Chapter 20: A Bird in the Hand
The morning was fair, with good winds and an oddly calm ocean as the young selkie swam gracefully after the small fishermen's sloop sailing by the Cuban coast towards the nearby island.
Upon the pristine beach, a massive black shadow of a ship sprawled across the white sands, a dark sooty blot sharply contrasting the beautiful, softer shapes of nature.
Peggy sniffed the air happily as the familiar scent of Jack and her crew wafted into her nose when her seal-shaped head broke through the water's surface.
Home. She smiled in her mind, her relief and joy blocking out the pain in her chest for the first time in days.
Oh yes. There was no doubt about it now.
They had done it. Against all odds, they had found the Black Pearl.
Peggy sighed as she swiftly ducked below the water's surface to swim behind a small rowboat the fisherman's ship had sent out.
On this little tub were Will, Sloane, and a dark-skinned fisherman who spoke only very fluid and fast French.
It had taken them nearly the entire day of asking questions left, right, and centre, but they had finally, FINALLY, found news of the Black Pearl.
It wasn't easy to find news about Jack in Port Royal, but Peggy was also unsurprised. One thing she had learned about the pirate was that he operated only in two modes.
Complete secrecy or absolute chaos. There was rarely ever any in-between.
But the Pearl was another story. Ships as iconic as her were hard to miss. So, not hearing anything about her comings or goings in the Port was worrying, to say the least.
Luckily for them, they had found this fisherman who had told them about an island off the coast of the mainland where a ship with black sails had been spotted mooring itself dangerously close to shore.
And now here they all were, Will and Sloane, hitching a ride while she was forced to follow in her selkie seal form in the water. Why was she following?
Because the fishing boat's captain refused to let a red-haired woman like her aboard his vessel.
Bloody stupid superstitions.
She snarled with annoyance as she shook her head underwater.
The fishermen had been only too happy to let her follow behind in her seal form and had even laughed and thrown her a few scraps from their haul that morning for breakfast. Of course, they did not know the redhead woman was the seal itself, but still, it was better than nothing. Also, the eel they had thrown her was fresh and a nice change from the usual fish.
Home here I come…Peggy thought, only to jolt as she felt a hand graze her fur through the water.
She looked up and saw that Will's hand stroked her through the water (She knew the callouses on them well).
This surprised her, for Will had been distant from her throughout their visit to Tortuga, especially after that talk with Annamaria. He talked only when necessary, though she thought she caught him staring at her through the corner of her eye whenever he felt she was not looking.
The expression on his face whenever she caught him staring was strange. He looked upset, torn…, and confused, as if he wanted desperately to ask her something but did not know how. Yet she could tell it was not because of her odd behaviour. Something had changed since that morning with Annamaria. Had the ex-smuggler managed to get through to his thick skull? Had he realised the extent to which he had hurt Peggy?
Peggy felt guilty.
While some of her still seethed at the injustice of her situation, her night surrounded by Annamaria's loving family had settled some of the fury broiling within her. However much he had hurt her, she had never talked to Will about her feelings.
Maybe if she had told him years ago, when the butterflies started fluttering in her stomach at the sight of him, when she felt the rush of joy at his affection become more than just a simple fondness for a friend, things could have been different. Who knows? Perhaps if she had told him earlier, he might have even chosen her or forgotten about Elizabeth entirely. Maybe they could have been together and happy if she had been braver.
He did not know what he had done, yet she tried to blame him entirely for her situation.
I should apologise for lashing out at him. She thought miserably. I've lived with him for ten years; I should have known better. I always knew he was an idiot when it came to girls, so I should have known he'd never have figured it out.
But what would she say? Will would undoubtedly want to know why she lashed out, and she was unsure if she was ready to reveal her feelings.
Besides, what was the point in telling him how she felt when she was doomed to service to the Devil in a few short weeks, and Will would go back to Elizabeth as her valiant hero?
Wait…where's the boat? She frowned in her head as she quietly surfaced, just enough for her eyes to scan the water's surface. A few feet behind her were Will and Sloane sitting in their tiny tub, frowning in confusion at the fisherman at the oars. The man was speaking swiftly in French, and from the sounds of his voice, he was scared.
Peggy barely knew much French but had picked up a few words here and there through Labelle and Jack. Both pirates were fluent in French and competent in a couple of other languages, courtesy of their upbringing and many travels across the seven seas.
From what she could tell of the fisherman's babble, he was scared of going any closer to the island for fear of being cursed. Or was the land itself cursed?
Either way, he would go no farther.
"I guess this is where we part ways then." Sloane cut across Will, who had opened his mouth to argue with the man. "Come on, Turner. It's a pretty short swim." He stood up and dusted himself off, nodding to the fisherman. "Merci monsieur."
"Bon Voyage, monsieur."
There was a splash, and as Peggy glanced down to the water, she could vaguely see the fair-haired man's body twist and smoothly change shape into something grey and blubbery.
"Short for you, maybe." Will rolled his eyes but was smart enough to follow Sloane's lead, thanking the fisherman with a nod before diving into the water.
"Oy, watch it!" Peggy snarled, ducking her head back below water as she felt a larger furry shape brush against her.
"Tch! You are a tetchy one, aren't you?" Sloane's voice scoffed in her head as he slid his grey seal form around her, his body twisting and turning with relaxed ease as he showed off his silver grey dappled coat that seemed to shimmer beneath the water. "So what do you think? Not bad, huh?"
"I guess it's not too bad." Peggy huffed in annoyance as the male selkie took the opportunity to do a playful splash. Deep down, however, a small part of her felt like smiling.
Whatever suspicions she had about Sloane,, it was quite a sight to see him in his seal form. Never had she been so close to another of her kind like this. She had never even seen her mother in her seal for,m, for her father kept the pelt in his office like a trophy.
Whatever happened to her in the next few weeks, at least she could say that she was able to swim with another selkie before she died.
"I must say, your fur is quite lovely, even for a Caribbean selkie." Sloane's voice filled her head again, though she could tell he had felt her depressing thoughts, for she could feel his pity on the fringes of his words. "Brown and cream, huh? Then again, I've never heard of a seal with red fur."
"I guess it's hard to camouflage." Peggy thought as Will finally caught up with them, taking a quick gulp of air before ducking beneath the water to look at her.
To Peggy's great astonishment, the blacksmith was smiling at her.
Peggy wondered about this but then realised that he had only seen her in her seal form once, which had been under very stressful circumstances. However, he had full reign to take it all in for himself.
She supposed she must have looked somewhat adorable in her seal form. Humans, especially children, always cooed whenever they saw her seal head poke out of the sea. Gibbs often caved and gave her extra fish whenever she gave him puppy-dog eyes in this form, too.
If she had been human, she might have blushed at the affectionate glint in Will's eye, but as a seal, all she felt was the warmth of her chest. Yes, there was sadness there, but for some strange reason, it was easier to push through to the back of her mind when she felt the rivulets of water glide soothingly through her fur.
