Hi everyone, the open waters certainly are inspiring and it surprises me as the usual retracing of the plot led to interesting ideas. I'm here with my 2nd attempt at a Pirates fic, taking place after the 4th movie, set in the era of Japan Isolation. Enjoy the prologue, and please review for suggestions and ideas.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Rise of the Phantom Fleet
The Zwaluw swayed in the winds in the harbor of the isolated. Its captain, dressed in the finest with a perpetual arrogance mounted on his face, carried two young Yujo in his arms despite their protests and headed towards his ship. With a crackled laugh, he dug his hands into one of the girls' loosely tied Kimono.
The dock was empty, saved for one man; a man with a sword slung across his waist and an orange hollyhock crest on his back. The cries of young girls brought his attention to the entrance of the dock. He must have returned. This time perhaps with another bribe, to smuggle out of the country what cannot leave.
"Once again, I see." The dock master casted a look at the tired girl on the captain's left.
"The same as usual. You'll have my payment." The captain adjusted his belt without the slightest embarrassment and turned to smile slyly to the girl he has on his right. The girl did not seem the least frightened, a sight the dock master did not find surprising. Being isolated from the outside world with an execution price on each head that enters and leave the country without permission, any price other than death to leave the country is more than tempting. It was salvation. But the dock master knew what fate would befall the girl once she boarded the ship. Despite so, something at the back of his head compelled him to pray in silence for a different turn of fate.
The girl reached out to tug at the captain's belt, undoing his efforts earlier and snuggled closer to the older man. The captain felt a tingle and reached out, only to find his other hand full.
"Here," he shoved the tired girl to the dock master. "I have no use for her."
The dock master felt a surge of anger as he reached out to catch her. He knew the Dutch was taking advantage of their weakness; ignorance to the outside world. But he couldn't do anything; not without the bearing the felony of mistreating Japan's guests, not when promised a part of their profit, as a heavy bag was tossed from the captain's free hands to his feet.
The captain laughed maliciously at having profited from yet another transaction. He marched up the planks of his ship with the girl in hand and smiled as the winds of the sea gently caressed his face. With his attention affixed on the girl, he was oblivious, to the dozen straws creeping under the planks of the dock and towards his ship.
Once onboard, the captain made straight for the quarter deck. The sailors stopped to look at the captain's prize, knowing that it is only a matter of time before they get a taste of it.
"All sails back to our homeland, men! I believe our profits will grant us an audience with the Duke." the captain hollered as he tugged the girl closer. The men cheered as they hoisted the sails. "Quartermaster, you know the drill."
Without casting a glance at the man in question, he dragged the girl into the captain's chambers. The man dipped his head quietly before looking sideways to notice a straw on the side of the deck. He quietly lowered himself down to the gun deck. There was a lone sailor, tending to the floors.
"Quarterma-" his words were cut short when a silver blade slit his throat. The quartermaster caught him before he fell, and quietly laid him next to the guns. From the far end of the gallery, shadows dripping with sea water emerged.
"Men below are sleeping." The quartermaster said. "I will keep watch from above, wait for the signal."
The dripping shadows dispersed quickly and soon there were muffled mangled noises below deck just as the ship began to sway. The quartermaster climbed higher to see the first-mate manning the wheel. He looked like a younger version of the captain, but a tad more twisted. His eyes darted back and forth the captain's quarters.
"I'll take the wheel." The quartermaster spoke deeply. The first mate sneered at the man and reluctantly handed the wheel over.
"Watch yourself. Sailors with colds don't live long enough to the open waters."
Silently the quartermaster dipped his head, and steered the ship out of the harbor. He caught sight of the dock master still on land, whose gaze was affixed on the gun deck. Things are going according to plan he thought and waited silently for the moment.
The men hurried around their stations, manning the ship while the first mate stood close to the doors of the captain's quarters, listening intently. Any time now, the quartermaster chanted in his head. True enough, over the noise below, he heard a distinct hollowed gasp, and a small cry of relief.
