Confrontations, Taylor

[Taylor Elliot]

<sub>Taylor sat by as the two talked, their faces becoming a blurry background noise, nothing more than the annoying buzz of a bee in the summer time, or just the wind whistling through your ear. All she heard was the small murmers of their voices and she sat down, looking down, hat in her hands.

Her fingers scratched the ratty, torn material of her fingerless, black gloves. She remembered having them for an extremely long time,and they used to be her mother's. THey also used to be white, but that's a different story. Taylor sighed quietly, her eyes stinging a little bit.

She pulled the black ribbon from her hair and managed to get herself to rise to her feet again, looking up to the sky with a blank state of mind. For this moment, she heard nothing. No gulls, no waves, no talking, no footsteps, nothing. Just her own breathing.

She closed her eyes, only seeing the faint spots where the sunlight managed to get itself through her eyelids, which she was used to. She could sleep like that as well, though it wasn't something she did quite often.

Taylor snapped out of this when she heard Jack speak, and she turned to face him. She was just waiting, waiting for them to say something about Jones. She knew that they knew, it had been plastered all over their faces.

They way they'd looked at Taylor. This was why she didn't want anybody to find out about this. It wasn't her fault, it wasn't like she meant to do them harm or like she was going to tell Jones anything.

The last time she'd run off, she'd spoken with a few people Jones had been looking to recruit. She refused to tell him, and she was indeed punished horribly. Taylor didn't learn her lesson, and she continued to defy him. Death was better than being stuck on that ship.

Taylor swallowed hard, gulping back whatever had managed to find it's way to her throat. " I...I guess I 'ave a lo' of explaining to do.." she paused, biting her lip, wondering what she should tell. Before she could think, it came out like word vomit.

"After my father's ship crashed... I was sort of just plucked out of the wreckage withou' a wor' in the ma'er. I been with Jones since I was abou' ten.. bu' in no way am I abou' to call myself loyal to 'im. I defy 'im constan'ly, which woul' explain why you foun' me in Por' Royal.

"If you still don' beleive tha' I'm no' loyal to Jones, I can say tha' I 'ave protected the secre's of many.. an' I can prove tha'," she said, turning around, rolling up the back of her shirt half way, revealing all her scars, which considering her many acts of rebllion were numerous and large in size.

She sighed, dropping her head, unable to look at him. "I apologize for everythin'."</sub>

[Tia Dalma]

Tia rolled the words over in her mind, she knew that they were true, hell, she knew it the second that she saw the girl. But, like all of Jones's crew members, there was the fact that he knew where they were at all times, and that he probably knew where this girl was. Her eyes returned to Jack, officially it was all up to him, and due to his sentimental nature, he was going to be stupid. She shook her head, her dreadlocks staying unnaturally in place.

"A-be speedin' time now, Jack. Da fastar we be gettin' ta Tortuga, da better," she snapped, grabbing one of his hands. "A-be wantin' you dere when I do da spell, den you'll be knowin' wha' ya're in fer." She rose to her feet, standing like a statue, even on the rocking waters that the boat offered. Quite a bit like Jack, she was a bit more stable on the water than what she was on the land. She could drift on land, but she could absolutely float on water. Her eyes snapped to her jar of dirt, which was against one of the back corners.

She'd given Jack one of her jars of dirt, one of the five or six that she'd filled at Isla Cruces ages ago. They'd been to protect her from Davy Jones, but she felt now that it would have been intelligent for her to have brought quite a few more with her. This wasn't enough, they were in a lot of danger now, and there was little to nothing that she could do about it. If Davy wanted the Pearl, he'd already proven that he could take it. But he couldn't use the Kraken, after all, it had been her that gave the Kraken to him. Her command of the beast would be legendary, but it wouldn't quite be out of the normal either. After all, she was a voodoo priestess.

[Jack Sparrow]

"A-be speedin' time now, Jack. Da fastar we be gettin' ta Tortuga, da better. A-be wantin' you dere when I do da spell, den you'll be knowin' wha' ya're in fer."

For the briefest of moments, he considered snapping at the woman, demanding to know why he had to answer when there was no apparent will in her to begin with in hearing what he had to say. Instead, he rested his elbow on the table before him and sunk his head into his hand.

"If you say so," he muttered to no one in partucular before he turned his attention to Taylor's story.

