Author: Cassiopeia Kindrot
Disclaimer: None of the characters below are mine, they are owned by the Disney corporation, I am just borrowing them a bit to have some fun.
Notes: The idea is mine, the art is mine, and so therefore I CAN sue you for copyright infringement, because while the idea itself of the Pirates of the Caribbean is not mine, and nor is the movie of trademarked characters. The art works and writen works I have been inspired to produce because of them are MINE. Which under the law states that this work is copyrighted to me. Which means I can sue you if you steal it and claim it as your own. So, while Pirates are damn cool, stealing my things is not, and I will flog you dead if I find you have, and I wont accept your Parley.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Don't move damn it!!!" his familiar voice screamed, and I turned slowly, feet scraping softly against the stones. My hair was whipping in my kohl lined eyes, beads tinkling in the wondrous salty air. I could feel the sea calling me, singing my name. The sun was too bright, and my pursuer was yet too far away to clearly be seeing me. Yet I knew that voice, and I held my arms out a bit, feeling the wind rip at my sleeves. Blessed sea sprayed wind. It was still calling my name, the sea singing sweet music, a siren's call for me to fall back into her tepid embrace. The blue garbed body stopped, green eyes half wild. His men were not with him here, no guns or bayonets. No sword from good dear Will. Just him and me, and the calling sea.
I'd of course been invited to the dear love's wedding, and it had been a grand affair, I'd watched from shadows, and it had been then I'd been spotted. I was surprised he had not pursued me with the whole Naval fleet in tow. But yet here we stood, he knew my ship was waiting just beyond the rocks, he knew I had but to fall back and the blessed sea would take me to my dear Pearl. So he made no move for me, and I could see the hopeless desperation in his eyes, he'd not called his men because he'd not wanted to catch me. He'd just wanted to chase, and I understood this because as much as he needed the chase, I the prey, the flitting bird, needed to be pursued. I -needed- to feel wanted, whether it be for the gallows or in anothers arms. So as we stared at each other, as the sun started to slip beneath the waves, I smiled a bit, waggling my finger at him in imitation of my always swaying body. "Commodore you should remember this as the day you almost" the damn rat cut me off. "I almost caught Jack Sparrow? I suppose." his voice was almost sensuous, almost made me want to stay about to see how deep it could go, but it only lasted a second. "-Captain- Jack Sparrow remember Commodore?" I said, swiveling my wrist. "Now I'm goin' to be off, if you don't mind luv" I smiled slightly, and yet just before I could back step off the stone I was atop, he'd caught my wrist, I fought the impulse to smack, kick, do whatever I could to get out of his grip, but instead stared drunkenly down at my pursuer. "One day I'll catch you Jack... Captain Jack Sparrow, and then I'll hang you" my pursuer said, voice reveling with that thought, truly that's what he seemed to want. "But then luv... you wont have me to chase anymore" my hand caressed his own wrist, enough to startle him into slacking his grip, and with a quick sashay backwards I was falling though glorious sea swept wind, the spray thickening in my clothing before the water embraced me tightly, took me down.
It was about a month later I'd say, my dear Pearl making good time out of the Greater Antilles, we were headed back to Tortuga, Santa Domingo's coast barely within our cannon's reach. Anamaria was barking orders, the hot Caribbean sun beating down on our backs, my hat barely shaded my eyes in this devilish heat. I was disappointed a bit, no sign for days of any British fleet. I swirled drunkenly around the mast, the wind catching up my clothing a bit, a collective gasp from the men below, it's as if they actually believed -I- would loose my balance. I blinked, taking up my spyglass to stare into the horizon behind us, the sun glinting off the water, blinding and dazzling like sapphire and diamonds. For indeed the sea was it's own treasure, the utter freedom from everything holding me down. Out here I was the Sparrow, I could fly over this water like no other, but really, what fun is being a bird, when there is no hawk on your tail?
But just as the sea was singing us all to a lethargic sleep I saw her, the sails of the British Navy's fastest ship, the white billowing forms of the Sparrow Hawk. I found it wonderfully delightful the first time I heard that name, I knew it as Norrington's personal ship. Knew he also had a name picked out for it again after he'd caught me and I was no longer the bane of his existence, the Iliad. I personally like the first choice better, for the longer it stayed in my game, the longer I kept my neck from being noosed. I slid down the mast like wild fire, my men, and one woman, gasping in unison. "Sails!" I bellowed, grinning with utter unrepressed glee as I bounded to my place, listening with shivers running along my spine as my ragtag crew did what they knew best, and made my Pearl fly like the bird she was, slicing through the water, the Hawk coming up fast, but not fast enough, I could see those cannons of hers, and I drove on forward, wondering if the Commodore himself was commanding them on.
Within minutes I had more then chills running down my spine, cold sweat had caught me, and I glanced back at the Hawk this might indeed be bad, I had mistook the wind, my blessed Pearl was caught in a dire doldrums and I watched as that infernal ship caught steadily up to mine. Did the gods really want their dear Jack to hang? Was this how it would end, a dashing blast in the hot blue Caribbean? But then to my astonishment, I caught the glance of another set of sails, and the high flying black flag. So the Commodore wasn't pursuing, he was being pursued. I grabbed for Anamaria, bounding up the rigging, quick as I could, spy glass steadied in my hand, my body hanging lopsidedly from my precocious perch. Indeed I had been right, and my pursuing Hawk was being chased by something that was a near dragon. I blinked, knowing that ship, I smiled slightly and slid back down slowly, walking with accustomed sway back to Anamaria who looked near to killing me. I smiled and waved a bit to the place behind us, before hearing "Sails" yelled from the bird's nest. "Exactly" I slurred, steering us forward faster, for now both I and the Commodore were the chased.
