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[bringmethatnpc]

Hot and hazy, night settles over Singapore with an ominous quiet, wreathing the docks and narrow waterways in shadows. Not many people are about, and in the absence of voices, the sound of a sharp cleaver making short work of a fish echoes dully around the creaking wooden boards of bridges and buildings. Below, the soft swish of water against pylons and stilts is ever present.

There's a sense of uneasy anticipation, as if the city herself knows that tonight, the war for the seas is coming to Singapore.

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[clumsy_auror]

Tonks bellows spell after spell, mostly Stunning Spells and Full-Body Binds, and it isn't long before most everyone is giving her a rather wide berth, because witch. Such women are feared, and she's giving them enough reason for the reputation to stand firm. One of Sao Feng's henchmen darts past her, and she spies a familiar gun in his hand: it's Mal's, she's sure of it.

Cursing under her breath, she easily ducks a badly-parried sword and wonders again where Mal is. He should be here, and someone else carrying around a gun he'd be loathe to part with is a very, very bad sign. Tonks is very pale as she hurries to catch up with Elizabeth, reaching out one hand to steady her friend's shoulder as they run, pale from fear and pale from exhaustion. Charlotte is a heavy weight in her belly, today.

[mr-mercer.livejournal.com]

From the hole blown in the floor come Gibbs and Ragetti leading the rest of the crew, firing their pistols into the fight as they run. Behind them, Marty climbs out of the hole with a miniature cannon; taking aim at a group of Company soldiers, he fires, but is immediately thrown back through the hole in the floor by the recoil.

Barbossa, Elizabeth and Will fight as they run, the fight spreading into the marketplace. Elizabeth kicks an East India Company man before slicing him with her sword, continuing to run as the fight crashes through the fruit and vegetable stalls. Barbossa, upon being charged by a Company soldier, calls encouragement and then neatly flips him over his shoulder and into the river. Will is busy with his own fight, elsewhere, for in the confusion of the fray the three of them have become separated.

In a nearby building, the panicked please of Sao Feng's remaining concubine are cut short by a quick and efficient bullet to the heart, effectively putting an end to her attempt to avenge her twin's death. Mercer turns as the smoke clears, pulling the concubine's pair of steel chopsticks from his left shoulder with a brief look of irritation. As he begins to leave, however, he catches sight of Sao Feng shoving Will up against the wall beside the door of the same building, holding a long knife against Will's throat. Mercer quickly crouches behind a nearby barrel, taking careful aim with his pistol as he listens.

Both are breathing heavily from the exertions of battle, but it is Sao Feng who speaks first, accusingly. "It's an odd coincidence, isn't it? The East India Trading Company finds me the day you show up in Singapore.

Will's voice is flat, "It's coincidence only." With a swift movement, Will clears himself of Sao Feng's hold and has Bootstrap's knife at Sao Feng's throat. "If you want to make a deal with Beckett, you need what I offer."

Mercer's eyes narrow from where he watches, and he withdraws his pistol.

"You would cross Barbossa," Sao Feng near-hisses at Will. "You are willing to cross Jack Sparrow. Why should I expect any better?"

Will looks him in the eye. "I need the Black Pearl to free my father." Point made, he withdraws the knife. "You're helping me to get it."

[bringmethatnpc]

In the midst of such a fight, who stops to pay attention to a barrel organ and a monkey?

As the combatants spill out of the bathhouse and onto narrow streets and docks, a well-hidden Tia Dalma calmly observes the barrel organ she'd left parked on a bridge. It plays a soft, sad tune, one the pirates would recognize if they had the presence of mind to listen. She sways gently to the music, like sea grass in a salty breeze, waiting, waiting...

A formation of riflemen appears on the bridge, pirates in their sights. They take careful aim, waiting for the order to fire, but it never comes; the barrel organ explodes. Slowly lowering her head, Tia Dalma smiles.

Elsewhere, Jack the monkey has discovered a stash of fireworks.

He takes a rocket, the largest he can find, and sets it on a crate against a railing. "Uh oh," says Cotton's parrot, but Jack won't be deterred. He's been watching and learning, and when he returns to the firework with a candle, he knows to drop it on the fuse and back away -- several paces away. Recalling a loud noise, he thinks it's also probably wise to clap his tiny hands over his ears.

"Fire in the hole!" the parrot screeches, watching the fuse shorten.

