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"𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐁𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒, 𝐁𝐎𝐘, 𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄'𝐒 𝐍𝐎 𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐓 𝐆𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆—" jack muttered as they ducked behind a wall. "this girl, how far are you willing to go to save her?"
"i'd DIE for her," said will, testosterone clearly a bit high.
"oh, good, no worries then," jack answered.
"and what about bella?" will queried.
"yes, what about her?" bella chimed in.
"bella will be in no danger of death, because she has a bright head on her shoulders and a natural apt for swashbuckling," said jack. he looked at her, then turned to will. "savvy?"
"fair enough," will agreed. "we're going to steal that ship?"
"commandeer," corrected jack. "we're going to commandeer that ship. nautical term."
"do you know a thing about sailing?" bella hissed to will as they hurried down to the beach and lifted up a canoe to hide under.
"well, there's a rudder and sails and—"
"so no," bella exhaled. she wished she had spent some time with him going over how to sail instead of always swordfighting. "lovely."
* * *
after sneaking into the water under a canoe and scaling the back of the dauntless, the three saw a group of officers talking on the main deck.
"now's our chance," will said, pretending to know what he was doing.
"aye," jack nodded. they started in the direction of the officers.
bella slid down the banister to the main deck with ease.
"everyone stay calm!" jack ordered. "we are taking over the ship!"
"aye! avast!" will exclaimed, drawing his sword.
the group of marines burst into laughter. "this ship can't be crewed by two men alone!" gillette snickered, eyeing bella cockily.
"excuse me?" bella said, frowning. counting her, there were three of them— but apparently gillette didn't regard women as capable humans.
"no, you heard correctly," he smirked. "you'll never make it out of the bay."
jack glanced at bella, then raised his pistol up to gillette's nose. "son, i'm captain jack sparrow. savvy?"
within a few minutes, the officers were in a longboat, and will helped jack and bella make sail.
as she was tying a rope down, jack came over to her. he helped her fasten it tightly, then spoke.
"bella, don't worry about them," he said softly. "i can already tell you're a natural sailor."
bella turned to look at him. "thanks," she replied. "a woman's voice, however smart or true, becomes meaningless to men who've forgotten how to listen."
