Adult-FanFiction.org : Movies

Savarna	By : BrethlessM Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (All) > Het - Male/Female > Jack/Elizabeth Views: 5383 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
A/N: Hi all! Sorry for the delay - school's gotten off to a rough start! Hopefully it'll calm down soon, but I can't make any promises as to when I'll post again, except that it won't be too long - so don't worry! I found out last night that 'The Flying Dutchman' has been nominated for the Best Tear Jerker Award in the Sparrabeth Awards! Woohoo!!! Thanks to those of you who nominated me - I'm very honored. Check out LiveJournal's http://community.livejournal.com/sparrabeth_sea/ for all the nominees! I hope you enjoy Chapter 12 - it took forever to write, but it came out just as I'd hoped it would (at least, I think it did)! Some people have also asked for the link to the fanart I received again, so here it is: http://emthiessen.deviantart.com/art/The-Flying-Dutchman-Fic-Art-61712039 See you very soon! - Kimberlee
Chapter Twelve

Port Royal had once been called the �Treasury of the West Indies�. Covering a little more than 50 acres of Jamaican land, the harbor city, throughout Elizabeth�s childhood, had been densely packed with approximately 6,500 merchants and mariners, soldiers and smugglers, privateers and pirates � along with a contingency of accompanying slaves, women and children. It was a community of Smiths, Carpenters, Bricklayers, Tanners, Shoemakers, Tailors, Joiners, Rope-makers, Painters, and workers of practically every other imaginable trade, including prostitution. The people lived richly and plentifully, if not always righteously.

To Elizabeth, Port Royal had been home ever since she was a girl of ten. England was a distant memory to her after twenty years of separation, and her recollections of it consisted of nannies in starched aprons, dinners of cold beef, and the unforgettable image of her mother coughing blood into a white handkerchief. No, her life had begun anew when she and her father first set foot in Port Royal, and Elizabeth had come to love the thriving city � both the good and the bad of it.

She had not witnessed the destruction of Port Royal � for it had only truly begun the moment her body entered the cold embrace of the sea beneath Fort Charles, and although she had heard from Jack and William the events that had followed her death, Elizabeth was ill-prepared for the sight that met her eyes as the first glimpse of the once glorious city became visible from the bow of the Savarna.

To say that the city lay in ruins would have been generous. The once familiar shoreline had vanished completely beneath the ocean waves on all sides, and what remained of Port Royal was a mere one-third of its original proportions. Buildings that had been made of brick or stone lay in crumbling heaps, while the more flexible wooden structures remained standing, looking lonely and forlorn. Fort Charles was still visible, and somehow still recognizable despite the damage it had incurred, but the beach below it � from which Jack and William had been rescued by the crew of the Black Pearl � was gone, eaten by the encroaching sea.

Elizabeth felt ill, and covered her mouth with a shaky hand. One arm wrapped around her stomach protectively, but she could not look away from the devastation. Her eyes searched hungrily for landmarks familiar from her life there but besides the Fort, everything looked horrifyingly foreign. Finally turning her head, she looked at Jack standing beside her, and noticed the shock on his face too.

Though he had been right in the thick of things in the final moments of Port Royal�s existence, Jack could not remember the city in this state. He remembered running from the Fort down to the beach, desperate to reach a ship that, unknown to him, had already set sail. The beach in question had vanished, and he wondered when that had happened. Obviously after he�d escaped, but how long after?

Sifting through the memories of that day � images which he�d striven to forget until this moment � Jack vaguely recalled the rolling motion of the earth, the sand turning to mush and swallowing people whole all around them, and the fires that seemed to engulf everything in a matter of seconds. It seemed amazing to him now, staring at the ruins, that he and William had escaped at all.

Hesitantly, the Savarna pulled closer to the shore, and as it did, Jack became aware of a strange mist that hovered over the coast, vibrating slightly. Then, he noticed the smell.

