Jolly Sailor || Elizabeth Swann

11

"It will attack from starboard, I've seen it before! Run out the cannons and hold for my signal!" Benj grabbed a sword from a crew member, his long gone, and leaned against the mast to watch as Will ordered the crew around. He looked good doing that. Benj was shameless enough to admit that he was enjoying the sight far too much for the current situation. Then his eyes caught on Jack and he sighed. 

"Where are you going Jacky boy?" He cooed as he stepped in front of the captain, blocking him from the rowboats. "You can't seriously be thinking of leaving, not now?" 

"Benj get out of the way", Jack hissed, making to sidle round him. Benj stopped the man by gripping his shoulder. 

"You can't escape this Jack. Besides it's too late now". As he spoke, huge tentacles began creeping up the sides of the ship. They were as wide as the mast with suckers large enough to rip the face off a man. The air filled with the stink of salt, decay and death as the kraken lurked under the hull. Benj watched as Jack's eyes widened at the sight. The crew around them grasping harpoons nervously as the tentacles climbed higher, over the deck and up towards the sails. 

"Will?" Elizabeth's voice called out nervously. Benj couldn't help turning to her at the sound. 

"Steady!" Will ordered. The man down on the gunner deck. "Steady!" The limbs were almost at the top of the mast now. Benj's grip on Jack's shoulder tightened and the man grunted in pain. The merman's strength hard to escape from. 

"Will?" Benj called out, his own voice audibly concerned. His free hand clenched around the cutlass. 

"Hold!" 

"Will!" Elizabeth shrieked. 

"Fire!" 

The cannons blew and chunks of sea monster went flying. The tentacles flailed in pain, one smacking into the deck and crushing a rowboat under it's weight. Elizabeth had to throw herself aside to avoid it. Benj lost his hold on Jack as one of the limbs knocked them off their feet, slamming them into the stairs as it slid back into the water. The merman groaned and the pain took him a few precious seconds to recover from. During which Jack slunk away. 

"Benjy!" Elizabeth fell to her knees at his side. He felt her hands on his cheeks as he opened his eyes. "Are you okay?" Will was stepping up behind her, face concerned. 

"Just peachy", Benj groaned as he held out a hand to the man. Will gripped it and pulled him to his feet. Their clasped hands lingering as he straightened, before letting go. Elizabeth pushing his damp hair from his face. "It has been a long day", he sighed, leaning into her touch tiredly. He ignored how her eyes flitted from him to Will, face twisting in concern. 

"It will be back. We need to get off the ship", Will stated grimly. 

"There's no boats", She gestured to the wreckage grimly. 

Benj blinked, thinking. He was sure there was another boat. It was somewhere. He surveyed the deck, noticing a clear absence of their captain. At his side, Will was having a different thought. "Pull the crates!" He shouted as he stepped away from Benj's side. "Get all the gunpowder onto the net in the cargo hold!" 

"Wait", Benj stumbled after the two of them. "You can't be planning what I think you're planning". Will grabbed a gun from a crew member and held it out to Elizabeth. There was trust and determination in his eyes as he stared at her. Once again, Benj felt invisible. (Will and Elizabeth would always choose each other. He wasn't even  in their sight). 

"Whatever you do, don't miss", Will stated. The love and trust he carried but didn't need to say was heavy. 

Elizabeth grasped the rifle in her slim hands. Her gaze equally as heavy. "As soon as you're clear", she promised. Then the two of them were separating, both moving in opposite directions across the deck. Leaving Benj standing alone as the crew hurried around him. Swallowing down his feelings, he gazed out onto the horizon and the green line of an island in the distance. A brown rowboat bobbing on the waves caught his attention and he sighed. No one noticed as he stepped up onto the rails and dived off the deck with a inhuman gracefulness. The water welcoming him with barely a splash. 

"What are you doing Jackie?" Benj cooed as he rose from the water to lean his elbows on edge of the rowboat. Jack jumped. 

"Benjamin!" He snapped. "Why couldn't you leave me to have a crises of character by myself?" 

"That's not how our relationship works", Benj pointed out as he began pushing the rowboat around. Behind them, the pearl was being besieged. The Kraken was back and the screams were audible over the waves as the tentacles tried to rip the ship to pieces. 

Jack scowled and crossed his arms, abandoning the oars as Benj began pushing the boat back towards the ship. "Are you really going to give up your life?" He asked as the merman swam the boat back the way it had come. "You know those two lovebirds don't notice you. You could just swim away scot free and take me with you". 

"You were going to go back anyway", Benj huffed. It really was quite the exercise pushing the boat. "You could at least give me some help". 

"I was not", Jack sounded indignant as he picked the oars back up. "I was saving myself". 

Benj chuckled. "And let the Pearl go down without it's captain? No chance". 

Their precious Black Pearl was growing closer. He could just about glimpse Elizabeth and Will on deck. The attacking tentacles swarming over and picking crew up to drag them down to the depths. Then they reached the scene. Benj grabbed the rope and tied the rowboat to the hull, narrowly missing the tentacles as he hauled himself up the ladder. Jack behind him as they pulled themselves up onto the splinter strewn deck. Screams filling their ears. 

"Shoot!" Will was shouting, the man still hanging onto the swinging net of barrels suspended over the deck. "Elizabeth!" The woman in question was scrabbling for her gun and ducking to avoid a flailing tentacle. 

Benj made it up onto the top deck first. Elizabeth's fingers just brushing the handle only for another hand to scoop the rifle up. She glanced upwards and the look of relief on her face upon seeing Jack and Benj standing at the wheel was blinding. "Here", Benj handed the gun to Jack. The older man was the better shot. 

Jack cocked the rifle and took aim. "Get the crew to the rowboat", Benj gently helped Elizabeth to her feet. 

"Will!" She protested. The two of them glanced to the net where Will let go. The man dropping as the tentacles began ripping it to pieces. Jack fired and the gunshot cracked the air as the bullet hit the barrels. The resulting explosion littered the deck with burning chunks of kraken flesh and fiery splinters of wood. Elizabeth gasping as Benj shielded her from the shrapnel, pressing her close. For a second she was warm in his hold, then she was ripping herself away and running to where Will had fallen. Benj watching as she cupped his face. 

The tentacles, all ruined flesh and exposed bone, slid back into the water as something down bellow let out a groan of pain. He could feel the vibrations of it reaching out under his feet. It made him stumble and clutch at his pounding head. The kraken had no language but the magic of the sea let him feel the beast's emotions as it spoke. It was hurt and it was angry. It was hungry with a bone deep ancient hunger that was more rage than need. It wanted to devour them whole. 

"Captain!" Orders!" The surviving crew all gathered. Mr Gibbs among them, looking desperately to Jack and Benjy as they descended the stairs. 

"To the longboat", Jack ordered.

"But the pearl!" 

Jack paused as Benj stumbled again. The captain catching the first mate by his arm and steadying him. "She's only a ship, mate". 

Elizabeth had pulled Will to his feet. Her hat had been lost in the chaos and her sun bleached blonde hair flowed freely in the light breeze. "He's right. We have to head for land". 

"It's a lot of open water", the crew member with the wooden eye, who Benj didn't know the name off and never bother to ask, voiced. 

"We have to try", Will replied. "We can get away as it takes down the pearl". 

Mr Gibbs nodded resolutely. "Abandon ship. Abandon ship or abandon hope". That stirred the crew into moving. They began picking up arms, guns and swords dropped across the deck. Only Benjy and Jack didn't move. The merman shrugged off the captain's grip and pushed his long hair back from his face. His gaze on the horizon and the green island beyond. 

unedited