulan was suddenly behind her. Anamaria could tell by the commotion on the Pearl's deck that they knew what was about to happen. Mulan grabbed her and pulled her around to face him.
"You had to know that this was going to happen." Anamaria shook her head. "FIRE!" He spun Anamaria around and she watched as the cannon balls ripped into the sides of the Black Pearl, the crew of said ship rushing around to make their last gallant stand. Those poor bastards, it was a slaughter.
"Again, FIRE! Aim for the powder mag!" Anamaria watched in horror. The crew was rushing around, trying to load the cannons but Mulan had surprise and Jack had nothing. The crew were in disarray. Where was Jack?
The first blast had made Will, Jack and Gibbs look around to the solid wall of the Captain's cabin. A cannon ball ripped through the side of the cabin, ripping through the table, just missing Jack's leg as it passed. Jack hit the ground hard as pieces of debris floated over them, pummeling the bodies of the three men as they went. Outside, there were screams and calls of pain as men rushed around trying to help their crewmembers and load the guns to counter attack.
Jack felt a stinging on his stomach. He turned over and felt weakness spreading over him and a numb disbelief taking his place as he stared at his stomach. There was a large piece of wood embedded deep into his side. Will moaned and turned over, coughing as dust filled his lungs.
"Jack?" He asked, coughing harder and staring through the dusty air between them. When he saw the captain he looked shocked. "Jack? Oh my god..." He crawled over and placed a hand over Jack's side, the piece of wood in between his thumb and fingers. "Don't move."
"How can I not move when we're under attack?" Jack asked. Will's brow furrowed and he looked around the cabin. Most of the furniture was wreaked. The cannon ball had blown a hole through the right wall and taken out everything in its way until it exited through the left. Will stared through the right wall's hole and watched the Blue Sphere.
"Gibbs?" Jack called; trying to sit up but Will pushed him down. Gibbs' muffled voice answered.
"Under here." It said. Will crawled over, noticing as he did so, the amount of blood running into his eyes. Gibbs was under the dresser, which had been blown apart at the side and landed on him. "This is really heavy." A large amount of clothing was obscuring his face, muffling the noises from his mouth. "I can't breath." Will pulled off the cloths and smiled down at Gibbs.
"It'll be okay." He said bracingly, trying to pull the dresser up. "Come on, help me." Suddenly Jack was at his side, lifting to. Together, they managed to get the dresser up and freed Gibbs. "Jack, I told you not to..."
"I didn't hear you." Jack said. Still holding onto the wood with his one hand he staggered across the cabin and went out onto the deck. "All hands, prepare to return fire!" He yelled. Stebbins was at his side in an instant. Blood ran down his neck were there was a large gash and he was having trouble breathing.
"Sir, guns loaded. Awaiting the captain's firing order." Elizabeth was near the wheel, her hand on Moises's leg, which was spurting blood. The piece of wood that had cut him had hit an artery and he was bleeding out. Jack's eyes strayed on her for a moment before moving to the new crewmember, Marshal who lay dead a few feet away. He was only a kid. "Sir?"
"Anamaria's on the Sphere." He said. Stebbins looked over at the other ship whose cannons were moving. "Fire."
"FIRE!" Stebbins yelled. Both ships shot at the same time. The Black Pearl shuddered beneath them as the Cannons entered the powder magazine. Jack walked over the railing and leaned against it, knowing what was about to happen.
"Goodbye." He whispered.
The Blue Sphere shuddered as the cannonballs ripped into her wooden skin. Anamaria fell away from Mulan and got to her feet shakily, just in time to see the Black Pearl explode. "NO!" She screamed. The men on the Sphere screamed and yelled, happy with their accomplishment. Anamaria felt sick. She turned away from the scene and slid down the side of the railing onto the deck, nausea rising inside her. "Jack...god, Jack."
Mulan got up and began shouting orders. "All hands, assess damage. I want a full report." He grabbed Renalds. "Check Turner, make sure he's still alive." Then he caught sight of Anamaria. "And you, my lovely lady. We have a date to finish." Anamaria shook her head and stood up, her body shaking.
"Never." She whispered and, before they could stop her, she'd jumped into the water. Mulan looked around at the men grouped at the railing.
"Shoot her." He said.
DUN DUN DUN!!!!!
Stress over Jack! Poor Jack! Anyways:
Beautifully Immortal: Hey, it was so cool to see a new reveiwer, i'm glad you like it so far. About the whole lazy thing, i do it all the time, nothin to be ashamed of but i'm even more lazy and do annonomys if i can so...Enough more's? I'm only one person you know! Sorry bout the paragraphs, it's my comp, not me honest! Thanx and keep reading!
Sirhcevoli: Rockin' name, how do you say it? Anyway, Killing Jack...am i that cruel? Well, ya i am...please keep reading, you'll see.
Alteng: Finally, someone who i know! Oh ya, exceptianoal. I like firey women as my characters, you have to be weird to be a woman, so as not to fall into the 'role of normal'. Ya, poor jack. Thanx, keep reading, it gets better
typically Head-Over-Heels: Hey, cool, a new reviewer! Again! Sweet... Sorry it took me so long, in my review you sounded frantic. I hope this is fast enough. Please keep reading.
Gaze: hey, nice to see ya. best chappy yet? you think. ya, i wasn't really shure if i should have them on different ships but then i just wrote it so...Jackbraindamage? Maybe...maybe...beleive in jack and he'll pull through.
DragonHunter200: Fav lines! i love when you do that! you make me laugh with you comments. p.s, i've been meaning to review and read your other chapters. i'll read to night, i promise. Mulan is a dick. sex scene...or lack of it, was the most sexy thing i have ever written but, it'd be better with jack. please keep reading.
kungfuchick: i miss read your name at first. you can let your imagination go wild with what i thought it was. almost, not quitei agree. keep reading.