With a smooth twist, she glided through the water toward Will, wishing she could connect with his mind like she had with Sloane just a few moments before.
What she would give to show him everything she was feeling through her eyes. Everything she wanted to say either came out of her mouth like a mess or would not come out of her mouth due to sheer fear and terror. If she could connect with his mind to mind, he'd be able to understand…to see.
She'd have to settle for apologising in this clumsy way instead.
Will hardly moved, letting himself float as she brushed past him, around his back and under his other arm, which she pushed under to help him surface.
"Thanks, Peg!" he gasped after several gulps of precious air. He had been so entranced watching Peggy swim in her seal form that he had almost forgotten to return to the surface to breathe.
Will could not help it. It was the first time since the destruction of the Interceptor that he had seen Peggy in her seal form. He had forgotten how playful it was, or how surprisingly at peace she had been.
He supposed having the more uncomplicated mind of an animal meant less stress overall.
He smirked and saw Sloane's grey seal-shaped head bobbing above the water's surface to check on their progress. Despite being handsome in human appearance, the male selkie's seal form was surprisingly rounder and goofier-looking, especially compared to Peggy's sleeker, streamlined features.
Seeing how far his companions were behind him, Sloane splashed the water with his flipper as he hissed and spat at Peggy in annoyance, a vocalisation she shot back at him with just as much ferocity, only to soften instantly as she felt Will snort in amusement. With a huff, she nuzzled her head against Will's chin, grazing her muzzle against his trimmed beard before ducking to tug at his sleeve with her teeth and urge him onward.
"Right-right! I'm coming." He chuckled, though he did his best to squash down the stab of envy he felt when he ducked his head under the water to watch Peggy follow Sloane at a smooth, lazy pace.
He knew she was slowing down so he could follow, but still…what he would give to have flippers like hers right now.
She was made for this. Will's heart ached at the thought as he pushed himself through the water after the two selkies. This was what she was made for…being free…being happy in the ocean without a care.
He remembered Annamaria's words from a couple of days ago.
"Didn't you ever in that tiny brain of yours wonder why she stayed with you on land for ten years even though the ocean probably called so loudly it ached?"
But she couldn't have stayed just because of me. Will grimaced as he finally reached the shallows, and his feet touched the ocean floor. She had been scared of the ocean for a while…I'm not the only reason she stayed…and even if she did, it was not because he was in love with me…it can't be…it must be something else.
Will sighed with exhaustion as he stumbled to his feet. The rough waves on the beach hit the back of his shins hard as he waded towards the large hull of the Black Pearl.
She had been run aground purposefully at high tide, the thick ropes holding her down to the shore at a dangerous angle. The barnacle-encrusted bottom of her black hull was visible to all, and her sails furled neatly.
However, Will could see no sign of damage.
She had not met her fate by accident. Jack had run her aground purposefully. But why?
"JACK!" Will called. "JACK SPARROW?! GIBBS? MARTY? COTTON?"
Will turned to look around the beach.
"Anybody?"
But there was no response.
Only the winds whipped around him, and the waves crashed behind Will's back.
"It's no use!" Sloane's voice shouted, and Will looked up to see the now human-shaped male selkie near the bow of the ship shaking his wet hair out. Even after transforming, the clothes that had reappeared around him were still soaked, leaving nothing about his body to the imagination. Will could even see his the outline of the grey seal pelt through his shirt.
But where was Peggy?
"She's in the water!" Sloane called back to him, guessing his confused expression. "I'm going up aboard to get her some clothes. Stay with her while she transforms! Don't worry, I know where I'm going! Blake already showed me."
"Of course she did," Will muttered bitterly, his chest stinging with bitterness as he remembered that Selkies could talk through their minds in other forms.
Just great. In addition to flaunting his sexual prowess in his face and playing the part of the gentleman, Sloane was now trying to show off his selkie abilities to the max.
Will hoped Peggy would not fall for Sloane's cheap ploys to get in her good graces. He knew she was intelligent, but he also knew how much she longed to meet another selkie.
Will could not blame her for her excitement. After losing her mother and being the only selkie in the Caribbean for years, it must have been wonderful to connect with one of her kind who could teach her things and answer her questions about herself and her heritage. Will would have been happy for her had the other selkie not been a man like Sloane.
Will's sour thoughts were interrupted by the familiar sound of snapping bone and grunts of pain nearby.
His feet hardly needed to consult his brain as they led him back to the water's edge where Peggy was lying on her front, cringing as her fur receded to reveal her freckled, naked body as it morphed back into a very familiar shape.
Will quickly stripped off her blue sash, which he had held onto for her during their journey on the fishing sloop.
It was not much of a covering, but it would protect her modesty from Sloane's prying eyes if he saw her in this state.
"Shhh, Peg. Shh…It's just me. It's me. I've got you." He whispered soothingly as he helped her sit up, doing his best not to look her naked form up and down.
Despite his attempts to keep proper, his mind could not help but marvel at all the freckles she had all over her body. He had not known they had spread so far. She had freckles all over her back, shoulders and arms and the outer sides of her legs.
Now that he had considered it, the positioning of her freckles matched the brown dappling in her seal form's fur.
It had been a long time since he'd been up close and personal with her so undressed. The last time that had happened, they were young teenagers, and Peggy had caught a nasty case of Croup. With the help of one of their kinder neighbours, Will was instructed to apply a mustard plaster to Peggy's chest to ease her breathing. But she had been sick then, dangerously feverish, and Will's state of terror for her wellbeing had overpowered any other embarrassment he might have felt looking at her developing chest.
Now that they were much older, the only bare patches of skin Will usually saw were her arms and legs if she had grazed them by mistake. Even then, Peggy often tried to keep him at arm's length out of a stubborn desire to fix her injuries herself. Will occasionally caught glimpses of her changing on the rare occasions she had forgotten to lock the door to her bedroom or pull shut the makeshift curtain around the shabby bathtub in their apartment.
He had done his best not to stare whenever that happened, though, to his shame, his eyes often wandered up and down her lean yet curvy form.
Even now, he found his eyes drawn down the length of her body as she curled her knees to her chest to cover herself.
Despite being wet, her body burned with internal heat. Heat so comforting that Will found his body unconsciously yearning to be closer to it.
"Ugh! Gods, why does this have to hurt so much?" Peggy grumbled, rubbing her stomach as she felt the last of her innards settle into place. "No sign of Jack then?"
"Not a peep," Will muttered, his arm wrapping around her shoulders to rub her warm, his fingers tingling with every touch of her skin against his. "But the Pearl…"
He looked up at the Pearl, and Peggy followed his gaze and whistled under her breath.
"Never thought I'd see the day this lady ran aground." She murmured. "Just what's gotten into Jack's head? He always said he'd rather sink the Pearl than let her rust on shore."
"I don't know. I don't like it either." Will agreed, trying to ignore the weird fluttering in his stomach as she leaned into his side tiredly.
"Sorry." She breathed.
"Pegs?" Will frowned.
