Chapter Three - The Morning After?
He ached. He ached terribly in every little part of his body and even mind. He felt as though he'd been rolling down a hill, tumbling head over heels over and over again for hours on end, and now he felt more bruised and broken than he ever had in his entire life. Not even hours of standing at the helm of the Pearl fighting against winds and strong currents made him feel as terrible as he did now, not even the longest night of drinking had left him with a throbbing pain such as this within his head.
Attempting to open his eyes Captain Jack Sparrow tried to look out to his surroundings, for he had not a clue of where he was. As soon as his eyelids lifted however piercing sunlight filtered through to his eyes making him squint and groan in annoyance and pain as his pupils sharply contracted before he resigned himself back to darkness. His eyes still closed he tried to discern his surroundings again, but he was still unsure. He was resting uncomfortably on the ground, his back pressing against hard stone and his knees were pulled up against his stomach in a fetal position. An arm was slung out before him, his fingers buried lightly beneath grit and sand, and his other arm was slung over his face, shielding his eyes from the light and his skin from the heat that radiated down on him.
Sighing Jack attempted to stretch his legs out so he could sit up properly, trying to manoeuvre his body around so that he could lean against the wall and hopefully, gradually regain his strength to stand. He didn't recall what had happened that had led him to this position, when he tried to think back to the nights events for he was sure that it must be daytime at this moment, a persistent throbbing pounded its way into his mind, making him recoil from any thoughts at all other than the musing over where he was, and how he could make himself more comfortable.
Forcing every morsel of energy within him to come alive he lifted the arm that rested out in front of him, digging the heel of his palm into the dirty ground, and pushed himself upwards. He groaned under the strain, he couldn't understand why he had so little energy, but at that moment in time he was past caring, all he could focus on was sitting and he would wonder about his predicament later when there were no longer any small pieces of gravel digging into his palm and the side of his face that rested upon the floor. Sighing he moved the arm away from where it had been shading his eyes, and squeezing his eyelids together tightly he dug that hand into the ground as well, doubling his efforts to push himself into a sitting position.
Finally he managed to stretch his arms out, pushing himself up from the ground. His legs ached just as much as everywhere else, but he gritted his teeth against the pain as he stretched them out as finally he managed to sit up, his back still resting against the stone but in a far more pleasant stance. His legs stretched out in front of him and his arms hanging flaccid at his sides he breathed heavily, trying to rid himself of the scent of the dirt that lingered in his nostrils, and the taste of the grit that had made it's way to his lips. He kept his eyes shut tight; he could still feel the suns warm rays beating down on him unpleasantly and he didn't want to risk staring up into the bright light.
Panting a little over his exertions he sat still and listened, trying to make out one sound from another as all seemed to make their way into his mind as a deafening cacophony of bangs and clashes. He could discern the raspy noise of his own breathing, and as he strained harder he could just about make out a few of the other noises that filtered into his brain. He could hear voices talking, shouting and laughing, though what was being said he could not make out. He could hear the sounds of horses hooves clopping against the ground and the noise of wheels grinding over the gravel; carriages and carts being drawn along. He could hear the shrieking cry of gulls overhead, and in the distance he could make out a gentle sloshing of waves crashing against the shore.
Then a thundering quaking seemed to ripple its way through the ground and through the air until it became so loud that Jack felt himself pressing back harder against the wall, recoiling from the noise that penetrated through his ears. He groaned aloud as the noise came closer and closer, and almost sighed with relief as it stopped just before it seemed it was about to reach and engulf him.
But the sounds did not cease completely, a gruff gurgling sound now seemed to cover every other noise that he'd been able to decipher, and something pushed hard against his shoulder, shaking him back and forth. He groaned again as the noise and the movement persisted until he found that the movement at least stopped. The gurgling came more quietly now, though more sounds of gurgling appeared in the background, more quiet and in varying tones. Jack squeezed his eyes tight again and tried as much as he could to will his voice to come from his throat and leave his lips. He needed the noise to stop, and at this point in time he was happy to beg.
"Stop." he managed to force out, his throat dry making the noise sound quiet and raspy as though he'd been parched of liquid for weeks on end. The gurgling and mumbling quietened again and he felt himself slump back further down the wall with relief. A soft gurgle was heard and the rippling motion that seemed to tumble across the ground started again, but this seemed to be moving further away with every second. There was a person in front of him, Jack knew that much, maybe even more than one person he supposed after all the numerous gurglings he'd heard that he presumed to be voices. He could feel the person in front of him watching him and started to feel a little uncomfortable because of it, but he could do nothing to stop them for he felt too weak.
