The Teardrop Of Immortality

Chapter 5

Jack’s hand reached forward again but Nerissa thrashed her tail angrily and pulled it away from his reach. Jack’s dark eyes narrowed and he gritted his teeth in sheer exasperation.
“Will you sit still, lass?” he growled as he moved forward again, the gin soaked cloth clutched tightly in his hand.
“No.” she replied saucily as she wiped at her tearstained cheeks and then proceeded to cross her arms over her chest in a protective manner.
“I am just trying to help you.” He told her as he braced himself against the tub with a hand.
“Lies.” She hissed at him and then her eyes went to the doorway, “Why is he here if you’re trying to help me?” she asked and Jack turned his head.
His eyes narrowed even further when he saw Erik standing there, watching them. He shot a glance at Nerissa and then pushed away from the tub. He turned and walked over to Erik who took a step back.
“No need to stand here and watch, Captain Teach.” He enunciated his name, “Better to set sail immediately, aye?”
“What about her?” Erik motioned to the mermaid who was in the process of looking over her hurt tail, tears still running down her porcelain cheeks.
“She is under my protection from now on, savvy?” Jack said as he took a step forward, causing the other man to take a reflexive step backward and out of the cabin.
“Protection? You just want to save your own skin.” Erik sneered at him.
“At least I have a clever way to do so. She doesn’t trust you so stay away.” Jack said as he looked down at him.
Erik’s eyes widened in incredulity, “You can’t tell me what to do!” he sputtered and Jack smirked.
“You will find that I can, mate. Now go back to your sip and set sail. Should I remind you that this is your fault?” Jack waved his hand around.
“My fault?” Erik demanded, “How is it my fault?”
“You took her from my ship, you tortured her just for the sake of it and then you almost let her escape.” Jack told him slowly, his words uttered as if speaking to a child.
“But she didn’t.” Erik shrugged.
“And thanks to who is that so?” Jack quirked an eyebrow and looked at him intently.
“I am not going to thank you, Sparrow.” Erik stated haughtily.
“Is that so? I wonder what would you have done if I hadn’t been there…I didn’t see you jumping into the water to get her back. I also didn’t notice you helping me getting her back up here.” Jack said with his head cocked to the side, his hand up against the door, blocking Erik’s entrance into the cabin again.
“It turned out that I didn’t have to do a thing.” Erik shrugged and then smirked, “You were after all so eager to jump in after her.”
Jack stiffened but Erik continued, “What’s the matter, Jack? Are you attracted to the creature? I wouldn’t be surprise with the reputation you have.” Erik carried on, “Wenches are your soft spot. That is why my dear sister managed to convince you to help her. The only difference is that the thing in there has no legs. Little problem, don’t you think?”
Jack stepped forward and smirked, “I do agree with one thing you just said.” Jack nodded as he leaned towards him, “Your sister was indeed a lovely wench…When she kept her mouth shut and her legs wide open.” He added and Erik’s cheeks flushed with anger.
A snort from behind him caused the younger man to turn and Gibbs cleared his throat and pointed at the rag in Jack’s hand.
“Shall I try, Cap’n?” he offered, ignoring the glare Erik sent him.
“Aye.” Jack handed the cloth at him and made way for him to pass before he turned to Teach again.
“Don’t speak about my sister like-…”
“Like she is a common wench? Oh, but she is, mate. You don’t know her at all. I wonder how she convinced you to make this hellbound trip.” Jack murmured and then grinned lasciviously, “You ain’t real siblings, are you? What did she tempt you with? A hand down the breeches? Oh, she had talent for all things that have to do with craftsmanship.” Jack’s expression was absolutely devious, his eyes glimmering.
“Enough!” Erik was three shades of crimson by then and Jack smiled widely.
“Spot on, am I not?” he said and then waved his hand towards the Queen Anne’s Revenge, “Now off you go. I am tired and wet.” He turned to head back to his cabin but paused.
“Oh and another thing.” He looked at Teach from over his shoulder, “You need to practice on your cockiness, mate. Unlike your father you have neither the skill to be a captain nor the potential to become one in the future. Ta!” he promptly walked into the cabin and shut the door, leaving Erik to gape at the closed cabin door.

