CURSE OF THE RUBY | JAMES NORRINGTON ¹

5; The Blacksmith

"Will!"

The man looked around startled as he looked to see Felicity coming towards him, "Miss Smith, what a pleasant surprise. What are you doing here?"

"Elizabeth sent me. I'm here to tell you that a pirate is loose in Port Royal." Felicity replied. "And it's Ellie or I'll start calling you William."

Will made a face at his full name before growing concerned, "How do you know this Ellie? What do you mean Elizabeth sent you?"

Felicity debated on whether or not to tell the poor lovesick fool about Elizabeth's encounter with the pirate. Part of her knew this would lead Will on a man hunt, but she also wanted her friend to have all the facts. In the end she ended up telling him the truth, because to her the truth was better than a lie.

"Elizabeth was saved and then held hostage by one."

The look on the blacksmith's faces melted from one of concern to one of pure rage as he asked the girl for the full story. Felicity retold the events of that afternoon to the best of her memory as the two slowly made their way back to his shop. Felicity also tried to calm him down as she explained that Elizabeth was now home resting under the supervision of the maids. Will seemed lost for words as he offered Felicity his arm as they walked.

"Are you alright?"

Felicity shuddered to think of how the pirate smiled at her, "If I see his face again it will be too soon."

"Do you have any clue where he might have gone?" Will asked as they reached the front door of his shop.

"Your guess is as good as mine." She answered as he held the door open for her.

"How reassuring."

The first thing Felicity noticed upon entering the forge was that the Donkey, also known as Herbert, was hard at work cranking the gears with no one at the helm. Felicity quickly made her way over to soothe the animal while Will went to check on Mister Brown. The redhead was not at all surprised to see the man passed out with a bottle of beer next to him. She was rather appalled that he received all the credit when it was Will that did all the hard work.

Once Herbert had settled, Felicity made her way over to Will who was checking inventory as well as his tools on the work table. The women had yet to find anything else out of place, but it seemed weird to find Herbert hard at work when it was not needed. Felicity was wrong when she thought that the only thing out of place. Will had taken notice of one of his hammers being left out of its usual place.

"Not where I left you."

Felicity moved back over to his side and looked where he was focused on to see a familiar hat hanging on one of the hooks where the hammer should have been. It was Jack Sparrow's hat. As Will reached up to take the hat down for inspection the flat side of a sword came into contact with the top of his hand. Felicity's eyes looked up to greet a smirking Jack Sparrow with too much ego for his own good.

Will noticed Felicity's angered gaze and lowered his voice into a dangerous tone as he stated, "You're the one they're hunting.

"Nice to see you again Lass." The pirate acknowledged Felicity with a tip of his head, before frowning at Will. "You look somewhat familiar, have I threatened you before?"

Will angled his body so that his friend was behind him, "I've made a point of avoiding familiarity with pirates."

Jack seemed to accept that answer, "Ah. Then it would be a shame to put a black mark on your record. So if you'll excuse me..."

Felicity stood still in fear and anger as the pirate tried to head towards the door. Felicity took note of how the captain seemed to give off an air of arrogance, but deep down she knew he was more clever than he cared to admit. It was why he was avoiding her like the plague. Before Jack could reach the door and before Felicity could make good on her promise, Will grabbed a sword lying nearby and pointed it at him.