A/N: At long last, the first chapter of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Ends of the Earth! Took me FOREVER to write this, so all your reviews better be good. Haha, kidding. Anyway, sorry if it seems off to a slow start, but please bear with me. Anyway, enjoy - and remember that all reviews are GREATLY appreciated, along with constructive criticism. But please, no flames.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE ENDS OF THE EARTH

CHAPTER ONE – "THE BEGINNING"

It was quiet in the tiny, cramped cabin. All eyes were turned on Tia Dalma, the strange, mysterious gypsy. She looked from person to person; everyone else in the room had just spent their final moments on the Black Pearl before Davy Jones' kraken took it down, their beloved pirate captain along with it. The world around them seemed dark and dreary. Candles in the shack were lit and glowing brightly in contrast to the gloomy atmosphere around them.

Tia Dalma quietly asked, "If you were given da chance to find Jack…would you sail to da ends of da earth…just to find him?" Her beady black eyes were darker than ever before, as though she were about to perform some sort of magic. She looked around at the entire crew, awaiting answers.

Finally there were responses of "aye" from some, and all agreed until there was just the beautiful Elizabeth Swann and her love, Will Turner. Tia Dalma stared at Elizabeth until she uttered, "Yes," while nodding slightly. She then looked at Will.

"Aye," he whispered hesitantly.

Tia Dalma sat back a little and grinned. "Then you will need a captain who knows these waters to da ends of the earth…" she said, and she lifted her arm up to the spiral staircase in her cabin.

Clunk…clunk…clunk…

All the heads in the room turned upward to the stairs, and it suddenly got quieter. Elizabeth's mind was racing: What is that? Who is that...what if it's all a trick? She bit her tongue to prevent herself from saying anything and just waited to see who it was coming down the stairs.

"So, tell me…" said a voice very familiar to Elizabeth as the person's body came into view: he was wearing a large navy blue overcoat and big black boots. And as his wretched face came into view, Elizabeth's eyes opened wide. Barbossa, the man who'd overthrown Jack years ago on the Black Pearl, was standing before them all. With no more hesitation, Barbossa finished his statement: "…how's me old ship?"

The room was deathly silent as everyone stared in awe at the ugly, brutal man they'd known as an enemy before. Tia Dalma just remained with her strange smile on her face, observing the crowd's faces. Barbossa wore a disgusting toothy grin on his face as well and surveyed the crew.

"Well?" he barked. "Someone going to answer me?"

Mr. Gibbs cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Sorry to tell you this, sir," he said slowly and quietly, "but the kraken took the Black Pearl down and claimed it…Jack with it." He shut his mouth when he saw the anger suddenly appear in Barbossa's expression, his nostrils flaring.

"What?!" he bellowed. "But…the Pearl, she's supposed to be…argh, damn it…" He glared at Tia Dalma and asked, "Is this true?"

"Aye," Tia Dalma responded slowly, "'tis true. Davy Jones sent da kraken on Jack, and Elizabeth chained him to da ship after her kiss, and da kraken claimed the Pearl."

"Wait…how'd you know that?" Elizabeth suddenly shrieked, staring at Tia Dalma. "How did you know about me and Jack?" Her mind was going crazy now. Oh, Will can't know about it…Unfortunately, she didn't know that Will already did know. He'd seen it himself as they were abandoning ship.

"Child, relax," Tia Dalma said quietly. "I know all that happens on da Caribbean." She turned back to Barbossa. "Any questions?"

Barbossa looked horrorstruck. "Me ship…" he said, staring at his grubby hands.

"There is nothing that we can do about da Black Pearl," Tia Dalma said, glaring at him with her big eyes. "Every person in this room has agreed on finding Jack. In order to find him you must search and search, sailing to da ends of da earth, and you are the only captain whom I know dat knows these waters such as that."

Barbossa stared at her.

"So," Tia Dalma went on, "you are to set sail today with this crew and the rest of your own crew on your ship and you will search high and low for Jack. As soon as you find him you are to report back here with him. Should you give up on this expedition – dis goes for everybody – your soul shall perish, and you will no longer exist on dis earth."

All eyes were again on Tia Dalma. She glared back at everyone in the room, and to get her point across suddenly stood up.

"Go!" she said loudly. "Leave now! And don't forget your orders!"

Barbossa and the former Black Pearl crew scurried out of her cabin in a hurry, afraid of anything she might do, and they took the rowboat back out. Barbossa weighed the boat down almost too much but they were fine getting there. He rowed their way to his own ship, the Spanish Maiden.

It was a bit of a small ship so sleeping quarters would be a problem. They climbed up its ropes – it was small, but quite nice. It seemed new. Will asked Barbossa, "Where did you get this ship?"

"Eh…borrowed it," Barbossa said with a smile showing signs of lies. He ignored Will and turned around and barked, "CREW! All hands on deck!"

In a flash, there were about thirty men on board the main deck. Analyzing them, Will saw that they could be the perfect crew: they were well-built, tough, and probably disciplined well under Barbossa's rule. As Will surveyed the seven or eight people left from the Black Pearl, he saw that there would be a lot of trouble on the ship…

"…This is me crew," Barbossa introduced them. "I expect that you should all get along…nicely."

Elizabeth fearfully eyed the men before her. Every time she was on a ship full of men there was always trouble because of her. "Cap'n," she said to Barbossa, "where will I be sleeping, then?"

Barbossa looked at her. "Wherever you want, miss. You're on a ship, you'll find a place."

Elizabeth glared at him angrily and looked at Will. He didn't seem to care about the whole issue at the moment and just stared at the tough-looking guys before him. He was frightened that there would be disagreements and fights, not to mention deaths. He gulped.

"Off to work! Movement; I want movement!" Barbossa suddenly yelled, breaking Will out of his trance. Everybody scurried somewhere, trying to find something to attend to. Immediately Will hated this; he just wanted it all to be fine. He wanted to be married to Elizabeth and be living "happily ever after" back home, but now it seemed like that would never happen.

Especially with that wretched kiss he'd seen as they were abandoning the Black Pearl. How could she betray me like that? he wondered angrily, leaning over the railing a bit as the ship got out into open sea. What if she really loves Jack, and not…not me?

"Elizabeth!" he called, turning around and looking for his supposed fiancée. He found her and once he got her attention, waved her over. She ran over to him and approached him, standing a bit close.

"What is it?" she asked.

He grunted. "I'd like to talk to you for a bit…" he said to her. "Surely you've got some time?"

A/N: Sooo...did you like it? Please remember to review it, I'd looooove that. Excited for the next chapter or what? Ha. More soon.