The Price of ƒ я e e d o м
A PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN FANFICTION
The Price of ƒ я e e d o м © xoxoMyRealityIsFiction
Pirates of the Caribbean © Disney
Ayisha/Amenirdis © A.C. Crispin
Scene Four:
Sorry Miss Swann, Me First
Chaos. Utter chaos. Cannon blasts were coming from the direction of the docks, and townsfolk were running about the streets in attempts to find some sort of safe shelter. Ayisha continued to watch the streets in high alert from the open window of the blacksmith's shop, her mind running a million miles per minute of trying to formulate a plan to successfully rescue Jack and then get off of the island without being seen, or recognized, by any of the pirates sure to make port. Hearing clanking from behind her Ayisha turned around and saw that Will was strapping on various weapons to his person,
"Stay here and then lock the door behind me." He ordered, griping the handle of a sword before marching to the front entrance of the shop. "You should be safe here."
Ayisha watched as Will left the workshop. Did he seriously expect her to listen to him? A complete and total stranger? Ayisha learnt the hard way to trust no one besides Jack. Everyone she thought she could trust, knew who she was when she spoke her real name (Amenirdis) and immediately tried to force her to take them to her people's fortune. Pft. And she thought that others thought that she, her people, and Kerma were supposed to be a myth; but, yet, everyone seemed to know of her 'myth'. Especially pirates.
Ayisha rolled her eyes at Will's order, and began searching the workshop for weapons she could use, herself. There wasn't much besides swords, and Ayisha preferred smaller weapons that she could conceal within her clothes; but she decided that it wasn't the time to be picky, so she took the first two swords nearest her. Leaving her cloak at the shop, because it would only get in her way if she had to defend herself, Ayisha left the safety of the blacksmith workshop and quickly serpentine into the chaotic streets. Crouching, staying along side of the walls of the other shops and homes, Ayisha crept deeper into the town and in the direction of the fort. Hopefully all of the navy soldiers would be busy fighting off the Pearl and there wouldn't be any guards guarding the holding cells where Jack would, again, hopefully be.
Screams of terror filled the night air and Ayisha inwardly cringed at the terror the crew of the Pearl were bringing to the innocent townsfolk of Port Royal. She knew, deep down, that she should help them as much as she could, but time was not on her side. Remaining low, and hidden, Ayisha crouched behind an abandoned stand, and peeked over the tall wooden box, licking her dry lips in anticipation. The fort was still a ways away - the stone walls just peeking from behind the shops of the town - and Ayisha knew that she wouldn't make it there without meeting a 'few' complications.
Stepping back, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, mentally and physically preparing herself, Ayisha then sprang up from behind the wooden stand and attacked the first pirate she laid eyes on. Thankfully she didn't think that the pirate recognized her - nor did she for the matter. Perhaps Barbossa recruited new crew members after he left her and Jack on that tiny speck of land - and the man, of course, retaliated. Swinging his sword from above, coming down towards her head, but Ayisha skillfully blocked it by lifting her arms in the air, the blades of the swords crossing in an 'x' position above her head. The man's sword got caught between her blades, and then Ayisha brought her left knee up in the air, thrusting her leg out and kicking the pirate in the gut. The man hunched over in pain, his arms cradling his stomach, and Ayisha kicked her leg up again, this time her foot connecting with the pirate's face causing him to fall back. And just as that pirate fell to the ground, another, surprised Ayisha from behind, his arm wrapping around her neck - squeezing her windpipe with all of his might. Ayisha struggled against the pirates hold, but he had the upper hand because her back was facing him and her arms were pinned behind her back, by the pirate's other arm. Her visioned blurred, the pirate laughed, and just as Ayisha thought that she was finally going to slip into a state of unconsciousness, she was freed. Falling to her knees, gasping for air, Ayisha turned around to see who had saved her, but was completely shocked when it was the young Miss. Swann.
