Barbossa sighed and glanced disdainfully over at Jack. Did that man ever know when to shut up?

He looked around them dramatically for a moment, saw no signs of imminent danger, and looked back to the others. "Forgive me if I fail t' see any grounds for compliance," he finally replied. "We're in th' middle o' nowhere, from what I can see, with none about save us. I'll speak as I wish unless given cause t' do otherwise."

Gandalf shot Frodo a quick, knowing look... and he hoped that the mutual friendship between them would be enough to show the hobbit that the Ring, nor the enemy, was NOT to be discussed in the presence of these strangers. The look lasted for only a second, a particle of a second p'raps, and then Gandalf turned back toward these pirates.

For a moment he stood staring, taking in everything he possibly could about these strangers, his deep brow furrowed and his grey hair blowing slightly in the wind. And then just a hint of a smile surfaced, although from what the others knew this was no laughing situation.

"We do not yet know of how you came to be here," he stated, raising his eyes to glance at the pirates with imply. "Our company is of such that we can always explain later; the pressing matter at the moment is to discover the intent and purpose of whomever sent you here."

He looked questioningly from one pirate to another, waiting for one to expound on his query.

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"The piano is able to communicate the subtlest universal truths by means of wood, metal and vibrating air."

Legolas stayed watch, keeping a keen eyes, and ear on the newcomers. He came to lightly sit on a boulder, bow in hand, and fingered the golden vine designs on his bow.

(Like, would the characters look like they do in the movies? Though of course the PotC characters would, but what about the LotR characters? And if so, Legolas and Will would look alot alike... exept for the diff. colored hair, eyes, and goe-T...(and sorry for not posting in so long... I've gotten behind in alot of rpgs...))

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(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

[Yes, we're going to keep the LotR characters looking like they do in the movie, so Will and Legolas will share an uncanny resemblance.]

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"The piano is able to communicate the subtlest universal truths by means of wood, metal and vibrating air."

"As soon as ye find out, let us know, hmm?" Barbossa said dryly. "As for myself, at th' moment I'm far more curious as to where exactly 'here' is. If we're not in our 'world,' then where are we?"

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"...The curse?" Aragorn repeated slowly, frowning slightly.

"Ne'er heard o' it. Boy's a bit...touched, m'afraid," Barbossa replied in the most sympathetic tone he could conjure, at the same time discreetly ensuring that he remained completely in the shade. "Can't always quite make sense o' what he's sayin'. But as I was sayin', I can think o' no logical reason for our presence." Of course, experience had long ago taught him that logic was often irrelevant, but at the moment he was far more interested in turning the conversation away from...undesirable topics.

Merry, frankly, was more interested in his pipe than in this discussion. "Some Elvish thing," he replied with an air of superior knowledge, contradictory to what he actually did know. Which was not very much.

Elizabeth had spent the last few minutes anxiously sneaking glances at Jack and Barbossa. Not that she was overly concerned about the welfare of either, but if they suddenly turned into walking corpses, the amount of credibility that Will and Elizabeth retained would quickly deteriorate to essentially nothing. In fact, they could quickly find themselves at the business end of a sharp pointy object. Elizabeth wandered in the twosome's general direction in time to hear Barbossa's last comment

"Keep thinking, then," she told him brightly, an indication for him to shut up. Hadn't they had this discussion? Why did men seem to always feel the need to be so repetitive? Adroitly changing the subject, Elizabeth indicated the hobbits where they sat. "I've never seen little men like these."

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Barbossa merely cast a gaze heavenwards in exasperation, as if the sky might disclose the reason for his being stuck with these people. "Aye, it would seem to be my lot in life to be perpetually plagued by idiots," he finally replied. "But I would hardly consider that cause for what has recently transpired...unless ye know somethin' we don't, Mr. Turner?"

Boromir arched an eyebrow, and glanced wonderingly at this newest outburst from Will. Then he laughed slightly, turning to Gandalf and saying, "You don't believe this nonsense, do you Gandalf? We've seen no signs of a curse, and this poor fool has clearly been disturbed by whatever brought him here."

His face clearly revealed his disbelief in all this, not that he had ever trusted the pirates anyway.

Sam had sat here listening to all this carefully, trying to take in everything, although most of it he didn't comprehend. Now he thought it good to stick his opinion in the midst of it all. "But supposin' they're tellin' the truth? Supposin' there IS a curse?" he asked.

Boromir rolled his eyes again and ignoring Sam, argued, "We have no good reason to trust a thing any of them say!"

Gandalf stood up quickly, with the commanding presence that was known of him, and half way bellowed, "SILENCE!"

And then, for the briefest of moments, there WAS silence.

Sitting back down wearily, he put his head in his hands and addressed the others in a calmer tone, yet none less enjoining, "This is getting us nowhere. We know nothing of one another, or of our separate worlds. We know whether not some evil presence in our world has brought you here, or some evil of your world has exiled you."

He paused, and glanced meaningfully at Will, his eyes just slightly sorrowful for the confused young man. He continued much more slowly, choosing his words carefully as he went on,

"Our company is of such that many, even in our world, would find bemusing. But I assure you that our purpose is clearly honorable. On our quest, our paths may meet with those who would help us, and in turn help you. Would you be willing to accompany us for a while?"

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"The piano is able to communicate the subtlest universal truths by means of wood, metal and vibrating air."

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(( Sorry, couldn't help myself...))

Legolas heard what Jack said. He grabbed an arrow and aimed it at Jack's head.
"I'm no dame, but an elf that can easily kill you with one shot," he said, and edge to his voice.

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(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

Elizabeth couldn't think of a reason to disagree with what seemed the general consensus, though she did not look forward to concealing Jack and Barbossa's inconvenient curse from these newfound companions. She sighed inwardly, feeling more than a little annoyed. His curse, his problem, she thought irritably, and disdainfully moved to stand by Will. "Aye, we've no option but to do so."

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