To tell you the truth, this chapter has been done for a month and a half. I'm just coming to terms with how lazy I actually am.
Lemme see… An update on my life…
I was in Jewelry class a while back and as I was taking off my mask, it got caught on my nose stud. The hole ripped a bit and something got inside and infected it. Well. Woohoo, right? Anyway, the next morning it was all swollen and it began to bleed copious amounts and I had to take it out. :(. I've had it for two years with no incidents and it just really sucks. I may get it repierced in the future.
I received a printer for Christmas that won't work on my laptop and a pair of footy pajamas (as a joke). Woop de doo. Two things I will never find use for EVER. (Tori, you may insert your "clever" comment here.)
Quote: "Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless." – Thomas Edison
Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own anything relating to POTC.
.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.
Chapter 12: A Turn at the Horizon
Blair kept a blank expression while sitting next to Ana Maria on a rowboat making its way to the docks of Port Locke. She was slightly irritated at the somewhat hyper and altogether jovial pirate captain sitting across from her, who was talking incessantly. Gibbs was staring into the water as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world, while Cookie was twiddling his thumbs and watching Jack with subdued absurdity.
"-The people are absolutely great an' easy to get along with, righ' Cookie?" Jack asked.
"Aye."
"Ain't no place better. Cookie 'ere used to live there."
"That I did."
Blair tuned out the conversation and focused on the approaching land mass. 'Isn't too spectacular a sight. Quite bland actually.'
"-Watch what you're doin' there Cap'n!" Gibbs voice suddenly burst into Blair's thoughts. "Nearly knocked me overboard!"
Jack was making quite a spectacle of rowing the boat and trying to refrain from making wild hand gestures. "-You'll really love it. It's absolutely prime location fer… Are ye listening to me?"
Blair shook her head and glanced over at Ana Maria, who was watching the spectacle with what looked like a smirk.
As the boat approached the dock, several men appeared and held the boat close to the dock while one man tied it down.
A few eager men helped Ana Maria and Blair out and left the men to help themselves out. 'These people are awfully polite… Or in great need of a companion…'
When everyone was out of the boat, a man with a huge smile and reddish hair approached. "Could one o' ye write yer party's name and date of departure in this here book?" He asked.
Jack went over and did the honor.
"Doesn't it usually cost something to tie up a boat?" Blair asked, remembering her precious DVD.
"Not here, lu- I mean- sis…" Jack said. Ana Maria approached at that moment and pulled Blair's arm and began to lead her away from the dock.
"Where are you two off to?" Jack asked nervously.
'Precisely what I'd like to know…' Blair thought.
"I'm gonna take her to some of me favorite shops. I'll be back soon, hon. Don' worry!" She said with a sickeningly sweet smile.
Jack looked over at Blair apprehensively. "We'll be fine." She said, not believing her own words.
"Aye." He said, not hiding his concern.
Ana Maria blew him a kiss and pulled Blair off into the general direction of the clothing shops.
"Now, Jack said ye needed some clothing to work in, and I happen to agree if that's the only thing you have to wear." She said, pointing out the red dress that Blair had grown a bit attached to. "This store here is the best around for comfort clothes." She added, pulling her into the shop without windows.
Blair's eyes took no more than a second to adjust to the dusky darkness. The clothing in here wasn't so bad… "What's the name of this shop?"
Ana smiled sheepishly. "Well… I can't exactly read. I don't know the name, but I know from experience that this is the absolute best women's clothin' shop in the Caribbean."
"Only women's?" Blair asked, touching a pair of pants that were hanging.
Ana Maria caught on right away, if not a bit off-target. "This be a pirate town, Fair-."
"Blair." She corrected as if it were second nature to her.
"-Right… Such a difficult name… Anyway, as I was sayin', this town be runnin' a bit differently then the one's ye be accustomed to." She said, pulling Blair off to what she thought was her size.
"These here look like they fit." Ana remarked, holding up a pair of pukey orange colored pants.
Blair looked at her, then the pants, and then her again. She shook her head in disgust. Ana shrugged and put it down. Blair wandered a bit and grabbed a pair that weren't hard to look at. They were a thick material and were a reddish brown in color.
