Océane Badeau
I'm trying to empty my "Elizabeth-Haters and Canon-Rapers" folder. They make me sad.
I've also put the plot recap behind a cut, not because it's any longer than usual but because it's always long.
TITLE: Not All Treasure is Silver and Gold
CULPRIT: myheartxyourknife Don't tempt me.
SUMMARY: "WillOC - After Elizabeth is killed :(, Will and Jack must set off to find her killers, who are searching for an island that only one girl knows of. Complete summary inside---SUMMARY HAS BEEN CHANGED" / "The day before Elizabeth and Will's wedding, Jack Sparrow shows up at Port Royal, hearing news of the event. While Will is away, a thief breaks in to the Swann's house and has a run-in with the bride-to-be. [For all you guys: Woo! Elizabeth swordfighting in nothing on her top but a corset!] Luckily, Will runs the thief off. But that night, Port Royal is attacked by Pirates, and Elizabeth, among others, is killed. But why did her killers need to find a girl who escaped from their ship so badly?"
BEST LINE: "Océane was French. Her whole family had been." No, I did not take this out of context. Yes, it's as stupid and obvious a statement as it seems.
THE VERDICT
Walk the plank, bitch.
NAME: Océane Badeau I like Strangé, better.
EYES: "Her eyes almost seemed yellow: a peculiar shade of pale honey brown"
HAIR: "Her hair was just past her shoulders, flipping out on the ends, and a natural haystack blonde. The sun, however, had bleached some of it to an almost white blonde."
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: "her skin [was] unusually pale" What is it with Sues and pale skin, exactly?
OH SO SPESHUL POSSESSIONS: A sword and a necklace that she stole from Elizabeth.
OBNOXIOUS AND/OR IMPLAUSIBLE ORIGIN: She was born into a family of pirates, and was a pirate herself, but has become a thief.
OBNOXIOUS AND/OR IMPLAUSIBLE CANON CONNECTIONS/AFFILIATIONS: Is going to be Will's new girl.
SOOPER SPESHUL ABILITIES: none
THE "PLOT": Our story begins with... an author's note. The author would like us to know that this is not a story for those who are "deeply in love with Elizabeth Swann" because though she likes Elizabeth (she later recinds this statement claiming that she watched the movie again and found reason to dislike our poor constantly abused Miss Swann), Elizabeth is going to die because "it's key for the storyline, savvy?" The actual story begins with some mediocre prose about Elizabeth's room and how all of Port Royal is anticipating Will and Elizabeth's wedding. There's some stuff with Elizabeth trying on her gown, thinking she looks fat, and sending her maid for a corset. Just... whatever. Meanwhile, Will is working and Jack shows up. They greet each other and for a moment I think that perhaps the description had fooled me and this was a Will/Jack fic. But no. Jack isn't there for manlove, but for Will and Elizabeth's wedding. Or so he says.
Next chapter, Sue is introduced. There's lots of boring exposition about how all of her family were pirates, and how after her mother died eventually her father made she and her sister walk the plank and how they ended up on an all-girl pirate ship and how Sue never wanted to be a pirate so she ran away and she just wanted a man and the all-girl crew were forbidden to go near men (Lesbians! And I was just about to say that this fandom shared the HP fandom's shortage of lesbians) blah blah blah stereotypereversalcakes. I would give the author brownie points for making a character who doesn't want to be free on the sea, etc. but she uses the opposite for the same nefarious purposes so she gets squat. Anyway, Sue now lives by petty thievery, but instead of doing some pickpocketing to get money for an inn she decides to rob the Governor's mansion. Yeah, smart move. She gets into a swordfight with Elizabeth and in the process gets an artful cut across her cheek. Will comes home, chases Sue, then they have A Moment and he pities her being all alone or something. Sue escapes, Elizabeth is annoyed, and Will checks out Elizabeth in her corset. He sweet talks her out of annoyance and there's implied-sex. The author gets +.5 points for WillElizabeth!Sex. Sue angsts because after meeting him (Apparently, there are storybooks and shit about him. Go figure.) she's, obviously, in love with Will.
Chapter Three: After The Sex , Will thinks about how Elizabeth is a spoiled, whiny brat (!) but he loves her anyway. Sue's lesbian!crew attacks Port Royal looking for Sue, Jack gets himself shot by acting like an idiot because they're French, and Elizabeth is killed by Sue's sister. I dock the author 253 points.
Sue arrives at the governor's mansion just in time for Will to take her hostage so that her sister and two other lesbian!pirates won't shoot him. This works since Sue is somehow sooper speshul and important to the lesbian!pirates. Naval folks arrive and the lesbian!pirates are arrested. Since Jack has been shot he gets medical care instead of a trip to gallows. Apparently, they're waiting for him to get better first but he's mostly faking so that he can have time to escape. Another testament to the stupidity of the authorities of Port Royal is the fact that they don't check people for weapons, because Sue's sister was hiding a knife on her person and uses it to cut her bindings and escape the gallows. At Elizabeth's funeral, Governor Swann gives Will a letter that Elizabeth left for him. It tells him that she was pregnant, she was certain the child wasn't his, and he should talk to Commodore Norrington for the whole story. I dock the author 698 more points.
Will confronts Norrington and he gives an explanation for why Elizabeth began an affair with him that makes no sense. Of course, it doesn't need to make sense, because the only reason this plot point even exists is so that the author can villify Elizabeth and thereby have Will not be a bad guy for moving on to Sue in an inappropriately short amount of time. Speaking of Sue she walks along the beach and angsts about having to become a whore. Will bumps into her, offers to let her come back to his place to hide from the lesbian!pirates when they return. They argue because Will wants to kill her sister and Sue storms off and gets propositioned by some fishermen.
NOTES: This Suethor claims in her profile that she takes her litmus tests, in reference to a Harry Potter Sue of hers. Someone needs to introduce her to the PotC Sue Litmus Test. Of course, she's also under the delusion that Crimes Against the Canon and Sue-ish attributes are fine if it's part of the plot, so it probably wouldn't help.
It's not that I have a huge thing against character death. For forced drama? Yes. In general? No. Character death stories about how the other characters would realistically react to said death don't bother me. If one story, wherein Elizabeth dies, would just be about Will and what he does with his life after losing her without any involvement from his new true love I'd be happy. Ok, I wouldn't exactly be happy since if it was well-written it would probably be a depressing story, but you get the idea.
If your plot requires you to off a canon character so that you can pair your OFC with the deceased canon character's significant other, you need a new plot. Also, your character is a Sue, no matter how many litmus tests you claim to have taken.
Point being, if it looks like a Sue (Peculiar yellow eyes, huh? Riiiiight.), is named like a Sue (Seriously, Océane Badeau?), and fulfills the role of a Sue (Introducing: Will's five hundred fifty-third true love that isn't Elizabeth), then it's a Sue.
Oh and there are chocolate eyes. Again.
EXCERPT:
Aw. Sue is alone. Pity her. Pity her, I say!
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Chapter Two
A Thief's Longing
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Océane Badeau sat on one of the docks amongst others tending to their business: loading cargo onto ships, a boy fishing by himself, a man checking in those who were just docking, and a gang of fishermen heading back from sea on their small boat.
Her hair was just past her shoulders, flipping out on the ends, and a natural haystack blonde. The sun, however, had bleached some of it to an almost white blonde. Her eyes almost seemed yellow: a peculiar shade of pale honey brown. The one thing that made her stand out amongst the others at Port Royal was her skin being unusually pale that time of year in those surroundings. Her clothing was a simple black dress, a wench dress, as more would know it as. Black boots adorned her feet, and a rarely ever used sword hung at her side. She had a look of slight nervousness as she sat amongst the strangers, eating a sour green apple.
Océane was a young woman, having just turned twenty one the previous month. She was still green and naïve, and truthfully had no business being out on her own. Port Royal wasn't an unsafe place by any means, but the French and the British hadn't gotten along for quite some time now, and though she managed to disguise her accent when she spoke, Océane was French. Her whole family had been.
She was not abandoned, by any means, by her family. But the truth was, they were all pirates. Her father Christophe and older sister Marine, were pirates, as was her mother before she passed away. They named both she and her sister after the sea. At length, her father had become so overtaken by piracy and the law to not allow any females on board, he was blinded and did not realize what he were doing as she and her sister were forced to walk the plank. They were luckily picked up by a merchant sailor's ship, which was soon and ironically enough attacked by another gang of pirates. To make a long story short, she and her sister boarded The Blasphemer, a pirate ship full of females. The Captain, Tess Longhook agreed to take them under her wing under one condition: they joined her crew and became pirates.
They agreed, wanting to survive, but Océane did so only half-heartedly. Over the years she didn't develop the habits of pirates, the thirst for blood, rum and treasure. She never truly had any desire to be a pirate and was not overtaken by desire as her sister was. They still robbed houses, ports, passing ships, merchant sailors: innocent people.
