Jack squirms with prolonged discomfort as he ties off the longboat which he'd just sailed in with Blackbeard and his zombified minions, finally arriving at their destination in the bay after a few tense and uncomfortable silent minutes on the journey from The Queen Anne's revenge. Blackbeard immediately begins to bark orders to the crew on the other long boat, who begin hauling thick nets up towards the ancient pier on Blackbeard's command.
"Lay 'em out flat, no tangles, mend the holes. Make 'em to look pretty, for our dainty guests!" He orders before turning to look up at the lighthouse in the distance, "we're going to need light. A lot of light," he says to no one in particular as he holds up his open flamed torch to get a clearer view of the dark lighthouse, the moonlight barely casting a meagre shadow onto the cliffs around it. "Come on!"
The crew assigned to illuminating the ancient lighthouse follow closely behind Blackbeard and his ever imposing quartermaster as they make their way up the old, wooden stairs that led to the top of the lighthouse. Jack, having been commanded to join them in their venture, followed silently behind, the last of the chosen crew to step into the lighthouse. The door to the lighthouse hung off its hinges, diagonal to the opening as it rested up against the wall, no doubt broken in haste from the previous occupant. Jack held back a shiver at the realisation of what the previous encounter could have entailed and fought hard to keep up with the other men as they cross the threshold to the interior of the upper level.
In its centre of the top level, the lighthouse mechanism is a Rube-Goldbergian wonder. A huge wick on rotating platform with a large mirror behind, the system fed by a series of pressure controlled pipes leading back to a very large tank. The smell was foul in the open space, the source of the stench clearly being the large tank.
"Smell that? Whale oil. Stuff burns like a miracle from God," Salaman, a crewman that Jack had found favour with, states as he steps closer to the mechanism, pointing up towards the tank as the crew overlooks.
Blackbeard hardly turns as he addresses Salaman. "Can you make it work?" His words were simple enough and yet his tone added a threatening aura to the conversation.
"Made by the English... let's not get our hopes up," Salaman replies, his humour lost on the fearsome captain who simply walks away, looking out towards the men and the nets down below.
Salaman sets to fixing the system, experimenting with the turning mechanism as he tries to make the ancient relic work again, knowing that his life might be on the line if he fails. Jack wonders out to one of the archways, examines the view in a moment of lament, the discomfort of his whole situation feeling nigh unbearable to the captain.
Not too long ago, he'd reclaimed the Pearl, got rid of the threat of both Jones and Beckett, married his girl and was gearing up to set to the fountain, all of his own accord. Now, he was as good as a prisoner, shanghaied into service for the nefarious captain with no room for escape, though Jack briefly doubted that he'd even have the energy to fulfil one of his schemes. It seemed so long ago since he'd had to go it alone, scheming and deceiving his way around life, narrowly avoiding the enemies he'd inadvertently made along the way. Then came lily and he found his partner in crime. She was brilliant, truly brilliant, her quick wit and a sharp mind always gave her the upper hand, even with Jack.
As he gazed out towards the crescent moon up in the sky, riding above the dark, blue horizon below he thought of his wife and how strongly he needed to find her. Since being aboard the revenge, he'd taken to keeping mum about his personal entanglements, using one of his larger rings from his right hand to cover the wedding band that took pride of place, to him at least, on his left hand. The large ornate ring covered his wedding band entirely and it added a layer of protection to Lily that he could give, the only thing he could give, even from afar.
Suddenly, the whole lighthouse became illuminated, the entire beacon flooding with light that stretched far out over the water, filling the entire Bay with a radiating blaze.
YOU ARE READING
Fathoms Below: Captain Jack Sparrow
Fanfic"Jack was like a Chinese finger trap most of the time, you had to carry on playing, delve a little further and accept your fate before you were able to pry yourself away." Jack/ OC reader pairing, following the course of the movies with mini-inserts...
