Somewhere far away from Jack Sparrow and Will Turner's joyful second reunion, the wind was rushing through the overgrown hair of another pirate. He had the very same goal, but far less honorable.
He stuck out his tongue, tasting the salty sea air and reveling in it, for there was once a time when he couldn't feel, couldn't taste. He took nothing for granted now. Sensing a change in the winds, he called down harshly to his crew of men and looked out to sea at his navy of boats flanking his own. You see, the pirate had traveled many lands for this grand of a crew.
The chocolate skinned men of the African countries could be seen manning their boats, in stark contrast to the ivory skin of the Russians, and the smooth caramel skin of the sailors of India.
Grinning, he lifted the chipped sword he had won fair and square in a fight to the death, lifted it high to the sky. The ropes quivered, and he pointed. Like magic, the ropes tightened and twisted, the ship changing direction without trouble.
The waves were rough and there was a storm coming.
But Barbossa didn't care.
"What changed yer mind?" Jack asked his friend over a glass of whiskey. They were nestled in some corner of the Stargazer, talking over the past day and planning where they were to go from here. They had already met up with their English suppliers.
"I feel like I had some debt to repay," Will responded after a moment of thought.
Jack smiled and let it sink in. He swished the contents in his cup around before taking another sip. "When you say you "feel", is it really feelin'? I mean, you have no 'eart, mate."
"No, I haven't," Will agreed. His cup remained untouched on the table, already forming a ring on the light wood. "But I have a soul, and I know how I think. That was the hardest thing, I think, when I became captain of the Dutchman, you know, trying to hold on to yourself and who you used to be. I know I'll never be the same until I get my heart back, but I spend weeks locked in my cabin thinking scenario over scenario and what Will Turner, not Captain Will Turner, would do. That's why I say I feel, because that's what Will would do. He would help. My soul reminds me that I'm still human, still living."
Jack thought about what Will said, a smirk slowly coming on to his face. "Yes, but yer a pirate captain now. You've got to start making decisions fer yer crew."
It was Will's turn to smile. "Yes, and end up like you? No thank you, I'm fine."
"Hey, what's so bad about me? I always think o' what's best fer at least one person."
Will snorted, finally picking up the glass and getting into the spirit of it all. "Yeah, you!"
Jack winked at his friend. "Now you get it! See, when you think o' yerself, there's tons o' people off yer mind! Easier to make decisions. Now when there's someone else, problems start 'appenin'. 'specially if that person's a woman. Might as well throw in the towel, you ought."
Will, who was just smiling, suddenly turned solemn as he remembered his beautiful wife, Elizabeth, back home. Their time together was so short, too short. Only one night together, not nearly enough to get to know a partner. He always figured he'd have the rest of his life to find out, but it seemed that fate had another idea in mind.
Now, Jack was intoxicated, but he was still rather sharp. He picked up in his friend's change in mood and quieted down as well. "You miss 'er?"
"Every day, my heart- well, I suppose my body, my brain, my soul, yearns for her. Whenever the memory of her touch comes up, I can almost feel my heart, feel the cold steel wrapped around it… Ten years is such a long time when you're in waiting."
Jack nodded, not understanding the depth of Will's emotion, but understanding that he was in pain. "Ten years is an awfully long time in general. But you know, when it all passes by, you'll wonder where it'd all gone, you'll see. When yer as old as I am, ten years, why, it's just a breath. Seems like yesterday I was as old as you."
Will cocked his head. "You don't look very old."
Jack smiled a little and looked out the porthole. "'s the eye makeup. Me pop's gettin' up there, might go any day now. Might ne'er see 'im again."
"Yes, you will," Will answered firmly. "You've been there, you know there's something after nothing. The real thing… it's nothing like Davy Jones' Locker. Nothing like it at all. Whenever I lead passed sailors to the other side, I have to resist the urge to stay. To forget. Except you never really forget. Not really. But your memories are slowed, like looking at life differently. Everything you've ever done is forgiven, everything bad, and everyone you've ever wronged forgives you. Just like that."
