THE SEA WITCH'S PLAGUE

Prologue

      She was angry, and she made sure that they knew it.

      Oh how they thought they were so clever. Coming with their
pretty gifts, their pretty words. She saw through them though. Into
their black hearts, into their pitch souls. No man could fool her in
to thinking they had good intentions.

      She let them on her island anyway. She let them in to her
hime. She was lonely. No one ever came, and she had missed the sound
of other voices. Human voices, not the ones belonging to the wind and
the sea.

      What could it hurt, she had thought. Surely they weren't
stupid enough to
steal from her. No, they would try to be more clever, more cunning
than that. They would ply her with pretty things. They would bow and
scrape, then work up the courage to ask her for a boon.

      "My Lady if you could..."

      Well of course she could. She could bottle the winds. She
could part the waves,  reaching down to the deepest treasures. She
could summon the fiercest storms and calm the wild tempests.

      No mere man could comprehend her power.

      Oh but she had forgotten. Forgotten how cruel that men could
be. Just how low they would sink. Just how little that they cared for
their honor.

      They had drugged her! Put poison in the wine that they
offered, a bitter offering indeed. How foolish of her to have
accepted. How foolish to think that just because she was a good host
that they would become good guests. No guests were good guests.

      While she had slept, while she had healed from their horrible
concoction, they had taken it. Taken her most beloved thing.

      Oh how they would pay.

      Such a silly mistake, not making sure that she was well and
truly dead. Something that they would regret terribly. A deadly
mistake that would plague them indeed.

******

      "Capt'n" The call was barely heard over clamoring of the
wind, the crashing of the waves.  John the Ice Heart, captain of the
Red Talon heard the call though. He strained against the heaving
deck, stumbling towards the man who had tried for his attention.

      The storm had come out of nowhere. Worse than anything the
Captain had ever seen before. It came quickly, it came fiercely, and
there seemed to be no end to it. Just leagues and leagues of stormy
skies and frothing waves. There was only one thing that that could
mean.
     
      "We 'ave ta  take it back, Capt'n"

      "What?!" he roared, loud enough to make the thunder envious.

      "'Tis `er goin! It `as ta be!"

      "We are not taking it back you cowardly dog! She'll kill us
all for sure!"

      "She's alread'  doin' that, Capt'n."

      "We shouldn't of ev'r takin' `er necklace," another chimed
in. The unlucky man was swept overboard as another swell slammed in
to the ship. The Captain and his crew member scrambled for something
to hold on to as the ship swayed precariously.

      The Captain cursed, longly and loudly, until his very throat
was sore. He would not die like this. Not when he had such grand
plans.  Such grand, grand plans for the little trinket they had taken.

      Oh what they could do…

      "Capt'n!" Too late, the warning was much too late. There was
nothing that could be done. Not against a wave that size. No way to
out-run it. No angle they could turn. The wave towered above them, so
high that one nearly had to bend backwards just to see the top.

      Closing his eyes Captain clasped the necklace to him. It was
his now. He had risked everything to take it. He would keep it even
in death.

********

      "Look Will, in the water."

***

Part 01

      The necklace sat on a dirty table, sparkling at him in the
warm light that seeped in through the high windows. Will watched it
warily, not quite sure what it was about the thing that gave him such
a sinking feeling. Surely it was just a simple necklace. What harm
could come from a piece of jewelry?

      "If I truly thought that then I would have let Elizabeth take
it,"  he muttered to himself. Sighing, he forced his attention back
to the sword that he was shaping. He pushed away his nagging worries,
the vague sense of unease, and the image of Jack that had sprung up
in his mind. The last was the easiest to push away, for he had far
too much experience with it.

      The necklace was a far different story. He stopped again to
look at it some more. It certainly looked harmless.  Of beautiful
design too, like nothing he had ever seen before.

      It seemed to be made of gold spun in to the thinnest of 
wires. The wires had been twined together,  knotted in places until
they formed what looked remarkably like a net. Caught in the wires
were all matter of things. Tiny shells, odd smooth stones, and
precious gems were held in the net, though he couldn't find any
fastening that held them.  It was as if they stayed by magic.

      A rather disconcerting thought given his last encounter with
the supernatural.

      Remembering that brought forward another image of Jack.

      Jack, moving so gracefully as swords meet, clashed and pulled
away again. Fighting Barbossa with such fierce determination. The way
Jack moved, it was incredible. Fighting, walking, talking, the man
was always a sight to see.

      Damn, Will cursed.  He was doing it again. Would he ever be
able to stop think about that pirate!

      "Will?"

      "Elizabeth!" Metal crashed together as the unexpected voice
cause him to jump in surprise. He winced at the terrible noise. How
lost in thought he must have been. He hadn't even heard her come in.

      "Will, are you well?" She was looking at him, eyes soft with
concern and shadowed with worry. He hated to be the cause of that
look. He also realized that it was not something new. The look had
been in her eyes more frequently the last few days.

      "I am fine, Elizabeth." She didn't believe him. He could read
that in her eyes as well.  Not that he could blame her. He was acting
odd.

      Shouldn't he be deliriously happy? Shouldn't he be spending
every moment he could by her side? They should be making plans for
their wedding. Granted, she would be doing most of the planning
itself, but there hadn't been a single discussion about the event.
There wasn't even a date set.

