Mighty Pirate Hunter
Disclaimer: This is for everyone's reading pleasure. You know my characters and you know Disney's.
Jack This Is My Ship
Jack gave Norrington a wide smile as his large naval ship slowly approached. Jack was pointing his sword toward Norrington but then quickly flicked it down toward the sea. "I guess you'll be saving her then?"
Jack was not looking forward to crossing blades with Norrington and he was not in the best of conditions to jump into the cold water. He was still trying to overcome the beating he had taken from Bartholomew and he knew the salt water would sting like bloody hell.
Both Norrington and Jack had witnessed Elizabeth's not so graceful tumble into the water. Norrington lowered his gun and stood there shaking his head in disbelief.
Jack once again yelled, "Let me guess, you, like your mates, don't know how to swim. I've heard the Royal Navy does not like their officers to know how for fear they will jump ship and swim away from battle."
Norrington glared back at Jack and replied. "No, I don't think I will be saving her. She is not my charge. She chose to sail with pirates, she chose to marry a pirate and she chose to fall into the water to save a pirate. I have never met a female who faints as easily as Mrs. Turner. I would say her husband can do the honors of saving her. As for me, Sparrow, I will be killing you, taking over The Black Pearl, reclaiming the Sea Lion and taking that hideous red-sailed monstrosity."
Norrington raised his gun again and pointed it towards Jack. "Prepare to surrender Sparrow."
"It's Captain, Captain Sparrow." Jack said disgustedly as he dived off The Pearl. He did a beautiful swan dive into the choppy cold water as Norrington shot his gun. Jack surprised Norrington with his leap and the shot missed him by a mile.
Norrington cursed under his breath and then looked up to see William trying to fix the damage Jack had done to Bartholomew's ship. Will could not figure out what Jack had done and he ordered several men to fix the rudder. They all seemed to be incompetent.
Norrington started spouting out orders. "Bring her about, we will come around and roll right up to that ship and rake them with our full broadside. Do it now!"
"Aye, Sir. Ready about!" Norrington's men yelled back.
Norrington pulled out his spy glass. "I can see Captain Turner's ship is in trouble. I assume they do not hold classes in naval tactics at pirate school." He laughed to himself and an evil smirk crossed his face. "If they did, I'd say Turner was lax in his studies."
Norrington's ship was closing in and William was quite aware of what was going on around him. He knew Elizabeth had fallen into the sea and hoped she could take care of herself. He knew Jack had gone to the Pearl to ready her to help with the battle but instead he had jumped into save Elizabeth, or maybe to save himself. Knowing Jack Sparrow it was probably the latter.
Will could not depend on the crew of the Sea Lion, she was sailing far behind with a makeshift crew Bartholomew had put on her when they had captured her. Will knew John Norrington and his motley crew of pirate hunters were tied up and thrown in the deep hulls of Sea Lion so they would be no problem to him.
Will, realizing that there was no way he could depend on Jack or the other ship, knew he had to do something. His ship was dead in the water and no matter how hard he tried he could not move it. He had to come up with a plan.
"Mister Gibbs," Will yelled in desperation. "Have the men load the cannons, we must prepare to fight."
"But Captain we are ... stuck." Gibbs looked at Will and then the rest of the crew.
"I know that," Will said with a tone of sarcasm. "Load the cannons and be prepared to fight. On my order have the men shoot the balls high up into the air so that when they come down they will possibly hit the oncoming ship. With any hope they will go though all the decks and out the bottom."
Will looked at Gibbs and could tell the man thought he was daft. "Gibbs please, it's the best I can think of now. I know the awful thing about this plan is that we might see the cannon ball go up and come down on our own decks. We could sink ourselves."
Gibbs now looked appalled. "I do believe Jack was right son, you 'ave been out in the sun to long."
Gibbs looked at Will questioningly. Will shrugged his shoulders. "Well, at least it will add an element of surprise, I mean, if we sink our own ship."
An explosion occurred off the bow causing a shower of splinters. Gibbs hit the deck and pulled William down with him. "Captain they are getting closer. This is serious now and no longer fun. Grant it, you just became captain but really son, there are no heroes among dead pirates. Just let the ship go."
There was another splintering crash. William literally flew up in the air and landed flat on his back, knocking most of the sense out of him. There was smoke and screaming and crying from down below. Norrington's guns had fired point-blank into the side of Will's ship.
