There was a pause of dead silence between the two, and Jack felt uncomfortable seeing another woman cry after he had brought up that vivid story. He swiftly stood up and mumbled something about the ship rocking too much. He walked out and left Elizabeth alone, still staring at the place where Jack was sitting.
Slowly, Elizabeth wiped the tears off of her cheek. She finally understood why he acted the way he did. The hardness of his heart was not because of arrogance, but because of this; another bastard who took advantage of a woman because of a foolish emotional urge and of course, alcohol.
Elizabeth sighed and scolded herself. How could she pester him into telling a story so horrible? I should have kept my bloody mouth shut.
Will came around the ship and saw the sad souls in front of him. Dirty, smelly and wet sailors all standing on the deck of the Dutchman ready to make their choice.
"Right, you all know how it works. You have choices lads, as I'm sure that many of you know. You can stay here on the ship and join my crew, or choose to go to the Locker for eternity." As usual, they all chose to stay on the ship. Will was fed up with his life, especially being away from the woman he loves. Even though she probably is in the arms of another by now, he still felt a deep connection with her.
Will generally assigned his new crewmates a position and with a flick of his hand they all got to it. He made his way back to his quarters when a strong grip came upon his shoulder. Almost immediately Will grabbed the hand and turned around, twisting the mysterious arm uncomfortably in the process. The man suddenly got free of Will's grip and rubbed it incessantly with his other yellow-nailed hand. Will burrowed his eyebrows in realization. Although the man was looking down so that his face could not show, the large black hat with that familiar feather was enough.
A few hours later, Elizabeth walked out of the captain's cabin. She slowly walked up the faded wooden stairs up to where Jack was steering the ship. She without even glancing at Jack, she walked behind him and looked over the edge of the ship, watching the calm waters being disturbed gently by the ship's movements. She turned her head slightly, paused, and then turned her full body around and looked intently and Jack's back profile. He's not even tried to talk to me. She thought. Sighing, she noticed bright lights far off in the horizon, and she new that the port of Churchill was nothing but a few short minutes away. She finally decided to break the silence.
"Right, how are we going to this then?" she asked while looking out into the waters.
"I suppose we'll need to disguise ourselves, we are going to enter a royal port." Jack reminded.
She raised an eyebrow in question. "You're willing to change your…decorated appearance?" Jack stroked his braided beard and played slightly with the beads on the end.
"I suppose then you'll need to disguise yourself…again." Jack said blankly. "There are probably some dresses and shoes around this ship somewhere, old Johnny was quite the ladies man." Elizabeth looked at the back of his head with sad eyes.
"I'll look around and see what I can find. How much more time until we dock?"
"Give it about fifteen, twenty minutes" His eyes never moved once.
She sighed once more and walked pass Jack, going down the stairs and went back inside the cabin. Jack watched her body move gracefully around the ship and mentally scolded himself. She probably thinks I'm a blubbering idiot.
Elizabeth opened a dusty set of chest drawers and sure enough, there was a sapphire blue dress with a corset tucked away on the side. She pulled out the dress carefully and held it against her body, smoothing out the creases and wrinkles. She then laid it down on the bed and looked back at the drawers with a grimace.
"We meet again," she said to the corset, mentally cursing the fact that she had to put this horrid piece of garment on. Who ever came up with this wonderful piece must have forgotten that people have to breathe in order to live.
After lighting a few more candles, Elizabeth started to undress, throwing her clothes into a big pile on the floor. Then stepping into the corset, she maneuvered her hands around her back so that she could pull the strings tightly, feeling the familiar pain around her middle area. Deciding that she was trapped enough, she tied the strings and started to climb into the dress. Noticing that there was a mirror far off in the corner, she walked up to it and adjusted the dress swiftly, memories of the preparations before parties flooding back into her mind. Soon, she looked into the dusty mirror and was thankful that her skin wasn't too grimy and started to untie her hair and comb through her hair gently, soft ringlets forming. She walked back to the drawers in search of a hair pin and found a silver one with three sky blue gems on it. She carefully slipped into a pair of shoes and clipped her hair into place. Looking at the mirror once more, she was satisfied with her appearance. She was incredibly uncomfortable, but that was the price of being a proper woman. After blowing out the candles and not forgetting to grab the map in the process, she walked out the door and said goodbye to the Fearful Cannon.
Jack tugged on this hat and turned the helm gently. They obviously couldn't enter the port through then main docks, and thankfully, he noticed that there was a side of the Port that was mainly just beach and wilderness. Soon enough, the ship shook violently from hitting land.
Elizabeth came out of the cabin just as Jack was walking down the stairs. Their eyes met and Elizabeth was waiting for a smug comment from Jack.
"Right, you walk through the streets and I'll follow close behind." Jack ordered. Elizabeth handed the map to Jack and he tucked away in his jacket.