"Hmm?"
"Why do your transformations hurt you so much?"
"Because I don't have my pelt on me." Peggy snorted. "You saw how easily Sloane slid back and forth between forms."
"It's really that powerful?"
"Oh yeah." Peggy shivered as a cold breeze blew past them.
"Here," Will grunted as he quickly unbuttoned his vest and pulled it around her. "Where is that Sloane? It can't take him this long to find you some clothes."
"With the ship like that, do you think he'll be able to stay upright? He's probably staggering like a drunken seagull." Peggy snorted, imagining the usually smooth-talking Selkie male struggling to stay upright.
Her amused thoughts stopped as she felt the familiar ache of her reshaped bones run through her body. She groaned softly as the small aftershocks of pain ran through her, only to grumble as Will's arms squeezed around her and his lips pressed briefly into the top of her head.
"William."
"I'm sorry." He mumbled, cursing himself for his slip. "I…I know you want space, but I…I hate seeing you in pain like this."
"It's nothing I haven't handled before on my own."
"But you shouldn't-" Will sucked in a deep breath to calm himself. "You shouldn't have to do this alone."
I wouldn't have to handle this alone if you weren't such an oblivious fool, Peggy thought, only to chastise herself. She had to stop pinning the sole blame on him.
"Here," Will murmured gently. "Still safe and sound."
Peggy stiffened as Will's hands quickly pulled something metal around her neck.
She looked down and saw it was her abalone shell necklace. That's right; she gave it to him with her sash just before he and Sloane had set off with the fishermen.
"Thanks." She mumbled, gripping the shell pendant tight in her hands.
"Peg, uh…Where did you get that?" Will muttered, his voice awkward and stiff in his clumsy attempt at casualness.
"Jack gave it to me…" Peggy gulped, "The day of his execution. He…he took it from the treasure at Isla de Muerta."
"And he snuck it past Norrington?" Will frowned. From what he could remember, Norrington had thoroughly confiscated Jack's stolen booty from Barbossa's horde when he had taken the pirate prisoner.
"Jack can be clever when he wants to be." Peggy smiled fondly as she looked back up at the Black Pearl. Now they had found the ship, her homesickness had doubled. The Black Pearl may have been her home, but it was nothing without its crazy captain or loyal crew. "I hope he's okay."
"I'm sure he is." Will nodded as he followed her gaze and admired the black ship's impressive rigging and furled sails. The last time he had seen this ship, she bobbed in the dark waters of Isla de Muerta, lit only by moonlight and guarded by undead pirates.
Now that the curse was lifted and she was beached in the daylight, the Pearl did not seem quite as formidable.
There was silence as they sat on the beach. Will kept an arm around Peggy's, his cheek leaning into the top of her head while she tiredly leaned into his chest. Despite her confused feelings, the robust thudding of his heart against her ear soothed her soul.
It was such a familiar sound, so reassuring. Like his hands, calloused and rough on her shoulder… she absentmindedly ran her touch over the digits, only to freeze as his fingers slowly began to entwine with hers.
She tried to pull her hand away, staring at the sky to pretend it was a casual movement, but Will gripped at her swiftly to stop her.
Peggy heard his sigh and felt him curl closer around her as if terrified she would vanish if he lost contact.
Peggy knew he was wishing she would not push him away again. She knew that he wanted things to go back to the way they were when their touches were easy and words playful, and each exchange with one another did not come with baggage. However, things were different now. They had made their choices, and now they had to live with them…or die with them, in her case.
"Will," She murmured, turning to find Will staring at her.
His expression was difficult to discern. He seemed hopeful and anxious, deeply affectionate but sad. But there was something more in his gaze that she could not pinpoint—something that ran too deep to be expressed in words.
It made the breath catch in her chest, and as she gulped, she thought she saw Will's eyes follow the bob of her throat before drifting to her lips with something that looked almost like longing. But no, she had to be imagining it, right?
"OII!" A voice yelled from on high.
"By Triton!" Peggy squeaked as she and Will both jolted where they sat.
Will's nostrils flared as he snarled back up at the Black Pearl's tilted railings where Sloane was clambering over the side, a large cloth bundle in his arms.
"I found the clothes," the male selkie puffed as he slid down one of the mooring ropes back onto the beach. "But it's a mess in there. Half the stuff in your nook fell to the floor. Here!" He chucked the satchel to Will, who caught it with a small pout. "Grabbed something to eat from the galley too."
"Thanks," Will grunted stiffly. He pulled out a few strips of dried jerky and offered them to Peggy and Sloane.
"We should take the opportunity to eat while we can. Who knows when we'll get another fresh meal?" Sloane waved the blacksmith off before turning to Peggy, who tore off a piece of jerky with her sharp selkie fangs. "Speaking of opportunity, you should wash up in the ocean before you dress, Blake. You don't want to walk around with sand in every nook and cranny."
"No, I do not." Peggy agreed, taking the bag from Will and digging through it. "Turn around, you two lugs!"
Will quickly pulled away from her as she offered him his vest back, quickly turning away so he would not see her nude form.
Yet even as she dashed back to the ocean, his teeth gritted as his eyes disobeyed his brain to watch her naked back dash away. Her hair was long when wet and straightened out, reaching below her waist rather than mid-back as he had always thought. And the way it fell over the line of her spine and the curve of her smooth and toned rear and creamy thighs-
Get it together, man! She's your best friend, not a common whore. Will shut his eyes to avoid staring at her naked backside, though the little peek his eyes had managed to get as she bent over to start splashing herself was more than enough to make his cheeks flush and his stomach broil and tighten.
It did not help that he could hear her softly humming to herself as she splashed water over her body, her song so warm and familiar that his head almost turned to look at her without his permission. However, he forced himself to stare at the green lush foliage ahead. Was Jack somewhere inland? Or had they made camp further up the beach?
Probably inland. Will thought, gulping down on the urge to turn around as he heard Peggy squeak with surprise at being slapped by a rogue wave. If he's beached the Pearl like this, then he's most likely inland. Are he and the crew looking for supplies? But hang on, Sloane said he got some food from the galley…unless they were running low on fresh food outside of their preserves…
It did not take Peggy long to take a salt bath in the ocean, though she only went into the water to her shins and splashed herself clean to avoid triggering another painful transformation.
Behind her, Will and Sloane stood with their backs towards her, their fronts facing the tropical forest before them. Sloane smirked as the younger blacksmith glowered at him for daring to take a peek.
"No need to glare Turner. Blake isn't the first woman I've seen naked."
"Doesn't mean you have the right to stare," Will growled, fists clenching as Sloane's grin widened wickedly.
"Oh, and I suppose you do?"
"Excuse me?"
"Oh please, I saw you swooning over her just now. Not that I blame you. With an arse like that, I'd be drooling over her too. That said, if you wanted to fool around with a woman before you tied the knot, that's fine; that's none of my business. But you should have kept that for one of the whores at Tortuga. Don't drag Blake any further into your mess!"
