Note: Thanks for the reviews, keep 'em coming! And I noticed my word count was 555. I'm only 111 away from becoming a mini-satan. SCORE!$((&...whoa, spaz attack. Holy Crap! That's a firkin e-mail!
Chapter 2
Old Habits Die Hard
"Will!" said Jack, after realizing the man he was about to skewer was his old friend. "Where's you're hat?"
"You old scalawag!" said Will, clapping Jack on the shoulder.
Then four bandits popped up from the shadows, daggers drawn. Immediately Will whipped out his pistol and shot one in the chest, and the man crumpled to the dirty ground. The others attacked instantly, knocking the pistol out of Will's hand.
Jack and Will were used to fighting alongside each other, so they could sense when the other was injured or in trouble without looking. The first man was dispatched quickly, causing the other two to hesitate. Both sides now had a better idea of each other's strengths and weaknesses. One of the bandits had a weak backstroke, so Will attacked the man's left side, and he soon disarmed the man and held him at sword point.
Jack slipped his blade under the man's bracelets and twisted his wrist, and he fell to the ground clutching his broken joint. Jack and Will made a quick exit, and, once they thought they were clear of any more opponents, stopped and sat on the edge of a street.
"So what are you doing in England?" repeated Will.
"Well Will, I just faced in impossible battle against all odds, somehow managing to survive an accusation for something I didn't even do (I don't think I deserved that), and," he grinned, "I heard the rum was…exquisite. To the tavern!"
"Wait…" said Jack.
"Will, if there's one thing you must learn in this life, it is to never come between a pirate and his rum. After your little Miss Swann destroyed that rum on the island-
"Mrs. Turner! We're married!"
A wince came over Jack's face.
"The second thing you must learn in life: never marry!"
"Jack, just tell me what happened!"
"Tell me where the tavern is,"
"Bloody Hell!" said Will.
"Will, a married man say-
"It's the name of the tavern, idiot! Bloody Hell."
"Ah."
Will led his old friend to the tavern on the west side of town. Jack refused to tell him anything about what had happened until he had had his rum. At least it wasn't an obsession with cigars, thought Will. The man could handle alcohol, but smoking would leave permanent marks on the inside and outside.
They arrived at the tavern without anymore bandits attacking, to Will's relief. The tavern was an old wooden shack, with a red sign simply saying Bloody Hell in gold letters. Jack strode through the door first, and his pirate swagger took nearly half of the wide hallway that led to the bar.
The usual folk were there. Drunkards howled and whooped in their tipsy joy. Old men told fantasies to gullible little children. Will heard part of a story that interested him.
"Then the Black Pearl's crew attacked the King's men and their invincible power-
"Do the soldiers die?" interrupted one of the children.
"You'll find out soon enough, young one. As I was saying, the soldiers would have been defeated if Davy Jones himself hadn't erupted from the depths of hell at that very second and smitten them all, for they had disobeyed his orders."
Will stepped over to the man.
"That's not how it happened. Jack, Elizabeth and I were fighting the Pearl's crew underground-
"Shove off!" said one of the children.
"We want to hear the story!" whined another.
Will turned to see Jack was no longer beside him. He looked around but didn't see him at first. Then he heard a drunken roar, "I ain't payin' three hic pence for one bloody hic bottle of rum, ye fat bigot! 'Savy?" Then a fight broke out and Will pulled jack out of the fray and led him outside. The cold blast of air brought the pirate to his senses.
"What is this all about?" asked Will.
"The fat bigot-
"Yes, I got that part, Jack. Why were you in The Burrows?"
"Long story, mate. But seemin' I've got a long time before I can get into that tavern after that scuffle. It starts before I met you. There was a Spanish man, a noble, who was named Diego Gallegos. Seems he had been fined for something or another, I'm not sure, but anyway, he wanted me to do some odd jobs for him,"
Will folded his arms, "You mean he wanted you to steal,"
"It's what we pirates do, mate. Well, the first couple of times there was no trouble. He gave me twenty percent, and I got to work my magic." He ruffled his captain's hat, and looked sheepish as if he was embarrassed about what he was going to say next. "Then, he asked me to steal from a fellow noble, a rival. I was halfway up to the house when his boxers came at me, snarlin' an' barkin'. Luckily I got away, and didn't see the man for years.
"Then I met you." He said. "And we had our little adventure. When I had reclaimed my ship, things went back to normal. Then, a couple of days ago, he planted me with a crime-
"Freeze!" yelled a constable with a flintlock rifle about forty feet away. "Jack Sparrow, you are under arrest!"
"Run!" said Jack as a musket ball blew apart a street sign two feet away from Will.
The two took off through the road, zigzagging through the alleys and shortcuts that only a pirate like Jack would know. They seemed to have gotten away when a bell started ringing.
"Damn! They've raised the alarm!" said Jack.
"If we can get to the docks, we can mix in with the sailors. They're the only ones who'll be out at this time at night," said Will.
Will and Jack, with renewed energy, sprinted to the docks, knocking over the unlucky people who got in the way. Several shots were fired at them, and even though none hit them, the two men had dozens of splinters in dozens of places by the time they smelled the salt water and heard the waves.
They were about to get into the crowd when a familiar voice reached Will's ears.
"William Turner! Where the hell have you been!"
"I told you never to get married, mate,"