She wasn't tough and strong like her sister. She would rather stand on deck and gaze at the passing islands, wondering what its inhabitants were doing and what those bonfires she saw were like. While the others counted their treasure and bickered over who was going to get the most, she dreamed of setting foot back on dry land for good. Meeting the most wonderful young man who would be true, and give her the life she had dreamed of. She wanted someone unlike those other men that sometimes boarded the ship with a pirate would bring back 'treasure.' Those men wanted nothing more than lustful nights and the occasional stolen gold.
That had started getting out of hand, and Captain Tess had made the new law that if any of them had stood within a ten foot radius of a man, they would be marooned or forced to walk the plank. Océane hadn't spoken to a man other than her father in almost eight years.
At length, Océane had enough with the pirate life, knowing that it was something she would never be able to do. So she snuck off of The Blasphemer with a rowboat one night while she was on guard duty. That was a few nights ago, and she hadn't heard anything of that ship since. No, the pirate life was definitely not one for Océane at the moment.
Plus she got seasick.
"Honestly, Océane," Marine would stand over her with her hands on her cocked hips, fingers caressing her pistol she loved too much. Océane was pulling her hair back and leaning her head over a bucket, being sick. Her sister would cluck her tongue. "You're the only bloody scallywag I know who gets seasick." Her laughter would be full of the thick French accent she was born with.
And then Océane would look up at her sister with bloodshot eyes and an even paler face. "Then you must not know many girls shunned by their peers and sister because her heart doesn't belong to the sea."
Her sister would roll her eyes, toss her long, wavy hair of matching color to Océane's and saunter over to find a bottle of something, anything strong.
Océane never considered herself a scallywag.
She looked back out into the horizon, bringing herself back down to earth. The sun was just beginning to set and it painted the sky a brilliant red color. It parted through the clouds and its rays sank deep down into the waters. It was a spotlight down into its crystal clear depths, reaching for secrets that lie on the ocean floor.
"Red sky at night, sailor's delight," she mumbled miserably.
She took a bite of her apple again, puckering at its strong sourness. She didn't doubt that the man that sold it to her had basked it in some kind of alcohol. He had about three canteens tied around his waist and one in his hand, plus he looked a little tipsy.
"That's a fine one, miss," the man had slurred, when she picked an apple. She had stared at him and quirked an eyebrow, looking at the fruit in her hand. It didn't seem any more exquisite than the others on the stand. He looked at her and winked. "Careful not to eat too many though, might get yourself sick!"
She came back to reality and, adding two and two together, she realized that he probably had done something to it. She let out a gasp and dropped the apple in disgust. It landed into the harbor waters with a soft splash, and a small boy that had been fishing next to her looked at her strangely.
"Drop it, miss?" he asked, and she nodded, a terrible lie. He turned around and reached into a satchel he had next to him. Rummaging around for a bit, he pulled out a fresh, red apple and handed it to her, a proud and goofy smile on his face. "Here ya go. Momma always makes me eat 'em, but they're nasty to me."
Océane took it in her hand, examined it, and smiled. She leaned in to the little boy and he looked up at her, his green eyes full of excitement only a young, carefree child could have.
"Promise I won't tell if you won't," she said in the best British accent she could muster, and messed up his hair. He giggled and she stood to her feet.
She cast a glance back at the sky and realized that it was almost sunset, and if she wanted to find a place to lodge, she had better scrounge up some money somewhere.
One thing that she had gotten skilled at while being on the Blasphemer was thieving. It was something she was required to do to keep her stay on the ship. She didn't do much, just the amount that was required to stay away from that dreadful plank again.
'I just need enough to lodge for the night,' she thought, 'That's all.'
Her pale eyes scanned the houses and shops in the alleyways. They all looked to be awake and have too few rooms-something Captain Tess had told her was to go for bigger houses. Not only more booty, but more room to hide, more places to escape from, and more time to escape because of size gave her chasers more places to have to look through.
Finally, she spotted a large mansion up on the top of a hill. Most of the lights, all but one, were out, and it looked virtually lifeless. There was still light and she had time to make it up there and back before it got too dark.
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After hours of putting 'just one more' final touch onto her wedding dress, Elizabeth looked at herself and sighed. She was alone in the house now, the maids were out in the garden picking flowers to create some kind of a garland for her hair the next day.
"Corsets," she growled angrily, and took off the top to her dress with some difficulty.
She carefully hung it up and turned to look at her reflection again and saw the doorway behind her. She gasped and whirled around. There was someone in the hall.
She stood there for a moment, and finally called out, "Who's there?"
She heard the sound that sounded like a chain dropping, and she slowly walked into the hall. Her heart skipped a beat as she caught a glimpse of someone heading into her father's weapons room.
'Of all the bloody rooms to hide in,' she thought. She walked towards the room and saw something glinting on the ground. She picked it up carefully and looked at it. 'My necklace,' she thought breathlessly.
With a deep breath and a sudden wave of courage, she walked into the weapons room and, through the red-painted walls from the sunset, saw that it was empty. Her eyes searched the room around before realizing that it was empty. She cautiously took a step back, before turning around to head out to the hall again, and coming face to face with a girl. Océane.
Her sword was drawn, and Elizabeth stopped in her tracks, gasping. The girl was holding an armful of her jewelry and some of the curtains. She had the long, thin blade of her sword to Elizabeth's neck.
She swallowed. "Those belong to me," she said, looking at the treasure in the girl's arms.
Océane smirked and shook her head. "Not any more," she said, and Elizabeth looked somewhat shocked.
"You're French," she said, and Océane let her guard down. Elizabeth noticed this and her hand slowly crept towards one of the swords her father had leaning up against a glass case of others.
The girl tossed her hair. "You're obviously better at picking up on accents than others," she said, not bothering to disguise her voice any more.
Without wasting a second, Elizabeth grabbed the hilt of the sword behind her, and pulled it out of its sheath. She pressed its point against the Océane's throat, who looked slightly panicked for a moment. She regained composure, though, and pressed her blade against Elizabeth's again.
"You move fast," Océane commented. "But you wouldn't want to ruin your pretty wedding gown, would you?"
Elizabeth clenched her jaw and said, "I could not care less if this bloody corset is ruined." She took a step back, keeping her sword aimed at her.
"Shall we?" she said, and Elizabeth only kept her intent glare on her as they began to sword fight.
In all honesty, Océane was not one to be going around sword fighting. She could wield a blade, yes, but she hadn't had much practice and wasn't up to the level in which she should be challenging people. And she had to do so single handedly because one hand was full of stolen items.
As their swords clashed together, Océane realized what she had gotten herself into. What she didn't know was that Will, since they had gotten back to Port Royal, had taught Elizabeth what he knew in sword fighting, and she had shown to be a skilled fighter. Océane took a step backwards, connecting her sword with Elizabeth's twice more, and whirled behind one of the banisters in the room, pressing her back against it to catch her breath.
Elizabeth came around the other side, sinking her sword into the side of the banister and grazing Océane's cheek. A thin trickle of blood slid down her face, and she turned around again as Elizabeth unstuck her sword from the banister.
Their swords clanked again and again as Océane drove her back further into the room, and finally, with a big sweep of luck, knocked Elizabeth's blade out of her hand. She let out a cry and glanced down at where Océane's blade had cut a thin line across her index and middle fingers.
Heaving a silent sigh of relief, Océane advanced towards her until Elizabeth was pressed up against the wall, the tip of her blade touching the curve at the bottom of her throat. She shook the jewelry that hadn't fallen out of her hand.
"I believe this is mine, now," she said, cocking her head to the side and smirking in a twitch-like movement.
Elizabeth's eyes trailed down to the things and she swallowed, breathing heavily. "And how do you propose to leave?" she asked through gritted teeth. "The servants downstairs will surely see you and you can't just jump out of a two story building."
Océane paused and opened her mouth to say something. However, the sound of footsteps pounding up the stairs cut her off. She whirled around and they heard Will's voice call out nervously: "Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth smiled. "Will," she said, and smirked menacingly at Océane. "Well, how will you escape now?"
Before she could respond, she ran for the doorway, nearly colliding with Will. He just managed to move out of the way before Elizabeth shouted, "She stole my things!" and he almost instinctively ran after her.
He had just started to head down the stairs before he saw her jump off of the first landing and land hard on the marble floors. He winced for her and she ran towards the front door, casting a glance over her shoulder just before she reached it.
Her eyes met with Will's, and she stopped in her tracks. It was him. The man she had read about... going on adventures with Captain Jack Sparrow. She had thought it was only an old wives tale, another story that Captain Tess had made up to keep her away from men. But there he was at the stairs, standing, watching her back with the same eyes of dark chocolate she had seen in the paintings and storybooks.
They continued to look at one another, and a sudden moment of understanding passed through them. Instead of running down and taking Elizabeth's belongings back, Will saw her for what she was: an alone girl with nothing more than the clothes on her back and those few items she had stolen. His eyes scanned the things she had in her left arm, as she sheathed her sword in the other. There was something about those eyes, the color of golden sand in the sun, that seemed to reflect something he used to feel.
