Mighty Pirate Hunter
Disclaimer: Yo Ho Yo Ho I own no pirates today, tomorrow or in the near future.
Falling Out
Jack nudged Will in the back. "Whelp, tell me, was this part of your plan?"
"Sorry Jack, I had to go behind your back. It was crucial in order to save Josephine. I could tell she was not your first concern." Will struggled with the ropes that bound him to Jack. As Will moved Jack began to choke. John's men had done a royal job on tying them together.
"Will stop you're squirming, your making it hard for me to think, let alone take in air," Jack grumbled.
Will stopped and lay motionless. "This isn't exactly what I had planned," Will burst the silence.
"Not exactly?" Jack gave a sly smile, unbeknownst to Will. "William you should think about the consequences before you leap into action. Complications always arise. You know you can't go wrong if you already expect the worse. I've noticed it does save time."
Suddenly more skeletons popped up but they just stood where they emerged. They did not advance on Will or Jack. It was as if they didn't see them. Jack gave a light laugh of triumph. "Ah, so what I heard is true."
Will nudged Jack with his shoulder. "Captain, please share. If I am to die I think I should know what you have heard."
"Well Whelp, I told you that if we, pirates, touched the scepter we would surly die. If we were not a Watson, and pulled the scepter, the skeletons would come, and they did. But you see, Elizabeth is neither a pirate nor a Watson and she, last I checked was female."
Will sighed. "Jack I am glad to know you know the gender of my wife but that is not going to bloody help us now. Is it?"
"William note, our emaciated friends are all standing still. Do you know why?"
"I'd call them acquaintances not friends," Will said coldly. "But yes, I have noticed they aren't moving. They seem to be waiting for something. Do you wish to enlighten me or are we playing a guessing game?"
"Well, we have the time," Jack said nonchalantly with a slight lilt in his voice.
"Jack please, this is not a game." Will was now irritated and he knew he should not give Jack the opportunity to play with him.
"Aye Lad, they are searching. They are searching out the scent of Miss Elizabeth. You see she is the one who disturbed them and if we remain quiet they will turn and go after her. Hopefully, for her sake, she is long gone and hopefully for ours they don't know it."
"Jack, I will not let them get my wife."
"That's a fine goal mate but I really don't think you have much of a choice. It really isn't a matter of what you want. You see, in time they will find her. As I see it, we can get ourselves buried alive or have Elizabeth sought after and killed. I myself vote for the latter."
"Jack I thought you were more compassionate than that." Will moved violently and Jack once again began to choke.
"Will, compassion has nothing to do with it, survival does. I say we wait for our undernourished friends to leave and we can run like hell and warn her after we free ourselves. We can't do much if we have six feet of dirt on us."
"Jack, I would like nothing better then to free myself of you."
"Remember, Elizabeth is with John and he does have the scepter. He can control these beasties and I for one am willing to let him. Elizabeth is a big girl; she can take care of herself. Savvy?"
"Yes Jack, but we don't know where Elizabeth went. For all I know she could be coming back to help us."
"If John has a say in it, she is long gone, along with your turn coat of a daughter. Are you sure she is related to you? Gaga, stop choking me boy."
"Jack," Will yanked at the rope and choked Jack again. "She is my daughter and I'd watch what you say."
"They, I am sure, went back to his ship," Jack said hoarsely. "And they will try to take The Pearl and take on me crew. John will realize they are too much for him and he will head back to his papa. The skeletons don't like water much, so Elizabeth may be safe on the ship, but then again remember Barbossa's crew. Water didn't seem to stop them."
Will managed to wiggle his wrists free without choking Jack and he started to untie himself from Jack. As Will untied Jack's hands the skeletons started to get restless and close in around them.
Jack pulled Will down as he tried to stand up. "For the love of mother and child, will you please stop your moving? Let them get their heads together or what ever they can get together."
Will fell next to Jack and wrenched away ripping his shirt. "Jack, I mean it…this is the last the very last thing I will ever do for you."
"Lad I know, I've heard that threat before and not just from you. I've lost a lot of crew due to me behavior. They feel I'm not serving their interest as captain. Whelp look around us, I am looking after our skin. Please just do as I say…please don't do anything… stupid."
"Why didn't you tell me about this women thing?"
Jack raised an eyebrow and looked at Will. "If I had told you, would it have changed your plans? Obviously your daughter has run off with the enemy."
"He is her husband," Will said in defense of his daughter.
Jack rolled his eyes. "Apparently she doesn't care what happens to you. So maybe in hindsight you wouldn't have had Elizabeth pull the scepter. Of course that's in the past and you can't change what has been done."