"These?" Blair showed the pants to Ana Maria.
She looked at them, and then at Blair. She was the one who shook her head this time. "Those won't breathe very well… How 'bout these?" She said pulling out a burnt amber colored pair. "They shouldn't cook your legs as if you were over a fire." She added with a smile.
Blair put down the pants and took hold of the ones Ana was referring to. It felt like these pair of pajama pants she once had. "Where can I try them on?" She asked enthusiastically.
"Back there," She says, pointing to a curtain. "I'll keep watch, aye?"
Blair nodded and shuffled behind the velvet curtain. She pulled them up under the dress and examined them carefully from every angle, well aware that she would be wearing them in front of Jack. The pants were very comfortable, though it flaunted a bit more than what was allowed at one school she went to.
Ana Maria's arm appeared with two shirts hanging on it. "This should go perfect with it." Blair took them gratefully and put them on, completely taking off the dress. The outfit was not bad. It was not anything you'd see on a 20th century runway, but it wasn't too outlandish.
Ana Maria's voice came from behind the curtain. "You done?"
"Yes!" Blair replied. Ana Maria walked in and nodded her head in approval.
"Nice… Well, Jack gave me a lot of money to spend on the two of us, and I don't think one outfit will do it justice…" She said, hoping Blair would approve of some extra shopping.
Blair found herself smiling in response. "Great." He was going to pay for calling her 'sis' that many times. "Let's go!"
Blair wore the clothing out of the store, carrying the dress at her side while Ana Maria paid. She saw a bookstore and just stood outside it for a moment, waiting for Ana Maria. She felt Ana grab her arm and she asked, "Can we?"
Ana took one look at the store and her eyes widened. "You can read?"
Blair smiled and as an answer led her into the store. The bookshop was not exactly filled to the rim with knowledge. Blair picked up one book and noticed only pictures filled the pages. Nodding carefully, she put the book back.
Blair moved along the shelves and grew more hesitant to stay in the shop. For one thing, the majority of the books were in a language that wasn't yet known to her, and the ones that were in English had such bad spelling and grammar that Blair got a headache just reading the titles. Ana Maria led her out of the store while she pouted.
Ana Maria asked Blair to get some flowers for her and Jack's room while she went into a store. Blair looked for the most gaudy and colorful flowers she could find to contrast with Jack's taste. She settled on this unnamable mixture and Ana Maria burst from the shop she had just been in.
She eyed your selection. "Very pretty." She was holding a new package. "Well," She started, seeing Blair's expression. "I figured the two of us are going to need these when our monthly visitor arrives." Blair hadn't even figured that into her thoughts at all.
"What would I do without you…" Blair said without realizing.
Tears started to brim the eyes of Ana Maria and Blair cursed herself. 'No… not emotional attachment… Not now…'
"That means so much to me Blair!" She said.
'Great, she even got my name right.' Ana Maria continued on about how nice a person Blair was and Blair couldn't help but feel guilty. Here she was, telling her how good a person she was, and she was scheming on how to get Jack and her apart.
After several hours of almost entertaining wandering, people watching and 'bonding', Blair and Ana Maria were on their way back to the docks to meet up with the guys, or to be perfectly honest, Jack.
As Blair turned the corner, she found Cookie, Gibbs, and Jack closing up a VERY large crate. Jack turned as Blair and Ana approached. He looked Blair up and down quickly and looked back at the crate grinning.
"Well," Cookie said, seeing the women approaching. "The situation is, that there isn't really any room for all of us and the crate to go on the ship at once, so we'll need to make two trips. Me, Gibbs, an' the crate will go first, and Gibbs will come back in the rowboat to pick the rest of ye up."
Blair didn't know whether to feel excited about being with Jack, or irritated that she'd have to wait on the docks another half an hour or so alone with the 'happy couple'.
"Well…" Jack said while Gibbs and Cookie just stood there. "Off with ye!"
And with that, Gibbs and Cookie scrambled into the rowboat and took off in the direction of the ship. Jack kept stealing glances at Blair as Ana Maria told him of their exciting day out. "-An' then we went to a book shop, and-."
