Here is Chapter 11, guys. I know you would all expect a fight, but I didn't put one in this chapter…so sorry about that.
Chapter 11: The Onus of Liberation
The planks from the main vessel dropped onto the Pearl as the other vessel was on the other end, dropping onto the Dutchman. Tsau stood on the Pearl as the man from the main vessel stepped out from the captain's quarters of his ship and set his eyes on the crew. Zi stood behind him.
"Who is that, Tsau?" Zi asked.
"Stay back, Izzi," Tsau replied sharply, keeping his eyes tight on the boat.
The man wore Chinese battle armor and removed his helmet, exposing his face. His head had bad scars, and he had a queue (Chinese ponytail) that was braided up at the back of his head, with his face sporting a thick goatee and a nice chinstrap beard. The man has certainly seen his share of experience on the battlefield. General Zhao held his helmet and walked towards Tsau.
The clanks in his steps were absolutely clear to hear in the soundless air. "So, I guess Blackwell was right, then," he started off in his heavily accented voice. "I guess this was an opportunity you took advantage of."
"What do you want, Zhao?" Tsau said, readying his left hand for the wristblade. He was more than ready to fight against his armies. "Why are you here?"
Elizabeth, Will, Bootstrap, and Jack stood watching from the Dutchman, while Barbossa leaned against the railing at the helm with Jack the Monkey rested on his shoulder.
Zhao was straight to the point and tossed his helmet to one of the guards. "I'm working with Blackwell so that I can free our people. Tzu Tang Chuan has ravaged the Empire of China…and I intend to free the people of their misery."
"Blackwell is a snake…figures why he'd work with you," Tsau replied coolly. "Two minds think alike."
Zhao paced around the Black Pearl as everyone else watched the exchange of statements between him and Tsau. "Do not call me a bad man, Tsau. My intentions are for the best, and you have no say in this. You drifted away from my goals long ago."
"The worst occurrences are the results of good intentions," Tsau said in rebuttal. "And I was never a part of you goals. Now, what do you want?"
"I'm going to need that chest," Zhao said straightforwardly. Behind him stood his small group of supersoldiers, each with a distinctive look.
Tsau looked away out into the sea, then back at his former colleague. "You don't have to lay your services with Blackwell, Zhao. Don't you think you're little army is strong enough to fight Chuan?"
"Tsau, my boy," Zhao said. "When the Necromortalis is ours…I will destroy Tzu Tang Chuan for being such a horrid emperor…the worst dynasty in China. I will liberate the peoples, and in order to do so, some people have to die. Do not give me any of your views on the empire, because you left China long ago. Your land will no longer accept you, Tsau. The onus of cleansing is mine, and I intend to kill the emperor, and destroy his city. Blackwell can have his battles with pirates, but I will destroy the emperor, for his secret society of spies and supporters are antagonistic to my cause. The blood of men, women, and their children will be shed to cleanse the dirty palette that China is. I will create a nation of society, equality, and commute. If you are not with my cause, then you are against it…but your reactions clearly state whose side you are on."
"That's right," Tsau said. Everyone from Elizabeth, Will, Jack, and Zi watched the discussion intently, clearly hearing the words.
Zhao crossed his arms. "You and I are not so different, Tsau. Both of our parents were taken from us. We faced the most horrible onslaughts that the emperor threw to us, and we survived. Ravaged by our own people; hated by the government. We were poor young men back then…puppets of a higher agenda. The battles we fought together, the realization of our mortality, the diamonds we have become under intense pressure...we are not so different. But you didn't care, Tsau. You wanted freedom for yourself; I wanted to liberate our peoples. I won't let Chuan make any more tools out of men for his government. I will liberate the country by any means necessary. My cause is noble."
"Distributing opium isn't too noble, general," Tsau replied. "And I am nothing like you. I will never become you."
"Oh, but you have become much worse," Zhao said, catching Tsau's glance. "I've heard about the evils you have done. Murder without a cause. You have not changed a bit then…still just the mindless pawn, being told what to do by people of higher status. You still have much growth to do. You are still wandering in life, without a certain calling…without cause. Mindlessly working. A man of your ability is rare, Tsau, but I would much rather have a soldier who knows what he is fighting for. You are just one of those who run from what they fear the most…most of all, you have killed others with no conscience. People like you will never understand what to fight for. You were born an empty shell with no soul…no emotion to carry into battle. No reason. Now…where is that damned chest?"
Letting those words sink in, Tsau looked over to Elizabeth and Will, and nodded in a slight sense. Will went into the captain's quarters of his ship. Jack, who stood beside them, rolled his eyes. Getting the chest directly to Blackwell might be harder than he thought, because if this general takes the chest to him first, then Blackwell won't waste time to destroy the Dutchman, not to mention the Pearl.
"Take it if you like…but in the end…the Necromortalis will die. I won't let you use this opportunity to fuel your own agenda."
Will returned with the chest and handed it to one of Zhao's men. "Oh, Tsau. I think you have your own agenda that you are trying to fulfill."
"I've got my reasons," Tsau said, repeating the same words when he was asked about his own goals. "But they don't include unnecessary bloodshed."
"After the cleansing," Zhao said, getting back on his ship. "My counts of bloodshed will have reason. If you are coming back for the chest, you'll have to go through my best soldiers. The Three Deaths. They have their own gifts, Tsau. Can you survive my special group of soldiers?"
Tsau cracked his knuckles. "When I decide to take the chest back, that is."
"Each Death is potent," Zhao replied. "In three days, if you are still in the area, I will send them after you."
Zhao's men removed the planks and the ships slowly sailed away. With the chest in their hands again, Tsau wasn't too worried about it. Elizabeth crossed the planks over to the Pearl.