Port Royal, due to a combination of the tropical heat and a lack of adequate water and drainage resources, had always had a certain �distinct� odor, but it was nothing compared to the stench that was suddenly all around them. Casually looking around, he noticed the twisted faces of his crew, and heard a slight choking sound from Elizabeth at his side. Jack pulled the bandana on his forehead down over his face to cover his nose and mouth.
The smell was significant, but Jack peered more intently at the odd mist, unable at first to determine what it meant. Suddenly, his eyes went wide, and Jack searched the waters surrounding them for a moment before spinning around and heading quickly back towards the helm. Holding his breath, Jack ignored Elizabeth�s protests and questions as he ushered her along with him, until he�d reached his father on the Stern Deck.
�We have to stop,� he told them both. �Fall back, and get windward of this place, on the double!�
Both Elizabeth and Captain Teague stared at Jack as though he were insane. �We�re not leaving without Will�s heart,� Elizabeth insisted stubbornly.
Jack continued matching his father�s stare. �Speed, man!� he said, hands churning the air. �Let�s have at it!�
�Belay that, Captain Teague,� Elizabeth ordered, her voice hard and cool as steel. �Jack I demand you tell me what�s going on,� she said.
�Darling,� Jack began in exasperation, �I will reveal to you anything at all... the moment we�re safely away from Port Royal.�
Elizabeth met his eyes, and saw that Jack was worried. Furious, she looked to Captain Teague and saw that he was watching Jack closely. After a brief moment, the Captain called out orders to the crew and turned the wheel, steering them away from their destination. Biting her tongue and fighting back the hot tears that rose in her throat, Elizabeth stormed up to the Stern Deck behind the wheel and watched as Port Royal came into view behind them and began to recede.
Jack organized the crew and began giving orders, but Elizabeth blocked him out of her mind. There had to be a reason why he was taking them away again, just when they�d finally reached their destination. She tried hard to have faith in that, and began counting silently to ten over and over again, until she could think more clearly.
When they�d fallen back to about a league�s distance from the shore, Jack surprised Elizabeth by calling the ship to a halt, ordering the men to drop anchor. She could still see Port Royal, though the horrific details were mercifully veiled by the expanse of water between them. Sighing in frustration, Elizabeth went to find Jack, but found him mounting the stairs behind her, walking towards his father.
Teague waited in expectant silence, but Elizabeth couldn�t prevent herself from asking, �What are we doing, Jack?�
Knowing that his father would be listening, even if he wasn�t talking to him directly, Jack put an arm around Elizabeth�s stiffened shoulders, turned her towards Port Royal and walked her to the rail. Pointing at the haze he�d noticed earlier, he asked, �Do you know what that darkish cloud-thing is, love?� When she shook her head, he said, �Mosquitoes.�
Elizabeth looked at Teague, and saw understanding light his eyes, even though she was still confused. Looking out where Jack was still pointing, she narrowed her eyes, trying to see better. She would never have guessed it from this distance, but the hazy cloud did appear to be alive. �There are so many of them,� she said at last. �But I still don�t understand.�
�Think, love,� Jack said. �Mosquitoes carry disease, and in those numbers, considering the amount of devastation to which we bore witness, not to mention the smell, Port Royal�s not a safe place to be taking a holiday right now.�
Looking at his father, Jack added, �I saw a body floating �round the keel as well: yellowy thing � dried blood near his eyes, nose and mouth.�
Teague�s face looked grim. �Dock fever,� he muttered.
Jack nodded. �And bloody flux, like as not � along with a host of similarly unpleasant maladies it�s not polite to mention in mixed company.�
Elizabeth sat down on a nearby water barrel, grunting in frustration. �We have to go to Port Royal, Jack,� she said. �If Will finds his heart before we do��
Jack tried not to wince at the obvious fear and concern in her eyes at the mention of her husband. Not that he wasn�t worried about Will too, but Jack had lost Elizabeth because of the whelp more times than he was comfortable thinking about, and with things as they stood, their situation was still rather precarious. �We are not going anywhere, love,� he said firmly. As Elizabeth opened her mouth to argue, he added, �I will be venturing into that rank cesspool of a city all by my onesie � Savvy?�
