Disclaimer: See chappie one!

Chapter 8

The following morning they were sailing again following the heading provided by the compass. Jack and Will were at their respective helms and the crew worked with a will hoping to reach the Isla de Shatsal soon and get their hands on the treasure promised.

By that evening they had made good progress and dropped anchors for the night. Jack crossed over to Will's ship this time and the two spent a pleasurable evening drinking rum and finishing off as always in bed where they satisfied their intense love for each other.

During the following day a storm broke. Rain and wind lashed the two vessels viciously and the two captains battled to keep them afloat. The Black Pearl held easily having traversed many storms before but Will's ship was not faring so well. She was lighter than the Pearl and was tossed around on the rough sea like a rag doll. Will knew they were all in danger as he tried desperately to steer his ship as his first mate yelled orders to the crew most of which were lost in the wind which roared like a hungry sea beast.

Will could no longer see the Pearl and he hoped Jack was alright though he knew he probably would be. Jack had ridden out many storms probably worse than this one and would be fine.

"Look out!" A voice shouted and he looked up to see an enormous rock right in front of them. He knew there was no time to turn and so he left the helm and ran down to the main deck.

"Lower the longboat!" He commanded and his crew scurried to do their captain's bidding. They had just managed to lower the boat into the thrashing sea when the ship struck the rocks jarring it badly.

Some of the men fell into the sea and the rest jumped as the stricken ship began to sink.

Will swam around looking for survivors until he was grabbed by many hands and hauled aboard the longboat.

"We cannot search in this storm cap'n." One of his crew whose name was Smithy. "And Cap'n Jack would never forgive us if anything happened to you."

Will nodded knowing they were right and they began to row away from the rocks as Will watched the ship that he had worked so hard for sink to the bottom of the sea.

There were only five of his crew in the longboat and they heard no cries for help as they rowed away.

Will's heart was heavy as he also grabbed an oar and began to row.

"We're sorry cap'n."

"Thanks." Will said unable to say more and hoping against hope that the Pearl hadn't met a similar fate.

They rode out the rest of the storm in silence ceasing their rowing when they were far enough away from the rocks to be fairly safe.

The storm blew away eventually revealing a perfectly clear blue sky. Will looked all round searching for the Pearl but he could see nothing.

"Please be okay." He silently begged.

Jack had steered his ship well and when the storm blew away he looked round fully expecting to see Will's following but there was nothing.

"Bugger." He muttered. "Mr Gibbs!"

"Aye cap'n."

"We must search for Will."

"Aye!"

Gibbs ran off to chivvy the crew who were all tired after the storm but knew that their captain would not rest until he was sure Will was okay.

Jack got out his compass and opened it.

The needle quivered a moment as if deciding what to do before pointing in a direction behind them.

"Bring her about!" He shouted and Gibbs dashed to the helm while Jack got out his spyglass and scanned the horizon for any sign of Will's ship.

The Pearl came about and began to sail back the way they came.

It was not long before they saw wreckage floating on the surface of the sea from Will's ship and Jack's heart sank. He could only hope that Will made it off the ship before she went down.

They raised the sails and rowed slowly until there was a shout from above.

"Longboat ahoy!"

Jack scanned the spotted small vessel and to his relief he saw Will at the front rowing with the others with all speed towards the Pearl. Jack smiled with relief and ran to the side as the small boat drew up alongside the Pearl and it's occupants climbed aboard.

Jack uncaring of what anyone saw or thought, drew Will into his arms and held him close.

"I thought you were dead." He whispered and Will hugged him back.

"No…but my ship hit rocks and sank."

Jack relinquished his hold and ordered rum to be given to Will's crew and to drop anchors for now.

He led Will into his cabin and handed him a bottle. Will drank gratefully cradling the bottle close to him.

"Sorry about your ship mate."

A single tear ran down Will's face as he mourned the loss of his ship.

Jack took his face in his hands and kissed it away before drawing him into his arms and holding him close.

"When we get that treasure Will, I'm going ta buy ya a new one."

Will sniffed and nodded clinging to Jack like a small child.

Jack said nothing knowing that every captain pirate or otherwise had his own ways of dealing with the loss of a ship. This was Will's way and there was no way Jack was going to tease him at that moment.

They did not make love that night, Jack just held Will close to him giving him comfort as best he could.

Will slept little that night the small amount of sleep he had providing him with nothing but nightmares from which he woke shaking and sobbing and clinging to Jack who soothed him until he calmed down.

"I'm sorry Jack."

"Ssshhh it's okay love, I know it's hard losing a ship."

Jack held him close until he drifted off again comforted by the warmth of the older pirate's body mingled with the smell of rum that always hung around him.

Neither captain had much sleep really but Jack brushed it off easily. Will felt terrible though and wished he could sleep properly but every time he closed his eyes he was plagued by images of his beloved ship being claimed by the sea and so he gave up trying and just lay on Jack's huge and comfortable bed staring at the ceiling.

