(no subject)
Title: A thin line
Rating: All gen (implied Will/Elizabeth)
Characters: Captain Barbossa, Jack Sparrow, Tia Dalma, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann
Disclaimer: No claim! No profit!
A/N: Five vignettes written for "I am but mad north-northwest…" Many thanks to the_dala and fabu for the beta.
650 words
Dying does something terrible to a man when he is truly alive. I know most people think me soulless after so many years of living with Aztec gold; but I tell you, the number of fatal wounds (if I been mortal) I received while I was cursed were nothing compared to the night Jack shot me, when I was tastin' freedom for the first time in a score of years.
I am no more soulless than I am mad. If Calypso didn't bring me back intact, then how could her threat to me life frighten so badly? Seeing me hand turn to naught but bones reminded me that life is too short not to take what I need.
I will not be bound and tethered again - by either mortal or immortal means. She brought me back and I freed her. We are even at a life for a life.
Now Jack, he's another story. He owes me a shilling or three.
~ * ~
"A tea party you say? I would enjoy that. But which of you shall serve the tea and which shall make the cake?
"No, not us. I am not one of you; I am the captain of this vessel. If you do not like it, you may leave.
"No. We do not have the room for a table in this sloop; you shall have to wait over there. Yes there, in the water.
"And you shall sit in the crow's nest. What? No crow's nest, say you? Then you shall join Mr. Sparrow in the water as well.
"You? You are allowed to stay. I like the quiet ones. No, the goat shall have to swim. Sorry.
"Please, sir, tuck your feet beneath your buttocks. I will not have you kicking me incessantly on this voyage.
"Tsk. Give me back my compass. That's a good Sparrow."
~ * ~
Him that trapped me has died and awaits a ferry to the other side. Now that I am free, I could intervene, but why would I choose to do so? He bound me in me bones, stuck in one single form of his choosing, and I have no desire to ever return to it. Well, not for hims benefit at least.
He floats amongst the waters of the dead and some day he shall see me alongside the current captain who knows him duty. And he shall remember the pain he caused. That will be retribution enough for me.
For now.
~ * ~
First Jack, then Governor Swann, and now myself. I only learned about James in stilted whispers the last time she met me at sea. Each of us whom she once professed to love, or I thought she loved, has lost our lives.
And still I wait for the day my duty shall end. I can't help but wonder, will it bring relief as she has already killed me once? What of Jack? Is he free from such burdens now?
How does she pass the long nights while she waits? I have heard the rumors whispered by the sea that Elizabeth could never be true to me. I have heard the invitation sung by the waves or the clicking of crabs to join another woman as fickle as the one I love. However, my choice remains firm. I will know whether I am a fool or a wise man in seven years.
~ * ~
I long for the rolling ocean beneath my feet each day. I hate sleeping every night on a bed that doesn't rock and I envy my son his cradle. As I stand on the shore, sleeping babe in my arms, I sing to him about his heritage. His guide shall be the stars, Tai Huang tells me, and I have faith in his belief.
My first mate is the only one who understands the siren's song in my heart. Even so, we wait impatiently for the midwife's blessing to take my son to sea. For only there can he meet his father, for only there will I find the peace I search for.
But I’ll be true to the song I sing,
And live and die a Pirate King.
Rating: All gen (implied Will/Elizabeth)
Characters: Captain Barbossa, Jack Sparrow, Tia Dalma, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann
Disclaimer: No claim! No profit!
A/N: Five vignettes written for "I am but mad north-northwest…" Many thanks to the_dala and fabu for the beta.
650 words
Dying does something terrible to a man when he is truly alive. I know most people think me soulless after so many years of living with Aztec gold; but I tell you, the number of fatal wounds (if I been mortal) I received while I was cursed were nothing compared to the night Jack shot me, when I was tastin' freedom for the first time in a score of years.
I am no more soulless than I am mad. If Calypso didn't bring me back intact, then how could her threat to me life frighten so badly? Seeing me hand turn to naught but bones reminded me that life is too short not to take what I need.
I will not be bound and tethered again - by either mortal or immortal means. She brought me back and I freed her. We are even at a life for a life.
Now Jack, he's another story. He owes me a shilling or three.
~ * ~
"A tea party you say? I would enjoy that. But which of you shall serve the tea and which shall make the cake?
"No, not us. I am not one of you; I am the captain of this vessel. If you do not like it, you may leave.
"No. We do not have the room for a table in this sloop; you shall have to wait over there. Yes there, in the water.
"And you shall sit in the crow's nest. What? No crow's nest, say you? Then you shall join Mr. Sparrow in the water as well.
"You? You are allowed to stay. I like the quiet ones. No, the goat shall have to swim. Sorry.
"Please, sir, tuck your feet beneath your buttocks. I will not have you kicking me incessantly on this voyage.
"Tsk. Give me back my compass. That's a good Sparrow."
~ * ~
Him that trapped me has died and awaits a ferry to the other side. Now that I am free, I could intervene, but why would I choose to do so? He bound me in me bones, stuck in one single form of his choosing, and I have no desire to ever return to it. Well, not for hims benefit at least.
He floats amongst the waters of the dead and some day he shall see me alongside the current captain who knows him duty. And he shall remember the pain he caused. That will be retribution enough for me.
For now.
~ * ~
First Jack, then Governor Swann, and now myself. I only learned about James in stilted whispers the last time she met me at sea. Each of us whom she once professed to love, or I thought she loved, has lost our lives.
And still I wait for the day my duty shall end. I can't help but wonder, will it bring relief as she has already killed me once? What of Jack? Is he free from such burdens now?
How does she pass the long nights while she waits? I have heard the rumors whispered by the sea that Elizabeth could never be true to me. I have heard the invitation sung by the waves or the clicking of crabs to join another woman as fickle as the one I love. However, my choice remains firm. I will know whether I am a fool or a wise man in seven years.
~ * ~
I long for the rolling ocean beneath my feet each day. I hate sleeping every night on a bed that doesn't rock and I envy my son his cradle. As I stand on the shore, sleeping babe in my arms, I sing to him about his heritage. His guide shall be the stars, Tai Huang tells me, and I have faith in his belief.
My first mate is the only one who understands the siren's song in my heart. Even so, we wait impatiently for the midwife's blessing to take my son to sea. For only there can he meet his father, for only there will I find the peace I search for.
But I’ll be true to the song I sing,
And live and die a Pirate King.