Elizabeth protested weakly, �you can�t.�
Jack grinned. �Ah, but I can, love. You�re forgetting-�
�Right,� she interrupted impatiently. �You�re Captain Jack Sparrow.�
�True enough,� Jack said, smiling broadly now. �That, on its own, should count for something. But what I was going to say was that you�re forgetting I�m immortal�. Aqua de Vida, love?�
Elizabeth had forgotten, but remembering that fact now still didn�t ease the maelstrom going on within her. �What if you�re infected?� she asked. �Even if you can�t die, you may become ill, or pass it on to the rest of the crew.�
�Do you have any better suggestions, love?� Jack asked seriously, and Elizabeth bit her lower lip and shook her head, no. �Then we go along with my plan. I�m the only one who leaves this ship for any reason,� he said. �Keep an eye on William � make sure he doesn�t try and come with me.�
�I�m sure I can manage looking after him,� Elizabeth said dryly.
Jack had the decency to look embarrassed. �Right,� he said. Looking at his father, and then again at Elizabeth, Jack added, �I plan on being back before nightfall, but if for any reason I�m not back by dawn,� he stared hard at Elizabeth, �stick to the code.�
Elizabeth opened her mouth to voice her recurrent protest to that particular part of the code, but with Captain Teague standing right behind her, she decided not to.
Seeing that Elizabeth was disgruntled, Jack was instantly worried when she didn�t argue with him. It did not bode well. �Keep an eye on her,� he said to his father before turning to go to his cabin and prepare. Looking back at Captain Teague sharply, Jack added, �but not too closely.�
Teague only smiled mysteriously, which caused Jack to glare.
�Jack!� Elizabeth closed the short gap he�d made between them and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. He was too surprised to respond at first, but in seconds he returned her embrace, not knowing or caring what had inspired it. Kissing him softly on the mouth, Elizabeth said, �Don�t do anything stupid.�
Jack grinned. �No worries, love � I�m a dishonest man; it�s the honest one�s you have to worry about.� He lowered his voice conspiratorially. �We need never worry about one another.�
Elizabeth smiled back, but whispered again, �Don�t do anything stupid.�
Smile fading as he looked into her eyes, he ignored the unfamiliar feeling welling up within him and said sincerely, �I won�t.�
~~~~~*****~~~~~

On the way to Port Royal, there had been nothing within them but the occasional flicker of images, and the purpose of reaching their destination. Now, with a new destination drawing one foot after another in succession, the Becoming were regaining something else too: feeling.

Like bubbles in a glass of champagne, emotions began floating to the surface within them, popping against their hearts. Sometimes it was painful � the recollection of fear, or anger � other times it was surprisingly sweet. On all sides there would come from one of them a sudden gasp of amazement or a strangled sob of anguish � muffled by the miles of ocean surrounding them. The reverberation of their outcries thrummed through them all, and soon each began to hunger for the experience � either of their own emotion or the aftereffects of someone else�s.

It made it difficult to stay focused, even for their leader. He was strong � the guiding force that had risen them from their watery graves and whose influence urged them onward � but even he could not resist the siren song of an unexpected burst of love suddenly erupting against his heart. It awed him, and several times he�d awaken to discover that they had all come to a standstill, swaying slightly in complete unison.

It took a great deal of energy for him to regain his own focus, and the others to attention as well. It was a compelling distraction. After such a long period of nothing, they hungered for these traces of the life they�d lost, and could not remember but for brief flashes. Even pain, anger and sorrow were not wasted on them, for to feel was to be alive again, and it fed their need.
�Perhaps the closer we get, the more we�ll remember,� they though hungrily, and it was this belief that kept them moving at all, instead of simply giving themselves over to the rediscovery of sensation. Their pace was slow, and it required all of their effort, but now, they were more determined than ever to answer the call of whatever was beckoning them.
~~~~~*****~~~~~