Elizabeth hammered down the stairs and when she reached the landing he was on, turned to look at him. She followed his gaze down to the girl standing in the doorway, who was just staring back at Will. Finally, Elizabeth turned her look of disgust and anger back towards Will.
"She's going to get away!" she screeched, angrily gesturing towards Océane.
Both the thief and Will jumped, and the two fiancés turned to look at one another. He blinked at her seething anger and turned back towards the door, but Océane had disappeared.
Elizabeth heaved a loud, angry sigh. "Well, there goes all my jewelry and curtains," she mumbled, folding her arms and looking away.
"She had dropped most of them... I think all she got was the curtains," he said, pointing down to the floor below and stairs behind him where she had dropped almost everything. This didn't brighten Elizabeth's mood at all. She heaved a sigh, still pouting, and didn't meet his eyes.
Will turned to her and put his hands on her arms, craning his head so he was looking her in the eye.
"I'm sorry, Liz," he said genuinely, using his nickname for her. "I don't know what I was thinking. I should've done something."
She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and a smile slowly spread across her face. He returned it and took a step back, looking her up and down. She realized that she was still in her corset and swatted his arm playfully.
He scooped her up in his arms, cradling her, and she squealed, kicking her feet. "Will!" she exclaimed, and he grinned.
"Liz, you are the only woman I know," he said, looking in to her eyes, "who could look gorgeous after being in a sword fight in a corset and half a wedding gown." Her eyes sparkled and he leaned his head down and kissed her softly.
She broke the kiss and smiled at him. "Shall we go upstairs?" she asked, and he smiled. "My father won't be home for a good hour."
She curled a lock of his hair around her finger, biting her lower lip seductively. He chuckled and said, "Nothing would suit me better, m' lady," before he carried her the rest of the way up the stairs.
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Océane stood on the beach, staring out into the sea. The sun had set, and though she had stolen all of those necklaces, she hadn't done anything about them. Will was right, all she had gotten was a curtain and one necklace. But somehow, stealing those things suddenly didn't seem right. When she realized that they belonged to Will Turner's fiancé. All the sudden, nothing was making sense.
She looked down at the curtains she had. They were long, and though they were thin, two of them would keep her warm overnight if she had to stay on the beach. These Islands were nowhere near as cold as France was. Her eyes traveled to the long chain that was hanging from her hand. It was simple, and she had stolen that to keep for herself, rather than sell it. She supposed that Elizabeth didn't like it, because it was pushed in the very back of the drawer with a bunch of crumpled parchment, but Océane had seen it and taken it right away.
The chain was simple and silver, thin and when put on would probably just touch the top of her breast. But the pendant that was on it is what had attracted her. A half-inch sized amber rose was carved out of something, maybe even wood, against a solid black background. It was encased in a clear, black tinted, heart shaped stone. The back was flat and silver- plated, allowing it to lay softly on the wearer's skin.
Océane looked at it and back out onto the sea. She didn't know why she wanted to keep it so badly, other than it being so beautiful. But she had come across a thousand beautiful rings and necklaces before. Something about this one though, told her she should keep it. She traced her fingers down its chain to the pendant and ran her fingers along it. Images of Will Turner flashed across her mind as she sat down slowly into the soft, white sand.
Why Will Turner of all people?
------------------------------ A/N: Oh, the melancholy! I think this is the first fic I've written so far that the OC has fallen in love with the canon character right off. Granted, of course, Will doesn't feel the same way, but we can only hope... And I realize Elizabeth STILL isn't dead yet, and there hasn't been much of ol' Captain Jack Sparrow, but I promise you there will be plenty in the next chapter. I re-watched that movie again but an hour ago, and the more I watch it, the less and less I like Elizabeth Swann. Something about her whiny-ness the way she kissed Orli... I don't know.
ANYWAY! Next chapter will come soon! :)
Explanations that make no sense and TEH ANGST
A/N: Sorry for my lack of updates! I'm working on so many things right now... it's hard to keep them balanced! I re-watched PotC and found my love for the movie again, and churned this out in an entirely too long five or six days. x_x sorry for the delay, and here you go.
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Chapter Five
Just Liz
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It had taken him a moment to figure out who 'James' was, but it suddenly dawned on him. Commodore James Norrington.
It didn't make any sense to him though, why Elizabeth would have an affair with the Commodore. She had sworn over and over again that she had loved Will. But at the same time, he remembered that night just over a week ago, when she had died. He had told her he loved her, and she said nothing back. Then she said she was sorry, and 'it' was all in the letter.
This was what 'it' was. A confession.
Will couldn't have gone to him at the funeral, he knew. It would have to wait. He left early, and over and over he read the letter, praying that it was a mistake, it wasn't her writing. But it was a fool's belief. There were too many things that could not have been proved wrong.
He waited outside the funeral, until he saw the Commodore walking out, luckily by himself. He had a grim look on his face, but Will suddenly had no sympathy for him.
"Commodore," he said immediately, advancing towards him. He turned around, but Will's expression told him this wouldn't be a pleasant talk. He shoved the paper in his hands. "Care to explain?"
He looked confused, and slowly took the paper. He brought it to his face and began reading it, as Will watched him intently. He saw the Commodore's features fall slightly, and his face grow paler. When he had finished reading, he slowly lowered the paper, not meeting Will's eyes. Finally, he looked at him and sighed.
"What would you have me explain?" he asked slowly, dreadfully.
Will's eyes flashed with anger. "Everything! What this news of child is? An affair? How long had this gone on and why?" he exclaimed.
The Commodore looked at the ground before back at Will, seeming to be very reluctant. "Elizabeth and I..." he started, and sighed. "She said that she wanted to make her father happy. She couldn't stand that he wanted me to wed her over you. So she decided to have...an affair... and just leave it at that. It wasn't for love, and she planned on telling you long before the wedding.
"But the time of the wedding grew closer, and... she decided that she didn't want to be with you. But with me. She told me that she loved me, she saw me in a new light. I frankly didn't know what to do. She kept telling me, 'Don't worry, I'll call off the wedding and we can be happy.' But, she never did, and she shut herself off from me. And then just the day before your wedding she learned she was carrying child, and had been for a few months. We didn't know what to do, but she kept telling me that she would fix things, and that was the last I had spoken to her."
Will clenched and unclenched his fists. Elizabeth had been in love with two men, and apparently wasn't even planning to tell him?
For a long time he just looked at the Commodore, who seemed sincerely remorse. From the way he told the story, he seemed to have been sucked into the relationship with Elizabeth, but Will knew he did nothing to try to stop it. So he wouldn't forgive him.
Finally, Will just turned and stormed away, away from the funeral. The rain was beating down on his hair as he finally just broke into a run. He was heartbroken but the anger bubbling up inside him made him forget his hurt. Everything had just been happening so fast.
He rounded a corner, more people staring at him as he ran by, but he didn't care any more. The realization that the woman he had loved was not only dead, but had been cheating on him, rang in his mind. He didn't want to believe it, but it was true.
Reality was setting in, and he had never hated it more.
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"Are you sure you won't be following me, Willy?" Jack was asking the next day, sunny and a complete turn around from the previous.
Will stood on the dock of Jack's boat, the one he had stolen from Adele. Seeing as to she not exactly being alive any more, he assumed he could take it back. Jack himself was on the boat, finishing the last of the preparations to sail.
"Yes," Will finally said, forcing a smile. "I'm sure."
Jack looked at him knowingly, but only nodded his head. He knew that Will was staying behind because he didn't want to leave his old life behind. He didn't want to throw what he had with Elizabeth away, even though she hadn't felt the same for him. It was foolish of him, to be in denial, but Jack assumed it was only because it had been the very next day, and he would wise up come his next trip around to Port Royal. His wound wasn't fully healed, but he knew the hospital was going to kick him out after much longer. So he had snuck out while being unattended, gotten Will, and rushed over to his boat.
"Hey, I thought I told you to stop calling me that," Will noticed what he had just called him, and was awkwardly trying to brighten the mood.
Jack snorted. "But of course, Willy."
"Stay off the rum while you sail, Jack," he said, eyeing a large crate and knowing that was just what its contents were.
Jack just shook his head. "That's like telling me to stay away from the Pearl," he said, and Will emitted a soft and slightly uncomfortable laugh.
"Well," Jack said, raising his hands widely. "I guess that's it then. I'll be sailing off, ALONE, might I add..." He was giving him the guilt trip. "...to Tortuga and find the Pearl again."
Will nodded, wondering why Jack was giving him such a detailed description of what he was going to be doing. "I hope to see you soon, then," he said, but knew that it would probably be a long time.
Jack smiled and nodded back, not really one for dramatic goodbyes. He started to slowly pull the ship away and Will walked along side it until he reached the edge of the dock.
He looked thoughtful and slightly hurt for a moment, and finally called with the same expression, "And you would've been a wonderful best man!"
Jack turned his head and raised his hand, pointing upwards animatedly. "I would've been the damn best-best man you've ever seen, Mister Turner!"
Will smiled back, already starting to miss his company, and watched him sail off until he had turned out of the port and disappeared behind the rocky cliffs of Port Royal. The warm breeze picked up, and the sun was just beginning to hint at setting.
