Disclaimer: See chapter 1.
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Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Bag
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Chapter 3: Tortuga
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Once on the island or rock I should say, we entered a place of pure amusement. At least, on my part it was. I grinned as bullets whizzed by in every direction, guns fired for no reason, drunken men sitting below kegs, drinking from the spout. This was so much cooler then the ride at Disney Land.
"More importantly, it is indeed a sad life that has never breathed deep this sweet, proliferous bouquet that is Tortuga, savvy?" He took a passing man's cane and swung about in mock aristocracy. "What do you think?" Will glanced around before looking at me,
"It'll linger."
"I'll tell you mate, if every town in the world were like this one, no man would ever feel unwanted."
"Hey Jack?" I fell in step with him.
"Yes pet?" He eyed a couple of girls and Will rolled his eyes, a trait seemingly picked up from me.
"I need some better clothes. I'd rather reek of my own sweat as apposed to the sweat of a thirty-seven year old man." I wrinkled my nose a bit. He laughed,
"Of course love, of course. We'll hop right to it in the morn- Scarlet!" A woman with insanely red hair strutted up to Jack and glared at me,
"Who's she?" Her face was contorted in jealousy,
"Oh, no, I'm with him," and I stepped closer to Will who flushed as I pressed up against him to add to the effect. Ignoring my defense, she slapped Jack with a hearty amount of anger.
"Not sure I deserved that." Straightening up, he saw a blonde woman approach us, "Giselle!"
"Who was she?" she demanded, jerking her head over at Scarlet.
"What?" Jack feigned confusion only to be slapped again, "I may have deserved that." And I laughed,
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned Jack." I reminded him with a mocking smile. We made our way to the pigsty; I stayed close to Will as to, ah, prevent any other situations from arising. Jack and Will scooped up two buckets of water and I stood back a little ways as Jack dumped the freezing water on a sleeping man covered in grime and mud.
"Curse ye for breathing ye slack-jawed idiot!" Gibbs roared, sitting up and sputtering as he waved his knife about. Breathing heavily, he looked at Jack, "Mother's love! Jack! You should know better than to wake a man when he's sleeping. 'S bad luck." He warned.
"Ah, fortunately I know how to counter it. The man who did the waking buys, the man who was sleeping, a drink." Jack continued his ridiculous elucidation as he knelt in front of Gibbs. "The man who was sleeping drinks it while listening to a proposition from the man who did the waking." Both Will and I looked at each other. I raised an eyebrow.
"Aye, that'll about do it." And with Jack's outstretched hand, Gibbs made it to his feet when Will decided to empty the other bucket of water on him, "Blast! I'm already awake!" Then it was Jack's and my turn to look at each other and then at Will.
"That was for the smell." And I laughed at how he tried to justify his actions. We left the sty and I could feel Gibbs' eyes studying me,
"An' who's this lass ye decided to bring along Jack?" He scratched the back of his head, "Don't look like she's dressed to be pleasurable company." I snorted,
"I'm far from it you asshole."
"And that funny accent ye got too. Where ye from lass?" Gibbs asked,
"I'll explain all that later," Jack stepped in, "But first," and we all looked up to see a sign that said The Faithful Bride. Rolling my eyes, we went inside. Together as a group, we side stepped and avoided the brawls and bullets and drunken whores clinging onto drunken men. I noticed Jack eyeing a particularly pretty brunette, her hair done in chestnut ringlets. I looked away, maybe a little too quickly because Will had touched my shoulder,
"Are you alright?" I saw Jack was watching us out of the corner of his eye.
"Yeah," I breathed, "I'm good." We stopped at a private room, well, as private as it could be with no doors, and Jack turned to the two of us,
"Keep a sharp eye," and swaggered inside. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. We stood there for a few moments, watching the people be, well, people when Will said to me,
"Jack told me your story." I looked up at him,
"Oh, good. No worries then." He didn't seem to catch on,
"Why would you worry?" Will looked a bit concerned.