"How dare you!" Will snarled, rounding on the male selkie. I was not 'drooling' over Peggy! She's my friend! I was looking after her! Just who do you think you are to pretend to know what's best for her when you've hardly been in her life for a few days?"
"I am a selkie," Sloane answered calmly but coldly. "And yes, I've only known Blake for a few days, but I am one of her kind. You're just a regular human. Do you think you'd be able to understand her on the level I can when you can barely see what's happening to her in front of your eyes?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Will kept his fists by his side, but it wasn't easy. It did not help when Sloane rolled his eyes and shook his head at him as if he were a small child throwing a tantrum.
"Figure it out for yourself, Turner. I'm here to help Blake, not you."
"Help her?" Will sneered, "You? Don't make me laugh. Don't think I don't see through your foolish charade."
"Charade?" Sloane snorted. "Only one person is fooling themselves around here, Turner, and it's not me. You may think you're helping Blake, but truth be told, I've never seen a human so careless with a selkie's heart than you are with hers."
Will's nostrils flared. First Annamaria, now Sloane.
What was happening in the world? He had known Peggy the longest and had protected her for so many years, yet everyone seemed to believe he was the problem.
"Where were you for her when she cried to sleep night after night because of how you hurt her? Where were you when she had nightmares about Barbossa or the Devil hurting you? Where were you?"
But…but Peggy can't love me. She can't. If she does, then that means I broke her heart, and she's…she will…
He could not even finish the thought; it was too horrible… too inconceivable.
"Right! Ready!" Peggy's voice snapped him out of her trance.
He looked back, and his heart ached at her striding towards him and Sloane. Her steps were ginger but way more energetic, and now she had recovered her strength. She was wearing brown breeches, a white shirt, and her blue sash, though she had added a turquoise scarf around the top of her head to pull her curls from her face while she quickly tied them with a leather strap in a long side braid. Her arms were covered again in bindings, and her boots fit much better.
Her face was set in a scowl as she noticed the two men standing glaring at one another so close they were practically toe to toe.
"Seriously?" She rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation. "I leave the two of you alone for two seconds, and you start bickering again! What are you, children?"
"Everything's fine, Peg. We were clearing a few things up man-to-man." Will snapped away from Sloane, who quickly dusted himself off and sneered.
"I think the right term is selkie-to-man Turner."
Will rolled his eyes but did not comment as he began stalking up the beach.
"Come on. We should start searching for Jack and the crew. They can't be that far from the Pearl." He grunted, and Peggy nodded.
"Right, let's-gah!" she squeaked in surprise. Will and Sloane both jumped away from her in alarm as something blue, gold, and feathery squawked and fluttered down from high out of the blue.
"Oy-what the-!" Peggy cursed as she felt clawed talons settle on her shoulders and a familiar avian voice warble affectionately in her ear.
"Ahoy Matey?"
"Ah! A familiar face!" Will's face split into a smile of relief as he recognised the bird's plumage.
"Paulie?!" Peggy gawked at the parrot, "By Poseidon, you gave me a fright!"
"A friend of yours?" Sloane eyed the bird curiously as it wagged its tail.
"More than a friend; where's Cotton?" she asked the parrot, who fluffed himself on her shoulder.
"Feed the fish! SQUAAAW!"
Peggy winced as the squawk blasted into her eardrums.
"Squaaaawk! Feed the fish! GAH!"
The parrot turned his head towards the rainforest ahead, bobbing his head excitedly on Peggy's shoulder.
"Must be in there then." Sloane ran a hand through his hair. "Shall we?"
"It's not like we have another lead." Will agreed. "Peg, are you-"
"I'm fine." Peggy gently scratched Paulie's beak. "Good job, Paulie."
"Awwh! Who's a pretty girlie?" the parrot crooned, leaning into her touch and affectionately nibbling on her finger.
"Yeah, I missed you too, chum." Peggy smiled at the animal's regard, though Will could see her concern.
"Cotton would not have gone far without him, would he?" Will frowned as they walked up the beach and trailed through the undergrowth. "He can't speak without him."
"He can sign some things," Peggy grunted as she clambered over a fallen palm tree branch, Paulie clinging to her shoulder. "But no, Paulie doesn't usually leave his side unless he's been told to get help or keep watch."
As if on cue, the bird quickly hopped off Peggy's shoulder to sit on the stump of a palm tree, squeaking and bobbing his head in increased agitation.
"Don't eat me!" he called to Will, Sloane and Peggy as they began to step further into the jungle.
"But we're not going to eat you?" Will frowned back at the bird.
"Don't eat me!" The bird repeated, but Sloane shook his head.
"We should get moving. We don't want to be stuck in this jungle at night."
Will and Peggy nodded, following the selkie's lead, the latter calling out to the parrot:
"We'll come back for you soon, Paulie. Stay with the ship!"
"Don't eat me!" Paulie called after her. "Don't eat me! Awwww…." His squawk turned sad as the human and the two selkies vanished behind a dense patch of ferns.
"Poor Paulie", Peggy sighed and shook her head sadly. "Be on your guard." She called at Will and Sloane. "Paulie doesn't usually get this spooked unless it's serious."
"Noted!" Sloane and Will nodded at Peggy, reaching their hands to their belts where their swords had been holstered.
They clambered through the jungle, Sloane pulling back to guard the rear. Peggy walked between him and Will, who now led the charge. Will swatted at the dense undergrowth with his sword to clear a path.
Peggy sighed as they came over a large fallen log. Will gave her a hand up, and Sloane gave her a boost from below. Though they did not trust one another, both men seemed to have reached a silent agreement about fussing over her every move.
Men! I can handle myself just fine. I probably see more blood every month than they ever will in a lifetime, and yet they insist on coddling me.
"Gods, it's humid." Sloane grimaced as he slid down the other side of the log and dusted himself of leaves. "Not to mention, this jungle just reeks of death."
"I hear ya." Peggy agreed as she sniffed the air. She could smell a lot of blood and muck around them, which was unusual for a jungle like this. "Will, what have you found?" she asked as she spotted Will bending over to examine a nearby tree vine.
When he straightened up, he showed her something in his hand.
It was a very battered, very familiar small leather hip flask.
"Gibbs." She and Will frowned at one another, remembering the old first mate's muttonchops and stressed face.
"They were here then." Sloane frowned as he examined the thin vine wrapped around the small pouch. He quickly uncorked and upended the bottle, a couple of small drops of rum pathetically dropping onto his fingers.
"It must have been here for a few days, " the selkie male said as he sniffed the droplets on his fingers.
"What's that?" Peggy asked as she followed the length of the vine with her eyes.
Will quietly followed her lead, his fingers tracing the vine's path through the undergrowth, Sloane following close behind with his sword drawn.
Men! More like boys. Gods, why are they so competitive? It's so pathetic and stupid! Peggy rolled her eyes as both men jostled against one another, trying to be first to figure out its meaning.