"How are you going to be able to walk the streets looking like that?" Elizabeth smiled at her stab at humour, but then felt foolish as nothing came from Jack.
"I'll find me way around, just get yourself to the main prison and we'll go from there." Jack explained. Elizabeth nodded and began to walk closer to the warmer lights. She looked behind for reassurance from Jack but in his cleverness he had already disappeared behind the darkness.
As soon as she wandered into the main part of the town, the eyes of the working class gave her confused looks. They were wondering what a woman of her wealth would be walking around town at this time of the night. After a few minutes of walking, she noticed that more soldiers came into view, scattered in pairs across the streets. I must be getting closer. I wonder where Jack is. She looked around but could not see him anywhere.
Suddenly, two men in uniforms came up to her with pondering looks. She decided to play dumb and smiled kindly.
"Sorry to interrupt you ma'am, but you shouldn't be walking around the town at this time of night." She only thought one thing. Buggers.
"Well gentlemen I'm afraid I'm a bit lost, would you be so kind as to show me the where I could find the fort? My father had a meeting with the…lieutenant and my mother is getting worried." Her voice was extremely childish and she didn't forget to bat her eyelashes a few times.
"New to the area are you miss?" the other soldier said. "Yes, we have just come here from another port." Elizabeth kindly answered. Both of the men exchanges glances and Elizabeth was worried that they could see through her fake appearance.
"Yes of course, you just follow this road here and walk a little up that hill over on your right," he stretched his arm out and pointed in the direction, "You'll be able to see it from there."
Elizabeth forced a smile and gave a little curtsy before thanking the 'kind gentlemen' for helping her. The two men walked around her and Elizabeth suddenly noticed Jack standing in the alley between two ratted houses. Jack nodded and waved his hand, telling her to keep walking. She nodded slightly and followed the soldier's directions.
After a few more minutes of walking, the fort came into sight, and she noticed a tall structure with series of gaps with metal bars guarding them. Elizabeth walked a little faster and finally reached her destination, not forgetting to look around for any person that could stop her. Before entering the cell, she remembered that Jack had to come in too.
"Jack! Jack!" she whispered loudly.
Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her.
"Oi, what are you doing here? This building is off limits at this time!" Elizabeth whipped around and felt her head warming in fear. The soldier came closer to her, almost running. He tried to grab her arm, but she swiftly grabbed his arm and pulled him towards herself. She then kneed her opponent in the nose and then side kicked him hardly in the stomach with her heels. The man screamed loudly in pain and drew his sword. Without even a moment of hesitance, she kicked the man's hand and he immediately dropped his sword to the ground. Finally, she punched him square in the face and blood came steadily flowing out of his nose and lip. As soon as the soldier began to fall, she quickly picked up his sword and pointed it forcefully at his neck, waiting for him to attack back. After a few seconds, she realized that he had fallen unconscious and dropped the sword, it nearly touching his face. She was thankful that she learned how to protect herself without any weapons back in Singapore. There was one thing she owed thanks to Tai Huang for.
Her heart beating quickly, she ran into the prison and glanced through each cell, hoping that she would find someone that she would recognize. Where in the bloody hell is Jack?!
"Miss Elizabeth, is that you!" a strange voice called out in the darkness.
"Gibbs! Where are you?" She sighed with relief. She turned her head around quickly and noticed him among others she knew packed into one cell.
"The key, it's right there on yer left." Gibbs shouted. She looked around, here eyes wide open because of the darkness, and finally, she spotted the key with many guns and cutlasses which most probably belonged to the crew of the Pearl. She grabbed the key vigorously and began to unlock the hinges.
"Captain Jack!" Pintel shouted. Elizabeth looked around, and sure enough, Jack had mysteriously popped out of nowhere and was now standing calmly behind her, one hand resting on his pistol.
"Where the hell were you?!" Elizabeth shouted.
"I told you I would find me own way! Now move aside, we don't have time to socialize!" Jack walked up to the keyhole, making Elizabeth step back. She gave him a dirty look, cursing him many times in her head.
"Captain Swan! There are more keys over there, open our cells!" Elizabeth grabbed the keys and began to open the cells, and Jack did the same. Soon enough, the crew of the Pearl was free.
"Now shut it! All of you listen to me!" Jack ordered. Silence fell in the damp building.
"Gibbs, where is she?" Jack looked at the man seriously.
"She's on the east dock, but I'm almost certain that Beckett's crew is still there."
"They were talking about some sort of map." Ragetti commented. "Aye, and they were speaking of the fountain as well Cap'n." Pintel added.
Both Elizabeth's and Jack's faces fell when they heard this, now understanding why the Company needed the Pearl. They were going after the Fountain of Youth and the Pearl was their best bet of getting there first incase anyone else would find out its location.
"Right, well there's no time to loose." Elizabeth reminded. All of the men started to walk out of the building, sword ready in hand incase any obstacles came into play.