"So now they have the chest again," she said in slight anger. "What is our plan now?!"
"Calm down," Tsau responded. "They'll need the dagger, but be glad he didn't take your son. They think they have everything, but we're still in the game, so don't worry about it."
Elizabeth took a moment to draw breaths.
"What do we do now, Tsau?" Zi asked from behind.
Tsau thought for a moment. "I suggest we head back to Aswad Mohit. There are some unanswered questions there that I have."
Jack strolled back to his ship and stood in front of them. "How about you and the others go and find your answers, and I will go after the chest…fair enough?"
"Are you suggesting we split up?" Elizabeth asked.
Tsau sighed, then shrugged. "We split up from here on out. After a week or two, I'll be at Port Royal, waiting for the Pearl. The Dutchman will need to go to the Gulf."
Will, who was on his ship, rested his foot onto the plank. "So shall we head out?"
Tsau went down to his room to pack his things, and so did Elizabeth and Zi, who looked at her captain, Jack Sparrow one more time before heading over.
"Be careful, captain," Zi said.
Jack smiled. "Don't worry, love."
After Elizabeth woke her son up to head over to the Dutchman, Tsau held his knapsack and looked at Jack, and noticed something different about the captain.
"You're a little enthusiastic, aren't you?" Tsau stated, catching Jack a bit off guard.
Jack looked around conspicuously. "Why are you not enthusiastic?"
Tsau had a slight bewilderment. "Huh?"
"What?" Jack replied hastily.
"Wait…what are you…"
Jack then cut him off. "Don't you have to get going?"
"I'm going," Tsau replied irritably.
Tsau then unsheathed the Dagger of Black Death from his waist and held it in front of Jack, who kept his focus on the blade. It was as if Tsau was about to hand it over to the captain, but after awhile, he sheathed it back.
"I think the dagger will be safer with me," Tsau then replied, keeping a straight face. Jack kept a smile.
After the quick moment, Tsau walked over the plank, and onto the Dutchman, with Jack in a slight irritation because of what had just happened. Tsau seemed to see the dishonesty in Jack's eyes and body language, and Jack was quite surprised, because usually he successfully deceives new people his first try. The assassin is different, Jack thought.
"What just happened there?" Barbossa asked.
Jack leaned against the mast support. "The assassin is smart."
"Arr, I told ye," Barbossa said. "He be a clever one. Hassan is cursing us."
Jack watched closely as they removed the planks from the Pearl. "I just need that dagger, mate. No one can outthink Cap'n Jack Sparrow."
The two ships parted with Will and Jack at each helm waving to each other.
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Once again on the way to Aswad Mohit, the Flying Dutchman was slightly calm. Elizabeth and her son stood up at the helm with Will as he got to know his child. They were all happy together, enjoying the midday as a family. Tsau was up at the helm, too, standing next to the shipside, looking out to sea. After another few moments passed, he decided to walk down to the cabins, but instead met up with Zi while walking past the Turner family.
"You knew that general?" she asked him, catching the eyes of both Elizabeth and William.
Tsau raised an eyebrow and looked down. He wondered how he always seemed to get himself into the situations where everyone was ready to listen to him say something personal.
"Yeah, I knew Zhao," Tsau replied, uncovering his hood. "I met him shortly after leaving Dhou Sher."
Elizabeth tilted her head. "What's Dhou Sher?"
"Hometown," Zi answered. "In Miao Chinese, it means 'Rising Sky' or 'Rising Heavens.'"
Will held his son's hand. "How did you meet him?"
"After I left home, I wandered about in different lands before coming across a poster asking for rebel army recruits. Soon, I enlisted into the rebel army because of lack of food and survival tools. That is where I met Lt. Zhao Hou Yin, one of the most dedicated soldiers I've ever met. He was about 10 years older than me at the time, meaning he was only in his mid-thirties, but he knew so much about war, about battle. Aside from Hassan, he taught me most of what I know about battle," Tsau narrated to them, catching their full attention. "The man's focus was always on politics, but mainly more on philosophy of war, and he taught me many things that I'd eventually never really use in battle. I learned more…useful techniques on the battlefield."
Elizabeth's eyes focused in on Tsau. "So…what happened later?"
"A few years later, the rebel army split," Tsau explained. "And I found myself on the other side of the battle, opposite to Zhao's. Back then, we were still just soldiers. If we were on the battlefield, we were soldiers. Off the battlefield, we were just men."
"And you fought him," Zi said in a somewhat disturbed tone. "Knowing that he was still your friend at heart?"
"The rules of the battle bound us from making irrational decisions," Tsau explained. "It didn't matter. We tried to avoid each other the whole battle. After the short campaign of the split rebellion, Zhao came to me with a proposition. He was beginning his own rebel army to overtake the government and the other rebels. Zhao always spoke of a society of equality and commute, as you heard back there. I refused, however, after watching him slay innocent civilians to send a message to the government. I used to look up to him. He used to be the brother figure I didn't have. We lived and fought together on the battlefield."
Will nodded. "So that's why you two are in bad terms, then. Because he formed a new rebel group."
"More like terrorists," Tsau said. "He would hold hostage a whole city and kill many civilians…all in the name of his new government. I know I am an assassin…but I would never spill unnecessary blood."
"What did you do after that?" Elizabeth asked.
Tsau shrugged. "I joined a group of thieves and went on to burglarize homes and sell valuables for money. Later, I was caught, then went to that organized prison I spoke of this morning."
"Sounds like you've been through a lot," Will said.
"I've had mine," Tsau replied, walking down the stairs. The rest of the crew looked at one another as he left, leaving the helm in a moment of silence.
I'll be back with chapter 12 sometime in the future, so check every once in awhile, huh?