"Bookshop?" Jack asked, eyeing Ana Maria. He raised one eyebrow and gave Blair his full attention. "You can read?"
"Yeah." Blair said while laughing a bit.
He smiled back at Blair and continued to listen to Ana Maria, only this time he kept his eyes to the water.
The wait was almost boring, if you discount the moment when Ana Maria tried to attack a sea gull. Blair kept her smile to herself as Ana Maria scared them away and nearly fell into the water. 'Almost.' Blair thought.
In thirty minutes, Gibbs rowed up. He helped Blair in first, then Ana Maria with a grimace, and then he sat down, waiting for Jack to board.
"How come ye always help the ladies in, but leave me to help meself?" Jack asked with sarcasm, as he made his way into the boat.
Gibbs looked at him astonished and stammered, "Ah… Well, Cap'n…. Ye see, I-." He cut off when Blair's giggles turned into all out laughter. He hadn't realized the statement was all but oozing sarcasm and that made it twice as hilarious.
Gibbs blushed and began to row with Jack. Jack continued to smile throughout the whole boat ride. The waters were a dark blue, and the setting sun made a contrasting orange sky.
The ride was pleasant… That is, until they reached the ship… Or rather, ships….
Jack looked at the new vessel and recognized it immediately. "Turner." He muttered.
.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.
Well… I added nearly a whole page in there somewhere. I think I will have to rewrite the entire 13th chapter next time around. I hope I can remember it all. (For those of you not under standing the above statement, just know that I had posted this story before and it got deleted after it was finished. I didn't have any form of backup and my mother's computer got a virus. Half of my files were on that one, half on my dad's. Let's just hope his doesn't catch a virus anytime soon.)
QUESTION FOR READERS: What is one event you hope to never have to relive?
My answer for the last question is: Sour lemon.
MiSSZ-SPARR0W – When did Cherry flavored jellybeans become boring? … Okay, maybe when they were first invented. Have you ever tried sour cherry?
ElvenSailorGirl – I guess I can admit to being excessively lazy now. When I first started on F F . n e t, I would have these things out in no time at all. When I first started this story, I had the first four chapters typed and posted in less than 24 hours! But now it's like it's too much effort.
terradaina – Yeah, I thought over apologizing for this late one, but I thought there is really no excuse for it, therefore I shouldn't be forgiven. 'Cute and Fluffy'? Erk. I really try hard to avoid those kind of things. Oh well. Can't rewrite the past… Wait a tic… Yes I can! That's the beauty of it!
ProudMuggleGirl – Norrington shall forever remain evil in my mind. Why are you making 'Face the Strange' so short? I'm rewriting this entire story as I told you before, and it's gonna be a bit more trippy.
Moulin-Rouge-Pirate – Well, sorry. Can that 'missing limb' be replaced by my unfortunate accident in jewelry? I really do miss my nose stud. I even have 'phantom' feelings for it. Sometimes it feels as if it's still there.
ames – I do believe that Grape jelly beans exist…
wild-lotus – I have a whole book of quotes that I've collected. Have you seen those gross Bernie Botts every flavor beans? Ha! I once tricked my stepmom into eating a vomit flavored one, and just guess what she did in the parking lot bushes!
Alamo Girl – It's not an easy feat to write in the pirate jargon. I sometimes forget to write it that way and it just isn't the same Jack without it.
DarkAngelPearl – I can't kill her! She has an importance in the plot later on that she never had before.
Raz 42492 – No. He's just been caught in the pirating act, so to speak, and been branded a pirate. I did make that a bit confusing.
Angel's Heart, Demon's Mind – I have no idea when the next book in Christopher Paolini's series comes out, but I'm eagerly awaiting it!
amanda-gurl – It's the 'a.s.a.p.' thing that confuses me. I'm not good with deadlines, as my grades over the years have shown.
Jasmine Sparrow – I'm glad it's not overbearingly different, though I will be mercilessly changing the sequel.
To those of you who wrote 'review soon', uh… No. Rar.
Well, that's it. Please review, even though I've been excessively evil and late in updating!