She meanwhile went much slower, carefully picking her path through the undergrowth in their wake, much like she had seen Jack do whenever he was trying to be cautious. Now that she thought about it, the path around the vine was unusually free of foliage, and the ground beneath her feet was clear and flat. Many feet had trampled here often enough for this path to be created and had done so for many years.
She stopped as she sniffed the air and smelt the familiar scent of sweat. It was not the sweat of Will or Sloane. She knew their scents well enough by now. Nor were they the scents of anyone she had known from the Black Pearl.
No, these were human…but strangers. Strangers who liked to cover themselves in-
"GHAA!" two men's shouts echoed through the trees, and Peggy wheeled around to see a few feet ahead, Will and Sloane strung up by their ankles from a rope snare tied to a tall tree. Before Peggy could even shout at either man or even laugh at how ridiculous they looked, she felt the tip of something sharp graze the side of her neck.
She sucked in a deep breath as many people covered in mud, leaves and green stains suddenly seemed to spring from the undergrowth all around her and her two companions. They were unlike any human Peggy had ever seen before. They were all dark-haired and had ruddy skin and heavy features. Most were men, but some women were in the mix, too. All hardly wore any modern clothing, preferring loin cloths and chest bindings for the women and their bare skin was covered in moss, dirt, white clay-like paint and soot from a fire. To many, it would have appeared like these were the dirtiest people on the planet, but Peggy could tell that this mess on their skin was no accident.
While swimming in her seal form for the past six months, she had seen many underwater creatures cover themselves in sand and coral to conceal themselves in nature. These people were no different. Each mark and each smear was careful and precise, and those that weren't so well applied belonged to the younger, less experienced hunters within the troupe.
None of this information eased her fear when she saw Will and Sloane wave their swords upside down, and the natives surrounding them pointed their spears at their bodies.
"Come on!"
"Who wants some of this?!"
"I can do this all day."
"You idiots, stop struggling!" Peggy shouted, surprising both men for just long enough for two bolder island natives to smack them on their heads and knock them out.
Peggy winced, but despite her desperation to go to her friend's aid, she stayed put, her hands flying up in token of surrender as several spears now poked and prodded around her.
However, to her surprise, when the natives turned to face her, their eyes widened with wonder at the sight of her bright copper curls.
One of the bigger hunters said something to one of the elders beside him, making swift hand movements and then pointing to the beach. He made a strange wavy hand motion with his hand like water and then said:
"Foca Selo."
"Foca selo?" the elder frowned, carefully stalking Peggy, who stood stock still, willing herself not to move or speak as the dirt-covered human came so close into her personal bubble that she could see each grain of moss on his shoulder. Then she smelt it.
Blood. Human blood. And lots of it.
She grimaced and shut her eyes as the man took her by the hand and smelled her palm.
"Foca selo…" the elder hunter breathed almost reverently. Then he turned back to his troupe and shouted something to them.
Peggy could not tell what was being said, but she could understand the hand motions easily.
She was about to be taken to the big chief in charge. She just hoped she could appeal to their good nature...if they had any in the first place.
Where are you, Jack? What the hell have you gotten yourself into this time?
Jack Sparrow sat in his chair, eyes shut, and breathed it all in.
Four days. That's how long he had been on this island. Four days since, he had left his beloved Pearl stranded on the beach and joined these natives in their madness.
It was safe from the ocean, but now he ran out of time.
While playing chief and god to these natives was fun, it was also gruesome. Just two days ago, half his crew was ritualistically sacrificed to heathen gods before their bodies were cooked and eaten. Jack, thankfully, had been able to spare his most favoured crewmembers, including Gibbs, Marty and Cotton, from the carnage, but he knew that it was only a matter of time before he could keep the tribe at bay.
He could only thank whatever god was watching him that Peggy had not been around to witness such a gory sacrifice. For all her ferocity in a fight, she was a softie and would have been inconsolable had she been forced to watch men get killed and eaten.
Speaking of his cabin girl, he wondered what was happening with her. Had she found the whelp yet? Was she waiting for him in Tortuga like they had planned?
To the pirate lord's greatest surprise, he found his question answered. The tribe chants became louder and louder as the hunting party returned from their round of the island.
From the sounds of the shouts, they seemed very pleased with their haul. From what little of the babble Jack had managed to pick up, they had somehow picked up another two stray unfortunate souls in one of their snares.
Jack would credit these natives. They may not have had guns or swords, but their traps were excellent.
He frowned as new murmurs reached his ears, accompanied by gasps of awe.
"Foca Selo." An elder breathed near his throne of bones and wood, and several women began to wail the same words in reverence as a pair of footsteps—footsteps made by one wearing boots — walked closer to his throne.
Upon getting close enough to hear the crunching of leaves and dirt, the owner of the new footsteps gasped:
"Jack?"
Jack opened his eyes, and there standing before him was Peggy. Her freckled face was tired and sweaty as she stood in her pirate garb, her long, wet copper curls braided messily to one side. Two hunters held her arms tight to her sides and pushed her to her knees before Jack's throne.
Typically, Jack would have smirked and made a smarmy comment about her being put in such a position before him, but the pirate found his gaze drawn to the native tribesmen surrounding them.
They stared at Peggy with something akin to reverence and anticipation as they waited for his judgement.
Slowly and carefully, Jack stood to his feet and strolled carelessly to his cabin girl, who smartly chose to stay silent as he reached to tilt her head side to side as if 'inspecting' her.
He barked a few words at the village chief, a man with a lot of face paint and an elaborate headdress of bone and feathers. The chief bowed low to him and began babbling away in his native tongue.
Jack only caught every second word; however, it was enough to guess that these natives had seen Peggy on the beach in her selkie form and thought her a god like him...or rather, a gift of the sea god for him.
After probing the chief with a couple of questions, Jack was assured by the man that Peggy would not be harmed. Indeed, the chief said she must have been Jack's gift to the ocean god for his mortal form to 'enjoy' or 'take to wife' before he 'ascended' in his ritual tonight.
At those words, Peggy was brought to her feet and shoved into his arms, where she proceeded to whisper:
"Jack, what the hell-"
"I'll explain in a bit, love; now stay still, will ya! There's a good girl." He carefully pulled her to stand by his throne as he inspected the additional sacrifices to be added to his ascension ritual.
They were both young men carried upside down on long poles like spit roast pigs ready. One was a handsome, fair-haired fellow with a shadow of stubble around his well-defined jaw. He was unconscious and had a nasty bruise on the side of his face.
And the other man…
Jack stopped in his tracks.
Oh no.
Oh, HELL NO!
Of all the crazy things Peggy had to do, was bring this troublesome whelp back into his life?! Had she managed to seduce the little tick back into her good graces? Or had the whelp batted those big brown doe eyes at her to get his way?
Jack glared back at the young selkie, who sighed, shook her head, and shrugged. Her expression told him everything he needed to know.
Ah…so she was not happy about this either.
It's funny that. Given how desperate she was to see the boy again, Jack was sure she must have tried persuading him to join her back at sea.
