POTC Fragments
I have a half dozen different plot bunnies I’m playing with right now, of which I will be lucky if I manage to finish even one of them. In the spirit of attempting to motivate myself, I thought I would post a couple of excerpts below the cutoff for anyone who might be interested. The excerpts are listed in order from “closest to complete but still super far off” to “LOL I’ll be lucky to even reach the quarter point”.
Working Title: A Joining of Destinies
Over the next few weeks, Elizabeth developed a clear routine. Every morning, she went out to the docks to search for the Pearl. She was disappointed each time but the edge of it wore away with the repetition. She would usually stay for a while, sitting on a stone wall and swinging her legs, enjoying the sea breeze. More often than not, she would watch the dockworkers load and unload the crates, eyes often searching out the mysterious James Norrington. He cut a striking figure, and despite the diminishment in his station she could sometimes hear his clear voice giving out orders and organising the usually disorganised men he worked with. She tried to convince herself that the admiration she felt was entirely respectful and based on him appearing to be one of the few good men Tortuga had to offer. Then one particularly sweltering morning she found him working without his usual coat, pushing his shirt sleeves up over his elbows to bare his tanned arms and found her mouth going unexpectedly dry at the sight.
Working Title: As Long as we Both Shall Live
A knock on the door interrupted Elizabeth’s musings. “Come in.” She called out absently, assuming it was the maid returning with a clean towel and shift. Instead James entered, looking far more awake and alert than when she had left him earlier. He was only partly dressed, still missing his coat and wig, but his fine dark hair was neatly tied back and the dusting of stubble across his jaw had been freshly shaved off.
He drew closer and lowered himself to kneel on the floor beside the bath so he wasn’t looming over her, something she had often complained about in the early days of their marriage where he was still being so stiff and formal and seemed to fear being too close to her, as though she might bite him. Whatever he was about to say however was forgotten as he noticed the chain she was idly winding about her hands.
Working Title: A Glimpse of Four Futures
Finally there are those that remind her of James. Often ex-military men- rigid and stoic. Firm in their beliefs, calculatingly efficient in battle. But every one of them turns out to be exactly what she had always feared James would be. Condescending and arrogant, dismissive of her thoughts and experiences. Insubordinate at best, mutinous at worst. Always declaring that they know better than her, and carelessly disrespecting her in front of all the pirate captains whose respect she had fought so hard to gain. Their smiles were harsh and cruel, nothing like the rare subtle expressions of joy displayed by James. They did not have his kindness nor his willingness to put her happiness ahead of his own.
At times she finds herself wondering what James would have thought of her becoming pirate king. Horrified at first, she’s sure. But could he have been convinced to join her? She dreams sometimes of how different her life would have been ruling with him at her side, but every time awakes cold and alone.
Working Title: A Short Drop and a Sudden Stop
Time heals all things. The rage and anger never disappeared, they were only locked away in a neat little box in the corner of her mind, ready to be unleashed again should the opportunity present itself. She was still interested in sailing and the sea, so it seemed only natural for her interests to transition towards the navy that did their best to save her mother. They were at least more accessible to her than pirates ever were. Her childlike daydreams of adventure now imagined her as a blue or red-suited marine, sword fighting and shooting the very pirates she pictured herself as before. She bemoaned that she herself would never be able to join the navy, that being a man’s lot and not a path available to her.