I'M BACK!
Grrrrrrr. Stupid hurricane. We had to delay going on our vacation because of Dennis, then we wind up not even losing power. I wound up spending the whole time watching the older episodes of Power Rangers, thinking about how cute Tommy, Jason, and Adam are. Wow, call me pathetic.
Oh, BIG NEWS! For anyone into video games, the new Kingdom Hearts game that's coming out will have a Pirates of the Caribbean world. HOW COOL IS THAT! Both Will and Jack are going to be in it for sure, and probably Elizabeth too.
Anyways, thanks to ALL my reviewers. I love you bunches!
Smithy – Um, yes poor Will… And it shall only get worse. Mwahahahaha! Yes, I know I'm evil.
Trinilee Greenleaf – Ack! Can't breathe! Big hug… Only defense… must hug back… #gives big monster hug# Now we shall both feel the power of the hug. Haha! OMG, thanks for the compliment, now I feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Glad the torture was good, 'cause that's the fun stuff. Nope, not Jack. And I'm back so here's you next chapter, oh mighty one.
Daphnebandweenie – Yes, Will torture is fun. And Jack is just fun to mess with. Somehow, I don't think band camp will be pushed back or cancelled. #pout# Stupid band camp? Hey, do you know your music, because I don't. Hmmmm Might need to learn that.
Sanquinedarkness666 – Abby, I think Will needs just a tad bit more than a band-aid, but feel free to give him one anyways, along with the hug. I'll be busy hugging on Jack. Ha! He's mine, I tell you. You're taking AP English? Cool, maybe we'll have class together. BTW, make sure you read Crossing Paths by Weesta. One of the most awesome Power Rangers fics EVER! It's really getting good.
SpufFAn – Welcome aboard, and glad you liked the torture. Don't worry, this will not wind up an abandoned story, the whole thing is already typed and raring to go. Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy.
Marie Crosby – Just don't jump through the roof and hurt yourself. I'd cry. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with a taste for torture stories. Fanfiction. The only thing in which being called horrible can be a good thing. Glad you like. Here's the next chapter.
Okay, just a warning but this chapter switches over to Jack, so we'll get back to the Will torture next chapter. Just wanted you to know.
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BlackSword
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Chapter 8
One Week Later
Jack Sparrow sighed slightly; in less than a week he would reach Port Bryant and drop Jackie off with his mother. What he wasn't looking forward to though, was telling Elizabeth that he husband was dead.
He paced slowly around the wheel of the ship, his mind wandering slightly. He had no clue how he was going to tell her. Jack stopped and closed his eyes. He could see Elizabeth in his mind and could also see her reaction. It did not sit well with him making her cry like that, and he knew she would.
'You could make her happy again. There are ways to give her pleasure and take her mind off Will,' something in the back of his mind said.
Jack recoiled from the thought, horrified. Where had that thought come from? He shook his head hard. No! He would not take Will's wife! He had promised to protect Elizabeth and Jackie, and that was all he would do.
Turning back to the sea, his eyes roamed over the crystal waters. Suddenly, his eyes spotted something on the horizon, something that should not have been there. "Paul, Miguel, look over to the port side, what do you see?"
The two other pirates slowly went to the rail and stared over the sea. "It… it appears to be a… a rowboat," Paul replied, voice sounding amazed. It's… alone, too."
Jack nodded slowly; it was as he had thought, but that didn't mean it wasn't surprising. What was a lone rowboat doing in the middle of the Caribbean?
"Captain?" Miguel asked, glancing towards Jack over his shoulder. "Should we assist them?" As he said this, he gestured out to the small boat.
Jack hesitated for several seconds, unsure of what he should do. He knew rescuing whoever was in the boat was the right thing to do; but he was also aware that it wasn't necessarily the smart thing to do.