William couldn't take Jack's criticism anymore. He stood up, looked at Jack, rolled his eyes and ran.
"Will! I asked you not to do anything stupid… like…like running." Jack raised his hand in the air and shook his head. "That mate was not good, not good." Jack spoke to himself as Will disappeared.
The skeletons saw Will and hurried after him. Jack smiled and folded his arms over his chest and glowered until every skeleton was gone. Then he took off like a shot.
As far as Jack knew there was only one way out of the cave so he had to follow Will and the skeletons. Jack did remember to pick up his and Will's weapons before he left. As Jack rounded the bend he saw that the entrance to the cave had been blocked and Will had his back against a rock wall and he was now facing the bony adversaries.
Jack's eyes widened as he stopped short. He was hoping to back up unseen when Will yelled out and tossed rocks in Jack's direction.
The skeletons turned and saw Jack.
"What the bloody hell did you do that for? I could have snuck up on them and surprised them!" Jack yelled at Will.
Will shook his head with disbelief. He knew Jack was out to save his own skin. "I did it because I am a pirate and you are my captain," Will smiled and waved his hands through the air just like Jack always did. "Since you have my best interest in mind Captain Sparrow, I would be pleased if you saved me."
Stumbling backwards Jack dropped Will's weapons, turned and ran back into the cave. Needless to say the skeletons followed Jack. William, not being the cad Jack Sparrow is, picked up his sword and pistol and followed.
Will found Jack had taken a small tunnel hidden in the crevices of the rocks. Will reluctantly followed and found Jack standing at the edge of a steep chasm.
Jack's hair was blowing up around his face and his coat was billowing out as if it were a sail. Jack could feel the cold air coming up from the deep abyss. He looked at the horde of bones in front of him and then looked down into the dark seemingly bottomless hole.
As he looked he sneered and almost lost his balance. He really did not like his options. He began waving his arms to prevent himself from falling in.
Will took this as a motion to come. Will ran through the skeletons, bashing several of them just to see them come back as whole. With one large push, Will knocked Jack over the edge as he himself jumped off the ledge into the cold dark cavity and began to fall.
They both flew threw the air hitting rock outcroppings. Finally Will landed on one and stopped. Jack fortunately landed on another, just below Will. They both lay for awhile and didn't say a word. They could hear each other breathing.
"Nice job Whelp," Jack said sarcastically.
"I'm not the one who ran like a dog with his tail between his legs," Will said breathlessly.
"Excuse me mate, you were the first to make a break for it and then you ran at me as if I was holding a bone out for you. You knocked me over the ledge. Why? Why did you do that? If you had just stayed still we wouldn't be in this predicament now."
Will huffed. "As you said before, that's in the past and you can't change what has been done."
"Aye words to live by." Jack said as he looked about.
"Do you think they will come after us?" Will said hesitantly. "I mean, would they come down here if you didn't have to?"
"Yes to the first and yes to the second. They want to protect their treasure and they have nothing too lose. Make your way down here, grab a vine."
Will carefully made his way down to Jack. They now both sat on the same ledge and looked down. They could feel the cold air on their faces and they could hear the sound of running water far below.
Jack smiled at Will. "Well, we can sit here and wait for our acquaintances or we can jump and take our chances. Most likely we will crash into every sharp rock and plummet to our deaths. What do you say mate?"
Will's eyes widened as he looked into Jack's face, not knowing whether the pirate was serious or joking. "Jack, listen to me, that is no way to make an escape. We will just make our way down using the vines on the wall."
Will grabbed a vine and slowly moved off the ledge. Jack also grabbed for a thick vine but screamed as the vine came twisting at him. Jack had pulled a giant snake, not a vine, he quickly let go and grabbed a hold of Will's leg. With Jack's jump and his weight, Will's vine broke and they both plummeted down once more.
As they both flew through the darkness. Will saw his life pass before his eyes. He saw his mother, he saw the gold medallion his father sent him, and he saw the many swords he had made. Then he saw Elizabeth's beautiful face. He was glad he had lived as long as he had and he was glad Elizabeth was his wife. He knew she would love him to the end of time and he her.
As Jack fell, his thoughts were on his ship and his daughter. Who would take care of his Pearl? Would Anna know how much she meant to him? He then thought he would really like to have one more mug of rum. He thought that if he were drunk and numb, the blow at the end of this fall wouldn't hurt as much.
As these thoughts ran through their heads they both landed into a fast moving body of water. The water was very cold and luckily deep enough that neither one got hurt. Will was the first to climb out of the water. Jack pulled himself up beside him.
Jack paused a moment and smiled at Will. He stood up shook his wet shaggy head and looked around. He looked up to see if anything was following. Pleased that nothing was, he looked back down at Will, who was now sitting and mumbling curses under his breath.
