A Fish Tale 04

Rating: Still PG 13ish... but don't give up hope yet.
Disclaimer: The usual, not mine, no money and etc.
Originally Posted: 1/15/06
Note: Well guys, here we go again... I'm subjecting you to more fish adventures. Thanks as always to Porridgebird, Beta extraordinaire and Elessil's 'Sea Men'

James was bent over an intricate pattern of stones and discarded shells and was finalizing the details of their impending covert mission to Port Royal with the precision of a confirmed military man.

James made a few last minute changes to one of the stones and looked up. Jack was still eating.

Jack looked up, licking his fingers. "James, I sneak in an' outa Port Royal all the time. It won't be a problem."

"Never mind," James interrupted, quickly, "just... never mind. I really don't want to know. If you would be good enough to take a look at this before we leave?"

Instead, Jack looked up at the sky, face wrinkling in concentration. "It's fair skies, Commodore and we've got... oh, what do ya figure, say eighty nautical miles? I'd hazard that we can swim comfortable enough at twenty knots, and it's Tuesday. It is Tuesday, innit?"

"Well, if it's Tuesday, Murtogg and Mullroy will be on guard duty." He tossed another shell over his shoulder and winked. "No problems, mate."

James huffed out an irritated sigh and quietly eased the tip of his tail into the cramped confines of the boat they were hiding beneath.

They had found the stretch of beach without any difficulty and, curiously, they had actually been able to smell the exact spot where the merman had fallen.

Jack found a sharp piece of shell and made a simple cut across James palm and then James had done the same for Jack. When the blood began to flow freely, they had clasped hands and let their blood mingle together before letting it drip onto the sand. As a show of respect, Jack had insisted that they strike an accord.

"Well mate, his death has given us a rare and opportune moment in time," Jack told him, "and we should vow to make the most of it, eh? Honor it?"

"Aye, maybe or maybe not, but you an' me, James, we've spent our whole lives on the sea. Now we've got until the new moon to spend it under the sea and I for one want to experience every bit of it. Except," he added quickly, fluttering his hand over his pouch and shaking his head, "you know, not that other... thing.

It turned out to be nothing more than a particularly brilliant keyhole limpet shell, but Jack had been delighted with the find. He insisted on keeping it for his hair and had, in fact, been determined to braid it into his hair, right then and there.

They had been arguing over that when they spotted Mullroy and Murtogg coming up the beach.

James glared daggers now at the back of Jack's head and quietly mouthed, "You are the worst pirate I have ever seen."

Murtogg looked up at him uncertainly. "Well if I had heard something," he asked, "what would it have sounded like?"

Mullroy sighed heavily. "If you need to ask what it sounded like than you couldn't possibly have really heard it, now could you. Ya see if you had really heard it, you wouldn't need to ask what it sounded like, right, because you'd already know what it sounded like."

"Oh dear God," thought James, holding his breath, "the idiot's going to get us caught." He swallowed down just the slightest edge of panic and eased his hand around Jack and very firmly covered his mouth.

Jack gave his head a shake and tugged James's hand from his face. "Nothing for it, I guess, but to face the music," and then proceeded to lift his side of the boat high enough to wriggle his head and arms out.

And now that slight edge of panic was nudging into genuine panic. "What the bloody hell does he think he's doing?" thought James, grabbing Jack around the middle to keep him from slipping all the way out.

James continued to cling desperately to the half of Jack, the fish half, that was still beneath the boat.

Mullroy aimed his rifle at Jack. "What do you think you're doing under that boat?"

James could see just enough over Jack's shoulder, to see him hold his finger to his lips, glance furtively up the beach and then motion the two soldiers closer.

James ducked and peeked beneath Jack's arm and to his fury, saw both pairs of marine feet step forward and squat beside the boat. In a fit of pique over this blatant disregard for military protocol, he viciously pinched Jack.

Jack gave a yelp and reached beneath the boat to grab at James's hand. "Women..." he said to Mullroy and Murtogg, as if that explained something. Then he twisted and peered beneath the boat at James.

