Admiral Middleton was in a very unpleasant mood. He was storming about the deck, ordering his crew around in an arbitrary fashion, just wanting to yell at someone. It was clear he was on a rampage and no one wanted to get in his way. Lieutenant Groves led Norrington up the deck from where they had boarded the ship towards the turbulent Admiral. He knew immediately that this would be a very unpleasant reception. As soon as Middleton's eyes landed on Norrington, he seemed to fixate directly on his former Captain. He stood at the top of the stairs to the upper deck in a position of power as Groves brought the company to a halt at the bottom. All of his rage was focused on Norrington as he slowly made his way down the steps.
"Ahh! Captain Norrington! It is wonderful to have you back." Governor Swann appeared behind Admiral Middleton before he was able to say a word. The two of them moved down the stairs, Middleton being rushed slightly by Governor Swann as he moved towards Norrington. He looked down at the shackles on James's wrist and turned to Lieutenant Groves. "Remove these. There is no need for that."
"With all due respect, Governor, Mr. Norrington deserted his post and stole one of the Navy's finest ships to go off galavanting with pirates. I believe the irons are necessary," Admiral Middleton cut in.
"If I may interject," Sparrow interrupted and continued on without waiting for a response. "Captain Norrington here, very upstanding gentleman, commandeered said ship to run off and save the young Miss Swann, and technically, he was only galavanting with one pirate; that being myself. And myself just happens to know where the young bonnie lass and the Black Pearl are headed so as to go off and save the fair maiden."
"No one asked for your opinion, pirate," Admiral Middleton growled.
"Now just wait a moment. This man has information that will help us find my daughter?" Governor Swann directed his question towards Norrington, ignoring the Admiral in favour of the man who had charged forth to save her without permission.
"As I am to understand it, yes. He knows where the ship is headed and what their crew is after. Ms. Swann was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time when she was taken. They mistook her for someone else. I believe her to be… relatively safe at the moment," James reported.
"Then what are we waiting for? We need to rescue my daughter!" Governor Swann exclaimed, his eyes looking pointedly at Admiral Middleton, frantic to find Elizabeth.
"And we are to trust a pirate?" Admiral Middleton boomed loudly. "I hardly believe that he would help us out of the kindness of his black, weasley heart."
"Then offer him something in exchange. I don't care what you have to do. You will find my daughter at any cost!" Governor Swann bellowed back at the Admiral.
James had never seen the Governor so decomposed and frantic, nor had he seen the two friends fight before. It wasn't very surprising given the circumstances but he would have thought Admiral Middleton would do anything to make sure the Governor's daughter, regardless of her rejection of his offer of marriage, was safe and sound. As Norrington observed the two men, he could see that they had had a falling out over something related to the search for Ms. Swann. He wasn't entirely sure what it was, but he could tell the two of them disagreed on a very important issue.
"With all due respect, Governor, but if that pirate leads us into an attack, you are the one responsible." Admiral Middleton turned to the crew members holding Sparrow. "Take him to the helm. Captain Sparrow will provide us with a heading on threat of death. As for you, Mr. Norrington," the emphasis placed on mister, "you are free to go for the moment. Once we get back to Port Royal, there will be an inquiry into your actions."
James nodded once in understanding, knowing that it was more than he expected. He had been sure that Admiral Middleton would simply lock him in a cell and throw away the key. He suspected there was more at play, but now was not the time to question it. Governor Swann motioned to Lieutenant Groves to remove Norrington's irons as one of the other men led Sparrow up to the helm.
Norrington rubbed his wrists discreetly as he walked to the side of the ship, peering out into the ocean. He was so focused on his view and the thoughts floating around in his head that he failed to notice when Governor Swann stood next to him. The men looked out at the horizon together for a moment before Governor Swann spoke.
"I know you.. care for Elizabeth and though you did disobey orders, you did it to save my daughter. I will do what I can for you when the time comes. Your assistance in this situation has been greatly appreciated."
