Arrg – I said I'd update twice in a day, and my internet's not letting me! In truth, I think FanFiction may be on the blink, but when all else fails, blame the lap-top. I'm soooo sorry!
You all have hippolytos to thank for this chapter – you were the 50th reviewer! And you're prize is – 2 chapters in one day (I do think I'm spoiling you all - jks) I do sort of owe it to you all, as my last chapter had very little action. And so continuing on: just who has Will seen (yes, hippolytos – she has clothes on - That review made me laugh out loud; it was so…accusatory)
Standing in the moonlight, looking rather unsure of herself, was Alex. Despite her dark mutters about her hair, Will could find nothing wrong with it. He was also sure if he asked any of the navy officers, they'd find no fault either. In fact, Will could find no fault with her at all.
Alex's hair had been pinned up, with several tresses falling down and framing her face. The rest were tied back into a sort of chignon, but with several of the locks also escaping and trailing down, highlighting her long neck. Pearl drop earring also hung from her earlobes and around her neck sat a detailed silver necklace with pearls swaying from it.
The dress itself was something else. Moonlight silver in colour, it was edged with silver and onyx threads and tear-shaped pearls, both black and translucent white. (Pearls to remind all she belonged to the 'Black Pearl'?) In the sunlight Alex's hair usually appeared a bright blonde, and her skin glowed almost golden. But whether it was due to the darker night, or the shade of her dress, her skin appeared porcelain, and her hair ash-blonde. Her paler face highlighted her darkened lashes, and in the moonlight her blue eyes shone an almost blue-black. Standing near the shadows, she appeared almost ethereal. It was no wonder the navy sailors had been acting like they'd seen a ghost.
Embarrassed by the long stares, Alex quickly strode over to the railing, slid over the rail and made to climb down the side of the ship on the Jacob's ladder.
"Let me help you, Miss." Eagerly exclaimed every sailor, but Alex just gripped the rope tighter.
"I think I can manage it myself." She stated sarcastically, but Will noted her averted eyes. She was plainly out of her element, and clearly just wished to disappear.
"Watch it!" Jack called up to her as she no doubt stood on his hand or something equally as painful.
"Shut up." Alex said simply, and surprisingly, Jack did so. Will thought that other factors may have influenced his prolonged silence, and sure enough, seconds later there was a,
Slap!
"Why did you go and do that, luv?" Came Jack's indignant voice.
"I can find the bloody boat bloody well enough on my own, thank-you Mister Sparrow, without your hands to 'guide' me. Do anything like that again and you won't be on the receiving end of a mere light slap." Came Alex's curt voice. Will suppressed a smirk as he pictured Jack trying to 'help' Alex find her seat. There came a dull 'thud' of a fist sinking into Jack's belly and Jack's slightly too-innocent voice.
"What now?"
"Find something else to look at, will you?" Retorted Alex in an annoyed voice. She too did not sound overly joyous with the prospect of spending an entire evening on the naval cutter. Then there came yet another dull smack of a fist connecting solidly to flesh.
"Will you stop doing that!" Came Jack's voice. "Why don't you slap like every other girl?"
"That one was an accident." Came Alex's voice, sounding contrite. Even though he couldn't see her face, Will was sure there was a satisfied smile on it.
"Perhaps we should just stay here and leave them to it?" One of the officers asked Will jokingly. Will could see some of the men were seriously contemplating the idea.
"If you lot don't come down here, I'll damned well crawl back up and heave you off the side and make you swim to the cursed navy ship!" Came Alex's annoyed call.
Several minutes later they pushed off from the Black Pearl. Several of the officers sported black eyes and bruises from where they had inadvertently crushed either Alex or Jack, and one younger lad had been knocked unconscious when Alex had 'accidentally' shoved him against the side of the Black Pearl when the lad had 'inadvertently' tripped into Alex. Even Will thought he had a bruise on his upper-arm when Alex had slugged him one. "Is that you Will?" She had whispered, "Whoops, sorry." And then she and Jack had continued accidentally-on-purpose disposing of as many officers as they could.