So it wasn't that surprising when I cut so close to the coast of Santa Domingo, the Hawk was right behind. Our pursuer, the huge bulking heavily armed, Demon's Bane was catching up, the wind having left the Commodore as well, so it was with our gun's aimed for each other that we came side to side. I waved my arms furiously, calling to the Hawk not to shoot, my own men merely waiting for my orders. The men of the Hawk looked at me as if I was half mad, the Commodore coming to stand at my corresponding place on his own ship. I waved, smiling a bit and winked at him, sashaying my way closer to the rail. "'Ello Commodore, I see you have a dilemma" I said to him, the sharp green eyes narrowing at me. "So it would seem Sparrow" he said and I sighed a bit, rolling my eyes and near falling over the railing to get closer. "It's Captain Sparrow, don't you see my ship?" I asked, petting at the Pearl's railing like she was the finest beauty in the whole Caribbean. "Yes Captain Sparrow I see her, what do you request of my ship that was so important you've stalled us from blowing -her- to the bottom of the sea?" Norrington's snide voice cut through the smoldering air. "Simply that you should save your ammunition for him" with this I swiveled myself around a bit too much, gesturing to the Bane who was almost upon us.
I saw the hesitation in the Commodore's eyes, the glint of some unnamed emotion as he turned to look at the Bane. "Why are you not firing upon my ship Captain Sparrow?" finally he got it right! "Because not all pirates like other pirates savvy?" I said, smiling and straightening up, moving with cat like grace, at least that's what I prefer to call it, up to the tiller, holding it tight. Norrington bounded up his own ship's stairs to the same place, a mirror image of opposite sides. "So lets just say we'll play nice for the time being, and take down the Demon to save our hides?" I asked, looking over at Norrington who was barking out orders before turning to me with all the grace the British Navy possessed, which would explain why they were so blundering. "We have an accord Captain Sparrow" Norrington hated this, hated being a equal with me, I could see it in his beautiful emerald green eyes, the glint, the hatred. I let it roll over me like a warm welcome wave, the shivers returning up my spine. Why did he hate me so much? Had I not saved his darling Elizabeth, not saved -him-? Maybe the hate wasn't for me in particular, but for what I represented I supposed. I vaguely realized now wasn't the time for deep musings on Commodore Norrington's feelings for me when I heard the tyrannous laugh of the captain of the Bane. Norrington and I caught eyes again, and I smiled slightly, weaving off to the railing again, looking out at the scarred and bearded face of a pirate who very much hated myself. The fool was coming up right between us.
I glanced once more at Norrington, feeling a faint twinge of fate, the chills cutting me to the bone almost. It was as if I was having one of those premonitions the seers on Tortuga had, the glossy glazed over eyes, I pushed it off as a bad bottle and dumped the rum I'd been drinking over board, swaying my way back to the tiller. I could see the fear in Anamaria's eyes and I swayed a bit more as the rumbling of the Bane's bottom catching the reef below us sounded, that would at least slow the momentum of that hellion beast down enough. I waited and almost as if spoken together the Commodore and I shouted for the cannons to be fired, the Bane firing off a few shots before succumbing to our combined wrath. None of the shots hitting my beloved Pearl of course. But I felt a slight chill of fear upon loosing the only ship with the ability to catch my darling. But Norrington's voice sounded above the din of cannon fire, and my worries were lost. I watched the Red Coats board the Bane, cutting down the crew until they dropped their weapons, but with sharp eyes I picked out my Commodore, locked in battle with the ragged Captain of that blasted Bane. I swayed a bit, getting to the rail of my Pearl watching with baited breath as Norrington parried and thrust, and moved with the grace of an eagle, and the cunning pursuance of the ship he'd named. But all of the fancy footwork in the world couldn't have saved him when the rat captain of the Bane pulled his pistol.
Without thinking I grabbed the rigging, hanging over the bright blue water below, pulling my own pistol from my sash, I shot, and Norrington's men froze, fearful indeed that it had been the Pirate Captain that had made that shot. But Norrington simply blinked, watching the Bane's captain cough and shiver, falling to the ground, dead. Norrington's eyes darted straight to my own and I felt their heat. He hated me more then ever now I knew, because I was breaking every belief he'd held, every lesson that had been drilled into his mind. For pirates were not supposed to be good men, yet I'd saved his life twice now, and he was still bound to end mine.
I forced my crew to anchor at the small island, gathering supplies, letting them work off some of their battle high. The unfortunate part was that only but one island away the Sparrow's Hawk was licking it's wounds. I'd warned them to stay put, even Anamaria had waved her pistol at them, but soon after the moon had risen, a rowboat filled with British Navy, and four of my drunk crew, washed ashore. Gillete, I believe his name was, forced my men back at me, Anamaria clipping them all abruptly. "Commodore Norrington wishes me to inform you Captain Sparrow, that in thanks for your valuable assistance today he will not clap you in irons. But he will forgo his polite offer of momentary truce if your men do not stay on their own island" the prissy officer said, turning his nose up at me and my good men- and one woman. I swayed a bit more then usual, rum sloshing in my half emptied bottle, I could feel myself sloshing in the world, just like the little drops in the bottle. I flitted my wrist a bit and bowed my head in thanks. "Tell the Commodore that I will try, and that if my men cannot leave their island, his men can come to ours, for we have food and spirits that your island does not" with that said Anamaria pushed in front of me protectively, shared glares between her and the Gillete man.
I was just lounging out to watch the stars when the first boat arrived, I turned my head in the cold sand to watch my men glare and laugh at the Red Coats. But upon my formerly put orders they shared our provisions. I rested back, far enough away from the crowd that regular conversation only was but a dim hum in my ears. The sea lapped at the shore below me, the sand cold beneath me. I sat up just enough to sip more of my bottle, hearing the crunch of grass behind me. Well if he wanted to kill me now was the time, but suddenly the Commodore was sitting beside me, wig and hat off, light brown hair ruffling and shimmering in the flickery fire light of my crew's bonfire. "Good evenin' Commodore" I said companionably, lounging back again, the taste of scalding rum deep in my throat, warming my insides, the wind wiping at my flesh. "It is that" he said, I felt he was forcing himself just to talk to me, but if he had nothing to say to me he wouldn't be out here. "Luv if you want to ask me something, the nights not getting any longer, and tomorrow you'll be breathing down my neck again, and there's no time for pleasant conversations when I'm dangling from a noose" I watched him flinch at that. So maybe my death wasn't what he really wanted.
