Disclaimer: I don't own the plot, nor the characters. What a pity.
Author's Notes: 'Ello, chums. I wrote the beginnings of this chapter when I was home sick from school, and the rest of it on a wonderful three-day-weekend I really didn't get to enjoy between working and A.P. Euro vocabulary, but you're not really here to read about that. What you should know, is that I already think this is not one of my better chapters, as I have an incapability to write decent "fluff". So, I will tell you right now that the scene between Will and Elizabeth is probably horribly cliched and whatnot.
Also: I hate writing action sequences, so I'm really, really sorry, but I'm not going to write the whole Interceptor vs. Black Pearl epic at sea. I would hope that you've all seen the movie, and therefore know what happens. Next chapter will pick up with the Interceptor's crew on the Black Pearl.
Thanks for reading, and thanks to all those who reviewed. The Way the Wind Blows
By: MJ
Chapter Six
Waiting for a Miracle
"No, Jack, I really think I do want to be doing this," Barbossa said to Jack, not bothering to look at the younger man. He pressed the knife a bit closer to the skin of Will's jaw before he pulled away suddenly, as if burnt. "Ye're supposed to be dead!" He said bluntly, and Jack looked confused. He patted himself a bit, before he looked back up at Barbossa.
"Am I not?"
"Why don't I want to be killing the whelp?" Barbossa discarded Jack's sarcastic comment with a harsh wave of his knife-holding hand. The two pirates holding Will backed up from him, and when Barbossa moved his arm around again, they quickly walked away from their seemingly-deranged Captain.
"D'ye not know who tha' is?" Jack asked quietly, and at Barbossa's solemn headshake, Jack grinned. "Tha' be the son o' th' governor o' Port Roy-all," he stressed the name of the small town, and Will furrowed his brows, confused as to where the pirate was going with this. "An', quite obviously, his blood didn't work."
Will seemed to leap forward slightly, but Barbossa was too quick. He swung his arm, causing Will to lose his breath and balance. He stumbled backwards, rolling down to the edge of the treasure hill. Jack smiled, as this had been what he had been expecting from both parties.
"Ye know 'o's blood we need."
"We both did, but seeing as how ye jus' rendered the boy unconscious, I would be th' only person who knows exactly who's blood ye need."
"An' I'm only assumin' ye didn' have a change o' heart an' yer not jus' goin' t' let me know who he is?"
"We shall discuss this back on the ship, my ship," he stressed as he jerked his head towards the exit of the caves.
"Ye mean the ship ye commandeered?"
"No, I mean th' ship ye stole when ye lef' me on tha' godforsaken island." The tension in the room became thicker with every word out of Jack's mouth, yet he was still able to contain his anger only slightly worse than Barbossa, who seemed indifferent.
"I'm sure this means ye don't want me to kill the whelp."
Jack looked at the moat around the hill of treasure. At the sight of bubbles, he grinned, "Ye could kill the whelp, but then ye'd lose a hefty ransom price, don't'cha think? Well, if'n ye're goin' to kill him—just wait for a moment…"
"Why the hell would I wait--? If'n him not dying is not a part of yer little… accord, why shouldn't I just--?" He turned to find Will, and when he noticed that the blacksmith was no longer standing there, nor anywhere to be seen, Barbossa's eyes widened. What made it worse was that he could also not find the medallion. "He's taken the medallion! Find him--!"
"Again, not somefink ye want to be doin'," Jack commented as the crew only grew angrier. His comment was drowned out by the raucous calls of the crew.
"It's yer fault—ye were the one 'o brough' us 'ere in th' firs' place!"
"—An' it was ye that sent Swann t'th' depths!"
"—An' every decision ye've made 'as led us from bad t' worst!"
"If any coward here dare challenge me—let them speak now—until then, just find that bloody strumpet who took our medallion, aye?"
Again, Jack attempted to make a comment, but was drowned out by a raucous cry of "Ayes". The pirates quickly departed the main cave and left Jack and Barbossa alone.
"Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack—how the hell did ye get off that blazin' island?"
"When ye put me on tha' island, ye forgot one very important thing, mate."