Elizabeth dropped the wooden beam she was holding, staring down at the motionless pirate with her mouth agape. Ayisha was about to ask why Elizabeth was out in the streets, when a familiar pirate that Ayisha did recognize grabbed one side of Elizabeth's arm, roughly.
Ragetti.
One of the pirates that Ayisha tolerated when she was on the Black Pearl many years ago. He was just an uneducated young man who was doing as he was told, by a man that he feared: Hector Barbossa. And Ayisha didn't blame the man. Hector Barbossa was one to be feared. Ragetti rubbed his wooden eye, blinking in Ayisha's direction. And Ayisha, in a state of panic, roughly pushed back Ragetti, grabbed Elizabeth's hand and pulled the noblewoman in direction towards her original target: the fort.
"Why are you helping me?" Elizabeth had to shout over the loud screams of the people and pirates they were passing by.
Ayisha, not really in a talking mood, simply glanced over her shoulder and gave Elizabeth the look that read: 'Are you seriously asking me that question?'. Ayisha wasn't heartless!
A random force knocked Ayisha to the ground, forcing her hold on Elizabeth's hand to be let go; and before Ayisha had the chance to rise to her knees, she heard a scream. A feminine scream. Finally scrambling to her feet Ayisha's mouth dropped open when she saw that now both Ragetti and Pintel, had a hold of Elizabeth.
"Help!" Elizabeth exclaimed to Ayisha, and Ragetti, again, rubbed his good eye in Ayisha's direction. And much to Ayisha's displeasure and guilt, before Ragetti had the chance to better the vision of his good eye, Ayisha darted away from him, Pintel and the young Miss. Swann. She knew that she should have helped Elizabeth, but Ayisha couldn't afford to be recognized by any pirate from the Black Pearl. If one of them had told Barbossa that she has been spotted, then Barbossa would stop at nothing until he had his grubby hands on her.
Sorry, Miss Swann, Ayisha thought, glancing over her shoulder one last time, with guilt. Most likely, if Barbossa kept to the code -which Ayisha knew he would- Elizabeth wouldn't be harmed...much. He would probably just hold Elizabeth for ransom.
Without missing a beat Ayisha continued forward, towards the fort, only stopping when she could no longer ignore the need to help some townsfolk that she passed, by when needed. Chest heaving, breath ragged, clothes sticking uncomfortably to her sweaty body, Ayisha made it to the fort and mentally cursed when she didn't know where to find the holding cells. Determining that she had to check the rooms of the fort one by one Ayisha inwardly groaned at the long task she had ahead of her, but she couldn't give up. Jack wouldn't give up if it were she in his position.
Kicking down the first few doors and finding nothing, Ayisha then kicked another locked door and gasped, leaping back just in time to narrowly evade a candlestick swinging towards her from the side of the door. Grabbing the candlestick, yanking as hard as she could, the man that she recognized as the governor that ordered her and Jack to be hanged toppled forward, nearly falling. With the candlestick still in hand Ayisha squinted as the governor fearfully backed away from her with his hands held in front of him in a defensive manner, "P-please don't kill me," he stammered, and Ayisha's face scrunched up in confusion. Did he actually think that she was going to kill him?
Her face then brightened at the idea popping into her head. He could tell her where the holding cells were.
Tossing the candlestick to the side Ayisha strutted towards the cowering governor, hoping that her facial expression of trying to be intimidating was convincing. Swiftly lifting her arm in the air, outstretched fully, she pointed the tip of the blade of one of the swords in the governor's direction. Ayisha asked, tone dark, "Where are the holding cells?"
The man fainted, an almost feminine moan escaping his lips as he fell to the floor, his powdered wig falling off from his head, showing his real white, balding hair.
Gaping down at the governor's unconscious body in disbelief, Ayisha's shoulders slumped in defeat. The first time she actually tried to act like a pirate and the man faints before she could get what she wanted out of him! Maybe she was right in leaving all the pirate acts to Jack.
"Governor Swann!"
