Looking for a ride - [Spanish Main; open, incomplete]
Japan. It sounded like it must have lay far to the east, but that was young William's best guess. He had been a blacksmith before all of this piracy had entered his life. It hadn't been his business to become concerned with things like geography. Still, the man had to have quite an impressive ship if he'd sailed all the way to Port Royal on his own
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Elizabeth tucked her hair behind her ears and nodded to Will, determined. "Yes... though that will make travel rather slow," she said, not liking the idea of taking months to get anything accomplished. Yet it would not do to be killed by their own stupidity and haste. "But which one do we take?"
She took several steps down the dock, narrowing her eyes as she examined each ship. In her mind's eye she could imagine the hull thick with the black creatures, but she shook her head in order to break free of such nonsense. She doubted they would stay when there was nothing left but a handful of souls. A frown was on her face as she tried to deem which ship looked less likely to be a deathtrap - either by infestation or flawed design.
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Will hoped not. If that were the case, then he'd been extremely insensitive thus far. He supposed Touma would mention it if he felt the need to, though he might simply be jumping to conclusions.
"Better slow than dead," Will pointed out, watching as Elizabeth started examining the ships they had to choose from. It was hardly a good selection and neither of them could claim to know that much about vessels. Still, they could make a slightly educated guess and hope for the best.
"How about that one?" he asked, pointing out a rather small boat that would hold about six people. Forgetting its size (there wasn't anything much bigger left), it looked sturdy enough and Will was figuring something reliable would be the best choice of action.
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The pirate removed himself from his seat, staggering and swaying before he grabbed the captains chair to steady himself. Definitely not used to such a fast ride, he wasn’t. He had to give himself a moment, briefing Norrington that they had arrived during the awkward interval. “Your..er....stop.”
Jack kept the same swagger as he headed for the hatch and through that to the outside. Even though Port Royal was a familiar sort of sight he glanced around with his wide. Each step off the ship and on to the dock was taken in a slow and awkward way. When he finally did have his feet on solid ground, he immediately started to make his way off the docks without a word of acknowledgment to those three inhabiting it.
To the pirates knowledge, an angry Frenchmen and those two plus what grungy crewmate he had picked up at Tortuga made his odds of getting out of here rather slim.
Now would be the opportune time to leave.
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Norrington stood from his seat, pausing for a moment to regain his sense of balance (being accustomed to travel by ship didn't seem to automatically translate to the same when it came to a flying vessel). He glanced after Jack and followed the pirate out through the hatch and outside.
Port Royal... The harbour alone seemed unnaturally quiet, nowhere near as busy as it had been in the past. Had everyone left the town? He had to wonder why Beckett would bother to set his sights on the Caribbean, when it seemed as though it would soon be completely deserted - then again, if Beckett could use Sparrow to change that, it would play in his favour, of course.
Norrington climbed down and stepped onto the wooden pier. His gaze fell on two very familiar faces. Elizabeth... And William Turner. He frowned slightly. What were they doing?
Luckily, chances were that no one would recognize him, which wasn't unwelcome at all right now, even if part of him still felt relieved to see that Elizabeth was unharmed despite what Port Royal might have faced.
He narrowed his eyes, noticing that Jack seemed to be in a considerable hurry to get away.
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This was, of course, before he realized that the little speck he had been hoping was Tenku...turned out to be Tenku. Finally, some good luck, he thought, watching as the blue-black ship made a quick stop in the same dock he had landed beside earlier.
Joy turned to anger when the archer saw a very familiar, and completely unwanted, figure step out of his ship. He didn't notice the grungy man emerging after the asshole "Captain." "You...." Touma glared at Jack, wanting the saying "if looks could kill" to be true. "I wouldn't go too far if I were you."
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"What is tha-" The words died before she could complete her sentence, as someone stepped out of the thing. She knew that hair. She knew that swagger. "Jack?" She asked, confused. Hadn't he been the one who had stolen Touma's ship? Her eyes drifted back to the thing. It did not look like any ship she had ever seen. It flew!
Her confusion was not cured as her eyes fell on the other man with Jack. He was filthy, but he certainly looked familiar. The grungy jacket, the messy hair, and the face. She knew that face as well! "... James Norrington?" She gasped, covering her mouth a moment after she had said his name. She had known that man since she was a little girl, and no amount of filth could keep her from knowing his face.
It did keep her from wanting to get too close to him. That and other reasons. What had he done to himself?
Head swimming, Elizabeth could only stare at the scenario before her. Jack was going to face Touma's wrath, and that couldn't end up well... but here she and Will were, right before Norrington. She edged herself forward, ready to stand in the middle if something were to occur.
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The way Touma was looking at it... Was this his ship that had been stolen? That would explain how he'd been able to travel so far on his own.
When Jack stepped out, that more or less answered his question. This was Tenku, then. But more importantly, Jack was foolishly attempting to sneak away. Frowning, he was about to start after the pirate until he heard Elizabeth's exclamation.
...What?
Wrinkling his nose at the heavy scent of alcohol and dirt, he turned his head and settled his gaze on what must have been the Commodore. What had happened? For a moment, all Will could do was stare, which was rather rude on his part.
"...Commodore," he said quietly. "What are you doing here? Or with Jack?" There was quite a bit of explaining to be done.
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After all, the dear boy had called him Captain. Jack was not one to ignore his title no matter the situation.
The pirate spun on his heel, pivoting until he was slouched over in a rather strange posture. “But, dear Frenchmen,” Jack lilted his head a little to the lad, “You aren’t me, therefor sneaking away wouldn’t be a decision that one, such as yourself, would be inclined to making. However if you were me and I were you and that would be my ship we wouldn’t have this little situation here, aye?” Aside from that, if Jack were he, he wouldn’t make a foolhardy decision as to leave it in the care of some random suspicious looking character. Jack may have been daft, but he was not dumb!
