God, that was horrendous. How can one man possess the cringe of a hundred?
Elizabeth's fainting spell and her imminent death, being smashed across the rocks at the bottom of a seaside cliff, combined to create an odd time-stretching sensation. These last few seconds of her life seemed to go on and on, to the point that she felt like she'd been falling for about ten minutes.
It was a good thing she was barely conscious, because she'd definitely be screaming right now otherwise.
Why was Norrington such a huge dork? Was it a prerequisite to rise in rank in the royal navy?
Oh, Will… She saw him just this morning, hadn't she? And she was already missing him desperately.
Perhaps Will would save her from this predicament! Wouldn't that be just lovely? And if he saved her life, she could convince father to let them marry!
Ah, but… She was going to die here, wasn't she?
The water is getting awfully close now. It looked like she might even miss the rocks entirely. That was just her luck; instead of a quick head-bashing death, she'd drown.
She wondered if it would be cold.
It was cold! Freezing, even! Cold enough that it woke her up just a bit, just so she could feel the drowning that much more clearly! Not that she was breathing much before that point.
Hm? Someone grabbed her? Was it Will?
Oh, he's taking off her dress! How scandalous! Good riddance; she always hated all that ridiculous pomp.
Things went along much quicker after that. She was back out of the water, lying on her back, then-
"GASP!" Elizabeth took a deep breath as her over tightened corset was cut loose and her lungs were allowed to properly expand, filling up with precious air. Then she hacked up what little water she had managed to suck in in spite of the damned corset.
She looked up at Will, her savior-
"Who the hell are you?" Elizabeth sputtered.
"Well, that's rude," the scruffy man who was most certainly a pirate said as he hovered over her. Then he smiled. "But since you asked… I'm Captain Sparrow Jack!"
…
Cherry hadn't bothered to jump into the sea after poor Elizabeth fell since Jack had done so not a moment after she hit the water. Instead, something else caught her focus.
"That doesn't seem natural…" Cherry muttered, gazing up at the sky.
"The wind shifted. It happened right when she fell in with the thing," Robin noted aloud.
"Let's go talk to Nami. I sincerely hope this is just a coincidence," Cherry decided to have a little hope that this was just weird weather.
…
"This shit ain't natural," Nami said.
"Fuck," Cherry rubbed her face. "I didn't think it'd be something this bad…"
"You didn't think what would be this bad?" Nami asked in a tone that made it clear she wanted to pretend that everything was just fine and dandy.
"Shouldn't we go take it from her, if that's the case?" Robin asked.
"From who?" Nami asked again.
"I'm not so sure that's the wisest course of action any more. I thought it was just a trinket, but it must be connected to something more substantial," Cherry huffed. "I suppose we could ask her about it. See if she'll tell us where she got it, if it's done anything of note that she witnessed, etcetera."
"This is going to turn into a whole ass adventure, isn't it?" Nami groaned.
""Probably,"" Robin and Cherry answered simultaneously.
"I wonder if we could get an official audience with the governor…" Cherry rubbed her chin. "Oh, let's go ask Will! He managed to get one, after all!"
…
"What's all that commotion, then?" Mullroy asked, sticking his neck out as the sounds of gun fire rang out over the town. There were a few buildings in the way, stopping him from having any chance of seeing what was happening.
"Sounds like rifles, innit," Murtogg answered.
"Should we get over there, do you think?" Mullroy suggested. "You know, to help out?"
"You can if you like, but I'm not disobeying orders just to go get shot," Murtogg denied vehemently, shaking his head.
"Right, of course," Mullroy naturally concurred. He definitely wasn't going to go alone at the very least.
A figure came running down the street at a decent clip, in spite of his awkward steps. For some reason, his arms were clasped in a pair of manacles.
"Oi! Where are you going with them on your hands?" Mullroy shouted, stepping into the path of the stranger.
"Who, me?" the man pointed at himself.
"Yeah, you!" Murtogg helpfully clarified.
"Well, you see… I was talking to a pair of fine soldiers like yourselves down by the docks, as you do on a rather nice morning like this one," the man started.
Mullroy and Murtogg glanced up at the clouded sky and back at the stranger.
"And this idea popped into my head, you see! As a law abiding citizen and honest working man, I'd likely never find my hands clapped in irons like these," the stranger rattled the manacles. "So I asked if they'd be willing to let me try some on, for a laugh you know."
Mullroy and Murtogg nodded thoughtfully. They'd both done that before themselves, so that was fairly reasonable. They were so enraptured by the stranger's story that they didn't notice the encroaching shouts of other soldiers.
"Just as they locked my hands up tight, a pirate of all things threatened Miss Swann!" the stranger exclaimed.
"That fiend!" Murtogg bellowed. "Miss Swann wouldn't hurt a fly! How dare he threaten her!"
"Right you are, friend!" the stranger started walking down the street, so Murtogg and Mullroy kept pace to hear the rest. "He tried to take her hostage, but he got scared and shoved her into a crowd of soldiers and ran for it! They started shooting at the wretch, so I got scared and bolted, but now I've got these things stuck on me!"
"Wow, I wish I could have been there," Mullroy said. "I'd have stopped the pirate for sure."
"No doubt," the stranger smiled. "You wouldn't happen to have any keys for these, would you? They're terribly uncomfortable."
"Oh, of course!" Murtogg patted down his pockets. "Er…"
Mullroy checked his as well. "Oh dear…"
""Sorry…"" Murtog and Mullroy cringed in unison. To think they would both forget their keys! And just when an upstanding citizen needed their help!
"Ah, well, it can't be helped then…" the stranger graciously forgave them, despite looking a bit annoyed. Truly this was a man with a kind heart.
"Hey, you could head over to Brown's Blacksmith!" Murtogg thought of a brilliant idea. "If you tell him your story, I'm sure he'll help you out!"
Mullroy nodded enthusiastically. "It's just down the street here, on the right. Can't miss it."
"You gentlemen are the highlight of my day, truly!" the stranger smiled genuinely. "Be sure to keep a lookout for that pirate! I bet he's still skulking around somewhere!"
The stranger waved goodbye and set off for the blacksmith.
"You know, Murtogg, I rather like this gig," Mullroy said with a smile. "We meet so many friendly faces, patrolling the town."
Murtogg concurred with a nod and a smile of his own.