Clouds of black cover the sea
Day turns into night
Infinite darkness beckons me
No more sun, no more light

- Amon Amarth

It was early afternoon only a few days after 'Freedom' and 'The Black Pearl' had parted ways. Doll and Rolf stood at the prow, Doll talking animatedly, her waving hands indicating that she was once again retelling the story of the cleric and the altargirl. Jack watched them from his place at the helm, a shadow in his usually glittering eyes. For three days this girl had evaded him. Oh, she was polite, but always seemed a little frightened, and tended to stay close to Rolf, whom she had obviously taken a liking to.

His eyes narrowed, but his solemn train of thoughts was cut off as the door to the captain's cabin slammed open. Delila came running out with Will hot at her heels. The girl swung around, sword in hand and parried Will's playful attack. Will's blade swung around and pushed hers down, trapping its tip in the wooden deck. Then he turned towards Jack, scowling, but with laughter in his eyes.

"Jack… what exactly have you told your daughter about me?"

"Told?" Jack attempted to look innocent, which he technically was as he wasn't actually accused of anything yet. "Jest stories 'bout yer… heroic heroicness in the heroic battle and… the heroism that you…"

"Eunuch!" Delila hollered, poking Will's rear with her sword. The blacksmith spun around and swung the flat side of his sword towards her. She parried again, and a frantic swordfight ensued. At the prow, Rolf and Delila were laughing either at the fighters or something private. But now Jack's scowl had shifted focus as he watched the swordplay in front of him. The whelp liked a bit of pirate in his partner; Jack'd have to keep an eye on things. His eyes drifted between the two "couples", and he almost felt a bit left out.

Luckily for him – or maybe not – something was about to change that.

Delila hadn't felt this good in a very long time. She had her ship, her father, and not to mention her new friends. And to top it all of she even had a nice swordfight. Will was a worthy opponent, quite unlike her father, who was famous for his dirty tricks. Although Delila had inherited many of her skills from him, she'd never really mastered the ability to fence like a pirate. To her fencing was almost an art, something filled with grace and honour. She'd never managed to turn her father around to her ways of thinking; Jack never stopped making her head spin with his awful chicaneries. But this was quite different. The man really knew how to fence. Especially for a eunuch. Bellowing the last part out loud, she couldn't help laughing at the reaction it caused in the former blacksmith.

"He has a temper! Who would've thought?" She smiled to herself, dodging the blows of her sparring-partner. Delila recoiled slightly, as if to retreat, and abruptly launched an attack of her own, certain that she had the victory in her grasp, when she suddenly felt the ship jerk violently, sending her, arms flailing, into the arms of a very bewildered Will. The pain that blossomed in left her wrist, as they hit the deck with full force, hardly registered in her mind. She lifted her head, gazing at the sky, eyes filled with fear. She screamed. "STORM!"

Doll was sitting on the railing and almost fell overboard when the ship suddenly moved. Rolf grabbed her arms and pulled her onto the deck, and she looked fearfully up at the quickly darkening sky. The waves that had been brushing gently along 'Freedom''s side were now lifting the ship up and throwing it down like a rag-doll, and they seemed to be growing even bigger.

"Down to the cabin, miss! Hurry!" Rolf pulled her towards the door to the cabin she was sharing with Lijah. Suddenly a wave hit the other end of the boat, washing over Jack. Doll panicked, certain that it had thrown him over board, and without thinking she twisted out of Rolf's grip and stumbled across the unsteady deck. Her father and Lijah were at the mast, getting to their feet after the impact. Crewmembers were getting in her way, and Doll pushed her way past them and what seemed like a million ropes blocking her path. She heard her father call her name, but she had finally reached the stairs up to the helm and clambered up them, clinging to the railing as she looked down at the sea. No Jack. He had been thrown over board and drowned, and she was the only one who had seen him and now he was…

Another wave hit her from behind, sweeping her up and sending her towards the fathomless depths she thought had swallowed Jack.