The perfect weather for sailors. For pirates.
He suddenly realized he had nowhere to go now, except the second floor of that shack some called a blacksmith's shop. He stood on the dock for a moment more, suddenly regretting his decision to stay behind. Behind is where Elizabeth's ghost, his past, his future, the lies, everything was.
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Océane walked along the beach, barefoot. She looked down at her newly- acquired attire; to put it bluntly, a whore's dress. The only clothing she could find that was offered freely to her. She had signed up at Madame Rosealine's House of Whores, as a last resort. But it was still a place to stay with food and clothing until she could find some way of making her own money.
"It's your first night, isn't it?" a girl had asked her earlier. She had later learned her name to be Jesanne. Océane had nodded, nervously looking at herself in the mirror.
The dress itself was black and the corset was gray. Not very colorful, but it was all they had to offer. The night of the raid had left her clothes worn and torn, and the few nights of sleeping alone on the only remote beach she could find hadn't done much for it either.
Jesanne had promptly walked up behind her and tied her corset tighter. She gasped for air as it pushed her bosom up further, if it was possible (Océane had loosened it as soon as she had left, wanting the ability to breathe.)
"Nothing to worry about," she said, her black hair piled on top of her head with curls hanging down on either side of her face. The massive amount of dark lip ink she had on was rather distracting, and Océane found herself staring at her mouth when she spoke. "When someone comes to ask you, just ask for, oh, four or five shillings."
"That many?" Océane asked in disbelief.
Jesanne stopped and looked at her. "What, you're not a virgin are you?"
Océane didn't say anything, and Jesanne laughed. "Oh, better make it three then. No sense in charging for inexperience."
That had heated Océane; so what if she was surrounded by women-activist pirates for the majority of her life? So what if she had never...
That was not something she wanted to think about. She continued to stomp along the beach, throwing her hands around in anger. The ink that had been piled on her face she had attempted to wash out, and it only left blotches under her eyes. Thankfully, the red ink on her lips had come off right away. She hastily loosened her corset again, offering less and less cleavage.
She looked terrible, she knew, but she had been avoiding the citizens of Port Royal like the plague, and was determined to not see anyone with her looking like that.
So, of course, that would give perfect explanation as to why Will Turner happened to be walking along the very same beach at the very same time.
He looked down at the ground as he walked, his hands in his pockets. He was also barefoot, and the sand was warm and soft underneath his feet. He looked up and saw someone walking towards him, and he immediately recognized it as a painted-up Océane.
She looked up and also saw him, and felt her face go red. She desperately looked for a place to jump off to, and considered just drowning herself in the ocean right then and there, but decided against it. Will reached her, and still looked disbelieving.
"You..." he said, blinking a few times. He squinted his eyes.
"Yes, it's Océane, the French strumpet," she dripped with sarcasm, rolling her eyes.
He stared momentarily before seeming to snap out of an astonished trance. "No, I mean, you're a..."
"Whore?" she finished expectantly, raising an eyebrow. She felt utterly ridiculous and hoped he didn't notice that she glanced down to make sure not too much cleavage was still showing.
He just nodded his head. "Yeah," he said. She tried to hide the slightly annoyed look on her face, but he jumped. "No, it's not that, I mean, you're not a whore, it's just that you didn't...seem to..."
There was a long and awkward silence as Océane ran her fingers nervously through her hair. "Look, I needed a place to stay. They offer free food and clothes, and it's going to be the last place my sister looks for me."
He continued to just look at her blankly and she added with a bit of nervousness, "Beggars can't be choosers."
Will had completely forgotten about Océane and how Marine was going to be coming back to look for her. For some reason they needed her, and Will knew that when she came back, he needed to be near Océane. He didn't care if Elizabeth had been having an affair. It didn't matter to him. He still loved her, and would love her. He had been bound to her before by an engagement ring and an affair was not going to interfere.
He also realized that her plan was not a very well thought out one. When Marine came back, she would bring the entire crew with her, because whatever Océane had, they needed it badly. And even if it took them all night, they would definitely find her in a place such as a whore house. They had probably stolen from it in their last raid and knew where it was. She needed to be hidden somewhere that they hadn't been, and the only place he could think of was his own home.
"Look," he said, not really knowing what he was doing. "They're obviously going to find you if you hide in such a well known place."
She looked slightly surprised that he knew she was hiding--though only a fool wouldn't know--but kept her mouth shut. Will ran a hand through his hair and wet his lips. "Why don't you just stay with me for a few days until you get on your feet. It's as safe as you can get."
"No," she said right away, catching him off guard. She caught a glance of two fishermen making their way down the beach to set up, and felt her face grow hot that more people would see her like this. She turned back to Will. "This isn't your battle, William."
"Mister Turner," he said with a face of stone.
She paused. "Mister Turner," she drawled out, like each syllable was a brick on her tongue. The fishermen were getting closer and watched them as their voices raised. "Any way, I do not want you involved with the affairs of my family."
Will was beginning to grow angry. "They're not just your affairs, Océane--"
"Miss Badeau." She cut him off just as coolly as he had.
He bit his lip and looked at the ground, as if contemplating whether to strangle her or not, and finally met her eyes again. She could have sworn they were brimmed with tears. "Your sister killed my fiancé. I have a right to try and avenge her."
Her eyes widened noticeably and he realized what a mistake he had made, telling a girl he wanted to kill her blood sister. Her widened eyes suddenly narrowed into slits and she clenched her fists.
"You will not get involved," she growled, and stormed right past him. He turned and tried to grab on to her arm, but she shook him off and kept walking. "Good day, William!" She raised her voice even more angrily.
"Fine!" he yelled back, and started walking backwards. "And it's Mister Turner!"
He got no reaction, and she just continued storming off, mumbling thing about 'imprudent girls' and 'just wanting to help.'
Océane walked in silent seething anger. When she had passed the fishermen, they were murmuring about ill tempers, and she tried to ignore them. She walked a while longer and hastily cast a glance out at the sun, wondering how long she had been rampaging. She saw that the sun was threatening to set now, painting the sky a pale yellow that faded into its clear blue. Realizing she was still worked up, she stood and tried calming herself by staring out into the sea. The soft loll of the waves eventually calmed her and she matched her breathing with its slow turning. After a few minutes she had relaxed, but not forgotten William Turner. She stood in silence, but it was soon awkward. She felt someone's eyes boring into the back of her head. She turned around and saw the two fishermen there.
She stiffened a little, but managed to look unaffected. "Yes?" she said rather arrogantly.
One of the fishermen looked at the man behind him, who nodded his head imposingly. He turned back around and looked at Océane, flashing a disgusting smile. His hair was dread locked and light brown, with a square face. The man behind him had a near-shaved head with a plain red bandana tied around it and an unbuttoned shirt. They didn't appear too nice.
"How much?" the first man asked.
At first she didn't realize what he was asking, but when she realized that she had just earlier that day become a whore, it all clicked. She froze, flicking her eyes around nervously, and half-wishing she hadn't left Will.
"It..." she shifted her weight and folded her arms. "Why?"
They appeared somewhat perplexed. "You're a whore, ain't ye?"
She lowered her eyes and raised her brows, trying to look careless. She stumbled for words as she slightly tilted her shoulders this way and that. A malicious grin came across their faces.
"No matter," the second one said, taking a step forward. Her eyes widened and she, in turn, took a step backwards. "What's wrong, love? Wasn't in the job description?"
Océane took another step backwards and felt the water creep up around her ankle. The man closest to her laughed. "That's alright, old Tom and Skinner here can show ye how it's done."
Halfway down the shore, Will was still walking angrily and kicking the sand as he went. Some of his irritation had died down, but her ungrateful voice still rang in his head. After a moment, he slowed down. To anyone else watching him, it would have seemed that he was having some sort of inner battle. He paused his walking, and looked down at the sand. He started to take another step forward but stopped and put his hands on his hips, looking up at the heavens. Finally, he just heaved a sigh, throwing his arms up in the air, and turned around, walking back to where Océane had been.
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A/N: Yep. Yep, yep, yep. More coming soon. Shoutouts...
~ Cecile Li: Look, more strumpet-calling! :D Sorry there was no Elizabeth torturing... You can imagine her dying slowly after being shot, though. :P Thanks so much for all of your reviews.
~ XxDarkGoddessxX: No, they didn't really hate each other, but because they worked together to build America, doesn't mean that all the British liked them. ;) I just wanted some French bashing in here. (Not as some huge patriotic say-freedom-instead-of-France/French, because I have French in me) but because it seemed to me that Jack didn't appreciate them very much and I found it funny.. just wanted to imply it in my own fic. ;) Good to see that you're alert though. Hee, thanks for the review!
~ Arallahmenorah: Yeah, I liked Elizabeth a lot when I saw the movie the first time, and even when I started writing this. But the more I watched the movie the more ungrateful/whiny she seemed. (When the two ship crews were fighting each other, Jack saved her life [again] from one of the Pearl's crew members and she was being rather unthankful about it.)
