Tribble: Shadow of a Dream

[honorat]

Author: Honorat
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Jack/Pearl
Disclaimer: Puts a chill in the bones how many honest writers have been claimed by this franchise.
Summary: I discovered these 300+ words somewhere on my hard drive, and the Black Pearl Sails prompt for this week, Black Pearl, seemed to be a good use for them. This somewhat fits in with my If Ships Could Speak series. CotBP compatible.

Much thanks to geekmama for the beta read.

* * * * *


Sometimes she dreams of sinking, of forever relaxing her seams and hatches and allowing the cool green water to bathe her tormented bulkheads and decks in darkness (she cannot feel the cold), growing heavier and heavier in her holds. She imagines her last sight of the sunlight on the sea—it is always daylight when she drowns. The rippling shimmers slowly become glowing rays of fractured light above her masts, gradually rising high above her as the shadows of the depths close in. She felt her last breath of wind long ago.

Then the weight and denseness will enfold her, embrace her, tighten and begin to crush her. Finally she will arrive drifting in broken pieces to her eternal rest against sand that she can neither see nor feel except as cessation of motion. Then the gold can call until her heart cracks. The pain can blaze through her timbers, her submerged sails can strain futilely, her screams can tremor the earth. But she will be safe. Safe in her self-imposed prison. Unable to kill for those cursed bits of metal ever again.

The images come to her in fragments. Frantic ships unable to outrun her, spitting their ineffectual fire in stinging gouts against her sides, water red with blood and flames. Great fortresses belching iron death through her decks, unaware that she cannot die. Towns echoing with roars and screams and then, worst of all, silence and the crackle of the inferno she always leaves in her wake.

Sometimes she wishes she could go completely mad, push herself beyond a knowledge of what she does, banish memory forever, blot out her awareness of what she has become—the slave of men enslaved by greed.

And yet she is held to the surface of the sea, to those last flickering splinters of sanity, by one fine thread—somewhere, she does not know where, out in the vast loneliness of the night, under the pitiless glare of the sun, her Captain still searches for her with freedom in his hands.

* * * * *

Comments

[la-mia-cara.livejournal.com]

That's too beautiful for words. :-) Especially the last sentence.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

*blush* You're very kind. I'm glad you enjoyed this. I've always seen Jack as setting the Pearl free as much as she sets him free.

[melodywilde.livejournal.com]

That is just beautiful! And it's lovely to see something from you. I've been rearranging the stuff on my hard drive and found Crossing the Bar and wondered if there were more parts that I'd missed, or if you'd just gone away from it. I hope not, because that story--and your art (PotC and other)--always delights me with their quality. Thanks for sharing this!

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for your comment. I've got all of Crossing the Bar (http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=honorat&keyword=Crossing+the+Bar&filter=all) that I've published so far archived in my Memories, so you can see if you've missed anything. The rest of it is still in the works although moving at a glacial pace.

[melodywilde.livejournal.com]

I've been to your Memories and snagged everything there, because when I find a really good story (and I mean really good, and everything you've written is), I save it to my hard drive so I can read it over and over without having to try to remember where I saw it. Thanks for hours and hours of enjoyment!

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Awww. You make my muse all warm and fuzzy feeling. I'm glad you've found the shortcuts. I swear, I'll finish Crossing--I even wrote a few paragraphs last night.

[djarum99.livejournal.com]

Beautiful drabble, and an amazing last line ♥

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Thank you. *bounce* I'm so happy you liked it.

[seripanther.livejournal.com]

I am so delighted to see another fic from you, Honorat! I've been a big fan for ages.

I love the vividness of your descriptions. Everything is so deliciously tactile, so much so that I feel certain you must have been a ship in a past life if you can describe their experiences so vividly. I love reading your descriptions just the same way I like watching the wide shots of the ships in the movies: just for the sheer, heart-pounding beauty of it.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

What a lovely comment! You have such a poetic way of expressing things. Thank you. I agree with you on how those beautiful ship shots, like Gustave Dore etchings, are so very moving.

[sharklady35.livejournal.com]

Oh, excellent! You should do these more often.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Alas, this one was done a long time ago, and I get very little time to write anymore.

[sequence-fairy.livejournal.com]

That was beautiful...I really love it

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your kind words.

[captaintish]

Wow, that was so beautiful. And I'm absolutely delighted to see you posting fic again! It's been so long!

Don't be such a stranger! :)

[honorat.livejournal.com]

*waves* Hi there. Thank you so much for the lovely comment. It has been a long time. I'm afraid I just keep getting stranger and stranger :D

[captaintish]

Well, it's good to see you! I think last time you posted, I wasn't even on LJ yet. Geekmama convinced me to come over.

I'm afraid I just keep getting stranger and stranger :D Hee. It's an epidemic, I think. :)

[stabbycutlass.livejournal.com]

This was so beautiful and elegant. Its the perfect companion to how Jack felt as he searched for his Pearl.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Yes, I've always felt the two of them had parallel experiences with that curse.

[soleilpirate.livejournal.com]

Oh that is spectacular! Lately, in my own fic, I've been exploring the consciousness of the Pearl. This suited nicely, especially the notion that she is cursed too. And holding out for Jack to rescue her! Mmmm, lovely. Thanks for writing.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. Yes, I write a lot of sentient Pearl, even in my most realistic fics. And sometimes I indulge myself in her POV.