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Gibbs pulled back and Nerissa slowly pulled her tail under the water, happily wiggling it about.
“Thank you.” She whispered, her eyes not leaving her no longer bleeding tail.
“You’re welcome, lass.” Gibbs smiled and a noise from the other side of the cabin made him look to his left. Jack was gaping at him, his scabbard on the floor as he was standing in the middle of the room with his hands at the hem of his shirt, ready to pull it off.
“What?”
“You got a thank you?” Jack asked, his voice a near yelp and Nerissa looked up, “He gets a thank you? I bloody saved you!”
“You didn’t save me.” She said while blinking slowly, her hair still a bit wet, “You brought me back here to enslave me.” She told him and he grimaced.
“Trifles. Thanks to me you’re not bleeding to death right now, missy.” He pointed a finger at her and she hung her head while biting onto her lip.
Jack gulped at the sight of her pearly white teeth and quickly shook his head to clear it.
“Thank you.” She replied without looking at him and Gibbs chuckled.
“That’s better.” Jack smirked.
“How long will I be here?” Nerissa asked as she looked up at him.
“Until we get what we want.” He shrugged as he pulled off his shirt and reached for a dry one.
“And then?” her voice almost broke and Jack paused.
“Then what?” he asked as he pulled his arms through the shirt and tugged it down his chest.
“A-are you going to kill me?” she asked and Jack frowned.
“Why would I want to kill you, lass?” he asked her quietly just as a knock came on the door, “Aye?”
A lad brought a tray of food and placed it on Jack’s desk while Gibbs walked out of the cabin in silence.
“I do not know. For the same reason he hurt me.” Nerissa answered bitterly, her accent more pronounced now that she was upset.
Jack picked up some bread and a pear and walked towards her, “Bread or pear?” he asked and she briefly looked at his hands before she went for the bread.
Jack smiled at that and kneeled down next to her with the pear in his hand, “We just need a single tear, love-, I mean, Nerissa.” He quickly corrected himself at her glare, “Why would I kill you? You haven’t tried to eat me yet…Unlike your sisters.” He muttered the last sentence and Nerissa looked at him with wide eyes.
“You’ve met some of them?” she asked after she had gently taken a bite of the bread.
“Aye, I’ve told you before.” Jack said around a mouthful of fruit.
“Oh.”
Jack swallowed and looked at her appraisingly, “You said them. Not us.” He pointed a ringed finger at her and her eyes widened, “What makes you different from the rest of your kind?” he asked and his eyes were extremely eager and curious for her reply.
Nerissa shifted, the water gently splashing around her as she suddenly found her piece of bread very interesting.
“I couldn’t eat you even if I wanted too.” She said and Jack’s eyebrows disappeared under his bandana.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked her with a frown.
She slowly looked up and took another bite before she replied, her voice barely audible, “I wasn’t born like my sisters…I don’t have all the same characteristics.” She replied and he blinked.
“Meaning?” Jack asked as he leaned closer.
“I have no fangs.” She shrugged, “I can’t attack because of that and that is why I was not together with the rest of them when you caught me.” She said and Jack’s lips parted.
“Oh…Are you sure?” he asked and she looked at him tiredly.
“I would have attacked you if it was so. I would have done anything to escape.”
Jack pulled back and regarded her carefully, his eyes staying a bit longer on her mouth until she had to open it for him.
“See? Nothing?” she pointed at her teeth and he smirked.
“Nice whites, love-…”
“It’s Nerissa.” She cut him off and he groaned.
“Right.”
“The only common things I have with my sisters are my tail and my ability to speak.”
“And that tattoo on your more than supple breast.” He added with a dirty grin and her eyes flashed.
“It’s not a tat…Tatto…Whatever you call it! It’s a birthmark.” She snapped as she curled her arm around her chest protectively.
“Aye, aye.” He nodded his head and she sighed heavily before she finished the last of her food.
Not sparing him another glance, she promptly turned her back on him and curled against the side of the tub, her hair cascading down her waist as she did so.
Jack looked at her back and quirked an eyebrow at the nice view before he remembered himself and stood up, slowly shaking his head to clear it. He walked over to the window and threw the pear leftovers out of it before he headed for his bunk.
“Night, love.”
He heard her indignant huff as he made his over to the other side of the cabin and smirked.