James Norrington looked at Governor Swann with a gentle smile. He was grateful for anything that the man could do for him but his first concern at the moment was saving Elizabeth from the pirate crew of the Black Pearl.
Governor Swann headed back to the Admiral's office at the stern of the ship, intent on staying out of the way until some orders needed to be made. Norrington continued to look out onto the horizon, his mind working overtime trying to formulate some plan to rescue Elizabeth. He was so distracted by his own thoughts that he didn't notice Sparrow sidling up next to him and leaning on the railing. The pirate looked at him sideways while he rested his elbows on the top of the railing.
"As long as you're intent on saving your bonnie lass, I feel it's only right to warn you of what you're about to face out there. I like you and I don't like many people so I am going to warn you that not everything is as it seems and there are such things as magical curses and demons. You'd best remember that."
"What is it that you are prattling on about?" Norrington asked, his annoyance evident in his tone of voice.
"All I'm saying is that the rumours are true. The Black Pearl is crewed by the damned," Sparrow responded as he pushed himself back up into a standing position. "Just remember that I warned you."
Norrington waved him off back to the helm to direct the ship where it needed to go. He didn't put much stock in ghost stories and had already convinced himself that Sparrow had delusions about the world. The man was a drunkard and hardly a reliable source of information. The only reason he was currently being spared the brig was that he knew how to get to the island where the crew of the Black Pearl docked their ship
The Dauntless arrived in fairly good time to the Isla de Muerta. She was not the fastest ship in the Caribbean, but she guided them to their destination as swiftly as the large ship could manage. The sun was just disappearing behind the horizon when they lowered the anchor. Sparrow was loaded into one of the long boats on his own as part of his plan to negotiate with the pirates. As he rowed towards the cave, Admiral Middleton loaded troupes into the other long boats, having come up with his own plan. Norrington couldn't disagree with the idea that they should not trust Sparrow, but something in his gut told him the Admiral's plan was not going to work either. He supposed he couldn't blame the man. If he'd been in the same position, he probably would have been doing the same thing. He supposed that seeing things from a different view helped. Being a commander could skew the look of the world. Norrington turned his back on the commotion on the deck and stared out at the horizon and the rocks surrounding the island. He knew that the pirates' ship was docked somewhere close by and that would be where he would find Elizabeth.
Norrington grabbed a hold of Groves's arm as he passed to catch his attention. "He's wasting his time. Elizabeth won't be in that cave. She's of no use to them in their plan. She'll still be on the ship in the brig. They will have left guards so… I need your help." James let go of his arm, realizing the enormity of what he was asking his friend. It would mean going against his commanding officer's orders. It was a lot to ask of any Naval man.
Groves looked at Norrington before looking back towards the rest of the crew on board. He turned to Norrington with a grim expression. "We'd best be moving quickly then."
Norrington felt relief flood over him as he and Groves made their way to a long boat. The two of them worked together to hoist it down into the water on the port side of the ship where they would not be seen. Each of them climbed down a rope into the boat and started rowing away from the ship. He wasn't perfectly sure where he was going but knew that The Black Pearl was around the island somewhere. They navigated through the rocky cove until the sight of the black sails greeted them just to the east. Groves rowed faster as soon as they spotted it. Even in the darkness of night by the light of the moon, it wasn't hard to recognize the pirate ship.
There didn't appear to be anyone on duty, protecting the ship, but Norrington knew better than to believe that was the case. He signaled to Groves and grabbed hold of the sea ladder as they pulled up on the starboard side. As he climbed, he could hear the voices of two crew members discussing their dinner on the gun deck. Best case scenario would be that the deck was clear of any crew members. Norrington peeked through the gaps in the railing as he got up closer to the deck. Seeing that it was empty, he pulled himself over and helped Groves up onto the deck as well. They stepped lightly as they made their way to the door that would lead under the deck.
