Journey Within
Author: mamazano
Title: Journey Within
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Will's POV
Disclaimer: Disney owns them, I just play with them
Words: Six drabbles, 100 words each
Prompt: Restraint
Notes: Written for giselleslash 's prompt, Restraint, for the turningpirate challenge.
A special thank you goes to danglingdingle for her words of encouragement and helpful suggestions. My very first Will-centric piece. Hope it works.
I tag idle_curiosity with the prompt "root".
Journey Within
****
His rational mind told him it was impossible. Impossible for them to even consider.
How could it be possible? To sail to the ends of the world and beyond, under the command of a dead man, to fetch back a dead man?
Surprisingly, it was his rational mind that answered.
The same way it was possible for cursed pirates to roam the seas. The same way it was possible for a man to corrupt his soul and those around him, tainted love turning to bitter hatred.
Will glanced at her tear-streaked face and saw a stranger. Suddenly, it seemed possible.
****
She had not spoken ten words to him since he’d witnessed the kiss. He was no simpleton, the raw grief on her face spoke louder than unsaid words.
Raw grief that tore at his gut and wrenched his heart, as well. He kept his grief and his counsel to himself. He had a lifetime of training on how to show the proper respect, to keep the proper distance, to speak the proper words.
He replaced unspoken words with action, his new resolve, hardened steel, forged by his own self will and restraint. Unlike others, he kept the promises he made.
****
From where he sat, Will studied Barbossa at the helm, the spray on his face and wind in his hair. His total countenance spoke of the sheer joy at being alive.
Ten years Barbossa and his men had suffered under that curse. Ten years Will’s father had languished at the bottom of the sea, unable to move, unable to die.
Yet, Will found he no longer hated Barbossa. The discovery surprised him. Not that he liked him. Or trusted him. No, that would never change. But he no longer hated him. Instead Will saw Barbossa for what he was. Leverage.
****
A touch of destiny. But whose? Tia speaks in riddles, her smoldering eyes boring into his, revealing thoughts best kept secret. She seeks him out, in the moments before dawn, when the world hovers between sunrise and slumber.
A languid hand trails up his arm, insolent fingers brush his cheek, trace his lips. She bears a scent not unlike the swamp from which she rose; her moist, sultry mouth seeking his, seeking more.
She slips into his mind and beneath his skin, leaving behind torturous thoughts and throbbing needs. She laughs and prophesies. You want to know me, William Turner.
****
There are no secrets on a ship. He hears them whisper, wonders what they think. Gibbs seems the easiest to figure, a staunch and loyal friend, he seeks Jack for the purest of motives.
The rest all have their own motivations, their own reasons. Will does not share his thoughts with them, not even Elizabeth. A yawning abyss exists where once was trust and love. What is her motive, he wonders. Does she love him? Or is there something more?
Barbossa plays his close to the vest. His purpose mirrors Tia’s. Her mind unfathomable.
Will smiles. Won’t Jack be surprised.
****
His thoughts drift to him, when sleep loosens the bindings of day. Poised before him, beckoning, beringed hands dance in the moonlight, tracing patterns in the night. Crooked grin of gold and guile, wicked tongue betrays desire.
The dawn comes, punctual, disregarding all in its singular journey. Rosy fingers stretch across the skies, Eos awakening in her splendor.
They travel on, from island to island, coast to coast, across the ocean and beyond the horizon. Seeking, each of them, something they cannot name.
Will gazes out to sea, and knows now why he came. What he seeks. Who he is.
****