"Now, darling," he cooed, "you just let ole Jack take care o' everything." He leaned closer and lowered his voice. "And try not to do anything... stupid," he hissed softly.

He popped his head back out. "Where was I? Ah, yes..." and then, interspersed with comments about the weather and the current price of rum, he began to spin a convoluted and dissembling tale about star-crossed lovers, disapproving parents, clandestine meetings and the interference of that bloody Commodore James Norrington.

"They're never going believe this," thought James in disbelief, as he listened to Jack wind down finally with his story.

Murtogg sniffled and blew his nose and Mullroy tsked sympathetically and then James heard Jack answer, "Thanks, mates. I knew I could count on ya to understand."

James dropped his forehead to his arm. "Oh, for the love of... they're all idiots."

Jack squirmed his way back into the boat and let the side drop down to the sand. He was breathing heavily.

James listened to the soldiers' voices grow fainter as they walked up the beach, and when he could no longer hear them he elbowed Jack. "Let's get out of here."

James pushed the boat up high enough to see the full length of the beach, and then completely off of them. He rolled clear and sat up. "Come on, Jack, we're leaving. Now."

Jack nodded and struggled to sit. He was gasping for breath, but managed to get himself upright. He swayed drunkenly, caught himself, swayed again and then just wilted against James.

James caught him and tipped his head back. "It's your hair, I think," he murmured, pushing the mass of braids and beads off his neck. "You've gotten it all tangled into your gills."

The gills had dried to a dusky blue color and a tiny trickle of blood could be seen at the corners of each gill.

"Oh Christ, Jack, we've been out of the water too long and I think you've gotten sand in there as well."

James wrapped an arm round him and began to drag him across the sand. "Of all the idiotic stunts," he snapped, more afraid now than angry. "I told you to leave that damned shell, but you just had to have the bloody thing."

"Mate," Jack asked weakly, "can ya wait on the reprimand till we're back in the sea?"

James dropped him on the sand and rolled him over. He was unconscious and the gills were darker now, almost purple. He brushed the sand off of them as best he could and they fluttered weakly.

He glanced quickly up the beach and then made the best decision he could under the circumstances. He lined Jack's body parallel to the water and pushed. Jack rolled across the wet sand and landed face down at the waters edge.

James's stomach gave a sick lurch at the sight. In some horribly macabre twist of chance, he had landed in the same position they had found the merman in. The only difference was that Jack's hand had fallen open and the tiny limpet shell lay beside it.

"Come on, Jack," he muttered, splashing water onto his face and gills, "don't you dare leave me stuck like this all by myself. Do you hear me, Sparrow?"

James pulled him farther into the shallows and it seemed like he was beginning to breathe a little easier. The gills were pinking up and not quite that horrible dark purple.

James splashed more water on the gills and brushed the hair back from his face. "Please Jack, come on now."

Jack tried to sit up and floundered. James helped him and then, cupping his hand, poured more water on his neck.

Jack lifted his hands and opened them, examined them front and back. He sighed and leaned back against James. "Meant no harm, mate."

James sighed in exasperation. "No... you never do, it seems; but still, we need to leave before they come back. Do you feel well enough to swim?"

He eased Jack down into the water. And then, chiding himself for his own foolishness, he went back for the limpet shell before he pushed them both out into the deeper waters of the harbor.

James tried using the clicks to find their way through the waters, but the trial and error of using it for direction had been fatiguing so they made the last part of the journey near the surface and in view of the night sky.

It was well after dark before they reached the cove, and Jack went straight to the cave.

"Not hungry, mate," was Jack only comment, so James gathered a quick meal for himself from the sea bed.

Here now the clicks served him in the darkened waters and he easily found the sea grass and a handful of oysters.

He climbed onto the rocks to eat and pulled the limpet shell from where he had stowed it in his pouch. He turned it over and over in his hand. It was a pretty enough shell, and with its key shaped hole at the center, he supposed it really was a perfect addition to Jack's odd assortment of trinkets. For the life of him though, he couldn't fathom why he had bothered to go back for it. After all, it wasn't as if he actually liked Sparrow. He did have to admit, grudgingly, that Sparrow did have a sort of charm to him. That had certainly been evident when he crouched beneath the boat and listened to that ridiculous story. And now that he was thinking of Sparrow's charm and his use of it, or misuse, if you will, he made a mental note to do something about Mulroy and Murtogg. Discipline, he thought, has become far too lax at the fort.