Suddenly, a creature that could only be described as an undead monkey dropped down in front of them, hanging from the riggings, and screeched at them. Norrington acted quickly as he swung at the creature, knocking it over the railing and into the sea. The two of them heard the two guards coming up to the deck, having heard the small commotion the monkey had made. As the clouds drifted over the moon, darkening the sky, Norrington and Groves moved quickly into a hiding spot as the two pirates walked up onto the deck from below.
Norrington and Groves slid their swords out of their scabbards as quietly as possible as they emerged from their hiding spot. Sure that there were no other pirates joining the two, they approached the pirates with their swords pointed towards them. "Surrender now and you may yet still live." Norrington spoke with a calm demeanor, intent only on freeing Elizabeth. He could care less if these pirates lived or died.
The two men laughed as they backed away from Norrington and Groves, quickly drawing their swords and making it clear that they were not going down without a fight. Norrington was the first to lunge forward in an attempt to strike the first blow. His opponent successfully deflected the attack before they exchanged blow by blow, dodging swing after swing. Groves quickly engaged his opponent as well. Finally, Norrington landed a blow, sliding his sword into the pirate's gut as the clouds started to clear away from the moon. The moonlight shone down onto the deck of the ship, turning their two opponents into creatures of the dead. Norrington pulled his sword back as the pirate laughed at him in mocking. He could barely believe what he was seeing. It seemed impossible.
Seeing an opening, the pirates attacked the two men. Norrington quickly parried as he worked through a plan in his head to get rid of the two obstacles. These pirates were unkillable and the only solution was to somehow get them out of the way. It would have been too difficult to try to steer them down into the brig. Norrington looked past the pirate he was dueling with, out into the dark expanse of the ocean, figuring out quickly that there really was only one thing they could do. He signaled to Lieutenant Groves to follow his lead as they pushed the pirates back towards the railing. As soon as they were close enough, Norrington, followed by Groves, rushed the pirate and sent him overboard. The two pirates fell into the sea as Norrington sheathed his sword and made his way below deck. Groves followed quickly behind him. The pair made their way down into the ship until they came across the cells.
"James! James, I'm here," Elizabeth shouted towards him as soon as she caught a glimpse of this uniform.
James Norrington followed the sound of Elizabeth's voice quickly and came upon her cell. He ordered Groves to find the keys in order to let everyone out. Elizabeth stuck her arm through the bars and clasped his forearm.
"I knew you would find me," she stated with a smile at him. Their reunion was a quick affair with smiles exchanged instead of words.
Groves brought the ring of keys over as James drew his arms away to take them from his companion. He tried three keys on the ring before the lock on Elizabeth's cell gave way. He pulled the door open and led Elizabeth directly to Groves while he attended to the other cell full of the ship's crew. Once freed, they all headed back up to the deck to plan where and what they were going to do next. The crew gathered in one group to the side while James, Groves and Elizabeth huddled together separated from the others.
"Whether you lot help us or not, we've got to get her back to the Dauntless," James spoke suddenly.
"And you have to rescue Captain Sparrow and Mr. Turner," Elizabeth interrupted.
James and Elizabeth exchanged silent looks before James sighed and agreed with her. He looked over at the assembled crew and Mr. Gibbs stepped forward.
"I beg your pardon, but we have our ship, just as Jack promised, and there is the Code to consider."
"Fine by me. We'll be taking two of your long boats then. Groves, I want you to take Ms. Swann back to the ship and I will fetch Sparrow." James didn't appear to be as unaffected as he sounded. Rather, he looked annoyed with the pirate crew but knew he shouldn't have expected anything else.
The two men managed the long boats without the help of the pirate crew. Groves climbed into the first boat as Norrington helped Elizabeth down into it, giving her a silent promise that he would return when the fight was over. As Groves started to row away from the Black Pearl, Norrington climbed down into the other long boat and set off towards the cave in search of the two missing members of their party.