As the sun began to set, peace stilled the ship as she sailed smoothly against the oceans surface. Pink and orange were painted across the sky, swirling pastel into the clouds.
No one spoke as Jack sailed, even the pirate had remained silent as he gazed across the horizon. The only sound that could be heard was the song of the ocean, and the occasional birds that flew by.
Will had been somewhere else below deck.
Catherine found herself still remaining at the front of the ship. For hours she remained there, enjoying such a rare and delicacy ambiance. She couldn't quite seem to pull herself from this spot. Anytime she did, a small voice in her head begged her to stay just a little while more, enjoy the views and sounds she could only be able to read about for the rest of her life.
The small voice suddenly whispered through her mind to look towards the pirate at the helm.
It made her furrow her eyebrows a bit at the silent command, but she looked anyway.
Jack stood, gazing down at the compass in his hand, adjusting the wheel to her perfect coordinates. For some reason, it almost made her smile.
Almost.
She turned back around and took in a deep breath, thinking about approaching him.
Go, go, go.
Who knew a small voice could be so motivating?
Catherine pushed herself up from the barrel, adjusting her breathing to normal as she walked across the deck. The entire time she walked over, her hazel eyes were glued to the pirate, waiting for him to look up at see her.
Only he didn't do such a thing.
His eyes still held on to the needle of the compass, missing Catherine's stride over towards the stairs.
This time she found herself giving an amused smile that didn't quite meet her eyes.
Walking up the steps, she watched him, silencing the steps from her boots until she reached the last step. At that sound, Jack glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, snapping his compass shut. He dropped it to dangle from his belt and adjusting his grip to his newly free hand, letting go with it opposite to openly face Catherine.
"Hello." Jack gave her a lazy grin.
"Hi." Catherine gave him a small grin, leaning her hip against the top of the railing.
Silence fell between the two for a moment.
Jack glanced at the wheel for a second, flicking his eyes to the horizon then back to her. "Is there something I can do for you?" He asked curiously, a hint of awkwardness in his voice.
She found herself smiling at that minor, minor detail and couldn't quite understand why. Instead of furthering her thought, she slowly shook her head. "No, I just wanted to see how much time we had left until we reached...uh..." She couldn't for her life remember the name of the island they were sailing to. Will had said that it was a sure place to start searching for her cousin, but she had never heard of such a place.
"Tortuga." Jack nodded. "We should be there soon." The pirate kept his gaze on the wheel, fidgeting with it as he spoke.
Catherine watched him, eyes swirling around on the wheel. She couldn't help the next words that seem to slip out from her mind. "Can I try?" A shy question she couldn't believe she asked out loud. When the pirate snapped his head to look at her, she merely just gestured with her hand to the it.
It was almost comical the look on his face.
Jack raised a brow, intrigued by her curiosity. "Have you ever steered a ship, love?"
"No but how hard can it be?"
This made the pirate chuckle softly.
He lifted his hand, beckoning her with his ring-covered fingers. "Come, I'll show you."
There was a slight hesitation in Catherine's legs at first. The small voice cooed at her to move towards the pirate. Even the wind pushed against her legs to walk. She approached Jack, willingly, watching as he took a small step back.
"Place your hands on the wheel."
She did as she was instructed to do, placing them nearly parallel to each other on the opposite sides.
Jack nodded, moving his hands towards her but then stopping, covering them over her arms. "May I?"
"And watch where you put them." She raised a suspicious brow.
This earned her a wicked grin. "I would never."
The grin slowly faded off, but the corners still remained faintly up. His hands placed palms down on her forearms, sliding down to cover the back of her hands.
His action caused Catherine's hand to hitch her throat.
She felt her cheeks feel a small bite of heat. The temperature rose as Jack took a step closer to her from behind, feeling his warmth against her back.
Catherine blinked, slowly blinking to turn her head to meet his face right beside hers.
Jack's dark eyes met her lighter eyes.
There was a pause in between the two.
Catherine had never been this...intimate in proximity of a man before. She was a lady for goodness sakes. This would cause such horror throughout people in her town. But for some reason, it felt almost familiar, normal even.
A small part of her wondered if Jack was like this around most women. With a smile like his, and his way of words, she knew he was.
And this realization was enough for her to snap her head forward, pushing away the moment entirely.
"Right." Jack blinked, pulling himself from his gaze that he kept on her, even after she looked away. It didn't take much of his instructing and guidance. Before Catherine realized it, she had picked up on how to steer the ship.
"Well done," Jack complimented, his hands still holding hers.
Catherine took in a breath and nodded. "Thank you." A touch of shyness grew as she nodded down towards his arms still around her. "I can take it from here," She whispered to him, keeping her eyes far away from him.
Instantly, Jack's hands were off of her as if she was hot water. He slide them into his pockets, curling around to look at her as she now sailed the ship.
She kept her eyes forward, but could feel him anxious to continue speaking to her.
