bringmethatnpc | (no subject)

The deck of the Black Pearl is full of activity as the crew hastens about, making ready to set sail. Whether hauling lines or hoisting sails, securing the longboats or tying down nets, everyone has work to do and is busily seeing to it.

Everyone, that is, save Will Turner, who is still lying unconscious on the deck.

Page 1 of 5 << [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] >>

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

turned_captain

Will slowly forces his eyes open, blinking up in the daylight. Then he focuses on the visage in front of him, wondering, not for the firt time in the past few days, what on Earth is going on.

From:

try_corsets

Watching over him, Elizabeth smiles slightly as he regains consciousness. She's filthy and worried, but everything else can wait until she's certain Will is alright.

From:

turned_captain

Elizabeth. She smiling. And that's enough to ellicit a return smile from Will. She's OK.

His head hurts.

Jack hit him...

As memories flood back, his smile fades.

"What happened to the chest?"

From:

try_corsets

She grimaces, looking down and to the side.

"Norrington took it to draw them off," she explains, voice riddled with disbelief.

From:

turned_captain

That traitor.

Will lifts a hand from the deck, towards her. They can take this moment together, and worry about the chest later.

From:

bringmethatnpc

"Enough."

If Jones gives any signal, it isn't obvious, unless continuing to glare at Jack Sparrow in utter loathing counts. It doesn't quite matter how it happens, though; just that it happens.

Especially considering that what happens is all of the Flying Dutchman's cannon ports falling open, spewing forth torrents of water and one battered, encrusted cannon each, each one trained on the hull of the Black Pearl.

They don't look like much.

Do not underestimate them.

From:

bringmethatnpc

Koleniko glares ahead as the Black Pearl turns to catch the full advantage of the wind. Even going full pelt, the Dutchman's falling behind them, slowly but visibly.

He scowls and turns to shout back over what just about passes for his shoulder.

"They’re outta range!"

From:

pirate_jack

He's still grinning in triumphant relief -- this is it, this is the way out, this is the real key -- when Jones snarls his order and the guns shove forward, with his Pearl dead in their sights.

This wasn't part of the plan!

Jack's grin vanishes instantly. Unable to move at first for the shock, he still manages to call out,

"Hard to starboard."

From:

pirate_jack

The ocean's calm, save only for the menacing swell that is racing toward the Black Pearl from her starboard.

To her port, a single longboat is visible -- gaining distance from the ship as the man inside rows steadily onward.

Save only for the occasional wary sideways glance as he judges his position, Jack's gaze is trained on his ship.

From:

try_corsets

He manages it, but Elizabeth decides it wasn't nearly loud enough. Whirling around, she yells, "HARD TO STARBOARD!"

From:

turned_captain

Will, of course, has done a lot of sailing with actual crews, and knows how to translate that order into getting something done.

"Hoist up the foreyard!" he yells, runnig to give a hand.

From:

try_corsets

Clutching the musket in one hand, Elizabeth races to the port rail and hands a crewman another. With a quick, authoritative bark, she indicates where he's needed with a jerk of her head and turns to check-

Whatever she meant to check becomes quickly irrelevant. She spies the longboat and Jack inside, her stomach sinking with the realization that he's deserted them all.

Staring, she grapples with a heavy sense of disappointment.

"You coward."

The ship rocks as if hit by something, and she lurches to the side with a gasp, trying to maintain her grip on the musket.

From:

bringmethatnpc

"Break off pursuit, run our lights, and douse canvas!"

Jones, too, is watching the Pearl.

From:

bringmethatnpc

"We're giving up?"

Staring grimly across open water at the Pearl, Maccus glares at the very thought before seeing his captain smile. After a moment, he smiles viciously back.

From:

bringmethatnpc

Nearby, the crew stagger, clutching at the railing or whatever is closest to keep their balance. Marty hauls himself up to stare about him in worry as Cotton does likewise beside him.

"...Not good," he mutters.

From:

bringmethatnpc

With a crash of displaces water, tentacles burst from the water to plunge through the gun ports of the Black Pearl in a crash of shattering wood, while yet more flail over the decks.

From:

bringmethatnpc

And within minutes the crack of the bo'sun's whip sounds.

The great capstan turns, pole rising, as the crew struggles against the spokes.

Thirteen years ago, the Black Pearl rose from the sea...and today, she will be claimed by it once more.

From:

turned_captain

Inside the Black Pearl, chaos reigns. The hull splinters and cracks as tentacles break into, flailing angrily.

Above the screams of the crew, Will shouts orders to anyone who'll hear. The need to act overriding any possible fear he might have.

"Haul away!"

From:

bringmethatnpc

Looking back at the trailing Dutchman, Marty points from his place in the rigging.

"They're giving up!"

The proclamation is met with a great cheer from the crew of the Black Pearl, complete with Pintel and Ragetti hooking arms and doing a little jig in giddy relief.

From:

turned_captain

But no. They can't just run away. They can't leave them. They can't leave him. Will can't leave him.

Will makes his way to the quarterdeck, where Jack is smiling out over the crew, enjoying his triumph.

"My father is on that ship," he says shortly. "If we can outrun her, we can take her – we should turn and fight."

From:

pirate_jack

Not only does young Will evidently not grasp that comparative mass and armament are not the same as speed before the wind, but he is once again missing the real point.

Not that this is a particular surprise.

Confidently, Jack tells him, "Why fight, when you can negotiate? All one needs--"

He places the jar of dirt firmly on the rail before him, drumming his fingers absently on the lid as he does.

" -- is the proper leverage."

From:

bringmethatnpc

Proper leverage or not, the Pearl jerks to a sudden halt, caught up by something.

Something unseen below the water's surface.

Probably something big.

From:

pirate_jack

As the violent shudder runs through the ship, crew members go sprawling.

The jar of the dirt's no exception to the effect of certain natural laws, and it falls from the railing to land with a crash on the deck below. Glass shatters everywhere as dirt scatters.

There's no sign of Davy Jones's heart. Jack feels as if his own has stopped beating as he scrambles down the stairs to the deck and paws wildly through the soil.

"Where is it? Where has it gone to?!"