I've also put the plot recap behind a cut, not because it's any longer than usual but because it's always long.
TITLE: Not All Treasure is Silver and Gold
CULPRIT: myheartxyourknife Don't tempt me.
SUMMARY: "WillOC - After Elizabeth is killed :(, Will and Jack must set off to find her killers, who are searching for an island that only one girl knows of. Complete summary inside---SUMMARY HAS BEEN CHANGED" / "The day before Elizabeth and Will's wedding, Jack Sparrow shows up at Port Royal, hearing news of the event. While Will is away, a thief breaks in to the Swann's house and has a run-in with the bride-to-be. [For all you guys: Woo! Elizabeth swordfighting in nothing on her top but a corset!] Luckily, Will runs the thief off. But that night, Port Royal is attacked by Pirates, and Elizabeth, among others, is killed. But why did her killers need to find a girl who escaped from their ship so badly?"
BEST LINE: "Océane was French. Her whole family had been." No, I did not take this out of context. Yes, it's as stupid and obvious a statement as it seems.
THE VERDICT
Walk the plank, bitch.
NAME: Océane Badeau I like Strangé, better.
EYES: "Her eyes almost seemed yellow: a peculiar shade of pale honey brown"
HAIR: "Her hair was just past her shoulders, flipping out on the ends, and a natural haystack blonde. The sun, however, had bleached some of it to an almost white blonde."
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: "her skin [was] unusually pale" What is it with Sues and pale skin, exactly?
OH SO SPESHUL POSSESSIONS: A sword and a necklace that she stole from Elizabeth.
OBNOXIOUS AND/OR IMPLAUSIBLE ORIGIN: She was born into a family of pirates, and was a pirate herself, but has become a thief.
OBNOXIOUS AND/OR IMPLAUSIBLE CANON CONNECTIONS/AFFILIATIONS: Is going to be Will's new girl.
SOOPER SPESHUL ABILITIES: none
THE "PLOT": Our story begins with... an author's note. The author would like us to know that this is not a story for those who are "deeply in love with Elizabeth Swann" because though she likes Elizabeth (she later recinds this statement claiming that she watched the movie again and found reason to dislike our poor constantly abused Miss Swann), Elizabeth is going to die because "it's key for the storyline, savvy?" The actual story begins with some mediocre prose about Elizabeth's room and how all of Port Royal is anticipating Will and Elizabeth's wedding. There's some stuff with Elizabeth trying on her gown, thinking she looks fat, and sending her maid for a corset. Just... whatever. Meanwhile, Will is working and Jack shows up. They greet each other and for a moment I think that perhaps the description had fooled me and this was a Will/Jack fic. But no. Jack isn't there for manlove, but for Will and Elizabeth's wedding. Or so he says.
Next chapter, Sue is introduced. There's lots of boring exposition about how all of her family were pirates, and how after her mother died eventually her father made she and her sister walk the plank and how they ended up on an all-girl pirate ship and how Sue never wanted to be a pirate so she ran away and she just wanted a man and the all-girl crew were forbidden to go near men (Lesbians! And I was just about to say that this fandom shared the HP fandom's shortage of lesbians) blah blah blah stereotypereversalcakes. I would give the author brownie points for making a character who doesn't want to be free on the sea, etc. but she uses the opposite for the same nefarious purposes so she gets squat. Anyway, Sue now lives by petty thievery, but instead of doing some pickpocketing to get money for an inn she decides to rob the Governor's mansion. Yeah, smart move. She gets into a swordfight with Elizabeth and in the process gets an artful cut across her cheek. Will comes home, chases Sue, then they have A Moment and he pities her being all alone or something. Sue escapes, Elizabeth is annoyed, and Will checks out Elizabeth in her corset. He sweet talks her out of annoyance and there's implied-sex. The author gets +.5 points for WillElizabeth!Sex. Sue angsts because after meeting him (Apparently, there are storybooks and shit about him. Go figure.) she's, obviously, in love with Will.
Chapter Three: After The Sex , Will thinks about how Elizabeth is a spoiled, whiny brat (!) but he loves her anyway. Sue's lesbian!crew attacks Port Royal looking for Sue, Jack gets himself shot by acting like an idiot because they're French, and Elizabeth is killed by Sue's sister. I dock the author 253 points.
Sue arrives at the governor's mansion just in time for Will to take her hostage so that her sister and two other lesbian!pirates won't shoot him. This works since Sue is somehow sooper speshul and important to the lesbian!pirates. Naval folks arrive and the lesbian!pirates are arrested. Since Jack has been shot he gets medical care instead of a trip to gallows. Apparently, they're waiting for him to get better first but he's mostly faking so that he can have time to escape. Another testament to the stupidity of the authorities of Port Royal is the fact that they don't check people for weapons, because Sue's sister was hiding a knife on her person and uses it to cut her bindings and escape the gallows. At Elizabeth's funeral, Governor Swann gives Will a letter that Elizabeth left for him. It tells him that she was pregnant, she was certain the child wasn't his, and he should talk to Commodore Norrington for the whole story. I dock the author 698 more points.
Will confronts Norrington and he gives an explanation for why Elizabeth began an affair with him that makes no sense. Of course, it doesn't need to make sense, because the only reason this plot point even exists is so that the author can villify Elizabeth and thereby have Will not be a bad guy for moving on to Sue in an inappropriately short amount of time. Speaking of Sue she walks along the beach and angsts about having to become a whore. Will bumps into her, offers to let her come back to his place to hide from the lesbian!pirates when they return. They argue because Will wants to kill her sister and Sue storms off and gets propositioned by some fishermen.
NOTES: This Suethor claims in her profile that she takes her litmus tests, in reference to a Harry Potter Sue of hers. Someone needs to introduce her to the PotC Sue Litmus Test. Of course, she's also under the delusion that Crimes Against the Canon and Sue-ish attributes are fine if it's part of the plot, so it probably wouldn't help.
It's not that I have a huge thing against character death. For forced drama? Yes. In general? No. Character death stories about how the other characters would realistically react to said death don't bother me. If one story, wherein Elizabeth dies, would just be about Will and what he does with his life after losing her without any involvement from his new true love I'd be happy. Ok, I wouldn't exactly be happy since if it was well-written it would probably be a depressing story, but you get the idea.
If your plot requires you to off a canon character so that you can pair your OFC with the deceased canon character's significant other, you need a new plot. Also, your character is a Sue, no matter how many litmus tests you claim to have taken.
Point being, if it looks like a Sue (Peculiar yellow eyes, huh? Riiiiight.), is named like a Sue (Seriously, Océane Badeau?), and fulfills the role of a Sue (Introducing: Will's five hundred fifty-third true love that isn't Elizabeth), then it's a Sue.
Oh and there are chocolate eyes. Again.
EXCERPT:
Aw. Sue is alone. Pity her. Pity her, I say!
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Chapter Two
A Thief's Longing
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Océane Badeau sat on one of the docks amongst others tending to their business: loading cargo onto ships, a boy fishing by himself, a man checking in those who were just docking, and a gang of fishermen heading back from sea on their small boat.
Her hair was just past her shoulders, flipping out on the ends, and a natural haystack blonde. The sun, however, had bleached some of it to an almost white blonde. Her eyes almost seemed yellow: a peculiar shade of pale honey brown. The one thing that made her stand out amongst the others at Port Royal was her skin being unusually pale that time of year in those surroundings. Her clothing was a simple black dress, a wench dress, as more would know it as. Black boots adorned her feet, and a rarely ever used sword hung at her side. She had a look of slight nervousness as she sat amongst the strangers, eating a sour green apple.
Océane was a young woman, having just turned twenty one the previous month. She was still green and naïve, and truthfully had no business being out on her own. Port Royal wasn't an unsafe place by any means, but the French and the British hadn't gotten along for quite some time now, and though she managed to disguise her accent when she spoke, Océane was French. Her whole family had been.
She was not abandoned, by any means, by her family. But the truth was, they were all pirates. Her father Christophe and older sister Marine, were pirates, as was her mother before she passed away. They named both she and her sister after the sea. At length, her father had become so overtaken by piracy and the law to not allow any females on board, he was blinded and did not realize what he were doing as she and her sister were forced to walk the plank. They were luckily picked up by a merchant sailor's ship, which was soon and ironically enough attacked by another gang of pirates. To make a long story short, she and her sister boarded The Blasphemer, a pirate ship full of females. The Captain, Tess Longhook agreed to take them under her wing under one condition: they joined her crew and became pirates.
They agreed, wanting to survive, but Océane did so only half-heartedly. Over the years she didn't develop the habits of pirates, the thirst for blood, rum and treasure. She never truly had any desire to be a pirate and was not overtaken by desire as her sister was. They still robbed houses, ports, passing ships, merchant sailors: innocent people.
