Fanfic - To Commune on The Pearl
Title: To Commune on The Pearl
Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean
Pairing: Jack/Pearl, Jack/Will and Jack/Will/Pearl, if you're of a mind to see them
Rating: G
Warnings: Nothing, really.
Author's Notes: Ok, I don't know if this would actually work, the way Jack (and subsequently Will) talks with the Pearl, but I think the general idea of how it works comes across... I hope.
To Commune on The Pearl
Will couldn’t for the life of him understand how, but Jack often communicated with the Pearl. It was a ship, for heaven’s sake! How could one communicate with a ship? But Jack insisted that she spoke to him, and he to her.
“She doesn’t use words, Lad.” Jack would say to him. “You’ve got to converse with her on her terms.”
Will leant his ear against the railing one day and listened with a frown, trying desperately to hear the Pearl on her terms, whatever that meant. He heard the mindless chatter of the crew, the lapping of waves against the hull, seagulls; he even heard the breeze blowing out the sails. But he couldn’t hear the voice of the Pearl that apparently spoke so loudly in Jack’s ears.
Suddenly, he heard Jack’s voice. “William, you’re not going to hear anything like that. That’s not the way she speaks.”
Will straightened and sighed. “I don’t understand.”
“Tell me something, Mate. Have ya ever seen a ship with a voice? A mouth? A throat? A larynx?”
Will frowned. He hadn’t, but wouldn’t that lead him to the inevitable conclusion that ships don’t talk? “No…”
“Then why precisely is it that you’re you trying so unsuccessfully to listen to the Pearl with your ears?”
In his own nonsensical way, Jack surprisingly made a lot of sense. But, if they were both in agreement that the Black Pearl didn’t have a voice… “So how am I supposed to listen to her?”
Jack gave a strangely wise sort of smile. “With your instinct. Lie down.” It took Will a few seconds to realize that Jack was serious. He felt rather silly lying on the deck, in the middle of the day. Jack lay next to him. “Close your eyes.” When Will did so, he felt Jack’s hand rest on his belly. “Now, listen. What d’ya hear?”
“I can’t hear the Pearl talking.”
“And what would she be talking with? What do ya hear?”
Will concentrated. “I hear… you. I hear Anamaria yelling at Gibbs. I hear a seagull. I hear water splashing. Still nothing from the Pearl, though.”
“What do you feel?”
“What do I feel? Uh… your hand? On my stomach?”
“Mhm…”
Another sigh. “Alright… well, there’s a breeze. The ship’s rocking a little, of course.” Will’s eyes shot open. “Actually, it isn’t rocking very much. But there’s a lot of water hitting the hull. Rough seas?” He looked at Jack, who was smiling in that knowing way again.
“Congratulations, Lad. You’ve just had your first successful conversation with the Pearl.”