(no subject)

[bringmethatnpc]

The storm rages around both fleets, favouring neither treacherous side over the other. The sea, black and deadly, bucks beneath the ships and above them, clouds thick enough to turn the bright afternoon sun to twilight, rain down so thick that one can hardly see from port to starboard.

"MAELSTROM!"

Only two ships have the nerve to sail forward into the preternatural tempest, and even when Gibbs' anxious cry rings out across the deck, neither turn back. The Pearl and the Dutchman advance on each other under the expert and fearless helmsmanship of Barbossa and Jones.

Around the pit they circle like hungry sharks, drawing tighter and tighter, each under the unrelenting fire of the other. An then the maelstrom has them completely, and the only thing stopping either from sinking down is the other ship, as the topgallant masts touch and the rigging becomes entwined.

The storm rages, and the battle rages with it.

Comments

[turned_captain]

Both ships and both crews know their business, and when the exact right time is to swing across. The boarding crews cross in the midway, with just a cursory shot between them.

When they reach the other vessl, it's a different matter, as the crews are there waiting for them. And on the front line of the Black Pearl is Will Turner, who wasts no time in emptying his pistol into the first boarder.

It's lucky fighting is second nature to Will, because it isn't the topmost thing on his mind, even in this urgent circumstance. Hs mind is on what it's been on since the Pirate King roused an entire fleet into battle with one speech.

He has to make a choice, and he knows now what he wants.

With the second wave of borders, his sword is out, and his eyes find the object of his search.

"Elizabeth!"

[try_corsets]

Elizabeth's mind is on survival.

When the first boarders land between and around them, Elizabeth throws herself into the fray with near feral intensity, sliding her blade between the slimy ribs and barnacles of a Dutchman pirate. It sticks. Grunting, she gives her sword a savage twist and pulls it free.

Elizabeth!

His voice is largely lost in the roar of water and battle. She turns, avoiding a hulking pirate and stabbing him at the exact same moment as Will. They share a look, and she gives him a small smile of acknowledgment that they are in this together and fighting for their lives before shaking the water from her eyes and raising her sword once more.

[turned_captain]

The shared moment of killing is something, and Will enjoys it, but it's not enough. The second his sword is out, he lunges after her with his off-hand, touching her elbow to ensure he has her full attention.

"Elizabeth!" He repeats, and pauses to catch his breath.

The second time requires no less courage than the first.

"Will you marry me?"

[try_corsets]

Already surprised that he's attempting to hold her attention while they are surrounded by enemies with swords, Elizabeth can do nothing but gape at his question.

The second time is not quite so easy to answer.

A hostile cry snaps her back to the here and now, and she jerks sideways to avoid a sword swinging down between them. She parries, holding the sword down with her own, and gives Will an incredulous look.

"I don't think now's the best time!" she exclaims, voice high with disbelief.

Slashing at the pirate, she ducks to avoid his swing and spins to finish him off.

[turned_captain]

Will turns away from her to fend off one of the Dutchman's crew, but turns back the second her has a chance.

"Now may be the only time!"

Trying to get to her, he's distracted by a sailor who seems entirely human, and who Will can only assume sails for the Company. He uses just one arching parry to send the sailor off in a different direction and runs after Elizabeth, catching her arm far morereadily this time, sure of her attention.

"I love you."

[bushel-o-apples.livejournal.com]

Up on the quarterdeck, Barbossa is surrounded. Not that it's a situation he hasn't been in before, and in fact it's one he kind of relishes. Caught between a raging goddess and Davy Jones' locker, hopelessly outnumbered and faced with enemies both mortal and cursed, Barbossa laughs.

All the fancy swordsmanship in the world is fine when you have the space to use it, but when you're caught in a messy boarding like this, you fight with whatever you have at hand. Hand, foot, blade and the very ship if needed. And so he employs the now mostly useless wheel of the Pearl as both a parrying implement and a crushing weapon as he dodges the men of both Jones' crew and the East India Trading Company that swarm around the helm while down below, the two lovers reunite in the middle of a seemingly doomed battle.

