A/N: Surprise! A new chapter! Now that online school is done, I have a lot more time to write, and so hopefully chapters will be out a lot quicker now! This one was a lot of fun to write, so please enjoy :)
By the time they reached the Empress, Violet was ready to jump off the seaweed-drenched ship and straight into the open ocean below.
First of all, there were too many British soldiers milling about for her to ever truly relax, and she stayed on deck for as long as she could, clutching the railing until the day faded into night and the entire ship was covered in an eerie darkness that seemed to creep in from all sides.
"Charles." She turned to see a British officer standing a few feet away from her in the dark, shifting sheepishly as if he was too afraid to come any closer to her than was necessary. "The cannons are at the ready. We'll be boarding in a few minutes."
She merely nodded at the soldier before turning back to the sea in front of her. Even in the dark, she could see the ribbed sails of Sao Feng's ship dimly floating against the dark sky, and she couldn't help but think it strange that they would weigh anchor in the middle of the ocean. Sao Feng must have placed a lot of trust, quite wrongly, in Cutler Beckett.
The night was quiet, and it was almost laughable that this peace would soon be interrupted by the clashing on cannonballs and gunfire. Without turning around, she heard soft footsteps behind her, and she knew exactly who it was that had come to call.
"Are you planning on jailing Elizabeth, then? I'm not sure how well she'll take that news." Violet knew Norrington was behind her without looking, and she found it rather annoying that he kept coming back, trying to worm his way into another conversation that would no doubt lead to an argument.
"I will follow Lord Beckett's orders, if that's what you're asking." Norrington moved to stand next to her again, leaning back against the railing and watching as soldiers scurried about the deck, preparing the cannons. "And I assume you will too. I know you're here on a mission for him, don't even try to deny it."
"I won't." Violet gripped the railing with one hand as the ship slowly turned, drawing level so that it was side by side with the Empress, and she wondered why the ship was almost completely quiet. Why wasn't Sao Feng fighting back? "How will it feel, I wonder, to imprison the girl you once loved?"
"Don't," Norrington said quietly, staring at her with quiet intensity as one of the British soldiers shouted 'Ready your fire!' "We're about to board and I don't need another one of your lectures."
Suddenly, before Violet could retort, the boat shook with the first shot of a cannon, and she watched breathlessly as the iron ball crashed into the Captain's cabin of the Empress, the wood tearing in two and splintering into the air.
"Prepare to board!" The call screeched across the ship, and Violet shot Norrington a look before the two of them made their way to the edge of the boat, following the swell of soldiers preparing to disembark.
Quickly, they moved over to the deck of Sao Feng's ship, her hand on the sword she'd been given by the British soldiers, and the second she set foot on the Empress, it erupted into chaos, a million voices shouting all at once.
"Attack! Show no quarter and round up the prisoners! Lord Beckett's orders!" A British soldier screamed the command over the fray, and Violet pulled forth her sword from the sheath, swinging it at a nearby Singaporean pirate. Their blades clashed in the cool night air, the sound ringing through the boat, and she advanced forward, parrying blows and swinging the blade in clean arcs towards the pirate, eventually skewering him through the heart with one swift jab.
She had to find Elizabeth. No, she had to find Norrington. Which to go after first? Standing on her tiptoes, she searched the fighting crowd for her friend, but Elizabeth was nowhere in sight. Where is she?
All of a sudden, Norrington flashed into view, locked in combat with another pirate as another cannon blast shuddered through the creaking ship. Quickly, she leveled her sword in front of her, twisting past British soldiers and pirates alike as she followed Norrington. He made his way to the edge of the ship before he was able to finish his enemy, blood staining his crisp white collar. She had him now.
Swiftly, she raised her blade while his back was turned, the sharp point ready to run him through.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly, and then she was swinging the blade forward, the metal flashing in the moonlight, and she wasn't thinking, wasn't feeling, she had to do this, had to-
She didn't have to do anything. What was she doing, taking orders from Beckett? She was a pirate. She didn't take orders from anyone.
