Disclaimer: I own it ALL, ALL I SAY, MUAHAHAHAHAHHAHA.
Just kidding…
Chapter One - Unintended
Ariella darted toward the dirt hillside, the intoxicating feel of adrenaline pounding through her, causing her to shake. Hearing the small pack of irate men behind her, she tried to escape through the downhill brush, the branches smacking her face and tears and nicks attacking her clothes and skin. The moon lit the entire night and the possibilities of her hiding successfully in the brightly lit hillside were slim, so she tried to make her way towards the closest portside bar. She ignored the shouts, threats, and too close for comfort bullets and just smiled manically to herself wanting to laugh, but afraid that she'd run into something.
That worry quickly disappeared and a new one overcame her as she lost her footing and rolled down the rest of the hill, holding on for dear life the heavy sack of gold she'd swiped from those poor bastards. She thought to herself, "I swear, the bars uphill aren't even worth the brandy, why spend (or get stolen in their case) three times the amount of shillings when you can have a nice cheap, watered down rum at the trusty Faithful Bride." Which is where she stumbled into as quickly as possible. She was pretty sure she'd lost the men in her tumble, but she still hurried to the back of the bar, where most of the commotion was located and where you have to dodge rum bottles every few minutes. She thought she should probably get a room first but decided to keep her eyes peeled just for another hour or so in case those bloody sailors decided to keep up their sad chase. She was still shaking and grinning like a fool. She felt exactly where she should be and sighed in contentment as she watched the rowdy brawls and listened to the drunken laughter surrounding her. A huge broad shouldered woman soon approached and Ariella gave her two shillings for a couple pints. No one unwanted approached her, seeing as she looked nothing like the majority of the women flocking around in their fluffy dresses and painted faces. A red head in an expensive looking but worn silk emerald gown looked bored sitting on a balding man's lap as he pawed at her while eyeing another woman nearby. She realized she'd caught Ariella's attention and dragged her judging eyes down from Ariella's muddy obsidian boots to her bemused kohl-smudged eyes and tattered tri-cornered hat. She scoffed at her appearance and half-heartedly joined in the laughter of her client's group as she smothered his face in her bosom, only to distract his leering for a moment. Ariella still couldn't help but smile, knowing that in all of twenty minutes she probably swiped as much as that poor girl makes in a month, and with less physical damage to her person.
Ari was eager to get a room to count her hoard but as she downed her second pint, she succumbed to the urge and threw another shilling for a third one as the immense server returned. She was too distracted by the huge repulsive mole on the woman's left cheek to notice a set of very familiar angry looking men enter the bar. When she did notice (after downing her third pint of deliciously spiced heaven of course) they were already halfway through the place, annoying everyone in their path and putting tension in the otherwise joyous pub. Ari quickly attempted to sober up, the adrenaline in her system somewhat dampened by the alcohol but fight or flight still clearly there. She began to make her way up to the second floor but she flew into an empty chair when she saw one of the men bolt to a table where a group of harlots she thought were sitting alone, leaped up loudly and scattered, leaving a very upset and confused looking man sitting by his lonesome at the small table. Now, Ari couldn't help but laugh, the look on the poor bastard's face was the exact look a child might make if a sweet was snatched right out of his hands and eaten in front of him. He stood, his long brown coat rising with him, and stuck his ringed thumbs in one of the two belts he was wearing. He wore his sword confidently sheathed at his side and an open shirt and vest exposing dark sun weathered skin. Definitely a pirate. He carefully placed his russet tri-cornered hat over his faded bandana and dread locks and stood right up to the man who so ungraciously emptied his table. The other two quickly came to their ally's sides. She couldn't make out the words but the three sailors were definitely describing their situation to the seemingly uninterested man with the trinkets in his hair and she put her arm on the table, trying to block her face with her hand. While still looking in their direction, she saw the pirate's chest rise as he stepped even closer toward the men with an annoyed look on his face. He said something and they retreated quickly, holding up their arms as if apologizing. Ari looked at them baffled as they scurried quickly out of the bar. She slowly dragged her eyes back to the curious pirate only to find him already looking directly at her, an impish grin tugged at his lips. She painfully snapped her head down immediately. "Bloody hell I should've just gotten that stupid room! Now what? Should I stay or run? Is he coming over…oh piss he's coming over …ok he looks really drunk so it shouldn't be that bad but still…God I'm an idiot…" She looked up, doing her best to not display any nervousness, even though she knew she wasn't being subtle at all trying to hide herself. He was just a few yards away from her now and she tried to display as much confidence as she could manage, smiling as he approached her, the same half grin on his mouth and mischievous look in his eye.