Had Will tried to follow her then? Had he gotten bored of dear, pretty Lizzy and wanted a taste of that pirate life after all?
But then, who's this fine-looking specimen of a creature they're travelling with? Jack wondered as he looked the second fair-haired man up and down. Was it just him, or could he see something furry and grey poking out through the collar of the man's dark shirt?
"Jack?"
Jack whipped his head around to see William Turner's warm brown eyes open blearily to look at him upside down.
"Jack Sparrow?!" the whelp started to chuckle in relief. "I can honestly say I'm glad to see you."
Can't say the feeling is mutual. Jack raised a cold eyebrow at the lad as he cautiously stepped over to him and gave him a poke on the shoulder.
Yep. He was not a figment of his imagination. The whelp really was here.
"Jack?" Will frowned as the pirate ignored him to inspect other parts of his body with a furrowed brow. "Jack, it's me! Will Turner!"
Jack, however, ignored the blacksmith and turned to the village chief and elders to ask them where they had found the three newcomers.
"Tell them to let us down!" Will tried to call as one of the natives quietly told Jack of the situation. His brown eyes quickly found Peggy standing beside Jack's throne. "Peg! Peg, thank God! Are you alright?"
But Peggy quickly shook her head and widened her eyes threateningly at the blacksmith, her hand rising to make a 'cut-it-out' motion against her throat. Despite his desperation, the boy heeded the selkie's warning, much to Jack's relief. At least she could still keep that boy in check.
Now, how to get out of this mess… Jack mused as the man informed him that they believed the selkie bride was being kept prisoner by these two pale devils and that they would add them to the list of sacrifices to be made in honour of her and Jack.
Jack had to admit that the offer to let the blacksmith burn on a spit was very tempting, especially after the last six months. However, the pirate lord knew Peggy would be devastated…not to mention it would be very unfair to their unconscious companion to be killed without knowing his story.
Jack began speaking to the elders, gesturing to Will's lean muscled form, calling it 'eensy-weensy' before gesturing to his privates and saying "eunuchy-snip-snip!" he cut his fingers in a scissor motion, delighting in Peggy coughing to the side, using her hand to stifle the tiny snort of amusement.
Not this again! Will rolled his eyes at the familiar jibe. Why the hell did Jack always call him a eunuch? Was this ragging on him a form of affection for the pirate, or was it some petty attempt to tear down his confidence?
It was annoying when Jack turned his back on him to stroll away, something dark and metallic glinting from his sash.
"Jack! Jack, that compass! That compass is all I need. Elizabeth is in danger! We were arrested for trying to help you! She faces the gallows!"
And there it was. Jack paused to look at Peggy, whose arms were folded, and her face looked anywhere but at Will, her lips pursed and her expression stiff as a board.
Jack glanced sidelong at the blacksmith, who had also turned to look at Peggy, his expression odd as he added:
"And the EITC is after Peggy, too! They want to finish the work they started. Please, Jack, we need your help!"
The EITC? Jack looked at Peggy again; this time, she met his eye.
Her grey-blue orbs seemed pained as she nodded slightly in Will's direction, silently confirming his statement.
Well damn. After all, if there were one other person who knew how much his cabin girl meant to him, it would be ruddy Will Turner.
Bloody brat. Jack sighed to himself. The boy was getting better at this manipulation; he'd give him that.
Jack was quick to give the order to put Will and his other captive friend in cages with the rest of the crew, quickly whispering to the lad as he went:
"Save me!"
The pirate quickly turned his back on the blacksmith as he rushed back towards Peggy, doing his best to keep a straight face at the sight of her nervous one.
With a loud cry, he ordered another chair to be brought so that she could be seated by his side.
"Jack, please tell me you have a good explanation for what is happening?" Peggy hissed as soon as she was seated beside him. "I thought you were going to go to that island prison."
"And so I did." Jack muttered, doing his best to keep a straight face as he waved a hand at his 'subjects' to go on with the day's work.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Peggy frowned, and Jack nodded.
"I certainly did. And I see you found more than you were bargaining for." He turned a slight frown upon her. "Helping him rescue Lizzy again? Really? After everything that happened-"
"Look, I don't like it either!" Peggy sighed, her shoulders sagging. "I didn't exactly plan for this."
"And the EITC?" Jack quirked a worried brow as his cabin girl's face suddenly became very stricken.
"That's…that's complicated." She mumbled, staring at the bonfire the villagers were starting to assemble in their honour. "Once we get out of this, I'll tell you. Trust me, we'll all need the rum."
"Blimey Pegsy, you are in the shits, aren't you?" Jack's eyebrows rose as he reached out to tap her hand comfortingly, and he caught sight of her eyes watering. "I leave you for a few days, and the whole world goes to the dogs!"
"You have no idea." Peggy snorted, gripping his hand to the pirate lord's surprise. She only got this physically clingy when she was way down in the dumps.
Had seeing the whelp again done a number on her, or was something else plaguing her mind? Even as they sat there, it seemed to Jack that she was somehow diminished…like she was slowly being hollowed into a shell.
However, before he could comment on the fact, a villager bearing a platter made from a turtle shell offered food to his chief and cabin girl on his knees.
"Don't eat the meat." Jack cautioned Peggy before she could reach out to take a bite.
"Why, what is it?" She gulped, and Jack grimaced.
"I believe the right question here is 'Who is it?'. Savvy?"
Peggy stared aghast at the platter, her hand swiftly swiping to take a fresh slice of mango to avoid offending, though she could feel her stomach revolt in protest at the thought of eating anything from these people. Oh god. Jack had warned her of cannibal tribes in the Caribbean before, but this was…oh god.
"Jack…um…is that our crew?" She quietly nodded to a filet of meat someone nearby was carrying to be cured and salted by an elder.
"Dunno love." Jack muttered darkly, "I think that might be one of our cows…but…I could be wrong."
As if on cue, some of the villagers around the bonfire started to bang hard on large leathery drums, beating a tattoo that seemed to smash into Peggy's soul and her eardrums.
Jack paused as a few new villagers bowed and approached him and Peggy, lowering their heads and holding strange offerings of leaves and ropes in their hands.
They were not the only ones while they were talking; a long line of villagers formed to offer the god and his 'bride' tokens of their worship.
Peggy forced herself to keep a straight face as she and Jack were granted various objects or pieces of food.
Most were made from animal bone and wood, and most of the food was offerings of fruit and fresh fish. Still, there were some truly gruesome gifts amongst the pile, including but not limited to spines, skulls and various other body parts that almost made Peggy want to throw up.
Peggy sucked in a sharp breath as she watched Jack be adorned with a necklace of human toes, fingers and thumbs and shut her eyes as an elderly woman strode over to her and dipped something around her neck.
"Open your eyes, love." Jack elbowed her sharply, and Peggy thought she had heard a hint of envy in his voice as he muttered, "Your one ain't that bad."
