the Dalaverse

For hils: Five times Norrington deliberately allowed Jack to escape


1. For that one day’s head start. Of course, once he’d headed home to face his heartbreak, he’d gotten stinking drunk and woken the next morning vowing that he’d never let Jack Sparrow out of his clutches again.

2. That evening in the bookseller’s shop in Ocho Rios, it probably wasn’t even him. James hadn’t gotten a good look, and what would a pirate want with a copy of Shakespeare’s comedies anyway?

3. Will and Elizabeth had been nothing but courteous to him throughout their engagement, and it would have been extremely bad manners to ruin their wedding by arresting beloved her beloved Uncle Warren. Even if Sparrow did wink at James in the most infuriating manner from the depths of his disguise.

4. Letting Jack go after James had chased him down in Tortuga was not deliberate; it’s just that the kiss was so very distracting. And disgusting, of course.

5. The fifth time, James was dead asleep when Jack went tiptoeing out his bedchamber door. He really didn't have any explanation for that one, nor for all the times after.

For creativepseudo: Five Times the Incredibly Unruffable Norrington Squeed

1. Whenever his father would take him to the docks, put James on his shoulders, and hold his small hand to keep him balanced while the boy pointed wildly at the boats.

2. After he passed his exam for lieutenant, and his fellow men took him to a tavern to celebrate. He expressed his great joy and pride into the bosom of a pretty dark-haired serving maid, and made sure she shared in it.

3. When he realized young William Turner had a keen mind and a desire to learn the sword. He had left behind a young brother and two sisters in England, and he missed them dearly. Will was very shy and not so affectionate, but he also had greater respect.

4. The night Elizabeth Swann turned seventeen and he attended the ball her father threw in her honor. She was pink-cheeked and beautiful, and she actually listened and understood when he talked about sailing, and she led him through an energetic dance. He had stumbled over his feet and his words, but she danced with him.

5. Behind the anger and determination, there was a slender thread of joy he felt at matching blades with Will Turner again. The boy was a worthy opponent, and James felt sure he could outwit him if he could just keep track of Sparrow; and he was glad to be finally be doing something to restore the ruin of his life instead of just sitting in the dark and drinking to it.

For order_of_chaos: Five Instances of Piratical Defenestration

1. Even before Jack could call himself a pirate, he found himself hurled out a window by the extremely large husband of the woman who’d been rubbing herself against him like a cat in heat. Thankfully it was a ground floor window, because the man was really egregiously oversized.

2. Bill knocked him out a window once, as part of a scheme they’d worked out where Jack would pick the pockets of a group of card players and Bill would start a tavern brawl when one of them realized what was happening. Jack was not a terribly good pickpocket, but Bill was a fair brawler, and he assured Jack that the bump on his head was a lot better than what was planned for him

3. He was hiding in a Spanish nunnery after a raid gone awry when the Mother Superior realized what was concealed under those robes. While most of the women squealed in alarm, the Mother gave him such a wallop that he stumbled out over the window sill. Fortunately there was a group of nuns walking below to break his fall, and even more fortunately it happened to include the lovely young woman who had broken her vows on his behalf, and she helped spirit him to safety.

4. Will’s blasted donkey kicked him out the smithy’s low window. He wasn’t hurt in the fall, but its hooves broke a rib. Will and Elizabeth were very attentive during his recovery, and he almost wished he’d sustained further injury.

5. When he visited nearly a year later, he climbed quite stealthily up the arbor to the Turners’ window. He was just swinging his leg over the side when he heard a plaintive squall. Will beamed at him while Elizabeth held up a red-faced infant with black hair and dark eyes. And Jack tumbled back down the way he’d come.