InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "this place isn't good for you"

Elizabeth Swann (i_hatecorsets) wrote in we_coexist,
@ 2009-01-25 18:04:00

Entry tags:

elizabeth swann, shepherd book

The Preacher and the Pirate (Book)
Elizabeth was glad that all the snow was gone. Not just because then they could leave the jail, but because her clothes just weren't meant for snow. It was nice to walk outside and feel warmer than you had inside. She squinted at the small bit of sunshine and waited for Book to catch up with her. Both of them had agreed to head off for some coffee to warm them both up. Better than alcohol, she was done with alcohol for now.

Well, for a little while at least.

Who was she kidding? For today.

In the company of Book, whom seemed to be about as educated as most of the Queen's fleetmen were, which was nice since Pirates couldn't carry on intellectual conversations with anything beside monkeys and seashells. It'd be nice to relax in someone's company who wouldn't suddenly threaten her, and with someone who wasn't expecting a kiss.

It was nice.

They came to the door and Elizabeth, out of habit, opened it for both of them. Pirates didn't open doors for ladies. But Elizabeth would open a door for a priest any day.

"You said you knew something about ships?" Elizabeth was interested in what kind of ships he knew. She wondered if he'd ever heard of the Pearl, or the Empress.

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i_nevermarried
2009-01-27 11:56 pm UTC (link)

Shepherd Book was still trying to acclimate himself to the situation in this new city. He still hadn’t completely wrapped his mind around all that the boy at the church had told him. But the oddness in the weather wasn’t helping him feel all that settled about the place he’d found himself. One minute it was snowing like the end of the world, the next it was sunny as a fine spring day. That just wasn’t natural.

Which brought to mind what the young man had said about some thinking this place was sentient. It was a ludicrous notion, of course, but if things like this happened often he could see how a body could start thinking that way. He’d yet to find out what this place was called other than “the city.” What city was never mentioned, nor was planet or system. So he still had no idea where he was, let alone how he’d arrived here. There was only so much the phrase “the Lord works in mysterious ways” could cover.

And now he found himself in the company of yet another pirate. Seemed to be a pattern forming in his life. Everytime there was a major change, he found a person with a ship and a willingness to bend rules. Did that speak of something in himself, or of the Lord’s plan for him? Days like today, it was hard to tell. Had been since he’d arrived, actually.

So an invitation to a hot beverage and some conversation was the most normal thing to happen to him in days. Despite the companionship. While he wasn’t a big fan of the bitter drink that had been suggested, he was assured that tea could be had as well. That would be a nice bit of comfort. Something familiar.

The young woman reached the door first, pulling it open, and Book’s hand automatically grasped the frame holding it in place for her to enter. He gave a small nod in return to her question, and answered, “I know a bit, yes. Most recently, I was onboard a firefly class vessel. Interesting crew.”

One that he, surprisingly, was missing more than expected. He’d grown rather fond of the raggedy bunch. Who, Book wondered, would try to keep them on the straight and narrow now?

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i_hatecorsets
2009-01-29 04:13 pm UTC (link)

Elizabeth smiled and entered. She pulled her hat off willingly this time. She pushed her hair back behind her shoulders and breathed in deeply. Coffee was such an expensive thing where she was from, but here in the City it was just like having bread and butter for breakfast. It wasnt special, it was cheap, and Elizabeth kind of liked that. No crazy trade rulers. Just. Coffee when people liked it. She normally had tea, but coffee sounded good now.

"Firefly? Never heard of that. I was on a few Brig's myself. The Pearl was a Brig. Made for combat, I suppose. And I've been on a Ship of the Line before. But firefly? Never heard of that.." Elizabeth shrugged though. Maybe different counties had different ways of classifying ships.

"What was your Firefly like? How many canons? How much cargo room? How many men sailed it?"

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i_nevermarried
2009-01-31 12:31 am UTC (link)

Book frowned momentarily. Had she just said she was in a brig? It was a term for a jail, and he wasn’t certain what that would have to do with a ship unless she’d found herself in a spot of trouble. Or maybe bigger than a spot. Could be that’s how she ended up being “king of the pirates,” could be there was a more mundane reason, though he was sure that there was an interesting story behind that title.

