(OT: Thank you for the reviews! You have no idea how much it means to me and how much it makes me want to write!
Incoming: Long out of character bit:
You are quite fortunate if you enjoy my last novelization-type scene of the bathhouse because I have done the exact same thing here, with the swapping people scene among Beckett, Sao Feng, Jack, Barbossa, Elizabeth, and Will.I've added bits and pieces in to fill in the gaps where Beckett and Jack's conversation would have gone, and of course, explained the glances, the thoughts etc.
The next will flip from Elizabeth being prepared by Sao Feng's ladies-to her whole conversation with James and such-And then to Will and Jack.. Perhaps even a little insight into how dear William escaped the brig and what he was thinking about when he did it. Ah, so much to write... We'll see how much time.
Not this week but next week will be Spring Break so I will probably have more than enough time to write and write and write. I'm excited to write the marriage and beach scene... Ohhh might go to a Mature rating there! Enjoy! And tell me if you would want me to continue these novelization-type scenes occassionally!)
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"Wretch!" Elizabeth shrieked, lunging toward the pirate lord as the Black Pearl's dutiful crew was ensnared by heavy chains. Her hand went toward the hilt of her sword, but it was gone, and she suddenly recalled removing it earlier. She still attempted rake Sao Feng with her fingernails, pouncing toward the back of his neck. The man spun around and easily caught both of her wrists, grinning maliciously.
"Miss Swann, is it not?" he inquired mockingly, their noses nearly touching. "Bind her," he ordered nonchalantly, gesturing to several crew members as he thrust her in reverse.
They crept toward Elizabeth with menacing chains rattling at their waists, awaiting the new prisoner. "Will!" Elizabeth screamed out of habit as the men advanced upon her helpless figure, grasping her by the head and waist and fastening chain-link manacles to her wrists. She writhed only for a moment when Sao Feng stepped forward placidly.
"You're struggle is wasted," he remarked to the woman as the Chinese crew bellowed their victory, crying joyously as Barbossa and Jack slithered aboard the Pearl. Surrounded by four men, she glanced to Jack's nervous expression and Barbossa's confusement.
"Sao Feng," he announced with a grinded tone. "You showing up here, 'tis truly a remarkable coincidence."
Sao Feng immediately swerved around the elderly man, aiming his remark to the cowering captain. "Jack Sparrow," he said as the (usually) flippant man peered around Barbossa's shoulder. "You paid me great insult once."
Revealing himself fully with his index finger at his lips, Jack shrugged and responded innocently, "That doesn't sound like me." The Chinese man sprung toward the dreadlocked captain, his fist slamming into Sparrow's nose. Gripping his nose in agony, the pirate asked, "Shall we just call it square then?"
Will charged through the throng, recollecting Elizabeth's recent scream, and quickly assessing the situation. They had captured his love as well. Definitely not going as planned. "Release her," he commanded to Tai Huang's men. "She's not part of the bargain."
Barbossa retorted, "And what bargain be that?"
Will refused to answer, his eyes on Elizabeth's confounded expression as the crew members murmured amongst themselves, wondering if they should listen to the young man. Although this was only a small delay in his well-concealed scheme, something ached at his stomach, telling him to be cautious. He had informed Sao Feng of the terms, and he had directly disobeyed them... No, he couldn't blithely allow any setbacks to occur.
"You heard Captain Turner," Sao Feng declared, swiveling toward Elizabeth and her captors. "Release her."
"Captain Turner?" Jack clarified, the words like poison to his tongue.
"Aye," Gibbs explained with a singe. "The profidious rotter led a mutiny against us." It was a tone of shocked expectation. No one had suspected dear William to pull off or even attempt such a feat.
Will growled in response, "I need the Pearl to free my father." He ruptured his eye contact with the woman, knowing what response would immediately emerge. Shaking his head at the feuding captains he archly proclaimed, "That's the only reason I came on this voyage."
He hadn't told her. He was hiding something... And Elizabeth directly made inquires about it, and he rebuked her questions without woe. Released from the shackles, she marched toward Will and asked irately, "Why didn't you tell me you were planning this?" Elizabeth would have understood. She had cradled her burden for so long, and it felt so awful and wonderful to reveal it... So why hadn't he done the same?
"It was my burden to bear." It was an automatic response with his gaze shifted to the skyline.It was without inflection or real feeling. He had a right to be livid, didn't he? Will had suppressed his own rage for her sake AND for his own sanity's sake, but now it was rioting beneath him and emerging with a simmering tone.
She stared at him, hurt by the burning comment and unable to respond with certainty, and he gazed right back, without a single hint of apology lingering in his eyes. Her burden was worse! At the time, she thought that she was protecting Will. She wasn't aware that he had known of her salacious kiss and betrayal throughout the voyage nor had she ever wanted him to.