Shaking his head slightly, the pirate captain remembered how many times doing the 'right thing' had gotten him into trouble. 'Hell,' he thought, 'if I hadn't been so obsessed with doing the 'right thing', Barbossa would never have mutinied against me, and I never would have lost the Black Pearl to him.' At that thought though, something occurred to him that never had before. 'Then again, if he had never mutinied against me, I would never have met Will or Elizabeth and I would have lost my best friend. On the other hand,' he thought miserably, 'if I hadn't met Will, he wouldn't be dead now.'
Miguel and Paul stood, waiting patiently for Jack's orders. Finally, he looked up, "Yes, we'll assist them. Get ready to bring 'em aboard."
'Sometimes I hate being a good person,' Jack grumbled to himself. The sole reason he was doing this was because he knew that it was what Will would do, and what Will would be telling him to do, if he were here.
It took several minutes to get to the small boat, but once they did they quickly got the lone man on board. The blue-eyed man stood blinking at the pirates in front on him. Indeed, most people would have been scared, seeing three pirates staring at him with several more doing their jobs in the rigging of the ship and many more unseen below deck.
Holding out his hand, Jack said, "I'm Captain Sparrow, welcome aboard the Black Pearl, mate." The other man shook hands with Jack, and the pirate captain asked, "And who might you be?"
"Name's Chris."
As he said this, almost as if he had heard him, Jackie came up from below deck and stopped as he caught sight of the man. Snapping out of his shock, the eight-year-old ran over to Jack. "Captain Sparrow, what's he doing here?"
A small jolt of fear shot up Chris's spine. Hopefully, the little boy hadn't realized he was actually Black Andrew's first mate and instead still thought of him as prisoner.
Jack cautiously eyes Chris, hand resting on the small boy's shoulder. "He was stranded in a rowboat. Why? Do you recognize him?"
"Sure, he was one of Blacksword's prisoners while I was there. I guess Blacksword let him go, either that or he escaped."
"Hello, Jack," Chris said, as soon as he got the chance to say something to the boy. "He got mad at me after you escaped, guess he thought I had something to do with you getting away. Anyway, he tossed me in the boat and hoped I die of hunger or dehydration." The man shrugged, "Oh, well, it was better than being his prisoner."
"I can imagine," the boy murmured.
Suddenly, Paul looked up at Jack, a strange gleam in his eyes. "Captain Sparrow, could I talk to you? Without the kid, and preferably without anyone else."
"In other words, alone," Jack said softly. "Why?" It wasn't that he was afraid of Chris or being alone with him, it was merely that at the moment he didn't feel like keeping secrets from Jackie.
"Some things I have to say are not suitable for a child to hear," Chris replied, "and I doubt you would like for the crew to hear all I must say."
Slowly Jack nodded in acceptance. "Fine, we'll talk in my quarters. We shall be alone there." Turning on his heel, he started below deck. "Miguel," he called back, "take the helm. I'll be back soon." Chris turned and followed closely behind Jack, an evil smirk on his face that no one could see.
Once they reached Jack's quarters, the pirate captain bolted the door behind them. "Now, what do you have to say?"
Chris quickly turned to Jack and sneered, letting only a small portion of his detest towards this man show through. "You're a bloody traitor, Jack Sparrow." Chris's blue eyes flashed, "I hope you're happy with yourself. How can you live with yourself, knowing as you do, what you did?"
Jack reeled back slightly. Ever since his dealing with Barbossa, the words traitor and mutineer had strongly affected him. Now, to hear this man accuse him of being a traitor… it was strangely disturbing. "What do you mean?" he demanded, once his shock wore off.
"What do I mean? Not even traitor describes what you are. Traitor can't fully describe the crime you committed in abandoning your best friend to a fate worse than death."
The pain that flashed through Jack nearly knocked him to the ground. His heart ached at the thought of Will and it was hard not to punch Chris for what he said. Pushing down his sorrow, he asked, "What do you mean?" His caramel eyes reflected his emotions clearly.
Chris's lip twitched, "In my opinion, since you abandoned Will Turner aboard the Assassin, that makes you a traitor."
