bringmethatnpc | AWE: Dead Kraken

AWE: Dead Kraken

Even before they set foot on the island, the enormous mass that covers one end of the beach like some malignant tumor is impossible to miss. So is the stench of rotting fish and the cloud of gulls and other birds that feast on the huge-ish piece of carrion. As they step off the boats, the pirates busying themselves with the buckets and skins for water, two men stand apart from the rest, watching the dead beast, knowing it for what it is.

Jack and Barbossa look over at the remains of the Kraken, mulling their thoughts in silence. Then, the Spaniard turns his head to regard Jack with a certain curiosity, just as Sparrow starts to walk along the beach towards the immense carcass. Pintel and Ragetti, maybe no more bewildered but less circumspect about it, follow in their wake.

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He's only barely aware of the other man following him as he sets off along the shore. It's not enough to distract him from his goal.

The last time he'd seen this beastie, after all--

--well, he'd never expected to see it again. Certainly not like this.

Jack walks slowly up to the kraken, looking at himself reflected in its glazed, staring eye.

Barbossa walks up behind Jack, watching their reflections in the Kraken's dead, unseeing eye. Now this, this has been a stroke of luck the kind you don't usually get. Something like this you can't ignore. Something like this will surely give Jack pause, make him see what the world is about to become if they don't stop Beckett.

The faintest curl to the corners of his lips isn't quite a smirk as he speaks, his tone gentler than he's normally use with Sparrow.

"Still thinking of running, Jack? Think you can outrun the world...?"

He hears Barbossa's words, even takes note of the tone of his voice, but at the same time the Spaniard's speech seems to ring at a distance through the roaring in his own ears.

It's the sound of the waves crashing on the beach mixed with the shrieking of the feasting gulls-- and with other, older noises.

(hello beastie)

Jack can almost hear the creaking of the Pearl's masts under the weight of the kraken's tentacles, the shattering of wood and the rushing of water after it.

(time's run out)

All three of them here on this little corner of beach have died before, the two men as well as the creature that was never human, but only one of their tales is truly done-- and it's that of the rotting corpse before them.

Jack Sparrow lowers his eyes, and says nothing.

This was but a beast. A beast of the vast deep, far below sailing men. It was only magic and the likes of Beckett and Jones that made it our enemy. And now, its usefulness expired, it is discarded. Such is the world that men like Cutler Beckett would rule over, Jack. A world where anything he doesn't hold complete and direct control over must be destroyed. Can you see it? Can you realize there's no way they'll allow you to live free, ever?

Despite all their differences, despite all the fighting and the murderous hatred, they have this one thing in common. Freedom. They're both men who would rather die than accept the yoke of submitting to another's rule. And that's what things have come to, at last. It's time to make a stand; no one can flee forever, and if only he could make Jack see that...

The gaze he gives Jack as he walks up to him is calculating, jaw shifting thoughtfully before he speaks. And when he does, his tone is still the same he just used. For once unguarded, you could almost say friendly. Perhaps an offer of peace.

"You know, the problem with being the last of anything is, by and by there'll be none left at all..."

This time, the other man's observation sinks in. Jack gives a small uncomfortable shrug of one shoulder as he turns to look at Barbossa.

"Sometimes things come back, mate."

He manages a fleeting half-smile and waves his hand to indicate the two of them.

"We're living proof, you and me."

Barbossa nods, acknowledging their exceptionality. They are not like other men, after all, are they?

"Aye, but that's a gamble of long odds, ain't it?"

And even in these circumstances, Barbossa can't help a small touch of black humour from slipping into his voice.

"There's never a guaranty of coming back. But passing on, that's dead certain."

He adds with another little nod, his gaze still fixed upon Jack's face, trying to discern the thoughts behind it.

It's hard to tell what's running through his mind at present. Jack's nodding too, just a little, but as his gaze slides back to the kraken he doesn't deny anything Barbossa's said.

A moment or two passes in thoughtful silence before he speaks again.

"Summoning the Brethren Court, then, is it?"

It's not quite a question, not exactly. If anything, Jack Sparrow sounds resigned.

Barbossa's head shakes slightly. It's not like he adores the thought of the gathering of Pirate Lords, but both the plan he has revealed and his actual plan require of it.

"It's our only hope, lad..."

He glances over at Barbossa, then down and away.

"That's a sad commentary in and of itself."

There's an edged undertone to his words, sharp and biting, and it's bitterly clear that he doesn't like the situation at all.

Neither does Barbossa. Mind, he enjoys the plotting, the pitting his wits and twisted double-dealing skills against forces so vastly superior, but he would much rather be playing a slightly safer kind of game.

With Jack's gaze still focused on the dead beast and him apparently having accepted the situation, despite his deep dislike of it, Barbossa relaxes a bit, the calculating gaze returning as he finds a safe stereotype to close the conversation with.

"The world used to be a bigger place."

It's not like he believes as much, but to a wanderlust-stricken man like Jack, it'll probably ring true enough.

But at this, Jack shakes his head, disagreeing.

"The world's still the same."

Black eyes meet the dull empty look of the kraken's lifeless stare,

(a bit of myth in a world what all too often lacks it)

and there's an odd certainty in the rough depths of his voice.

"'S just-- less in it."

Jack turns away then, and gives Barbossa a quick, enigmatic look before starting back up the beach.

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AWE: Dead Kraken

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