Sharply turning around Ayisha gazed at the two navy soldiers with wide eyes. Her situation definitely looked bad. The navy soldiers pointed the barrels of their rifles at Ayisha, barking the order for her to drop her weapons. Ayisha had no choice but to comply. Her hands raised up in the air and let the swords, she borrowed from Will's shop, fall to the floor with a 'clang.'
"Step away from the governor. Slowly, now."
Obeying the soldier's instructions Ayisha, with her hands still in the air, walked forward and towards the men, and away from the unconscious body of Governor Swann. As soon as she was right in front of the rifle barrels, one of the navy soldiers walked around her and towards the governor's body, and Ayisha, with such agility, leaped into action by grabbing the wrist of the pass-bying solider, twisting his arm around his back and using him as a shield from the other navy soldier. Wrapping her free arm around the soldier's neck, the man having to lean down because of his tall height, Ayisha squeezed her hold around his windpipe, "Drop your weapon," she directed towards the second soldier.
"Hold your ground, Mr. Porter."
Ayisha tried not to look too surprised by the commodore's appearance. It was just her rotten luck.
...So much for Jack's luck rubbing off of on her...
But shouldn't the commodore still be holding off the Pearl?
Straining her ears Ayisha could no longer hear the shouts or screams of the pirate attack. The raid had stopped. What bloody timing.
"Now let go of my man will you? You have nowhere else to go. I'm afraid your friends weren't successful in rescuing you," said Commodore Norrington. Ayisha remained in eye contact with the commodore, weighing the pros and cons of letting the man go, or still keeping her hold on him and trying to escape. Silently sighing in defeat Ayisha let the solider go and stepped away, letting more men grab ahold of her. Commodore Norrington headed over to the governor and bent down, checking his pulse. "He's fine, just unconscious, take him to the infirmary and inform me when he awakes. And I want a band of you to go check on the wellbeing of Miss Swann."
Ayisha bit the inside of her cheek, knowing what the soldiers would find when they went to look for Elizabeth. Nothing. The commodore then walked over to Ayisha and peered down at her. "And take the girl to the holding cells. I'm sure she misses Mr. Sparrow, and him vice versa."
Ayisha didn't struggle as the soldiers began dragging her out of the room. Well, at least she was going to the place that she was trying to find. Tripping down the stairs, the tight grips on her upper-arms from the two soldiers being the only reason she hasn't fallen, Ayisha's eyes brightened when she saw Jack casually lying on the ground as her and the men entered.
"The others have escaped!" The soldier on Ayisha's left said, and Ayisha gazed in puzzlement at the cell next to Jack's, a gaping hole on the wall leading out to the shore. "Lock her in, I'll go inform the commodore."
At the word 'her' Jack's head piped up from the ground. He lifted his hat from over his eyes and quickly scrambled to his feet when he laid eyes on Ayisha.
"Where's Artie?" the solider on Ayisha's right questioned, letting go of Ayisha. "Artie? Come here boy." he whistled, but nothing came. Ayisha was confused. Who was Artie?
"Oh, he probably ran off when that hole was blasted in the wall. Just use the spare key underneath the bench," the soldier who still had a hold of Ayisha, said, pointing to a rotting bench resting against the wall, in front of Jack's cell. "We'll look for him later."
The first soldier seemed reluctant to blow off looking for whoever Artie was, but, nonetheless, listened to the his companion solider. Getting down on his knees, reaching underneath the bench, Ayisha heard a jingle, and then the solider rose back to his feet with a ring of keys. He unlocked the cell with the soldier still holding Ayisha pushed her in. Re-locking the cell door, both of the soldiers walked off with the keys still in hand.
"Are ye all right, Darlin'?" Jack asked, once the coast was clear, checking Ayisha for any injuries, causing her to roll her eyes when he repeatedly circled around her. "Where have you been?" He then exclaimed, standing in front of her with his hands on his hips. "The first thing on me mind when I woke up in this blasted cell: was where you were!"
