REWRITE OF "A Pirate's Tale"
To pirates, Selene Silver is infamous. To pirates, she is the second worst person to run across on the open sea - the first being Davy Jones himself. She is ruthless, yet kind. A true pirate who could easily become a p...
She was putting her drawings and the time-worn journal away when Jim opened up the door to her cabin, "Jack be missin'".
Selene's eyebrow lifted up, "Jack is lazy, what do you think happened to him?"
Jim's eyes scanned the room until they landed on the prone figure taking up most of the bed. Jim blinked and shook his head, "Should've known."
Light laughter filled the air, lifting the worry and stress off of Selene's scarred face for just a moment. Jim watched the way her laugh lines hid the longest one diagonal across her cheek. "Do they hurt?"
He didn't have to elaborate; she tipped her head to the side slightly, "Not much anymore. Hurt something fierce when they did them, and the worst one got infected. I thought for a moment I was going to die, but I escaped in time to get to Tia Dalma who healed me up and drove the craze from my mind. Now they are just a reminder of a few very long years."
Jim nodded slowly and let out a breath, "In the past now. Nothing like that will ever happen to you again, promise me blood."
A soft, motherly smile appeared, "Thank you. Rouse the men though, we should be close to the island by now."
"Aye."
Once Jim left, Selene lifted her eyes to Jack's face, who wore a slightly appalled look at what little bit of information he had just learned, "Hearing you say you almost died is worse than my mind telling me you went through a lot and probably cheated death a time or two."
There it was again, that same tired look like she had lost her hope, "I cheated death more than a time or two."
Jack sucked in a rattling breath and nodded, "Of course you did. You're Selene Silver, one of the best pirates the seven seas have ever seen."
She laughs softly, "Thank you Jack, but it's time to face the day. No more laying around like an old tomcat."
Jack whined incoherent words as they both dressed in their effects and walked out onto the deck.
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They walked out into a deep fog. Selene's eyes moved wildly, hidden mostly by her hat. She hadn't realized they had gotten this close to the island since she had gone to sleep. She scowled as she walked the deck, checking for rocks and signs of it.
How could she have been so foolish to assume it would let them silently float into its territory. Even her magic would not be enough to protect her ship now. Hard decisions were coming closer and closer and she thought she just had more time.
Time for what though? She asked herself.
She had known this was coming since before she ever approached Jack with her proposition.
Somehow, she found her body moving through the motions of telling her crew the best way to maneuver in the deep and perilous fog. She sensed the rocks just beneath the surface, waiting patiently for The Silver Ghost to join them at the bottom of the sea.
Maybe her crew would get lucky, and they would all be able to escape the horrible end that awaited them should they not listen to her final orders. Wishful thinking.
The cove narrowed, and the fog lifted ever so slightly. A cave sat at the end, barely visible, but the cold wind that it emitted was felt even from their distance. The Silver Ghost scrapped bottom and with it, Selene's heart dropped deep into her chest.
"Drop the lifeboat. It's just Jack and me from here."
As they rowed in, the tension fell onto Selene like a heavy winter blanket. All noise seemed to disappear except the pounding of her heart and the rush of her blood. Jack seemed to not notice a thing; humming some odd tune to himself without care as he looked curiously around the cave. Something glittered along the walls, lit by a light somewhere in the cave, yet there was not enough light to see what else lay along the walls. Fear told her she did not want to know.
"What are you thinkin' about?" Jack's voice cut through the still air, startling Selene.
"Just the possibility that we are surrounded by dead people," she tried to keep her voice light, but the strain still slipped through.
A startled laugh burst through Jack before he could contain it of all the things she could've said, he was not expecting that.
"Scared of the dark now, are you? I'll have to keep that little tidbit to myself."
When had she turned her back to him? Was it when they entered the cave? Or sometime after? Jack could've sworn she had been facing him just moments ago. Selene turned at that moment, and the realization of why hit him.
Her eyes looked as though they were glowing from within her. They didn't provide any light, but it was unsettling to see her eyes as if they were lit by the noon sun in the pitch black of the cave.
"The water, something isn't right about it. It's constricted, and angry about it. One false move and the boat will tip. We'll never see daylight again if that happens."
"Then we stay still and move no more than we must. Simple solution really." Jack tried hard to keep his voice light, he had never seen Selene like this before, and it was starting to scare him.
A small smile slipped onto her face at his comment, at least he knew she still had her sense of humor despite the tension. Suddenly, her head spun back around to face the light that was starting to spread through the cave. Echoing throughout, they could hear ancient words. Words they couldn't understand but could feel the power behind.
"Looks like we have some company now."
"Damn the luck." Selene's voice was bitter. Did she know who that voice belonged to?