Then he realized that he’d misunderstood. She was referring to a type of ship. A brig. She was on a brig, not in one, and his frown returned in full measure. He’d not heard of that class of ship. And apparently she’d not heard of the class that he’d mentioned either. Perhaps because she’d been on combat ships. Ships of the line, whatever she meant by that. It suggested a military career in the past of this pirate, though he wasn’t one to question where changes could lead a body in this lifetime.

But if she was military, she’d know the firefly. As a pirate, she should have a good knowledge of other types of ships. He had a fair knowledge himself, but didn’t know what a brig was. It was a bit surreal. And then it got worse.

Had she just asked about canons? He might have been able to pass it off, if she’d not added the question of how many men it took to sail it. Sail. Not fly. There was a hard knot in the pit of his stomach, because he was getting that feeling again. The same one he’d gotten when he was speaking with the young man in the church. The one that told him he probably was not going to like what he was about to hear, because it was probably going to be something very, very odd.

“The Serenity was a good sized ship, no canons, and the cargo room… varied. There were a fair number of places that could be used to stow cargo. And other things. Had a small crew. Your ship, the, uh, Pearl, was it?” He smiled at her, knowing how posessive some captains could be about their ships. “You sailed it on… on water?”

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i_hatecorsets
2009-02-01 10:15 pm UTC (link)

"Well, my ship was the empress, but I did run the Pearl.. well sort of anyway." Elizabeth smiled at him as she sat down at a table, the other chair left open for Book to take.

Elizabeth nodded her head. "Of course. On the sea, the ocean. the great big blue thing." She grinned. "The Caribbean to be specific, though I did sail to Singapore and to the World's End." Elizabeth didn't like the last part.

At all.

"And your.. Serenity, Firefly class.. did it sail on the Pacific or something? The Atlantic? Only place I've seen lightning bugs was in a swamp.."

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i_nevermarried
2009-02-03 01:44 pm UTC (link)

Book sat, tehn listened with growing confusion, the heaviness in his stomach growing as she spoke names of places that he’d never heard of. In a manner that suggested that she though they were common knowledge. The only one that sounded remotely familiar was Singapore. He was fairly certain there was a neighborhood, not one of the better ones, on Persephone that was called Little Singapore. Or West Singapore. Maybe. But that was nowhere near the water.

There were some places, on the central planets, where a body could sail a yacht. If they had the money. Some of the worlds that specialized in a tourist trade and relaxation, a person could rent a boat for pleasure. Few of the outer planets had a considerable enough body of water to make watercraft a viable means of transportaion, and thos that did had boats fashioned after junks. Not anything called brigs. Nowhere that Book knew of had pirates that sailed on the water. Any good rogue knew that the only profitable way to get some less than reputable credit was a bit of smuggling out where there was a better opportunity to get away if things when sour. Out in the black.

To say he was confused was a bit of an understatement.

“I’m sorry,” he admitted honestly, “I’ve never heard of any of those places. Must be nice to be able to be on the water that way. What planets are they on? What moons?”

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i_hatecorsets
2009-02-06 05:28 pm UTC (link)

"Planets?" Elizabeth blinked.

"Moons?" Elizabeth blinked more, her mouth hanging a little open.

What did he mean? Planets, moons. There was -a- moon, and she lived on Earth. "...Earth." She said it very slowly, as if he might have been.. well. Crazy. He sounded crazy. Other planets, she knew there were other planets or at least some scholors believed as much. But living on another one? Impossible.

Moons. There was -a- moon in the sky.

"..What other planet would the oceans be on?"

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i_nevermarried
2009-02-06 11:50 pm UTC (link)

The knot that had been forming in his stomach turned into a brick, hard and solid in the middle of his torso. Book wasn’t entirely certain what he thought her answer might be, though he was pretty certain he knew it wasn’t going to be something he liked. But this was far more than he’d anticipated, and he felt a little ill.

“Earth.” He repeated it slowly, knowing that what she meant was Earth-That-Was. That was the only Earth there was, really, just folks didn’t say it that way. Not anybody he knew of, anyway. Maybe some of the loftier scholars, but none that he’d met.