[try_corsets]

Still Elizabeth makes no answer. Her eyes meet Will's and roam over his beloved face, searching, though his words have already erased all doubts of his sincerity. Left arm clasping his as much for balance as to forge a connection, Elizabeth feels all the distance between them, all the distrust, start to dissolve into a meaningless nothing in the face of their current situation.

Now may indeed be the only time.

She sucks in a breath and tears her eyes away when a cry alerts her to an incoming pirate. Dispatching him quickly, she hurries back to the mast and again reaches for Will, grabbing his arm as the deck pitches beneath their feet.

[turned_captain]

Will is little more than annoyed at the distraction now, his heart lifting along with his spirits when she doesn't just dismiss him.

He was a fool for waiting this long, and an idiot for ever doubting her. Whether he dies or or not today, he will not die a bachelor.

"I've made my choice," he tells her. "What's yours?"

[try_corsets]

In the end it's a simple decision to make.

He still loves her, that she should never have doubted.

And she loves him.

He's a pirate, and to hold that or any of his actions against him now would be the highest form of hypocrisy.

(I am the captain of a ship. And, being the captain of a ship, I could in fact perform a marriage right here. Right on this deck. Right... now.)

Mere seconds after Will asks, she shouts into the rain: "BARBOSSA!"

[turned_captain]

She'll have to forgive Will if that wasn't the answer he was expecting.

He'd fully admit that he wasn't entirely sure she'd say yes. And to be honest, a part of him was expecting her to say 'Jack' or 'Norrington', or even some other man she may have met in their seperation.

'Barbossa' didn't even come close.

Now it's Will's turn to stare.

[try_corsets]

Rather than explain, Elizabeth looks up to the quarterdeck, blinking the rain from her eyes.

"Marry us!" she demands, urgently, squeezing Will's arm in case he hasn't caught on that this is her way of saying 'yes.'

[bushel-o-apples.livejournal.com]

Up on the quarterdeck, Barbossa hears her shout. A man less confident on his own senses (Well, less full of himself would work, too) would probably believe he misunderstood the words, but not him. An upwards slash takes care of his current foe and he uses the momentum to spin towards the railing, looking down at the deck with wide eyes and arched brows, as if barely believing what's being asked of him.

"I'm a little busy at the moment!"

But there's no rest for the wicked; he turns back just in time to slash across the belly of one of Jones' twisted crewmen and parry his overhead slash.

[turned_captain]

Will couldn't stop himself from smiling like an idiot if he wanted to. She said yes. And not only did she say yes, but she meant now!

Looking at her though, he sees another sailor attacking from behind, and rushes past to fend him off, as he feels Elizabeth heading off to fight someone behind him. Too distracted to bring his sword up, he just punches the sailer and looks back up to the helm.

"Barbossa!" he echoes, "Now!

Then his sword is up again as one of his former crew mates gets too close.

[bushel-o-apples.livejournal.com]

'Busy' was kind of an understatement. Barbossa stabs one hideous sailor from the Dutchman with his sword and uses his foe's blade to run another one through as he answers to Will.

"Fine, then!"

And disentangling himself from the two stabbed fishmen, he turns for higher ground. Which at the moment means the helm.

[try_corsets]

Slashing at a man with renewed determination, Elizabeth wants nothing more than to buy herself a few minutes for an impromptu wedding.

A wedding that should have taken place long before this.

It is her opponent's bad luck to be readily identifiable as a Company man; surprising them both, she catches him across the belly, takes his arm and flips him over, letting loose a triumphant shout. Wasting no time, she darts sideways toward Will, fighting as she goes.

[bushel-o-apples.livejournal.com]

With a backhand strike from his sword's guard, Barbossa sends the fish-pirate locked with him reeling against the quarterdeck's board. His way now clear, he clambers onto the helm. A man from the East India Company sees an opportunity to attack him from behind...

But Barbossa doesn't need a firm footing or a clear line of sight to be a dangerous fighter. Turning around, he parries the soldier's saber aside almost spitefully and in the same movement kicks the man across the face. If he survives the battle his missing teeth will remind him that old evil pirates get to that age because people don't catch them off-guard.

[turned_captain]

Will doesn't even think as far as buying himself time. The fighting, that's secondary. The enemy he fights are faceless compared to the only person on the ship that matters to him.