"Sounds too peaceful to me," Jack smiled wistfully.
Will shook his head. "No, Jack. I think, out of everyone I've ever met, you'd be the one who'd appreciate it the most."
"I'd like to visit sometime."
Will squared his jaw. "Not this adventure you won't. Nor the next one. And I'll make my damnest sure that you never have to go before your time. You, nor Elizabeth, nor… aw damn it!"
"What is it?"
Will shook his head. "I feel as if… I'm missing something. As if there's someone else I need to protect… need to cherish."
"That's 'cause there is, mate." Jack smiled and leaned across the table. "Our dear Lizzie gave birth to a baby boy round two years now. A strong, healthy baby. I never did see 'im meeself, but she told me he's got yer eyes."
Will sunk back in his seat, eyes closed and an expression something like rapture crossing his handsome face. He took a few deep breaths before a giant smile ran across his lips. "Did she say anything else about him?"
"He's named after you, o' course. Can snore like the devil. Screech like one too, or so I've heard."
Something sounding like a giggle came from Will's mouth and he downed it quickly with whiskey. "How does she look?"
"Perfect, mate. Same as always."
"She's beautiful, isn't she?" he asked to himself regretfully, then realized who he was talking to. "Don't you dare agree with me, Jack Sparrow!"
Jack raised his hands in surrender. "Ne'er even crossed me mind."
"Are you saying my wife is ugly?" Will Turner was in the mood to tease, and he was going to tease Jack. Taking another long sip of whiskey, he laughed at the playfulness of it all.
"Just can't win with you women, can I?"
Just as Will roared with laughter, Angelica came bursting in the room. Looking from Captain to Captain, her eyes finally rested on Will's. Will decided upon looking at her that she was a dangerous woman. Dangerous from a physical perspective, getting involved would probably kill you, but there was also something about her air that emitted danger. He suspected that Jack had made her this way, and he saw the history between them all in the way her eyes darted.
"Captains, there's a storm coming. It looks like a big one."
Will stood up, sensing the danger and crossing over to the small window on the side of the room. Glancing out of it, he saw the ship approaching a dark wall of clouds, the lighting coming down from them threateningly and the seas churning in front of them in a way that made even Will's stomach churn.
"That's because it is a big one," Will murmured in awe at the storm, and then turned around to face the other two. "We have no choice but to go through it."
"Go through it?" Angelica called incredulously. "That's easy for you to say, you can just take your ship down below the waters and steer clear of this place. We, the normal ones have to do-"
"It's not safe to even be under water at a time like this. My crew knows what to do. My skills would be better directed towards helping you all here. Jack, you better swing over to your ship so your escorts don't think you're ditching them. The last time I looked Porter looked as if he blew a few blood vessels." Jack tipped his hat and rushed to get on the English ship before they hit the eye of the storm. "Now, show me to the wheel, Angelica."
Her jaw tightened, but she nodded. Angelica led him to the wheel of the ship, which Will grasped tightly, nodding to his crew sailing alongside him. Will Turner Senior nodded back and steered away from Angelica's ship so as if anything should happen, it would not result in the destruction of the two ships.
Will jerked it desperately to the right. The waves banged against the side of the ship, leading it away, bringing it with the rhythm of the ocean. He wouldn't have it and twisting the wheel to and fro to keep it on course. Heading straight towards the eye of the storm, Will glared at the lighting flashing from the sky with confidence.
"I can do it!" Angelica screamed next to him, grasping a nearby railing with all her strength. "It's my ship, I got it!"
"No you don't! Now please be quiet, I'm trying to concentrate. And, by God, hold on!" They hit another large wave and the whole ship tumbled. Men slipped and slid across the deck, cutting their hands while trying to hold on to something, anything, and some pulling ropes to the sails. Some tried to sneak below deck, but Angelica's first mate made sure that they wouldn't.
"If you don't let me down there, I'm a dead man!" One scared sailor called out.