Gibbs crawled up beside Will and grabbed his arm. "William they are in this for the kill. They will take us if they can or they will sink us."
"Aye Mister Gibbs I know!" Will sat up and pulled away from him. "I know," Will raked his fingers through his hair. "That is why I have a new plan."
"A new plan Captain?" Gibbs couldn't help but be skeptical.
"Aye, a new plan." Will took a hold of Gibbs and led him to the far side of the boat.
While this was going on Norrington had his guns blazing away and he even knocked the mizzenmast down on Will's ship. Norrington's men cheered as the sails fell into the ocean.
Norrington stood very proud. "Indeed, this should be over now. Get us closer so we can…"
"Commodore," a young solider stepped up to James. "What's he doing there?"
He pointed toward Will's ship. "Would it not appear they are off–loading treasure into the boats. I think they are getting ready to abandon ship."
James peered through his spyglass at the confusion on the other ship. "Why it does appear he's off-loading treasure, but wait," Norrington spoke with some irritation. "What is happening on the other side of the ship? I see a sail sticking up."
Norrington shifted his glass. "They seem to be loading it with something too."
"Maybe it's more treasure? It's a small boat with a single sail, one of their lifeboats I believe. Maybe they are trying to save Captain Sparrow and Miss Elizabeth. I'd know I'd be doing that if I were Mister Turner." The young naval man looked back at his commanding officer.
As the young sailor spoke the small single-sailed boat started to leave the side of the ship. All the pirates ran to the other side of the ship and started to load the remaining lifeboats.
"I'd say Turner is giving up and he is getting ready to run. How can he possibly hope to get away?"
As Norrington watched Will and his men load the boats the small boat with the sail headed straight for Norrington's bow. Norrington handed his spyglass to the sailor and headed towards the bow. He looked down upon the ship to great whom ever was coming but instead he saw the rudder and the sail were tied down. There was no one in the boat, just a pile of black kegs, white bags and sparkles of fire from the fuses.
"Fireship!" Norrington screamed. "Hard left rudder!"
Men poured from the bow of the ship, gunners from the guns, sailors from the masts, men from everywhere started to jump.
"Get down!" Norrington yelled as he hit the deck. Then the blast hit. Everyone screamed out and there was a sheet of white light.
Norrington's ship was beginning to sink. The burning hulk of the ship was glowing. Will and his crew were standing there in shock and awe and they did not notice The Black Pearl pulling up beside them.
"Ahoy there Turner!" Jack yelled from the helm with a very wet Elizabeth standing beside him. "I suspect pirates did that?" Jack looked at the glowing sight and then back at Will. "You know, that was a bold move my boy, and very admirable. You're just lucky you didn't take your ship down too."
Jack smiled at the burning ship. "The poor sods probably didn't know what hit them. I'd say they are dead or drowning by now. Well, Lad, you've come along way from being a Blacksmith. You've moved on to blowing up ships which belong to the Royal Navy. Alas, that be enough playing; we should be heading for some land before your ship joins the ranks of that one. Savvy?"
Will knew Jack was right. He had no idea how much damage he had sustained but he knew there was a lot. It did not take long for Will to figure out the extent of destruction done to his ship. He discovered a massive hole in the starboard side that allowed the sea to come pouring in every time the ship rocked in the swells. The deck was covered in many smoldering splinters and the mast was down and dragging in the water.
The hole that had been blown right at the water line was the biggest problem though. The carpenters were unable to fix it for the hole spread too far across. Jack suggested stretching canvas across the gap, but that was soon ripped off by the force of the sea.
Jack took most of the crew back over to The Pearl, leaving Will a skeleton crew to man the pumps on his ship. If the water level in the hold got above a certain mark the ship would be lost to Davy Jones.
There were men on the pumps every second. Every pump on both ships, big and small was put into service. It was killing work but it had to be done in order to save the ship. This went on for three days and there was no sight of land.
On the fourth day the pumping crews were collapsing and they had to be dragged out of the hold. Jack went down to find William stripped to the waist standing in hip high water. He was the only one left awake still pumping. There was more water in the hold now then there was the night before.
"William, you must go get some rest, I have a lookout standing in the crow's nest. He is looking for land. If we don't find land soon you will have to give up hope and let the ship sink. There are other ships to be had out there."