It was, for one thing, very far fetched, and hard to believe at parts. How was it that she managed to get aboard his ship without being either dying or dead? However, as he remembered that Will had gotten aboard fine and dandy, he wiped the question from his mind.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to comment, she turned and bared for them her back, scarred and beaten. It was enough proof for Jack, and he closed his mouth as she turned around and spoke once more:

"I apologize for everythin'."

He sighed heavily, his eyes darting from Taylor to Tia Dalma, as though one of them would offer something to say. Even though he knew that he was captain of the Black Pearl, and all the final choices and remarks were left to him, no matter what complaints he may or may not receive on the others' behalves, he hoped that this time, he wouldn't be forced to say anything in finality.

It was in every essence of the word, though, an apology, and whilst it couldn't fix everything, it was certainly a start to it. The only question from there was what was he to do about it? On one hand was forgiveness, and the willingness to react with an open mind and courage, to take her still despite the threat of Jones. On the other was dumping her in the seas to see how she would fare on her own once again.

With a quick flex of his fingers, he said, "An' yer still willin' to hide from Jones under almos' certain death?"

[Taylor Elliot]

<sub>Taylor lifted her head slightly, listening back and forth to Tia and Jack speak after Taylor had explained what was going on as best as she could, which happened to really be the first thing that forced itself up her throat without a second thought or say in it.

Tia was speaking once more of.. speeding up time? It made Taylor wonder how she could do this, but she wasn't going to ask. The woman carried around a jar of eyes, and she made Taylor keep one of them. It wasn't the most pleasant thing.

She'd never had to hold somebody's eyeball until today. It was just odd and grotesque at that. She didn't quite want to indulge into a conversation over where those eyes came from, or she may very well end up with her last meal all over the decks of the ship.

Taylor fully lifted her head when she saw Jack stretch his finger. She almost grinned, but it came out as a bit of a smirk. " No.." she said, completely serious about the matter as well.

Hide? No. Taylor ran for the thrill of it. She stole for the thrill of it. Hiding was for pure cowards, and that, Taylor was not.

"I'd figh' 'im."</sub>

[Tia Dalma]

Tia watched this interaction, then looked down at the girl's hand. Her father's face was in that eye, he was still alive in some sense, although she couldn't tell it that meant that he was on some forsaken island, or if his spirit just wouldn't leave the world. She tilted just slightly in her chair, watching all of the people in her room. Considering that there were very few people who even knew of her, it was always a shock to see Jack Sparrow with his little group of followerers on her doorstep. Taylor was going to be intruiging, but in all plausible cases, she was more dangerous to Jack than any pitiful girl.

She'd gone silent due to the conservation that she was going through at the moment. It was pure energy and the request of assistance that helped all of time be shifted. Jack didn't understand this, but she needed some assistance, and he was going to have to lend it to her. She'd have to explain the process a bit more fluently before he'd understand it, but that was all in the process of time itself. They had a few more days before they would normally reach Tortuga, fortunately, she could cut that trip down to a few hours. This would give them at least twenty hours of slowing to do before she'd have the task of speeding time again.

One of them would be more taxing than the other, she wasn't quite sure which it would be. Both of them were painful in the sense of sustaining them. Time couldn't merely be shifted and then kept there by the all powerful, she had to remain in whatever form she was, undisturbed, to keep the time in its proper place. Her hand traced over the locket in her pocket careful, she couldn't have taken all of that back. She hadn't needed to have made Davy Jones, but she did anyway. It was curiosity with her growing powers, with what she was allowed to get away with now that the gods lived amoung men.

"Jack, we be needin' ta do da spell," she told him, her eyes still glued on Taylor. If Davy wanted to learn something from her, he could. She hadn't sworn alliegence, but it didn't truly matter that much. People were like paper to a man who single handedly controlled the entire sea. Not to mention the danger she'd be when the East India Trading Company took over. They'd use Jones to get to Jack, possibly even the Kraken. Although the idea of the 'terrible beastie' didn't threaten her as it would perhaps threaten Jack, it would still be a difficult time meeting it again.

[Jack Sparrow]

"Jack, we be needin' ta do da spell."

He pressed his hat down on his head, his fingers straying to straighten his mustache absently. It wasn't that he hadn't been listening to Tia Dalma talking; rather, it was getting irritating, the entire idea of suspending time was beginning to seem even bleaker and less worth doing.

Perhaps he shouldn't have bothered to begin with. Maybe that would have been the wiser of the choices.

Instead of bringing up his mental ponderings, he instead directly adressed her statement and said with a slight note of irritation, "An' when should we be gettin' on with it?"

"I'd figh' 'im."

