The door slammed shut behind us as Jack and I entered the dusty wooden and stone building. Jack sheathed his sword as we both looked around. There wasn't a soul in sight. I followed Jack as he walked over to the anvil, took off his hat, and put it on the workbench. When he picked up one of the hammers there was a sudden noise from behind us. We whipped around and located the source of the sound. Mr. J Brown, blacksmith and drunkard, was sound asleep sitting on a barrel. His body was propped against the wall and he had one foot up. The man was snoring slightly. A bottle of rum lay spilled by his side, having fallen out of his limp hand.
Jack cautiously approached Mr. Brown, hammer in hand. He tapped on the sleeping man's chest. Brown stirred slightly but did not wake. Jack made a move as if to leave, stopped, and shouted at the sleeping form in another unsuccessful attempt to wake him, and succeeding in satisfying himself that the man would not wake easily. I tried in vain to suppress a giggle.
"Come on, let's get that chain off, or at least cut it," I said. Jack walked back over to the anvil. "You work at it, I'll keep watch," I told him. The pirate nodded. I went back to the door and stood beside it, awaiting Will's arrival.
Meanwhile, my assignment was having an extremely difficult time trying to cut the chain using the hammer on the anvil. I was finding all this very amusing, but I refrained from laughing out loud because I knew it would do nothing to help Jack. Pausing to wrestle in frustration with his bonds, Jack noticed the large wooden machine off to one side and realized how he could use it to sever the chain. There was just the simple manner of getting the donkey hooked up to the device moving. The pirate easily solved this problem by heating up a bit of metal and prodding the animal, at my suggestion. Once the heavy wooden gears and wheels were in motion, Jack looped the chain over one gear above his head. When that gear interlocked with another gear, the chain was cut, and not a moment too soon.
"Jack!" I called. "Hide!" The latch on the door was lifting. The pirate ran and ducked away in a hidden spot. Will Turner entered the smithy right after. I stood frozen to the spot, even though I didn't need to. There was tension thick in the air, and I was pumped with adrenaline in anticipation. As Will looked around the room and jumped down the step to still the donkey, I cast my thoughts ahead to the sword fight and decided that I would not take part in it if I could help it. I was happy to sit on the sidelines and watch.
Will walked through the shop, taking off his coat. He stopped when he saw the sleeping, useless heap that was Mr. Brown. "Right where I left you," the young man sighed. Then he turned and approached the anvil, tossing his coat to one side as he did so. It nearly hit Jack as the pirate captain silently snuck up from behind, his sword drawn. Will frowned at the hammer left carelessly on the anvil. "Not where I left you." Then he noticed Jack's hat, which was still perched on the workbench. When he made the move to grab it, Jack slapped the back of his hand with the flat of his blade. Will whipped his head up to find himself at the business end of the pirate's sword. Jack began to back the unarmed man towards the door and me.
"You're the one they're hunting," Will realized, trying to make sense of Jack's sudden appearance. "The pirate!" He spat the word 'pirate' out as if it was a curse word or an insult, but for Jack, it was a part of his title, his identity and his life. The word was no insult for him, it was the truth. Jack studied the young man's face.
"You seem somewhat familiar. Have I threatened you before?" he asked, his tone sounding very casual.
"I make a point of avoiding familiarity with pirates," Will responded.
"Ah," Jack said. "Well, it would be a shame to put a black mark on your record." He made brief eye contact with me over Will's shoulder. "So if you'll excuse me." The pirate turned to get his hat. Will used the opportunity to grab a near-by sword and point it at the back of Jack's head. Hearing the scraping sound as the sword was released from its holder, Jack turned around again, but he kept his sword down.
"Do you think this wise boy? Crossing blades with a pirate?" He sounded utterly confident and unafraid of the young blacksmith.
"You threatened Miss Swann," Will accused in a whisper. Jack brought his sword up and scraped it up and down Will's, making a most satisfying and dangerous metallic sound.
"Only a little," Jack said. There was a pregnant pause, and then Jack struck, thrusting his sword at Will. The weapons clanged together as they hit almost too fast to see. The two men were edging towards me. Will was able to block every move Jack made. The blacksmith swung at the pirate twice, and missed him both times. I heard a whistle escape from Jack's lips. Then the two were at it again, edging away from me. This time, Jack was on the defense. When they got back to about where they had started, they paused.