"Jack, I am the captain of this ship and I will be the one who will decide whether she sinks. You yourself would do the same for The Pearl. I have no time for rest. If you wish to help me, man a pump. If not, please leave and send some more men down."
"Aye, Sir." Jack placed his hands together and bowed. "Please accept me apologies Captain Turner, I'll go fetch you some more men."
Jack turned and left Will at the pump. He knew it was a lost cause but Will was a stubborn young man and he would not give up. Jack graciously sent more men down and he headed for the ratlines on The Pearl. On his way he picked up a length of light line and put it around his neck.
He took off his boots and hooked his fingers and toes into the netting and started to climb up. When he got up to the crow's nest he took the spyglass from the lookout man and then kept on climbing up to where the rigging meets the main mast. This put him a good twenty-five feet higher and it gave him a better view.
Jack wrapped his legs around the mast and sat on the lines. They were under a lot of pressure from holding up the mast and having him sitting on them. Jack found sitting on the line rather uncomfortable but he figured he could bear it. He took the line from around his neck and wrapped it around himself and the mast. He then tied the end of the rope to the telescope so he wouldn't drop it. He put the glass to his eye and looked. He saw nothing.
He braced the glass against the mast and slowly scanned the whole horizon. In the glass, the horizon wiggled in the heat. He searched the southern sea. Nothing. He then looked north, northeast, east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, north. NOTHING.
Jack came to the conclusion it was time to climb down, drink up all the rum he could consume and then go relieve Will of his ship. He would try to do it diplomatically but if he had too he would do it by force.
He started to untie himself when he saw something. "What's that?" He spoke out loud. "North-northwest bearing, two points ahead of the starboard beam." Jack pulled the eyeglass back out and rubbed it. "It's prolly a smudge, prolly nothing. Prolly just clouds."
Both his legs were falling asleep from sitting on the wires. He tried to scotch up a bit, but he couldn't do it without taking his eyes off the smudge, which wasn't changing.
"Oh bugga, I need to get up higher." Jack put the glass away and looked up. There was still another ten, maybe twelve feet of bare mast to the top, and then there was a flat place on top of the mast, a small plate to keep the rainwater out of the wood to prevent it from rotting. Jack knew this from experience as a young lad when he was dared to touch the highest mast.
Jack retied the rope around his waist and the mast so that it formed a loop around him and the mast. He put the glass into his pocket and started to climb. He leaned back against the rope and slowly shinnied up, pulling the rope with him as he inched. He got to the top and looked down at the deck, one hundred and fifty feet below. He could not be higher; every bit of the Pearl was below him.
He pulled out the glass and laid it on the top plate and trained it on the spot.
"There!" Jack yelled, "It's not a cloud! It seems to have ends, like cliffs. Mr. Gibbs!" Jack yelled down but no one heard him.
Jack now knew it was land and he made very sure he did not fall on his way down. It took another full day to get to the island since Will's ship was wallowing but everyone seemed to be in high spirits.
As they got closer to land Jack found a little cove that would protect them. He dropped the anchor on the Pearl and ordered the Sea Lion, which had caught up to them, to do the same. Jack, along with the crew of both ships, boarded the Bloody Mary, which was the name of Bartholomew's ship.
Jack was glad to see William at the helm and no longer standing in the cold murky water. Will had gotten smart and sent some of Bartholomew's bilge rats down to man the pumps.
Jack sauntered the deck and pointed out to Will the best place to beach The Bloody Mary. "William, we will go in at high tide. It's dangerous for the ship as we could run aground too soon and sink in sight of land. After all you have done, you really don't want to be doing that." Jack smiled his golden grin at Will, "But at least we know if you did do that, we would not drown."
Will was grateful for Jack's antics of climbing the rigging and spotting land. He apologized to Jack for giving him a hard time and he also thanked him for taking care of Elizabeth. He knew all along she was fooling around and he was not going to give up his ship.
Jack accepted the apology and he eventually took the helm from William and he guided the ship in. He knew William was tired and Jack would rue the day he was born if he did sink Will's ship.
The ground was coming up fast but there were no coral reefs to rip the bottom right off the ship. There was just white sand and she slipped up onto the beach with ease. William could swear the ship sighed as she leaned over and came to rest, safely.
