Backstory Drabbles 9 -12
Finally finished the next four Backstory Drabbles for challenge #4 at hseas_challenge, with thanks, as always, to hereswith for the beta read.
The first four are here, and the second four are here.
And here are 9 through 12, a hundred words each...
9. Selling his soul - Jack strikes a deal with Davy Jones
Jack Sparrow considered himself fairly hardened, even at six and twenty, but it made his flesh crawl, Jones'...state. And the way the devil gloated so lavishly at the bargain they'd struck, too, as though in the blink of an eye Jack would be one of those poor, fishy sods that crewed the Dutchman.
Thirteen years.
But when Jack saw his ship, burnt black from stem to stern but beautifully intact and alive, he knew it was worth it.
Thirteen years. A lot could happen in thirteen years.
And what good was a soul, anyway, with a heart buried fathoms deep?
***
10. "It’s just good business" - Jack, Beckett, and the EITC
Slaves.
How had he thought he could reconcile himself -- his conscience, that scorned, inconvenient and undeniable entity -- to this reality?
Tight-packed, the black faces looked up at him. Men. Women. Children. A few yet capable of anger or fear, but most dull-eyed and hopeless, and sick with it.
And it wasn’t pity, or even the stench that made Jack’s stomach turn. He could still envision Beckett in his mind’s eye, the neat figure, the curve of the full lips, and the echo of words -- reasonable, soothing -- that were the whisperings of a serpent.
It's just good business, Jack.
***
11. A trail of broken hearts - there have been others before Elizabeth
"Captain Jack Sparrow!"
The woman bore down on them from the far side of the tavern. Jack grabbed Elizabeth's arm. "Time to go!"
Out the door and around the corner, but three more women were approaching. "Captain Jack Sparrow!”
Jack reversed direction, dragging Elizabeth along.
There were two more outraged encounters before they made it back to Elizabeth's quarters. Jack bolted the door and collapsed on the bed.
Elizabeth shook her head. "I suppose it's inevitable. You are Captain Jack Sparrow."
Jack drew her down and hugged her close. "There's times when I vastly prefer to be just Jack, savvy?"
***
12. Debts -Why is Jack indebted to the Pirate Lords?
"And I owe them all money."
“You owe them? For what?” Hector scoffed. “Don't tell me those scallywags funded one o' them mad schemes of yourn."
Jack shrugged. “’Twas after the mutiny. I needed a new ship, didn't I? Promised 'em untold riches from the Isla de Muerta."
Hector gave a bark of laughter. “So what happened? You had the compass."
"It bloody wouldn't work. There were two things I wanted more, and they weren’t on the Isla, not by that time.”
“The Black Pearl.” Hector nodded. “And the second?”
“Your death, of course.”
Hector's blood ran cold. “Of course.”
***
TBC
The first four are here, and the second four are here.
And here are 9 through 12, a hundred words each...
9. Selling his soul - Jack strikes a deal with Davy Jones
Jack Sparrow considered himself fairly hardened, even at six and twenty, but it made his flesh crawl, Jones'...state. And the way the devil gloated so lavishly at the bargain they'd struck, too, as though in the blink of an eye Jack would be one of those poor, fishy sods that crewed the Dutchman.
Thirteen years.
But when Jack saw his ship, burnt black from stem to stern but beautifully intact and alive, he knew it was worth it.
Thirteen years. A lot could happen in thirteen years.
And what good was a soul, anyway, with a heart buried fathoms deep?
***
10. "It’s just good business" - Jack, Beckett, and the EITC
Slaves.
How had he thought he could reconcile himself -- his conscience, that scorned, inconvenient and undeniable entity -- to this reality?
Tight-packed, the black faces looked up at him. Men. Women. Children. A few yet capable of anger or fear, but most dull-eyed and hopeless, and sick with it.
And it wasn’t pity, or even the stench that made Jack’s stomach turn. He could still envision Beckett in his mind’s eye, the neat figure, the curve of the full lips, and the echo of words -- reasonable, soothing -- that were the whisperings of a serpent.
It's just good business, Jack.
***
11. A trail of broken hearts - there have been others before Elizabeth
"Captain Jack Sparrow!"
The woman bore down on them from the far side of the tavern. Jack grabbed Elizabeth's arm. "Time to go!"
Out the door and around the corner, but three more women were approaching. "Captain Jack Sparrow!”
Jack reversed direction, dragging Elizabeth along.
There were two more outraged encounters before they made it back to Elizabeth's quarters. Jack bolted the door and collapsed on the bed.
Elizabeth shook her head. "I suppose it's inevitable. You are Captain Jack Sparrow."
Jack drew her down and hugged her close. "There's times when I vastly prefer to be just Jack, savvy?"
***
12. Debts -Why is Jack indebted to the Pirate Lords?
"And I owe them all money."
“You owe them? For what?” Hector scoffed. “Don't tell me those scallywags funded one o' them mad schemes of yourn."
Jack shrugged. “’Twas after the mutiny. I needed a new ship, didn't I? Promised 'em untold riches from the Isla de Muerta."
Hector gave a bark of laughter. “So what happened? You had the compass."
"It bloody wouldn't work. There were two things I wanted more, and they weren’t on the Isla, not by that time.”
“The Black Pearl.” Hector nodded. “And the second?”
“Your death, of course.”
Hector's blood ran cold. “Of course.”
***
TBC