"An' what's that?" Barbossa asked, rolling his eyes as Jack followed him
"I'm Captain Jack Sparrow," Jack said in a "duh"-tone to his voice. Barbossa smirked, and then frowned, glaring at Jack, who chuckled.
A line of oars led from the caves of Isle del Muerta to a long boat that had pulled portside to the Interceptor, a few kilometers away from the haunted island. The long boat was now empty as William Turner and Elizabeth Swann were helped aboard the ship. Will took one look at the crew and groaned.
"Not more pirates," he whispered to Elizabeth who offered him a sympathetic smile. He sighed.
Mr. Gibbs stepped forward and offered both of them blankets. Elizabeth smiled at him and took them, muttering her thanks as Will avoided all of their gazes, feeling even more awkward—how the hell had they gotten the Interceptor? He wondered this as he felt Elizabeth's gentle hands drape the itchy, smelly woolen blanket over his shoulders. He smiled, and she returned it.
"'Ey—girl—where be Jack?"
"Jack—Y'mean Jack Sparrow?" Will asked, looking at Elizabeth wildly. Sure, he had seen the pirate captain in the cave, but he had thought it only a coincidence—never had he thought that good, sweet Elizabeth would associate herself with pirates. Then again, he was proven wrong once, and by the pained look on Elizabeth's face, he realized he was proven wrong twice.
"He fell behind," and with that solemn comment, she led Will below decks. Once there, she lit a few candles in her own, private quarters. "Sit," she said gently, moving towards a small basin and pitcher that sat upon a table in her room. She brought it over and sat it on her bedside table, and then proceeded to rip up her sheets. He looked at her quizzically, and she smiled.
"You don't expect me to not treat your wounds? Just because I had to commandeer the help of pirates to rescue does not make me one."
He smiled, again, and she smiled larger. Will tensed only slightly at the look of alarm on Elizabeth's face at the size of the cut from his right shoulder to his left. She sat down on the bed next to him, the bowl of water in her lap, and a soaked piece of cloth in her hands. She seemed almost hesitant to touch it, and he quickly noticed this. He took her hand in his, which caused her eyes to meet his.
"It doesn't hurt as bad as it looks," he said softly, and she blushed. He led her hand to the wound, where he let his hand drop as she applied pressure to it, parts of it at a time. He only flinched and winced a few times, and he discarded her hushed apologies with an equally soft, "There's nothing to be sorry for, Elizabeth; you saved my life."
She finished with his first cut, and after wrapping it heavily in bandages; she let her fingertips wander downwards on his torso, softly touching the bruised skin on his right side. "They broke… your ribs," she said so quietly he almost didn't hear her. He didn't need to reply; his suddenly pained intake of breath was fact enough. "Sit up straight," she ordered gently, and quickly tended to his ribs. Once they were bandages as well, she felt herself instinctively cup his bruised face. "Your face will be handsome again in time, Will, or else, it would only be a pity."
He smiled, and suddenly, Elizabeth seemed rather… bold. She found herself leaning in quickly to steal his lips in a kiss, when he brought a single finger to hers. She opened her eyes, confused. This confusion only grew as he went for something in his pants pocket.
He brought out his fist and held it to her. She brought a hand under it, and he opened his hand, releasing what was inside—
Her father's medallion.
A muffled sob sounded in her throat, she grasped her hand around it firmly, holding it to her chest. Her free hand flew up to cover her mouth as she openly sobbed. She stood and moved towards the other side of the room, and she leaned against the wall, shaking with her tears as she buried her head in her hand. After a moment, she stopped suddenly, and looked at him.
"I thought I lost it all those years ago—I… I thought someone stole it from me. But not you—never you."
"Elizabeth, I--"
"…They didn't need your blood," she said, a smile crossing her features slowly. Although this was not her beautiful smile that she shared with him whenever he made her laugh, or when she was happy at all—no, this was a wry smile, and one that made Will's stomach uneasy. "…They needed to blood of a pirate. My father's blood—my brother's blood…" She opened her hand to stare at the medallion.
"My blood."
"Elizabeth, this wasn't--"
She banged her hand against the wall, letting the medallion fly to the floor with a large smacking sound. "Will, just go!" She said, her voice sounding pained He looked at her, and made a move as if to collect her in his arms again, when she flinched and moved away. He sighed, and walked to the door.