"What the hell-" Norrington had turned around as her blade hovered inches from his skin, midway through running through his body. "You stopped."
Violet stared at him, breathing heavily, the rush of adrenaline fading as she stood there, her sword pointed at his heart as he faced her. She had stopped, and what did that make her? She didn't even like Norrington. He was a traitor, a lily-livered soldier who ran off to Beckett without a second thought. But killing him would be to help Beckett, to further his mission, to allow his control over the seas to continue. And Violet knew that Beckett as lord of the seas would be a fate worse than death.
"He told me to kill you. Beckett." Behind them, the Singaporean first mate was surrendering, and the British troops were circling the group of pirates, swords and pistols raised to keep them in line. They'd taken the ship, but where were Elizabeth and Sao Feng?
"And you could have." Norrington's expression was a cross between fiery anger and complete surprise. "So why didn't you?"
"Because I'm not Beckett's servant." Violet was angry too, completely fed up with this man. He'd called her a lost puppy, once, but it seemed the only follower here was him. She slowly lowered her blade, and with the other, shaking hand, she grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him down to face her with an aggressiveness that surprised even herself. "And neither are you."
"Violet!" The high, lilting voice echoed through the boat, and Violet let go of Norrington's shirt, ignoring his surprised face as she turned, spotting Elizabeth rounded up in the crew of pirates.
"Elizabeth!" Violet ran over to her, pushing past armed British soldiers to embrace the girl, taking in her new attire, which was strangely elaborate for something one might find on a pirate ship. "Where's Sao Feng?"
"Dead," she said quietly, and she opened her fingers to show Violet something in her palm: a small metal token attached to a leather strap, and Violet assumed it was some kind of necklace. "This is his piece of eight. I am Captain of this vessel now, and I must make my way to Shipwreck Cove."
"You'll be doing nothing of the sort," the British official in front of them sneered, and Violet glared at him. "All of you will be heading to the brig. Including you, Captain Charles. Lord Beckett's orders."
So it had been a trap. Beckett had shuttled her along, probably hoping he'd get Norrington killed in the process, and all of it was to trap her when she felt the most comfortable. And she'd gone along with it, even when she'd known she was walking into something she'd regret.
"Are you certain that's a good idea?" Norrington was next to the British official, his gaze cold and unwavering. Violet hadn't thought he had it in him. "Charles here was on business from the Lord himself."
"James!" Elizabeth ran to Norrington, embracing him, and Violet couldn't help but snicker at the utter embarrassment on the commodore's face. She'd forgotten how close he and Elizabeth had been.
"Thank God you're alive! Your father will be overjoyed to know you're safe." Norrington smiled at Elizabeth, but at his words, the girl's face darkened, and she pulled away from him, retreating back to Violet's side in the middle of the circle of British soldiers.
"My father's dead," Elizabeth said coldly, and Violet sighed quietly. If nothing else, this had better knock some sense back into Norrington.
"No, that can't be true, he returned to England!" Norrington's words were a plea, as if he was begging for Elizabeth to be joking, praying that this wasn't just one more thing he had been left in the dark about.
"Did Lord Beckett tell you that?" Elizabeth's face twisted into a sneer, her gaze growing cold, and Violet knew that she had made up her mind.
"Who among you do you name as captain?"
The thickly accented voice sent a chill through Violet's blood, and she moved closer to Elizabeth, her hand on the hilt of her sword. In retrospect, she supposed she should have known that Davy Jones would be here. The Dutchman was still his ship, after all.
"Captain? Her!" To Violet's surprise, all of the Singaporean pirates pointed to Elizabeth, who looked at Davy Jones with a defiant smile.
"Captain?" Jones' surprise was evident, and his head turned between Violet and Elizabeth in quick succession. "And why did no one tell me she was sailing aboard my ship?" He pointed an accusatory tentacle at Violet, who merely shrugged, a mocking smile on her face.
