A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! They mean so much! Again, I do not own POTC. This little chapter took A LOT of research on the designs of the ships in the movies and of sea battles in general. The multiple viewpoints was also exhausting, so if you want to leave a review...that would be like a nice breather in a hot tub for me!
"Loose the guns!"
"Loose the guns!"
After hearing Gibbs repeat Jack's order, the crew let the cannons slide from one end of the rocking ship to the other.
"What can I do?" Mary asked him on his way down the steps to join in the manic running from port to starboard and back.
"Can't imagine what ye could do." It wasn't that he disliked the strange little haunt, but anyone paying a debt to Tia Dalma could be made impetuous enough to do anything. It was something the enigmatic siren had in common with her cursed lover, and the less of that he had on his ship, the better.
"There must be something," Mary muttered, but he pretended not to hear, crashing into the railing of the Pearl with everyone else, the run back to starboard more and more an uphill climb until everyone gripped the railing, watching stray cannonballs and debris roll down the deck and plummet into the ocean. "Ah! I know!"
Jack heard an ear-piercing shriek, able to see only from the corner of his eye one of the men lose his grip and fall with the same rapid velocity as everything else had until Mary Read spread her long white wings and broke his fall. On her back between her wings, the man ranted thanks in his language before grabbing onto the railing again. At last Jack could feel the sea wash over him, upside down hanging onto a capsized ship. Adjusting his eyes, he watched the ropes float in the teal water. His stomach lurched at the sudden pull of the Pearl returning herself to the surface. Rotating a full three hundred and sixty degrees, the ocean bubbled at the movement right underneath it, a gurgling preceding the rollicking jerk that threw everyone back down onto the deck.
"Are we back?" Will was the first to ask after a few coughs.
"Colors on the horizon," Barbossa answered, scrambling to his feet and running to the forecastle, his spyglass in hand. "Two ships. Two not so friendly ships."
Everyone rushed to join him, weighed down by their yet-again soaked clothing, the silhouettes of two massive ships' sails billowing in the wind. Jack paled, knowing full well the hundred guns on the Endeavor all had their eyes on the Pearl's thirty-two. A poor captain indeed, he recalled, cursing at himself for not implementing bow or stern chasers.
"What ship is that next to the Endeavor?" he heard behind him. Bugger. How did he always wind up next to her?
"That be the Empress," he said. "Sao Feng's own instrument of destruction." The Empress's sharp scarlet sails came ever closer. "Hard to port!" he called.
"You ain't talkin' of outrunnin' 'em?" Barbossa growled.
"It's what she does best." Jack patted the ship on his way to the helm. Will and Elizabeth followed him up.
"We're in the middle of the ocean in broad daylight! There's nowhere to run to!" Will said the second Jack's hands hit the helm. "Sao Feng is dead anyway."
"Has it not occurred to you if that be the case, then Beckett has two gigantic warships coming straight for us instead of one? Has it not also occurred to you, William, that there are several guns on port side?" he asked with a slight grin, enjoying Will's sudden enlightenment and renewed faith in him and watched him run down below decks to command the guns. Sure enough, the Empress and the Endeavor each took a lifetime to turn and chase the smaller, more agile Pearl, opening their sides up to her. Never mind it was Will's stupidity that brought them here, Jack repeated to himself over and over again. Never mind it. Be in the moment, this moment, right now.
"Fire."
"Fire!" he heard Elizabeth shout, running down the steps below decks at the same time she loaded a long rifle. "Below decks, all of you!"
The ships returned fire, catching up to the Pearl, the Endeavor right next to her. Without waiting for any of their crew to swing across, Elizabeth opened fire, a cloud of smoke heralding the first casualty of the battle. Barbossa seconded her fire with his own rifle. The remaining men on deck drew their swords, a few holding hammers instead.
Whatever works, Jack admitted, spinning the helm to create enough space between the ships to keep anyone from swinging across.
The heart.
Handing the helm over to Marty, Jack climbed up into the rigging, pistol drawn. The Endeavor closed in on them once again, the Empress just behind her. One of the Endeavor's crew swung into the rigging of the Pearl with an inexperienced scream. Jack took aim and closed one eye. The soldier tumbled down onto the deck, allowing the empty rope to come right to him.
"Thanks, mate!" he called down and swung to the other ship, exhilarated at the feeling.
"Hold your fire!" Will frowned at the dwindling cannonballs. "Start loading the rum!"
"Aw, Mr. Turner, not again!" Pintel cringed.
"Everything you can find!" He pulled his belt off, making it slither between the loops, and broke off the buckle. "Start with that. You men, come down with me to the hull!" Tia Dalma, Mary, Gibbs, and Governor Swann were on his heels, the latter casting off a final look of terror before hurrying along with them.
Elizabeth rammed the butt of her rifle into one of the invading horde, clasping onto the long barrel like a sword. Swinging it down into another man's back, she leapt over his unconscious body to where she saw James dueling on the other side of the deck with a member of the Empress's crew. Already grossly outnumbered, she ran to him and fought off the attacker with him. She could only see the top of Barbossa's hat, busy in its own fight.
"Watch out!" James latched onto a handful of her vest and pulled her back to him, just in time to dodge the sword coming down on her. Letting her go, they spun around at the same time to find a spry, statuesque figure with his sword already drawn towards them.
"Wei Bo," James murmured, his sword ready.
