Prologue
Part One
Winds howled and screeched as they ripped against the sides of the Black Pearl, tearing at the boards and swirling about, trying to grasp a soul to drag down to Davy Jones. It was a fearsome storm, a living gale, and a battle waged on the Pearl's decks right in the middle of it. It was a battle to the death; a battle between two Captains: Pirate and Commodore.
With a clash of lightening the figures of two men engaged in heavy battle was illuminated at the hull of the Pearl. Two swords smashed against the other at the same moment before withdrawing and meeting again in a clash of sparks. Then the ship was once again shrouded in darkness and waves climbed over the sides of the ship as if the sea was wrapping her icy fingers around it. But the sea was not against the Pearl, for no ship had ever been known to survive such a storm as this. And somehow it, along with the Commodore's vessel was staying afloat for this final battle.
"Give up, Sparrow!" Commodore Nelson bellowed above the scream of the winds. Rain tore at his clothes, whipping his face and stinging his eyes with the salty water. Tears ran freely and his hair flew about his face, making him appear a lunatic. Jack parried a blow from Nelson's sword. His eyes bore into the Commodore's through the dark and the rain, and he smiled foxily.
"Nay, Cap'n, should I surrender when we's having so much fun?" Jack cried over the commotion. He dodged a lunge, but the Commodore drove him back, closer towards the bowsprit where murky grey waves crashed and blew merging with the stinging rain. The Commodore's eyes were wide with madness and hate, tears seeping out from the stinging salty water and lips bared into an expression of carnal rage.
"You are a scoundrel, Sparrow!" He roared. "You're nothing but a bloody pirate, a rat of the ocean! Scourge of the earth, and by God, I hope to be the one to spear your worthless…"
Jack's eyes darkened and he flicked his slender blade swiftly, gouging open the Commodore's cheek. Crimson blood gushed from the wound and Nelson screamed in both pain and anger. He charged forward with such force and skill that Jack leapt onto the shuddering bowsprit, balancing booted feet upon the wood with agility. Nelson swung his blade, parrying and advancing until he too was on the narrow beam of wood, though more wobbly and unsteady. The two continued to battle, neither one advancing nor backing off. The Commodore's massive frame was shuddering with anger, Jack's slight one as coiled as a snake preparing to lunge. He watched the Commodore with glittering black eyes, assessing each drive and lunge, and parrying easily. The Commodore's patience was wearing thin.
The Commodore and Jack each gripped heavy ropes to keep from tumbling down into the depths of the sea, as the waves tossed the ship so violently that they would have fallen and been smashed into the hull of the ship without the ropes. One sudden streak of lightening ripped open the sky from horizon to above the black, angry clouds, making it appear day for one bright, white moment before again leaving them in darkness. The Commodore was weakening, his sweat mixing with rain and blood from his cheek and running off his body. He realized that he could not keep up with the pace much longer and shouted for his men. Jack snickered and sliced the Commodore's forearm with his sword, further igniting the larger mans anger. He would not say it, but he was a coward, and Jack's unending energy was sure to be his dimise.
Jack was the last pirate left. His crew had been overpowered by the brute numbers of the Commodore's crew and been killed and washed away into the ocean, their blood staining the boards of the Pearl, and it was as though she knew it, for her wood groaned and moaned with grief beneath them. Jack knew that the Commodore would never allow him to battle this square, and he would be finished off by his lackeys, but he continued to fight on, intent on finishing the duel, focused on winning for the sake of his crew, for the sake of the Pearl, and especially for the sake of his treasure in his cabin. The last thing in the world that mattered to him. A pain wrenched his heart as he thought of what might happen to his 'treasure' after his death, surely the Commodore wasn't as cruel to... He shook away the thoughts and parried yet another blow from the weakening Commodore.
The remaining officers that had not been killed by Jack's crew or swept off the sides of the ship by the roaring waves struggled to the front of the ship to assist their captain. None of them appeared unscathed and they too were filled with hatred for the bloody pirate, Sparrow. The Commodore stepped down from the bowsprit as his first mate trained a pistol on Jack, who tossed his sword reluctantly onto the deck off his ship. He gazed beyond them, towards his cabin, where he heard the cries of his 'treasure', his fists clenched till' his knuckles were stretched white.
"Surrender, Captain Jack Sparrow!" Nelson's first mate yelled over the screams of the waves and sea. The Commodore was furious, he could wait no longer for the death of his foe, and once Jack released his grip on the rope to return to the deck he brought all his weight down upon the bowsprit, and Jack's feet lost their balance on the slippery pole and he plummeted down, down into the merciless depths of the sea, who swallowed him, and no splash sounded. The Commodore looked for his body hastily over the edge, his maddened eyes scanning the water for the sign of that which had haunted him for over half of his life. He saw nothing. The howling of the storm died down a bit, and the waves eased, allowing the officers to speak once more. The Captain ordered the ship searched for valuables, and made his way to the Captain's former cabin. Water swirled around his feet and he stopped, realizing the ship was sinking. A blast from his ship's cannons earlier must have torn a hole in the ship. He informed his men and sloshed through water to the cabin, determined to take a souvenir for his victory. The water was almost up to his knee's when he reached the cabin and pushed open the swinging door. His eyes widened.
Two smoky blue eyes stared into his, eyes filled with horror and fear. A little girl, no more than four years old clung to a sea chest, hair plastered around her round little face and sobs shaking her body. She looked just like… A blast of icy wind hit the Commodore's face and he realized that the water was pouring in faster from a gaping hole in the wall, strangely a long ripped piece of fabric hung on a sharp, torn board and blew in the wind, as if a person had slipped out. Grabbing the little girl who howled at his touch, and he exited the cabin and ordered his crew to board their ship and to cast off.
Commodore Nelson watched from the safety of his ship as the 'Black Pearl' finally sank. His victory over Sparrow was complete, as was his revenge. He had finally taken back what was rightfully his. He looked down at the feather-light person shaking in his arms and smiled. 'Sparrow's daughter… no, my daughter, she would have been mine if Lillian had…' He frowned as he heard what the little girl was saying. She was crying for her daddy. 'Blast it!'
"I am your father now," He spoke sternly to the little girl, setting her down upon the deck. She immediately clung to the railing of the boat and reached out own chubby little hand to where the Pearl had last been seen. He snatched her wailing body back up, thoroughly disgusted with her display of affection over that...Sparrow... and commanded his steward to take her down to his cabin and see that she didn't catch a cold. His steward saluted and took her down below. Leaving the Commodore to glare out at the horizon, cursing the waters that Sparrow had defiled, and promising himself that he would make sure that the last thing Sparrow had possessed was made his own. This was his daughter, his possesion now. Jack Sparrow's pride and treasure was now his.