Chapter One – Surprise, Surprise!

It was a normal day, just like any other for Will Turner. He had just left the blacksmith's shop, the one he now owned, with one thought on his mind: his beautiful bride-to-be. He walked past the docks on his way to the small home they shared. He looked to the sea. He missed it; he missed the freedom, the adventure, of life on a ship. To his surprise, he even missed Captain Jack Sparrow, who had inadvertently brought him and his fiancée together. It had been over a year since he and Elizabeth had last seen Jack. Every so often they would receive a letter from the captain. Although they were short and few and far apart, he still remained a friend to Will and Elizabeth. The news of the governor's daughter's engagement had spread fast, and had traveled all the way to Jack. Will and Elizabeth had even talked of inviting him to the wedding, whose date was still undecided.

"Home at last," Will sighed relief before opening the door to his abode. "Elizabeth, I'm home," he announced gleefully as he moved to set his axe on the stand by the door. He paused. The silence froze him to his core. Every day when he returned home she would greet him with a kiss, and dinner would be ready on the kitchen table. He entered the kitchen with a firm grip on his axe. Sure enough, dinner was prepared on the table. Two places had been set with plates and silverware, and two glasses of wine had been poured. One was only half full. Will searched the rest of the house calling for Elizabeth, and then finally made his way into their bedroom. He saw her lying on the bed with her back to the door, apparently asleep.

"Elizabeth? What are you doing still abed?" He set his axe on the wooden dresser, and then walked over to the bed and shook her shoulder. When there was no response, he turned her over to see a strange symbol etched into her forehead, although the rest of her face was cut and destroyed to the point of being unable to recognize her.

"Oh God, Elizabeth-" There was a knock at the door. He tore his eyes away from the bed. In a panic he backed out of the room and stumbled down the hallway to the door, just as it opened.

"'Ello, miss me? Where's that beautiful fiancée of yours?"

Will was speechless and pale as a ghost. It was Jack. He hadn't changed much since the last time Will had seen him. Jack looked around the foyer and then back at Will, who hadn't moved an inch. The captain wondered why Will looked so distraught.

"Was I interrupting something? If you two need fifteen minutes to-"

"No, she's – Jack," Will followed him as he walked down the hall to the bedroom. Jack was startled when he saw what lay on the bed.

"Who did this?" he questioned, almost in a whisper.

"You think if I knew I would still be here?" Will said, fury apparent in his voice. Something had caught the captain's eye. Jack went to the side of the bed and knelt down. On the floor was a knife, the handle sticking out from under the bed. He pulled the knife out from under the bed and examined it. It was covered in blood, but it was quite beautiful; it had several jewels on the handle and was double bladed.

"They dropped the knife," Will said, thinking. Maybe the killer had been startled and dropped it when Will walked in the house, and then escaped through the back door.

"No," Jack put the knife down and stood, angry. "It was left here on purpose. He wants us to find him." He said to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing. Let's track down the culprit," Jack stuttered, very unlike himself. Will grabbed a bag and put a few of his belongings into it. "Tortuga?"

"Tortuga."

-----

Sparrow and Turner entered the same bar they were at one year before. They took a seat in the corner and waited in silence until a young woman, about twenty years old, brought a couple drinks over to them.

"Thirsty, boys?" she smiled. Jack looked at her. The girl had long, chestnut brown hair, milky white skin with a hint of tan, and gorgeous hazel eyes, easy to lose yourself in. He knew her.

"Rachel? I thought you were dead,"

"Ah, but I'm not." She took a seat by him.

"And as charming as ever. Will, meet Rae. Rae, this is dear William," Jack introduced his friends. "She is, by far, the best pirate in the world, female or otherwise." Rae smiled and Jack held her gaze for a moment.

"Hello William. You wouldn't be William Turner by any chance, would you?" she asked politely.

"I am." He replied without hesitation.

"I've heard of your father. He sounded like a good man. Jack told me about him when he helped me out when I was younger. Of course, Jack was younger then too," she smirked at them.

"Yes, weren't we all though?" Jack took a swig of his drink. "I thought you died when the ship sank,"

"I'm here now. That's all that matters, isn't it? So Jack, what brings you to Tortuga?"

"We need a crew. We're going after the man who murdered his fiancée. All we have to go on is a description of the killer's knife, double bladed with a jeweled handle. Quite a beautiful blade actually," he said, keeping eye contact with her.

"My ship is at the docks," she said at once. "I've got a crew and everything,"

"To the ship then, love."

-----

"She's really a beauty. Her name is The Contentious," Rae spoke with pride. "Oh! Shiny, that ought to be worth some money." She dove to pick up a necklace off the dock, bumping heads with another who just happened to be doing the same.

"Hey! That's mine!" Rae grabbed the necklace from the girl.

"I saw it first!" The young woman pulled a pistol from her belt and aimed it at Rachel.

"Who do you think you are?"

"Awfully bold for a woman such as yourself to ask," the girl spoke.

Rae sighed and raised her own pistol. "That's not very nice."

"I'm not very nice." The young woman narrowed her eyes at Rae.

"I can see that."

"So hand it over," the girl held her free hand out to accept the necklace. Rachel kicked the pistol out of the woman's hand. Will drew his sword between the two women.

"Rae, we must get going, now."

"As long as she doesn't attempt taking my precious again, which I saw first." She glared at the young woman and pocketed the necklace. She looked towards her ship, one of the three that were at the pier. "Let's go."

Jack looked over the stranger before boarding the ship with Rae and Will. The woman put her pistol away and secretly followed.