"Will?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm just going ta sort me crew out before they start slacking off but I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Okay." Will said. His voice was quiet, almost a whisper and he sounded defeated. Jack knew it could take a while for him to recover from the loss of his ship. He remembered how he was the first time he lost the Pearl. He had been working for Beckett as a merchant sailor and captain of the Pearl. Beckett had asked him to transport slaves and Jack had refused so Beckett had branded him a pirate and sank his beloved ship.

Through an amazing series of events Jack had managed to retrieve the Pearl and his joy was so great he had thought his heart would burst. Those first few weeks though after losing his ship had been among some of the hardest in his life to deal with. He knew he would sell his soul to have her returned to him. Like Will he had trouble sleeping and didn't want to eat. Jack knew that Will would probably feel bad until he found a new ship to love though his first ship would always be his best one.

Jack looked sadly at Will who had turned and was staring at the wall blankly as though not really seeing it. Sighing, he turned and left his cabin and began barking orders to the crew to raise anchor and set sail in the direction he pointed them to. He placed Gibbs at the helm and gave the survivors of Will's crew light duties to carry out for now as they were in mourning of their own partly for their captain and partly for the ship they had worked on for a little over a year.

Jack finished giving out his orders and was just about to return to his cabin when something caught his eye.

He took out his spyglass and looked through it.

"You see somethin' cap'n?" Gibbs asked.

"There's something up ahead, the sea looks strange but I can't quite make it out."

Gibbs frowned and looked at the sea stretching out in front of them as far as the eye could see.

"I can't see anythin' cap'n." He said after straining his eyes.

"Strange." Jack muttered. "Maintain heading Mr Gibbs. Call me if you see anything."

"Aye Cap'n."

Jack left his first mate and returned to his cabin where he found Will had actually fallen asleep with sheer exhaustion and he seemed peaceful enough. Jack smiled softly to himself and left his love to sleep while he returned outside to keep an eye on the seas ahead.

Something definitely was ahead of them he could feel it he just couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.

Suddenly there was a shout from the crows nest.

"Cap'n! Whirlpool ahoy!"

"Bugger." Jack ran up to the helm and took out his spyglass again. He could see the disturbance in the water up ahead that signalled a whirlpool. He swore again under his breath and took the helm from Gibbs who ran off to help the rest of the crew.

"Cap'n I can see more than one!" The pirate in the crows nest shouted.

"'Ow many?"

The pirate looked at the whirlpools and matched up with his fingers how many he could see before showing them to Jack. Being a pirate he had never found much use for learning to count. Jack used his spyglass to count the fingers.

"This could be bad." He muttered. He prepared to steer the Pearl through the whirlpool area. He knew the pull would be strong but he braced himself and gripped the smooth handles of the wheel tightly.

"Jack what's happening?" Will said rubbing his eyes and joining Jack at the helm.

"I thought you were asleep."

"I was, I heard shouting and came to see what was up."

"There are whirlpools up ahead and we 'ave to steer round them." Will noted the plural and looked at Jack questioningly.

"Pools?"

"Aye whirlpools, eight have been counted so far and there may be more.

"Can we navigate such treacherous conditions?" Will asked his voice fearful. Whirlpools were dangerous. He was beginning to see why anyone who had gone looking for the Isla de Shatsal had never come back.

The pools were within normal sight now and the closer they got the more they realised how dangerous it was going to be. The pools were enormous and Jack could feel the pull on the rudder towards them. He held fast to it and aimed for a passage right between two pools directly in the middle so that the pull would be even on both sides of the ship and give them a good chance of getting through.

Jack stood firm and steady as they entered the passage between the two whirlpools. His sea legs serving him well as he guided his ship with Will by his side.

It was when they were about a third of the way through that the problems began. Jack felt a pull to the right and moved the wheel slightly to the left to compensate. Unfortunately it was just enough to tip the balance and the ship began to move towards the left pool.

"Bugger." Jack said as he tried to steer the Pearl back towards the middle of the channel between the two pools but it was too late. The ship was caught in the pull of the whirlpool and as Jack clung to the wheel he knew that they would be drawn in and there was no escape for any of them from the swirling waters.

"We're goin' down!" He shouted to the crew and everyone made a rush to grab something to hold onto. None of the crew jumped overboard though. They were loyal to Jack and Will and would not abandon their captains even now.

With a jolt the ship entered the left pool and began to go round moving ever downwards towards the centre of the pool and what they all knew to be certain death to them all.

"Jack!" Will gasped holding onto the barrier in front of the wheel. Jack grabbed Gibbs who grabbed the wheel.

"Keep her steady for as long as possible." He told Gibbs.

"Aye Cap'n." Gibbs said and gripped the wheel so hard his knuckles turned white.

Jack dashed to Will's side and the two held onto each other as the ship drew close to the centre of the pool.

"I love you Jack." Will said as they held each other close.

"I love ya too Will." Jack said as the ship reached the centre and began to spin round slowly at first and then faster and faster as water swirled round them and began to engulf the Pearl.

Then they were sucked down into the black depths of the sea…

TBC…

Ba ba boom! Sorry nasty cliffy heh. The story behind Beckett and Jack is part of the actual story in the movie and is hidden somewhere on the disney site if you can find it lol but it's not a movie spoiler.

Se ya next chapter!