Will suddenly opened his eyes, only to hiss and blink several times as they adjusted to the light.
Above him was an unfamiliar ceiling, and covering him was an unfamiliar blanket. He sat up as quickly as he could without making his pounding head hurt worse than it already did. He tried to remember what happened to him-
"Elizabeth!" Will shot out of the unfamiliar bed and his eyes danced around the room, desperate to find the woman he already knew in his heart wouldn't be present.
The door opened then and a maid stepped inside. Her eyes were red and puffy, though she was trying her best to keep up a professional appearance. "Mr. Turner, you're awake. Governor Swann wished to speak with you when you awoke."
Will processed what he was hearing slowly. In his heart, he wanted to rush to find Elizabeth, but his traitorous sense of logic told him that if the governor wanted to see him right away, then either Elizabeth was fine… or there was nothing that could be done to help her immediately.
"Lead the way," Will spoke, his face set grimly.
Will followed the maid to the governor's office, where she bowed and left him to enter at his leisure. Will knocked and stepped inside.
Governor Swann had seen better days. It was hard to imagine that he had only just seen the man the day before, looking healthy and hearty. Now he was a mess.
He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks and like he had aged a few decades in the short time they had parted. Will noted the empty liquor bottles strewn about on his desk or the floor.
"William! My boy," Weatherby tried to stand, but his legs failed him and he slumped back into his seat. "I'm glad to see you're okay. I don't know how I could face Elizabeth if you hadn't been…"
Will opened his mouth, but paused when the governor burst into sobs.
"My poor, sweet Elizabeth!" Weatherby wailed. "How could this have happened? Taken by filthy pirates, right out of my own home!"
Will didn't know what to say. He didn't get a chance to say anything, regardless.
"Oh, I know you tried your best to defend her, William. Commodore Norrington told me these were no ordinary pirates. That you stayed and fought for her at great risk to yourself has not gone unnoticed, but I suppose you can't expect a blacksmith to defeat hardened killers…" Weatherby rambled.
Then he burst into tears again.
"I'll go after her, governor," Will promised.
"No, no," Weatherby shook his head so briskly that his wig came loose. "Commodore Norrington is already handling it. We've already sent priority letters to nearby ports. Soon, we'll have a proper fleet ready to crush those scoundrels!"
"... How long will that take?" Will asked.
"A week at most," Weatherby said, and he didn't seem any happier about the time frame than Will felt. "Chances are, they'll ransom her back to us before then, but that won't save them. I promise you that."
Will couldn't accept that. Couldn't resign himself to waiting like the governor had. "I can't wait that long, governor…"
"You can't go, William! I forbid it!" Weatherby managed to actually stand up and slapped his desk. "I'll not have Elizabeth return from this terrible experience, only to be stricken with grief because her fiancé got himself killed!"
Will bristled inside at that. The governor couldn't know that he was quite good with a blade, that he had practiced for years, but it was frustrating to be seen as so helpless.
"I understand, governor…" Will said after a momentary silence.
"Good," Weatherby nodded. "Off you go, now. There is much work to be done."
Will nodded back and left without another word.
It was… nice, that the governor seemed to have accepted his place as Elizabeth's fiancé, but there was no way that Will could be passive here. The love of his life was out there all alone, facing who knew what dangers. He would not leave her fate in the hands of bureaucracy.
…
"Look, Jinbe!" Luffy called out. "They must really like pirates here! They left spooky skeletons out to welcome us!"
"I think they're meant to be a warning, captain," Jinbe said.
"Do you really think so?" Luffy scratched behind his ear. "I don't get it."
"They're saying they execute pirates here, Luffy!" Ben didn't think it could be any more clear. "Those skeletons are pirates they've hung from their gallows."
"That's not a very good threat, then," Luffy concluded. "Not everyone would die from a rope around their neck."
That's why the World Government stabbed pirates to death. Stabbing worked on nearly everybody.
Except Buggy, but punching worked just fine on Buggy. You could probably shoot him too.
"Well, maybe not you," Ben conceded.
"Yeah, cause I'm made of rubber," Luffy hooked his mouth with a finger and stretched, letting it snap back. "My neck would just go 'SPROING!'"
Luffy laughed like executions were just a funny joke to him. Maybe they were.
"It would be wise not to tell others that we are pirates here," Jinbe cut in.
"Ehhhh…" Luffy clearly wasn't thrilled about that.
"We don't want to get these men in trouble, captain," Jinbe reasoned. "They aren't members of our crew, so it would be rude to wrap them up into our trouble."
"I guess you're right," Luffy admitted with a grumble.
There was a collective sigh of relief from their rag tag group of sailors at that. None of them had any illusions that they could stop Luffy from doing anything.
Soon, Port Royal came into view. It was a quaint little city, and it would be a beautiful sight in the morning sun if it hadn't clearly just suffered from an attack. A number of buildings had holes in them or showed signs of having been set aflame.
Ben gulped at the sight. Port Royal would be on high alert after such destruction. Even the smallest suspicion would be followed up on by the soldiers.
This was bad…
"Look, it's our ship!" Luffy bounced in place. "Oiiiiii!"
Ben cast his eyes onto the docks and the ships tied off there. He thought it would be hard to spot which one Luffy was waving at, but it turned out to be glaringly obvious.
The ship was so colorful, with a lion as a figurehead and orange trees growing on the back. It looked more like a ship for a traveling circus than a band of pirates… but Ben had to admit that it fit the two crew members he had met to a tee.
He idly wondered if the rest of the crew would be just as colorful.
His question seemed to be answered as a man even bigger than Jinbe appeared on the deck and waved back. His arms were enormous and blocky. His hair was light blue and looked like one of those wigs that men with more money than sense wore. His shirt was wide open, showing off odd scars, and he wore no pants at all, just a strange pair of red underwear.
"Luuuuuuuffyyyyyyy!" the strange man called back.
"Fraaaaaankyyyyyyy!" Luffy shouted.
Luffy stretched his arms across the fairly sizable distance, grasped the man about the shoulders, and yanked himself across, tackling the strange man to the deck.