I know it's been a VERY long time. And I mean VERY. But I got reviewed recently! Wow! That means I have to update! hinthint
So Jack finally enters the picture. Well it's about time.
Chapter Five – Fear and Loathing
The crowd formed an arena around the pair of pirates. Moreau struck out viciously at Jack's torso, but Jack leaned back slightly, avoiding the blade by inches. He countered as Moreau moved to strike again, relishing in the adrenaline rush.
"I believe you have improved since last we met, Jack."
"That's Captain Jack, if you please, but it was very thoughtful of you to notice."
Will had stopped struggling. He was still trying to absorb the situation, without much success. The thugs holding Will back were equally absorbed in the fight, and had inadvertently loosened their vice-like grasp. He didn't move, hoping that an opportunity to escape might arise sometime soon. Something caught the corner of his eye. He turned his head slightly to look, keeping the motion minimal so as not to draw attention. He could see Gibbs, Anamaria, Cotton, and at least a dozen other pirates motioning wildly, trying to tell him to make a break for it and head for the Pearl. He tried mouthing the words, "I can't," to them, but they either didn't understand or couldn't see properly. He couldn't leave without Elizabeth. And what would happen to Jack if he left now?
"Move, you bloody idiot!" He'd discussed the plan with everyone on the Pearl. Distract the Saviour's crew, get close enough so that Will could hop onto the Pearl, and get away as fast as they could. The fact that Will hadn't even tried to leave defied logic, as far as Jack was concerned. He couldn't hold off Moreau forever. Not a good thing to expect some pathetic wimp of a captain and instead meet someone who's sworn to kill you in the most horrible way possible and happens to be rather good with a sword. He hadn't even expected to need his sword so soon. Now Jack was faced with the fact that this daring rescue might actually pose him a problem. He found that Moreau wasn't giving him an inch, and being surrounded by a large group of the most hostile pirates on the seven seas didn't make his position any better.
"Capitaine, zey are trying to 'elp him!" cried one of the crew in a French accent so thick it was almost comical. Moreau whipped around momentarily, looking first at the Pearl, then at Will, and back to Jack, resuming the battle with more ferocity than before.
"Kill him before he escapes, you imbeciles!" Moreau roared.
Will remained motionless. Exasperated, and against his better judgment, Jack gave Will a forceful look. At least one of them would get away, even if it wasn't him.
"Go! Run!"
Will hesitated for a split second, then realized that Jack was endangering his own life by telling him to run for it. He didn't need telling twice. He broke away from the disoriented guards and outran a large number of crewmembers who were hot on his tail. He took hold of the rope Gibbs threw over to him, vaulted over the side of the Saviour, and swung across to the safety of the Pearl.
Sword fighting rule number one: never take your eyes off your opponent. Pain exploded in Jack's left shoulder, and he looked to find the sword of Sebastien Moreau embedded in it up to the hilt, pinning him against the wooden wall of the captain's quarters.
Elizabeth woke sharply, startled to find a blade sticking out of the wall, half an arm's length away from her face. She could hear voices outside, and they didn't sound friendly. The blade was withdrawn slowly, leaving a thin hole in the wood. Then a scuffle broke out, and she heard blows being exchanged. A loud thump on the wall next to her made her start, and she scrambled out of the bed in which she'd been lying. Her corset was on the floor in a tangle of laces, next to the dress she'd been wearing over it. That bastard! He'd left her half-naked! Granted, she'd probably have suffocated if he hadn't, and she was still wearing her rather substantial underclothes, but it was nevertheless inexcusable behavior. It would be impossible to put the corset back on. Normally she'd have a team of uncommonly strong maids to pull the laces tight, but this room seemed to suffer from a distinct lack of burly female servants, so she searched for something easier to wear. After a while, she came to the conclusion that this was definitely the captain's quarters, considering that the only clothes readily available were men's clothes, and that she had found a large collection of medals and badges in one of the drawers. She'd worn men's clothing before, and found it much more comfortable than what she was normally expected to wear, so she grabbed a shirt and some trousers to change into.
