Jolly Sailor || Elizabeth Swann

08

The day was bright and the good sailing weather had held up, which was fortunate. Benj was stewing on the prow. Irritation bubbling as he thought back to the conversation he'd had with Jack the night before. He had forced the captain to explain why he had made the deal with Davey Jones and it had led to the conversation as to why Will was on the man's ship. (If it involved him chasing Jack around the navigation room and threatening him very loudly to feed the pirate to Ben's mermaid relatives, then that was between a captain and his first mate). Still, what had been done was done. Benj couldn't do anything to change it now. So he was standing up at the prow, feeling the wind tug at his unbound hair and seething silently as the sun danced over his skin. 

"Land ho!" The cry went up. Benj glanced down at the deck to see Elizabeth breakaway from where she had been talking with Jack. His dark eyes following the captain as he made for his cabin, coming out a second later with a large glass jar. 

"What have you got there Jacky?" Benj grinned sharply as he sauntered down the stairs. 

Jack clutched the jar of dirt closer to his chest and waved a hand. "Get into the row boat fishface". 

"Is that dirt?" Benj peered at the grimy glass. "The spot is back, isn't it? Your time is up". He made a dramatic sign of the cross, fingertips touching forehead and chest and shudders. 

"Argh!" Jack shooed him away and Benj cackled. "Get in the rowboat damn you! Elizabeth, come on. You two, with me. You're rowing". He waved at two crew members, the one with he missing eye and his friend, and headed for the boat. Benj whistled a merry tune as he followed after him, ignoring the not so pleasant idea of actually seeing the beating heart of Davey jones. 

The rowboat journey was spent listening to the two crew members arguing about the pronunciation of Kraken. Elizabeth and Norrington, who had insisted on coming with them, looked very much done with he conversation at the back. Benj, who had chosen to instead jump in the water and swim along side, floated along listening with vague amusement to the whole thing. "I had an aunt who was eaten by a kraken once", he recalled as he bobbed on the turquoise waters. "But I have many Aunts. Mother said that she was more of a guppie anyway". The others looked like they didn't know what to do with that information. 

Jack's boots were in the sand as soon as the boat reached the shore. He dumped his coat onto a seat and pulled out a small shovel. "Guard the boat. Mind the tide and don't touch my dirt", he ordered as he stomped across the sand. Benj sighed and shook the water from his waistcoat and shirt. His coat and boots already dumped in the rowboat. He didn't bother to retrieve them, merely padding barefoot after the others. 

The island wasn't particularly big and the majority of it was either jungle or soft golden sand. They walked until the boat was out of sight but less than a mile away, following Elizabeth and the compass. Jack with he shovel and Norrington looking like he needed a good bath. Eventually, she stopped and began to frown at the small box, walking around in small circles. Benj was watching her. He did that a lot. Then she glanced at him, scowled and shook the box before flopping down on the sand. "This doesn't work!" She declared. "And it certainly doesn't show you what you want most". 

Benj and Jack both peered at the compass on the ground. The needle was spinning wildly for a second before pointing at Elizabeth. "Yes it does", Jack replied. "You're sitting on it". 

"What?"

"Move". He flapped his hands at her and she scurried out of the way. 

"You're up commodore", Benj grinned. Norrington shot him a dirty look but grabbed the shovel and started digging. Benj sat down next to Jack, who was meditating, and pause the ten minutes of digging playing a tune on his little whistle. It was only when the shovel hit a solid object with a thump did they both jump back up. All four of them reached into the hole to brush the sand off the chest. Benj hauled it up and they brushed it down. It was a solid thing of thick wood and strips of iron, bigger than he thought it would be. Jack broke the lock with the shovel and it clattered. 

The hinges squeaked as it opened. At first, all there was were old letters. Parchment yellow with ages and some still sealed with red wax. Elizabeth took one out to peer at it and Benj felt the urge to sigh mournfully at the old love letters. His mother had told him about these, his grandmother too. He knew far more about the tale of Davey jones than any other human. Jack cared not for the letters and brushed them aside to reveal a smaller chest. This one was made almost entirely of iron and the lock was set deep into the metal. It was shaped in the form of a heart and Benj rolled his eyes at the symbolism. Inside the chest, they could hear the muffled pounding of a heartbeat. 

"It's real", Elizabeth breathed. 

"You actually were telling the truth", Norrington stared. 

"I do that quite a lot, yet people are always surprised", Jack muttered. 

"With good reason!" A familiar yet unexpected voice interrupted. Benj turned around and sat down on the golden sand to stare at the dripping wet form of Will Turner standing a few feet away. The man looked the same yet different than last time. He was in pirate clothes of dark greys and his skin was golden with sea tan. He looked good and very pissed off. 

"Will", Elizabeth gasped as she ran towards him. "You're alright. Thank god! I came to find you" she beamed as she threw her arms around him. He caught her in an embrace and drew her up into a kiss. It seemed passionate, intense and relieved. Benj felt his mood plummet as he watched. The lovers joyful at seeing each other again made him feel all the more lonely. 

He didn't notice Jack glancing over them, taking in Benj's and Norrington's expressions. "How did you get here?" 

Will and Elizabeth broke apart. "Sea turtles mate. A pair of them strapped to my feet". 

"Not so easy is it?" Jack grinned. 

"But I do owe you thanks Jack", Will continued. "After you tricked me onto that ship to square your debt with Jones"... 

"What?" Elizabeth blinked. 

"What?" Jack tried to sound surprised. Benj just sighed and reclined in the sand. 

"... I was reunited with my father". 

That caused Benj to jump to his feet. "Bootstrap? He's on Jones' ship?" He asked eagerly, stepping closer to Will to grab his shoulder. The man paused, eyes dragging over Benj's form up and down, as if he was just realising that the man was there. There was something in his gaze that made Benj want to step back. 

"Well you're welcome then", Jack swept out his arms and snapped Benj from his thoughts. 

"Everything you said to me. Every word was a lie?" Elizabeth let go of Will to glare daggers at Jack. 

"Time and tide love". The pirate shrugged. 

"And you!" She turned to Benj and jabbed at him with a pointed finger. "Were you lying too?" 

"Me?" Benj frowned. "No. I said that I would help you reunite with our sweet William, and now I have". He turned and let his gaze fall over the chest and Jack. "I don't care about black spots and hearts in chests. The only reason I am here is to stop Beckett from taking over the sea". 

Will pulled a key from his pocket and sunk to his knees in front of the chest. Benj rather liked how it looked on him but those thoughts were quickly replaced by surprise as the man went to unlock the chest. "Oi", Jack frowned. "What are you doing?" 

"I am going to kill Jones". 

Jack unsheathed his sword and levelled the blade against Will's chin. "I can't let you do that William. Cause if Jones is dead, who's to call his terrible beastie off the hunt, eh?" 

Will sighed and stood up, slowly backing away from the chest. In an instant, he had grabbed the sword from Elizabeth's belt and unsheathed it, pointing the blade back at Jack. "I keep the promises I makes Jack. I intend to kill Jones and free my father". 

There was the scrape of metal as Norrington unsheathed his blade. "I can't let you do that either". Benj sighed deeply at the sight of three men with their swords levelled at each other. Pirates. 

unedited