A/N: howdy, y'all! this chap was almost 3 pgs longer, but i took out the last 3 b/c it made the chap.2 long. hope u like it neway!! have fun, ya'll!!
DISCLAIMER: i guess i better come out and say that i do not own jack sparrow. even if i wish i did; i don't.
----------------------
"A-HA!!" shouted Darunia, early the next morning. "Link, I think I can see it!"
"Where?" Link asked, getting out his telescope.
"Right--over--there," Darunia said.
"Oh, that's descriptive."
"It's by Hook's old hideout--see, the rock that looks like a skull? It's just about north-northwest of there." Darunia got his telescope out again.
"Yep, that's it all right," Link said, nodding. "Good job, Darunia .... they should be dropping anchor any minute now..."
Indeed, the two of them saw the ship come to an eventual halt. A rowboat was lowered down the side of the ship, and Link saw two men shimmy down ropes into it.
"Um....pardon me for asking, but don't they get into the boat before it gets lowered?" Darunia inquired.
"Nah, they like shimmying," Link said. "Hardest event to get into in the Sailor's Olympics, so Kishik likes his men to practice it every chance they get ... okay, now here's the plan: as soon as those two buffoons are about to make shore, we get down there and pretend we haven't seen them--we've got our backs to them, you see--and then, before they can breathe a word, we ramble about Zelda and how we've been givin' her the time of day, all right?"
"Got it," Darunia sighed.
Link frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm just afraid something might go wrong. I mean, what if--what if they know we've seen them? What if they say something before we do? What if we don't get down there in time? What if--"
"What if the island exploded? What if there were people living on Polaris? What if Bootstrap Bill's son is alive and in love with the governor's daughter??! See how stupid these 'what ifs' sound? Just calm down, Darunia. I know what I'm doing. And if it doesn't work, it's my loss; not yours."
Darunia looked at him. A slow smile crept onto his face. "All right, let's do this thing!"
"That's the spirit, mate." Link was grinning as well, and his hand brushed against the sword at his belt. He had traded in his green tunic for a black one (hence the name the "black bandit"--the "green bandit" does not sound quite as threatening); but he still wore his gypsy's bracelets and rings.
"Okay," Link said, as they made their way down the hill they'd been spying from. "As soon as we get their rowboat, we'll go back to the ship, and--"
"Woah, hold on a second," Darunia interrupted. "Back to the ship? Are you saying that you want to steal THAT?!"
"Well, yes," Link answered matter-of-factly. "What do you think we're doing?"
"I thought you wanted to steal the rowboat, not the ship itself!!" Darunia shouted. "When you said that last night, I wasn't--I didn't think you were serious!!"
"Darunia, you can't go about saving Princesses in little rowboats," Link sighed with exasperation. "You've gotta have class. Style."
"You gotta be alive," Darunia pointed out. Link ignored him.
"C'mon, let's get closer," he said. He watched carefully as the two scouts landed on shore. "There they are...okay, let's go. Act casual."
As casually as they could muster, Link and Darunia strolled out of their hiding spots, pretending not to notice the other men.
"Jolly good day for a flogging, wouldn't you say?" Link said rather loudly.
"Eh, quite," Darunia agreed, glancing at Kishik's men for a fraction of a second. "What say we, uh, flog .... the Princess?"
"Who, Zelda?" Link asked. "That's a good idea. We should suggest it to Flynn. You know how impatient he's been with her, ever since last night--"
"OH YES, LAST NIGHT," Darunia said loudly.
Link stared at him. "Yeah, that's the problem with Captains. Don't ever let the crew have any fun with the damsels that we kidnap. Shame, isn't it? That poor girl, trapped on a boat of SHAMEFUL, WOMEN-DEPRIVED, DIRTY pirates, eh? Too bad for her she's so pretty, eh?"
"Yeah, too bad!" Darunia said. Then he broke out in loud laughter. Link joined in, and they slapped each other on the back as they roared.