She wasn't tough and strong like her sister. She would rather stand on deck and gaze at the passing islands, wondering what its inhabitants were doing and what those bonfires she saw were like. While the others counted their treasure and bickered over who was going to get the most, she dreamed of setting foot back on dry land for good. Meeting the most wonderful young man who would be true, and give her the life she had dreamed of. She wanted someone unlike those other men that sometimes boarded the ship with a pirate would bring back 'treasure.' Those men wanted nothing more than lustful nights and the occasional stolen gold.
That had started getting out of hand, and Captain Tess had made the new law that if any of them had stood within a ten foot radius of a man, they would be marooned or forced to walk the plank. Océane hadn't spoken to a man other than her father in almost eight years.
At length, Océane had enough with the pirate life, knowing that it was something she would never be able to do. So she snuck off of The Blasphemer with a rowboat one night while she was on guard duty. That was a few nights ago, and she hadn't heard anything of that ship since. No, the pirate life was definitely not one for Océane at the moment.
Plus she got seasick.
"Honestly, Océane," Marine would stand over her with her hands on her cocked hips, fingers caressing her pistol she loved too much. Océane was pulling her hair back and leaning her head over a bucket, being sick. Her sister would cluck her tongue. "You're the only bloody scallywag I know who gets seasick." Her laughter would be full of the thick French accent she was born with.
And then Océane would look up at her sister with bloodshot eyes and an even paler face. "Then you must not know many girls shunned by their peers and sister because her heart doesn't belong to the sea."
Her sister would roll her eyes, toss her long, wavy hair of matching color to Océane's and saunter over to find a bottle of something, anything strong.
Océane never considered herself a scallywag.
She looked back out into the horizon, bringing herself back down to earth. The sun was just beginning to set and it painted the sky a brilliant red color. It parted through the clouds and its rays sank deep down into the waters. It was a spotlight down into its crystal clear depths, reaching for secrets that lie on the ocean floor.
"Red sky at night, sailor's delight," she mumbled miserably.
She took a bite of her apple again, puckering at its strong sourness. She didn't doubt that the man that sold it to her had basked it in some kind of alcohol. He had about three canteens tied around his waist and one in his hand, plus he looked a little tipsy.
"That's a fine one, miss," the man had slurred, when she picked an apple. She had stared at him and quirked an eyebrow, looking at the fruit in her hand. It didn't seem any more exquisite than the others on the stand. He looked at her and winked. "Careful not to eat too many though, might get yourself sick!"
She came back to reality and, adding two and two together, she realized that he probably had done something to it. She let out a gasp and dropped the apple in disgust. It landed into the harbor waters with a soft splash, and a small boy that had been fishing next to her looked at her strangely.
"Drop it, miss?" he asked, and she nodded, a terrible lie. He turned around and reached into a satchel he had next to him. Rummaging around for a bit, he pulled out a fresh, red apple and handed it to her, a proud and goofy smile on his face. "Here ya go. Momma always makes me eat 'em, but they're nasty to me."
Océane took it in her hand, examined it, and smiled. She leaned in to the little boy and he looked up at her, his green eyes full of excitement only a young, carefree child could have.
"Promise I won't tell if you won't," she said in the best British accent she could muster, and messed up his hair. He giggled and she stood to her feet.
She cast a glance back at the sky and realized that it was almost sunset, and if she wanted to find a place to lodge, she had better scrounge up some money somewhere.
One thing that she had gotten skilled at while being on the Blasphemer was thieving. It was something she was required to do to keep her stay on the ship. She didn't do much, just the amount that was required to stay away from that dreadful plank again.
'I just need enough to lodge for the night,' she thought, 'That's all.'
Her pale eyes scanned the houses and shops in the alleyways. They all looked to be awake and have too few rooms-something Captain Tess had told her was to go for bigger houses. Not only more booty, but more room to hide, more places to escape from, and more time to escape because of size gave her chasers more places to have to look through.
Finally, she spotted a large mansion up on the top of a hill. Most of the lights, all but one, were out, and it looked virtually lifeless. There was still light and she had time to make it up there and back before it got too dark.
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After hours of putting 'just one more' final touch onto her wedding dress, Elizabeth looked at herself and sighed. She was alone in the house now, the maids were out in the garden picking flowers to create some kind of a garland for her hair the next day.
"Corsets," she growled angrily, and took off the top to her dress with some difficulty.
She carefully hung it up and turned to look at her reflection again and saw the doorway behind her. She gasped and whirled around. There was someone in the hall.
She stood there for a moment, and finally called out, "Who's there?"
She heard the sound that sounded like a chain dropping, and she slowly walked into the hall. Her heart skipped a beat as she caught a glimpse of someone heading into her father's weapons room.
'Of all the bloody rooms to hide in,' she thought. She walked towards the room and saw something glinting on the ground. She picked it up carefully and looked at it. 'My necklace,' she thought breathlessly.
With a deep breath and a sudden wave of courage, she walked into the weapons room and, through the red-painted walls from the sunset, saw that it was empty. Her eyes searched the room around before realizing that it was empty. She cautiously took a step back, before turning around to head out to the hall again, and coming face to face with a girl. Océane.
Her sword was drawn, and Elizabeth stopped in her tracks, gasping. The girl was holding an armful of her jewelry and some of the curtains. She had the long, thin blade of her sword to Elizabeth's neck.
She swallowed. "Those belong to me," she said, looking at the treasure in the girl's arms.
Océane smirked and shook her head. "Not any more," she said, and Elizabeth looked somewhat shocked.
"You're French," she said, and Océane let her guard down. Elizabeth noticed this and her hand slowly crept towards one of the swords her father had leaning up against a glass case of others.
The girl tossed her hair. "You're obviously better at picking up on accents than others," she said, not bothering to disguise her voice any more.
Without wasting a second, Elizabeth grabbed the hilt of the sword behind her, and pulled it out of its sheath. She pressed its point against the Océane's throat, who looked slightly panicked for a moment. She regained composure, though, and pressed her blade against Elizabeth's again.
"You move fast," Océane commented. "But you wouldn't want to ruin your pretty wedding gown, would you?"
Elizabeth clenched her jaw and said, "I could not care less if this bloody corset is ruined." She took a step back, keeping her sword aimed at her.
"Shall we?" she said, and Elizabeth only kept her intent glare on her as they began to sword fight.
In all honesty, Océane was not one to be going around sword fighting. She could wield a blade, yes, but she hadn't had much practice and wasn't up to the level in which she should be challenging people. And she had to do so single handedly because one hand was full of stolen items.
As their swords clashed together, Océane realized what she had gotten herself into. What she didn't know was that Will, since they had gotten back to Port Royal, had taught Elizabeth what he knew in sword fighting, and she had shown to be a skilled fighter. Océane took a step backwards, connecting her sword with Elizabeth's twice more, and whirled behind one of the banisters in the room, pressing her back against it to catch her breath.
Elizabeth came around the other side, sinking her sword into the side of the banister and grazing Océane's cheek. A thin trickle of blood slid down her face, and she turned around again as Elizabeth unstuck her sword from the banister.
Their swords clanked again and again as Océane drove her back further into the room, and finally, with a big sweep of luck, knocked Elizabeth's blade out of her hand. She let out a cry and glanced down at where Océane's blade had cut a thin line across her index and middle fingers.
Heaving a silent sigh of relief, Océane advanced towards her until Elizabeth was pressed up against the wall, the tip of her blade touching the curve at the bottom of her throat. She shook the jewelry that hadn't fallen out of her hand.
"I believe this is mine, now," she said, cocking her head to the side and smirking in a twitch-like movement.
Elizabeth's eyes trailed down to the things and she swallowed, breathing heavily. "And how do you propose to leave?" she asked through gritted teeth. "The servants downstairs will surely see you and you can't just jump out of a two story building."
Océane paused and opened her mouth to say something. However, the sound of footsteps pounding up the stairs cut her off. She whirled around and they heard Will's voice call out nervously: "Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth smiled. "Will," she said, and smirked menacingly at Océane. "Well, how will you escape now?"
Before she could respond, she ran for the doorway, nearly colliding with Will. He just managed to move out of the way before Elizabeth shouted, "She stole my things!" and he almost instinctively ran after her.
He had just started to head down the stairs before he saw her jump off of the first landing and land hard on the marble floors. He winced for her and she ran towards the front door, casting a glance over her shoulder just before she reached it.
Her eyes met with Will's, and she stopped in her tracks. It was him. The man she had read about... going on adventures with Captain Jack Sparrow. She had thought it was only an old wives tale, another story that Captain Tess had made up to keep her away from men. But there he was at the stairs, standing, watching her back with the same eyes of dark chocolate she had seen in the paintings and storybooks.
They continued to look at one another, and a sudden moment of understanding passed through them. Instead of running down and taking Elizabeth's belongings back, Will saw her for what she was: an alone girl with nothing more than the clothes on her back and those few items she had stolen. His eyes scanned the things she had in her left arm, as she sheathed her sword in the other. There was something about those eyes, the color of golden sand in the sun, that seemed to reflect something he used to feel.
Elizabeth hammered down the stairs and when she reached the landing he was on, turned to look at him. She followed his gaze down to the girl standing in the doorway, who was just staring back at Will. Finally, Elizabeth turned her look of disgust and anger back towards Will.
