Disclaimer: Pirates of the Caribbean and all related characters belong to Walt Disney, Gore, Jerry, Tony, and Terry
Setting: Takes place right after Curse of the Black Pearl.
Characters: Norrington, Gillette, Groves, Anamaria, Murtogg, Mullroy, Marty, Will, Elizabeth, Jack Sparrow, Tia Dalma.
Parings: Will/Elizabeth, Norrington/Anamaria
Chapter 14: The Upside Down Ship
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Anamaria tried to keep silent as she exited the cabin, careful to not wake James from his blissful sleep. She had managed to slip out from under the covers and dress while he did no more than stir. His expression had changed while she donned her clothing, from stern and calculating to ecstatic as if he went from fighting a battle to reliving the past night, or the other past few nights.
Half the sky was still a deep shade of blue when she stepped onto the wooden planks of the deck. Her heart still fluttering from last night. The other half was a mixture of purples, rose and even a bit of gold from the rising sun. Just one look at the beauty of the sunrise and she could no longer suppress her urge to hum.
“Beautiful morning isn’t it?” Andrew surprised her from behind. “We will be at our destination shortly.”
Anamaria let out a deep breath. “Andrew.”
Andrew’s smile faded. “I didn’t frighten you, did I?”
“Only a little.” She was not lying. The fear was fleeting and when it had faded it was replaced by the uplifting satisfaction she had felt moments before.
“I know this may sound bold,” Andrew coughed and placed his hands behind his back. “But I am not wrong in guessing that you have bedded him again last night?”
“You are bold, Andrew Sean Gillette, you know that,” she dropped her stern tone. “But you are correct.”
“It wasn’t hard to guess. The way you have been walking and humming and the fact that you have bedded him every night for the past few days.”
“Why do you assume that I am the one who always initiates the act? He was the one who summoned me last night.” She remembered the way James had smiled at her when he told her to lock the door behind her. His green eyes were filled with a fiery hunger. His long fingers nearly ripped off her clothing when he undid the buttons and removed it from her body.
“Perhaps we should steer this conversation into a different direction.” Andrew’s face had turned a light crimson.
“And where would you like it to be steered to?” She raised an eyebrow and tried to keep from smirking. She had gotten back at him for both his startling her and being bold.
“Perhaps to what is going to happen to when he returns and our James has returned? What will happen if he found you had shared a bed with Commodore James?”
“They are the same,” Anamaria said.
“You keep mentioning that. We both know they are the same men in personality and mind, but their souls are different.”
“I am not in any form of denial if that is what you are implying,” She folded her arms and watched as a few members of the crew climbed aboard deck and begun to work at the sails. “Our captain is sleeping with the other me, and I do not feel any form of jealousy.”
“You know that for certain?”
“I know him.”
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“We will be making land in Pococi,” James Norrington said as he stood over the map in his cabin, accompanied by both Gillette and Groves. He had calculated by the direction the enchanted compass was pointing at and the coordinates that had both memorized and marked down.
“And we shall begin our search for the Prince of the Sea’s home.” Groves said after he marked on where they have traveled so far. “We will be using the compass?”
“It would make things easier,” Andrew agreed. “We can also ask to seek out an upside down ship.”
“I wonder if it would be at the docks or under water,” Theodore ran his fingers over his short beard. “If it is under the sea then one cannot really live in it, unless there is some form of enchantment.”
“We cannot seek out the Prince of Sea based on rumors,” James said. He had several stories from the drunken sailors on Tortuga. There were a few who said the Prince lived in an upside down ship in Costa Rica. There were others who said he lived in a tree and even one man who was do drunk he could only crawl, had said he lived in a giant mushroom.
“Rumors had to start from somewhere.” Andrew said.
“That is true, but we will rely mostly on this compass.” He stared at the small lacquered box, and to think, he once thought it was broken. He slipped it back into his pocket. “If you excuse me gentlemen, I am ready to take the helm.”
Anamaria was already at the helm. She was not wearing her hat, or her bandana, and allowed her dark hair to hang loosely. The wind tossed it in every direction. Her hands held firmly on the wooden spokes of the wheel. She held an impassive expression on her face. It was her sailing look, the same as his stern expression was his sailing look.
“I am here to relieve you,” James stood behind her.
“What makes you think I wish to be relieved?” She did not turn her head.
“You have been at the wheel for a few hours,” he managed to get out before a few locks of her hair struck against his mouth and nose. He refrained himself from closing his eyes and inhaling the scent of her hair, indulging in the fragrance.
“You think that only a few hours would make me tired?” She clucked her tongue at him.