With a whistle and flash of sparks, the rocket takes flight, sailing quickly downriver. Jack leaps up on the crate and grips the railing, bouncing a little in his excitement. His mouth opens around a silent cry when the rocket passes directly between the Captain and his Navy opponent, but all worry is soon forgotten. It lands in a building containing hundreds of other rockets, and the resulting explosion, conflagration, is beautiful to behold.

The city burns, and the tide turns in the pirates’ favor. On the next bridge over, Barbossa raises his almost singed eyebrows and turns to eye his monkey. "Thank you, Jack!" he bellows in his gravelly voice.

"Thank you, Jack!" the parrot repeats.

Pleased, Jack scurries away. Perhaps he'll be rewarded with a peanut later.

[bringmethatnpc]

For some the burning is a cause for panic and others they stride through as though it were nothing; as it seems for Will Turner and the brand of men who rounded the corner at the end of the fireworks exploding outward everywhere. His stride was that of someone in control of their situation, expression is serious, but unphased as he finally met up again with his comrades.

Forgoing nothing but the important, Barbosa's greeted him with a single rough question. "You have the charts?"

"And better yet." Will's voice was smug, as he tossed the map tube to him, as the group was forming up behind him. "A ship and a crew."

Elizabeth, stepping up into the gathering, took only one look over the men following him before she had questions of her own. "Where's Sao Feng?"

She could do little to miss the one person who'd spent a good deal of time scrutinizing her and who had pushed to the misstep she'd made under his interrogation, or not to notice that Will was now leading them as though they were his without seeming anything amiss in that.

Will looked quickly once off toward the explosions still taking place, before back to the ground. "He'll cover our escape and meet us at Shipwreck Cove."

Tai Huang was not going to have any of this emotional muddle the two seemed to bear in any situation. The girl was clearly out of her depth as had been shown earlier, even if the weapons search had yet to leave off some impressiveness. He was to follow his Captain's plan, and that did not involve watching these two children speak plain words for other conversation which weren't important at the time being.

"This way." Tipping his head, he stuck his face in to get everyone attention. "Be quick!"

All the men funneled down the rickety bridges after his retreating figure, most of them missing the moment between Will and Elizabeth. There was a long look from one to the other that was more questioning than comforting, but both knew there was no time. Even so Will touched her shoulder as they, too, turned and were taken with the retreating crowd of men.

[try_corsets]

And where's Mal?

There isn't time to ask, not about that or why Will is suddenly in possession of the charts, or how he secured Sao Feng’s cooperation. For all his inaction, the Pirate Lord hadn't seemed the type to scare easily.

Frustrated, Elizabeth gives Will a look and hurries to follow the others, choosing not to dwell on his brief touch. There are explanations she would demand, if she weren't keeping her own secrets. If she felt she still had the right. A glance behind at the destruction they've caused forces her to reevaluate her thoughts on Sao Feng. There's no need for lamps anymore; the city is ablaze, and there's nowhere left to hide.

As he directs them to their new ship, Elizabeth notices that Tai Huang is well armed. In addition to his sword, he has several pistols through his sash and three at his back. One looks a great deal like a pistol she had been carrying, before the humiliating confiscation, and the other...

Elizabeth scowls.

I'll have those back now, she thinks, lengthening her stride until she crashes into the pirate just as they reach the narrowest part of the street. Will bumps into them from behind, assisting her more than he knows. Once everyone has their balance, Elizabeth hisses, "Sorry" and keeps moving, tucking Mal’s gun underneath her robe. She'd only had time to grab the one, but at least it's something.

Mal would undoubtedly agree.

-- -- --

The night sky is bright with flames, but the sounds of explosions and collapsing timber fade into the distance as they sail out of Singapore. Some of the men stare at the burning city in their wake. Elizabeth would rather look ahead. She spies Tia Dalma at the rail, eyes fixed on the open sea, and approaches cautiously.

"There's no place left for Sao Feng to cower," Elizabeth observes. "Do you think he will honor the call?"

At first, Elizabeth thinks the other woman isn't going to acknowledge her presence.

"I cannot say," Tia Dalma replies at last, measuring each word as if it costs her. "There's an evil on these seas that even the most staunch and bloodthirsty pirates have come to fear."

Wondering at the pain and barely leashed anger in her voice, Elizabeth nods at Tia Dalma’s profile and likewise looks out to sea. They have another long journey to contemplate the meaning of those words. Nothing else need be said until after they rescue Jack.

And they will rescue Jack.