"She's going to get away!" she screeched, angrily gesturing towards Océane.
Both the thief and Will jumped, and the two fiancés turned to look at one another. He blinked at her seething anger and turned back towards the door, but Océane had disappeared.
Elizabeth heaved a loud, angry sigh. "Well, there goes all my jewelry and curtains," she mumbled, folding her arms and looking away.
"She had dropped most of them... I think all she got was the curtains," he said, pointing down to the floor below and stairs behind him where she had dropped almost everything. This didn't brighten Elizabeth's mood at all. She heaved a sigh, still pouting, and didn't meet his eyes.
Will turned to her and put his hands on her arms, craning his head so he was looking her in the eye.
"I'm sorry, Liz," he said genuinely, using his nickname for her. "I don't know what I was thinking. I should've done something."
She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and a smile slowly spread across her face. He returned it and took a step back, looking her up and down. She realized that she was still in her corset and swatted his arm playfully.
He scooped her up in his arms, cradling her, and she squealed, kicking her feet. "Will!" she exclaimed, and he grinned.
"Liz, you are the only woman I know," he said, looking in to her eyes, "who could look gorgeous after being in a sword fight in a corset and half a wedding gown." Her eyes sparkled and he leaned his head down and kissed her softly.
She broke the kiss and smiled at him. "Shall we go upstairs?" she asked, and he smiled. "My father won't be home for a good hour."
She curled a lock of his hair around her finger, biting her lower lip seductively. He chuckled and said, "Nothing would suit me better, m' lady," before he carried her the rest of the way up the stairs.
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Océane stood on the beach, staring out into the sea. The sun had set, and though she had stolen all of those necklaces, she hadn't done anything about them. Will was right, all she had gotten was a curtain and one necklace. But somehow, stealing those things suddenly didn't seem right. When she realized that they belonged to Will Turner's fiancé. All the sudden, nothing was making sense.
She looked down at the curtains she had. They were long, and though they were thin, two of them would keep her warm overnight if she had to stay on the beach. These Islands were nowhere near as cold as France was. Her eyes traveled to the long chain that was hanging from her hand. It was simple, and she had stolen that to keep for herself, rather than sell it. She supposed that Elizabeth didn't like it, because it was pushed in the very back of the drawer with a bunch of crumpled parchment, but Océane had seen it and taken it right away.
The chain was simple and silver, thin and when put on would probably just touch the top of her breast. But the pendant that was on it is what had attracted her. A half-inch sized amber rose was carved out of something, maybe even wood, against a solid black background. It was encased in a clear, black tinted, heart shaped stone. The back was flat and silver- plated, allowing it to lay softly on the wearer's skin.
Océane looked at it and back out onto the sea. She didn't know why she wanted to keep it so badly, other than it being so beautiful. But she had come across a thousand beautiful rings and necklaces before. Something about this one though, told her she should keep it. She traced her fingers down its chain to the pendant and ran her fingers along it. Images of Will Turner flashed across her mind as she sat down slowly into the soft, white sand.
Why Will Turner of all people?
------------------------------ A/N: Oh, the melancholy! I think this is the first fic I've written so far that the OC has fallen in love with the canon character right off. Granted, of course, Will doesn't feel the same way, but we can only hope... And I realize Elizabeth STILL isn't dead yet, and there hasn't been much of ol' Captain Jack Sparrow, but I promise you there will be plenty in the next chapter. I re-watched that movie again but an hour ago, and the more I watch it, the less and less I like Elizabeth Swann. Something about her whiny-ness the way she kissed Orli... I don't know.
ANYWAY! Next chapter will come soon! :)
Explanations that make no sense and TEH ANGST
A/N: Sorry for my lack of updates! I'm working on so many things right now... it's hard to keep them balanced! I re-watched PotC and found my love for the movie again, and churned this out in an entirely too long five or six days. x_x sorry for the delay, and here you go.
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Chapter Five
Just Liz
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It had taken him a moment to figure out who 'James' was, but it suddenly dawned on him. Commodore James Norrington.
It didn't make any sense to him though, why Elizabeth would have an affair with the Commodore. She had sworn over and over again that she had loved Will. But at the same time, he remembered that night just over a week ago, when she had died. He had told her he loved her, and she said nothing back. Then she said she was sorry, and 'it' was all in the letter.
This was what 'it' was. A confession.
Will couldn't have gone to him at the funeral, he knew. It would have to wait. He left early, and over and over he read the letter, praying that it was a mistake, it wasn't her writing. But it was a fool's belief. There were too many things that could not have been proved wrong.
He waited outside the funeral, until he saw the Commodore walking out, luckily by himself. He had a grim look on his face, but Will suddenly had no sympathy for him.
"Commodore," he said immediately, advancing towards him. He turned around, but Will's expression told him this wouldn't be a pleasant talk. He shoved the paper in his hands. "Care to explain?"
He looked confused, and slowly took the paper. He brought it to his face and began reading it, as Will watched him intently. He saw the Commodore's features fall slightly, and his face grow paler. When he had finished reading, he slowly lowered the paper, not meeting Will's eyes. Finally, he looked at him and sighed.
"What would you have me explain?" he asked slowly, dreadfully.
Will's eyes flashed with anger. "Everything! What this news of child is? An affair? How long had this gone on and why?" he exclaimed.
The Commodore looked at the ground before back at Will, seeming to be very reluctant. "Elizabeth and I..." he started, and sighed. "She said that she wanted to make her father happy. She couldn't stand that he wanted me to wed her over you. So she decided to have...an affair... and just leave it at that. It wasn't for love, and she planned on telling you long before the wedding.
"But the time of the wedding grew closer, and... she decided that she didn't want to be with you. But with me. She told me that she loved me, she saw me in a new light. I frankly didn't know what to do. She kept telling me, 'Don't worry, I'll call off the wedding and we can be happy.' But, she never did, and she shut herself off from me. And then just the day before your wedding she learned she was carrying child, and had been for a few months. We didn't know what to do, but she kept telling me that she would fix things, and that was the last I had spoken to her."
Will clenched and unclenched his fists. Elizabeth had been in love with two men, and apparently wasn't even planning to tell him?
For a long time he just looked at the Commodore, who seemed sincerely remorse. From the way he told the story, he seemed to have been sucked into the relationship with Elizabeth, but Will knew he did nothing to try to stop it. So he wouldn't forgive him.
Finally, Will just turned and stormed away, away from the funeral. The rain was beating down on his hair as he finally just broke into a run. He was heartbroken but the anger bubbling up inside him made him forget his hurt. Everything had just been happening so fast.
He rounded a corner, more people staring at him as he ran by, but he didn't care any more. The realization that the woman he had loved was not only dead, but had been cheating on him, rang in his mind. He didn't want to believe it, but it was true.
Reality was setting in, and he had never hated it more.
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"Are you sure you won't be following me, Willy?" Jack was asking the next day, sunny and a complete turn around from the previous.
Will stood on the dock of Jack's boat, the one he had stolen from Adele. Seeing as to she not exactly being alive any more, he assumed he could take it back. Jack himself was on the boat, finishing the last of the preparations to sail.
"Yes," Will finally said, forcing a smile. "I'm sure."
Jack looked at him knowingly, but only nodded his head. He knew that Will was staying behind because he didn't want to leave his old life behind. He didn't want to throw what he had with Elizabeth away, even though she hadn't felt the same for him. It was foolish of him, to be in denial, but Jack assumed it was only because it had been the very next day, and he would wise up come his next trip around to Port Royal. His wound wasn't fully healed, but he knew the hospital was going to kick him out after much longer. So he had snuck out while being unattended, gotten Will, and rushed over to his boat.
"Hey, I thought I told you to stop calling me that," Will noticed what he had just called him, and was awkwardly trying to brighten the mood.
Jack snorted. "But of course, Willy."
"Stay off the rum while you sail, Jack," he said, eyeing a large crate and knowing that was just what its contents were.
Jack just shook his head. "That's like telling me to stay away from the Pearl," he said, and Will emitted a soft and slightly uncomfortable laugh.
"Well," Jack said, raising his hands widely. "I guess that's it then. I'll be sailing off, ALONE, might I add..." He was giving him the guilt trip. "...to Tortuga and find the Pearl again."
Will nodded, wondering why Jack was giving him such a detailed description of what he was going to be doing. "I hope to see you soon, then," he said, but knew that it would probably be a long time.
Jack smiled and nodded back, not really one for dramatic goodbyes. He started to slowly pull the ship away and Will walked along side it until he reached the edge of the dock.
He looked thoughtful and slightly hurt for a moment, and finally called with the same expression, "And you would've been a wonderful best man!"
Jack turned his head and raised his hand, pointing upwards animatedly. "I would've been the damn best-best man you've ever seen, Mister Turner!"
Will smiled back, already starting to miss his company, and watched him sail off until he had turned out of the port and disappeared behind the rocky cliffs of Port Royal. The warm breeze picked up, and the sun was just beginning to hint at setting.