"Yer dead if you do!" the first mate growled, pulling out his pistol. "You go down with the ship, same as us! Yer decision if you want to go overboard, under the deck, or with a bullet through your head!" The young sailor gulped, hurriedly saluted, and went to tug on a rope with his mate.
Meanwhile, Jack wasn't having much luck convincing Porter that he should be the one to steer them out of danger.
"Our men have been trained for situations like this!"
"Not saying they 'aven't, Cap't. Jus' wonderin' if I could jus' steer us out o' danger. Then you lot can hav' it right back, spick and span, eh?"
Porter smiled crudely and his eyes narrowed. "I won't have it go around that a pirate saved the British navy. I'd rather see the devil himself save us than even a vermin like you."
"Vermin I may be, but I've actually been in situations like this before! Please, let me help!"
"You may help, Captain Sparrow, by staying out of the ruddy way!
Just then, a wave the size of the boat itself threw itself upon the ship, wiping supplies and sailors off with it. Seeing the effect of the storm on his men, and then glancing up to see a sailor struggling with the wheel, he finally turned to Sparrow.
"I will not have the name of the navy soiled by you. You may steer this ship, but only until the end of this Godforsaken storm. But if any more of my men die, your chance is up. Be mindful you're on a vessel with other people besides yourself."
Jack didn't see how it was possible to avoid every wave, but it was worth a shot. This was a storm only an experienced pirate with run ins with the supernatural could handle. With Will on his side, it was unlikely they wouldn't come out of it.
Without a word, Sparrow bounded up the steps and took control. The sea pelted against his face, but to him it felt like a caress. There wasn't a storm in the world Captain Jack Sparrow couldn't handle.
The men were scattered along the beach like a battlefield. While only a handful was strewn about, to the remainder of the men it seemed like hundreds. Because they could be next. It could be any one of them to be asked to sacrifice themselves.
Not to mention their Captain was furious beyond all belief. It wasn't the lives that bothered him, he'd killed so many indirectly already, but the time that was irritating him. If he didn't crack the code soon, they'd catch up with him. He couldn't let that happen. He could taste the power in the air he breathed, the food he ate, and on the land he walked. Almost there.
A voice as old as time itself, as liquid as water but as solid as steel came out of the creature poised, ready to pounce, right in front of him. "Your numbers grow few. Captain, you are running out of options."
The Captain growled and turned to the remainders. Pointed a long, dirtied finger to one, he hissed. "Yer next, you scurvy dog!" The potbellied man trembled in his boots, gestured to himself in fear. "Yes you! Come on, we've not got all day."
Tears fell down the dirt encrusted cheeks steadily, knowing what fate awaited him. He was not clever, he was not smart. He was weak. When the creature asked The Question No One Else Could Hear, he thought for long moments, every other word a cry or shuddering gasp. Finally, he answered. The creature smiled a sad, yet hungry smile that ripped through the hearts of every man there. The man in the boots stopped crying, his pleas of mercy stopped, and he became part of that, now ever growing, handful of bodies.
"Move aside, dogs! I'll do it myself!" That was the last straw for the Captain, and he crossed the line of rocks and approached the creature.
She blinked and cocked her head, her yellow and orange eyes boring into his own weathered ones. The movement of her head caused a few golden hairs of her mane fall into her face, only adding to the mystery. "What is it you seek?"
"The land of the dead. The land of… The Helm." The Captain spoke clearly and without fear.
"Curious… many once sought the land of the Helm. Now it has become a thing of the past, a thing of History. You do not fear death."
"I was death," the Captain snarled. "Fer years, and even after. I was death."
A feral grin stretched across her white fangs. "Yes, you are one of the few who has Escaped. Now you never want it to end. Careful with your desires, for they become weakness, which are exploited by even the most unlikely. Do you wish to Continue On?"
"Yes."
"You must answer my Question. It is not easy, but it is not hard. It merely is. No one has answered this Question. What makes you think you are special enough to be the one out of all your crew to be the One to Continue?"
"They are bound to this Earth by their dreams, by their promises. I don't have dreams any more, and have nothing to lose."
"Oh, but you have everything to lose."