"Why did you save my life?" he asked me, those emerald eyes turning to stare down at me. His eyes reminded me of the sea in a way, like the sapphire of water, the glittering diamond of the sun's reflection, and then there was the jewels in the sky. The glittering diamonds of stars, the deep velvet blue midnight sky. But brighter then all of it was the eyes before me, those rare emerald green eyes. More treasure then any man could wish for. I must have been taking too long ballad forming around his eyes, for they narrowed at me. "Are you going to answer my question or just stare at me Sparrow?" he asked and I sighed, rolling my eyes a bit. "If your going to be chummy enough to call me by a name without the Captain thrown in, then let it be Jack mate" I said and was rewarded with another glare of those feisty emerald eyes. "Well Jack, why did you save my life? Or do you just enjoy tormenting me so much you couldn't imagine life without me?" he asked, voice absent of any snooty upper class-menship. "Well to be honest mate" I sat up a bit at this, downing another gulp of that fiery amber liquid. "Ish-really quite simple, you see. I need to be hunted, you and I, we make legends. You chase me, I run and you see, if you got killed, I might not have such an upstanding pursuer anymore, savvy?" I replied, slipping the bottle into my temporary companion's hand. "I don't drink" he said, and I noticed not even his perfect buttons had been undone one bit, just the removal of wig and hat. "Tonight you will Commodore" I answered, pulling another bottle from my sash, watching from the corner of my eyes as the upstanding brunette gave in, drinking deep of that dark substance, and I was even surprised a bit that he didn't cough.
I downed a bit more rum, lounging back in that chilling sand, feeling the wind move the grass softly right below my eye. The stars were so very bright tonight, not a single cloud in the cool depthless sky. It was amazing really, how different things were in the day then the night. Now it was chilling, the wind whipping against the dunes above us, up by the trees. The moon shimmered just like a willow-the-wisp high in the sky. Like a single silver dubloon, deep in the depths of the sea. I glanced at Norrington and he too was staring upwards, mind relaxed for the time being, but limbs wiry with nervousness. I sympathized with him, if I'd have been surrounded by Red Coats I would have been just as nervous. But here he was anyway, a handful of his men, who were now singing just as raunchily as my own over by that flickering fire. I suppose he was just wary of me, but hadn't I gained just a smidgen of his trust yet? I blinked and looked back up at the sky. Why did it matter so much to me anyway?
"I understand how you feel" he spoke softly, a bit stiffly, taking another deep drink of that caramel colored liquid. I raised my hand a bit, flicking it back and forth like a Spanish dancer "Now that we know each other a bit better mate, it's time you told me your name" I said and watched as he turned to look down at me, proud face schooled into an impassive mask. Hair being ruffled in the night wind, whipping it against those emerald eyes. I wonder if mine shine like that in the fire light, I'll never know, mirrors are too expensive. "I do not willingly find myself on first name basis with pirates, Captain Sparrow" and there we go back five moves. I sigh and raise to my elbows, the movement startling the Commodore enough for him to move for his weapon. I reassure him by over dramatically drinking at my bottle, before flopping back down into the sand I knew would be my bed that night.
We sat there in less then companionable silence, staring up at that jewel strewn sky. I wonder if he saw the same things as I, if this cruel night lit Caribbean was just as beautiful as the loving warm embrace of the same lass during the day. I wonder if he even sees her beauty at all. How long he'd been blinded by the beauty of a girl on the land to forget the beauty all around him. His hand dropped lazily to the sand, burying fingers deep, shifting the sand like the flowing hair of a lass at home. I sat back up, taking a long swig of my rum, and stared out at that gorgeous sea, at my beautiful Pearl, that sea and the Pearl were all the fine lass this man needed. I didn't need to be slapped anymore, except maybe for Anamaria, the Pearl would have been lost had it not been for her cool thinking during certain storms, not all from weather. "She meant allot to you" I stated, and his stance slacked a bit. "Yes" he said quietly, and I could feel the pain deep in that voice. The hopeless unrequited love, timeless that song was, sweet and bitter and man was doomed to repeat it over and over again. He took another swig from his bottle, drinking deep to soothe his heart. "The better man won her hand" he spoke, and I have to say I was a bit surprised, if it had been me I'd have been at dear Will's throat. But that just showed how upstanding and selfless the Commodore was, and I have to admit that shames me a bit.
"Don't you feel a little jealousy over it mate? She'd promised herself to you and then went off and blew your little hopes out of the water. If it had been me I'd have been furious" I said and wanted only to squirm into the sand and disappear when his bright emerald eyes turned to me. I could see the hate, not for me in general but just hate, radiating from deep inside of him and making me hot with it's intensity despite the chilling Caribbean night. "Yes Sparrow, I -am- jealous, I want to destroy her happy little life for leading me on and then breaking me apart. But unlike you, I am a gentleman and it is best she be with Will now, then when I am gone" he said this all softly, his hand clutching that rum bottle as if it was a lifeline, and I knew that feeling well. "Luv" I cooed softly, my hand stroking over his to get it to slacken it's grip on the bottle, and just like all that time ago when the grip had been on my wrist, he let go, the bottle tinkling against the sand softly, not a drop spilling. "Luv... it's all right to be jealous. It's human nature pet... and it's all right to be sad" I said, and as if weaving a spell the hate in his eyes left, pain so deep and fathomless swallowing up those ethereal depths. I almost felt guilty seeing that raw emotion on a supposed enemies face, how much the Commodore would hate himself once he realized how much of a leverage his opponent had gained by seeing him like this. But I couldn't just turn away from another living being that was in so much pain. I wasn't heartless.
So I watched those emerald eyes fill with tears, watched each drop drift down a face almost red with the harsh caresses the Caribbean wind was gracing it with. I felt his pain just by watching a man so proud resorted to this. He was a broken shattered visage of himself, proud face turned white, the wind probably making those wet lines freeze against his so pale skin. If I could I would take away that pain, even if it meant loosing this moment, loosing his presence in this sand beside me. Because I knew the only thing keeping him near me, near the man he loathed, was his need to be near someone who he didn't need to be the Commodore around. Who knew what he needed, and whose respect he didn't . I gently dragged him to lay in the sand too, only a little surprised when the proud Commodore sobbed against my jacket. It was a shame, a mar of the gods good name, to cause a man so proud and noble to actually have to depend on someone like me for comfort. I'm not bad necessarily, I happen to like myself very much. But where I was in this world, was almost the complete opposite of the man sobbing softly against my shoulder.