Within the very eye of Port Royal�s demolition, the situation was grave. After finding a carefully sheltered place to hide his longboat, and covering it with branches and whatever else he could find to disguise it against theft, Jack carefully picked his way across the debris-strewn beach towards what was left of the city. He saw few people at first, and was not surprised when their disease-twisted faces regarded him with alarm as he passed by. In such a great state of vulnerability, pirates would be a most unwelcome sight for the people of the city.

Everywhere he looked, the sight was horrific. Besides the fact that the ocean had swallowed two-thirds of Port Royal whole, signs of unspeakable horror were evident all around. Just walking through the city was perilous, as the water that had seeped up through the sand during the earthquake had turned portions of the ground into a dangerous swamp. In some places, Jack could even see where a person had sunk into the mire � some as deep as their waist or neck � and had been crushed when the ground had hardened around them again when the water receded. Holes dug into the sand marked the site of many such places, and he would not have even understood what the empty depressions meant if he hadn�t seen a few remaining bodies trapped in the earth, not yet released from their prisons by the few healthy survivors.

Amidst all the destruction, Jack couldn�t help but be surprised that there were any survivors at all, yet here they were. It seemed as if two or three out of every five people he saw on the streets were either sick, or severely injured. Dock fever was, as he had deduced, the most common affliction, coloring those within its grasp a distinctive yellow. More than a few people seemed to have lost their reason, and it seemed darkly funny to Jack that the only building to have been completely rebuilt and opened for business was the church.

Those who were not sick or injured, who were not too old or too young, and who had not moved away from Port Royal as fast as they could, were slowly beginning the process of reviving their city. The graveyard beside the newly restored church contained a handful of workers carefully lifting spade-full after spade-full of dirt from rectangular depressions in the ground, and Jack assumed they were burying their recently deceased until he realized that the pile of bodies lying nearby were old corpses, most nearly bone, that must have been washed out of their final resting places during the disaster. He couldn�t suppress a shudder.

Little was recognizable in Port Royal, and to someone who had spent enough time there to walk through the streets blindfolded, it was disorienting. All around Jack, the crumbled or slanting remains of old houses were but shadows of their former selves. A sign told him that he was on York Street, but the Meat Market that had once topped the entrance of it seemed to be gone forever. With no concrete plan, Jack decided to head left.

After a while, Jack found that he no longer wanted to study the faces of the poor wretches in the streets. There were those who were obviously faring a little better � possibly living within the most secure of the remaining houses or old shops � but he made no attempt to approach them. They eyed him warily as he passed, or peered out from dark windows. Jack would have to appeal to one of these suspicious survivors, he realized, should he be unable to figure out where Elizabeth�s house had once stood. He wanted to avoid the sick ones, if only to avoid the slim chance that he could carry the disease back to Elizabeth, William and the crew of the Savarna on his person unknowingly. If not for the healthy, no matter how cautious of him they would be, his only other option would be the scavengers, and the more trouble he avoided, the better.

Avoiding trouble was usually first on Jack�s list of things to do, despite all evidence to the contrary. If it weren�t for Elizabeth, Jack wasn�t too sure he would have chosen to come so far for the chest, despite the repercussions. He�d always felt a strange kinship with Will, and had gone out of his way for the whelp on several occasions � but self-preservation almost always trumped his nobler impulses.

Some branded him a coward for his habit of running away to fight again. Others though him smart for it. For Jack, it was � as an old �friend� had once said, �just good business.� Even an immortal has something to lose by fighting unnecessary battles, and Jack had made a career of talking his way out of sticky situations when the need arose.

Even more helpful - at least to Jack - he had developed an uncanny ability to sense trouble a mile away, and it was this instinct that spared Jack a great deal of tribulation. As he walked towards Fort Charles, he was aware that even now, this finely honed skill was warning him to be cautious.

The scavengers weren�t difficult to spot � especially not for a fellow opportunist like Jack. The shabby condition of the clothing worn by the city�s residents provided the pirates and other assorted thieves some measure of anonymity, but the direct and assessing gazes did not. They easily stood out to Jack as wolves among a flock of sheep, and he kept well away, providing them with neither a target or an opponent.

As he rounded what he suspected had once been Lime Street � the lingering aroma in the air identifying the rubble around him as the former Fish Market � Jack realized that he was approaching what had once been Fort Charles. Stopping in the middle of the road, he tilted his head to one side, staring at it.

He remembered the stones crumbling around him, so it was not the missing portions of wall that caught his attention. It seemed to Jack though, that the Fort was somehow shorter. Indeed, as he finally continued towards it, he spared little attention to the change in the landscape � now overrun by the sea � so fixated was he with the place that had figured fairly prominently in his past.