"He needs the Pearl!" Jack cried, mentally separating himself from the mutineers and unsteady alliance. "Captain Turner needs the Pearl." He gestured to William, the words still dribbling out of his mouth sourly, and then he leaned toward his once-confidant incredulous and upset. "And you felt guilty."
Elizabeth grimaced, along with Will, realizing the absurdity of these announcements. She settled on conversing with Will later, if this ploy was successful, turning her glance from him as her anger plummeted into her stomach.
Jack sauntered toward Hector, his eyes twitching as pistols centered on the pirate in all directions. "And you and your Brethren Court! Did no one come to save me just because they missed me?" Gibbs rolled his eyes, glancing to Tia Dalma's equally irritated expression. Without a second glance, Marty's stubby hand shot into the hair, and Pintel, Ragetti, Cotton, and Jack the monkey lifted their hands, smiling slightly. Jack pointed to each of them with a broad golden-toothed grin as he declared, "I'm standing over there with them."
Sao Feng clasped Sparrow's neck as he hissed, "I'm sorry, Jack, but there is an old friend who wants to see you first."
Gulping down another clever remark, Jack responded, "I'm not certain I can survive any more visits from old friends."
"Here's your chance to find out," Sao Feng replied, shoving the pirate through the scattering pirates.
Elizabeth balked as the pair billowed through the crowd, her arm slapping against Will's in the process. "What's he talking about?" she asked, forgetting their mean comments, and now concerned for her and Will's welfare.
Will glanced to the woman, unable to conjure up a concise explanation and still slightly infuriated. He didn't understand her. Upset at him, angered toward his actions, yearning for his comfort... What did she want anymore? And yet, he couldn't say that now. Cornered by the wrong moments but desiring so much more.
--
As Beckett's militia boarded the Pearl, Will thundered toward Sao Feng and Mercer, who stood face to face in confrontation. "You agreed," he said, growing weary of the increasing number of soldiers. "The Black Pearl was to be mine." Elizabeth lingered behind him, entirely unsure of the agreement and�desperately hoping it was all a misunderstanding.
"And so it was," Sao Feng resolutely replied with�a succinct nod to his men.
Elizabeth leapt backward as two Chinese men's fists plunged into Will's vest, knocking a giant agonizing groan from the man. "Will!" she cried, stepping after the men as they dragged him away. "Let us go!" Elizabeth grunted as two men gripped her wiry arms, growling for her to stay still as she writhed beneath their grasp, casting her glance to the struggling and recovering Will a few times. His wrists were finally snared without a word as he watched Elizabeth twist out of the men's grip. It was no use; he knew that as soon as Sao Feng replied to his commands.
The woman broke their grasp, kneeing both in groin before attempting to escape the crammed throng, her breathing unsteady as she swerved left and right, narrowly avoiding the assailants. A man suddenly lunged out of no where, pinning her arms to the ground and straddling her slim waist. Without a second thought, Elizabeth screamed when the man whipped out a jagged dagger.
"No!" Will's voice boomed behind them as the attacker's weaponpierced against Elizabeth's throat, forcing her to grudgingly crawl to her feet. William's shoulders were now drawn back into the crowd, and Elizabeth was shoved toward him, several Chinese men spinning her toward them to attach shackles once again. How could he let this happen? How could he arrange something so rashly without consulting, without thinking this through...? With her mouth gaping open in amazement and resentment, she turned toward the pitchfork around Will's neck.
Gripping Mercer's unmarked shoulder, Sao Feng declared, "Beckett agreed the Black Pearl was to be mine."
"Lord Beckett's not going to give up the only ship that can outrun the Dutchman, now is he?" Mercer responded snidely, curling his lip at Sao Feng's grimy touch.
Barbossa stepped toward the pirate lord, his eyebrows arched in assured confidence that he could sway this foreign man over to his side. "It's a shame they're not bound to honor the Code of the Brethren, in't it? Because honor's a hard thing to come by nowadays," he persuaded, watching Sao Feng's still exasperated expression carefully.
"There's no honor in remaining with the losing side," Sao responded without wavering. "Leaving it for the winning side, that's just good business."
"The losing side, you say?" Barbossa clarified, knowing it would only act on his influence over the man.
"They have the Dutchman, now the Pearl. And what do the Brethren have?" the Chinese captain uttered, taking into account his latest losses and gains.
Barbossa's eyes widened. Ah, now he had him. "We have Calypso."