The perfect weather for sailors. For pirates.
He suddenly realized he had nowhere to go now, except the second floor of that shack some called a blacksmith's shop. He stood on the dock for a moment more, suddenly regretting his decision to stay behind. Behind is where Elizabeth's ghost, his past, his future, the lies, everything was.
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Océane walked along the beach, barefoot. She looked down at her newly- acquired attire; to put it bluntly, a whore's dress. The only clothing she could find that was offered freely to her. She had signed up at Madame Rosealine's House of Whores, as a last resort. But it was still a place to stay with food and clothing until she could find some way of making her own money.
"It's your first night, isn't it?" a girl had asked her earlier. She had later learned her name to be Jesanne. Océane had nodded, nervously looking at herself in the mirror.
The dress itself was black and the corset was gray. Not very colorful, but it was all they had to offer. The night of the raid had left her clothes worn and torn, and the few nights of sleeping alone on the only remote beach she could find hadn't done much for it either.
Jesanne had promptly walked up behind her and tied her corset tighter. She gasped for air as it pushed her bosom up further, if it was possible (Océane had loosened it as soon as she had left, wanting the ability to breathe.)
"Nothing to worry about," she said, her black hair piled on top of her head with curls hanging down on either side of her face. The massive amount of dark lip ink she had on was rather distracting, and Océane found herself staring at her mouth when she spoke. "When someone comes to ask you, just ask for, oh, four or five shillings."
"That many?" Océane asked in disbelief.
Jesanne stopped and looked at her. "What, you're not a virgin are you?"
Océane didn't say anything, and Jesanne laughed. "Oh, better make it three then. No sense in charging for inexperience."
That had heated Océane; so what if she was surrounded by women-activist pirates for the majority of her life? So what if she had never...
That was not something she wanted to think about. She continued to stomp along the beach, throwing her hands around in anger. The ink that had been piled on her face she had attempted to wash out, and it only left blotches under her eyes. Thankfully, the red ink on her lips had come off right away. She hastily loosened her corset again, offering less and less cleavage.
She looked terrible, she knew, but she had been avoiding the citizens of Port Royal like the plague, and was determined to not see anyone with her looking like that.
So, of course, that would give perfect explanation as to why Will Turner happened to be walking along the very same beach at the very same time.
He looked down at the ground as he walked, his hands in his pockets. He was also barefoot, and the sand was warm and soft underneath his feet. He looked up and saw someone walking towards him, and he immediately recognized it as a painted-up Océane.
She looked up and also saw him, and felt her face go red. She desperately looked for a place to jump off to, and considered just drowning herself in the ocean right then and there, but decided against it. Will reached her, and still looked disbelieving.
"You..." he said, blinking a few times. He squinted his eyes.
"Yes, it's Océane, the French strumpet," she dripped with sarcasm, rolling her eyes.
He stared momentarily before seeming to snap out of an astonished trance. "No, I mean, you're a..."
"Whore?" she finished expectantly, raising an eyebrow. She felt utterly ridiculous and hoped he didn't notice that she glanced down to make sure not too much cleavage was still showing.
He just nodded his head. "Yeah," he said. She tried to hide the slightly annoyed look on her face, but he jumped. "No, it's not that, I mean, you're not a whore, it's just that you didn't...seem to..."
There was a long and awkward silence as Océane ran her fingers nervously through her hair. "Look, I needed a place to stay. They offer free food and clothes, and it's going to be the last place my sister looks for me."
He continued to just look at her blankly and she added with a bit of nervousness, "Beggars can't be choosers."
Will had completely forgotten about Océane and how Marine was going to be coming back to look for her. For some reason they needed her, and Will knew that when she came back, he needed to be near Océane. He didn't care if Elizabeth had been having an affair. It didn't matter to him. He still loved her, and would love her. He had been bound to her before by an engagement ring and an affair was not going to interfere.
He also realized that her plan was not a very well thought out one. When Marine came back, she would bring the entire crew with her, because whatever Océane had, they needed it badly. And even if it took them all night, they would definitely find her in a place such as a whore house. They had probably stolen from it in their last raid and knew where it was. She needed to be hidden somewhere that they hadn't been, and the only place he could think of was his own home.
"Look," he said, not really knowing what he was doing. "They're obviously going to find you if you hide in such a well known place."
She looked slightly surprised that he knew she was hiding--though only a fool wouldn't know--but kept her mouth shut. Will ran a hand through his hair and wet his lips. "Why don't you just stay with me for a few days until you get on your feet. It's as safe as you can get."
"No," she said right away, catching him off guard. She caught a glance of two fishermen making their way down the beach to set up, and felt her face grow hot that more people would see her like this. She turned back to Will. "This isn't your battle, William."
"Mister Turner," he said with a face of stone.
She paused. "Mister Turner," she drawled out, like each syllable was a brick on her tongue. The fishermen were getting closer and watched them as their voices raised. "Any way, I do not want you involved with the affairs of my family."
Will was beginning to grow angry. "They're not just your affairs, Océane--"
"Miss Badeau." She cut him off just as coolly as he had.
He bit his lip and looked at the ground, as if contemplating whether to strangle her or not, and finally met her eyes again. She could have sworn they were brimmed with tears. "Your sister killed my fiancé. I have a right to try and avenge her."
Her eyes widened noticeably and he realized what a mistake he had made, telling a girl he wanted to kill her blood sister. Her widened eyes suddenly narrowed into slits and she clenched her fists.
"You will not get involved," she growled, and stormed right past him. He turned and tried to grab on to her arm, but she shook him off and kept walking. "Good day, William!" She raised her voice even more angrily.
"Fine!" he yelled back, and started walking backwards. "And it's Mister Turner!"
He got no reaction, and she just continued storming off, mumbling thing about 'imprudent girls' and 'just wanting to help.'
Océane walked in silent seething anger. When she had passed the fishermen, they were murmuring about ill tempers, and she tried to ignore them. She walked a while longer and hastily cast a glance out at the sun, wondering how long she had been rampaging. She saw that the sun was threatening to set now, painting the sky a pale yellow that faded into its clear blue. Realizing she was still worked up, she stood and tried calming herself by staring out into the sea. The soft loll of the waves eventually calmed her and she matched her breathing with its slow turning. After a few minutes she had relaxed, but not forgotten William Turner. She stood in silence, but it was soon awkward. She felt someone's eyes boring into the back of her head. She turned around and saw the two fishermen there.
She stiffened a little, but managed to look unaffected. "Yes?" she said rather arrogantly.
One of the fishermen looked at the man behind him, who nodded his head imposingly. He turned back around and looked at Océane, flashing a disgusting smile. His hair was dread locked and light brown, with a square face. The man behind him had a near-shaved head with a plain red bandana tied around it and an unbuttoned shirt. They didn't appear too nice.
"How much?" the first man asked.
At first she didn't realize what he was asking, but when she realized that she had just earlier that day become a whore, it all clicked. She froze, flicking her eyes around nervously, and half-wishing she hadn't left Will.
"It..." she shifted her weight and folded her arms. "Why?"
They appeared somewhat perplexed. "You're a whore, ain't ye?"
She lowered her eyes and raised her brows, trying to look careless. She stumbled for words as she slightly tilted her shoulders this way and that. A malicious grin came across their faces.
"No matter," the second one said, taking a step forward. Her eyes widened and she, in turn, took a step backwards. "What's wrong, love? Wasn't in the job description?"
Océane took another step backwards and felt the water creep up around her ankle. The man closest to her laughed. "That's alright, old Tom and Skinner here can show ye how it's done."
Halfway down the shore, Will was still walking angrily and kicking the sand as he went. Some of his irritation had died down, but her ungrateful voice still rang in his head. After a moment, he slowed down. To anyone else watching him, it would have seemed that he was having some sort of inner battle. He paused his walking, and looked down at the sand. He started to take another step forward but stopped and put his hands on his hips, looking up at the heavens. Finally, he just heaved a sigh, throwing his arms up in the air, and turned around, walking back to where Océane had been.
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A/N: Yep. Yep, yep, yep. More coming soon. Shoutouts...
~ Cecile Li: Look, more strumpet-calling! :D Sorry there was no Elizabeth torturing... You can imagine her dying slowly after being shot, though. :P Thanks so much for all of your reviews.
~ XxDarkGoddessxX: No, they didn't really hate each other, but because they worked together to build America, doesn't mean that all the British liked them. ;) I just wanted some French bashing in here. (Not as some huge patriotic say-freedom-instead-of-France/French, because I have French in me) but because it seemed to me that Jack didn't appreciate them very much and I found it funny.. just wanted to imply it in my own fic. ;) Good to see that you're alert though. Hee, thanks for the review!
~ Arallahmenorah: Yeah, I liked Elizabeth a lot when I saw the movie the first time, and even when I started writing this. But the more I watched the movie the more ungrateful/whiny she seemed. (When the two ship crews were fighting each other, Jack saved her life [again] from one of the Pearl's crew members and she was being rather unthankful about it.)