Jack studied the walls of Fort Charles carefully, and it soon became clear what had happened. The walls of the stone edifice had sunk into the sea-softened earth, nearly three feet deep. Out of everything that Jack had seen so far in Port Royal, somehow this unnerved him most. That such a massive, solid structure � the very one in which he had been standing when the earthquake began � could have been reduced to this forlorn pile of stone block and sand�.

Jack suddenly wanted to return to the ship; to return to his ship. He wanted to see his crew, and be anywhere else in the Caribbean but here. He wanted to make sure that William had a chance to enjoy his childhood. He wanted to see Elizabeth, and for once, honestly revel in the fact that she was alive, and that he was holding her at last.

This train of thought lasted only a moment, but it was a vulnerability that Jack was unaccustomed to, and he did not have time for it now. Turning his back to the Fort and ignoring the superstitious notion that some mournful ghost would rise from the ruin behind him, Jack scanned the remains of Port Royal.

He tried to ignore the details of what had happened to the city. He did not examine the shambled houses in the now crooked streets, nor did he spare a moment on the few people roaming about below him. Jack narrowed his eyes so that they were nearly shut, and tried to determine where Elizabeth�s house had once stood.

Despite his efforts, Jack could see that quite a bit was gone. The North Docks, the Customs House, even the Merchant�s Exchange was now under water. The coast had disappeared on all sides, taking with it Fort Walker, Fort Morgan, and Fort James. He could see where St. Paul�s Church had once stood, and realized that if he had gone up York Street in the opposite direction, it would have taken him right to the Governor�s Mansion. From there, Queen Street led down towards the Admiralty Court and beyond, to the cliff where Elizabeth�s house had been.

For all he knew � and hoped � the house still rested on its cliff, just under an untold amount of seawater. That was, at least, the second best situation. Jack started out at a brisk pace around the now ill formed Chocaleta Hole and back up along the new southeastern shore. When he once again reached the new church, Jack recognized that it had been built right in its original site. The reason he hadn�t recognized this fact before, was that the church had previously stood directly across from the Governor�s Mansion � Elizabeth�s childhood home.

The Mansion was nothing but a pile of rubble � wood and stone on wilting grounds. Furthermore, the citizens of Port Royal were using it as a dumpsite for their own waste. Piles of excrement lay in heaps around the once immaculate garden, and although Jack would never had wasted a second�s remorse for the fate of the plants, he felt a twinge of sadness at the thought of Elizabeth finding out the fate of her beautiful home.

He spent a moment in silence, removing his hat as he stared at the scene before him, but Queen Street stretched out to his left, and now more than ever, he wanted to do his duty and return to the ship. Putting his hat back on, Jack moved away from the old Mansion.

Unfortunately, there was not much further he could go. Very little remained of Queen Street, and very soon Jack was standing knee-deep in the surf, staring out towards where he thought Elizabeth�s house would be. A chamber pot bumped against his leg, and as he nudged it away, sending it to collide with a wooden washbasin, he was struck by the thought that the chest might have been washed away from the house. If it was somewhere along the beach, or worse yet, if it had floated out to sea, how would they ever find it?

Looking around him, Jack spotted a large block of stone among the debris along the beach. Picking it up, he marched into the water, not stopping even when it closed over his head. Weighed down by the heavy load in his arms, Jack proceeded slowly along the bottom of the sea bed.

There had once been grass on the place where he was now walking, but the salt water had reduced it to weeds. It felt odd to be walking beneath the water at a slightly upward grade, but Jack realized that he on the right track when he began to see pieces of wood and other fragments of human habitation. He had found what was left of Elizabeth�s house.

He�d only been underwater for a little more than a minute and his lungs were burning. Stopping in his tracks, staring at a whitewashed portion of wall, Jack barely had time to wonder at the distance this piece of the house had traveled before he fell to his knees and drew a deep, involuntary breath.