The first mate's face lit up like candlelight in the dark. The doors will open soon and his father, satisfied, will return to deck to man the ship, and it'll be his turn of pleasures for the night. The quartermaster saw nothing but lust devouring the younger man. Despite the disgust, he couldn't help but think that this might be easier than he thought.
The doors creaked, and the first mate struggled to keep his cool.
"Fa- I mean Captain." His voice betrayed his attempt on calm. The quartermaster turned to face the door. "How is she?"
"She's fine, but not the captain."
The first mate's lustful face fell for a moment as the doors opened to reveal not his father, but the girl he had brought back. She clutched her Kimono but made no attempt to cover her bared shoulders. The first mate paid no attention to the significance of her words as he surveyed her hungrily.
"Tie him up."
"What?" the first mate croaked as he was lost in her dreamy voice.
"Not you, to him." she motioned to the quartermaster with her hands ever so gently. The first mate turned around, confused, only to see a fist sail by and knocking him flat onto the wooden floor.
The men on the main deck looked up at the loud thud.
"Kill them!" the quartermaster shouted at the confused sailors.
From below, dozens of black clothed men drew swords and slashed at the sailors. Chaos erupted on the once-peaceful deck; silence in the night was replaced with metal against metal and gunshots.
"You!" the first mate muttered as he shot the quartermaster a murderous glare. "You betrayed us."
The quartermaster merely took off his hat and facial wig, tore off his clothes to wipe the powder off his face.
"Your father is dead." The girl said slowly as she raised her right hand to reveal a dagger smeared with blood. She stepped out into the open to survey the chaos. One by one the Dutch sailors fell to the flashes of the samurai swords. "I'll spare your life if you surrender."
"Never!" the first mate scrambled to his feet and drew his sword.
"Then you are of no use to me." She said quietly and flung the dagger backwards. The pointed tip penetrated the heart of the first mate before he could react. The man could feel his control over his body slipping away bit by bit. He made a grab at the red kimono the girl was wearing but fell.
"You like this?" she asked the corpse now lying at her feet. In a swift moment she took off the red garment and tossed it over the body. "Take it as a parting gift from me. Red, like the lust unsatisfied in your heart."
The quartermaster draped his disguise coat on the girl's shoulders. The girl nodded in thanks made her way down the stairs. The dark figures sheathed their swords and took off the masked covering their faces. There were men and women, ages ranging wide, but with a common goal.
The girl strolled over to a rifle still attached to the hand of its former user. She pried the weapon off his hands and headed over to the rails that were facing the dock. The ship had inched a little away from land, and despite their ruckus earlier, nobody seem to have noticed that a good dozen of Japanese men and women had just commandeered one of the Dutch ships and are escaping. All except one.
The escapees approached the railing and stood watching the bewildered dock master. He made no attempt at running to raise alarm. All he saw was the crowd parted to reveal the girl he had just witness being sent to her doom, standing there, unharmed.
His face flushed with relief for a brief moment before his mind went blank and darkness sought his eyes, in the same split second a loud shot pierced the silent night, together with his head.
The girl lowered the rifle and tossed it into the waters.
"The ship is ours, my brothers and sisters." The girl declared as she stepped over the bodies back towards the quarterdeck. "And tonight, we sail to freedom."
The men and women hollered in unison as they left the railings.
"Take any weapon we can find and dispose the bodies only after we have left the border waters." She said as the people around scattered to take new stations. The quartermaster steered the ship away from shore and out into the dark horizon.
"So where are we going?" he asked.
She looked back at the shore she was born and raised in. This is no time to feel nostalgic, or fear.
"Use their maps, we head for a place called Tortuga." From her undergarments she drew a dreadlock of hair tied with trinkets. "There's someone I want to see."
The girl held up the dreadlock and let the trinkets glisten in the starlight.
"Someone by the name Jack Sparrow."
Stay tuned for Jack Sparrow's entrance next chapter. Reviews :)