Author's Note: Hey, guys! Marie here. Yeah, I'm still alive, and I'm doing my best to try to get the next chapter of The Third Queen up, I promise! Until then, here's a little one-shot that appeared into my head one random night. Hope you enjoy!

He just thought things were getting strange.

The last thing that Cedric, thief and castle infiltrator extraordinaire, remembered was laying his eyes on the flawless blue, heart-shaped gem inlaid in the casket of some dead man buried deep within the bowels of Camelot.

Cedric smirked a little at the thought. He was in the bowels of Camelot.

And not a soul knew.

However, he did recall a strange feeling overcoming his system once he popped the heart of happiness from it's setting. It was almost like something was tingling; like every fiber of his being was overwhelmed by this new thing, this feeling taking over his body...his mind...his soul.

Just before he completely lost control, he identified what the feeling was.

Evil.

However, once he finally managed to come to, everything looked...different. Older.

But more importantly: not Camelot-like.

At all.

Cedric groaned, rubbing his head...and realizing his hair was in desperate need of washing. I must've been out for...years, he thought, trying to wrap his mind around the possibility as he slowly eased to his feet, realizing his clothes had been reduced to practically rags, and he had somehow ended up in some street. Things were just getting stranger and stranger...

"Oi! You!"

Cedric turned, seeing a man in a strange blue uniform running towards him. "Can I...help you?" the very confused thief asked as the man snatched him from his place, forcing him into a narrow alley.

"Thank you," the man panted, leaning his head against a wall.

"Who are you?" Cedric demanded. "And where am I?"

The man smiled, showing the worst set of teeth Cedric had ever seen. "You're in England, lad. I am...was...in the British Royal Navy," the man spat the organization's name out with vehemence. "But no longer. I'm done with that boring existence."

"Where are you going to go?" Cedric asked, actually concerned...and curious.

The man smiled a little again. "To the docks. There's bound to be a pirate ship among them. Just getting on the ship would be more exciting than all my years on that blasted thing." He gestured wildly behind him.

"You're...you're going to become a pirate?"

"Why not?" The soon-to-become pirate countered.

Cedric opened his mouth, but stopped himself. Piracy...it sounded strange, but very, very exciting. From what he heard, it was not too different from his thieving ways...except pirates worked on the water. He had no sort of idea where he was, or what to do. This man, however...he seemed trustworthy-trustworthy enough, that is. Perhaps...

He found himself asking the man in front of him, "Could...could I come with you?"

The man's eyes glinted a little. "Tired of the law, too?"

Cedric shrugged. "More or less."

The man grinned. "Me name's Pintel. What do you call yourself?"

"Cedric."

Pintel scoffed. "Well that's a stupid name. Not piratey at all."

"Well what do you suggest?" Cedric demanded hotly.

The soon-to-be pirate thought for a moment. "I had a son. He was forced into the navy along with me. Got lost at sea one stormy night." Pintel's eyes became downcast. "That's the reason I'm leavin' those idiots behind."

"What was his name?" Cedric asked gently.

"Ragetti," Pintel replied. "Last bit 'o family I had left."

Cedric thought for a moment. "Well...I think that, since I've no family left, either..." Here Pintel lifted his eyes to the young thief as he smiled. "Ragetti is plenty piratey. Suits me a little better than Cedric, don't you think?"

Pintel grinned a little, then gestured for Cedric to follow him to the docks. After a few moments of walking, he finally spoke again. "You can't pretend to be me son."

"Why's that?"

"You look nothin' like me!"

Cedric stopped. He really didn't look like his new companion. At all. "Well, I could be-"

"Gents!"

Pintel and Cedric stopped, looking up at the man with a rather boisterous hat that stood in front of a schooner, a dark flag with a skull fluttering from the helm. "What're fine gentlemen like yeselves doin' wandering near the docks?"

Pintel stuttered for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts. "Me name's Pintel, and this is Ragetti, my..."

"Nephew," Cedric smiled, taking up the slack. "We've both just decided that we're sick of that blasted navy."

"But our hearts still belong to the sea," Pintel confessed.

"Aye. She hold the hearts of many men," the man with the large hat agreed. "So, ye've decided to turn to a life of piracy, have ye?"

"Best life there is, I hear," Cedric said, earning a grin from his "uncle".

"Aye, that be true," the man in front of them agreed. "Me name is Barbossa, captain of this here ship. Are ye sure ye're ready to commit?"

"Aye, Captain!" The two men chorused.

"Well, then!" Barbossa stepped to the side, grinning madly at the pair. "Welcome aboard the Cobra, Masters Pintel and Ragetti!"

And so, as Cedric stepped on board with his uncle, he smiled a little at his luck. Being a pirate sounded much more exciting than being an idiot prince's servant any day. And the money! He could probably rake in more cash that that stupid gem was worth in one raid! The possibilities were endless!

Maybe he would get lucky, and lose an eye and have to get something dashing and piratey, like a patch or some sort or a glass replacement.

Ragetti smiled to himself. Now that would be something.