[this-weirdness.livejournal.com]

How heartbreaking... Of course the Pearl would have detested what Barbossa made her do... and Jack would be the one thing that kept her going...

Lovely, just lovely and utterly believable.

Wonderful descriptions... so clear and vivid.

Thanks. :)

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I always thought the Pearl was the most helpless victim of that curse. She is the real damsel in distress who needs rescuing. I'm delighted you enjoyed this.

[justawench.livejournal.com]

It's haunting to think that Barbossa's crew had an unwilling hostage. This was a wonderful glimpse of Pearl POV.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

I do appreciate your dropping by to comment. Yes, the Pearl was really abducted by Barbossa and forced into that curse. I do love exploring her POV.

[torn-eledhwen.livejournal.com]

Gorgeous. :)

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much.

[kseenaa.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is wonderful. Really really beautiful. :-)

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm so glad you liked this.

[watery-weasel.livejournal.com]

Been far too long since you posted anything for our reading enjoyment. I love this little snippet it's perfect writing from the Pearl's POV. Heartbreaking and beautiful. Try not to wait to long before you post something again...I know I'm not the only fan always eagerly awaiting your writing scraps.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

It has been a long time. I'm glad you enjoyed this little piece. I do miss posting regularly here. Thank you for your kind welcome back.

[sunshine304]

What a beautiful one-shot! I just can repeat what everyone else said: The Pearl's voice is perfect and that last sentence - *hearts*!

I'm so glad to see you posting something again, too. I found your fic "Marooned" on ff.net some time back and loved it. Printed it out to read it again, and again, and again... (especially that one chapter about bathing in the sea by moonlight - it makes me dream of a small island I can call my own^^) You just have a feeling for these characters - even for the ships! How great is that?! Ahem, saved everything else as well (see melodywilde's comments).

I'm also waiting for the continuation of "Crossing the bar" (being a Jack/Pearl shipper first and a Jack/Ana shipper second^^) and am happy that you at least haven't abandoned it! Phew! So there's hope! Because, let's face it, you left them in a bit of a tight spot.^^

Well, yeah. Just wanted to say that. I friended you a few weeks back to keep up (if you started to post again - and here you are!), hope you don't mind?

Again: A lovely piece!

[honorat.livejournal.com]

I'm delighted to hear from such a faithful reader. By all means, friend away. I can't keep track of all my friends, but I love to hear from you.

It's also good to meet another J/P J/A shipper. I admit other pairings have chemistry, but mainly because Jack has chemistry with every living and non-living thing. However, I like that rarer combination of J/A in a sort of non-relationship way :D

Yes, Crossing is still being worked on, although Worthy of His Steel will likely be updated first. I'm glad you've enjoyed the writing so far. Thank you so much for your kind words.

*Pearl love*

[obfusc8er.livejournal.com]

Devastating. Elegant. (Beautiful's already been taken.)

Love the irony; the immortality that Jack seeks is nothing less than a curse to his beloved ship. And she is powerless, merely a thing to be misused, except in his hands. Your writing makes me wish I could hug her, barnacles and all.

And yet she is held to the surface of the sea, to those last flickering splinters of sanity, by one fine thread

A fine thread he is, indeed. *g*

Thanks for sharing this fic. I'm a bit of a latecomer, but it's great to see you post again.

Nicked from a reply to someone else's comment:
The rest of it is still in the works although moving at a glacial pace.

Hooray! I am most excited to hear that you're still working on Crossing the Bar. It is, without a doubt, my favorite Pirates fic. ETA: I'm looking forward to any stories you might post or update, not just the one. :D

Re: *Pearl love*

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment on this.

Beautiful's already been taken
But yours is so much more original :D

Love the irony; the immortality that Jack seeks is nothing less than a curse to his beloved ship. And she is powerless, merely a thing to be misused, except in his hands. Your writing makes me wish I could hug her, barnacles and all.
I always love reading the insights into the characters that readers like you have.

A fine thread he is, indeed.
Even though a bit threadbare, very fine, indeed.

And FYI the next chapter of "Crossing" will be up this week! Whoot!

Re: *Pearl love*

[obfusc8er.livejournal.com]

And FYI the next chapter of "Crossing" will be up this week! Whoot!

Read and commented. :)

Thanks for going through and replying to old comments. Very cool. And I'm excited to see you post again. The wait was worth it.

[equivocal-muse.livejournal.com]

I like the dark ponderings. She is darkly beautiful. I love the character that you gave this ship!

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Why thank you! It's good to see you over here again :D I do tend to write ships as characters more often than not.

*Applauds*

[camille-moineau.livejournal.com]

Simply wonderful imagery, gorgeous language -- what a gem. I do so love anthropomorphic shipfics.

I'm sorry I haven't read more of your fics (I've a very long Books and Fics to Read List....). I did start "Crossing the Bar" and have enjoyed it very much so far. The problem is, I keep thinking of What Could Have Been as far as canon is concerned, and how much better fic authors like yourself portray the characters.

I'm actually starting to post fics over at my LJ (finally...) -- but the only one up now is a "Lost"-fic.

Re: *Applauds*

[honorat.livejournal.com]

I'm rather fond of anthropomorphic shipfics as well--in case you hadn't noticed! :D

I have a list as long as my arm of people who could have written better sequels, even better sequels with exactly the same plot events!

I'm so glad you enjoyed this. Thanks for commenting.