That Jack and Elizabeth had not seen Ariel was hard to believe. She had been talking to a seagull, a fish, and a crab no less. But perhaps it was the glaring sun that shielded their eyes. Or maybe it was the fact that Ariel had been at one corner of the island that was barely out of their view. Then again, Jack and Elizabeth were exhausted, with the sole object of getting to land. Surely they didn't notice for they didn't look.
Flounder gasped and dove into the water and Sebastian hid.
Ariel stared at the humans in awe. It was, after all, the man she had been looking for this entire time. But then Ariel looked at her friends with worry. She didn't want them to see her just yet. So scuttle flew up, cawing at Jack and Elizabeth and therefore drawing their attention away from Ariel as she ran to some trees.
Only they headed in that direction too.
Sure, Ariel had planned for this moment, replaying it in her head, but it was different than she had imagined. As in she didn't expect the adrenaline rush. Ariel did not expect her heart to race so quickly or the dread to set. So she watched as Jack stomped over, ever closer to her, being followed by Elizabeth who was saying,
"But you were marooned on this island before so we can escape in the same way you did then."
She seemed....not angry, at least not yet, but she was desperate. It was in her voice and on her face.
This was when Jack turned to her abruptly to say, "to what point and purpose, young missy? The Black Pearl is gone. Unless you have a rudder and a lot of sails hidden in that bodice," he looked down at her under garments. "Unlikely. Young Mr. Turner will be long dead before you can reach him."
Jack approached where Ariel was hiding, knocking on the tree next to her. Ariel jumped, catching the attention of Jack, who stepped back.
He looked down at her, bewildered. She looked awfully familiar.
Elizabeth, however, had continued, "but you're Captain Jack Sparrow. You vanished from under the eyes of seven agents of the East India Company, you sacked Nassau Port without even firing a shot. Are you the pirate of read about or not?"
Then Elizabeth stopped to look down at what Jack was seeing. There sat a girl with bright red hair and big blue eyes. She was beautiful in all her right, enchanting in her mere presence.
"Wha- who are you?" Asked Elizabeth.
Ariel tried to speak but made no sound. Of course, she had given that up. Ariel desperately pointed to her throat, making motions that her voice was taken. But all that was understood was,
"Oh you can't speak." Elizabeth tilted her head.
Ariel nodded and stood up. The dress made of sails hung around her in a rather unflattering way.
"You look familiar," said Jack. "Have I slept with you before?"
Ariel had gone to nod at the fact that she was familiar but an alarmed look appeared when he mentioned having slept with her. She shook her head.
"Huh." Jack was interested in the girl but, with such a grim fate ahead of him, he found it cruel to himself to dwell on her. He turned, stepping away from the tree until he felt a change in the sand. There was a piece of wood that he jumped on.
Elizabeth stood in front of him. "How did you escape last time?"
Ariel watched with a tint of jealousy as Jack grabbed Elizabeth's shoulders and pushed her back slightly.
Hesitantly, Jack said, "Last time I was here a grand total of three days. All right? Last time-" Jack opened a cellar under the sand. "The rum runners used this island as a cache." Jack walked down. "They came by and I was able to barter passage off. From the looks of things, they've long been out of business. Probably have your bloody friend Norrington to thank for that."
Jack brought a up a couple of bottles of rum.
"So that's it, then?" Asked Elizabeth disdainfully. "That's the secret, grand adventure of the infamous Jack Sparrow. You spent three days lying on a beach drinking rum."
"Welcome to the Carribbean, love." Jack handed Elizabeth a bottle of rum and pushed past her.
He stopped in front of Ariel. She combed her hair back and smiled brightly at him. Jack handed her a bottle of rum and stumbled away. Ariel frowned down at the bottle and at Jacks back. This wasn't exactly how she had planned this to go.
Ariel sat down, quite disappointed. She had given up everything for a man who didn't hand her a second thought. How was she supposed to get him to kiss her? She no longer felt in love. He obviously didn't love her. She was soon to belong to the sea witch. She thought all of this and that was when she felt Elizabeth tap her shoulder.
"Do you want to get off this island?" She asked. Ariel nodded. "Then will you help me?" Ariel nodded once more. "We need to get him drunk. That way he will fall asleep. After that we can burn the rum and someone will find us."
Ariel listened carefully and agreed to the plan.
Night fell long after and Ariel had been cautious with her drinking since she'd never had alcohol before. And of course the fact that Sebastian was watching. Although Sebastian had warned Flounder that it was best for them both to stay away.
But Jack was the complete opposite. The man had downed five bottles like it was nothing. The smell repulsed Ariel.
But right now she was dancing around the fire that was built. Ariel had watched them create it with wide eyes. She saw the spark and how it caught onto the wood. How it happened was a mystery to her but she found it beautiful. It was also warm, hot, and bright. She couldn't help herself and went to touch it only to burn herself. It wasn't a real burn, per se, for within a few minutes it had faded away.
Elizabeth had wondered why she'd touched it but dismissed it due to Ariels already strange state and the goal she had in mind.
As they danced, Jack and Elizabeth were singing, "We're devils, we're black sheep, we're really bad eggs. Drink up, me hearted, yo-ho! Yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirates life for me!"
