༺ A N E W H O R I Z O N ༻
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The way the sun reflected off the water and unto Clara's eyes was beautiful. Her smile was like the soft breeze, refreshing and calming but it never overpowered anything in its path. It was a wonderful thing - how a small change of scenery could light up a person. The young woman was like a different person in Jack's eyes. He had only encountered her twice, in which both times end up with her hitting him. It was a nice change.
William was currently telling him his backstory, but it served him little interest, his sights were set on the young woman in front of him. His brow raised slightly as he watched her tie off a rope, using the correct knot. She glanced up at him, those beautiful eyes wide with excitement and wonder. He had seen those eyes before, a long time ago, so long that he couldn't up a relative memory of them.
"When I was a lad living in England, my mother raised me by herself," he heard Will continue as the young man sharpened his cutlass. "After she died, I came out here, looking for my father."
"Is that so?" Jack muttered.
Will stood following Jack up to the helm. "My father, Bill Turner? It was only after you learned my name that you agreed to help. Since that's what I wanted, I didn't press the matter. I'm not a simpleton, Jack. You knew my father."
Fixing the ropes as she went, Clara eavesdropped on the men's conversation, standing close to the stairs.
Jack took in a sharp breath before standing to meet Will in the eye. "I knew him. Probably one of the few who knew him as William Turner. Everyone else just called him 'Bootstrap' or 'Bootstrap Bill'."
"'Bootstrap?'"
Jack turned to the wheel once more, throwing away the rope that held it in place. "Good man. Good pirate. I swear, you look just like him."
"It's not true. He was a merchant sailor. A good, respectable man who obeyed the law."
"He was a bloody pirate, a scallywag."
"My father was not a pirate!" The sound of a sword being pulled from its sheath, made Clara look up. Will was about to cut Jack down as she cried out.
"Will, no! It's not worth it!" Clara ran up the steps, trying to jump between her friend and the pirate but Jack held out an arm, keeping her at bay.
"Put it away, son. As the lass said, it's not worth you getting beat again."
"You didn't beat me. You ignored the rules of engagement. In a fair fight, I'd kill you."
Jack finally turned around. "Then that's not much incentive for me to fight fair then, is it?" He turned the wheel hard. He ducked, pulling Clara down with him as the sail boom whipped around and slammed into Will. His sword clattered on that deck as the boom swept him off his feet, dangling him over the water.
"Will!" Clara turned to the pirate. "Jack, bring him back down, now!"
"No can do, love." Picking up Will's sword, Jack pointed it at him. "Now, as long as you're just hanging there, pay attention. The only rules that really matter are these: what a man can do and what a man can't do. For instance, you can accept that your father was a pirate and a good man . . . or you can't. But pirate is in your blood, boy, so you'll have to square with that someday. Now me, for example, I can let you drown, but I'd hate for this lovely lady to witness such a thing and going to Tortuga with two won't work well. So-" Jack turned the wheel back, Will crashing to the ground as he let the boom go. "-can you sail under the command of a pirate-" he flipped the sword, offering it to Will. "-or can you not?"
Will took the sword. "Tortuga?"
"Tortuga."
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To say Clara was out of her element would be an understatement. It seemed that with every blast from a pistol, she jumped, her eyes wide and her hands trembling. The city was a madhouse, with drunks and whores left and right, Clara didn't know where to look.
The two men flanked both sides of her, knowing if they walked even a foot away from her, some man would steal her. And even though Jack had partaken in the chaos about them many times before, he could not help but take pity on the frightened, innocent girl.
"What do you think?" he asked the boy.
"It'll linger."
"I'll yell you, mate, if every town in the world were like this one, no man would ever feel unwanted." His gaze darted to a woman dressed in red, walking straight to the three. "Scarlett!" Jack dashed to meet the woman but was met with a smack to the face. "Not sure I deserved that.
All Clara could do was try and fail at restraining her laughter. "I'm pretty sure he does."
Will cracked a smile at her comment then shock took over as another woman came over, dressed in yellow.
"Giselle," mumbled Jack.
She smiled. "Who was she?"
"What?"
The smile fell and Jack reeled back, Giselle had hit him. "I may have deserved that."
Clara crossed her arms. "Hum, you think?"
"I know I deserved that."
"There you go. Now, where are you taking us?"
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Jack led the young adults around a tavern, to the back where a man lay passed out among the pigs. He was filthy and his clothes were slightly torn, an empty bottle next to him. Jack found a few buckets of water, picked one up, directed the others to do the same and crept over to the sleeping man. Without hesitation, he tossed the water on the drunk.
He immediately woke up, gasping. "Curse you for breathing, you slack-jawed idiot!" The four stared at each other until the man recognized one of them. "Mother's love! Jack! You should know better than to wake a man when he's sleepin'. It's bad luck."
"Ah! Fortunately, I know how to counter it." Placing the bucket down, Jack knelt down. "The man who did the waking buys the man who was sleeping a drink. The man who was sleeping drinks it while listening to a proposition from the man who did the waking."
The man's face lit up with glee. "Aye. That'll about do it."
Jack helped the man up and as Jack backed away, Will splashed the unknown man with his own water, quickly followed by Clara.
"Blast! I'm already awake!"
"That was for the smell," said Will.
"It just looked like fun."
The man shrugged and nodded as if to say 'fair enough'.
The three moved inside the tavern, Jack and the man, Mr Gibbs, slipping away to have drinks and talk about the Captain's proposition.
Slipping around a crowd of drunks having a brawl, Jack turned to Will on his way back from the bar. "Keep a sharp eye. We don't need miss flower being . . . well, deflowered."
Will's nose scrunched at his words. There was a tug on his sleeve and he looked to find Clara.
"What did he tell you?"
"Just . . . watch your back."
"Now, what's the nature of this venture of your'n?" Gibbs asked once Jack sat down.
"I'm going after the Black Pearl."
Gibbs almost choked on his drink.
"I know where it's going to be, and I'm gonna take it."
The older man shook his head. "Jack, it's a fool's errand. You know better than me the tales of the Black Pearl."
"That's why I know what Barbossa is up to. All I need is a crew."
"I hear Captain Barbossa's not a man to suffer fools, nor strike a bargain with one."
"It's a good thing I'm not a fool, eh?"
"Promise me wrong. What makes you think Barbossa will give up his ship to you?"
"Let's just say it's a matter of leverage."
"Huh?" Jack gestured with his head at Will, who was being pushed about by a drunk woman. "The kid?"
"That is the child of Bootstrap Bill Turner. His only child. Savvy?"
Realization spread across Gibbs' face. "Is he now?" An equally drunk man was now doing the same to Clara. Will pushed him away, the man yelling until the two drunks caught sight of each other. Laughing, they stumbled away into the crowd. "What of the girl then?"
Jack felt his heart drop into his stomach but he ignored the feeling. "Just a tag along, a friend of the boy's. But if you must know, she is the fiancée of a commodore."
Gibbs raised a brow, impressed. He nodded and smirked. "Leverage, says you. I think I feel a change in the wind, says I. I'll find us a crew. there's bound to be sailors on this rock crazy as you."
"One can only hope." Jack lifted his tankard. "Take what you can."
Gibbs raised his in return. "Give nothin' back."
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