"We can't help who our families are, Elizabeth. You should know that by now."
When she didn't reply, he sighed and walked on the door. Her world crumbled when she heard the doorknob click closed. She leaned against the wall and slid downwards, collecting her head in her hands; she sobbed.
She dismissed the fact earlier, when because Jack was drunk, and could, quite possibly, had just been mistaken. She had pushed the pressing fact further and further away, and had almost forgotten about it until she saw the blood ritual. Until she saw Barbossa call Will "William Swann" did she understand what she truly was.
She was the daughter of a pirate—and probably the bastard child between said pirate and a Tortuga whore, the more she thought about the fact. Of course her older brother was most likely the brother of the same father—but did he have another mother? The loving family she had heard about her entire childhood at the orphanage now just seemed to be a story they told every young child at night; a pity tale to help the children cope with being alone in the world. She almost laughed humorlessly at the thought; how the hell was she supposed to cope with being alone at the tender age of thirteen when she truly realized she was alone: she had been only thirteen when her brother was killed.
The only person she had had all this time was Will, and now she didn't even know if she had that; she was positive that he couldn't love her now. How could she expect the son of the governor of Port Royal to love a pirate's daughter? To love a pirate at all, since it seemed that the pirating blood ran through her veins. The same pirates that killed her father now needed her blood. The irony of it all was suffocating her.
Unfortunately for Elizabeth Swann, the person she needed the most was the same person she had just driven away.
"Lemme get this straight, Jack," Barbossa said as he and Jack sat at the large table in the Captain's Cabin of the Black Pearl. He leaned back in his chair and placed his feet on the large, oak table as the ship gently rocked to the waves as said ship began to depart from the cursed island, "you plan to leave me on some godforsaken spit of land, with a name and nothing else but your word sayin' it's the name I need," he stressed the latter point quite profusely as Jack grinned at him while rifling through a basket of apples in the middle of the table, "while you sail away on my ship?"
"No," Jack said, and Barbossa obviously relaxed, "I plan to leave you on an island to watch me sail away on my ship, and then I'll shout the name back to you."
"But ye see, Jack," Barbossa looked to be in pain as Jack took a large bite of a ripe, green apple, "that still leaves us with the problem that I'm standing on some island with nothing but your word that the name yer givin' me is, indeed, the one I need."
"Well, ye see, Hector," Jack was getting annoyed, and proved as such by using his old first mate's first name, "since I'm the one 'o 'asn't committed mutiny, mine's the only word we really could be trustin'. Although," he said dramatically, emphasizing his point by swinging his arms around. He seemed to settle a bit as Barbossa focused in on him again, and he took that opportunity to take another bite of his apple, "I should really be thankin' ye, 'cause if'n ye 'adn't mutinied me, I'd 'ave a share in'tha' curse same as ye." He took another bite of the apple to emphasize his point, all the while flashing Barbossa a toothy grin. He then finished chewing and offered the man his apple. Barbossa seemed quite keen on strangling Jack across the table when the door burst open and Bo'sun flew into the room.
"Cap'n, we're closin' in on th' Interceptor."
Barbossa smiled as Jack immediately became uncomfortable. Barbossa followed Bo'sun, but Jack was right on his tale. "Really, mate, ye should let me go firs' an' talk t' 'em—ye know, bargain wif 'em t' get yer precious li'l necklace back—ye'd be savin' yerself some gunpowder!" He offered, and Barbossa laughed wryly, only making Jack's stomach clench as his plans to regain his ship were foiled with the next words out of his mutinous rival:
"Jack—this be why ye lost the Pearl; people're much easier t'search when they're dead. Lock 'im in the brig…"
"That's the Black Pearl—it's gaining on us," Gibbs said dryly to Ana Maria, who was manning the helm at the moment. She glared at him for a moment, before she turned back to the horizon.
"'M goin' as fast as I can…" She said as she watched the Turner boy return on deck, alone. She furrowed her brows but said nothing as he approached them. "We're not goin' t'win this…" She muttered darkly, and Will picked up on the wry comment.
