Drabble: 'Escape' (Jack/Pearl - PG-13)

[dwgm]

100 rather dark and angsty words for the current prompt at blackpearlsails...



~ Escape ~


You let them go? You shall take their place. Runaways are whipped, Jack. Slaves are branded…

He jerks awake to Beckett’s ghostly murmur, a shameful mewl coiled in his throat, hovering on his lips.

By God, he’ll be damned first.

He lies there in the black, heart like a triphammer, sweat pouring, hearing the hiss of words and whip, smelling sickly cologne and his own seared flesh.

He lies there, in the black.

The black.

Puts his hand out, groping, touching the charred bulkhead of his ship. His Pearl.

Not slaves. Not now. Not ever.

The Black Pearl is freedom.


~.~

Comments

[pearlseed.livejournal.com]

This not even really shown in the movies, just hinted at breaks my heart. I am so tenderhearted that the very idea one person could hurt another in that way...just kills my soul. You presented it beautifully, right down to the first chilling words of Beckett. Right smooth down to Jack's belief in himself and his Pearl.

"Not now. Not ever." What beautiful words, kept Jack safe somehow didn't they, cost him greatly, and gave him a Nort Star, so to speak, so he knew which way to go. He must have felt so lost as a child that the Pearl became home and family to him as an adult. Good one here, now is it Friday?

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I should have warned for angst and violence in this one. But you're right about the Pearl being his North Star, and that's what it's about, really.

Yes, it's Friday, whoot! TGIF, my friend. *hugs*

[sharklady35.livejournal.com]

Rumor hath it, 'On Stranger Tides' is going to include a flashback sequence reffing this event. I hope it's true- I'd consider that ample justification for making a 4th movie.

Very fine bit of work, geekmama. And that icon's an admirable match to it.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I hope it's true- I'd consider that ample justification for making a 4th movie.

I'm with you on that, for sure. We'll just have to wait and see. Isn't it May yet?

Thank you so much for reading and commenting -- I'm so happy you liked it.

[cbtreks.livejournal.com]

Good bit of backstory. I think you do an excellent job with Jack's voice.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[hereswith.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is just great. Very dark and angsty, but what else would it be, in that situation, with those memories so close? You've conveyed it perfectly, and those final lines are perfect, too.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! I wrote it quite late last night, and had a terrible time posting it as the internet kept going down, but I went over several times and it didn't seem to have errors. Dark, indeed, so much darker than my usual that I decided it needed a warning. I'm very happy you thought it good, and really appreciate the comment.

[luvvycat.livejournal.com]

Wow! A very powerful 100 words! One wonders how many times Jack awoke from this particularly vivid nightmare, reliving what must have been one of the darkest moments in his life. Perhaps this explains how (why?) he developed his overwhelming fondness for rum, as well as his proclivity for burning the midnight oil whilst the rest of the crew were abed in their hammocks. Easy to understand his reluctance to give himself up to sleep, when it might be haunted by such dark dreams.

Poor Jack! At least, here, he has his beloved Pearl to afford him comfort, and freedom.

And the final line -- great callback to the desert island scene in CotBP, when he spoke those same words with passion to Elizabeth, and might well have been the source of the haunted darkness hovering behind Jack's eyes as he reveals his brand and scars to her in the deleted scene.

As Pearlseed said, quite chilling!

-- Cat

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the lovely comments. I'm very happy you thought this worked (and I was pretty chuffed at coming in at a hundred words, too).

I have to agree, there are a lot of reasons for Jack to overindulge in rum, though I think he does it less than he'd like everyone to think. *g*

[sharklady35.livejournal.com]

> ... there are a lot of reasons for Jack to overindulge in rum, though I think he does it less than he'd like everyone to think. <

Either Verbinski or Bruckheimer has said in interview, most of the time Jack is faking his inebriation so his enemies will underestimate him. His first escape from Norrington indicates it's an effective strategy.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Yes, I know I must have read that at one time or another. Very tricksy, is Jack.

[aletheiafelinea.livejournal.com]

You let them go? You shall take their place.

Thrilling. And interesting, believable as interpretation of why it happen as happen.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you. It's fanon, but it goes along with canon sources quite nicely.

Praise from Willofthewisp

[(Anonymous)]

Wow, this was so dark, but I think it rings true. We tend to think Jack is impervious to pain and suffering, but it's all too clear he's been through quite a lot. There's no doubt that brand was a physical and emotional blow. Not to mention all that happened afterwards!

"He jerks awake to Beckett's ghostly murmur, a shameful mewl coiled in his throat, hovering on his lips." Shiver! We're Jack fangirls, all of us, and when someone as despicable as Beckett threatens him, we really feel it! I LOVE this sentence in a dark way.

"Not slaves. Not now. Not ever. The Black Pearl is freedom." I never thought about this, how when Jack says the Black Pearl is really freedom, I never tied it back to the slave backstory. Given the circumstances, it's all too easy to see how Jack would associate it with not only his own freedom, but maybe some romantic notions that it's EVERYONE'S freedom. Very very well written.

Re: Praise from Willofthewisp

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Please forgive the late reply, I'm thrilled you liked this and thought it worked well with what we know from canon. Jack's darkest moment, perhaps.

[djarum99.livejournal.com]

Oh, Jack. I love this piece of precanon backstory, because it says so much about who Jack is, how he defines "what a man can do." Lovely ♥

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Please forgive my late reply, I really do appreciate the comment. Oh, Jack, indeed. There's a reason he's the best character ever. *g*

[florencia7.livejournal.com]

That was amazing, so intense. Brilliant drabble.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you!!