𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐔𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐌𝐀𝐍'𝐒 𝐃𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐑 ▸ W. TURNER

𝟻. 𝑎 𝑣𝑜𝑦𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑠

Spying the Interceptor out in the bay, Will struck gold. "That one." As Anamaria followed the line of his finger pointing out to sea, her expression seemed to calm somewhat. Her eyes narrowed slightly, followed by an almost imperceptible nod of her head.

Sparrow's hand thwacked him on the shoulder. "That one?"

Will shot him a glare which he hoped would be enough to placate him. The pirate's features wrinkled in disgust, but at last he conceded. "....Aye, that one. What say you?"

"Aye!" The sailors chorused in unison. It was at that exact moment a terrified scream leaked from the nearest building, followed by the distinct thunder of hooves against the cobbles. Will spun on his heels just in time to see the horse rocket out of the network of streets towards them, the tangled auburn waves of it's rider billowing out behind her.

A grin found its way onto Will's face before he could stop it, as he watched as the animal ground to a sudden halt at the far end of the dock. Lillian leapt down from the saddle and raked a hand through her hair, starting towards the crew.

There was a peculiar kind of smile on her face – the kind that might have looked fake or perhaps even malicious on another - quirked to one side, mouth pulled up at the corner. But one look at her eyes would've been enough to see the truth, the way they seemed to take on a different shade depending on the lighting ; sometimes chestnut, sometimes hazel, sometimes so dark one could see their reflection in them if they looked hard enough.

Will had seen enough of those kind of smiles during their years together to know exactly what they meant – the promise of freedom and reckless abandon. Back then he would've agreed with any wild, crazy adventure she suggested, no matter how dangerous, just to see such an expression grace her features. And though his head was well aware of exactly what mission they were about to embark upon - that the reason he'd come to Tortuga in the first place was to save Elizabeth, -he couldn't help the strange knot that began to form in his chest as she approached him with that same playful grin on her lips.

"Y-you left the tavern?" Will struggled to choke out, but was almost instantly interrupted by Sparrow.

"Lyssie? What are you doing here?" The Captain asked dubiously, hands flailing.

Lillian let out a brief snort of laughter and crossed her arms over her chest. "You invited me, Jack, to join your crew. On a 'most perilous voyage to the Isla de Muerta'." She rattled off, word for word by the sounds of thing – Will couldn't remember Lillian ever speaking in such a way herself.

Sparrow raised an eyebrow in concern. "Well I didn't think you'd actually take me up on the offer, love! What's Lyssa gonna say when she comes back from the breweries, eh? She'll have my guts for garters!"

Lillian gave an audible sigh as she fixed her gaze on the Interceptor out in the bay. "My mother doesn't return for at least four days yet, she's not even been gone twenty four hours. I think your guts'll be safe."

The Captain directed a death glare at Will, who instantly looked down at his shoes – he couldn't deny that he'd probably played the biggest part in Lillian showing up on the docks that morning. Now he was regretting even allowing himself to speak with her last night for more than a few moments. He probably could've gotten away with denying his identity entirely, disappearing into a corner of the tavern until she'd returned to the bar to work.

Now she was prepared to defy Aoife's one and only rule to help him rescue Elizabeth, of all people – the girl his heart had sought out after they'd been torn apart.

Of course, he should never have spoken to Lillian at all.

But there she was, blade and pistol at her belt, standing at the very dock they were about to set sail from. Sure, neither of them had much experience at sea, but Lillian had never been allowed on a boat in her life – and she was still willing to join Sparrow's crew on a 'most perilous voyage'.

The girl was a lunatic – impulsive, rash, wild.

Unfortunately for Will, that was exactly what had caused him to fall in love with her the first time around.

𝐀 𝐔 𝐓 𝐇 𝐎 𝐑 ' 𝐒 𝐍 𝐎 𝐓 𝐄
Hey guys! Sorry it's taken a while for an update - I've just started a new HG book and everything was a bit up in the air this week because of work so it's taken a while to get this chapter written, but it's here now! :') Also I realised a couple of things about my previously planned storyline for this were actually reallyyyyy messed up timeline wise (like there was like eighty or so years that went missing somewhere it was BAD) so I am introducing some more folklore and mythology based aspects to this world/story that are 1) not in the movies and 2) actually have nothing to do with the sea - I hope that doesn't put you off :// you're probably confused right now but I swear it will make sense later on once we get to the DMC era! Also hello to all the random new readers who've been voting this week! Thank you so much for being here and as always I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. Much love as always - Vee x