"This is the fastest ship in the Caribbean--"
"An' ye can tell 'em that when we're sunk—the Pearl's much faster," Ana Maria snapped. Will groaned and leaned against the railings, staring down at the crew, fast at work.
"We're shallow at the draft, right?"
"Yes," Ana Maria asked expectantly to Will's sudden question.
"Well… Can't we lose them amongst those shoals?"
Gibbs grinned—"We don't have to outrun them for long—just long enough!"
"Lighten the ship stem to stem!" Ana Maria proclaimed. Gibbs faced the crew.
"Anything we can lose, see to that it's lost!"
Bo'sun shoved Jack into the ship's brig, shutting the door with such vigor that Jack soon realized just how much he truly was hated on this ship. He stumbled over something, and landed flat on his backside, which immediately became wet. He stood and kicked some water towards Bo'sun's retreating back with one last jeer—
"Apparently, there's a leak."
As soon as the Bo'sun returned to the deck, he was immediately summoned by Barbossa, who grinned at him, "Haul on the main brace! Make ready the guns!" He paused and grinned even wider, "And run out the sweeps."
Elizabeth had heard the commotion on deck, and quickly gathered her wits before returning to the main deck of the ship. She watched as Cotton and another pirate threw a few barrels over the side. Intrigued, she ran to the side of the ship and hoisted herself up on the railing. Her eyes widened as she saw the Black Pearl, and her jaw dropped as she watched them bring out their oars. Just as another pirate was about to drop a cannon into the sea, she stopped him with a single look.
"We're going to need that."
He nodded, and kept it beside him, and moved off to fetch something else of less importance. She moved quickly, jumping down from her position as she made her way towards the helm.
Ana Maria, who had already expected the worst, turned at the look of utter horror on Elizabeth's face. She sighed, already resigning defeat.
"'Twas a good plan; up 'til now."
"We have to make a stand!" Elizabeth said, much to the surprise of everyone else, as no one had really expected her to say much of anything, let alone something so drastic. "We must fight—load the guns!"
"With what?"
"Anything—Everything—whatever you can find!" She said, waving her arms around to exaggerate her point. "Broken glass and silverware for all I give a damn—we are not surrendering to them."
Will smiled faintly at her, and Gibbs nodded in approval. "Load the guns! Take shot and langrage! " He thought about it for a moment, before he turned back to the group. "The Pearl's going to luff up on our port quarter—she'll rake us without ever presenting a target."
"Lower the anchor on the right side—the starboard side!"
Now it was Elizabeth's turn to look surprised. "Certainly has the element of surprise."
"You're daft, man! Ye both are!" Ana Maria said disbelievingly. Her shouts, however, were ignored as Gibbs grinned.
"Daft like Jack." He turned to address the crew, "Lower the anchor on the starboard side." At their incredulous looks, he glowered, "Do it, or it'll be you we load into the cannons!" They lowered the anchor, and as the ship surged forward, Elizabeth fell into Will's arms. She smiled as he held her gently, before he regarded Ana Maria.
"Let go!"
She dropped her hold on the wheel, and it turned violently as the ship turned about. On the Black Pearl, Barbossa was grinning, although his eyes revealed his true skeptical feelings.
"They're clubhauling!" He called to his crew, "Hard to port, rack the starboard oars!"
"Hard to port!" Bo'sun reiterated.
It seemed as if the entire world had fallen silent as the two ships pulled up side-by-side. Both crews (down in the gun decks) jeered at each other from across the way. They both stood at the ready, waiting. The crew of the Black Pearl was waiting for a massacre, while the crew of the Interceptor was waiting for a miracle. Heartbeats quickened, and stomachs grew knots as both captains called, "FIRE ALL!"
In reply to one of my reviews:
Charmed-to-meet-you: Yo conozco Español un poco, porque yo tomé clases de Español para tres años . De lo que sé, gracias para tus elogios de mi obra. Hablas ingles?
Again, thank you so much for the rest of those who reviewed, it means a lot to me! D
Also: I have a new story that should be coming out within the next few weeks, after I get at least another chapter of this story done. I'd like to have this finished before Halloween, but I ain't making any promises, 'cause Lord knows, I'll break 'em.
Peace and love!