In a split second she was hauled in, across the deck and up to the wheel. Jack glared at her. "T'hell did ya do that for!" Then he pulled her in front of him so she was safe between him and the wheel, looking at the deck below and the raging storm around them.

"Can't get ye to the cabin now, y'gotta hang on!" he yelled into her ear. Doll's fingers gripped the wheel tightly, and she gritted her teeth as another wave washed over both of them. She lost all sense of time; all she knew was the wheel, her safety, under her fingers, the mind-numbing fear and the freezing wind biting and blowing right through her soaked clothes. And she felt the pirate behind her, safe and steady in the storm, and she suddenly knew that she would never be afraid of him again.

Chaos. There was no other word that could describe what was happening around him. Will hadn't been able to get his bearing after the forceful rendezvous with the deck, and by the time he'd taken in the word 'storm', it was already upon them. Delila had run off; face set in grim determination, leaving him alone by the railing. All around him crew was scurrying to and fro, trying to secure the ship and keeping the storm from tearing their ship apart. He tightened the rope around his arms, feeling the coarse material against his skin, burning like fire. He looked around, but to no avail, the rain lay like heavy curtains around him.

"Dolores!" he cried, searching desperately for his little girl. But not matter how much he cried, there was no answer. Only the occasional cry of the pirates, and the thunder rolling across the sky.

"Doll! DOLL!" He was getting frantic. He'd already lost his wife, the thought about losing his precious daughter nearly drove him mad. The rain was pounding against his body, almost driving him back against the churning waves. He could feel the sea roaring in his ears, and suddenly Will felt as if he couldn't breathe. His whole body went lax, loosing the grip on the rope. As he felt it slip between his fingers, he braced himself for the grave that had also claimed him father, but instead of the cold embrace of the water he felt the solid grip of two small hands. He looked up at the young girl clutching at his arm, yelling and cursing at him.

"I told you to get off the deck, not jump off it you bloody fool!" Delila was cold with fear, she's assumed that the man had enough wits to actually follow her orders, but it seemed he'd been more out of it than she'd thought. "You can't stay here! We have to get you inside!" she started to drag him towards the door, but he felt heavy in her arms, and made no motion to help lighten her burden. She did the only thing she could think of, and slapped him straight across the cheek.

Will felt a sharp sting, and suddenly the world materialized around him. The wind and rain came rushing back, nearly knocking him off his feet again. He took a deep breath, filling his burning lungs with fresh air. "Doll?" he gasped, looking at the girl standing over him, clutching her hand.

"Jack," she said, offering no further explanation. "There is no time. You have to get beneath the deck." She pushed him before her against the door, making no time for excuses or resistance. The last thing Will saw before the door was closed before him was Delila's exhausted smile. "You're jut going to have to put your trust in him. She's in good hands."

Doll saw Lijah get her father to safety, and breathed a sigh of relief. But… what about Lijah herself? No, she was going back onto the deck! Stupid girl, she could drown!

She could barely see through what was either rain or just the waves breaking over the ship like the entire Caribbean Ocean was trying to fit in it. Doll watched in awe as Lijah joined the rest of the crew with the rigging and – whatever it was they were doing. She didn't understand half of it, just that it was what they had to do to get through the storm. She also noticed that Rolf always stayed close to Lijah. It seemed to be accidental, but wherever she was, he was close enough to touch – or rather grab her if she lost her grip. That made Lijah a bit less worried.

Slowly, the storm subsided. From a roaring chaos to just a whipping, merciless wind to absolute calm, until the clouds parted and the sunset glittered over the ocean. Jack let go of the wheel and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Y'can let go now, luv."

Doll looked at her fingers. They were definitely there, holding the wheel very tightly. The problem was that her brain disagreed and claimed that there were no fingers present. She tried to yank them off by tugging with her bodyweight, but they seemed very intent on holding on. Finally Jack's fingers closed over hers and pried them from the wheel. Her knees gave in then, but he caught her and lifted her up, then carried her down to the cabin where Will was waiting. She managed to smile at him, and she might have said that she was fine, but then everything went dark.

Puh, close one!