"Will's dead," Jack said sadly. "I never would have left him otherwise."
"He's dead, is he?" Chris shook his head, "Then you must have seen him within the last week, for that was when I last saw him."
Jack's eyes narrowed slightly, "No, I saw him about… two weeks ago now. He died when we were rescuing Jackie; Blacksword slit his throat."
The sharp, mocking laughter that escaped from Chris caused anger to flash through Jack. "Blacksword almost slit his throat," Chris corrected. "Although, after what Blacksword did to him, he's probably been begging for death."
Another wave of cold anger flashed through Jack. He didn't believe Chris, he couldn't believe Chris- if he got his hopes up and Chris ended up being wrong, or lying to him… he'd break into a million pieces on the spot. Despite that, he couldn't control his anger towards the person saying this, especially since Chris had suggested that Will would be begging for death. It was an absurd thought! One that Jack didn't like having suggested, either.
"To hell with your bloody lies," Jack sneered. "If I'd have known this was all you'd do, I would have left you in the rowboat."
"And in doing so you would have condemned your friend to death," Chris said. His voice lowered slightly, "You don't believe me, do you?" He watched the pirate carefully, but he fully understood his suspicions.
"No, and I don't see any reason for me to start either."
"What if I could offer you proof? Then would you believe me?"
"Possibly."
Chris sighed, 'What can I tell him that will make Captain Sparrow believe me? I could tell him what they've done to him, but he'd probably think I made it up.' A sudden thought struck him and he was suddenly very glad he had had to watch the prisoner one night before he had left.
"You had an argument with him, didn't you? Before you went aboard the Assassin."
Jack's eyes widened slightly, "How did you know about that?" His voice was a hoarse whisper and shock showed clearly on his face.
Chris almost smiled; he had Jack now. From here it would be easy to convince Sparrow that his friend was indeed alive. Black Andrew would be pleased.
"I overheard him one night. He was only semiconscious at the time and kept going on about some argument you had. He made it sound like you didn't get to apologize to each other, so I guessed it must have happened right before the two of you came aboard the ship." He cocked his head slightly. "It almost sounded as if… the argument had something to do with rum… or getting drunk, or something else like that."
Jack stared in shock, his mind reeling. Slowly sinking onto his bed, he sat there, millions of things running through his mind. 'How does he know that? No one but Miguel, Paul, and I are supposed to know about that. There is no possible way for him to know about it. Paul and Miguel didn't tell him; I didn't either. Is it possible-?"
For the first time that day, Jack allowed a small amount of hope to fill him. Will… was quite possibly alive. "When did you last see him? How was he? Was he okay?" he demanded quickly.
Chris laughed softly, "So, suddenly you believe me? Why?"
"It doesn't matter. Just answer my question!" Jack couldn't help the agitation that crept into his voice.
When Chris didn't answer, Jack almost growled. Chris was toying with him. This man could see how much he cared about Will, and here he was, withholding information from him. It was enough to make him want to strangle the other. In fact, he probably would have, if there had been any other way to find out about Will.
Chris noticed the dark glare Jack had given him and he quickly shut up, stifling his laughter. "I'm sorry; it must be frustrating, me not answering you." He turned serious. "What do you want to know… and one question at a time, please."
Sighing, Jack asked, "Where is he?"
"Aboard the Assassin. Blacksword has made him his prisoner."
Hot anger burned inside Jack. He had left Will and now because of it, the young man was a prisoner to a heartless pirate. "When did you last see him?" he questioned, doing a fairly decent job of hiding his emotions.
Chris seemed to think for a moment before answering, "Probably about nine days ago. It might have been ten or eight, but about that."
"How is he? Is he okay?" Slight fear had crept into his voice. It was the answers to these questions that he feared most.
Chris hesitated, unsure of how to answer. He knew everything he needed to tell Sparrow, but he didn't know how much to reveal at the moment.