"Oh NO!!" one of the Prince's men whispered to the other. "Did you hear that?? They've got the Princess!!"
"Yeah, I heard 'em!" the second said with worry. "Quick, I don't think they saw us! Then we can make it back to the ship and tell Kish--"
"I don't think so," Link said, turning around abruptly, sword drawn. "You two are staying right here."
"Uh, yeah!" Darunia seconded weakly, not knowing this had been Link's plan. "You better not move."
"It's the Black Bandit!!" one of the men said in scared awe. "And .... his FRIEND!"
Darunia grimaced and Link grinned. "Admirable grasp of the situation, good Sir," he said politely. "Now...allow us onto your little boat or else there will be disasterous results for both of you."
"We refuse!" the braver of the two men remarked, standing confidently, with his sword drawn. "On guard, scallawag!!"
--On The Ship--
"All right, prepare to pull up anchor," Kishik said, pulling on a pair of thick gloves. "Snyder and Johnson will catch up with us soon."
"Uh, your highness, I believe we have a problem," his first mate said, pointing on shore.
Brow furrowed, Kishik walked swiftly to the side of the ship and gazed towards shore. He gasped. "Wha--" He took out his telescope, and gasped again. "I knew it!! The Black Bandit! What's he doing fighting my me--DIN HAVE MERCY!! HIS .... FRIEND JUST STABBED SNYDER!! Williams, call all men on deck!!"
The first mate shook his head nervously and ran about the ship, blowing on a whistle. "ALL HANDS ON DECK!! ALL HANDS ON DECK!!" Nervously, Williams banged his foot on the area above the ship's pub, once again shouting "ALL HANDS REQUIRED ON DECK--IMMEDIATELY!!"
Kishik frowned in disgust and stood with his fists on his hips as all of his men scrambled to position on deck. Soon enough, they all stood in front of him in a straight line, awaiting furthur instruction.
"It would seem that there has been a slight disturbance in our plan," Kishik announced. He paced up and down the line, hands clasped behind his back. "It seems that the Black Bandit has held up our two scouts, and--"
"YOUR HIGHNESS!" came a voice from below them. Kishik once more ran to the side of the ship, and saw Johnson shouting to him from the rowboat below.
"WHAT IS IT?!" the prince asked.
"THEY HAVE THE--" Suddenly, Johnson fell sideways out of the boat, crashing into the murky sea water. Kishik took a glance through his telescope and saw Link lowering a shotgun. Then he returned his attention to the man below as he saw Johnson trying to climb back aboard the small boat.
"WHAT DO THEY HAVE?!" Kishik yelled. "LOOT? AZTEC GOLD?!"
"THE....PRINCESS!" Johnson managed to shout. Then he lost grip on the row boat, and plunged into the dark red liquid beneath him.
Kishik curled his lip in disgust. "All men to rowboats immediately!!" he barked. "On my signal, we make for sure!"
"Aye!!!" shouted the crew.
Link smirked as he lowered his telescope. "We'll have 'em eating out of our hands in no time," he said.
"Why'd you shoot that second guy?" Darunia asked. "What if he hadn't managed to tell Kishik about Zelda?"
"Kishik would've challenged me to a duel anyway, being who I am," Link said. "So for all we know, Kishik might not even know we 'have' the Princess." He grinned again as he saw the vast crew rowing towards them.
---------------------------
"Aah, Princess," said Flynn, as he saw Zelda ascend from the crow's nest. She stopped climbing to greet him.
"Morning, Captain," she said, rather surprised at her cheerfullness. It seemed that ever since last night, she had seen him in a completely new light. Zelda continued to climb downwards, then hesitated as she approached the last step. "That's a big jump," she said to Flynn.
"Oh...let me help you," he said, striding towards her. He held out his arms, and she rather gracefully slid into them. She looked up at him once her feet were safely touching wood, and he stared back uneasiness. They stood there staring at each other stupidly, each one's hands grasping the other's elbows and forearms touching.