I softly patted him on the back, for a second my eyes widened a bit in desperation for a way to help, but when the soft sobbing quieted I realized I hadn't needed to help, my accepting it had been enough. I soothed down his back, remembering how my aunt had held me when I lost everything, and I returned the comfort given to me so many years ago. I watched the fire light play across the sand, resting my head back, warm from the body that had unwittingly been spooned against my own. I wondered vaguely what he would do when he realized he was being held, nay, comforted, by a pirate. By me no less? But apparently who I was didn't matter as long as I kept holding him. "It's alright luv" I whispered softly, realizing the last of my and the Commodore's men had fallen to blackness in the sand. "It's not alright" he said bitterly and I steadied myself for a verbal attack. "I'm a wreck, I'm nearing the end of my career I can feel it. I've not yet caught one foolish blundering pirate, because instead he has to save my life. I can't marry one single woman, because I'm not good enough to catch her heart. What's worse is that I cant even trust my fears and sorrow to my closest friend for fear of loosing his respect, so I have to rely on the man I'm sworn to hunt, catch and kill" he finished, staring at me with those bright, and I have to admit, so very beautiful eyes, eerily glinting with a mixture of rage and a soft indefinable emotion. Those eyes were as conflicted right now as the sea in the worst of storms, and I felt more then a little lost. Sort of like the Pearl lost in a deep Caribbean storm, his eyes leaving me more then a little shaken, sails torn in the wind.
"Your not a wreck luv" I said quietly, relishing the warmth, seduced by the lapping waters. I could feel his warm breath coming out gently against my neck and I realized then something that almost scared me to the bone. I liked feeling this, not just the feeling of being needed to comfort, but that he of all people, needed me in that moment. That his pride had been bent to near breaking, and that it was all because of me. I should have felt a little guilty to resort a proud and fine creature to such pitiful places, but it gave me the most sinful pleasure of knowing the Commodore was now forced to see me as his equal. I wanted so much to be accepted by him, to have him need me in his life as much as I needed his arrogant pompous being. He need to chase me didn't he? Or was all this in my head, was I being used here to sieve comfort from, or was he being used to provide warmth and companionship? Were we both being used? I felt the rum bogging down my senses, trying to lull me into traitorous sleep, but as I struggled to keep my eyes open I felt his breathing regulate softly against my neck, each soft caress against my skin a drum beat lulling me further into that black abyss. I knew if I fell asleep something bad would happen, like being clapped in irons. I hadn't missed the word "today" in the Commodore's relayed speach, tomorrow I wouldn't have that luxury I felt. But the music of the beach, the feeling of his heart, it spelled my eyes shut, and my whole world centered on the warmth against my side, the sounds narrowing to just that sensuous drum beat, and I slept.
I woke up not to the steady ground, but to the familiar rolling of waves, and with a stiff back. I sat up a bit, straw sticking to my clothing a bit. I groaned softly, the bars of a ship that was certainly not my own keeping me caged. I could hear the bustle of men above, and wondered how long I had been asleep. I pressed close to the bars, trying to peer outside and saw a number of other cells, all empty. So I had been the only captured, and for my own stupidity and compassion no less. I could hear the click clack of boots on wood and turned by head the other way, watching the Commodore stroll up to me, preened and proper, hat tilted up so he could glare at me to his fullest. But he wasn't glaring, a devilish smile was on his prissy lips, a gleam of achievement in his eyes. "If I were a lesser man Sparrow, you'd be hanging come the morrow. But I owe you my life twice, and indeed I owe you hospitality" he said, resting one hand against the bars that separated us. "Then why am I standin' here in your ship prisoner Commodore?" I asked, tilting my head and rising my hand to motion to my surroundings. "Because I had to return a few things to you Sparrow..." with that he opened the door, and I was a bit shocked, it hadn't been locked to begin with. He removed his hand from behind him, and I stepped back a bit until realizing it held naught a pistol, but a bundle.
I took the bundle cautiously and blinked a bit in surprise by my captor's cautious stance as well. Although then I was known for my daring actions to preserve my own life, but really I was more for running and living to fight another day, then fighting to the death on an enemy ship, greatly outnumbered. I carefully unwrapped the blue fabric, surprised to see my pistol and blade carefully wrapped inside. "Much in your debt Commodore and now if you'd be so kind as to take me back to my ship?" I asked, eyes narrowed at him with distrust. But he stepped aside, motioning for me to go first. I swayed up to the deck, seeing my ship still docked a bit away, the laz'abouts still sleeping in various places, only Anamaria was rowing toward the island to rouse the rest of us, and to surely find me missing. I recognized the bustle around me, my Navy friends were quickly readying themselves for the waves again. Almost ready to drop sails. I hadn't noticed I was being led till I stood before the bright Caribbean water, and the Commodore's hand was resting quite distractingly against the base of my back. I nervously looked down at the water, blinking a bit at the bright reflection. I noticed we had left the side of the ship with so much activity, and were now facing my Pearl. "You know Sparrow a wiseman once told me" I could hear the Commodore very clearly, seeing as his lips were practically pressed against my ear, his body a bit too close for comfort. My heart was flitting like a bird's trapped in a cage, the desire to jump into the cool water near overwhelming me. He was just so damn close.
His pause mid sentence was killing me with curiosity, I could feel his other hand softly touch my hip and my face flushed with embarrassment. "That if you really love a bird, you set it free" his hand pressed flat against my back, his lips practically kissing my neck. "If the bird returns to you, your love is mutual, if it doesn't then said bird was never yours" I could bet money he pressed his lips against my neck, I swear. "Just a little for you to think about..." he softly twirled me around with the hand on my hip, the hand on my back the only thing keeping me from the water below. My eyes were wide, arms flinging out to try and balance myself, and all I could see were those demon green eyes. Sinfully delighted with my predicament. "My Sparrow" with that I was falling backwards, the water catching me up and dragging me down. By the time I had sputtered to the surface he was gone, his ship setting toward the horizon. I growled softly and started swimming toward my own ship. Suddenly it smacked into the side of my head, my god, his Sparrow?!