Ayisha blinked in bewilderment as Jack switched from pirate talk to civilized talk, which he tended to do when he was frustrated, and began fiddling with her fingers. "The blacksmith took care of me," she meekly answered.
"The blacksmi– the boy?" Jack gawked, throwing his hands in the air. "The reason we're stuck here?"
Ayisha refrained from telling Jack that the only reason she got caught was because she came to rescue him; not that Will turned her in to the commodore,
"How are we going to escape?" she asked, hoping to change the subject, and Jack tilted his hat over his eyes.
"I don't know, the keys ran off," he answered and then mumbled, "blasted dog."
Dog? Ayisha furrowed her eyebrows; she didn't remember seeing a dog. The only pair of keys she saw was with the soldier that put her in the cell. Maybe that's who Artie was. The dog.
Jack marched over to the side of the cell, to the metal bars connecting the two separate cells, and stuck his arm through the square holes. When he retracted a bone was in his hand. Confused, Ayisha watched Jack scrape the bone back and forth between the edges of the metal bars, pieces of the bone chipping off.
Leaving Jack be Ayisha walked over to the bared window and wrapped her fingers around the bars so that she could stand on her toes and stare out. The air was clear, the fog gone, and the sun was beginning to rise, morning just around the corner. Trying to see as far as she could Ayisha could spot no signs of the Black Pearl, anymore. Why did it come to Port Royal? Was it just a coincidence that she and Jack were there just as it raided? Or did Barbossa know that they were there, which was why he came? Maybe Ayisha's earlier thought was correct, and the Pearl only came for Elizabeth?
Ayisha frowned in fear at the thought of Barbossa, and tried to shake the memories of him from her mind. He had tried to pursue a relationship with her when Jack was still captain of the Black Pearl, and he, his first-mate. He was kind (sometimes) and was the second other man in the crew (besides Bootstrap, bless his soul) that didn't badger Jack to get rid of her because of the fact that she was a woman. But no matter how many times Ayisha told him that she didn't have those kind of feelings for him, Barbossa continued to be persistent, which scared her because he often did outrageous things to get her attention (mostly involving getting himself hurt so that she could aid him to health); and she wasn't going to deny the fact that she thought that she was a part of the reason he (Barbossa) mutinied Jack. Jack of course denies that reason and blames it squarely on himself.
But if only Jack made his and her's relationship...known...then Barbossa would have known that she was the captain's woman - no one else's. And the whole thing could have been prevented. But, noo, Jack said that he couldn't afford to have anyone know of his 'weaknesses', so that they can be used against him.
A snap and a string of curses flowing from Jack's mouth caused Ayisha to tare her attention from the sea, and over to him. He was attempting to pick the lock of the cell with the bone, and Ayisha just sighed and slid down onto the hard, hay covered floor. To think, after all they've been through, all the trouble they escaped from in the past - and now they were going to die. There was no way they could get out of the cell and commandeer a ship without being caught for a third time.
Jack suddenly withdrew away from his activity and pretended to casually lie on the ground, Ayisha bewildered by his action. Footsteps echoed from the stairs, and Ayisha practically beamed at the sight of Will and scrambled to her feet to rush to the gate of the cell, earning a 'look' from Jack,
"You?" Will questioned staring at Ayisha in shock. "I thought I told you to stay in the workshop where it was safe."
"He told you to what-what, in the what-what?" Jack propped himself up onto the palms of his hands, switching a jealous gaze between Ayisha and Will.
"You may call me Ayisha." Ayisha nodded with a small smile, hoping that Will will continue to have a good heart and release both her and Jack. She sensed nothing but good things from him now, and was wondering why she hadn't sensed it beforehand.
Will broke his gaze with Ayisha, shook his head, and turned his gaze to Jack. "You, Sparrow. You are familiar with the ship the Black Pearl?"
"I've heard of it," Jack mused, lying back down and placing his hands behind his head.