Ariel had tried to sing with them, realizing she couldn't. But she smiled anyways and danced as cheerily as she could.
"I love this song!" Said Jack. Jack twirled around with Ariel. He had long forgotten the fact that he had almost recognized her, about two bottles ago. "Really bad eggs!" Then he fell back into the sand.
He was not at all what Ariel had expected. He was awful smelling, annoyingly silly, and had no moral compass. It would break her heart had she not disliked him so much.
When Jack fell, he'd brought down Ariel with him. She smiled like it was all such fun, per instruction of Elizabeth. Elizabeth had been too disgusted to do it herself.
Jack belched and Ariel turned away to hide the revolted face she made.
"When I get the Pearl back," said Jack, close to Ariels face. "I'm gonna teach it to the whole crew and we'll sing it all them time."
Ariel looked at him with her gorgeous eyes. It was like every word he said she worshipped. Jack found it endearing. In reality, Ariel was dying to get away from him but he was to drunk to notice.
"Wherever we want to go, we go," continued Jack. "See that's what a ship is, you know. It's not just a keel and hull and deck and sails. That's what a ship needs. But what a ship is... what the Black Pearl really is, is freedom."
Ariel dwelled on the words, finding them rather beautiful. Perhaps there was a second layer to Jacks rough exterior.
Jack looked into the sea. He was intensely focused on it, a glint in his dark eyes. Then he looked at Ariel. The way he looked at her was the same as how he looked at the sea. It sent butterflies to her stomach, a shiver down her spine.
In all this, Ariel felt compelled to reach out and touch his face. She still wanted to like him, so she did reach out. Her fingers passed over his beard, trailing down to his neck.
Jack closed his eyes at the feeling. Even though Jacks skin was hot from the fire, every place Ariel touched was burning. Her cold fingers lit him up and we're smoothed over by the cold of the ocean breeze. Jack took her hand and brought it to his lips to kiss them.
Ariel opened her mouth to talk and Jack glanced down at her lips but no sound came out. There was a lot she wanted to say to him although no words could form.
Jack could see the fire form a shine around Ariel. It made her hair redder, a heavenly glow around her. It seemed to bring out something from the back of his foggy mind.
This was when Elizabeth said, "Jack, it must be really terrible for you to be trapped on this island." She sat beside Ariel, who smiled at her.
"Oh, yes," said Jack. "But the..." Jack placed his arm around Ariels bare shoulders. "...company is infinitely ether than the last time. And the..." Jack looked down at Ariel. "...scenery has definitely improved."
Seeing this, Elizabeth said, "Mr. Sparrow! I'm not entirely sure that we've had enough rum to allow that kind of talk."
Jack looked at her. "I know exactly what you mean, love." He twirled the ends of his mustache upwards, drawing a silent laugh from Ariel.
Elizabeth held out her bottle, "to freedom!" Ariel followed suit.
"To the Black Pearl." Jack clinked his glass with the ladies'. He chugged the bottle down and knocked out.
Ariel was slightly concerned upon seeing this but Elizabeth explained,
"He'll wake up tomorrow." She got up. "Not let's get to work."
Ariel nodded and followed Elizabeth. They gathered wood and lit it on fire using what was already alight. Using that bit, they placed it at the bottom of a tree and added leaves to it. It caught on and Ariel stepped away, letting fire do what, Ariel had learned, fire does best. Burn and spread.
It only got bigger and bigger as the night passed. Ariel had watched Jack sleep but couldn't do so herself. She was just so dazed by the sudden change in her life.
Ariel watched him mumble in his sleep and occasionally move or twitch. He really was a handsome man, but Ariel just had had the foresight to know how many faults he could have.
Elizabeth then sat next to her, asking questions like where Ariel was from and what she was doing there. But all Ariel could do was point to the ocean. Elizabeth had become accustomed to this and simply told Ariel about her own life, finding the redhead a rather comforting listener. Elizabeth had never really had a woman to befriend so Ariel was now one of her closest.
When the sun rose eventually, Elizabeth decided to add barrels of rum so Ariel helped her throw them to the fire.
It was all well when they heard, "No! Not good! Stop! Not good!"
They turned around to se Jack waving his arms in the air. He walked over to them and asked,
"What are you doing? You burned all the food, the shade, the rum."
"Yes, the rum is gone," said Elizabeth, walking past him and looking out to the horizon.
Jack looked at Ariel. "Why is the rum gone?" Ariel shrugged.
"One," Elizabeth turned to him sharply. "Because it is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into complete scoundrels. Two, that signal is over a thousand feet high. The entire Royal Navy is out looking for me. Do you really think there is even the slightest chance that they won't see it?"
"But why is the rum gone?"
Elizabeth sat in the sand. "Just wait, captain Sparrow. You give it one hour, maybe two, keep a weather eye open and you will see white sails on that horizon."
Jacks hands formed a fist and he pulled out his gun. He aimed at the back of Elizabeth's head and Ariel ran over. She held up her shaking hands in front of Jack. He closed his eyes in frustration and put the gun away. He ran away and Ariel watched him go. She rolled her eyes and sat down with Elizabeth.
Sure enough, in about half an hour, a ship emerged from the horizon.