Sao Feng's eyebrows twitched, and he then directed his gaze to Elizabeth and Will, glancing at the young woman up and down. The woman's face contorted in confusion as her eyes flickered toward the captain, confused by the gaze. Of course, she had heard of Calypso, goddess of the seas, wicked and untamable, but she thought it legend. Another fairy tale... Just like Jack Sparrow's legacy. Why did he look at her so?
Sao Feng scoffed and then responded skeptically, "Hm, Calypso..."
Barbossa was now looking over his shoulder, and Elizabeth watched him assess her as well. She glanced to Will, hoping for a probable explanation, but he was too involved in brooding over their predicament to feel her eyes.
"An old legend."
"No," Barbossa responded, forgetting Sao Feng's odd glance at Miss Swann. "The goddess herself, bound in human form. Imagine, all the powers of the seas brought to bear against our enemies."
Good lord. Why was he gazing at her again?
Will now noticed Sao Feng's lingering gaze, and he stared at Elizabeth for a moment, hoping she knew what exactly Sao Feng was thinking, but she just stared back without an answer, hoping for the same thing from him.
"I intend to release her, but for that I need the Court," Barbossa announced, leaning forward and snatching Sao Feng's gemmed necklace into his hand. "All the Court."
The two captains separated, and Sao Feng directly stepped toward Will and Elizabeth as he�inhaled the aroma of his crimson red sash and then lowered it, recalling Elizabeth feisty speech in the bathhouse. "What are you proposing, Captain?"
"What be accepted, Captain?" Barbossa countered, striding after the man.
Elizabeth felt it. She felt every word as it arranged in Sao Feng's mind and popped out of his mouth.
"The girl," Sao Feng replied tersely.
"What?" Elizabeth still asked, unable to control her response even through her expectation. The stares mounted and aligned as well... And she was desired by this Chinese man.
"Elizabeth is not part of any bargain!" Will shouted, shaking his head in refusal. No, she wouldn't be lost to yet another man. They needed to be with one another. He needed her.
"Out of the question," Barbossa agreed, nodding and realizing the hell William would deliver if his dear Elizabeth was taken from him.
"It was not a question," Sao replied coyly, his gaze still resting on Elizabeth's lovely form.
Fine, then. She would find her own means of escaping. "Done," she responded, leveling her eye contact with the Chinese pirate lord. She recalled his sensational words back in the bathhouse... And the eye does not go wanting. She was frightened to think of what he might attempt, but she wouldn't allow an escape to slip through her fingers.
"What?" he asked, his head already shaking furiously. "Not done!" Will swiveled his head in astonishment. He wasn't going to let her go. It was as bad as allowing her to run from confrontation. Will had to know... He had to know if he could stop losing her or if he had already lost her.
"You got us into this mess," she whispered intensely. "If this is what frees us..." She rose her voice, "Then done!"
Will swerved around the woman, meeting her face to face and unable to control the heat in his voice. "Elizabeth, they are pirates." He was fully aware of why pirates wanted women... To use them... And then throw them aside. He had witnessed those concubines cooing and acting obediently to Sao Feng, and he wouldn't allow his Elizabeth to become a passive lady beneath Sao's grip.
Elizabeth gritted her teeth as she screeched, "I have had more than enough experiences dealing with pirates!" She smacked both chained hands against his chest, shoving him backward without remorse. He did this. It was by his fault that she was forcing herself to go along with this man.
Will stepped back into place, realizing Elizabeth did not need him as much as he needed her.
Barbossa vigilantly approached, "Then we have an accord?"
"Yes," Elizabeth replied as she nodded. "We do." The shackles were released from her little wrists, and she rubbed the pulsing red marks for a moment before Sao Feng gestured toward his vessel.
"You're temporary home..." he whispered in a poised fashion.
Tentatively eyeing the man, she stepped forward, but William clasped her arm, tugging her backward. "Elizabeth," he said, gazing straight into her brown doe-eyes, so full of confidence and timorous at the same time. "Just... Be careful." It was all he could form at the moment, weakly staring at her. He didn't want her to leave... To leave with that unpleasant and perilous man. What havoc could (and would) he cause? Will could only imagine the horrors he may force her into, and he impetuously clutched her hands.
"I will be," she replied softly, squeezing Will's hands in return and then slipping from his grasp. She didn't want to leave. She didn't want to glide out of his grasp just yet... Not without a farewell kiss or even a single embrace, but it was too late, and Captain Sao Feng's hands were gliding over her frail back and guiding her into the longboat.
(OT: I'm not sure if fanfiction alerts you of this... But I did go back and alter this chapter after I posted it because several words were run together, and it annoyed the heck out of me so I decided to just add the spaces back in. I think it was some sort of error in my computer or something because my document doesn't include the run-ons. Anyway, just thought I would give you a heads-up in case it does send a message and says that I've changed this chapter... Even though I really haven't. Savvy?)