"You know what you're doing, I'll give you that," Jack commented, his sword down. "Excellent form. But how's your footwork?" The pirate raised his sword again and cross-stepped to his right. Will matched him, also moving to his right so the two ended up moving in a circle. "If I step here..." Again the swords clanged together almost too fast to see. I let myself rise up a foot or two into the air, totally caught up in the excitement of the scene in front of me.
Jack gave Will a compliment. "Very good." I had to agree. He really was that good. "And now I step again," Jack said as he swiftly moved to the left, Will mirroring him again. Swords clanged and swished, and Jack ended up with his back to me. I was still in the air in front of the door.
Jack made another lunge forward, almost like an explanation mark, forcing Will back a step as he blocked the blow. "Ta," the pirate said, having achieved his goal of unblocking his path to the door. He turned, sheathed his sword and scampered up to the door. Before he could open it however, Will hurled his sword.
I gasped in surprise and pain as I felt the cold metal pierce my chest. I looked down to discover Will's sword sticking out of my body. It had gone right through, pinning me to the door and making it so that the latch on the door couldn't lift up. The sword had just missed going through the back of Jack's head. I was obviously not as lucky. The weapon pierced right through the center of my breastbone. I did not die though. I didn't even bleed. I was just trapped there, unable to move anywhere.
The sword was vibrating quite painfully from the impact. Jack looked at me and the sword, frowning mainly is surprise and partly in disbelief. He grabbed the hilt and tried franticly to pull it out. It did no good and it hurt like hell. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Just finish him off and get out of here," I hissed at Jack through my teeth. I was understandably pissed off, not only at Will but also at myself. I knew I shouldn't be mad at Will so much. It's not like he was purposely aiming at me. He couldn't see me. I was cursing myself big time though. I knew Will was going to throw the damn sword, but I was so caught up in the battle that I had temporally forgotten. I also knew what the end result of this fight was going to be, but I couldn't let Jack know that.
The pirate turned to confront the blacksmith. I sighed and rested my head on the wood behind me, feeling like an idiot. Will had a confident look on his face. I felt the urge to give him the finger, but I restrained myself. Even if Will could see the rude gesture, I'm not sure he would even know what it meant.
"That is a wonderful trick," Jack said as he stepped back town towards his opponent. (I think this comment may have also been directed at me, but I don't know that for sure. It was a neat trick on my behalf, really.) He used a cart propped up against the stairs as a ramp down. "Except once again, you are between me and my way out." Will backed up towards the forge. "And now..." Jack drew his sword again. "You have no weapon."
Will reached around behind him and grabbed an unfinished sword that had been resting partly in the fire. The tip of the metal glowed red hot as he pointed it at Jack, whose confident smile vanished. At the sight of the glowing sword, the donkey began to walk again; making the great wooden gears turn once more.
Will and Jack fought once again. Sparks flew whenever Jack's sword struck the tip of Will's. Eventually, Jack was able to disarm the blacksmith. Will somersaulted away and found another sword. The two were now dodging among the moving wooden gears, striking and blocking blows.
Jack noticed that there seemed to be swords everywhere. "Who makes all these?" he demanded as the men fought around the wooden beam that stood between them.
"I do," Will responded. He seemed quite proud to say so. Clang! went the swords on one side of the beam. "And I practice with them..." Clang! on the other side. "Three hours a day." Clang! In my opinion, it showed.
"You need to find yourself a girl, mate," Jack said. I grinned. They managed to clear themselves of the machine, Will grabbing another sword and Jack nabbing a hammer in the process. He threw it at Will, who dodged it and lashed with the two swords. Jack blocked both of them in the air above their heads with his weapon. "Or," Jack continued as they held that pose for a moment. "Perhaps the reason you practice three hours a day is that you've already found one, and are otherwise incapable of wooing said strumpet." There was a pause as a thought crossed the pirate's mind. "You're not a eunuch, are you?" he asked, glancing down. Again, I couldn't help but smiling wide, despite my impalement.
Will was less then amused. "I practice three hours a day so that when I meet a pirate, I can kill him!" he said. An excited light flashed through Jack's eyes. Now he had no doubt what he was really up against and what the young man's intentions were. Will swung his swords as Jack backed up onto the ramp. When Will followed him, the blocks that had kept it steady were knocked away and suddenly the men found themselves standing on a giant seesaw. Still, both of them managed to keep their balance as they continued to fight.