"Were you kept out of the loop as well, Jones? Seems like that's a recurring theme around here." Violet grinned at Jones, trying to keep her demeanor aloof, but she could feel the air almost tense around them. There were holes in Beckett's operation, she realized, holes like Norrington and Sao Feng and Davy Jones. If she could get ahold of them before Beckett realized they were a problem, they might lead to his ultimate undoing.
"Tow the ship," Norrington demanded, and his eyes met Violet's as he finished, "and put the prisoners in the brig. The captain can have my quarters, and Charles can stay in the galley."
"The galley?" Violet scoffed, hardly believing his words. He would have her sleep on the bloody kitchen floor after all she'd done for him? "I think I'll take the brig, thanks."
"And I would prefer to stay with my crew." Elizabeth drew closer to Violet, her gaze burning into Norrington's.
"I swear I did not know, Elizabeth," Norrington said quietly, his voice full of remorse. "I didn't know any of it."
"Know what? Which side you chose?" Elizabeth's face twisted into a cruel smirk, and she moved back to stand with her crew. "Well, now you do."
The soldiers moved in around the crew, surrounding them and pushing them towards the Dutchman. Violet stared at Norrington before she passed him, her heart burning with resentment. She'd given him a chance, and this is what he'd chosen to do with it. He was more of a fool than she'd thought.
"Charles-" He grabbed her arm for a moment, his expression drenched in remorse, and she ripped it out of his grasp, turning away.
"Don't," she hissed, and before he could say anything more, she followed Elizabeth and the Singaporean crew, deciding that she'd better start planning their escape. She'd walked willingly into a trap, and now she was going to have to get herself out of it.
Violet sat on one side of the large cell, not caring that the slimy, barnacle-covered floor of the Dutchman was no doubt ruining her trousers. Sighing heavily, she pried yet another barnacle from the ground and threw it at the bars of the brig, letting the clang echo through the cell.
She wasn't in the same cell as Elizabeth, much to her chagrin, and the only other occupant of her small, dingy compartment was the first mate of the Empress, who had introduced himself somewhat reluctantly as Tai Huang. She remembered him, unfortunately, as one of the sailors who'd rescued her and Jack from the Locker, and then one of the sailors who'd eventually mutinied against them.
"Were you close to your captain?" Her weak attempt at starting a conversation was not met with a response, and she picked up another barnacle, chucking it at the bars.
"Could you stop that?" Tai Huang said indignantly, and she did, her hand hovering above the ground from where it was about to pluck up another one of the small sea creatures.
"I'm sorry about Sao Feng." Violet shot him a cautious look, deciding that if they were going to be locked up together, it was better they be friends than enemies.
"It does not matter," he said, not looking at her. "Sorrow doesn't do a dead man any good."
"Fair enough." She leaned back against the wall, stretching out a leg when suddenly something dug into her ankle. Curious, she sat up and reached into her boot, pulling something cold and round from within it. Her heart clenched as she saw what it was, and she gripped it tightly in her hand, the ridged edges digging into her palm. It was the piece of eight, the very coin Jack had given to her back at Port Royal. She hadn't realized how much she missed him until now, the weight of the past few hours crashing down on her all at once. "But being a pirate is like that, isn't it? You can lose the thing you love most in a matter of seconds."
"I suppose it is." Tai Huang turned to her now, his eyes on the coin in her hand. "Who have you lost?"
"My mother, for one." She turned the coin over in her hand, unsure of why she was telling this man, who she didn't even know, something that she hadn't told anyone. "But we lived on Tortuga, and what do you expect from a place like that?"
"That is much different from losing a captain." Tai Huang's gaze was softer, and it was like his guard lowered just a little. "Captains can be replaced. Mothers cannot."
"You're right," she said, nodding, realizing that Tai Huang's words were his own way of telling her that he, too, was sorry for what they both had lost, and she couldn't really explain why they made her both sad and hopeful at the same time. "But that doesn't mean that losing either of them doesn't hurt like hell."
He smiled at her, then, the first smile she'd ever seen him give, and he opened his mouth to say something when suddenly they could hear voices coming from Elizabeth's cell next to them. She was speaking hurriedly and was answered by rushed, clipped words. Norrington.