"Evenin', may I?" He asked, taking the seat across from her without waiting for a response. Ari lifted her chin a bit higher, her smile now cautious, and nodded.
"I'm guessing I got you out of a bit of trouble there, aye? After ow' much you took from those blokes, I'm sure ye can afford buyin' me a drink." His smile was full now, crooked, displaying a few gold teeth. His deep liquid brown eyes were strange, they seemed more alert than the rest of his disposition.
Ari continued to smile at him, even more cautious now that she noticed he was not letting her on as much as he assumed. She looked up for the voluminous server and waved two fingers at her. The server returned with two more pints and Ari dropped the shillings onto her board. The woman set down Ari's drink and slammed down the man's sitting across from her, spilling a good portion of the drink onto the table top.
"Oi! Thas' not very nice, now Mil!" He exclaimed, his face mourning the loss of the spilled contents.
"Shut it Sparrow! You have the highest bloody tab here, matter fact the only tab here and I'm going to start charging you interest if you don't pay the rest of it by the end of your bloody stay!" With that the massive woman stormed off, leaving Ari internally laughing to herself as she realized who the man was. He took a long sip, staring at her uncomfortably.
Ari cleared her throat, "Jack Sparrow, is it?" She asked.
"Captain Jack Sparrow, if you please." He corrected her. "So whot's yer name, luv, seeing as you've obviously heard of mine." His mouth glimmered.
"Aye, the most feared pirate in the Caribbean. Yes, I've heard of you." She said, trying to stall. His face lit up. Ari still wasn't sure of him, but then again she wouldn't be sure of any pirate. Especially the world-renowned ones. He waited patiently before she responded coolly, "Ariella, Ari for short."
"Ari. Does Miss Ariella happen to have a surname?" he asked mockingly.
Ari glanced away awkwardly. "Marinetti," she said quickly trying not to feel naked under his scrutiny, hoping the name didn't sound too familiar to him.
He gave her a look that displayed no clear emotion for half a second before continuing, "I see, well Miss Marinetti it seems that a drink isn't the only thing you may owe me tonight." He grinned wickedly at her before nudging his head in the direction of 4 of at least 6 women that had surrounded him earlier, all with new cliental. Ari could feel the color burn into her cheeks instantly.
"Sorry about that, do you like red heads?" she asked smiling haphazardly, not referring to herself obviously since her hair was pitch black, but to the woman over his shoulder who scoffed at her earlier and was now staring at her with pure malice. It seemed she'd lost her client to the one he had seemed more interested in. Ari glanced at the captain and looked back to the girl, waving her over. Her demeanor changed instantly and she nearly flew to the table as Ari stood up and smiled at the famous captain, who returned the smile with just a hint of disappointment in his eye. That quickly disappeared as the red sidled herself on his lap.
"Enjoy your night Captain Sparrow. Oh n' thanks." Ari grinned feebly, handing the red head 5 shillings and saluted them casually before going back to the bar. She headed over to Mil in request for a room and perhaps a bit more rum, she had a lot of counting and planning to do tonight.
AN: Alright so…I've contemplated writing this for an excessive and unnecessary amount of time. I want all honest reviews. What do you think? Too descriptive? Too MarySue? How is Jack? I need all the critique I can get, because, well that's how you grow obviously! This is my first fic and I want to do my best :)