Will managed to slip one of his swords through the chain that still hung from the iron around Jack's left wrist. When he realized this, the thrust the sword into the wooden beam above them, trapping the pirate. Will stepped back and ducked as Jack swung his cutlass in an attempt to slice the blacksmith open. Seeing where his opponent was standing, Jack stomped on a board, causing it to swing up and hit Will in the face. He fell back and landed hard on the floor. Jack heaved himself up, placing his feet on the beam as he used all of his body weight to pull the sword out. Will had recovered from his fall and stepped back onto the seesaw just a Jack fell, catapulting the young blacksmith up into the rafters. Jack rolled and hit his read on the steps. Recovering quickly, he sprung up and stepped onto the ramp again, looking for his opponent.
"Look up!" I shouted to the pirate. He followed my guidance and smiled as he spotted Will standing above him. Will sliced through a rope that held a heavy weight aloft. It fell onto the seesaw and Jack too was launched into the air. He only just caught the rafter with his arms and managed to heave the himself up the rest of the way. Now the two men faced each other, leaping from one rafter to the other, both managing to keep his balance. Then they fought, clashing swords as they shuffled along the wood. Eventually Will knocked Jack's sword aside. It clattered to the ground below.
Jack made a face and jumped off the rafter, grabbing onto it with his hands so he ended up doing a sort of a flip. He landed on a ledge above the forge. Will, on the other hand, astounded me as he back flipped off the beam and landed on his feet like a cat. (Or an Elf.)
He ran towards the pirate. As he did, Jack grabbed the cloth bag that caught the hot ashes and wood dust from the forge and thrust the end of it in Will's face. The blowing, hot dust temporally blinded him. Jack kicked Will's sword out of his hand and jumped down, drawing his pistol. Will had recovered enough to find a pair of metal tongs to use as a weapon, but when he turned around he came face to face with Jack's pistol.
"You cheated!" Will stated accusingly.
"Pirate," Jack simply said, as if that were the perfect answer. I smiled, but that was quickly wiped off my face as the Navy men on the other side of the door began pounding on it, trying to get in. I gasped and cried softly in pain and cursed the Navy. Will leaped to block Jack's only other escape route. "Move away!" the pirate ordered.
"No," Will said.
"Please move?" Jack said, coming close to pleading.
"No!" the blacksmith insisted. "I cannot just step aside and let you escape." the Navy banged harder on the door, distracting me from the two men as I struggled not to scream. I heard the recognizable sound of Jack's pistol being cocked.
"This shot is not meant for you," Jack said, giving Will one last chance to back down. I saw Mr Brown come at Jack from behind, the rum bottle raised in his right fist.
"Jack!" I shouted. But I was too late! The bottle smashed as Brown struck the back of the pirate's head. Jack fell forward, knocked out cold.
Just then, one of the Navy men kicked the door open, and a scream of pain escaped from my throat. They came charging into the room, followed by Norrington. I couldn't help but heave a sigh as they surrounded the unconscious pirate lying on his stomach.
"Excellent work, Mr Brown," the Commodore said. "You've assisted in the capture of a dangerous fugitive."
"Just doing my civic duty, sir," Brown slurred. I saw the expression on Will's face. "Oh, and I did nothing," he seemed to say. I smirked.
"Serves you right," I said, feeling the blade sticking out of my chest with my hand.
"Well, I trust you will always remember this as the day Captain Jack Sparrow almost escaped," Norrington remarked, throwing Jack's bold comment right back at him. "Take him away," he commanded his men. They did so, heaving Jack up and taking his hat, sword and pistol.
Will walked up to me, wiping his face. He reached up and after some tugging at the correct angle, dislodged the sword that was pinning me to the wood. I grunted in pain as I was freed. "Gee, thanks," I remarked in a monotone voice. I drifted to the floor and rubbed the spot on my chest and back where I had been impaled. I still felt very sore, but I knew there would be no lasting damage, just perhaps a faint mark on the entry and exit wounds.
"I didn't know I could do that," I mused to myself. I sighed again. "Oh well. On with the story." I left the shop and followed the soldiers and my assignment to the prison in the fort.
AN/ Sorry about that Elf bit. I just couldn't help myself! When I saw that part of the movie in slow motion, that's exactly what I was thinking.