"Well Will," and I nearly laughed at how ridiculous that sounded, "If I told you, I might come off as crazy, but if Jack told you, well, you already know he's crazy, so you've got nothing left to do but believe him."
"Ah," and he turned to watch the people, "And what of your talking bag? Did you leave it on the ship?"
"Yeah," I murmured and glanced behind me at Jack and Gibbs. Will followed my gaze in time to hear Jack say,
"Let's just say it's a manner of leverage, eh?" I glared at him and he winked back. Will looked away quickly.
"Don't worry about it." I said through my teeth and then I softened. "I'll protect you." I whispered and I hoped to whatever Gods there were that he hadn't heard the last part. A drunken whore with teeth narrow and yellowish gray tittered as she leaned obnoxiously close to Will. He looked rather uncomfortable, the poor boy, as she shoved her cleavage practically into his face. He looked at me and I laughed before feeling a hand on my ass. Will narrowed his eyes and pulled me towards him before I could turn around and break the greasy man's nose. With a shrug, the man leered at the fat whore and pulled her away. She continued to laugh in a very annoying, very abhorrent manner. I looked back and I frowned as Jack and Mr. Gibbs toasted each other. I turned to Will,
"Jack's going to want to find some female company for tonight," I said quickly, grabbing his hand and leading the way out, "We should go book a room." He nodded and didn't protest, a trait that was starting to annoy me. I didn't really know where I was going, but I led him away only letting go of his hand to unbutton my shirt a bit.
"What are you-" but I shushed him and dragged him into a cleaner looking bar. The bartender looked up and nodded to me before I dragged Will up the stairs. "What was that?" Will turned to me questioningly as I locked the door. His eyes fell to the ground and away from the unbuttoned shirt. I shrugged.
"It was the easiest way to get in here without being questioned." I replied. Will looked a bit abashed,
"They think you're a-a prostitute?" I raised an eyebrow.
"At least we have a room, man," and he bit his lip and looked away. I rolled my eyes and sat down on the bed. "There's only one bed and don't bother saying that you'll sleep on the floor. It's not a big problem." He gave me a look. O sighed in exasperation, "It's not like we're going to do anything Will." He nodded feebly and set his sword down on a hard wooden chair. I took off the shirt and boots; Will avoided looking at me the whole time. He cleared his throat uncertainly and pulled off his vest and shirt. "It's too hot to sleep in these pants." I stated, "At least for me it will be." And I, rather shamelessly, peeled off my pants and clambered into the bed.
"Do we really? I mean, I can sleep on the floor if-"
"Just shut up and get in bed." I pulled on his arm and he sat on the edge. I laid down and drew the sheet up to my shoulders. Hesitantly, Will also laid down, trying to make sure our skin wouldn't touch. I rolled my eyes and didn't say anything. "Will?" I asked after a moment.
"Yes Miss Woods?" I snorted.
"Please don't call me that."
"Yes? Ashlyn?"
"Have you ever had sex?" he sat up abruptly.
"P-pardon?" I rolled over on my side and propped up my head so I could look him in the eye.
"Oh, don't 'pardon' me! You know exactly what I'm talking about." His eyes shifted. "Well? Have you?"
"Yes. A few times."
"Okay, so you're not a pixie." He glared at me and I grinned back wolfishly. "I have. More then twice, but I didn't find my partners satisfying." I examined my nails casually before glancing up at him. "Do you think you could satisfy me Will?" I swear, that guy jumped a good foot in the air and his cheeks became a violent pink. I laughed, long and hard, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" I choked. "Good God Will! Do you take everything so seriously? Go to sleep." Still chuckling, I shifted to my other side and fell asleep.