He found Jack lying on his side and curled into a tight ball. Jack had somehow managed to curl his tail round himself and had tucked the end of it under his head. His cheek rested on the feathery tips of the fluke and he was sleeping soundly.

James climbed onto the ledge and set the shell carefully onto an overhanging rock for safekeeping

In another hour the moon would be above the cliffs and the cave would be in total darkness, but for now he could just make out Jack's face in the shadows. One of the braids had fallen across his neck and the fine hairs at the end fluttered with the exhalations of his gills. James reached over and tucked the stray braid behind his shoulder.

"We need to find a better cave, mate," he announced without preamble as soon as James joined him on the rocks.

"Nothin' when the tide's up, but when the tide's out, that leaves us to flop through the shallows to get to the sea an' that's more disadvantage than I care for."

James began to pick through the pile of shellfish that Jack had gathered. "May I?" he asked and then helped himself at Jack's nod. "What could possibly pose a threat to us?"

"Aye. I'm well on my way to a full recovery, I'm sure." Jack stretched the length of his tail across the rocks until he could reach James, then twined the tips of their tails together and gave a gentle tug. "Did I thank you, James?"

Jack was off and running and James leaned back, watching him and only half paying attention to his words. Jack had his finger to the corner of his mouth, as though he'd just had some praiseworthy thought and then that hand was fluttering through the air as his body weaved and swayed to the lilt of his own voice. Jack possessed an odd grace as a man, James thought, watching him, but here now, in this guise, that grace seemed almost a natural extension of the lean length of his torso and the sinuous lines of his tail. He let his eyes follow the curve of Jack's tail, down to where it narrowed and curved before flaring into the flukes.

Curious, James mused, that after only two days, the eye could find an aesthetic appreciation to a fish's tail. He grinned at the thought.

"And I expect you've come to appreciate ol' Jack Spar—" Jack's words died. He pulled his face into a pout and looked quite offended before demanding, "What? What are you smiling about?"

"Actually Jack, and I fear for my sanity in saying this, but it appears I'm becoming... reconciled to your company."

It also offered an escape passage. The escape passage led from the back of the cave and though its entrance was under water and hidden by a rock overhang, above that overhang was dry ground.

Jack had pointed out that if the enchantment faded while they were in the cave, they could make that swim without the benefit of gills.

Dree and Aroo showed up halfway through the morning to see what they were doing and then helped them to gather armfuls of a thick sea moss that the merfolk used for lining their own sleeping ledges. Sleeping on the soft wet moss, James decided, would be a wonderful luxury.

He went back to the old cave one last time to reassure himself that their clothing was safely stowed and to retrieve the shell for Jack. When he returned to the new cave, Dree and Aroo had gone, and Jack was waiting for him.

Jack turned it in his hand for just a moment before looking up. "Why'd ya bother to do that?"

James shrugged. "You seemed to want it badly enough, and after all the trouble to acquire it..." He let his words trail off, baffled by Jack's reaction. He thought Jack would be pleased, but there he was now, eyes narrowed and suspicious and the shell still on the palm of his hand.

James was on the verge of being angry, but something about Jack's expression told him that Jack was genuinely puzzled by the gesture. He held his temper and, instead, reached out and closed Jack's hand around the shell. "It was a favor freely given, Jack. Just say thank you and be done with it."

Jack furrowed his brow as he searched James's face, and then looked down in embarrassment. James watched the flush spread across his cheeks. To his surprise, he found it oddly endearing.

"Thanks, James, I... just, thank you very much." He twisted on the ledge until his back was to James and began to thread the shell into his hair.

James watched him as he worked the shell into the new braid. Apparently, he thought, it must always be tit for tat amongst pirates.