"Nothing going on last night my FOOT," Malon muttered, as she passed by, mopping the deck as she went.
Turning a deep red color, Zelda backed out of his grasp. "U-uh, Malon said you wanted to speak to me about something ...?"
"Ah, yes," Flynn said. Zelda couldn't see if he was blushing as well, but he did look rather embarrassed as he set his hands on the railing of his ship. "It was about this Kishik fellow ..."
Zelda raised her eyebrows. She wondered what on Earth Flynn could possibly want to know about him.
"What is your relationship with him?" Flynn asked rather bluntly.
The Princess opened her mouth in shock, then closed it again. "Sir, you surprise me with your rudeness! I feel no need to answer such an impertinent question!"
"I did not mean to be impudent in any way, I assure you," Flynn said quietly, not smiling or frowning. "I just wish to know. Don't make me do something to you."
Zelda stared at him uneasily. Then, making sure she was a safe distance away from him, she rested her arms on the ship's rail as well. "I am engaged to him."
"Oh. Well that would explain why he was so keen on seeing you well protected," Flynn commented. "I take it you don't love him as much as he obviously worships you."
"Why, what in heaven's name makes you say that?" Zelda asked innocently.
"Well, I don't know for sure," Flynn said, shrugging. "But you seemed so grave just now when you told me you were engaged. Surely if you loved him you would somewhat happy about it."
"Well maybe I'm just putting on a charade because I don't want nosy pirates knowing about my personal life," Zelda said back, sticking out her tongue.
"Now you're just making yourself obvious," Flynn laughed.
"Yes, I suppose you're right," Zelda said with a smile. "And .... no, I don't love him. Not in the slightest--UGH! He is SO self-centered and obsessed with himself, and he thinks he's the most wonderful thing that happened ever since--"
"Uh, Princess--"
"--the beginning of time, and yet he's the world's biggest bore, I assure you, and yet he insists on being so prideful, so DESTESTable, so--"
"Yes, um, Princess--"
"--and he can just go on and ON about the stupidest things; mainly himself; and I never get a word in except to compliment him by saying 'that is so wonderful' or 'Oh my, you certainly are brave!' or--"
"YOUR! HIGHNESS!!" Flynn roared, immediately making Zelda shut up. "Would you kindly stop your endless rant?"
"Um, yes, sorry," Zelda apologized quietly.
Inhaling deeply, Flynn brushed some hair out of his eyes. "So who's the other man?"
"What other man?" Zelda asked.
"Well, before I made my presence known, I saw Kishik holding some ingrate, accusing him of .... doing something with you .... under the table."
"Oh, that," Zelda muttered with embarrassment.
"I didn't see who he was, really," Flynn said. "It was dark, and my focus was mainly on your father and yourself .... but just out of curiousity, is he anyone you think I would know?"
Well! Pirates certainly were rude, Zelda thought. "I doubt highly that you know him. He's a gypsy, named Link."
"Ohhhh."
"Yes," Zelda said dreamily, apparently forgetting where she was. "He has the softest blond hair, and the deepest blue eyes, and he's so muscular, and tall, and handsome and just so amazing I can't stand it!!" She laughed openly; thinking about Link always seemed to make her happier.
Flynn smiled as well. "They way you talk about him sounds just like the way Malon and Saria talk about the Bl--" He froze mid-word, his eyes suddenly widening.
"Um, Flynn?" Zelda said, waving a hand in front of his face. "Are you there?"
Giving Zelda a quick, final stare of disbelief, Flynn was gone within two seconds. 'Well, that was certainly odd,' Zelda thought to herself. 'Why did he care so much about my love life?' Her eyes widened, too, with realization. 'Is he ... could he possibly be jealous of them?' she thought. 'No, I must not think so highly of myself .... but the way he looked at me when he took me down from the nest's pole .... oh dear!'
The Princess shook her head. She wished she could see Link again.
----------------------------
A/N: aint i a stinker? plz review, b/c i have another chapter rarin' and ready 2 go!!