He catches up to Elizabeth from behind and draws her to him, holding her more closely then he's ever dared before.

[bushel-o-apples.livejournal.com]

Up on the quarterdeck, Barbossa stands upon the helm, parrying his enemy's sword hard enough to send him back to the railing. Then, clasping one hand dramatically over his heart, he raises his voice over the din of the fight and the roar of the storm.

"Dearly beloved, we be gathered here today..."

One of Jones' cursed crewmen, the one who looks like his mother did unspeakable things with a blowfish (or a sea urchin) attacks him from the side. Parrying and riposting, Barbossa grabs a piece of rigging to steady himself and kicks the blowfish-man in the teeth, sending thorns flying everywhere.

"...Ta nail your gizzard to the mast, ye poxy cur!"

Which is, no doubt, one of the most original ways ever to start a wedding ceremony.

[try_corsets]

It's hard to look away from Will, but when Barbossa begins to speak, Elizabeth faces forward and strains to hear him above the constant noise.

And then she's not at all sure she heard him correctly.

What? she mouths, wondering if she should ask him to clarify or if it even matters. Forced to duck as an attack comes from the right, she delivers a quick stab and turns to run around the mast.

[turned_captain]

At the same time Elizabeth ducks, Will spins around to slash into a cursed pirate from behind then over her head in the same movement before she rises. He races away to let her take that opponent, and clears out a few other unwelcome guests at his wedding.

Taking the other side of the mast, he catches Elizabeth on the other side, grabbing her hands in his. They don't need Barboss for this.

"Elizabeth Swann, do you take me to be your husband?"

[try_corsets]

They hold their hands clasped tightly, splaying their feet for balance, and Elizabeth, gripped by excitement, nods eagerly.

"I do!"

She smiles as she speaks, and the happy light in her eyes and the faint, breathy tremble in her voice say as much about her heart as those two little words of acceptance.

[turned_captain]

Will grins, honest and simple and just a little bit dorky.

"Great!"

Only then they're forced to duck as one of Jones' men tries to slice both their heads off at the same time.

[try_corsets]

He is, thankfully, unsuccessful. Elizabeth and Will separate and do battle for a moment before finding each other again, left hand unerringly finding left hand and holding on tight.

"William Turner, do you take me-"

They turn away to parry blows and deliver a few of their own, still holding hands, and when Elizabeth's eyes meet his again, there's no doubt that she's enjoying herself.

"-to be your wife," she continues with a saucy tilt to her head.

Jones' men seem to have no respect for ceremony, however, and she's forced to pause once more.

[turned_captain]

Will's smile hasn't faded, and he's having the time of his life. He steps past Elizabeth, holding their joined hands up so she can spin underneath as they swap places to fight past each other.

It's already a fairly unconventional wedding, he's sure it doesn't matter if they have the dance before the ceremony is finished.

For the first time, he realises he doesn't regret being arrested on the day of their first wedding, because this is so much more fitting for the marriage of Elizabeth Swann, King of the Pirates and the most passionate fighting soul he knows.

Their hands twist, and this time Will moves underarm, breaking contact to return to their original places.

[try_corsets]

As Will moves away, Elizabeth takes on yet another pirate with disturbing fish parts. Her sword arcs up and down in vicious strikes, a mere blur of steel in the rain, and her wet hair lashes her cheek as she spins. Driven back against her groom, she feels his arm slide around her waist.

"In sickness and in health," she shouts, parrying high to block an overhead blow. Will helpfully stabs their foe in the stomach. "...with health being the less likely."

Adding a grunt of emphasis on the last word, Elizabeth kicks him off Will's sword and watches him crash to the deck.

[turned_captain]

Will spins away as Elizabeth takes the sailors in front of them, and the couple draw together, standing directly back to back as they fight. It's so easy to him, that Will realises he's not just aware of his own opponents, but the position and movement of hers as well.

He glances over his shoulder and catches her eye, then swings over her head to kill the man trying to kill her. As Elizabeth stands from the duck, Will uses the same arm movement to draw her close to him. And for an instant his world is her face looking up at him.

"I do."

[try_corsets]

Elizabeth smiles, soaking wet and yet warm to her very bones. Everything but Will fades into the background, and she decides that this is far better than any wedding they could have planned.