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A week later, Haiti…


“Lower anchor!” Gibbs called as Jack slowly made his way down the stairs from the helm.
“Get the supplies and then we’re off. Don’t be tardy. I want us to set sail before the sun’s up.” Jack told Gibbs before he made his way to his cabin.
“Aye, Cap’n.” Gibbs called before he headed off to speak to the crew.
Jack entered his cabin and went to get his hat when a voice stopped him.
“Captain Sparrow.” Nerissa’s voice startled him since she wasn’t speaking to him all that much. Mermaids really did hold a grudge.
“Aye?” he was surprised and he must have shown it because she flushed.
He smirked.
“May I swim for a while?” she asked and Jack did a double take.
“Beg pardon?” he blinked rapidly.
“May I swim?” she repeated.
“Come again?” he cocked his head to the side and looked at her as if she was insane.
“My tail’s numb. I need to swim.” She spoke clearly and firmly and Jack looked outside of the cabin door for a moment before he walked over to her, disbelief written all over his face.
“You want me to let you out for a swim? Like a pet?” he pointed at him and then at her.
Nerissa shook her head, “Isn’t that what I am, Captain?” she asked and he quirked an eyebrow at the use of his title for a second time. She was surely calling him that to appease him.
“A pet.” She muttered and shook her head as she held onto the edges of the tub more tightly.
Jack pondered the idea before he snorted in incredulity, “Do you think me stupid, lass?”
“Why do you say that?” she cocked her head to the side and he blinked, momentarily distracted by the delicate arch of her neck.
“You’ll escape as soon as I let you loose.” He told her and she frowned.
“Where can I go? I do not know these waters.” She reasoned quietly.
“I don’t trust you.” He told her bluntly and she recoiled.
“Well neither do I, Captain.” She fired back softly and his eyes narrowed.
“Do not call me that, little siren. I am not fooled by you.” He pointed at her and she pursed her lips.
“You do not know how it feels to be in here all the time. Trapped in this little space. I cannot move in here. Please.” She whispered as a single tear slid down her cheek.
Jack faltered and dropped his hand. His mouth twitched and his jaw ticked as he stared at her. He rubbed his face and paced up and down before he turned to her and took a deep breath.
“Damn you women. A tear and we’re like dough in your hands ready to be formed in any shape you like.” He muttered and then fixed her with a stare, “Alright, my siren. I will let you swim as soon as night falls. But you will be tied to me. Agreed?”
Nerissa blinked in confusion, “Tied to you?”
“Aye. Midnight swim with the Captain of the Black Pearl.” He opened his arms wide and motioned to himself, “But first I need a drink.” He muttered as he turned and walked out of the cabin.
There was to be a tavern open around the island somewhere, right?

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Jack was tipsy. Not drunk, just tipsy.
So why was he seeing things? For instance he could see Gibbs in the water with the siren. His siren.
He blinked and leaned over the rail of the Pearl, squinting to see properly.
Sure enough there was his first mate and the mermaid in the sea. She was splashing water around her while Gibbs was looking at her with wide eyes. The moon was lighting their path and Jack could see her features clearly as she swam around, her face relaxed and happy. His eyes went to the rope connecting her to Gibbs and he scowled.
“Oi, Gibbs!”
The older man looked up and waved, his other hand still on the rope, “Cap’n.”
“What are you doing?” Jack asked as his gaze went back to the mermaid.
“She said that you said that it was fine for her to swim as long as she was tied up. It was getting late and you weren’t coming back so…” Gibbs shrugged.
Jack grimaced in irritation, “I met an old acquaintance and I got delayed.” He said and Gibbs shrugged.
“I have no problem sitting here.” The older man said and Jack sneered.
“Of course you don’t!” Jack muttered and at that moment Nerissa looked up and locked eyes with him.
Jack froze and didn’t even dare blink in fear of loosing the connection until she flushed and lower her eyes. She smiled softly and continued swimming, this time around Gibbs, making the old man smile like a fool.
Jack pushed away from the rail and with a last glace towards them he stormed off to his cabin.
“Of course you don’t mind. You’re with a half naked lass. I wouldn’t mind either. Bugger.” He left the cabin door open as he plopped onto his bed.
His moment of peace was shattered when he heard Erik’s voice just outside the cabin.
“What are you doing, old man?!!” Teach exclaimed and Jack groaned before he effectively blocked out the sounds by pushing his pillow onto his throbbing head.

End of chapter 5

Author’s note: Thank you for reading. A little development here, don’t you think?
If you liked it and want more please review! It’s free and it puts a smile on my face! What are you waiting for??

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Xxx Lina :)