Drabble Challenge: 'Drift'

[dwgm]

A double drabble written for the current challenge at Black Pearl Sails. Theme: 'Drift'.

~ Spindrift ~

He sat in a shadowed corner of the Black Dog Tavern, Port Royal, Jamaica, nursing his third grog.

The sidelong glances and furtive discussion had both diminished over the last two weeks. After the last hanging, he reckoned they’d cease entirely.

The last hanging. Jack Sparrow’s. Two mornings hence.

They tolerated him, but he was no longer one of them. He knew it. They knew it.

Oh, he still was, in fact, Brown’s apprentice. And his… regard for Miss Swann: that would never change, as long as he drew breath. But these facts that informed his life paled in the face of The Fact.

Pirate’s whelp.

He could hear him now…

Pirate is in your blood, boy, so you’ll have to square with that someday.

Jack.

Will drained his mug.

When he set it down again he was no longer alone.

“Gibbs!”

The man put a finger to his lips. “Hush, young Bootstrap.”

Will stiffened. “That… that’s not my name.”

“Is it not?”

Talk about a ‘sharp eye’…

“What do you want?” Will muttered.

Gibbs nodded. “I’ve a bit of a proposition for ye now, haven’t I?”


~.~

Comments

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about this one for months -- way before I finished Harry IV in mid July. It seemed to me, after (countless) repeated viewings of the movie that there was A Plan, and Will could have been in on it. Thought I'd better write something about it before you stole my wind, so to speak. *G*

Glad you enjoyed this!

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Me? Steal YOUR thunder? Mwaahaaahaaahaa! POTC will be all mine when I'm done with it. Actually, you don't have to worry. I'm a very small cloudburst compared to the epic storm you sweep through this fandom. I do have designs on Will for missing scenes but this is a truly original interpretation.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I'm a very small cloudburst compared to the epic storm you sweep through this fandom.

This is a gratifying sentiment, in spite of its dubious accuracy. Personally, I think the 'storm' is all yours -- you have given us an amazing wealth of excellent writing illuminating the PotC canon in an astoundingly short time. You are one of the most prolific writers in the fandom, and, as one of your happy readers, I can only say, "Well done! Keep up the good work!"

You had mentioned something about writing up some of that big gap at the end of the movie in some comment or other, I think. Not that there isn't room for more than one interpretation, but I didn't want to be working on something that would end up being redundant, you know?

[honorat.livejournal.com]

I am much gratified that you enjoy my contributions. Part of the illusion of speed that I give has to do with the fact that I was writing fanfic for several months before I ever had the nerve to post anything. I've still got chapters of material in various states of disrepair floating about. Summer vacation for a teacher is another bonus. I imagine I will be less of a machine gun writer and more of a muzzleloader now that school has started.

That movie gap at the end is a wonderful space for the imagination. I keep inserting little bits and it gets more and more complicated. But your stories always have that little something in them that keeps me saying "MMmmmmm. I wish I had written that." Maybe if I make mention of other gaps in the movie on which I have designs, it will inspire your muse to produce more lovely little filler like this in the race for gaps? *Makes Shrek kitty eyes at geek mama's muse*

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Uh oh. Shrek Kitty Eyes are, indeed, a deadly weapon.

Your comment about writing a lot before getting up the nerve to post anything reminds me of me -- when I started writing Harry & the Pirate it was for my own enjoyment. I wasn't even planning on posting it. But then I had written so much of it, and had actually developed and outlined a plot for that and for Swann's Revenge, so I thought what the heck, it's as good as most of the stuff on ff.net: maybe someone else would enjoy it, too. Boy, that was terrifying, posting it for the first time. I posted the first 17 chapters all at once, and then the other ten within the next two weeks, and then I wrote and posted the twelve chapters of Swann's Revenge all within the next month. So yeah, everyone thought I was way speedy, too, where in reality it took me about three months to complete them, and that included the Thanksgiving holiday and the two weeks off at Christmas in which I did almost nothing but write. It's such huge fun, when you have the time to really get into it, as you know.

I've occasionally written gap-fillers, but nothing on the scale of yours, which are truly fascinating character studies and examinations of what might have been. But that gap at the end... that's really too big to ignore. And the angst inherant in those two weeks! Such drama. I'm usually more for the humor (as you know), but the whirlpool of emotion before the hanging would suck anyone in!

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Whoa! Seventeen chapters at once! You really do go for the dive off the highboard into the deep end! I was a little more the toe-dipping type. Post one little story. See if anyone likes it. Okay. Whew! That wasn't too bad. Now a little more. Rapidly becoming addicted to comments and drabble-challenges, I made it to the deep end. I really admire those of you who complete whole multi-chapter stories outside of the movie. The mind boggles at the amount of writing you've done. Someday I'll get mine finished--it features, among other things, the inevitable war of Mrs. Fitzbrace-Pennythump of the rubies and puce vs. Jack Sparrow. The minute I'd invented her, that plot bunny took off through the sagebrush. I'm pretty fond of humour myself.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

That sounds hilarious! Can't wait to read it! I am, of course, your ready and willing slave beta. *bats Puss-In-Boots eyes*