Resigning himself to silence and trying to will his body and mind to function with every passing second he waited. He was unsure what he was waiting for, maybe for the person in front of him to do something, but he waited nevertheless as he could do no more. Faint whisperings came to Jack's ears as he sat, waiting for the time to pass. He felt weak beyond his belief and couldn't place why that could be. All he saw when he thought back to the previous night was darkness, and two bright blue dots shining out from it, a luminous glow surrounding them. He couldn't place what the dots resembled but an eerie shudder passed through him as he tried to think harder and a deathly chill seemed to course through his veins.
He need not wait long in silence for as he listened to the sounds he had tried to discern earlier and heard the cawing of the gulls above, the gentle rumbling started in the distance again before getting louder as it came closer. Just as before it stopped as it reached its loudest point right before him, and he breathed a sigh of relief as silence came again. Even the smallest sounds seemed magnified tenfold and his mind was throbbing because of it. A small sound of surprise left his throat as suddenly he felt something cold pressing against his lips, and he could feel someone trying to make him tilt his head back. He resisted at first, confused as to what was happening but as he tried to shake his head he felt cool liquid flowing over his lips and came to realise it was a bottle being pressed to his mouth.
Without even thinking to his aches he quickly brought his hands up from where they'd been resting at his sides and grabbed the bottle for himself, pouring the cool liquid into his mouth as it trickled down his throat, cooling and soothing the raspiness within. He groaned as the steady flow of liquid started to slow but his voice now came clearer and he found that his senses were beginning to awaken. The mumblings and murmurs around him didn't seem quite as loud and he could discern them a little more clearly. He pushed the bottle away regretfully as no more liquid came from it he thought he heard a gruff voice saying 'more' and soon after he felt another cool bottle being pushed into his hands that he brought to his mouth eagerly, gulping down the heavenly liquid that continued to cool and soothe his aches.
This continued on until Jack had nearly emptied three more bottles after the second, and it was only as the last trickle slid down his throat from the last bottle that he pushed it away, slightly breathless over having drunk the fluid so quickly. The voices had been quiet throughout this time, and Jack had been grateful for it. Now though as he sat still, breathing deeply and feeling a little less disorientated he began to wonder who it was nearby and what they wanted, and so again he made the attempt to open his eyes.
With the strength built up slightly in his body he lifted his hand to shade his eyes from the sun before slowly, carefully cracking his eyelids open a little. Again the piercing light rushed in to greet him making him squeeze his eyes tightly shut again, but it didn't hurt as much as before and he resigned himself to not give up. Again he slowly opened his eyes, just a little and allowed some moments to pass as his pupils reacted to the brightness and contracted accordingly until they settled again. Slowly he began to open his eyes further, his pupils adjusting with every passing moment until finally he could make out the blurry shapes and figures in front of him. He seemed to be surrounded by several large, dark blobs, lumpy and distorted in shape and all glowing in an ethereal manner. As his eyes adjusted though more colours and tones seemed to present themselves and the blobs before him started taking on a more solid form, until he was certain that they were most definitely human, and was fairly sure that they were male.
"Captain?" a voice came to his ears, gently questioning. It took a moment for him to recognise the voice but as he did relief washed over him like a giant wave and he felt the corners of his mouth lift up in a small smile.
"Gibbs." he managed to say quietly, thoroughly pleased that now he knew he must be in the hands of people he new, and the people who cared for him most dearly; his crew.
"Ye alright Captain?" Gibbs voice came again, still quiet and gentle compared to his normal gruff tone.
"Not so wonderful." Jack admitted, groaning as he shifted a little in his position. "Must have had a tad too much t' drink last night eh?" he added, chuckling lightly to himself although his throat was still a bit sore and it made him wince a little.
"Not last night Captain." Gibbs said after a moment's silence where he seemed to be digressing over his next words. "Ye've been missing fer over a week."
AN: Thank you very much to the people who have reviewed so far, they are much appreciated. Sorry for the shortness of this chapter but I felt like it either ended where it has or I continued on for a lot longer.I don't know when I shall be able to update next because I am off to New Zealand for six months in five days, but I shall have my laptop with me and will try and get Internet access as much as possible so that I may update and everything, but I don't know how quickly I will be able to get it all organised. I shall do what I can though. Anyway I hope everyone's enjoyed this so far, and please review to let me know!