Peggy cracked open an eye and looked down. To her surprise, she was wearing a necklace with beads made from shells and coral and pendants made from animal bone (or at least she hoped it was animal bone). These pendants were carved and cut to resemble seals that were not too dissimilar in shape from her seal selkie form.
"Foca Sela," the elderly woman addressed her with a warm smile as she deposited something into Peggy's hands.
Peggy looked down and, to her surprise, found herself clutching a pink-lined, brown, and white-striped conch shell horn. It was surprisingly small, comfortably fitting in the palm of her hand.
"This is…a sea horn?" She felt her heart clench. She had seen one of these only once before. Years and years ago, in the hands of her mother, barely two weeks before she died.
Her mother had been so delighted and excited to show her how to blow the conch, even though Peggy could barely manage to get a couple of notes in before her father had commanded her to be removed from her mother's rooms for causing a commotion and distracting him from his work.
Peggy looked back up at the village elder.
The woman was looking at her expectantly, her soot-smeared, brown eyes darting between the conch and Peggy's face pointedly.
"I think she wants you to blow it," Jack whispered to her ear.
"What for?"
"Because yer a selkie Pegsy." Jack grunted. "These folks believe selkies like you are messengers of the sea gods. Your coming here is a big deal to these folk. They haven't seen one of your kind in years since the purge. They think it's a sign of good fortune."
Peggy stared around at the village. Many of the youth looked at her with cautious excitement, while the oldest of the elders seemed earnest and eager to snag a glance at her.
She had never considered how children of the ocean were thought of outside British Rule. Selkies were considered a pest to the EITC and the Crown, yet she knew many civilisations that still revered the old gods and their children, especially ocean deities.
Peggy gulped as she put the conch to her lips, her heart hammering as she willed herself not to let the tears fall. She could almost feel her mother's hands around hers, showing her the correct way to grip the rough outside. She could almost hear her gentle laugh.
She sucked in a deep breath and blew.
Will stared up towards the top of the cliff.
He was now standing in a round ball-like cage with six of the twelve remaining crew members of the Black Pearl. In another cage hanging many feet away but within shouting distance was one-half of the crew, a motley bunch picked up from Tortuga during Jack's recent visit. Meanwhile, in Will's cage were Cotton, Gibbs and Marty, along with two men named Diggs and Buck, and of course, Sloane was with Will too, because, of course, he had to be foisted into the same prison.
The selkie male had finally woken up and was pissed that Will had let Peggy remain among the cannibal villagers at the village with Jack.
That arse, Will thought bitterly, As if he actually cares about either Jack or Peggy.
"These tribesmen are nuts!" Sloane grunted as he gripped the bony cages so hard his knuckles had gone white. "How the hell did they make these things?"
Will noticed the male selkie's sweat beading on his brow, and he was desperately trying not to look down.
So Sloane was afraid of heights? That was interesting.
Will knew he should have been more compassionate towards the man's fears. Will himself was feeling very uncomfortable being caged over such a sheer drop. However, a small part of the blacksmith could not help but feel a sliver of savage pleasure at his rival's discomfort.
Yet, no sooner did the amusement flicker across his mind than he heard over the distant thudding of drums a loud, melodious horn.
All eyes in the cages turned to the sheer cliff face above where the sound came from, accompanied by a large column of smoke.
Sloane's eyes, however, were fixed on Will.
No one else had noticed it, but the young blacksmith had clutched at his chest when he heard the horn sound.
What the…? Will sucked in a deep breath to steady himself. He was not sure what was happening, but at the sound of the strange horn, he felt his chest tug painfully in his ribs as a vision flashed before his eyes.
A smiling woman in a dark green dress with long copper curls and freckles was seated on a chaise longue, with a little girl, also red-haired and freckled, seated in her lap and garbed in a light blue dress. The child's smile was warm and bright as her mother held a conch shell to her lips and tried to show her how to blow a note. For some reason, even though the scene was happy, the veil of sorrow over it was so powerful that Will almost felt tears spring to his eyes.
Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared before him, the image disappeared, though the sorrow lingered in his mind and his heart, coiling around it like a snake.
It was such a powerful sensation that he almost lost his footing on the bones that made his cage.
"Peg," he breathed, the sound catching Gibb's attention.
"What, lad?"
"Nothing!" Will coughed, rubbing his chest as the horn blow died away, leaving only the thudding of drums and the strange heaviness in his chest. "Why would he do this to us? If Jack is the chief-"
"Aye, the Pelegostos made Jack their chief," Gibbs stared suspiciously up at the cliff with narrowed eyes. "But he only remains chief as long as he acts like a chief."
"So he had no choice. He's a captive as much as the rest of us." Will sighed in dismay as he followed Gibb's gaze back up the side of the cliff.
"Worst as it turns out." Gibbs snorted bitterly "See, the Pelegostos believe that Jack is a god in human form, and they intend to do him the honour of releasing him from his fleshy prison-ghhh-nn!"
Will's eyes widened in horror as Cotton mutely took the First Mate's fingers and bit into them to further drive the point home.
With a hard shove, Gibbs wrenched his fingers out of the mute man's mouth, wiping them in disgust on his vest as he jerked his head to the top of the cliff.
"They'll roast 'im and eat 'im."
"And the rest of the crew?" Sloane asked, keeping his eyes fixed on the sky as he tried to keep his breathing regular.
"These cages we're in weren't built till after we got 'ere." Gibbs muttered darkly.
Good god, what have we landed ourselves in? Will wondered as he and Sloane exchanged looks of horror.
"The feast is about to begin…Jack's life will end as the drums stop." Gibbs bit his lip.
"And Peggy?" Will asked, doing his best to gulp down the bile in his throat as his hands were forced to cling to the femur bound in vines before him.
"Who knows?" Marty shrugged for the first time. Then again, now that she's back with the captain,, maybe the two of them can figure something out."
Gibbs and Marty both nodded in agreement.
"But we can't just sit and wait, can we?" Will hissed, and Sloane groaned, his face turning green as he accidentally glanced down at the sheer drop below.
"If you've got a plan, Turner, please don't beat around the bush."
"Oh, I've got a plan." Will grimaced. "But I don't know if it will work."
"We'll take anythin' you got, lad." Gibbs grunted, glancing at the fellow men in the cage "Anythin' at all."
Will sucked in a deep breath. It was time to take a leaf out of Jack's insane book.
"Right…here's what we've got to do-"
"Oi! Oi! More wood! Big fire! Want big-big fire! Oi, you two help them out!"
Peggy gulped as she watched Jack leap around and push their two guards away from their thrones of wood and bone to help the villagers light the big fire.
Since Jack had foregone with the act of publicly shagging her and taking her to wife, they had sped up preparations for his 'ascension' ceremony. While this certainly put the pressure on for escape, it also had the strange bonus of confusing their captors as they ran and rushed about hither-and-thither to prepare things in a hurry, meaning a lot less of them were keeping as vigilant a watch on either the captain or his cabin girl when they finally were able to book it.