"Where does it make berth?" Will questioned eagerly, his grip on the cell's bars visibly tightening.
"Where does it make berth? Have you not heard the stories?" Jack asked, propping himself back up, and Will stayed silent meaning no, no he had not heard the stories of the Black Pearl. Jack laid back down, and Ayisha tried not to purse her lips at the way Jack was reacting to the whole situation. Sure she understood that he was trying to appear calm and collected, as The Jack Sparrow should be, but now was hardly the time to act like nothing was out of the ordinary. Ayisha was sure that the commodore was planning on hanging them as soon as possible,
"Captain Barbossa and his crew of miscreants sail from the dreaded Isla de Muerta. It's an island that cannot be found except by those who already know where it is," Jack explained.
Will began to pace in front of the cell, and Ayisha inspected him from behind the cell bars, wondering why he came down to speak to Jack about the Pearl. "The ship's real enough. Therefore its anchorage must be a real place. Where is it?"
"Why are you trying to find the Pearl?" Ayisha questioned, furrowing her eyebrows.
Will licked his lips, releasing a shaky breath before answering, "They took Miss. Swann."
The governor's daughter? Ayisha thought. He knows of her? The thought just made Ayisha feel even more guilty about leaving Elizabeth behind for her own selfish reasons.
"Oh, so it is that you've found a girl!" Jack chirped, confusing Ayisha further. He and Will must have had some sort of conversation while she was unconscious. "I see. Well, if you're intending to brave all, hasten to her rescue and so win fair lady's heart you'll have to do it alone, mate. I see no profit in it for me."
Ayisha scowled at Jack.
"I can get you out of here," Will immediately replied, and Ayisha's eye's brightened as she switched her gaze from Jack, to Will. She knew he could get them out of the blasted cell! "I helped build these cells when I was a child. These are half pin-barrel hinges." He picked up a wooden bench that the solders took the keys from, and placed it underneath the cell door. "With the right leverage and the proper application of strength, the door will lift free."
"What's your name?" asked Jack.
Will looked between Ayisha and Jack. "Will Turner," he answered.
"That will be short for William, I imagine. Good, strong name. No doubt, named for your father, eh?" When Jack's eyes widened for a brief moment at the name of Will, and Ayisha wondered what was going on in the mind of Jack Sparrow. And then it hit her. Will Turner...William Turner... Bootstrap! Oh, no, no, no, no, Jack couldn't do it, she wouldn't let him do it - Will had good intentions,
"Jack-" Ayisha tried to protest.
"Quiet, love," Jack interrupted, rising to his feet. "I'm doing this for the both of us." With that said Ayisha kept her mouth shut and tried not to stare into Will's eyes, sure that he was confused by her and Jack's unspoken conversation. "Well, Mr. Turner, I've changed me mind. If you spring me and my lass from this cell I swear on pain of death I shall take you to the Black Pearl and your bonny lass."
(A/N) Authors Note: Whoosh. And so the adventure really begins, eh?
Why Fireflies Flash: The book is long! Man, I'm reading it for the second time - for notes I may have missed, and, man, I'm not even half-way through! The first time I read it, it took me like almost a month to read it. And I only read right before I go to bed, too. Woot! Thank you! Hopefully we'll see all of our favorite characters names in the list in a few days. Maybe weeks. But, eh, as long as they get there. Thank you for the help!
AddictedToJohnny: No. I don't think Johnny Depp has ever made a bad movie. Well, from the ones I've seen.
Firestar'sneice: Well, another reason I titled this story 'The Price of Freedom' was because in OST, Jack gave Gibbs his compass, and said 'To freedom', (something along those lines) and the compass led Gibbs to the Black Pearl. Well, to where the Pearl was.
CurlyCue2102: Will is such a gentleman. Man. I wish I could find a guy like that for me. But, pft. They don't exist anymore. We, the women, killed them all. lol.
.S Y N T H E T I Cperfection.: I just said that! lol. I totally agree with you.
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