a woman taken by the wind (jack sparrow)

three: the adventure you crave

Tortuga.

That's where Jack Sparrow had requested the Duchess drop him off. Naturally. 

The journey from Isa Da Mala Suerte to Tortuga was only a few hours - thank god. Rhiannon, in her mind, had already done too much for Jack Sparrow. In fact, not knocking the fucking daylights out of him when she first saw him again was a favour in itself. She'd never met a man so frustrating, and that was saying a lot given the people she knew. It seemed she wasn't alone in that - Jack had done a bloody good job of annoying the rest of the crew as well. 

"So, did you lose both your legs at the same time?" he was asking Legs. "Terrible accident, or did you lose one and have the sudden desire to make things a little more symmetrical-"

"- Jack!" Rhi barked. "Leave my crew alone."

"But I'm bored, my dear," Jack replied. He grabbed one of the sails' ropes and swung around the deck, landing beside her. "You gave given me nothing to do."

"That's because you're not part of the crew," she said. "Just sit still."

"I'll sit pretty," he grinned at her.

Rhi rolled her eyes; grabbing her hat, she pushed past Jack and headed up to the wheel of the Duchess. The seas were calm now, even more so than when they'd reached the Island earlier. It was a beautiful sight - slightly less so knowing that Tortuga was at the end of it. She didn't dislike the place, per say. It was just that it had taken years - and multiple drunken sword fights - for the men there to respect her. Rocking up with Jack Sparrow wasn't exactly going to help her reputation. 

"You've grown your hair out," Jack's commentary continued behind her. He'd barely left her side since they'd got on the ship. "I like it."

"Did I ask?" Rhi shot him a sideward glance as she took the wheel in her hands, not flinching when he flung an arm around her. "I don't remember asking."

"My wonderfully accurate intuition of the female kind is telling me that there is some sort of unspoken ailment between us," he continued. The pirate let go of her shoulders and headed round to the other side of the wheel; he took it in his hands, keeping it still for a second. His dark eyes held Rhi's gaze, lips pouting as he wordlessly implored for an answer. 

"I wouldn't call it an unspoken ailment," she said. "I think it's quite obvious, don't you?"

"And what might that ailment be, love?"

"That you're a humongous prick," she grinned. 

Jack sucked his teeth. "Ah, yes. That."

"You've only got two hours left on this ship, Jack Sparrow," Rhi continued. "I'm not going to waste my energy pretending to like you."

"You used to like me though, didn't you?" he teased. "You liked me 72 times exactly-"

"- my lord, Jack!" she cut him off. "You're lucky that I'm not sending you off the plank right this second!"

Jack shrugged, knowing her threat to be empty. Despite her insisting the opposite, he knew her well. That five months that they'd spent together had been...intense and Jack was secretly very observant.  That was how he survived, after all. It hadn't taken long for him to learn every intricate detail of Rhiannon Mercier, from the tells when she was lying, to knowing when her threats were empty. Above all, he knew she probably still cared about him. It was just a matter of her not letting it on - maybe that was her play. She had to put up a strong, emotionless front in these waters in order to command respect in a man's world. She was strong but she was by no means emotionless.