The silence that filled the small room made Jack's heart skip several beats. Fear filled his entire being and horror seeped into him. "He… he's okay, isn't he?" In his heart, he couldn't stand the thought of Will being mercilessly and brutally tormented.
"Depends on what you mean by 'okay'," Chris slowly answered. His blue eyes flickered slightly. "If by 'okay' you mean alive, then barely."
Jack's heart came to a crashing stop in his chest, and his body went decidedly numb. The horror that had been slowly filling him was suddenly a pressing wave, growing steadily in intensity. "B… barely alive," he repeated numbly.
As he watched the pirate captain, Chris became increasingly aware of the pain and fear inside the other's heart. He slowly nodded, wondering how much detail he should delve into during his retelling of what had been done to the young blacksmith.
"All things considering, he's lucky to still be alive. Blacksword had put him through absolute hell."
Jack's head snapped up and suddenly Chris had his absolute attention. "What had Blacksword done to him? I want to know everything." In truth, Jack was scared of what he was about to hear, but he needed to know what kind of shape Will was in.
Inside, Chris smiled. Now the fun would begin. He could only imagine what kind of reaction Jack was going to have to the horror stories he was about to tell him.
"Blacksword had tortured him every day he has been aboard the Assassin. The first day it was mostly mental things, except for the knife he ran through the kid's gut."
Jack turned surprisingly pale. "Wh… what?" he stammered, a fresh wave of horror skittering up and down his spine.
"Well, not actually 'through' his gut, because he was careful not to actually hit any of his organs but," Chris shrugged offhandedly, "the knife still went through his ribs." After a short pause he continued, "After that first day though, Blacksword showed him absolutely no mercy."
"His favorite thing, I think, was tying the blacksmith to the mast and beating him like that, much like he did to the kid, only worse. And his favorite thing to use on him was the whip."
Chris shook his head slightly. "I honestly doubt he will ever manage to get the blood out of the mast." This, at least, was sincere. "If he was a person, he would realize just how much physical and emotional damage he's been doing to your friend, but since he sold his soul, he's been completely oblivious."
"So he did actually sell his soul," Jack muttered, more to himself than anyone else.
Nodding, Chris decided to continue, "As I was saying, Blacksword would tie him to the mast and whip him. One day, he was beating the kid- I really don't remember what Blacksword said to your friend- but Will just up and told him to 'Rot in hell'. It was surprising because normally he'd be completely silent during the beatings- he wouldn't scream, wouldn't beg, wouldn't do anything."
"As you can imagine," Chris said, "Blacksword wasn't very happy about that. He lit into your friend, cracking his head into the mast and snapping his shoulder. About that time, Will started crying. Of course, Blacksword didn't realize it, but he wasn't crying because he was hurt or scared, but it was because he was frustrated."
Those words made something inside Jack shatter. It was almost impossible to picture Will crying, and he didn't want to try to picture it.
Shaking his head, Jack considered just how unlike Will that was. Will had always been incredibly headstrong and stubborn, and, quite often worse, he had a very strong sense of dignity. Crying… that wasn't exactly how he wanted to picture the young man.
"I guess, all things considering, it would have been better for him if Blacksword had simply continued to torture him the way he was, because what they started doing was far worse," Chris said. There was no way he was foolish enough to tell Sparrow that he was the one who had devised the new torture method.
"One of Black Andrew's crew members, I believe his name was Gr… Grant- that was it- he has an amazing ability to imitate other's voices. Anyway, he and another member of his crew teamed up and totally broke him."
"Broke him?" Jack repeated dangerously. "What do you mean, 'broke him'?"
"I mean he completely broke. His pride and defiance simply shattered. He broke down and was crying and begging for them to stop and leave him be."
"Probably, the worst part of it was what Grant was doing." His eyes sadly met Jack's. "Grant was imitating your voice; your best friend now believes you were the one torturing him."
All of the emotions Jack had been feeling melted away at this new revelation. It wasn't exactly horror or disgust that filled him but a combination of the two in enormous amounts. "Bastards," he hissed, "all of them are bastards." With a flash, his caramel eyes glinted.