Jack placed his hand on Will's shoulder. "There comes a time when one must take responsibility for one's mistakes."
Will pushed Jack's hand off his shoulder, stood up and punched Jack in the face. He then started to beat Jack with his fists. He was yelling uncontrollably and flailing wildly at him. His glancing blows landed on Jack's back, shoulders and neck. Jack covered his face trying to protect himself from hurricane Will. Jack didn't try to flee or dodge the blows; he just stood there and took each one without complaint.
"Why? Why do you do this?" Will yelled. "Why do you always put me in danger? You have one hell of a nerve Jack Sparrow! Yes, you should take responsibility for your mistakes! Your mistakes!"
Jack felt he had suffered enough glancing blows. He jerked away and then pulled his gun. "Do you have a death wish, Turner?"
"Yes," Will threw his arms up in the air and laughed hysterically. "Evidently I do. All I have to do is hang around with you and my life is on a thin line, or should I say vine?"
"Well, you could say snake," Jack put his gun away. "I hate snakes." Jack curled his lip and gave a slight shrug.
"You've got to stop this Jack." Will was now rubbing his hands. "It seems trouble follows you were ever you go. Your scheme almost got my daughter, you and I killed. Personally, I don't care what happens to you."
"Hey! Hey!" Jack looked into Will's face and it was like a stranger was looking back. He did not recognize the look in his eyes.
"Really Jack Sparrow, I am finished with you. I want you out of my life. I want you out of Josephine's and Elizabeth's life. If you want the Watson treasure, you will have to do it on your own."
"Come on," Jack gave Will a golden grin. "You don't mean that. After you settle down you'll see the profit of all this."
Will eyes flashed at Jack. "I mean it. I'm done with you." Will looked at the flowing water. "Let's find our way out of here."
Jack placed his arm around Will's shoulder. "You can't mean what you say. You love me, you adore me, despite my list of shortcomings," Jack said, trying to sound lighthearted. "We are mates, thick as thieves, nigh inseparable we are."
Will pulled away. "Yeah right, you watch my back and I watch yours disappear into the cave."
Jack smiled. "It's me front I'm worried about."
Will turned and started to follow the underground river. He was hoping it would lead him to the sea. Even if it didn't he didn't care, at least it would lead him away from the arrogant Jack Sparrow.
Jack figured Will would reconsider and for the moment it was best to give him time to cool down. Jack followed Will, walking not too far behind him but not saying a word.
The quiet was eating at Jack and he finally had to speak up. "Lad, your right. I owe you a lot and I'm grate…grate…"
"Grateful," Will blurted out.
"Yes, you are a faithful companion, and unquestionably loyal and I will do anything," Jack crossed his fingers. "Anything to make things right again."
"Jack, I am a man not a dog. Whelps are faithful companions and unquestionably loyal. I am not your whelp; I am not your mate. I said it once and I mean it. When we get out of this hell hole and I am reunited with my wife and daughter, I never want to see you again. As far as I am concerned, the Mighty Pirate Hunter can have you; have your ship and anything else that goes with it."
Will turned and stopped abruptly, forcing Jack to walk right into him.
Jack looked into Will's angered face.
Will, being the taller of the two, glared down at Jack. "Savvy?"
Jack stepped back and waved his hands in the air. "What am I going to do with you?" He walked past Will and they walked what seemed to be miles. When they finally found the exit to the cave they were exhausted and ready to collapse.
Jack sauntered down the beach a few yards. He looked out over the ocean to see if he could see The Pearl or any ship. The horizon was clear. He threw himself onto the sand and closed his eyes. Will tossed himself right beside him and looked up at the stars in the sky.
Jack opened his eyes and glanced over at Will. He appeared calm and back to his old self. Maybe he had reconsidered abandoning him and his ship. Maybe he would search for the words to apologize. Yes, Jack knew Will would apologize for attacking him and accusing him of being an awful leader.
Will did not look at Jack but he could sense Jack was staring at him. Will closed his eyes and started to breathe lightly. He was almost asleep when he spoke ever so slowly and softly. "I'm dead serious. I want you out of my life Jack Sparrow."
A/N Wow, it's been awhile since I updated. Sorry for the delay mates. So William has seen Jack's careless and uncaring ways. Is it time for Jack to hand over the helm to Anna? Is it time for Will to find Elizabeth and head home? Well, yes to both, but there are still two little problems. One is called, John Norrington the Mighty Pirate Hunter and the second is called skeletons. Please, read and review and let me know what you think. The more reviews the faster I will update. Savvy?
TA FOR NOW
Lovely Raven Sparrow