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I awoke to several movements in the bed. I blearily looked up at the window to see the full moon. I yawned, it must've been at lest three in the morning. I turned to check on Will. He was moaning softly, eyes flickering behind the lids. He was having a nightmare. I frowned and took his hand,
"Will," I whispered, "Wake up!" His brow furrowed deeply and he curled into me,
"Elizabeth!" he shouted, jolting awake. His head crashed into mine.
"Fuuuuuuuck…" I groaned "Jesus Will." He was breathing hard, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face. The moonlight reflected on it as it slid off and silently hit the sheet, disappearing into the creamy fabric. "Shhhh." I held his cheek in my palm, "It's okay, it was only a dream."
"Only a dream," he murmured. He looked at me, his eye unfocused as if he was still lingering in a dream world. "Only a dream," Will repeated and leaned in and kissed me. I froze and didn't complain, an odd combination. I responded, lowering him down to the pillow. He pulled away a little, enough for him to speak, "It's only a dream," and with a sleepy, sad smile, he drifted back to a dreamless sleep. I watched him for a moment before settling down next to him. His arms encircled my waist, pulling me against him. I didn't complain, but I also didn't fall back asleep.
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When he awoke in the morning to see our position, he smiled a bit sheepishly and disentangled himself from me. I got dressed and questioned him about the dream. He shook his head, confused and looking a bit embarrassed. I didn't press the matter. If he didn't remember the dream, then he didn't remember the kiss. Besides, I had told myself coldly, he probably was still in la-la land and thought that I was Elizabeth. Though, how he had ever made that assumption, I don't know. I look nothing like her. I was dark where she was light and I was dim where she was bright. Not intelligence of course, but our eyes were definitely the biggest difference between us. Her eyes were warm and brown tinged with honey. Mine were cold and dark, like two unlit bits of coal. But no matter, it was in the past, no matter how close it seemed.
We met Jack at the docks with Mr. Gibbs; I had told the innkeeper slash bartender to put the price on Jack's tab. He had believed me.
"Feast your eyes, Captain. All of them, faithful hands before the mast, every man worth his salt. And crazy to boot." Gibbs announced proudly as we made our way down the line.
"So this is your able-bodied crew?" Will inclined with a raised eyebrow. I rolled my eyes,
"Have faith young William," I drawled, my voice heavy with sarcasm. Jack stopped before a weathered old man who stood straight, shoulders squared. Jack glanced at Will, ready to prove his point,
"You, sailor!" Jack barked.
"Cotton, sir," Gibbs supplied,
"Mr. Cotton … do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death?" Jack waited a bit impatiently as Mr. Cotton looked at Gibbs a bit helplessly, "Mr. Cotton! Answer, man!"
"He's a mute, sir." Gibbs stepped in both apologetic and protective, "Poor devil had his tongue cut out, so he trained the parrot to talk for him. No one's yet figured how." Mr. Cotton showed us the stump of his tongue and Jack stuck his own tongue out, as if to make sure it was still there.
"Mr. Cotton's…" Jack trailed off, almost losing his leadership, "Parrot, same question."
"Wind in the sails! Wind in the sails!" the parrot squawked. The three of us looked at each other.
"We figure that means, yes." Gibbs supplied once more.
"O'course it does." Jack nodded smartly and continued down the line. Will and I looked at each other and he smiled. "Satisfied?" he asked Will smugly.
"Well, you've proved they're mad."
"And what's the benefit for us?" came a voice at the end of the line. It was too high to be a man's voice, but too rough to be a ladies. I smirked. I loved this character. We followed Jack over to the end. Jack looked cautiously beneath the wide brim of the hat and slowly lifted it off.
"Anna-Maria!" he exclaimed with a smile. She smacked him harder then the two prostitutes had. I sniggered in the background. Will leaned in with a,
"I suppose you didn't deserve that one either."
"No, that one I deserved." Anna-Maria nodded behind him.
"You stole my boat!" Anna-Maria accused him angrily.