Disclaimer: None of the characters below are mine, they are owned by the Disney corporation, I am just borrowing them a bit to have some fun.
Notes: The idea is mine, the art is mine, and so therefore I CAN sue you for copyright infringement, because while the idea itself of the Pirates of the Caribbean is not mine, and nor is the movie of trademarked characters. The art works and writen works I have been inspired to produce because of them are MINE. Which under the law states that this work is copyrighted to me. Which means I can sue you if you steal it and claim it as your own. So, while Pirates are damn cool, stealing my things is not, and I will flog you dead if I find you have, and I wont accept your Parley.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Don't move damn it!!!" his familiar voice screamed, and I turned slowly, feet scraping softly against the stones. My hair was whipping in my kohl lined eyes, beads tinkling in the wondrous salty air. I could feel the sea calling me, singing my name. The sun was too bright, and my pursuer was yet too far away to clearly be seeing me. Yet I knew that voice, and I held my arms out a bit, feeling the wind rip at my sleeves. Blessed sea sprayed wind. It was still calling my name, the sea singing sweet music, a siren's call for me to fall back into her tepid embrace. The blue garbed body stopped, green eyes half wild. His men were not with him here, no guns or bayonets. No sword from good dear Will. Just him and me, and the calling sea.
I'd of course been invited to the dear love's wedding, and it had been a grand affair, I'd watched from shadows, and it had been then I'd been spotted. I was surprised he had not pursued me with the whole Naval fleet in tow. But yet here we stood, he knew my ship was waiting just beyond the rocks, he knew I had but to fall back and the blessed sea would take me to my dear Pearl. So he made no move for me, and I could see the hopeless desperation in his eyes, he'd not called his men because he'd not wanted to catch me. He'd just wanted to chase, and I understood this because as much as he needed the chase, I the prey, the flitting bird, needed to be pursued. I -needed- to feel wanted, whether it be for the gallows or in anothers arms. So as we stared at each other, as the sun started to slip beneath the waves, I smiled a bit, waggling my finger at him in imitation of my always swaying body. "Commodore you should remember this as the day you almost" the damn rat cut me off. "I almost caught Jack Sparrow? I suppose." his voice was almost sensuous, almost made me want to stay about to see how deep it could go, but it only lasted a second. "-Captain- Jack Sparrow remember Commodore?" I said, swiveling my wrist. "Now I'm goin' to be off, if you don't mind luv" I smiled slightly, and yet just before I could back step off the stone I was atop, he'd caught my wrist, I fought the impulse to smack, kick, do whatever I could to get out of his grip, but instead stared drunkenly down at my pursuer. "One day I'll catch you Jack... Captain Jack Sparrow, and then I'll hang you" my pursuer said, voice reveling with that thought, truly that's what he seemed to want. "But then luv... you wont have me to chase anymore" my hand caressed his own wrist, enough to startle him into slacking his grip, and with a quick sashay backwards I was falling though glorious sea swept wind, the spray thickening in my clothing before the water embraced me tightly, took me down.
It was about a month later I'd say, my dear Pearl making good time out of the Greater Antilles, we were headed back to Tortuga, Santa Domingo's coast barely within our cannon's reach. Anamaria was barking orders, the hot Caribbean sun beating down on our backs, my hat barely shaded my eyes in this devilish heat. I was disappointed a bit, no sign for days of any British fleet. I swirled drunkenly around the mast, the wind catching up my clothing a bit, a collective gasp from the men below, it's as if they actually believed -I- would loose my balance. I blinked, taking up my spyglass to stare into the horizon behind us, the sun glinting off the water, blinding and dazzling like sapphire and diamonds. For indeed the sea was it's own treasure, the utter freedom from everything holding me down. Out here I was the Sparrow, I could fly over this water like no other, but really, what fun is being a bird, when there is no hawk on your tail?
But just as the sea was singing us all to a lethargic sleep I saw her, the sails of the British Navy's fastest ship, the white billowing forms of the Sparrow Hawk. I found it wonderfully delightful the first time I heard that name, I knew it as Norrington's personal ship. Knew he also had a name picked out for it again after he'd caught me and I was no longer the bane of his existence, the Iliad. I personally like the first choice better, for the longer it stayed in my game, the longer I kept my neck from being noosed. I slid down the mast like wild fire, my men, and one woman, gasping in unison. "Sails!" I bellowed, grinning with utter unrepressed glee as I bounded to my place, listening with shivers running along my spine as my ragtag crew did what they knew best, and made my Pearl fly like the bird she was, slicing through the water, the Hawk coming up fast, but not fast enough, I could see those cannons of hers, and I drove on forward, wondering if the Commodore himself was commanding them on.
Within minutes I had more then chills running down my spine, cold sweat had caught me, and I glanced back at the Hawk this might indeed be bad, I had mistook the wind, my blessed Pearl was caught in a dire doldrums and I watched as that infernal ship caught steadily up to mine. Did the gods really want their dear Jack to hang? Was this how it would end, a dashing blast in the hot blue Caribbean? But then to my astonishment, I caught the glance of another set of sails, and the high flying black flag. So the Commodore wasn't pursuing, he was being pursued. I grabbed for Anamaria, bounding up the rigging, quick as I could, spy glass steadied in my hand, my body hanging lopsidedly from my precocious perch. Indeed I had been right, and my pursuing Hawk was being chased by something that was a near dragon. I blinked, knowing that ship, I smiled slightly and slid back down slowly, walking with accustomed sway back to Anamaria who looked near to killing me. I smiled and waved a bit to the place behind us, before hearing "Sails" yelled from the bird's nest. "Exactly" I slurred, steering us forward faster, for now both I and the Commodore were the chased.