Jack had known this would happen, but knowing didn�t ease his fear now. As water filled his lungs and he struggled to find the air that was nowhere to be found, he clung to the stone he was carrying, fighting against the panic of drowning. He knew he couldn�t die, but as his body became deprived of oxygen, a tingling pain began numbing his extremities. It was as though he were simultaneously being encased in ice and set on fire.

His body began to float, and Jack had to struggle to keep a hold of his rock. A spasm rocked through him, and for a moment he felt as though he would pass out. When the seizures finally ceased, Jack was curled tightly on himself. Relaxing his body, he slowly took stock of his body. Completely numb, he realized that he no longer needed to carry the stone block to stay underwater, so heavy was he now with the liquid he�d taken into himself. Though he no longer felt pained, Jack�s body felt foreign to him, and he had to fight the urge to surface immediately.

Standing upright once more, Jack surveyed his surroundings. He had thought before that he must be on the hill leading up to Elizabeth�s house, and judging by the familiar items scattered around him, that seemed to be correct. Walking further along the path, he recognized the arm of the settee on which he�d spent his first two nights in Port Royal when he�d arrived to find Elizabeth, and the keyboard of the pianoforte grinned up at him with white teeth.

Jack frowned at the sight of the ivory keyboard, for the chest holding Will�s heart had last been seen on the instrument�s bench, which was nowhere in sight. Kitchen pots, broken chairs, and even a waterlogged mattress covered a field of about two miles before he finally found the bulk of what remained of Elizabeth�s house. Jagged portions of wall still clung to the stone foundation, but it appeared as if a great force had slammed into the building, scattering it along the hill.

It seemed like hours passed as Jack searched through every piece of rubble he could find, but the chest was nowhere to be found. He was just about to give up when, beneath a broken door, he saw the corner of a wooden and metal chest. The chest. Falling to his knees, Jack heaved the door to one side and stared at the object he�d been searching for. He couldn�t believe he had actually found it.

He realized something was wrong the moment he picked up the chest. It felt too light - hollow. As Jack held it up, the lid floated open and he realized with horror that the lock had been broken off, probably by the edge of a shovel. If his heart hadn�t already stopped when he�d drowned earlier, it certainly would have done so now. Bubbles erupted from his mouth as he tried to shout, �No!� Flipping the chest upside down, Jack shook it frantically, but it was no good � the heart was gone.

Tossing the chest aside, Jack searched the ground nearby, hoping he�d overlooked it somewhere on the ground, but he knew in his heart that he wouldn�t find it. The chest had been broken open deliberately. Someone had taken it.

Carrying the damaged chest by one handle, Jack�s mind was completely blank as he slogged back towards land. He had failed. Jack was not a stranger to failure - it had been known to happen, even to the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow. But this was the first time he�d ever been seriously entrusted with a duty, and it was his failure to Elizabeth that filled him with disappointment. They still needed to find the heart � but who could have taken it? Where should they go now?

Scavengers dotted the shore, picking through the items floating in the shallows when Jack finally surfaced. Taking a breath that was not water, he found himself on his knees again, hacking up all the water lodged in his lungs. Finally able to inhale pure air, Jack closed his eyes and tried to think. He kept picturing the trust in Elizabeth�s eyes as he had promised to go find Will�s heart. In his mind, that expression of confident affection turned into despair, and he looked around in a panic. It wasn�t over yet.

One of the men scavenging near him was a pirate Jack recognized from a ship called the Blushing Siren. The captain of the Blushing Siren was a man named Paulson, whom Jack had occasionally encountered trolling the Caribbean waters. The man was out for Jack�s position of Lord of the Brethren Court, and Jack took great pleasure in humiliating Paulson every time he tried to take him on.

Though he�d never initiated an altercation with Paulson or his crew before, Jack was suddenly in a mood to take no prisoners. In moments, he had sprinted across the beach to the unsuspecting pirate and pressed the blade of his sword hard across the other man�s throat.

The pirate made a choking sound, but neither of the two other men along the shore was close enough to hear it, and they were too busy examining their finds to notice what was going on. Jack gritted his teeth as he glared at the man fiercely. �Find anything nice, mate?� he asked.

The pirate gaped like a fish. �We ain�t found nothing worth nothing, Captain Jack � honest.�

�Now, now� you wouldn�t lie to an old friend, would you?� Jack pressed his sword hard enough against the man�s neck to draw blood.

