A/N: I'm on a roll here! Here's another chapter for my all my faithful readers!
obliviongates: It's a very handy ending indeed! Good luck getting through your writers block. Been there before, it really sucks. You better get rid of this writers block soon though! I can't wait a whole month until your next story comes out! I won't kill you, I promise. I'm not the murdering type. Brilliant chapter, eh? Thanks for the compliment! lol.
Pghal6: Yay! A new reviewer! I'm glad you liked my story. I didn't expect it to be as good as you say it is. Here's another chapter for you because you gave me such a good review!
Sexxi Guys My Anti Drug: lol! That's more than I can play on the piano. Yeah, guitar's cool but my fingers are pretty numb from playing so often lol. Glad you really loved that chapter. Hope you love this one just as well!
somegrl28: Don't worry I'll keep writing! Glad you like it!
DeeAurora: Glad you love it! I love WillOCs too. That explains why I'm writing one. lol. Thanks for the hugs and kisses and the review, lol!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Pirates of the Caribbean. I only own Anna Wilson and any other characters you don't recognize.
Chapter Eight: Isle de Muerta
The sun shone brightly over Port Royal. The whole town was happily bustling about and gossiping every chance they got. It wasn't the normal gossip, though. This was something big, something new and unexpected, something that could break the bindings of social classes forever. It was a miracle, a true story of the triumph of love over status. There was no doubt that the gossip would turn into an elaborate tale that mothers would tell to their daughters for generations.
It was a time of happiness, or so it seemed. While everyone busily prepared for the wedding to take place, Anna stood alone in an incurable sadness. Her mother hastily walked her down the road mumbling harsh words about such an improper match for the governor's daughter. Anna knew she should have fought back to her mother by now for what she was going to be put through, but the reality of the situation caused her to silently exist. She couldn't live anymore. It would be a huge understatement if she would call herself among the living.
"Would you hurry up, Anna?" her mother yelled making everyone around them turn and stare.
Anna nodded meekly as they approached the elaborate house of Lieutenant Matthew Anderson, her future husband. The staff of the house kindly greeted her and her mother as they walked into the parlor, awaiting the lieutenant. He walked in about five minutes later in his official naval uniform. He wore a powdered wig and no one could doubt that he was handsome. He greeted Anna with a polite kiss on her fingers that shook madly.
"I'm so pleased to see you Miss Wilson," Lieutenant Anderson said with a pleasant smile. But Anna saw lust behind his eyes. She realized that if she stayed here and gave into her mother's demands, she would be caged like a bird and ultimately dying, not of old age, but from uselessness.
Her heart began pounding madly in her chest and tears threatened to fall at the corner of her eyes. She breathed heavily and trembled as the parlor melted away to a chapel with many guests. She stood in a wedding dress in front of Lieutenant Anderson as he slipped a gold ring around her finger.
"No!" she screamed pulling her hand away as the world that seemed so real fell away to reality.
Anna sat straight up in a small bed in one of the small cabins on the Interceptor. Her cheeks were wet from tears and her chest heaved unevenly from her heavy breathing. The small cabin door opened. Will stood at the entrance looking into the room worriedly.
"Anna?" he said walking over to the bed.
Anna didn't reply. She closed her eyes trying to hold back tears.
"Anna…" Will said softly placing his hand on her shoulder.
"It was just a dream," she whispered to herself, trying to calm herself.
"What happened?" Will asked trying to make eye contact with Anna, but she squeezed her eyes shut. She stayed quiet. "Please, answer me," he almost pleaded with her.
She still didn't answer. Will touched her cheek gently and turned her head to face him. Anna couldn't help but make eye contact with him. Her eyes were glistening with tears. Will felt a pang in his chest seeing her this way. He didn't have to ask her again what happened. She leaned forward and buried her face in his chest and began crying softly. Will wrapped his arms around her delicate shaking body.
"Shh…it's over now. You don't have to worry about it anymore. It's all going to be okay," Will said softly.
His attempts at comforting Anna were fulfilled when she finally sat up and smiled slightly at Will. She wiped her cheeks dry once again.