“You did fall right a sleep after a few hours last night,” James smirked and pressed his chest against her back in a quick embrace before he stood by her side, and grabbed for the wheel. His other arm wrapped around her waist.
“Two people can sail like this.” She removed one hand and caressed the back of James shoulders as she leaned against him.
“How often have we sailed like this?” James asked.
“I have lost count.”
“Life is too short to keep count of romantic moment such as this.” He kissed her cheek. He had feared that allowing himself to fall in love with Anamaria would cause him to forget about his old life, his real life an he would want to stay a pirate as long as he was with her. In truth he still wanted his old life back. He wanted the idea of returning home from a mission at sea with Anamaria waiting for him, or perhaps he could find a way for her to become the ship’s doctor for The Dauntless.
He would have to seek her out when he returned. He wasn’t sure exactly how he would be able to manage to perform such a task. He could disguise himself as a pirate, living as one for a few weeks has given him a bit of an insight. He could pretend to be a pirate in able to hunt down the true pirates, seek out Anamaria and properly court her, unless his other self had managed to do that for him.
“James,” Anamaria’s whisper brought him back to the here and now.
“Yes?”
“Look.” She pointed to the strip of land in the horizon.
“Should I say it, or should you?”
She smiled. “Together.”
He nodded. “Land ho!” Their two voices joined together as one.
-
They were in somewhat luck when the made port in Pococi. There was no sign of any ship with golden sails to be found and when they questioned some of the dockworkers and other sailors there was no mention of Calypso’s Fury, or the Prince himself.
“His ship was here three days ago,” one of the local merchants had said. “A few members of his own crew were also in my shop. They said they wouldn’t return for another week.”
James thanked him and watched as other members of the crew seek out tents, canteens and even brooms. No one knew how far inland they may possibly go and they needed to buy the necessary supplies for just in case. James had asked most of the crew to come along, leaving Marty and a handful of others to stay and watch the ship.
“Have you seen an upside down ship?” Gillette asked.
The shop owner shook his head. “I have heard of the upside down ship, but I have no idea where it may be.’
“Thank you for your help.” James said. He handed the man a small bag filled with coins. “A little extra to keep from mentioning there were some people looking for the Prince of the sea or his dwelling.”
“Who has been asking for what?” The shop owner smiled as he accepted the money.
-
They trekked through the jungle, walking straight towards the direction the compass was pointing, only pausing every few hours to rest or to ask the locals if they had seen an upside down ship. The compass showed the direction where they wanted to go, but it did not tell anyone how long it would take. They mentioned carriages only once, and they all agreed not to use them. They would attract unwanted attention
They had paused for the night and set up tents to sleep. Mullroy had prepared a descent meal for everyone, making sure there would be enough food to last for days if need be. James shared a tent with Anamaria, but they did not engage in any nocturnal activity, or even bother to remove their clothes, except for their waistcoats, despite the heat.
“James,” Anamaria stretched out her arms. “Are you certain you are not in the mood?”
“I may be feeling a bit frisky,” James smirked. “But I do not want to disturb the crew’s sleep with the sounds we may make.”
“We also wouldn’t know if the tent would hold.”
“True.” They could not risk having the tent fall on them, it would be bad enough if the others could hear, but if they had seen? The idea itself caused James to blush again.
“Sleep well, my commodore pirate.” She leaned over to kiss him.
“You sleep well yourself,” He said before their lips met.
The next day they came across some people who haven’t seen an upside down ship, but mentioned a strange tree and they were heading in the right direction, but it would still be several hours before they would have arrived.
“I wonder if I should have left him on the ship,” Groves said as he poured a little water into the cap of the canteen and held it in front of his ferret. “I don’t think he likes the heat.”
Arrow paused from lapping up the water to stare at Theodore for a few seconds before he continued in drinking.
“I don’t think anyone of us cares for the heat,” Andrew said. He had removed his raggedy scarf and used it to mop the sweat off his brow.
“It is not the heat,” James had removed his waistcoat an hour prior and stuffed it amongst the rest of the supplies. “It’s the bloody humidity. Hopefully we will find this dwelling and soon.”
The next person the came across had said they had seen the strange tree and it did look like an upside down ship from a distance. He had never seen it up close, for fear of the traps and for being attacked by the men with the long blades. He had informed them to be careful when they reach the clearing and see the tree.
“Stay alert men,” James said as he swept away at the brush with one the brooms he had insisted on buying and bringing alone. “Mr. Murtogg and Mr. Mullroy. I want you to look up and ahead. If you see anything that may resemble a cage in the trees, I want you to let me know.”
“Aye Captain,” Murtogg said.