      He wasn't making much of an effort to have those discussions,
truth be told. He was burying himself in all the backlogged work that
his so called "Master" hadn't been up to doing while he was away. The
only time he did anything else was when Elizabeth dragged him down to
the docks. Exercise, she called it. He found it to be more like
torture.

      Being so close to those ships, he remember to clearly what it
had felt like to be on open water.  The smell of the wind, of the
sea. The feel of the sun on his body. The sight of Jack, standing
behind the wheel, humming to himself as he stared out in to the
ocean. The small grin gracing his lips.

      His lips…
     
      "William!" She was glaring at him now. Eyes flashing with
anger and determination. He realized that she had been speaking to
him. About something important no doubt.

      "That is it! I am leaving William. Do not come after me!" She
stormed out of the room, skirts swinging wildly. He did just the
opposite of what she demanded, rushing in to the streets right after
her. People stopped what they were doing to stare.
     
      Will was brought up short, not by the people staring, but by
the flash of something caught his attention. What had it been?
Something just out of the corner of his eye but it had seemed
important. Important enough to stop him from chasing after the love
of his life.
     
      He turned, struggling to catch another glimpse of it. There
was nothing though. Nothing but still gawking people, some who were
now whispering to each other. Sighing, he stepped back in to his shop
and closed the door. Closing his eyes, he let his head thump back on
the heavy wood.

      He really should be chasing after Elizabeth. He just couldn't
seem to gather the energy that would require. Perhaps it would be
best to let her cool down too. Her temper could be quite the
dangerous thing. Yes, it would be best if he just let her alone for
awhile. He stood up, preparing to go back to work. Opening his eyes,
something caught his attention.

      Lying on the dusty floor was a single blue feather.

***

Part 02

      There was a feather lying on the floor. Such a simple thing.
A silly thing really. One Will shouldn't just be standing there
gawking at.

      He bent down to scoop it up. The feather was silky against
his calloused fingers. Will felt a sharp pain as a memory came
forth. Standing with Jack on the docks of Tortuga as they inspected
his crazy crew.
     
      Will tried to push it away but another took its place. Jack,
at the wheel of the Interceptor, using a compass that didn't point
North to plot their course. The Captain staring off at the horizon,
a smile on his lips, humming his crazy pirate song. Just remembering
brought a smile to his own face.

      A noise drew his attention away from the pleasant memory. A
soft scuffling sound, like feet against the floor. He glanced up in
time to see a shadow move. It was too big to be a bird's. Too small
to be Jack's, and his heart sunk inexplicably.
     
      "Whose there?" he demanded boldly. Surely not a thief. It
would be foolish to steal now, during the day while he was working.
It was more like something a certain pirate would do.

      Will was taken aback when out of the shadows stepped a young
boy. Well he was assuming it was a young boy. The urchin was filthy,
covered in rags and grime.

      A ragged band that once might have been was wrapped around
his head. The shirt had probably been white, but was now more of a
tan-ish color. It was several sizes to big, tied in odd places so
that it wouldn't fall off. The pants were barely more than a series
of patches sown together. They too were overly large on the boy.
There no shoes.
     
      The boy watched him warily, but made no move at all.
     
      "Who are you?" Will asked, but the boy continued to say
nothing. It was more than a little disconcerting to be stared at in
such a way. Like the boy was trying to see inside of him, down to
his very soul.

      "What are you doing in my shop?" he tried again. The boy
still didn't answer, just tilted his head a bit, still staring
silently. Will had the feeling that it would be less painful to bang
his head against the wall repeatedly than keep up trying to question
the lad.
     
      "Well just make yourself at home then," he said with
resignation. As he expected, the boy continued to stand and
continued to remain silent. It wasn't that the boy couldn't
understand him. He was sure that the lad did. He just wasn't
answering. He sighed, and moved back to the last commission that he
had been working on. He felt eyes watching him the whole time, but
said nothing.

      The boy could stay for awhile. He didn't appear to be
dangerous. If Will could handle undead pirates then one small street
urchin should not be a problem.

      "You can stay here for awhile as long as you keep your hands
to yourself."  The boy seemed to agree to his terms because he
finally moved again. He walked over to where Sally was standing,
waiting to work. Without the slightest hesitation the boy began to
stroke the beast. Sally surprisingly didn't seem to mind. She had
been wary of strangers after Jack.

      "I suppose you brought the feather in. Did you collect it
somewhere?" Still no answer, but maybe if he talk enough he would
eventually be able to coax a response from the boy. "You can have it
back, if you'd like."

      He looked up in time to catch the boy shaking his head no.
     
      "Ah, well then I'll take it I suppose." He tucked it away
carefully. Taking up his tools, he began to fix the dented pan that
was his most recent project. The repetitive work helped to sooth his
nerves. His worries slipped away. Every distraction fell away.

      Until his door was rather rudely smashed open. He dropped
his tool, hand meeting and finding the hilt of a conveniently placed
sword. He chanced a glance back at the boy, but the lad was no where
to be found.

      "Mr. Turner!" Commodore Norrington strode in to his shop,
sword drawn. "Hand over the thief!"
     
      "Thief?" Had he missed something?

      Tbc.