"I'm sorry," she said looking away from Will, obviously embarrassed.
"Don't be," Will said softly brushing a hair out of her face.
"Thank you," she said quietly. She moved to get off the bed and found her ankle wrapped up in bandages for support. The events of the night before came back to her suddenly.
"Who brought me down here after I blacked out?" Anna asked Will.
"Anamaria," he said standing up and moving out of the way for her to walk out of the cabin. "She wrapped your foot too. Speaking of that, how did you hurt it?"
"I fell," Anna said quietly.
They walked up a small flight of stairs to the deck. An eerie fog settled around the ship. The air was deathly still. The crew was uneasily quiet. Many of them stood at one side of the ship looking at an island that was fairly close by. The water was scattered with drifting wood and parts of shipwrecks. Everyone felt chills down their spine during this leg of the passage. It was as though the very ghosts of Davy Jones's locker were roaming the ship.
"We're here," Will said distantly and walked over to Gibbs who was looking at the land.
"Dead men tell no tales!" Cotton's parrot squawked obnoxiously.
Anna glared up at it as though warning it to shut its beak or she'd do it for him.
"Puts a chill in the bones how many honest sailors have been claimed by this passage," Gibbs said as though he were telling a sailor's tall tale.
Will looked up to Jack who was standing at the wheel looking at his compass. Cotton stood next to him, staring at him for an awful long time. Jack snapped the compass shut and tucked it away in one of his many pockets.
"How is it Jack came by that compass?" Will asked Gibbs as he went to tighten a rope that was coming loose. Anna followed him along with Will, both interested in the answer.
"Not a lot's known about Jack Sparrow before he showed up in Tortuga with a mind to go after the treasure of the Isle de Muerta. That was before I met him, back when he was captain of the Black Pearl," Gibbs said taking a swig of rum in his flask.
Anna and Will raised their eyebrows in surprise finding out that Jack was once the captain of the Black Pearl.
"What?" Anna said astonished, but quietly so Jack wouldn't hear them talking about him.
"He failed to mention that," Will said suspiciously looking over at Jack at the wheel.
"Well, he plays things closer to the vest now. And a hard-learned lesson it was. See three days out on the venture the first mate comes to him and says everything's an equal share. That should mean in the location of the treasure, too, so Jack gives up the bearings. That night there was a mutiny. They marooned Jack on an island and left him to die, but not before he had gone mad with the heat," Gibbs said as animated as he could possibly manage without letting Jack hear.
"Ah. So that's the reason for all the…" Will said and imitated Jack rather impressively. Anna laughed quietly but was stopped as Gibbs glared at Will.
"Reason's got nothing to do with it," Gibbs growled. "Now, Will, when a pirate's marooned he is given a pistol with a single shot – one shot. Well it won't do much good hunting or to be rescued. But after three weeks of a starvin' belly and thirst, that pistol started to look real friendly. But Jack, he escaped the island, and he still has that one shot. Oh, but he won't use it, save on one man, his mutinous first mate."
"Barbossa," Anna said putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
"Aye," Gibbs said smiling.
"How did Jack get off the island?" Will asked skeptically.
Gibbs smiled. "Well I'll tell you. He waded out into the shallows and waited there three days and three nights until all manner of sea creatures came and acclimated to his presence. And on the fourth morning, he roped himself a couple of sea turtles, lashed 'em together and made a raft!"
Anna raised an eyebrow not believing this story at all. "He roped a couple of sea turtles?" she asked unbelievingly.
"Aye sea turtles," Gibbs said still smiling.
"What did he use for rope?" Will asked causing Gibbs to go speechless, for he did not know the answer.
The three heard footsteps coming closer and looked up to see Jack standing there with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
"Human hair," he said. Gibbs smiled proudly and nodded. "From my back," Jack finished making Anna grimace and Will raised his eyebrows.
"Let go of the anchor!" Jack barked at the crew.
"Let go of the anchor, sir!" the crew replied running to do their orders.
"Young Mr. Turner and I are to go ashore," Jack said quietly.