In an instant, Norrington was at their cell door, flanked by Elizabeth and the rest of the crew. Tai Huang and Violet stood up at once, flocking to the door, and Norrington looked at her with an urgency in his gaze. Fumbling with the ring of keys in his hand, he quickly unlocked the door, pulling it open with a sharp creak.
"What are you doing?" Violet demanded, and Norrington grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the cell, and gesturing for Tai Huang to do the same.
"You were right, Charles." He began to walk up the stairs to the deck, Elizabeth and Violet closely following behind him. "You were right about all of it."
The deck was cold, the night air mixing with the sea breeze and chilling Violet to the bone. Above them, stars dotted the expanse of black above them, the moon casting the boat in a silver sort of shadow.
"Do not go to Shipwreck Cove." Norrington beckoned them forward, and they crossed the deck quietly, heading towards the stern of the ship. Violet could see the Empress in the distance, and it was then that she realized Norrington's plan. "Beckett knows of the meeting of the Brethren. I fear there may be a traitor among them."
"It's too late to earn my forgiveness," Elizabeth said coldly, and Violet felt a small stab of pride for the girl, who was more of a captain then she'd ever realized.
"I had nothing to do with your father's death." They had reached the stern now, and Norrington gestured to the rope towing the Empress behind them, pushing the crew to start climbing across it to reach the ship on the other side. "That doesn't absolve me of my other sins."
The pirates were making their way over now, all of them grabbing onto the rope and shimmying across until it was only Elizabeth and Violet left, both of them staring intently at Norrington.
"Come with us." Elizabeth grabbed Norrington's arm, his eyes filling with tears that glinted in the starlight. "James, come with me."
"Who goes there?" Suddenly, a voice tore through the silence, accompanied by pounding footsteps, and Violet put her hand on Elizabeth's shoulder, steering her to the rope.
"Go. I will follow." Norrington's eyes were full of anguish, and Elizabeth shook her head, one hand on the rope.
"You're lying!" Elizabeth's eyes were wild and her voice was pained and raw. "Violet, tell him!"
"I will, I will, but you have to go, Elizabeth!" Violet pleaded with her friend, and Elizabeth took a last look at the urgency in Violet's eyes before clinging to the rope, wrapping her ankles around it and beginning her climb across it.
"Go, Charles. Don't make this harder than it has to be." The footsteps were getting closer now, and Norrington began steering her towards the rope.
"I'm not leaving you." She pushed his hand off of her shoulder, gripping his arm. "I didn't spare your life just for you to waste it on this damned ship."
"You have to, Violet. Please!" Norrington sounded frantic, and as the stranger drew closer Violet stopped, her hand still on his arm. The sound of him saying her name, her first name, made her make up her mind once and for all, and she quickly unsheathed her cutlass.
"I'm not letting you die, you idiot." Gripping onto his arm with all her might, she pushed him as hard as she could over the railing, watching as he tumbled into the ocean below and landed with a splash. She could see his surprised face looking up at her all the way from up on the deck, and as soon as the barnacled, pale pirate that had spoken came into view, she began to saw at the rope connecting the ships with her cutlass, severing it strand by strand.
"No one leaves the ship," the pirate babbled, and it was at that minute that her blade cut through the rope, sending Elizabeth and the rest of the crew hanging onto it down into the ocean below.
"Well, unfortunately, I do." She grinned at the pirate, her teeth flashing in the moonlight, and with one great jump she pulled her legs over the railing and threw herself into the ocean below, the wind whistling threw her hair as she plummeted downwards, gripping her cutlass for all she was worth, and as she reached the quiet waves below, Violet could only hope that she had made the right decision.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Saving Norrington was a change I knew I wanted to make from the beginning of writing this story. I have always thought he has such potential as a character and that his death at the hands of Will's father was incredibly bleak. I can't wait to give you the next chapter, and as always, thank you so much for your kind reviews. Sending love to you all!