Elizabeth inspected herself in the long mirror standing next to the bed, and found her attire acceptable. Odd-looking, but it would work for the time being. She walked to the door of the cabin and tried the handle. To her surprise, it didn't turn. Then she berated herself for being so stupid. Of course it was locked! No self-respecting pirate would ever leave a captive in an unlocked room! Finally the weight of her situation hit her fully. She was, once again, the prisoner of a bunch of bloodthirsty knaves whose only goals were to rob people blind and ravish as many women as possible before they died of some horrible rat-borne disease. Of course, this time the pirates were mortal. That would make things a bit easier, wouldn't it?
Leaning down, Elizabeth looked through the keyhole in the door. Not much was visible more than four or five feet away, but what she did see made her feel immediately and severely ill. She resisted the urge to gag as she saw a maid, her throat slit clean across, lying prostrate with eyes open only a short distance away from the door. She held a shaking hand over her mouth and closed her eyes, hoping the horrible image would go away. "Think of something nice. Think of . . . Will." Yet another awful realization hit her already reeling mind. Was he alright? Did he . . . . did they . . .
And what had happened to the rest of the crew? What about the captain? She remembered Will protesting before they left at not being allowed to captain the ship himself, but Captain Wright didn't deserve the fate that had likely befallen him. The clothes she was wearing could belong to a dead man.
She began slamming her fists against the thick door, hoping a faithful member of the crew would hear her and let her out. No one came running, no one even heard her. Rising panic built up in the pit of her stomach. She listened again at the keyhole, trying to discern a voice, any voice. Nothing. There was no sound but the faint breaking of waves against the ship's hull. Even the commotion she'd heard earlier had stopped. She screamed in frustration, throwing herself at the door one last time before sliding to the ground in tears. What could she do? Just wait until those filthy pirates let her out of here? She'd go insane with worry by then, whenever that was. Still, maybe he was alright. Maybe they'd sent Moreau and his accomplices to the bottom of the ocean. She could only hope.
Elizabeth wondered how she could have changed so imperceptibly from being a mild-mannered English lady to wishing for the deaths of other people, even if they were pirates. She knew a pirate. He didn't deserve to die, so what made all the other pirates any different?
She stood up abruptly when she heard footsteps outside the door. There was a sickeningly conspicuous pause as whoever was approaching stepped over the corpse of the maid.
"You will come with me," A short, very dirty man grabbed her roughly by the arm and dragged her outside.
Had Elizabeth not been determined to show these pirates no weakness, she would have taken the liberty of vomiting. The deck of the Saviour was steeped in blood, the smell of it hung heavily in the air, and bodies of the crew were strewn all over the place. There were bodies in the sea around the ship. She could barely stand breathing, let alone looking at the carnage, but she forced herself to search the corpses in case Will was amongst them. Her heart lifted when she found he wasn't there, but her mind kept coming up with other ways Will may have met his untimely end. She had to know. If those pirates didn't kill her, this would.
And what had happened to the Pearl? It had been steadily closing in on them before she had her little meeting with Moreau, and now it was nowhere to be seen. It couldn't have got away that fast, could it? How long had she been asleep?
The stairs squeaked mournfully as she was led down them. One of Commodore Norrington's nuggets of wisdom popped into her mind. "Even the finest ship in the world has its creaks and groans." With every step, she could feel more and more wood above and around her. Elizabeth remembered how roomy and clean-cut everything had seemed on her first tour around the interior of the ship, but now it felt dank and musty. The air grew thick with the stench of unwashed human, which made her even more reluctant to breathe than she had been on deck. She and Will had kept to the upper layers of the ship where it didn't smell so foul, but she didn't have much choice now.
"Where are we going?" she snapped fiercely at the grease-caked pirate pulling her along. He stopped, forcing Elizabeth to quickly regain her balance.
"To see the captain. And you'll speak when you're spoken to if you want to live."