"How did they do it?" Jack demanded. "There's no way he would believe that I was the one torturing him. He trusts me; he knows I would rather die than do that to him."
A grim smile flickered across Chris's face. "He used to believe that. Grant and Ricky had to do quite a lot to convince him of that." It never occurred to Jack to ask how Chris knew their names, but at the moment, he didn't care.
"What did they do to him?" Jack asked, hands balling into helpless fists.
"They forced about a bottle-and-a-half of their strongest liquor down him, then about as much hallucinogenic drugs as safety possible into him. He had absolutely no sense of reality when w- they were beating him. They could have told him the Chinese were creatures from the stars, and he would have believed them."
Once again, the fact that he would never associate drinking and hallucinogenic drugs- hell, drugs of any kind- with Will caused Jack to cringe inwardly.
Soft shudders coursed through the pirate's body. 'Oh, God, Will. What have I gotten you into?' he wondered, the condemning thoughts rolling through his head. 'This is all my fault. If I hadn't mentioned his name that time four years ago when I first met Blacksword, he never even would have known Will existed.'
Hanging his head, Jack almost started crying. The only thing keeping him from doing so was the fact that Chris was still in the room.
"Are you going to attempt to rescue him?" Chris asked suddenly. This was of importance; Blacksword wanted him to make sure Captain Sparrow understood this above all else.
Jack's head snapped up, "Of course, I'm not going to just leave him aboard the Assassin."
"Then you had best hurry." Noticing the questioning look in the other pirate's caramel eyes, Chris explained further, "I overheard Blacksword talking; the reason he's keeping your friend alive is to draw you to him. And he's only giving you a limited amount of time." Pausing for a moment, he continued. "By now, I'd say you have about two weeks and two days left."
"What!" Jack asked in alarm. "I only have two weeks to find Will before Blacksword kills him?"
"And two days," Chris reminded.
Jack stood and walked over to the wall and angrily kicked it. "He's just toying with us," he muttered. "He's taunting me; he's trying to make this impossible." Turning back to Chris, he glared angrily at the blue-eyed man. "Blacksword is going to kill Will no matter what, isn't he?'
It was almost scary, just how close Jack was to the truth. Chris couldn't- and wouldn't- tell Jack the whole truth, that would destroy everything, but he would give just enough information to raise the captain's anger.
"That's the way it seems," he answered with a shrug. "All I know is this" Blacksword has your best friend and is using him as bait to lure you there. The question is, whose life do you value more? His… or yours?"
There was no hesitation in Jack's answer. "His. I would give my life for him, no questions asked, and absolutely no regrets. He would do the same for me."
"Why?"
"What do you mean, 'why'?"
"Why would a respectable blacksmith sacrifice his life for a scum-bag pirate- no offense- like yourself? And why would a pirate risk his life for another person, when there is nothing to be gained?"
"Because, he's my friend. As for why he'd risk his life for mine, I don't know. I have never understood why he even trusts me; in my opinion, I have done nothing to deserve it. He simply does."
Talking about his friend like this used to send jolts of sorrow and pain through his heart; now it sent a flash of guilt through him. His mind flickered back to that, at least for a moment. 'I never should have left him. This is my fault. If he dies because of this…"
Quickly shaking that thought away, he forced his mind to return to other thoughts. "Are you positive of all you said? Are you sure it's the truth?"
"It's what I overheard."
Jack closed his eyes and Chris could easily see the Kohl that outlined them. "Is there anything else?"
Chris shook his head, blue eyes showing his uncertainty.
"Good," Jack said shortly. Turning abruptly he went to his door and unlatched it. He quietly stalked out of his cabin and up to the deck, Chris flowing closely behind.
Miguel started to smile as he caught sight of his captain but stopped when he noticed the look on his face. "Captain?" he asked softly, eyes full of questioning.