He moved closer to Taylor, his voice low so that Tia Dalma couldn't hear his next words without straining her ears. Even then, he doubted that she would be able to catch his words unless she moved closer. He found that he was praying, hoping that she wouldn't though, because he knew that he would catch something similar to the lines of Jones for saying what he did next.

A slight grin, gleaming with a cocky additude and a rebellious spirit, lit his features in the flickering candle lighting of Tia's room. "Wha' would you say to a new housin' aboard the Pearl?" he asked of her, mystery clouding the edges of his words.

The cogs of his pirate-centered mind were rolling along like there was no tomorrow. So long as no terms were mentioned, and no deal was made, Jack would still be fine handing her over to Jones again in the end in exchange for his own soul. However, chances were that in the end, Jones wouldn't be wanting hers to count, as she was all ready, technically, in his possession.

But that was to be worried about later on.

[Tia Dalma]

"Jack, we be doin' dis now. Git dat girl out," she snapped at him, frustrated that he didn't seem to be understanding this. Probably, he was thinking that this wasn't worth his time, that he should have left her on her river. Probably it was just the ocean, it was making her irritable, but he didn't realize the amount of energy this was going to take for her to do. She hadn't wanted to do much in preparation for the spell, but she felt that she had to rise to glare at him, and then to walk about her cabin in search of the ingredients that she needed, namely the bottle of eyes. These were seers, time was in their hands.

She reached in and grabbed a splendid blue one, not unlike the eyes of the girl that their fair captain was right now attempting to philander. Her brown eyes were glaring at him, showing him just how displeased she was at him. He didn't need to be here, but she'd prefer him to anyone else. After all, the man had shared her bed, and her his, it gave a certain amount of trust. Her magic was very serious, very important, especially this magic. If she created a tear, even of the slightest size, Jack could be in more trouble than what he was in the begining.

"Talo', ya be gittin' out now, a-be needin' Jack," she said, grabbing a small piece of charcol and drawing something laboureously on the ground. It started to take shape as another eye. She placed the eye in her hand on that eye and whispered something under her breath. The circle started to glow the same blue as the eye, yes the colour had been important. The door started to rattle on its hinges as a rush of power rocketed through the ship. Anyone who was within a mile radius would have felt that, even the least sensitive people, like Jack. When Tia turned to look at them, it was as though another person were overlapped over her, her goddess form. She still had black hair, but her skin was clean and shiny, her eyes a deep, deep black.

[Jack Sparrow]

"Jack, we be doin' dis now. Git dat girl out."

His brows furrowed once again. She was having a way with making things difficult, she was. Demanding and moody all in one day - er, night. Whatever. Jack looked over at Taylor for a moment before he returned his gaze to the voodoo priestess. "In a bi' of a 'urry, are ya?" he asked of the older woman, and without waiting for an answer, turned back to the younger girl.

He was about to open his mouth to tell Taylor - in his own words, mind you - that they would finish things off later on, but it seemed that Tia Dalma was more than eager to get things done, as ever. There was something about the way she handled things that irked Jack ever so slightly, but that made sure that what needed to be completed was done so.

Casting a hard look at Tia Dalma once she had settled to drawing on the floor - something that the crew wouldn't be too happy about having to clean up when the time came - he turned quickly once more to Taylor.

"Bes' you 'ide before she goes all voodoo on yeh," he warned her. Leading her to the door, even if she did know the way out, he said with a note of slight finality, "You think on tha' offer, eh?" before he gently closed the door on her and returned to the witch doctor.

"Now wha'?" he asked of her.

[Taylor Elliot]

<sub>Taylor had barely caught wind of what was happening before she found herself outside the cabin. She raised an eyebrow, looking around, trying to get some clue as to what had just been discussed at all. Confusing as it was, she was starting to grasp it.

She sat down again, off to the side of the door, taking her hat off, her head against the wooden boards. She hadn't exactly wanted to, but another side of her wanted to be nosy and press her ear against the wood and listen in to the conversation.

She wasn't just going to let people talk about her without her knowing, if they were anyway. Not just that, but speeding up time? Slowing time? How in the world did you do that? That puzzled Taylor, but then again, the woman kept a jar of eyes with her.

Anything could be possible.

She stretched her legs out, rocking her ankles back and forth, the top of her toes hitting each other when she turned her ankles in. Her mother had almost taken her to dance lessons. No, Taylor did not dance. Even her father had detested it, which had made her laugh.

He'd called dances for the "english stiffs without a good sense of adventure". He was refusing his daughter to be proper in anyway, except for maybe a few crucial manners, like not pushing people out doors.