It did not take them long to reach the clearing. There were a handful of large trees but the jungle was not as dense. They were able to see the sky, distant hills and the largest tree James had ever seen. The top of the tree did resemble an upside down ship and from the distance it had the appearance of a giant mushroom.
“There it is,” Anamaria gasped.
“It is almost over,” James said.
“Hopefully it won’t be too difficult.”
“Great treasures are usually difficult to come by,” James said as he led the others. He and those near the front continued to sweep at the brush and fallen leaves as they walked ahead. James paused when he cleared away several leaves and found several branches underneath. He spun the broom around and used the wooden end to shove away at the branches, revealing a deep and half hidden pit.
“They were right about the traps,” Andrew said as he swept around the pit, making sure people would know where to be able to walk around it.
“I see a cage,” Mullroy shouted.
James stared up, and sure enough there was a cage made out of wood hanging from the branches of a nearby tree. “Step around that tree, make sure to sweep and check for pits.”
“Clever,” Anamaria said. “The brooms.”
“If such a man was keeping special treasure in a land bound location then such a man would take the extra precaution as means to keep it secured.”
They continued forward, carefully avoiding the possible traps. There were a few traps that had been sprung before. There were a few uncovered pits, one had the rotting corpse of a man, holding his breath and covering his nose, James had a closer look and saw the gunshot wound in the corpse’s head.
“Odd place for a rope,” Groves stared at a rope time from one tree branch to the ground, “Too suspicious.” He stabbed at the ground in front of him with his broom and jumped back at the sound of the snap. A snare had grabbed his broom and whipped it up into the air, allowing it to sway back and forth before it just hung there.
“Good move, Theodore,” James said before he turned back to face the rest of his crew. “Be wary of anything that resembles rope, but do not use a broom to stab at it and trigger it. Use a stick.”
“Sorry about that,” Theodore said.
“Don’t worry about it,” James gave a light pat before he turned back to the large tree. On closer inspection he could see that it was several trees and a tall and thin rocky hill holding up the structure. “We are almost there.”
“It may be difficult to climb,” Anamaria said.
“Difficult, but not impossible.” James shoved more of the leaves aside as he led his crew. He did not see whatever it was that darted out beneath him causing him to fall over.
James barely had enough time to sit up before a strange man was about to stab him with a sword. He brought his own blade up to block the other man’s.
The strange pirate’s eyes widened before his grip loosened and he fell over, revealing Gillette standing behind him.
“Captain,” Gillette nodded at him before he turned around to wield his blood stained sword at another pirate.
James stood up with his sword in hand and attacked the nearest opponent. The other man thrust and paired with descent skill but the battle did not last long. James had managed to strike the other man in the chest, before he spun around to face another member of the enemy crew. Except there were none.
“That was all of them?” James asked in disbelief.
“You do have about fifty men with you,” Gillette said. “There was either not that many, or the same amount as us.”
“No one is dead?” James stared at the bodies that littered the ground, from all that he could see they were the enemy
Gillette nodded sadly. “There are two of us who are dead, and several others who are injured.”
James felt his heart sink. Two of his men were dead, helping him return to the world he knew and there were others who were bleeding, possibly to injured to continue.
“Anamaria,” James turned to his lover. “You have to go back with those who are too injured to climb.”
“Who will heal you and the rest of you?” She placed her hands on her hips.
“There is no possible way for me to convince you to leave with them?”
“I am not going to leave you.”
James sighed. “Mr. Mullroy,” he instructed. “Being a cook you may also have some knowledge of treating injuries.” James had captured several pirate ships where the cook and the doctor were both the same person. “I want you to lead those who are too injured to climb back to the ship. Do not rush, travel at a pace that is comfortable, but try to heal them first.”
“Aye captain,” Mullroy nodded.
They did treat their injured men before giving half the medical supplies to Mullroy who lead the small group back, carefully trying to avoid the traps. They also found a few of the pit traps and placed the dead members of their crew in them before they tried to shove as much soil on top as possible James knew them as two marines from his world, one was tall with a scarred face and the other was young man who had recently enlisted.
“A shame we do not have any suitable coffins,” James fashioned two sticks together in the form of a cross and placed it as a marker.
“May I say a few words for them?” Murtogg asked.
“You may,” James nodded.
“Dear lord, please accept the souls into your eternal home. They were good men who served their captain with great loyalty. They fought bravely for our captain.”
“Thank you,” James said before turning around to face the strange structure. “We will not allow them to die in vain.” He had no idea what he was going to find. All he knew was the compass was pointing straight at the structure and there was nowhere else to go, but up.
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Replies:
Atticus620, thank you.
Ogreatrandom, thank you
Sudoku, yes naked Norrington is always fun and yeah that bit was from the episode “Gotcha”