"What about me!" Anna almost screamed piercing the dead air with her voice. She was standing in front of Jack blocking his way.
He rolled his eyes. He knew the whelp would kill him if he let Anna come along but he also knew the raging wrath of an angry woman. "Fine, ye can come too. But don't expect us to be fightin' fer ye. Ye'll be defendin' yerself if ye get into trouble," Jack said walking past her and to a boat that they would ride on to shore.
"Jack, she can't come with us! She'll get hurt," Will argued.
"Stop tryin' to protect her, Will. She's got as much strength as the rest of us," Jack said making Will shut up immediately and Anna smile in victory.
Gibbs ran up to Jack hastily. "Captain! What if the worst should happen?" he asked.
"Keep to the code," Jack said strongly making Gibbs nod.
"Aye, the code," he said and walked away.
Anna looked to Will worriedly. "What code?" she whispered. Will shrugged and followed Jack to the boat. She could tell that he was just as worried about this code as her by the look in his eyes.
…………………
They rowed near the Black Pearl. They were close enough to see aboard with a spyglass but far enough so anyone aboard couldn't see them. Jack opened his spyglass and searched the deck for any pirates and Elizabeth.
"Is she there?" Will asked worriedly looking at Jack.
"No," Jack said knowing exactly where she was.
"Where is she?" Anna asked out of curiosity.
Jack snapped his spyglass shut. "It's begun," he said. He pocketed the spyglass and began rowing towards the cave.
"What's begun?" Will asked almost frantically.
"Relax, Will. We'll get yer bonnie lass, just like I promised," Jack said rowing inside the cave not seeming to care a whit about the safety of Elizabeth.
Will lit a lantern as Jack rowed farther into the cave where it was almost pitch black and the air was cold. They rowed by many skeletons with swords in themselves and threatening looking crabs. Will's eyes widened at a skeleton with a sword in its back. He immediately thought of the "code" Gibbs spoke of.
"What code is Gibbs to keep if the worst should happen?" Will asked thinking that maybe Jack would turn out to be a lying backstabbing pirate like the others and end up leaving him to die as "leverage."
"Pirates' Code, any man who falls behind, is left behind," Jack said making Anna's eyes widened. She wasn't comfortable with Jack anymore at that moment.
"No heroes amongst thieves, eh?" Will said ready to kick himself. He should have known that Jack wouldn't help him at all.
"You know for having such a bleak outlook on pirates, yer well on yer way to becomin' one. Sprung a man from jail, commandeered a ship of the fleet, sailed with a buccaneer crew out of Tortuga, and you're completely obsessed with treasure," Jack said as Will looked over the side of the boat at gold coins illuminating under the water.
They beached the boat and tied it up so it wouldn't float away. "That's not true," Will said replying to Jack's comment. "I am not obsessed with treasure."
Jack heard speaking from the other side of a wall. He climbed up a small ledge and looked out into an opening where the noise was coming from.
"Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate," he said smiling. Will ran up the ledge and looked out to the opening. Anna didn't need to go up. She knew that Jack was talking about Elizabeth and that she was standing just outside of our grasp.
"Elizabeth…" Will breathed. The tone of his voice made Anna stiffen from a sharp pain in her chest. She walked up the ledge to see what was going on. A dirty crew of pirates filled the cave and a man, who most likely was Captain Barbossa, stood at the top of a pile of gold. A chest was in the middle of it with a woman standing behind it looking around, terrified. Anna felt bad for her. She didn't want to but she did anyway.
"Gentlemen the time has come! Our salvation is nigh! Our torment is near and end!" Captain Barbossa said. "For ten years we've been tested and tried and each man jack of you here has proved his mettle a hundred times over and a hundred times again!"
The men gave up a cheer.
"Suffered I have!" one shouted in agony.
"Punished we were. The lot of us, disproportionate to our crimes. Here it is!" Barbossa said continuing with his speech and threw the lid off the chest, revealing Aztec gold coins and ran his fingers over the smooth metal. "The cursed treasure of Cortez himself, every last piece that went astray we have returned! Save for this!"