There was a lot of cheering as the crew started to empty out the ship. When that was done they all rigged hammocks and fell into them. They were all exhausted. Will had had every man busy and now all they wanted to do was sleep.
Elizabeth and Will climbed into one large hammock together. William let out a low moan. Elizabeth lifted her hand and stroked Will's hair back off his forehead. His eyes fluttered open and he looked at her beautiful smile.
"Elizabeth I'm sorry for the way I have been acting. I know I should have let the ship sink but she is a beauty. For some reason she just seemed to call to me. Maybe it's the pirate in my blood. Maybe Jack and Gibbs are right, I may have been out in the sun too long. I know I got caught up in the heat of the moment when I saw Bartholomew touch you. It all seems like a dream now. I can't believe I actually cut Bartholomew's head off and took over his ship and crew. Elizabeth, they actually bowed down at my feet. You know I would do anything for you, and I would never let anyone hurt you."
Will closed his eyes, "Elizabeth I love you," he whispered. "Now I want…I want us to sleep. Just sleep…," he went on dreamily. "I want to wake up in the morning with your head on my shoulder and your breath on my face."
They both fell into a deep and wonderful sleep.
The first thing Will saw in the morning was Jack's beaming face as he pulled the blanket off of him and Elizabeth. "Well Captain Turner, do you plan to sleep the day away or are you going to fix your ship? We cannot lay idle too long. There is too much at stake and we must be getting on."
Jack waved his hand in the air and Anna came running over with two hot steaming cups of tea. Elizabeth let out a long sigh and pulled the blankets back over her and Will.
Jack smacked the lump of blanket. "I won't tell anyone I caught the both of you in disgusting mortal sin for which you'll roast in Hell forever, if you get up now."
Elizabeth started to squirm and let her leg slip over Will's and she took a deep breath, then let it out ever so slowly as a deep sigh of contentment and she nuzzled Will's ear with her nose and then said sleepily as she looked up at Jack. "Jack, do you mind? I'm not quite dressed."
Jack turned to leave and both Elizabeth and Will could hear Jack and Anna laughing. Will kissed Elizabeth and he too started to laugh. "You really are evil, you know."
Elizabeth smiled. "I know and I also know I will pay for it."
Little did William know she was right.
By the time Will and Elizabeth did get up the sun was high in the sky. As Will and Elizabeth emerged they saw that a beach encampment had already been laid out.
Will was blinking his eyes due to the strong sun and could not believe he had slept so long. There was a steep list to the ship, now that it was fully heeled over on the sandy beach, and the hole looked larger then ever.
Jack and Gibbs had set up three tents. One was for the prisoners, one was for the galley and another was a makeshift hospital. Elizabeth walked over to the prison tent to visit John and her daughter. Will walked over to the galley to find cauldrons of steaming gruel set up. What ever was cooking smelled quite good. There were even tables set up to eat at. He felt a little guilty that people had been working while he slumbered but as he thought about it he found he didn't feel that guilty, he actually felt wonderful until he over heard Jack's conversation with Gibbs.
"I know where the treasure is. I know where the scepter is. I helped Mister Turner save his precious ship at the request of his darling wife and now she will help us retrieve the treasure from the Devil's Russ."
Gibbs took a long swig and stared at Jack. "Jack, you know William won't go back to that island and he won't put Elizabeth into danger. Those skeleton forms will be after her."
"Gibbs my good mate, that is neither your problem nor Mister Turners. Elizabeth and I struck an accord. Elizabeth is a man of her word, or should I say woman. Once the Bloody Mary is repaired Captain Turner, Elizabeth and myself along with an able bodied crew will once again head for Skull Island. I don't know if I'll be taken Miss Josephine and her weasly husband John Norrington with me, but if I do I won't be bringing 'em back."
Jack lowered his head and looked up at Gibbs giving him an evil grin. Jack raised a mug toward Gibbs. "Take what you can."
Gibbs raised his mug and slammed it against Jack's, "Give nothing back."
A/N Finally chapter ten. I sure hope my loyal readers are still out there. As you can see, Jack is still up to no good and he it thinking only of himself. Will William Turner let Elizabeth walk into the skeleton's den? It appears she did make an accord with Jack. Will William let his son-in-law and daughter meet their end? William may be a pirate and he may love treasure but would he sacrifice his family? Send me your reviews and let me know.
TA FOR NOW
Lovely Raven Sparrow