Not that it bothered her when people did it. Some doctor had told her she had a problem expressing her anger, and maybe she did. She never thought that it was true. She knew she just had it very well-contained. She didn't have a very bad temper, and if she did, she really didn't want to have it unleashed on anybody.

She sighed quietly, an ear partially against the wood, trying to hear as best she could.</sub>

[Tia Dalma]

As she predicted, everything went with the glowing at the spirits revolving around her. The hardest part would be dealing with the gods. Poisedon was not a pleasant god to deal with when the gods had been sleeping so long, she knew, it was why she'd given the Kraken to Davy. She couldn't care for it on the island, it wasn't deep enough, so Davy had to keep it fed with enough raw meat and, for some reason, wood. Poisedon hadn't liked that she'd given Davy Jones the sea, and her pet monster either, but he hadn't been willing to help her, so she'd gone against him.

Her hands started glowing, and a strange song came from her lips. It wasn't in any human language, nor did it even seem mortal at all. It was something that she used to sing when she was a siren, a sea nymph. It was haunting and beautiful, calling out to Poisedon to tell him what was going on, and he answered her. It was like a latch was made between them, and she was stuck continuing on her song. There was a brief hesitation when she felt him responding, but she had to continue now that she'd brought him into this. The room started filling up with water, but it wasn't the type of water that was filling the ocean, this water was pure power.

She knew that the water would probably scare Jack, but there was nothing that could be done about that. Outside the room, the water would be as clear as air, but this was where the power came from... in here, it was real. This was something of a protective device for the entire ship to be able to travel through time, but only the ship. The waters beneath them turned black, even the ship crew would have seen it, and instantly they started going a bit faster. It would have been like being on a tidal wave, except that this one didn't appear to be stopping any time soon.

The song continued, until the boat was perfectly sealed, and that's when she grabbed the eye, and offered it to her god. He excepted it, and departed with her shield. She then placed her hands on the drawing again, and the boat flew on this wave, like it was going to crash into the next island it came upon. It would have felt like nothing to the crew, nothing was happening, simply sailing, however, Tortuga appeared on the horizon within seconds, and Tia felt herself beginning to tire. When she could feel the island that was Tortuga beneath her, she collapsed, flying into a wall and finally into an unconscious heap on the ground, her spell was cast.

[Jack Sparrow]

Something inside Jack, that miscreient little piece of him that was so akin to Taylor, told him that it would be harder to get rid of her than that, and that she would still have fight left in her enough to stand outside and wait for them to finish so she could have her two cents and her word put in. The thought alone made him smile in spite of the fact that there was now a glow surfacing in the room.

When he realized such, Jack blinked quickly and tried to figure out from wence it came. However, that was easier said than done, and when he finally settled with the idea that the room was bathed with something supernatural, a slight chill ran up his spine.

For a moment, his mind connected with what was happening, and he tried to take it in. Tia Dalma was certainly off her rocker; there was no way that she would be unstable enough to do something so foolish and naive.

But she was, and Jack wanted more than anything to invite Taylor back inside so as to be assured that it wasn't just him seeing things go all screwy and mayhem-y. Because at that moment, he was beginning to doubt his own sanity.

To top matters off, the voodoo priestess before him began to chant and sing in something similar to a baby's goo-goo-ga-ga-ing, and he couldn't make heads or tails if it was a real language or just a bunch of garbled letters smashed together in a sentence-like structure. There must have been some sort of a meaning to it, though, for soon, the room began to fill with water.

Yes, water.

And Jack panicked for a brief spell, quickly regaining himself and trying to force a calm upon himself that by rights shouldn't have been there. He held his breath as the wave crashed over him, hoping that he would be able to brace himself despite the fact that his head was sunk and the surface was no place to be seen.

Just when he was certain that oxygen-deprevation would be the death of him, he opened his mouth to suck in anything that he could, and found that breath came easy and sweet. A feeling of victory settled over him, and he peered out of the window of his cabin door to see on the horizon line a city:

Tortuga.

However, his luck was seemingly short-lived, as through the wave of water, a slight, muffled fwump resounded behing him and he turned to find an unconcious Tia Dalma laying in a heap against the wall. The levels of the liquid lowered in time for him to cross the room and lift her and all twelve-thousand of her skirts. Kicking open the door, he looked out at the confused crew members as the Black Pearl crashed ashore the beaches of Tortuga.

Where the bleeding hell was he supposed to find the woman a bed?