Barbossa pointed his knife at the medallion that hung around the neck of Elizabeth. She gasped in fright. Will went to lunge out to her but Jack stopped him.
"Not yet! We wait for the opportune moment," Jack said crouching down with Will and Anna behind a wall. He stood up and walked back down the ledge.
"When's that?" Will said angrily, following Jack to wherever he was going. "When it's the greatest profit to you?"
Jack stopped and turned around cautiously.
"May I ask you something? Have I ever given you reason not to trust me? Do us a favor, I know it's difficult for you, but please, stay here and try not to do anything stupid," Jack pleaded with a weak smile and kept walking forward. Will turned around to the boat and grabbed an oar.
"What are you doing?" Anna asked trying to reason with Will by grabbing his arm, but he shook her had off his arm. He walked up behind Jack and smacked him hard over the head with the oar, knocking him out.
"Sorry Jack, I'm not going to be your leverage," Will said and dropped the oar.
Anna jumped back in surprise and then ran forward to Will and stopped him again.
"What do you think you're doing?" Anna said outraged, her eyes flaring in anger.
"He was going to trade me for a ship, Anna! Tell me that I'm stupid for not wanting that," Will said glaring hard into Anna's eyes.
Anna looked down at her feet defeated as Will turned away and walked to the boats. Anna eventually followed and helped him as he hid the oars for the boats from the Black Pearl. They came back to an opening close to the chest of Cortez and watched as Barbossa cut Elizabeth's hand and dropped the medallion into the chest.
There was a long eerie silence as the pirates waited to see if the curse was lifted. They opened their eyes.
"Did it work?" a pirate said.
"I don't feel no different!" another pirate shouted.
"How do we tell?" another asked.
Barbossa rolled his eyes, pulled out his gun and shot one of the pirates square in the chest. He didn't die. The curse wasn't lifted.
"You're not dead!"
"No. He shot me!"
"It didn't work."
"The curse is still upon us!"
Barbossa turned to Elizabeth in a fury. "You, maid, your father, what was his name?" he asked holding her shoulders in a tight grip. "Was your father William Turner?" he shouted and shook her.
"No," she sneered at him.
"Where's his child? The child that sailed from England eight years ago, the child in whose veins flows the blood of William Turner, where!" he shouted in her face. She didn't answer.
Barbossa slapped her across her face, sending her tumbling down the hill to the ground. She was out cold as far as Will and Anna could tell from their positions.
"Stay here," Will said and went into the water and swam over to Elizabeth. He woke her up and quietly brought her back to where Anna was standing, with the medallion of course.
"Anna Wilson?" Elizabeth said recognizing Anna from the promotional ceremony.
"No time to talk, Miss Swann. We have to get Jack and get out of here," Anna said walking towards where Jack was lying unconscious.
"We're not getting Jack," Will said firmly and pulled Elizabeth to a boat with all the oars in it. Anna didn't follow.
"You can't just leave him here!" Anna started to shout but Will covered her mouth with his hand.
"Any man who falls behind is left behind," Will said even more curtly than before and pulled Anna to the boat. She struggled against his grip but he was too strong. She tried to climb out of the boat when Will let go of her, but it was no use. Will glared at her as she attempted it.
"You may very well stay here, then, Anna. But I doubt that Jack will save you from Barbossa's grasp," he said simply. Anna sat down in the boat with her eyes down. She felt as though Will had suddenly changed. He wasn't so gentle to her anymore, he was very forward and seemed to tell the full truth whether it hurt or not.
They rowed out of the cave, dropping an oar as they went along, making a line of oars to the Interceptor. Anna's head was down the entire way, regretting leaving Jack behind. She knew that they would be lost without Jack. He was different and very unorthodox, but he was smart. Smarter than Will, that's for sure. She wanted to hate Will for leaving Jack behind, but she couldn't find it in her heart. She didn't speak the whole ride back to the ship hoping that it would be enough to make her anger known without exploding.
A/N: How'd you like that chapter? Tell me by your great reviews that I love so much. lol. Okay, I have to stop talking before I get too full of myself. But review anyway! Hope you like this chapter as much as the last.
