Impressed by Huang Rong's Inner Force so far? Read on!

Disclaimer: I own nothing from Pirates Of The Caribbean or Mr. (Jin Rong) Louis Cha's novels.

Word – Meaning – Pronunciation

Huang Rong – 1st chapter

Chapter 4: Prisoner's Pair Of Gloves

Huang Rong came to her senses on the floor of a deep, dark, muddy cage. She touched the back of her head and winced. The wound was not quite yet dry.

She got up and looked at her boundaries. Behind her was a stone wall with a tiny window and the other three sides were criss-crossed bars of metal. The whole area was only about three paces long and two paces wide. There was a door with a single lock.

"Awake?"

Huang Rong jumped at the deep, English accented voice. It belonged to Red Bandana, who emerged from the shadows. Luckily, her face had never faced him in the first place and she quickly pulled it down. Then she nodded, never saying a word.

The man was just half a head taller than she, and she could see some of the muscles on him. She looked at his tunic, saw that it revealed some of his chest, winced and turned to face their neighbouring prisoners, who were trying to tempt a dog with keys towards them.

"Now that's not very nice, I know you understand me, 'cause you spoke in English at the blacksmiths'. How's about you tell me your name and I tell you mine? I'm Captain Jack Sparrow. I'll bet you've heard of me."

She spoke, but didn't look at Jack. "I've never heard of you. Why should I? You're not great or anything."

Jack raised an eyebrow observantly and said, "I know fer sure yore not from 'ereabouts now. Especially from the way you dress."

Huang Rong sat down in the middle of the jail and decided to meditate. No use listening to this fools' jabbering.

Breathing in, she thought of nothing. She was part of the surroundings around her. She heard Jack's latest remark, " –girl doesn't like Captain Jack Sparrow's company? Unheard of! I'll have her on me lap very soon, ya'll see –" and smiled. Though he was a man, he was a kindred spirit to her former self.

An hour later, the sunset was just beginning. Jack had snoozed off and she decided to look out the window. She stuck her head out and saw that the prison was part of a tower. Down below were the citizens of Port Royal, going about their everyday lives.

The darkness was sinking in. Jack awoke to see the girl. She was looking out the window, her fine figure showing off her rippling muscles. His hands were beginning to itch. So he got up, and as quietly as he could, he crept towards her when –

"Don't you dare." She said, calm but dangerous.

Quickly, he checked himself and said casually, "Dare what? Huh, accusing someone of no crime at all. Where is the justice nowadays?" He turned to go back to his position when he asked, "You don't happen to have any rum on you, do you?"

She said, "No, but I'd like some, that wound on my head is killing me." She surprised herself. What was she doing, speaking reason with a man? She desperately needed some sort of wine, preferably Chinese wine.

Jack himself was surprised. This wasn't a usual girl. The nobles looked down at him and only saw his hanging noose, and all the lower-classed girls swooned at the sight of him. This one did neither, and that was crazy.

They sat down, not exchanging a single word, Jack feeling fidgety, Huang Rong meditating once more.

BOOM!

Both sat up with a shock. They heard the alarm.

"It's a pirate ship! We're under attack!"

There was uproar amongst the prisoners, and Jack's eyes were very awake. He stood on the ledge to peer through the window.

"I know those guns," he said. "It's the Pearl."

A criminal in the next cage stared at Jack. "The Black Pearl? I've 'eard stories. She's been preyin' on ships and settlements fer near 10 years. Leaves no survivors."

Jack grinned inwardly at the man. "No survivors? Then where do the stories come from, I wonder?"

"Where indeed? I have a feeling you know, Sparrow." Huang Rong muttered under her breath, but Jack heard.

"That's Cap'n to you, Ms. Supernatural Abilities." He retorted.

Supernatural abilities...supernatural abilities...That's it!

Huang Rong plunged her hands into her robe pocket. As she rummaged about, she planned which style of kungfu to use to break apart the metal door. Her gloves were the key.

But where were they?

»»-(¯·.·´¯)- xXx -(¯·.·´¯)-««

Will was finishing a dirk. It would be a fine gift for anyone, smaller than a sword but longer than a dagger. The day's events had really gotten into him, and he needed to do something to shake of the feeling of dread he felt. The whole town was tense.

He hadn't meant to knock the girl in black out. Jack had been stunned by Mr. Brown creeping up behind him, and he had thrown a hilt at the girl which hit her on the back of her head. Both were arrested for crime and treachery.

A gust of wind blew through the slit of the window shutters. Will went to shut it but before he did so, he looked outside. No one was in the streets.

He went back inside, cold fear prickling his back.

Picking up the dirk, he tested it for balance. Perfect. In one swift movement, he threw the dirk, aiming for a cockroach on the wall. He missed.

"Must be losing my touch," he murmured to himself. Striding over to pull the dirk from the wood, he saw a flash of silver. He turned his head up to the beams. There it was again.

He grabbed a ladder to climb up the beams. He looked at the object, and saw a pair of silver-transparent gloves.

Exactly the same gloves as the pair that had brushed honey off his arm earlier that day.