Just as slowly, he told her, “I’ve never been on Earth. Unless…”

The wheels in his head spun round and round, coming back to a conclusion that made no sense and yet did. Everything was upside down, sideways, twisted, and he couldn’t find his footing. He just needed some solid ground. Someplace to start from.

“Is this… Earth?”

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i_hatecorsets
2009-02-08 11:29 pm UTC (link)

"Never been on Earth?" Elizabeth looked alarmed right then. Someone had babbled something to her about not being from Earth Earth before. not of this world. Out of this world. It was enough to make anyone alarmed really. Elizabeth knew there were magical things out there and this city thing with its huge buildings and auto-mo-biles. She'd been told about tings that flew as well. But.

But not from earth was really really awkward.

"I do not really know. It's very strange for me you see. Where I'm from we do most of our travel by carriage, horse drawn, or by sea. People here have auto-mo-biles. People can fly. People have strange pistols that do not use powder or flints. And the.. ele-ct-rici-ty.. that's not something I am familiar with. I was told that I was from the past. It's almost the year 1800 where I'm from, which apparently is the way past here. I am sorry Master Book that I am not of more help."

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i_nevermarried
2009-02-11 11:44 pm UTC (link)

“The past.” He felt like he was repeating quite a bit, and he was. It was just hard to understand what was happening here. The explanation she gave, the descriptions, it was a joke. It had to be a joke. Didn’t it? Thing was, though, that he was pretty good at reading folks and she didn’t seem like she was lying. There were good liars out there, to be sure, but this girl had such an air of sincerity. If it weren’t that her words were so unbelievable, he’d be inclined to believe her.

But there was a tiny, tiny voice in the back of his head that kept whispering the question, what if it’s true?

If that were the case, then… Well, Book wasn’t even sure what then. It was too bizarre. And if she was from the past, what did that make him? Because this place, this was not what he was used to. Some things were far less advanced than they should be, some things more so, some things just plain confusing. If she was being truthful, and then he wondered not only where they were, but when they were.

“I was born,” he told her slowly, “in 2460. But I don’t think I belong in this time either. Or in this place. I’ve never been to Earth, it was used up and we moved on, to other places, other planets, in order to survive. So you see, it’s a very strange for me too.”

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i_hatecorsets
2009-02-12 09:49 pm UTC (link)

"What?!" Elizabeth had met some people from the 'future.' But no one that far in the future. It really hurt her head. She shouldn't have been jumpy about it but she was. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this.. wait yes she did. When Barbosa had told his secret.

Elizabeth sat back in her chair and sighed out.

"I'm sorry about this Master Book. I wish I were of more help, really. But I do not know that much about it. A lot of people have been here longer than me, so maybe they can help. All I know is, people from my past are here, even though I was with them in my present. So just be careful, someone from your past might be here as well."

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i_nevermarried
2009-02-15 03:27 pm UTC (link)

There was something to keep in mind. People from his past. There were some there that he’d just as soon never see again. It was a good warning, and one he was thankful to be reminded of.

“I don’t have any answers either, Captain.” That was an understatement. “I am more than a bit confused. But I do know one thing. I can’t do this alone.”

It was a statement of acceptance. This was where the Creator had put him, so there was a reason for him being here. So be it. He would trust in the Lord and do the best he could.

Despite his own confusion, he was not immune to the fact that his companion had her own struggles. “Don’t think any of us can, really. If you ever need an ear to listen, you can find me at the church. That’s where I’ll be for the foreseeable future.”

Whatever that meant. Future. Past. It was all a bit muddled right now.

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i_hatecorsets
2009-02-16 02:34 am UTC (link)

"That's very kind of you." But Elizabeth simply didn't know how she'd feel if she stepped foot in a church these days. She didn't believe so much in a God anymore. Let alone a Church's god. She believe in the sea, and what she saw.

It was kind of hard after seeing so much impossible become possible. God seemed kind of more far-fetched than Davy Jones, Calypso, and pirate curses. Funny that.

"I'll be around the harbor if you need anything. I live mostly on a big old ship there with black sails. It's called the Black Pearl. hopefully you'll find someone you know though. I hope I find more people I know." Like her turn coat fiancee.

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