A Pirate's Life (Sparrabeth/WillTurnerxOC) Book 3

Chapter 5

Jack woke up to a warm presence next to him on the bed. He opened his eyes to see a mane of dark blonde hair on his chest. A smile grazed his lips as his mind wandered to the events of the previous night. He was gentle with her, different to how he was with other women.

His smile faded as he thought about his plan. He will lose her for sure if he goes ahead with it. But he had decided on it since escaping the locker and was quite reluctant to change it even if it was for Elizabeth's sake.

Her eyes fluttered open just then and caught his hasty grin, "Good morning, Jack. It's the day of the battle."

He responded by leaning forward to kiss her.

She kissed back and quickly withdrew with a smirk, "I have to get ready."

He frowned, "Other than getting dressed, what do you have to prepare?"

She gave him a look, "I have to make sure that the Empress is fit for sail."

He stared at her with furrowed eyebrows, "But the Black Pearl is the court's flagship, is it not?"

She nodded, "Yes. But Sao Feng's men have to participate as well and I have to formally give that authority to Tai Huang, his first mate."

Walking onto the Empress as her crew stepped on deck to prepare the ship, she called out to her first mate, "Tai Huang!"

Said man immediately came to her, "Captain!"

She said, "Gather the men onto the deck in front of me."

He nodded once and obeyed.

Once everyone was standing in a crowd behind Tai Huang, she cleared her throat and announced, "The Black Pearl is to be the flagship of the Brethren Court as it can outrun the Flying Dutchman. And I, as the pirate king, shall be sailing on the Pearl into the battle. I leave the ship in Tai Huang's command."

Tai Huang bowed in respect and gratitude to her for the first time since she became captain, "Thank you captain."

She smiled at him briefly and added, "Olivia will be aboard the Pearl with me."

Tai Huang nodded in acknowledgement.

Elizabeth gave the ship a once over and said, "I'll see you at the battle."

The pirate ships lined up on the open sea and awaited the arrival of the armada.

Through the foggy sea outside the cove, they saw a lone ship sailing towards them.

A sailor yelled, "The enemy is here! Let's take them!"

The rest of the crew yelled, "Aye!"

Seeing the large number of navy ships sailing towards them, silence descended on deck as the men slowly turned their furious faces to Jack who forced a smile, "Parley?'

Once the armada was in relatively close vicinity, the Pearl's crew signaled to the Endeavour that they want to negotiate.

After getting a satisfactory reply, Jack, Barbossa and Elizabeth got into a long boat and rowed to the small stretch of sand between the two parties. Pulling the boat onto shore, they walked on the sand to the other end of the small islet where Will, Davy Jones and Beckett stood. They stopped an appropriate distance from their opponents and stared at them for a moment.

The tense silence was broken by Barbossa, "You be the cur that led these wolves to our door!"

Beckett exposed Jack, "Don't blame Turner. He was merely the tool of your betrayal. If you wish to see its grand architect, look to your left."