It almost made her scoff, but it also confused her.
Jack could barely stand speaking to Will. He didn't even want to be here helping them. So why talk to her?
The question pondered in her head but she kept her face cool, refusing to let any signs of her thinking about him as he stood there show.
Now it seemed a curious surprise remained: a small part of her wanted to keep talking to him too.
Catherine took in a breath and flickered her eyes towards Jack. "You know, my father would love to have learn how to sail a ship by a pirate." The thought made a small smile grow on her lips. It amazed her how much she missed her parents already. Her father would be over the moon to see the things she has, or even done any of the things she's done so far.
"I agree," Jack chuckled. "From what I can tell of him so far. He seems to be the kind of man who is impressed by anything from standard society. I have never met anyone who was excited to meet me."
A small giggle came from Catherine at that, surprising Jack and herself. She glanced at her feet then back to Jack, seeing a kind of look in his eye she couldn't figure out what it was. "Forgive my father, he gets overly enthusiastic about things that he finds exciting."
Jack leaned his side against the railing that overlooked the deck, resting on his elbows, grinning. "Don't be, quite a charming man, good man. I like him very much." He nodded.
His words made Catherine give a good, genuine smile. "Thank you," and she meant it. There weren't many people who seemed to adore her father as much as she did. Jack's words, the meant a lot to hear.
The pirate mirrored her smile, slowly morphing it into his signature grin. "And his daughter isn't so bad too." Catherine raised a brow, giving him a small glare that made him chuckle.
Jack pushed himself off of the railing and straighten up, draping a hand over it. "Why is it you are such a rare gem compared to the many pearls of woman?"
A confused look washed over Catherine's face. "Beg pardon?"
He fully faced her. "You're different, why?"
A blunt rephrasing that made her blink as if someone blew air in her face.
Oh.
Catherine let out a breath and slipped her hands from the wheel, taking a few steps closer to Jack. "Because I read, I think, I dream, I believe...I know my value, I know my worth. I use my mind and care more about it than most. My tongue tends to get me into more trouble than I can count." This made her grin a little, as well as Jack. "I don't know. I have always been different. Men can't stand my mind, views, ideas, or words. Woman can't tolerate my unladylike tendencies and everything else," she waved her had at the thought. "But I don't care what anyone else thinks. And I certainly refuse to restrict and conform myself to be what society tells me to be, or who I should be."
A smirk rested on his lips. "Fire, spirit, and ferocity. All things I like in a woman."
"I'm so glad I have your approval." Catherine rolled her eyes.
"Someone who doesn't take anything from anyone else." The pirate found himself nodding as he thought, looking over Catherine until he met her eyes. "You truly are a treasure, Catherine."
She remined silent, feeling her cheeks begin to turn been.
"And what of you and William, you both never...?"
"Oh god no!" A loud laugh came from Catherine. "For a moment, we thought we would be romantically involved but we knew we were just better as friends. Besides, he and Elizabeth are in love with each other even if they won't admit it." It still always made her laugh how she could see it but they both could not.
Jack nodded slowly, understanding. "What about you?"
"What about me?"
"No special someone in your life? Someone who you'd risk your neck and die to save?"
Catherine never had anyone in her life like that.
She's never been in love before.
She probably never will.
"No." She spoke quietly, moving her gaze from him.
Jack remained silent at her short response, almost provoking her to ask, "What about you? Don't you pirates tend to have a soft spot for a woman, one who you consider your greatest treasure?" The lightness in Catherine's question tried to hid the sting she was feeling. She refused to look to him until he spoke.
"I prefer the company of a woman, yes." He responded, nodding his head. "But I don't find myself falling in love with someone unless it is the sea."
This felt like another blow to her stomach.
A blow she couldn't exactly understand why it felt such as one.
"You don't want to fall in love? You don't want to find your soulmate? Someone to love and cherish? Some to whose needs you put before your own for once, in hopes it grants them such happiness that you find your needs to be not met because you have insured their happiness?"
Disgust swirled in Catherine's tone as she narrowed her eyes at the pirate.
To think, he could have a redeeming quality after all.
Blinking to raise her chin forward, Catherine shook her head, ignoring Jack's face as he opened his mouth to justify, but she cut him off. "The company of a woman is more enjoyable, of course, I should have expected that from someone like you." She spat in a low, spiteful tone, finished with her conversation with the pirate.
Before any one of them could speak again, Will appeared up the helm, looking over at Jack and Catherine. "What is going on?" He asked slowly, suspicion hinting in his voice, as he looked between the two.
Catherine turned to face him. "Jack was just showing me how to steer the ship." She brushed past Will, keeping her gaze from the men. "I'll leave the sailing to Tortuga to you." She said to no one in particular, eager to get a distance from the helm.
And with that, she disappeared down the stairs and sat herself on the barrel for the rest of the trip to the island.
Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a great week last week and hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It's at 1k! Thank you all for the continuous love and support