"Oh, 'bout eight, I guess." He didn't look up. "I turned pirate when I was eight and a half."

Jack looked up and met James's gaze evenly before answering. "I was cabin boy on a Navy vessel. Captain McGuire was a bit... rough on cabin boys, an' I jumped ship. Pirate ship was a bit more civilized." He returned his attention to his braid.

James knew that name. It had been quite the scandal in the Royal Navy at one time, and the man had eventually been hanged for his crimes against nature, and small boys in particular. He wondered if Jack had been forced—then quickly cut that thought short. It was none of his business to ask.

Jack tied off the braid, and as he finished, he looked up and asked, "What about yourself, Commodore? When did you go to sea?"

"I was fourteen," James shrugged, and then confided, "It was that or the priesthood."

"I've never regretted it." He leaned back on the soft moss and fingered it thoughtfully. "Have you any thoughts on how we should spend the rest of the afternoon?"

"Actually mate, I do," and now Jack could hardly keep the excitement from his voice, "Did you notice the whales, earlier? I've always fancied a closer look at those monsters!"

Jack, in a reckless burst of courage, actually swam alongside one of the leviathans and reached out to touch it. The creature curled in the water to bring its great eye level to Jack's head and seemed to study him thoughtfully.

James's curiosity eventually overcame his caution and he joined Jack to touch one of the creatures, himself. The whales good-naturedly tolerated them both as they darted amongst them.

When they tired of the whales, or more accurately, when the whales tired of them, they followed the coast for a while. They stumbled upon a pair of sharks mating and watched the savage lovemaking in fascination. When the male clamped razor teeth into the top ridge of her dorsal fin as they mated, James felt a disquieting sense of arousal deep within his pouch, though his prick didn't so much as twitch.

He glanced furtively over at Jack. He was watching, spellbound and as James watched, he saw Jack's hand creep down into his own pouch. His eyes fluttered shut for the briefest moment and then with a toss of his head, he turned and darted off through the water.

By the time James caught up to him, he found Jack fending off a determined barracuda. Apparently, the shy barracudas were as attracted to shiny things as Jack was. This one was bent on stealing the coin from Jack's braid. It was a near thing. The braid was shredded but Jack managed to save the coin.

Jack visibly cringed at the news. "Best wishes to the father," he muttered, sliding onto the rocks behind Dree.

"Only the males of a pod are permitted to attend a birth," Dree explained, "and it is a rare and privileged honor for you to be invited."

"Sorry mate," Jack said quickly, "shame to miss that, but we've important doings for the evening, eh James?"

Jack's eyes went wide and he began to frantically shake his head and mouth 'no' at James.

James reached around Dree and fingered the limpet shell in Jack's hair. "I seem to recall something about opportune moments in time and an accord."

They were led to a deep cavern beneath the water. Some of the rocks gave off a light of their own and the cavern shimmered in an eerie green glow. Ledges lined the walls and most of them were piled high with the sleeping moss. It seemed that this was a sort of communal living quarters. On one of the underwater ledges, was the expectant father. He appeared to be in a great deal of pain, and was being attended by the same old one that had retrieved the dead merman.

Jack twined his tail around James's and watched, horrified, from over his shoulder.

The little female (to the great joy of the pod) was delivered from her Father's confining pouch, fully formed and swimming. The oddity was that the cord was not severed, and a small part of the birth sac remained attached to the umbilical.

Dree explained to them later that it would continue to nourish her until she was able to forage and feed with the rest of the pod. "It will wither and fall away when it is no longer needed."

James was enchanted with the tiny creature and her first nap was spent cradled in his arms with her tail twined firmly around his wrist. She was apparently, equally enchanted with him.

"Not bloody likely, Sparrow, though she is a fetching little creature, isn't she?"

"Aye, she's cute enough, but watchin' that birth was enough to make a man understand why the lads pair up out here, eh?"

They both fell silent, sharing the moment and the memory. Jack finally spoke into the darkness, "I'm kinda disappointed, actually. I was lookin' forward to being with a mermaid. If ya get my drift."

A Fish Tale

Chapter 4