"Actually," he began, turning back to face her. She stopped him with another slap to the face, "borrowed!" he said loudly, "Borrowed without permission. But with every intention of bringing it back to you." He grinned a bit weakly,
"But you didn't!" she shouted in his face.
"You'll get another," Jack said, thinking fast on his feet. She jabbed a finger in his face,
"I will,"
"A better one." Will jumped in,
"A better one!" Jack agreed enthusiastically.
"That one." Will pointed at the Interceptor.
"What one?" He turned to Will nodded at the small ship, "That one!" The entire crew looked at Jack. I laughed. He couldn't squirm his way out of this one, "Aye," he consented, "That one. What say you?"
"Aye!" Anna-Maria decided for the crew.
"Aye!" the crew agreed. I smirked. This was gonna be good.
"Anchors aweigh!" I heard Mr. Cotton's parrot shriek as Anna-Maria snatched her hat back from Jack.
"No, no, no, no, no, its frightful bad luck to bring women aboard, sir." Gibbs warned, stepping in front of Jack and glancing at me.
"I'm not sure about her," he pointed at me; I bared my teeth, "But it'd be far worse not to have her." Jack replied, looking up at the clear blue skies. He ventured down the dock to the Interceptor. I tagged along, looking back to see Will and Gibbs looking up into the sky.
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A storm broke out when we were a ways from Tortuga and it came suddenly, without warning. Exactly the way a storm should arrive. Jack had commanded me to stay below, but I've been on a ship like this before. For a couple years, when I was in high school, I had worked on a replica ship like the Interceptor as a tour guide. One year, we had sailed out of the harbor and got caught in a storm. I was only the second mate and it was a few years ago, but I could still work my hands like any other sailor. Just not as good.
"How can we sail to an island that nobody can find with a compass that doesn't work?" I heard Will bellow as I held on to a rope; Anna-Maria was working furiously to tie its knot. I looked up to find Jack through the rain, but I couldn't see him,
"Aye, the compass doesn't point north but we're not trying to find north, are we?" He staggered up to the wheel. "We should drop canvas, sir!"
"She can hold a bit longer." Jack's voice drifted back to me. There was a crack of thunder.
"What's in your head that's put you in such a fine mood, Captain?" Gibbs roared over the storm. I felt the life line around my waist slip a little. In all this rain and sea spray, my unprofessional knot had loosened.
"We're catching up." And a flash of lightening illuminated Jack and that was the last thing I saw before the ship gave a jerk and I spilled off the deck, falling into the dark abyss that was the sea. The moment I was below the water, the crew's voices went silent and I couldn't hear Jack or Will calling my name. My eyes were open and things looked surprisingly calm beneath the water. I tried to swim up to the surface, but I was so close to the ship, that the pull it created wouldn't let me rise. It was so calm down here, so peaceful. I never wanted to see the upper world again…
There was darkness and I felt a warm pair of lips over mine despite the cold and a breath of air slipped down my throat. I sat up abruptly, sputtering and choking up water. Anna-Maria was beside me, wiping her mouth over the back of her hand. Everyone was dripping wet and with another flash of lightening, I saw Mr. Cotton at the wheel.
"That's funny. I didn't know ye fancied women Anna-" another crewman teased before being slapped into silence. It was raining still but the waves weren't as colossal as before.
"Who?" I asked weakly. Gibbs grinned.
"Was the captain. He's the strongest swimmer, but Anna-Maria and young William here wouldn't let him give ye the kiss of life." I rolled my eyes and stumbled to my feet. I waved off Will's hand.
"I'm fine," I swallowed. Not looking Jack in the eye, I made my way to his cabin. I had slept the previous sea night in the crew's cabin with Will in separate bunks, but now that there was an actual crew, I decided that I would kick Jack out if I had to. I really didn't feel like talking or looking at him for the moment.
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Whew! Four pages! Well, all my chapters so far have been four pages, but this one has had the most words. Perhaps the next chapter will be longer…. Thanks to all my reviewers!