"James Norrington on the Black Pearl. Indeed this will be a pleasure." He lunged at him, only for Elizabeth to block his advance at the last second. He met her eyes with a look of deep contempt and soon dominated their parry, about to drive her off the side of the ship until James countered again. A two-on-one battle ensued, Elizabeth remembering the strategies Will had taught her. "One day there won't be a time limit," he had said when she complained the time was up but he prolonged their sparring. Thank you, Will, she thought before risking the offense. Her endurance would thank him by keeping her alive.
Jack zigzagged past the soldiers, all of them firing onto his ship, their half-shut eyes concentrated on what lay in front of them, not what ran behind them. Pistol still in hand, he hustled into the galley and threw open the cupboard drawers, forks and knives flung every which way. It was as good a place to start as any, he thought, knowing even Beckett would not be arrogant enough to wear the heart on his person in the middle of a battle. Smoke that blew across the deck seeped in under the closed door.
"You!"
"Me?" He turned, Mr. Mercer standing behind him with one of the discarded, sharper knives in his hand. Wasting no time, Jack clamped onto the handle of the pan nearest to him and smacked Mercer across the face with it before sprinting back onto the deck.
"Marty! Marty!" He waved his arms.
"Aye, Captain?"
"Bring her closer!" he yelled over the gunfire.
"Why?"
"So I can get back on!"
"That be the last of it!" Gibbs wailed as the last bottle of rum exploded against the side of the Endeavor.
"We'll have to fight. Unsheathe your swords." Will gave a lost look at Tia Dalma and Mary, both still with him. For all their powers, hand-to-hand combat left him doubting them. "Stay here." He shook his head on the way up to the deck, wondering if he would pay for that decision. He could not wonder for long, however, when a burly Asian pirate pounced on top of him. Will wedged his sword in between them and lodged the whole blade into the gargantuan to drive him off of him.
Springing back to his feet, he heard the cock of a pistol just above his ear.
"Move and you're dead," the soldier said. Nostrils flaring, Will let his sword clang to the deck. He did a double take when he saw Jack back aboard the Pearl in an identical situation, only with Mercer pointing the pistol.
"Did you find the heart?" he tried, already knowing the answer.
"It's not in the galley," was all Jack said with dry self-loathing.
Will lifted his head to search for Elizabeth and found a pile of men holding onto her, rendering her immobile. James was next to her, a dagger held to his throat.
"The Black Pearl belongs to me," the man with the dagger said. "As Sao Feng's successor everything entitled to him is now mine."
"Wei Bo, ye cunning codpiece," Barbossa said to him, pushing his way through the gathered crowd. "I might have known Sao Feng would be leavin' his Piece of Eight to such a formidable knave. But what be the meanin' of draggin' the East India Trading Company into all this?"
"That all falls on…where is he…ah." He stopped in front of Jack. "Jack Sparrow. Such dishonor there was when you were last in Singapore."
"And ye thought that involved me somehow? Doesn't seem quite right."
"Whoever might have started it," Wei Bo growled, gnashing his teeth. "It is certainly now to be finished. Mr. Mercer is ready to take you to meet an old acquaintance of yours."
"But you and I have just gotten reacquainted," Jack tried. "We'll just have to reschedule with the various other old acquaintances."
"Ye don't want to be takin' Jack too far from the rest of us, Wei Bo," Barbossa said. "There is his lordship to consider."
"What do we need the pirate lords for? We have lasted this long without them gathering."
"We have lasted, but not thrived, especially seein' as how we now have Calypso who needs the pirate lords for her resurrection."
"Calypso? You have Calypso?" Wei Bo turned his attention from Jack.
"If you're done with him then…" Mercer began to drag him away. "Do it usually take so long to gain control of a ship?"
"Forgive me. Mr. Mercer wishes me to leave some of my crew here with the Pearl since she is now a part of my fleet." He narrowed his eyes. "So, Barbossa, let us see your Calypso and maybe I will continue to Shipwreck Cove with the rest of you." Peering over at Mercer, he continued, "Our ships will be sailing closely together enough for us to take our time searching for Sparrow's Piece of Eight. Well? Where is she? Why hasn't your goddess come forward?"
"Here I am."
All eyes turned towards Elizabeth, still held by three men who promptly released her. She marched up to Wei Bo with her chin parallel to the ground.
"Elizabeth…" Will warned.
"He wants to take me to Shipwreck Cove and he shall," she said slowly. "If you let the Pearl sail with her own crew."
"You're Calypso?" Wei Bo whispered.
"Drunk is more likely what she is," Jack spilled out, but Wei Bo did not tear his gaze from her.
"Mr. Mercer, you may take Sparrow to your ship…and I shall take this one aboard mine."
"Wait." Governor Swann ran forward. "You must take me aboard as well."
"No!" Elizabeth ordered, finally torn away from Wei Bo's leer.
"Who are you?"
"I…I am her attendant. Surely you didn't expect a goddess to be without attendants?" Swann sputtered, shoving his hands into the pockets of his trousers to keep from wringing them.
"Attendants? And where is her other one hiding then. You!" He pointed to Gibbs. "Come forward."
"Thanks a lot, Governor," Gibbs muttered.
"Take these three aboard the Empress," Wei Bo said to his men nearest him. "And make sure Calypso has every comfort she desires. We will leave you to continue your journey to Shipwreck Cove then, Barbossa. We will see all of you there directly." He took one last look at Jack. "Almost all of you."
Within the hour, the Endeavor and the Empress sailed side by side, leaving the remaining members of the Black Pearl wondering what to do next.
A/N: According to Behind the Name's website, "Wei Bo" means "mighty wave." "Let Slip the Dogs of War" is from Julius Caesar. The full quote is, "Cry 'havoc' and let slip the dogs of war."