"It's not too late." Jack hissed to Will in a conspirital whisper as they glided across the calm waters to the navy's vessel. "We could still heave-ho the old jolly boat and swim for it." Will was seriously contemplating the idea. He looked over the dark waters and behind him saw the golden glow of the Black Pearl's cabin lights beckoning them back. Will and Jack were acutely aware of the drunken roars of raucous laughter that carried over the water and taunted them. Will was giving the jolly boat a cursory glance over to see if anyone was paying him any attention. If they weren't, he was going to rock the boat. Quite literally.
But no, the navy officers were still too busy gaping at Alex. As Will's eyes swept over Alex's serene figure looking resolutely over the prow and towards the looming naval cutter – uptight and tense but trying desperately to act aloof and removed – Will decided he couldn't do it. Alex wanted just as badly to escape as from this form of hell as they did. They couldn't just cut and leave her high and dry, especially when she'd put so much effort into at least looking the part. Will also told himself that Alex would surely sink in her heavy dress and skirts if the boat was over-turned, but for some strange reason Will also had to admit to himself he didn't like the idea leaving her floundering in the middle of the ocean, or shivering on board the navy decks with her make-up streaked and dress ruined, surrounded by dozens of Admirals and sailors. Still, she would be safe with the navy men. No doubt they'd be falling over each other to get her drinks and all that. Nevertheless, Will had a nagging thought in the back of his mind that abandoning Alex like this was a form of mutiny.
"So, your verdict?" Jack whispered keenly. He was already half off his seat in anticipation. Will gave a barely imperceptible nod, then they both inconspicuously grabbed the edge of the boat. They leaned back, and just as they were about to heave forward violently, Will stopped dead. "Shark!" He hissed, grabbing Jack by his collar and heaving him back bodily into the centre of the boat. Sure enough, attracted by the food waste from the naval ship, a lone grey fin was cutting though the water, passing around the boat, finding it uninteresting and angling back towards the ship, slicing through the black waves like a knife through butter.
"Thwarted again." Jack muttered as he slumped down in his seat. All sat in stony silence until the fin disappeared around the back of the navy's pride and joy, the Virginia.
"Fear not M'Lady!" A gallant officer proclaimed once the shark could no longer been seen. "I've got a necklace of shark teeth I've collected over the years. I'd fight that shark to Davy Jones Locker and back again." He boasted.
"Really?" Exclaimed Alex in a falsely bright voice. The young man jumped to his feet and grabbed at the necklace he wore at his neck under his uniform, eagre to show off his trophies to Alex. No one else in the boat saw it, except perhaps Will and Jack, but as the boy moved over to Alex, she shifted her feet slightly. Will saw the look of horror on the officer's face as he tripped, stumbled and dove overboard.
"Shark!" He screamed hysterically, his unruffled composure completely disintegrating as he faced sharing the waters with a man-eating shark. "There's a shark in the water. Oh, God! Get me out!" He shrieked, flailing his arms and splashing loudly, gulping down several gallons of seawater. The rest of the crew fished him out, sniggering as they hauled him over the side like a limp rag.
"So how goes old Davy Jones?" Alex asked innocently.
Alas, it was all to no avail when they climbed up the Jacob's Ladder and onto the naval cutter Virginia's decks to be greeted by the well scrubbed planks. And also a great deal more. They were flanked by several higher officers and given a guard of honour. Both Jack and Will were shocked with the formality of the occasion. Not only were they greeted outside on the ship's deck, they were treated like they were some sort of royalty.
"Hang the Virgins." Jack murmured to Will, before kissing the podgy hand of an extremely well-fed lady. Will turned to say something to Alex, but she was already swallowed up by a swarm of Admirals and other nobility on the ship. Will saw her meet his eyes and plead for him to create some sort of diversion so she could escape, but Will needed escaping of his own sort. Both he and Jack were being penned-in by droves of ladies, young and old, haughty and horsy, plump and primped. It's going to be a long night, thought Jack.
Next chapter will be the full juicy story of what actions who partook at the ball. I'm sorry, I know I promised the details of the ball about two chapters ago, but my biggest fault is it takes me ages to set the scene. At least in this chapter they got to the ball, it just hasn't started yet. But I assure you, next chapter is definitely entirely devoted to the ball, and I'll reveal a teaser now: someone gets drunk, someone makes a very powerful enemy without realising it, someone falls blindly into love, and someone gets severely disappointed all those things didn't happen to them. Everything except the first thing and the last thing is - believe it or not - crucial to the entire plot of the story.