Fic: Torment
Title: Torment
Author: kayljay
Rating: PG
Pairing: Elizabeth and Will rescue Jack from Hell
Spoilers: DMC and AWE
Disclaimer: Not mine
Summary: See 'Pairing'
A/N: Follows "Ache" http://community.livejournal.com/sparrabeth/266767.html
Nothing in my worst nightmares prepared me for this. My upbringing had told me of a Hell of fire and brimstone. There was nothing of that here. Only long dark sandy beaches, thunder heads promising drenching rain, and a cold wind that raked over the landscape. I felt the wind twist icy fingers inside my clothes, but that wasn't the reason for the shudder that wracked my frame.
It was the bodies.
As far as the eye could see, in every state of decay imaginable. They lay crumpled in the dry sand and swayed at the water's edge.
Something brushed against my ankle and I skipped backward and would have tripped over another body if Will hadn't caught my arm. I barely felt it. All my focus was on the sand.
The wretched thing smiled, mere skin over bones. How could it possibly be alive?
"Where you off to pretty? If it's more pleasurable company you're searching for, you're wasting your time. Even fresh meat doesn't stay unblemished too long."
Will drew me back. "We're looking for Captain Jack Sparrow," he said.
"Ah now that was a sight when the Kraken ejected him on shore. Not many have much fight in them after coming out of the belly of that beast, but he shook it off well enough. Went walking. Not that there's much to see on this beach," he grinned cruelly, "But that was weeks ago, can't imagine he's walking now."
I turned away from the cackling of the creature and strode determinedly down the beach stepping over the bodies of the dead and the half-dead, looking for a red head scarf.
"Elizabeth!" Will grabbed my arm and I spun. "You just can't just run off. Who knows what might be here?"
I jerked my arm from his grip. "Don't treat me like I am still 'Miss Swan', Will. When you taught me how to use a sword and I boarded the Pearl to save you I gave up any pretense of being a lady."
Will looked as if I had slapped him. "I could never think of you as anything less than a lady," he said softly.
"Then you need to take another look. Jack himself called me a pirate before I left him to die!"
"Jack was wrong," Will growled.
I gave up trying to argue with him. He couldn't believe me so cruel unless I told him the truth about Jack and me. But how could I tell him when I wasn't even sure what the truth was? How could I love Will and feel such a strong pull toward Jack?
"Think later," I told myself harshly. "You need to find Jack now."
I wanted to run headlong into the wind to search for him but there were so many bodies. One moment of inattentiveness and we might pass him by.
In the end it was Will who found him, curled up in the dry sand far above the high tide line. We ran to him, falling to our knees at the same time.
His dreadlocks covered his face. Gently I pushed them back over his shoulder.
Then I saw his face and hands and had to cover my mouth to stop the scream rising in my throat.
He was so pale. As if he had been locked away in the darkness for months. His face was sunken, skin stretched thin over his high cheekbones.
I couldn't find my voice. Will gently shook him, called to him.
He stirred but didn't wake.
"Jack-" I finally managed to choke out.
His eyes slowly opened, blinking as if trying to focus.
"Jack, can you hear us?" Will said.
He opened his chapped lips and tried to wet them with a too-dry tongue.
"'m dreaming."
"No, Jack," tears that had been locked inside of me since his death were falling freely down my face, "We're real." I touched his face, caressed it. I could feel Will's eyes on me but I didn't care. Jack was alive.
He tried to speak again, but I covered his mouth with my fingers.
"Not now. We're taking you back to the ship." He nodded and his eyes slipped closed again.
Author: kayljay
Rating: PG
Pairing: Elizabeth and Will rescue Jack from Hell
Spoilers: DMC and AWE
Disclaimer: Not mine
Summary: See 'Pairing'
A/N: Follows "Ache" http://community.livejournal.com/sparrabeth/266767.html
Nothing in my worst nightmares prepared me for this. My upbringing had told me of a Hell of fire and brimstone. There was nothing of that here. Only long dark sandy beaches, thunder heads promising drenching rain, and a cold wind that raked over the landscape. I felt the wind twist icy fingers inside my clothes, but that wasn't the reason for the shudder that wracked my frame.
It was the bodies.
As far as the eye could see, in every state of decay imaginable. They lay crumpled in the dry sand and swayed at the water's edge.
Something brushed against my ankle and I skipped backward and would have tripped over another body if Will hadn't caught my arm. I barely felt it. All my focus was on the sand.
The wretched thing smiled, mere skin over bones. How could it possibly be alive?
"Where you off to pretty? If it's more pleasurable company you're searching for, you're wasting your time. Even fresh meat doesn't stay unblemished too long."
Will drew me back. "We're looking for Captain Jack Sparrow," he said.
"Ah now that was a sight when the Kraken ejected him on shore. Not many have much fight in them after coming out of the belly of that beast, but he shook it off well enough. Went walking. Not that there's much to see on this beach," he grinned cruelly, "But that was weeks ago, can't imagine he's walking now."
I turned away from the cackling of the creature and strode determinedly down the beach stepping over the bodies of the dead and the half-dead, looking for a red head scarf.
"Elizabeth!" Will grabbed my arm and I spun. "You just can't just run off. Who knows what might be here?"
I jerked my arm from his grip. "Don't treat me like I am still 'Miss Swan', Will. When you taught me how to use a sword and I boarded the Pearl to save you I gave up any pretense of being a lady."
Will looked as if I had slapped him. "I could never think of you as anything less than a lady," he said softly.
"Then you need to take another look. Jack himself called me a pirate before I left him to die!"
"Jack was wrong," Will growled.
I gave up trying to argue with him. He couldn't believe me so cruel unless I told him the truth about Jack and me. But how could I tell him when I wasn't even sure what the truth was? How could I love Will and feel such a strong pull toward Jack?
"Think later," I told myself harshly. "You need to find Jack now."
I wanted to run headlong into the wind to search for him but there were so many bodies. One moment of inattentiveness and we might pass him by.
In the end it was Will who found him, curled up in the dry sand far above the high tide line. We ran to him, falling to our knees at the same time.
His dreadlocks covered his face. Gently I pushed them back over his shoulder.
Then I saw his face and hands and had to cover my mouth to stop the scream rising in my throat.
He was so pale. As if he had been locked away in the darkness for months. His face was sunken, skin stretched thin over his high cheekbones.
I couldn't find my voice. Will gently shook him, called to him.
He stirred but didn't wake.
"Jack-" I finally managed to choke out.
His eyes slowly opened, blinking as if trying to focus.
"Jack, can you hear us?" Will said.
He opened his chapped lips and tried to wet them with a too-dry tongue.
"'m dreaming."
"No, Jack," tears that had been locked inside of me since his death were falling freely down my face, "We're real." I touched his face, caressed it. I could feel Will's eyes on me but I didn't care. Jack was alive.
He tried to speak again, but I covered his mouth with my fingers.
"Not now. We're taking you back to the ship." He nodded and his eyes slipped closed again.