So it wasn't that surprising when I cut so close to the coast of Santa Domingo, the Hawk was right behind. Our pursuer, the huge bulking heavily armed, Demon's Bane was catching up, the wind having left the Commodore as well, so it was with our gun's aimed for each other that we came side to side. I waved my arms furiously, calling to the Hawk not to shoot, my own men merely waiting for my orders. The men of the Hawk looked at me as if I was half mad, the Commodore coming to stand at my corresponding place on his own ship. I waved, smiling a bit and winked at him, sashaying my way closer to the rail. "'Ello Commodore, I see you have a dilemma" I said to him, the sharp green eyes narrowing at me. "So it would seem Sparrow" he said and I sighed a bit, rolling my eyes and near falling over the railing to get closer. "It's Captain Sparrow, don't you see my ship?" I asked, petting at the Pearl's railing like she was the finest beauty in the whole Caribbean. "Yes Captain Sparrow I see her, what do you request of my ship that was so important you've stalled us from blowing -her- to the bottom of the sea?" Norrington's snide voice cut through the smoldering air. "Simply that you should save your ammunition for him" with this I swiveled myself around a bit too much, gesturing to the Bane who was almost upon us.
I saw the hesitation in the Commodore's eyes, the glint of some unnamed emotion as he turned to look at the Bane. "Why are you not firing upon my ship Captain Sparrow?" finally he got it right! "Because not all pirates like other pirates savvy?" I said, smiling and straightening up, moving with cat like grace, at least that's what I prefer to call it, up to the tiller, holding it tight. Norrington bounded up his own ship's stairs to the same place, a mirror image of opposite sides. "So lets just say we'll play nice for the time being, and take down the Demon to save our hides?" I asked, looking over at Norrington who was barking out orders before turning to me with all the grace the British Navy possessed, which would explain why they were so blundering. "We have an accord Captain Sparrow" Norrington hated this, hated being a equal with me, I could see it in his beautiful emerald green eyes, the glint, the hatred. I let it roll over me like a warm welcome wave, the shivers returning up my spine. Why did he hate me so much? Had I not saved his darling Elizabeth, not saved -him-? Maybe the hate wasn't for me in particular, but for what I represented I supposed. I vaguely realized now wasn't the time for deep musings on Commodore Norrington's feelings for me when I heard the tyrannous laugh of the captain of the Bane. Norrington and I caught eyes again, and I smiled slightly, weaving off to the railing again, looking out at the scarred and bearded face of a pirate who very much hated myself. The fool was coming up right between us.
I glanced once more at Norrington, feeling a faint twinge of fate, the chills cutting me to the bone almost. It was as if I was having one of those premonitions the seers on Tortuga had, the glossy glazed over eyes, I pushed it off as a bad bottle and dumped the rum I'd been drinking over board, swaying my way back to the tiller. I could see the fear in Anamaria's eyes and I swayed a bit more as the rumbling of the Bane's bottom catching the reef below us sounded, that would at least slow the momentum of that hellion beast down enough. I waited and almost as if spoken together the Commodore and I shouted for the cannons to be fired, the Bane firing off a few shots before succumbing to our combined wrath. None of the shots hitting my beloved Pearl of course. But I felt a slight chill of fear upon loosing the only ship with the ability to catch my darling. But Norrington's voice sounded above the din of cannon fire, and my worries were lost. I watched the Red Coats board the Bane, cutting down the crew until they dropped their weapons, but with sharp eyes I picked out my Commodore, locked in battle with the ragged Captain of that blasted Bane. I swayed a bit, getting to the rail of my Pearl watching with baited breath as Norrington parried and thrust, and moved with the grace of an eagle, and the cunning pursuance of the ship he'd named. But all of the fancy footwork in the world couldn't have saved him when the rat captain of the Bane pulled his pistol.
Without thinking I grabbed the rigging, hanging over the bright blue water below, pulling my own pistol from my sash, I shot, and Norrington's men froze, fearful indeed that it had been the Pirate Captain that had made that shot. But Norrington simply blinked, watching the Bane's captain cough and shiver, falling to the ground, dead. Norrington's eyes darted straight to my own and I felt their heat. He hated me more then ever now I knew, because I was breaking every belief he'd held, every lesson that had been drilled into his mind. For pirates were not supposed to be good men, yet I'd saved his life twice now, and he was still bound to end mine.
I forced my crew to anchor at the small island, gathering supplies, letting them work off some of their battle high. The unfortunate part was that only but one island away the Sparrow's Hawk was licking it's wounds. I'd warned them to stay put, even Anamaria had waved her pistol at them, but soon after the moon had risen, a rowboat filled with British Navy, and four of my drunk crew, washed ashore. Gillete, I believe his name was, forced my men back at me, Anamaria clipping them all abruptly. "Commodore Norrington wishes me to inform you Captain Sparrow, that in thanks for your valuable assistance today he will not clap you in irons. But he will forgo his polite offer of momentary truce if your men do not stay on their own island" the prissy officer said, turning his nose up at me and my good men- and one woman. I swayed a bit more then usual, rum sloshing in my half emptied bottle, I could feel myself sloshing in the world, just like the little drops in the bottle. I flitted my wrist a bit and bowed my head in thanks. "Tell the Commodore that I will try, and that if my men cannot leave their island, his men can come to ours, for we have food and spirits that your island does not" with that said Anamaria pushed in front of me protectively, shared glares between her and the Gillete man.
I was just lounging out to watch the stars when the first boat arrived, I turned my head in the cold sand to watch my men glare and laugh at the Red Coats. But upon my formerly put orders they shared our provisions. I rested back, far enough away from the crowd that regular conversation only was but a dim hum in my ears. The sea lapped at the shore below me, the sand cold beneath me. I sat up just enough to sip more of my bottle, hearing the crunch of grass behind me. Well if he wanted to kill me now was the time, but suddenly the Commodore was sitting beside me, wig and hat off, light brown hair ruffling and shimmering in the flickery fire light of my crew's bonfire. "Good evenin' Commodore" I said companionably, lounging back again, the taste of scalding rum deep in my throat, warming my insides, the wind wiping at my flesh. "It is that" he said, I felt he was forcing himself just to talk to me, but if he had nothing to say to me he wouldn't be out here. "Luv if you want to ask me something, the nights not getting any longer, and tomorrow you'll be breathing down my neck again, and there's no time for pleasant conversations when I'm dangling from a noose" I watched him flinch at that. So maybe my death wasn't what he really wanted.