“But thankfully I am me, therefor the me that is me should be heading in a direction that is.. Not here. I kept to my word and let no citizens of this Port Town touch your pretty little sloop and you have returned to reclaim it. So my good deed is done.”
He bowed fanning his arm out before him in a courteous way, “Frenchmen,” Standing up straight he acknowledge Norrington as well before trying to dart off again, “....Crewmate, Sir Dirt. Your services were most appreciated. But I must be making way.” With that, he tried once again to shiv off the deck and to somewhere more pirate friendly.
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At least that was serving to delay Sparrow's attempt to hurry away.
Catching Elizabeth's exclamation, Norrington paused for a moment before he glanced at her. Both she and her fiancé (husband?) seemed astonished, perhaps with good reason. He frowned, not particularly pleased to have been recognized after all, not to mention being on the receiving end of almost incredulous staring.
"I could ask you the same question," Norrington replied, throwing Will a brief glance when the young man addressed him. Inspecting ships at the docks could be enough cause for suspicion, especially considering certain incidents where ships had been 'commandeered'. He shook his head slightly. "Unfortunately, any explanations will need to wait."
That delaying hadn't lasted very long.
Stepping forward, Norrington placed a hand on his pistol, but didn't draw. "A moment of your time, 'Captain'," he said, raising his voice. "I'm afraid this isn't the time to take your leave just yet. My business in Port Royal may have nothing to do with the gallows, but your presence will be equally required."
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The legal troubles shooting Jack could cause were also a more realistic deterrent.
"Frenchman?" Touma thought back to his and Jack's previous conversation, but he couldn't remember anything he said or did that resembled the French. Just one more reason to leave this world, now that he had Tenku back.
But...what was this business the dirt-covered man had with Jack?
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Elizabeth watched Jack for a moment, but paid little attention to the pirate as he spewed words out at Touma. Instead, she focused on the former commodore. Her former fiancé was standing before her, and it took a moment before Elizabeth felt herself straighten and square her shoulders. She was not ashamed to be standing here with Will, nor did she feel regret. She may have been in her nightgown, hair a mess, and confused, but she wouldn't allow that to show. Her hand tightened around Will's as she collected herself.
"What is going on?" She demanded, looking at Norrington and then over to Jack, "There's nothing left in Port Royal. You'll get yourself killed if you go in there." This was not right at all, nor did it settle right. There was no way Jack could have been captured, and Elizabeth couldn't fathom the two working together. And she didn't like the way the former commodore's hand was on his pistol. She eyed it before calmly looking back at his face. "This isn't the place to take care of business."
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"I was trying to figure out a way to get away from here," he explained to Norrington, even if he hadn't done so himself. Will was ready to wait for a full explanation, but he'd prefer if they could get some insight into why two people that were more or less polar opposites were traveling together. It couldn't have been some sort of alliance--perhaps they both gained something from making the trip together.
Eyeing the pistol that Norrington's fingers were playing at, Will felt himself tense. There was no need for that, no matter what Jack had done. But that didn't mean Jack should be allowed to run off without a word of explanation, either.
"How about we all explain what we're doing here?" Will asked with a small sigh. "Because at this rate, no one is going to let anyone else leave."
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The pirate couldn’t help but think that, given he be a pirate, it would be enough to put him at odds with everyone else and their reasons for being about. “I seemed to misplace my ship and my crew.” An unfortunate place, Port Royal, would be the very place that they would be misplaced at. “I was looking for a rather quick exit off of this plot so to avoid little black inky problems.” To avoid any inquiries he promptly said “Next.” to urge Norrington to do just explaining.
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As much as he was loath to agree with Sparrow, perhaps it would help to hear some explanations, if only to keep the pirate from making any more attempts to remove himself from the scene and to avoid having to resort to any drastic measures to stop him.
Norrington grimaced slightly. It did bother him that, in such a short time alone, he had undertaken some actions and behaved in ways he never would have in the past. Unfortunately, explanations were going to be a problem. How was he to explain his sudden and strange return to Port Royal? And without a doubt, considering how adamantly both Elizabeth and Turner had defended Jack Sparrow not long ago, they would stand in his way.
He decided to focus on something else first. Glancing back at Elizabeth, he asked, "Is Port Royal completely deserted?" Looking for a way to leave... Norrington frowned. "What about the governor?"
These explanations seemed to need a little more elaboration. Was there really nothing left here at all? That would require a change of plans.
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Instead, the archer thought of something else - a way he could explain his being in this city without having to explain the prospect of different worlds. Yet. He would explain that if/when he had to take these people onto Tenku to take them to a safe world in the event that theirs decided to fall apart on them.
"The city seems deserted. The only person I encountered there was Ms. Swann, whereas Mr. Turner found us here on the dock," he explained, wanting to get all of this over with quickly, then continued. "I'm here on research of the various worlds.
"And I'm not French," Touma muttered, more to complain about Jack's perception of him. French, indeed. He looked nothing like the French, and they certainly did not have the technology to create Tenku.
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She didn't like all of this talking. Here they were, standing on the docks next to the same ocean that very well may have spawned those creatures. It gave her a very bad feeling. "It's too late to save Port Royal, but that doesn't have to be the case for us. The longer we stand here, the more likely those-those things will return!" After a pause, she felt the need to clarify: "If that happens, there will be no explanations at all!"
Elizabeth hadn't mean for her voice to rise in frustration (or panic), but she was feeling the need to leave quite urgently. She looked at everyone expectantly. Men. They would probably stand here all night questioning each other.
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