Now we find out what our good friend William has been up to. Sadly, he hasn't been up to much. He is, after all, a eunuch. Hee hee hee. I'm just kidding. Seriously, he's just been doing life stuff, or so it seems. Hmm. Okay, the plot finally sets into motion in this chapter.
4 Merry Meetings
Four hundred and fifty nautical miles away, and a week and a half later, Will Turner was sitting in the lounge with Governor Weatherby Swann, and made marital arrangements. Or, rather, the governor was telling Will what he should do. Will had proposed to Elizabeth three weeks prior, and though everyone had expected it, they were all delighted none the less. Will only half listened to his soon to be father-in-law, only enough to remember the important things when he needed to, but no more. His mind was elsewhere as he looked out the window to the sea. He was thinking of having the wedding on one of the finer ships in the port, and the governor would certainly be more than willing, no doubt, to pay any sum of money to make the wedding perfect.
Elizabeth had also expressed her interest in having the wedding on a ship, though she made a point of saying that it should not be the Commodore's. Elizabeth's heart had always been with the sea, but Wills had only more recently taken a newfound interest in it, and he wasn't sure why but he had odd feelings in the pit of his stomach as he looked out across its surface. It was almost like there was something he should be doing, but wasn't, or something that he should know, but didn't. The mysterious call of the sea was very strong at times, and some nights he sat out for hours on the docks looking up at the sky, and down at its twin in the water, the night seemingly going on forever in all directions, and he was just floating in the stars.
'William? Are you alright?'
'Oh….. oh, yes, sir. I was just….. looking at the docks, to see if there's any ships that strike my fancy.'
'Ah.' Governor Swann mused, almost knowingly. 'Well, you remember what I said, and everything will go fine, no worries.' He smiled, and left Will to his thoughts.
'I'll likely not remember a thing, but alright,' Will said, knowing that the governor didn't hear him, and quiet glad at this fact. The exact date of the wedding was undecided, but it would be confirmed fairly soon, within the next week. Hopefully he would remember what he needed to, but if not, he'd just speak his heart and follow it. Generally it seemed to work before, during peril and catastrophe, so why not for a wedding?
Thins had been going well, and a number of higher-up people in the navy and law enforcement alike had been coming to him for their weapons, and even the most prestigious master-craftsmen in the area came to him to have their tools made. But things had only been going so well because Commodore Norrington had put in a good word for Will whenever he was able. At times, Will felt for the man, who was formerly Elizabeth's fiancée. He was good at heart, and followed his ideals to the letter. Quite formal, respectable, proper….. a good man in almost every way. His problem was that he was almost impersonal in his formalities, and didn't seem to be able to connect to people very well.
There were other people who were good men, however, without having ever put in a good word for anyone, being formal, or proper, and in no account respectable. Will's thoughts had only occasionally drifted to the pirate captain named Jack Sparrow. Only occasionally because there wasn't much to think about when it came to him. Will at no point in time had ever wondered what the buccaneer was doing, because it was obvious what he was doing; buccaneering, and that speaks for itself every time. What Will thought about when Jack came to mind, other than his addled persona, were questions of his ideals. He was a pirate, and as such, a cheater, a liar, a thief, and at times, a murderer (though how can one be a murderer only occasionally?), but even so, he had saved Will's and Elizabeth's lives, among other things, but a part of Will thought that this was only on the account of him doing something for himself, and, perhaps, he needed the two for everything to work out in his favor.
But one never knew with Jack.
Will stood, seeing to morning sun on the brink of the horizon and went to his room to change into his working clothes, for the clothes of an aristocrat would catch fire easily, and he didn't want to ruin them accidentally by any other means. The morning was colder than usual, coming in strong from the north. Once changed, Will made his way out, and started through the streets to the smithy. He pulled his light coat tighter around him, and started thinking again. At times, he felt his own mind was far too busy for anyone's good, but when he was working, most of his thoughts seemed to fall away, and sometimes it was a blessing. This day, he wanted to temporarily forget about the upcoming wedding, whenever it may be, because he wasn't one for public things, and he also wished not to think of Jack and his….. ways again, because chances were good that Will wouldn't see the pirate again.
And then Will saw him.
He wore a black knee-length coat, its broad cuffs folded back almost to his elbows, and boots folded down to his shins in the same manner. His not-quite-white shirt he didn't bother to button up all the way (or maybe past a certain point, there were no buttons to button up), and a bed sheet, or something quite like a bed sheet, was tied unceremoniously around his waist under a worn leather belt and over a navy-coloured waistcoat. He strolled quite leisurely down the street, not seeing or not caring about the odd, and occasionally nervous looks he was receiving from the towns' folk.
His hair was threaded with beads of all sorts, and several braids that had been put through it had long since become dreadlocks, and even some hair that was never in a braid of any sort was in dreadlocks anyway. The rest of his fairly long hair was frizzled and unkempt, but kept out of his eyes by a faintly patterned red bandana. He turned, looking back the way he came, adjusted his three-point felt hat, and tugged up the collar of his coat to fend off the chill early morning breeze. He drew himself up more, and continued on his path, strutting as though he were none other than Captain Jack Sparrow himself, which, in fact, he was.
He looked no different, but then again, it had only been six months. He probably didn't even change or wash his clothes once every six months.
Will was not sure what to think, and he was even less sure of what to do. Surely someone besides Will would recognize him, or at least his way of trade by the way he dressed? Things would not go over very well if someone did. More curious than anything, Will began to follow him. It took Will a while to figure that the other fellow probably didn't know where he was going, because he wandered about as though he had only been given vague directions to his destination. Either that or he wasn't looking for any one place in particular and was simply looking.
And Will wondered, what would he have been looking for in Port Royal? He would have known that if any authorities saw his face there again, it would be the gallows, no questions, so it had to have been important. He pulled out a ragged piece of paper out from where it was tucked into his belt, and then looked to where the governor's house sat further up from where he was; the direction that Will was coming from.
Then Will knew. Jack was recruiting.
And Jack spotted Will.
'Ah, lad.'
'No.'
'No what?'
'I know exactly what you want, and you simply will not get it.' With that, Will chose that he wanted nothing more out of the situation, and he continued on his way.
Jack, however, was insistent on being rather vocal about the situation, and made a point of taking chase, swaggering up beside Will and leaned in so that he seemed to be speaking to Will's chin. 'And how would you know that? Maybe I have something to say that you'll be needing to hear.'
Without breaking stride, Will replied, 'There are very few things that you say which I need to be hearing.'
'Ya-but-'
'No.'
'Just-'
'No.'
'Can-'
'No.'
'Ah! Hear me words, and I'll leave you to your business, that is, if you have no interest in the words I say, but hear them firstly.' Jack spluttered, his hands weaving small, frustrated circles in his manic way.
Will stopped, but said nothing, waiting for the man to go on.
'I'd like to turn out a proposition for you. Have I your ear?'