"Why did you save my life?" he asked me, those emerald eyes turning to stare down at me. His eyes reminded me of the sea in a way, like the sapphire of water, the glittering diamond of the sun's reflection, and then there was the jewels in the sky. The glittering diamonds of stars, the deep velvet blue midnight sky. But brighter then all of it was the eyes before me, those rare emerald green eyes. More treasure then any man could wish for. I must have been taking too long ballad forming around his eyes, for they narrowed at me. "Are you going to answer my question or just stare at me Sparrow?" he asked and I sighed, rolling my eyes a bit. "If your going to be chummy enough to call me by a name without the Captain thrown in, then let it be Jack mate" I said and was rewarded with another glare of those feisty emerald eyes. "Well Jack, why did you save my life? Or do you just enjoy tormenting me so much you couldn't imagine life without me?" he asked, voice absent of any snooty upper class-menship. "Well to be honest mate" I sat up a bit at this, downing another gulp of that fiery amber liquid. "Ish-really quite simple, you see. I need to be hunted, you and I, we make legends. You chase me, I run and you see, if you got killed, I might not have such an upstanding pursuer anymore, savvy?" I replied, slipping the bottle into my temporary companion's hand. "I don't drink" he said, and I noticed not even his perfect buttons had been undone one bit, just the removal of wig and hat. "Tonight you will Commodore" I answered, pulling another bottle from my sash, watching from the corner of my eyes as the upstanding brunette gave in, drinking deep of that dark substance, and I was even surprised a bit that he didn't cough.
I downed a bit more rum, lounging back in that chilling sand, feeling the wind move the grass softly right below my eye. The stars were so very bright tonight, not a single cloud in the cool depthless sky. It was amazing really, how different things were in the day then the night. Now it was chilling, the wind whipping against the dunes above us, up by the trees. The moon shimmered just like a willow-the-wisp high in the sky. Like a single silver dubloon, deep in the depths of the sea. I glanced at Norrington and he too was staring upwards, mind relaxed for the time being, but limbs wiry with nervousness. I sympathized with him, if I'd have been surrounded by Red Coats I would have been just as nervous. But here he was anyway, a handful of his men, who were now singing just as raunchily as my own over by that flickering fire. I suppose he was just wary of me, but hadn't I gained just a smidgen of his trust yet? I blinked and looked back up at the sky. Why did it matter so much to me anyway?
"I understand how you feel" he spoke softly, a bit stiffly, taking another deep drink of that caramel colored liquid. I raised my hand a bit, flicking it back and forth like a Spanish dancer "Now that we know each other a bit better mate, it's time you told me your name" I said and watched as he turned to look down at me, proud face schooled into an impassive mask. Hair being ruffled in the night wind, whipping it against those emerald eyes. I wonder if mine shine like that in the fire light, I'll never know, mirrors are too expensive. "I do not willingly find myself on first name basis with pirates, Captain Sparrow" and there we go back five moves. I sigh and raise to my elbows, the movement startling the Commodore enough for him to move for his weapon. I reassure him by over dramatically drinking at my bottle, before flopping back down into the sand I knew would be my bed that night.
We sat there in less then companionable silence, staring up at that jewel strewn sky. I wonder if he saw the same things as I, if this cruel night lit Caribbean was just as beautiful as the loving warm embrace of the same lass during the day. I wonder if he even sees her beauty at all. How long he'd been blinded by the beauty of a girl on the land to forget the beauty all around him. His hand dropped lazily to the sand, burying fingers deep, shifting the sand like the flowing hair of a lass at home. I sat back up, taking a long swig of my rum, and stared out at that gorgeous sea, at my beautiful Pearl, that sea and the Pearl were all the fine lass this man needed. I didn't need to be slapped anymore, except maybe for Anamaria, the Pearl would have been lost had it not been for her cool thinking during certain storms, not all from weather. "She meant allot to you" I stated, and his stance slacked a bit. "Yes" he said quietly, and I could feel the pain deep in that voice. The hopeless unrequited love, timeless that song was, sweet and bitter and man was doomed to repeat it over and over again. He took another swig from his bottle, drinking deep to soothe his heart. "The better man won her hand" he spoke, and I have to say I was a bit surprised, if it had been me I'd have been at dear Will's throat. But that just showed how upstanding and selfless the Commodore was, and I have to admit that shames me a bit.
"Don't you feel a little jealousy over it mate? She'd promised herself to you and then went off and blew your little hopes out of the water. If it had been me I'd have been furious" I said and wanted only to squirm into the sand and disappear when his bright emerald eyes turned to me. I could see the hate, not for me in general but just hate, radiating from deep inside of him and making me hot with it's intensity despite the chilling Caribbean night. "Yes Sparrow, I -am- jealous, I want to destroy her happy little life for leading me on and then breaking me apart. But unlike you, I am a gentleman and it is best she be with Will now, then when I am gone" he said this all softly, his hand clutching that rum bottle as if it was a lifeline, and I knew that feeling well. "Luv" I cooed softly, my hand stroking over his to get it to slacken it's grip on the bottle, and just like all that time ago when the grip had been on my wrist, he let go, the bottle tinkling against the sand softly, not a drop spilling. "Luv... it's all right to be jealous. It's human nature pet... and it's all right to be sad" I said, and as if weaving a spell the hate in his eyes left, pain so deep and fathomless swallowing up those ethereal depths. I almost felt guilty seeing that raw emotion on a supposed enemies face, how much the Commodore would hate himself once he realized how much of a leverage his opponent had gained by seeing him like this. But I couldn't just turn away from another living being that was in so much pain. I wasn't heartless.
So I watched those emerald eyes fill with tears, watched each drop drift down a face almost red with the harsh caresses the Caribbean wind was gracing it with. I felt his pain just by watching a man so proud resorted to this. He was a broken shattered visage of himself, proud face turned white, the wind probably making those wet lines freeze against his so pale skin. If I could I would take away that pain, even if it meant loosing this moment, loosing his presence in this sand beside me. Because I knew the only thing keeping him near me, near the man he loathed, was his need to be near someone who he didn't need to be the Commodore around. Who knew what he needed, and whose respect he didn't . I gently dragged him to lay in the sand too, only a little surprised when the proud Commodore sobbed against my jacket. It was a shame, a mar of the gods good name, to cause a man so proud and noble to actually have to depend on someone like me for comfort. I'm not bad necessarily, I happen to like myself very much. But where I was in this world, was almost the complete opposite of the man sobbing softly against my shoulder.