Turning a sickly pale color, the pirate lifted a shaky hand. �I swear it on my mother�s grave� God rest her soul.� He licked his lips, eyes crossed to focus on the blade at his throat. �Maybe if you told me what it were you was looking for,� he said, �I could tell you if I saw it or not.�

Jack grinned, and it made the other man flinch. There was no hint of the buffoon in Jack�s attitude now, and as someone who�d had experience fighting the Captain before, the pirate knew that meant danger.

Letting go of the man and letting him fall to the beach, where he rubbed at his throat in relief, Jack picked up the chest that had contained Will�s heart. �I�m looking for what used to be in here,� he said.

The pirate looked at Jack as though he were insane, but when he took a better look at the chest in Jack�s hand, he began to sweat. His eyes widened and he started to shake is head but when Jack lifted his sword again, the man froze. �I don�t know who took it, Captain,� he said. Seeing the anger in Jack�s eyes, he continued, �there been lots of pirates round Port Royal since the quake; the tidal wave after it washed up all kinds of shiny for anyone willing to look for it.�

Jack nodded, thinking hard. A tidal wave explained the condition of Elizabeth�s house, and any pirate worth his salt would be eager to take advantage of the easy pickings.

�There were a group of pirates though,� the man said, �who was here before the waters settled up here � before this land was under the briny, see? They would�ve had time to take what was� in there,� he gulped. At Jack�s narrowed eyes, he rushed to add, �Mrs. Turner ain�t been seen since the quake, and there�s many a man been looking for Captain Turner�s heart. Look�s like one of �em found it.�

�Who was it that was here before the ocean covered her house?� Jack asked.

The pirate hesitated a moment. �They rushed off in a hurry� we thought they must have found something special. That�s why we�re still looking around up here. Never thought it was the heart though,� he shivered.

Jack raised his eyebrow impatiently.

Nodding frantically, the man said, �El Lobo.�

Jack�s face looked grim. �You�re sure, mate?�

The pirate nodded again. �El Lobo � he and the crew of the Asesino Sangriento was here for a week right from the start, but they lit out like the ghost of Davy Jones himself were on their tail.� He looked at the empty chest. �One of �em must�ve found that.�

Jack silently agreed. Though he�d never met the man personally, El Lobo�s reputation nearly rivaled Jack�s own. The difference was that El Lobo was a bloodthirsty, cold-hearted killer. He didn�t know how to feel about this turn of events. On the one hand, he hadn�t quite failed yet; they had a lead. On the other hand, getting the heart back from El Lobo would not be easy.

Rowing back to the Savarna before the hour was out, Jack considered their situation, hoping for one of his famous strokes of genius.
~~~~~****~~~~~

She was running through the jungle, and though she could not see the men behind her, she knew they were there. The glow from their torches lit the night sky, and their laughter and jeering calls forced her to pick up speed.

She knew she could not outrun them. They would catch her in the end and she would die this night. Still, she would not give up without a fight. She was not afraid of death. Death was not an end for her, just a change from one form to another. She was, however, afraid for her son � for with her death, he would become the sole focus of her mother�s attention.

Doing the only thing she had time for, she channeled all her remaining power out into the universe. She felt it out there, searching for what she needed � someone to look after her son. Suddenly caught from behind, she fought hard, scratching and biting anyone or anything within reach. Then, a feeling of peace hit her as her energy found what it was looking for. A girl. A woman. Someone who knew Jack, and cared for him already. As she watched the young lady, dressed in a fine wedding gown, a gentle rain began to fall, ruining the dress. Savarna was sorry for it, but also comforted � for now she knew that Jack had a chance. Savarna knew that destinies existed, but they were not immutable. With any luck, she had just bought her son a chance at the life he longed for above all else. A life of Freedom.

As the men dragged her away, Savarna sent the young woman in her vision a message � one that she somehow knew would make the difference in her fate: �Protect the boy�.�

When Elizabeth woke, cold sweat was rolling down her face, and she clutched the blanket against her chest.
- 11
- 12
- 13
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Savarna