Jack didn't answer; he simply jerked his thumb over his shoulder towards Chris. Miguel nodded and nudged Paul, who was standing beside him. The two men quickly walked over to stand alongside the man.
Chris eyes them warily. "Sparrow," he demanded, "what's going on?"
Jack looked up from where he had retaken his place at the wheel. "You didn't think you were going to stay aboard the Pearl, did you? You're going back to your rowboat."
Blue eyes widened and stared, trying to determine if the Captain was joking. He wasn't.
Miguel and Paul took hold of his arms and drug him to the side of the ship. The small rowboat was floating in the water next to the Black Pearl. Miguel picked up the other man and threw him overboard while Paul cut the rope holding the small boat to the much bigger pirate ship.
As he bobbed back up, Chris yelled up, "You're going to get what's coming for you, Jack Sparrow. And it's not just going to affect you, it'll affect your friends as well. They are all going to die because if you!"
Staring stonily ahead, Jack tried to ignore what Chris said. "Set the sails," he ordered. "We have a new destination." Paul ran off to assist the rest of the crew in hoisting the sails, but Miguel instead stayed close to Jack.
"Captain, are you okay? Aren't you going to drop the boy off in Port Bryant first?" he asked.
"We don't have time."
"What do you mean? We're only three days from Port Bryant."
Jack's eyes flickered, "Unfortunately, we don't have that time to spare. We may need every day we can get."
Miguel cocked his head, "Does this have anything to do with something Chris said?"
Nodding slowly, Jack debated what to tell Miguel. When his eyes finally met Miguel's there was a small amount of sadness in them, along with a large amount of guilt. "He's alive," he whispered.
The other's dark eyes blinked. "Huh? Who?"
"Will; he's alive. He's Blacksword's prisoner, but he's alive. Or at least he was a week ago."
Miguel stood in stunned surprise. Slowly, almost timidly, he asked, "Captain, do you realize that if he is still alive, he'll have been a prisoner to Blacksword for two weeks? About fifty percent of his prisoners die before then."
Anger flashed through Jack, though most of it was directed more towards himself than actually Miguel. "I know that," he snapped. "Which is why we have to find them as soon as possible."
Taking a deep breath, Jack forced his anger down. "We only have two weeks and two days before Blacksword kills Will. We must find the Assassin before that."
The Spaniard blinked, then said quietly, not meaning for Jack to hear, "If he's still alive then."
Unfortunately, Jack did hear the soft comment and his head snapped around to stare at Miguel. "Don't! Don't even say it!"
"Captain, you have to accept the fact that it is highly unlikely you'll get to him before he dies."
Jack's eyes narrowed. He knew perfectly well the truth behind Miguel's statement, yet it didn't mean he was willing to accept it. In fact, he didn't want to accept the truth of Will's vulnerability and morality.
Swallowing hard, Miguel watched Jack closely. The stubborn denial in the pirate captain made Miguel nervous. If Jack didn't accept the very real possibility of his friend dying, then when it happened- and the problem was, it probably was going to happen- Jack would not be able to accept the reality of what had happened.
Jack was… already slightly mentally unstable; if Will died and Jack was unable to get over it, Jack's mental condition would go completely downhill.
Suddenly, Jack spun, abandoning the wheel and walking over to the rail, leaning miserably against it. He hung his head, "I'm sorry, Miguel. I know you're telling the truth, it's just… I can't take this. It's my fault Will's in this trouble. If he dies, it'll be my fault. He's my best friend; I don't think I'll be able to handle it."
Miguel walked up beside his captain, "It's okay, Captain Sparrow. Besides, don't worry, I'm sure he'll be fine. After all, he's your best friend; if he can put up with you, he can handle anything. He's a stubborn person; nothing will happen to him."
The smile that flickered across Jack's face was quickly replaced by dull sadness. "It's already far too late for that," Jack said with incredible softness. "Far, far too late."
TBC
Well, now at least Jack's not out of the loop. I'll update soon, so be ready for more torture.
Ben Skywalker, out.