Ahoy mates, and welcome to chapter two!
Let's get started, eh? And get the whole Will-wonders-about-kiss deal out of the way. Has to be done, mate.
Chapter Two
-------
It wasn't like Elizabeth to betray his trust. It wasn't like her to sneak around behind the back of someone who had her word, to break their bond, to mutilate his heart. She was a kind soul, a gentle girl- well, perhaps not gentle. He had seen her wield a blade. But she was still delicate and proper (despite her new attire and company.)
Will rubbed his fingers together, listening to the subtle waves of the river lap against the side of the boat. Maybe, he considered, for the first time, maybe she was not the same girl anymore. Maybe she wasn't a girl at all.
Maybe she was finally a woman.
And Jack Sparrow was, decidedly, a man.
Will hated to doubt himself, but he had to compare himself to the dashing captain. Far less experienced, far younger, far more naive... Will was definitely more boy than man right now. Had Elizabeth grown so much in their years of engagement, leaving him behind on the shore while she sailed into her new freedom?
He would have to change it, if he intended on keeping her heart. And it was something he certainly intended on doing.
I would die for her.
He'd meant it then, so long ago. His heart had not changed.
-----------------
"She's ready, captain." Barbossa's eyes snapped to Pintel as the shorter man spoke.
"Good," the captain retorted. "Let's cast off." His yellowed eyes roamed over the crew that was assembled before him on the deck of the Lady Jane, a recently pilfered ship. Barbossa paused, his gaze resting uneasily on the young blacksmith, standing uncomfortably straight and out of place. His lass was more a pirate than this man. Barbossa motioned to Gibbs, commanding that he take the wheel, and the captain of the Lady Jane stomped below deck.
-----------------
The seas were unbearably calm, so much so that Barbossa found himself worrying over every tiny wave. Davy was making this far too easy for them. He knew where they were going. The sea told Jones everything, and surely he knew that this was a quest to save Jack. Yet he offered no resistance, at least not in the form of the ocean. The sailing could not have been better, and so Barbossa fretted.
It had been days, and Will had been wonderering if they had yet slipped into the end of the world. How could one tell? He soon had his answer. Their first trial had begun.
"All hands on deck!" The roar of the captain brought any idle crewmen to their feet, and Will pitched up onto deck, worry drunkening him. "What?" he bellowed. "What's the matter?"
Barbossa didn't answer, but then, he didn't need to. The rapidly darkening clouds spoke loud enough, and as thunder belched and lightning crackled, and the sea twisted and turned in agonizing turmoil, Will was faced with the worst storm he had ever seen.
The sudden wind tossed him back against the rail, and he grasped blindly for a rope. Marty was very nearly swept into the sea, but caught himself on the rigging. Barbossa stood at the helm, gripping the wheel firmly with one cold hand, and gesturing to his crew with the other.
"Furl the sails! She can't hold." The crew struggled to do his bidding, and though the going was tough, they managed. "And get below. Gibbs, Turner, stay with me. Lash yerselves to something." Gibbs and Will joined him, each wiping away the seawater that blinded them. Will was in the process of binding himself to the wheel when a wave washed up over the railing, knocking him into the unforgiving sea.
-----------------
Damn, but it was cold.
Will struggled towards the surface, but he could feel himself being dragged down towards the darkness. He could almost feel the slithering tentacles of Davy Jones gripping his limbs, pulling him down, down, down. Which way was up? Soon he merely let go, gave no attempt to rescue himself. He relinquished all rights to his life, closing his eyes and thinking, of course, of Elizabeth. Of how he could not rescue her now.
-----------------
"Cap'n?"
Davy Jones turned his blazing eyes on the crewmember who had spoken, silencing the man. "Bring her to me," he barked, and turned, storming in a huff to his cabin.
He could have sworn the boy had the heart with him, but he could not detect even a trace of it in the ocean. Sighing heavily, he turned his head slightly as Elizabeth Swann was thrust into the cabin, and smirked to himself. "Miss Swann," he began. "I would like to inquire as to the prescence of a certain... asset of mine."
Elizabeth lifted her chin, pursed her lips, and despite the grime and dirt managed to adopt an air of superiourity. "Asset, Mr. Jones? I have no idea-"
"Don't lie to me!" The tentacled captain whirled at her with wild eyes and writhing skin, and she cringed, hating herself for this sign of weakness. "My heart! Where is my heart!" He turned again and snapped his arm towards another crewmember. "Bring in the other."
"In my humble opinion, Mr. Jones, you have no heart." The words were spoken with such dripping rage, such contempt, that Davy Jones was taken aback. The door banged open and Jack Sparrow was lead inside.
"I think she's got you there, mate," Jack mocked, his trademark grin still visible under a considerable coating of dirt and blood.
Davy sputtered, and his hand swept forward, gripping Elizabeth's chin. "Pretty lass," he mused, his voice suddenly soft. "So like her, in a way. So like her. So like the ocean." His hand dropped, clenched into a fist. "So full of lies!" He nearly roared the last word, then turned his back on the two prisoners. "I ask you both, one more time. Where is my heart?"
"Gone." It was Jack who spoke now. "Along with your lady love."
In the silence that followed, Davy Jones only waved an arm, and Elizabeth and Jack were lead away.
-----------------
A/N: Not sure I'm pleased with this chapter, but there it is, all the same. Reviews are welcome, please. Oh, and for WE or JE fans, I don't know what this is going to turn out as, but we'll see. (When I choose one or the other, I'll probably put an alternate ending with lots of fluff for the other.)