I softly patted him on the back, for a second my eyes widened a bit in desperation for a way to help, but when the soft sobbing quieted I realized I hadn't needed to help, my accepting it had been enough. I soothed down his back, remembering how my aunt had held me when I lost everything, and I returned the comfort given to me so many years ago. I watched the fire light play across the sand, resting my head back, warm from the body that had unwittingly been spooned against my own. I wondered vaguely what he would do when he realized he was being held, nay, comforted, by a pirate. By me no less? But apparently who I was didn't matter as long as I kept holding him. "It's alright luv" I whispered softly, realizing the last of my and the Commodore's men had fallen to blackness in the sand. "It's not alright" he said bitterly and I steadied myself for a verbal attack. "I'm a wreck, I'm nearing the end of my career I can feel it. I've not yet caught one foolish blundering pirate, because instead he has to save my life. I can't marry one single woman, because I'm not good enough to catch her heart. What's worse is that I cant even trust my fears and sorrow to my closest friend for fear of loosing his respect, so I have to rely on the man I'm sworn to hunt, catch and kill" he finished, staring at me with those bright, and I have to admit, so very beautiful eyes, eerily glinting with a mixture of rage and a soft indefinable emotion. Those eyes were as conflicted right now as the sea in the worst of storms, and I felt more then a little lost. Sort of like the Pearl lost in a deep Caribbean storm, his eyes leaving me more then a little shaken, sails torn in the wind.
"Your not a wreck luv" I said quietly, relishing the warmth, seduced by the lapping waters. I could feel his warm breath coming out gently against my neck and I realized then something that almost scared me to the bone. I liked feeling this, not just the feeling of being needed to comfort, but that he of all people, needed me in that moment. That his pride had been bent to near breaking, and that it was all because of me. I should have felt a little guilty to resort a proud and fine creature to such pitiful places, but it gave me the most sinful pleasure of knowing the Commodore was now forced to see me as his equal. I wanted so much to be accepted by him, to have him need me in his life as much as I needed his arrogant pompous being. He need to chase me didn't he? Or was all this in my head, was I being used here to sieve comfort from, or was he being used to provide warmth and companionship? Were we both being used? I felt the rum bogging down my senses, trying to lull me into traitorous sleep, but as I struggled to keep my eyes open I felt his breathing regulate softly against my neck, each soft caress against my skin a drum beat lulling me further into that black abyss. I knew if I fell asleep something bad would happen, like being clapped in irons. I hadn't missed the word "today" in the Commodore's relayed speach, tomorrow I wouldn't have that luxury I felt. But the music of the beach, the feeling of his heart, it spelled my eyes shut, and my whole world centered on the warmth against my side, the sounds narrowing to just that sensuous drum beat, and I slept.
I woke up not to the steady ground, but to the familiar rolling of waves, and with a stiff back. I sat up a bit, straw sticking to my clothing a bit. I groaned softly, the bars of a ship that was certainly not my own keeping me caged. I could hear the bustle of men above, and wondered how long I had been asleep. I pressed close to the bars, trying to peer outside and saw a number of other cells, all empty. So I had been the only captured, and for my own stupidity and compassion no less. I could hear the click clack of boots on wood and turned by head the other way, watching the Commodore stroll up to me, preened and proper, hat tilted up so he could glare at me to his fullest. But he wasn't glaring, a devilish smile was on his prissy lips, a gleam of achievement in his eyes. "If I were a lesser man Sparrow, you'd be hanging come the morrow. But I owe you my life twice, and indeed I owe you hospitality" he said, resting one hand against the bars that separated us. "Then why am I standin' here in your ship prisoner Commodore?" I asked, tilting my head and rising my hand to motion to my surroundings. "Because I had to return a few things to you Sparrow..." with that he opened the door, and I was a bit shocked, it hadn't been locked to begin with. He removed his hand from behind him, and I stepped back a bit until realizing it held naught a pistol, but a bundle.
I took the bundle cautiously and blinked a bit in surprise by my captor's cautious stance as well. Although then I was known for my daring actions to preserve my own life, but really I was more for running and living to fight another day, then fighting to the death on an enemy ship, greatly outnumbered. I carefully unwrapped the blue fabric, surprised to see my pistol and blade carefully wrapped inside. "Much in your debt Commodore and now if you'd be so kind as to take me back to my ship?" I asked, eyes narrowed at him with distrust. But he stepped aside, motioning for me to go first. I swayed up to the deck, seeing my ship still docked a bit away, the laz'abouts still sleeping in various places, only Anamaria was rowing toward the island to rouse the rest of us, and to surely find me missing. I recognized the bustle around me, my Navy friends were quickly readying themselves for the waves again. Almost ready to drop sails. I hadn't noticed I was being led till I stood before the bright Caribbean water, and the Commodore's hand was resting quite distractingly against the base of my back. I nervously looked down at the water, blinking a bit at the bright reflection. I noticed we had left the side of the ship with so much activity, and were now facing my Pearl. "You know Sparrow a wiseman once told me" I could hear the Commodore very clearly, seeing as his lips were practically pressed against my ear, his body a bit too close for comfort. My heart was flitting like a bird's trapped in a cage, the desire to jump into the cool water near overwhelming me. He was just so damn close.
His pause mid sentence was killing me with curiosity, I could feel his other hand softly touch my hip and my face flushed with embarrassment. "That if you really love a bird, you set it free" his hand pressed flat against my back, his lips practically kissing my neck. "If the bird returns to you, your love is mutual, if it doesn't then said bird was never yours" I could bet money he pressed his lips against my neck, I swear. "Just a little for you to think about..." he softly twirled me around with the hand on my hip, the hand on my back the only thing keeping me from the water below. My eyes were wide, arms flinging out to try and balance myself, and all I could see were those demon green eyes. Sinfully delighted with my predicament. "My Sparrow" with that I was falling backwards, the water catching me up and dragging me down. By the time I had sputtered to the surface he was gone, his ship setting toward the horizon. I growled softly and started swimming toward my own ship. Suddenly it smacked into the side of my head, my god, his Sparrow?!