"Come on!" Jack grabbed Peggy by the hand and dragged her across the rope bridge so fast that their feet were almost flying and not touching the ground.
"Remind me never to let you beach the Pearl again!" she snapped as they dashed past a few empty huts, and Jack rolled his eyes.
"Way ahead of you, love! Quick this way-woah!" he cried out and Peggy grabbed him by the scruff of his neck before he could teeter over another sheer cliff drop. "Thanks, love."
"Don't mention it." Peggy gasped as she looked around them. In the distance, she could hear the thundering of feet and many shouts. "Shit, they're onto us. Woah-woah-woah Jack, what are you doing?!" She squeaked as Jack dragged her along the rim of the cliff edge, which leaned close to another cliff.
"Right, should be able to make it!" Jack grunted as he quickly sized the gap. "Now, love, get back down to the Pearl and get her ready to sai.l"
"Jack what-" Peggy pulled away in alarm as the pirate grabbed her by the scruff and began to rush her towards the edge "Jack wait-wait-GGGAAHHHH!"
Peggy screamed as she flew through the air, her body boosted by Jack as he all but threw her across the divide between cliffs.
If she had just made the jump on her own, she would never have made it across. However, with Jacks's extra boost, she was just able to crawl up the side of the cliff and grab a large vine to pull herself up.
Operating on sheer adrenaline and will to liv,e she swiftly scrambled up the vines and hauled herself to the other side, panting for breath as her heart flapped around in her chest like a terrified bird being stared at by a hungry cat.
"JACK!" She roared back at the other side of the cliff as the familiar head of dreadlocked hair turned away from her and shouted:
"Don't wait up!"
"Jack, stop! Get back here you-you-!" She shouted, torn between jumping across the divide to strangle him or help him.
The idiot! What if she had fallen to her death? Worse, what was going to happen to him? Granted, it was easier to focus on his survival without being concerned about her safety, but –
Oh, COME ON!
Peggy ducked as several spears and darts were thrown her way across the divide, forcing her to reel back into the thick undergrowth and run. She was not quite sure how she knew where to go, yet somehow, she managed to find herself going lower and lower down the sheer mountainous terrain and back towards more level grounds.
Ah… her nose must have been guiding her. Well, at least some piece of her body was working correctly today.
Still, she kept running, and running and running.
Her legs burned, her stomach ached from hunger, and her heart was pounding painfully in her chest.
Still, she kept running towards the smell of the sea.
As she ran, she was vaguely aware of a strange tugging behind her naval, drawing her along as if by an invisible string.
What was even stranger was that she could almost feel someone on the other end of the line pulling her towards them.
Pegg,y however, did not have the time or headspace to even think about what it all could mean as she pushed her legs to widen their stride and leap over a fallen log.
When Jack gets out of this mess, and he will, I'm going to kill him! She cursed the pirate in her head as she finally saw through small gaps in the trees the white golden sands of the beach and a patch of black.
"What about Jack? I won't leave without him! And Peggy? PEG! PEG WHERE ARE YOU?" A familiar voice roared over the crashing waves.
"Thank gods!" She gasped as she burst out of the dense jungle and looked up to see the Black Pearl, already unmoored and sliding back into the high tide as several men clambered up from the mooring lines to clamber aboard.
All save three men.
She was quick to recognise Gibbs standing there along with Will and …
Pintel? What the hell is he doing here? Peggy frowned at the sight of the ex-cursed pirate, who frowned as he saw her running towards them.
Seeing the other man's distraction, Gibbs and Will quickly looked in her direction, the lattermost's face splitting into a sigh of relief.
"Peggy! Over here!" he called, arms opening to grab at her as her feet splashed into the water.
"the tide! Lass, be careful! Your legs-" Gibbs called worriedly as Peggy's pace faltered, her face paling as she realised her predicament.
Damn, if she went any lower into the water, her transformation would be triggered.
Yet before she could shout at Will her problem, someone burst out of the jungle down on the far side of the beach.
Peggy and Will both heard Jack before they saw him. His wail of panic and chaotic run were unmistakable. His arms flailed around like a terrified ragdoll, and his feet flew over the sand like a horse in full flight.
But worse still was the throng of cannibal natives shouting and roaring behind him in bloodlust and fury.
For years, they had been awaiting their god's return to their island, and now he was running away and taking the blessing of the sea gods with him.
"Time to go!" Will gulped, throwing all caution to the winds as he rushed at Peggy, picked her up and tossed her over both his shoulders as if she were a goat he was taking to market.
"Cast off those lines!" Gibbs shrieked in panic as he and the dismal skeleton crew rushed to the ship, grabbing her netting along the sides and clambering up her as fast as they could.
"Climb!" Will shouted at Peggy, throwing her at the netting and pushing her legs up to avoid contact with water. He was pushing so close behind her that she was almost sitting on his shoulders, being boosted up by him.
"Blake!" A voice called from above, and Peggy looked up to see Sloane's hand reaching down for her.
She took the limb offered and, with a tug, found herself stumbling face-first onto the deck of the Black Pearl.
"Well, that was a graceful entrance." Sloane snorted at her expense.
"Ah, piss off, seal jerky!" she growled, leaping to her feet to reach out for Will's hands.
"Come on, Will, get up!"
She managed to haul the blacksmith over the ship's railing with a massive tug, only to pull too hard accidentally.
There was a cry of surprise and the thudding of wood as the blacksmith, and the selkie stumbled backward into the deck behind some tied-down barrels. The rest of the crew hardly noticed them as they leaned over the railings to see Jack Sparrow climbing up the side of the ship.
"Jack, come on!" Gibbs called, but Jack had already turned with a flourish to face the dismayed faces of his cannibalistic hosts, who were all dismayed at his departure, wailing, gnashing their teeth and shaking their spears.
"Alas, my children, this is the day you shall always remember as the day you almost-"
SPLASH!
"Captain…Jack…Sparrow…" Jack spluttered pathetically, his moment ruined by the wave that had soaked him straight through the bone.
Yet as the rest of his rag-tag crew grinned or chortled at his expense, two members' chuckles were strangely absent.
However, neither Will nor Peggy had time to concentrate on Jack or his antics.
Not when they were so focused on their lips pressed against one another's as Will lay on top of Peggy where they had landed on the deck.
Oh my god.
Oh, gods…
Will and Peggy stared at one another, still lip-locked.
What the hell have I done?
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA! Oh, I do love being cruel!
Yes, that is where I am leaving this chapter to hang. Peggy and Will, what have you done indeed? So yeah, you might have noticed I skipped over some bits from the movie, but only because I don't think I can describe the gold that was the swinging cage scene. Besides, I think the movie did it justice.
So yeah, some massive drama is brewing between Will and Peggy, and Jack is finally back in the picture. Oooh boy, we are getting to the good stuff now. *rubs hands together gleefully* I won't say any more because I don't want to spoil it.
Please keep reading, reviewing, faving and following if you enjoyed ;)
Adieu
Fuzzybeta