She's happily aware that these simple vows are all they've ever really needed.

However, any opportunity to bask in the moment is severely curtailed. Not a second too soon, Elizabeth and Will duck as three swords whoosh over their heads to connect with a resounding clang. They come up fighting, back to back and each highly attuned to the other.

[bushel-o-apples.livejournal.com]

Right now, Barbossa couldn't be more at home. His voice raises, defying the howling of the storm and the roar of the cannons, and even the clang of blades as he parries his multiple enemies' attacks with an utter, humiliating disinterest.

"As captain I now pronounce you..."

[turned_captain]

Will and Elizabeth are even more effective as a team fighting than they were astwo seperate fighters. With one of the three Dutchman crew members who had attacked them down, Will wraps his arm around his fiancée's... around his bride's waist, and they thrust past each other, stabbing through the remaining pirates in unison.

[bushel-o-apples.livejournal.com]

After carnally introducing the Pearl's wheel to the face of an East India Company man, Barbossa once again stands high on the helm, hand still over his heart.

"You may kiss!"

Pulling his pistol out of his belt, he fires it straight into the chest of the soldier running up at him. One more lesson on 'how -not- to catch an evil old man unawares'.

"Aaarrhahahah...!!"

His laugh rings over the din as, down below on the main deck...

[turned_captain]

His arm still around her, Will swings Elizabeth around himself and dips her down passionately in one grand gesture.

Feeling her hand cup his cheek, he leans forward to kiss his wife for the first time.

[try_corsets]

Elizabeth's lips are about to meet his when a Company man, clearly unromantic at heart, hurtles towards them. Will blocks his attack and uses his forward momentum to nudge Elizabeth up and out.

She whips her blade around and attacks with impressive fury and frustration.

Nothing is going to keep her from having her wedding kiss.

[bushel-o-apples.livejournal.com]

Barbossa jumps down from the helm, kicks forwards almost casually and there goes an East India Company man whose surname will die with him. Noticing the two lovebirds still haven't kissed, he raises his voice again.

"You may kiss...!"

Young people this day have no concept of the right moment to stop playing. He might point that out aloud, but another cursed pirate attacks him, forcing him to use both sword and pistol to parry. Then he slides his sword in a slash that embeds it in the creature's side.

[turned_captain]

It's not quite the kiss, but it's still something amazing. Will slices across one of the cursed pirates and spins under the same momentum, sensing someone coming up behind him.

His sword swings up and over as he turns, and brings it down sharply until it's met By Elizabeth's parry.

[bushel-o-apples.livejournal.com]

Barbossa pulls his sword out of the cursed pirate's side, letting the momentum of the pull drive it into the chest of yet another East India Company soldier who didn't learn Rule Number One (The one about not attacking old men, you know). He looks over the quarterdeck railing and his face twists into a scowl.

"Just kiss!"

And if they don't, he's going down there and holding their heads together himself... As soon as he kills the moray-headed minion of Jones that bears down on him at the moment.

[try_corsets]

Breathless, Elizabeth stares at Will under their crossed swords, ignoring nearby skirmishes and the water falling all around them. She hears Barbosa's bellow and, unable to look away, thinks the old pirate has just issued one of his more sensible commands.

They've done enough waiting.

A heartbeat later, she wraps her left hand around Will's wrist and pulls his arm down to her waist. She lifts up until their mouths meet in a kiss that is utterly free of restraint, like they're both coming home, and her heart sings at the thought that she's kissing her husband.

Finally.

[turned_captain]

Finally.

Everything drops away, as Will is kissed and kisses, holding her to him as close as he can,extending the moment for as long as he can.

Around them the skirmishes appear to be quieter, further away and less urgent. The battle may not be over, but they've not lost the Pearl, and he's won the treasure he's been chasing after for ten long years.

In a moment he'll realise he still has to save his father. But for now, all there is, is Elizabeth. Elizabeth Turner. Mrs. Turner. Captain Turner.

His Elizabeth.

[bringmethatnpc]

Peering up from the safety of the hold, Pintel can't resist turning to glance at Ragetti before giving the locked lovers a sentimental smile.

Ahhhh. Bless 'em.

What a happy ending.