Chapter One
Christiana Thomas

The night had already ended a few hours ago in the large Port Royale house of Will and Elizabeth Turner. After the entire affair with Captain Jack Sparrow and the cursed pirate gold, Will and Elizabeth were able to marry, and Governor Swann built them a grand house close to the governor's mansion just in time for their daughter Alice, or 'Ali,' to be born. At present, Ali was three years old, and the small family had settled very nicely into their quiet life in Port Royale. Earlier that night, Will had read Ali a bedtime story, Elizabeth rocked her to sleep, and once Ali had been put to bed, her parents soon retired. The house was silent until shortly after midnight when the front door banged open.

The sound caused Elizabeth to bolt upright out of her slumber. She strained her ears and heard voices down below and raucous laughter. She immediately panicked. "Will? Will?" She whispered, shaking her husband awake. He opened his eyes and looked up at her in confusion. "Someone's in the house, Will!" It was then that booming cannon fire sounded out down from the harbor, and with that Will was wide awake and alert.

He looked out their bedroom window and saw that a ship was in the harbor below, firing upon the port. Déjà vu of the last time such an incident had happened made Will's spine shiver. "Stay here." He said, placing both hands on Elizabeth's shoulders. He climbed out of bed and pulled on a shirt over his trouser and his shoes upon his feet. Elizabeth also climbed out of bed and snatched Ali from her crib, shhh-ing her before she had a chance to make a noise.

Will armed himself with a sword, his hatchet, and a pistol from a locked chest at the foot of the bed. "Mummy, what's happening?" Ali asked as she surveyed her father arm himself. Her chocolate eyes were wide in fear and her mousy brown hair marred her vision.

"Darling, it's going to be alright." Will crossed to his wife and child. He ducked down and took one of Ali's hands. "I need you to be brave, understand Ali?" He kissed her hand. "I need you to be brave for me and mummy and stay quiet. Can you do that, darling?" Ali nodded that she could. Will straightened up and looked into his wife's face. "Stay behind me, Elizabeth. Don't do anything brave." He looked into Elizabeth's eyes and kissed her quickly as they heard pounding steps up the staircase. Will turned, his sword brandished and hatchet at the ready. The door burst open and several greasy, dirty bearded pirates entered, their own weapons at the ready.

"Look what we 'ave 'ere, gents." The leading pirate, a man with auburn hair, a bristled beard, and a scar over one eye, cackled. "A nice little family. How sweet!" The others barked with laughter. "Sorry for our intrusion, but we'll be takin' everythin' ye hold dear!"

"Over my dead body!" Will hurled his hatchet through the air and it landed with a squishy thud in one of the pirate's torsos. With that, the pirates charged. Will slashed at the first one, parrying his blow and then kicking him into the other pirates. They fell down like a stack of tipsy china. "Elizabeth! Run!" Will commanded. Elizabeth did not need to be told twice. She knew Will could take care of himself; it was her responsibility to make sure that Ali was safe. She jumped over the fallen pirates just as Ali began to wail in dismay. Elizabeth was just about to head for the staircase when the auburn bearded pirate pulled himself from his fellow pirates and grabbed her by the ankle.

"Hello, girlie." He grinned. He pulled himself up and grabbed Elizabeth by the waist before whipping her around so that she could be used as a shield.

Will climbed over the fallen pirates so that he was no more than five feet away from the pirate and his family. He raised his pistol and pointed it anyway. "Let her go!" He commanded. He did his best so that the pistol would not shake from his nerves. The pirate held everything that was dear to him, and if anything happened to Elizabeth and Ali… He didn't dare to think it.

The pirate pulled out a dagger from his waist and held it to Elizabeth's throat. Her eyes widened in alarm and she looked at Will, pleading for him to do something to help. "You fire and your little wife here dies." The pirate growled. "Do you want your daughter to grow up motherless?" Will slowly lowered his pistol. "That's it, that's it." The pirate started to back up towards the staircase, pulling Elizabeth and Ali with him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to." The pirate nodded and Will realized too late that he had disregarded the pirates behind him. A pistol butt came crashing down on his skull and he crumpled like a piece of paper to the floor. Before darkness took him, he saw Elizabeth and Ali being pulled down the stairs, his wife screaming his name and Ali crying as hard as she could.

"Elizabeth!" Will shouted. His eyes snapped open, and he bolted upright in bed, his head clipping one of the bedposts on the way up. "Ow!" He cried, and in his disorientation, he fell from his bed to the floor. As he clutched his head, he realized that everything he had just seen had been a dream, at least this time. The dream had happened and had been real, but that was over a year ago when a marauding band of pirates sacked Port Royale and Ali and Elizabeth had been taken from him. Governor Swann had sent Will out on the Dauntless with the Royal Navy to try and find his daughter and granddaughter, but their search was fruitless. Even the offered reward of one thousand sovereigns wasn't enough to bring in any news of where Ali and Elizabeth had gone to. It was as if the two had simply vanished along with the pirates. Governor Swann soon lost hope and the Royal Navy did as well. The ship was called back, and Will couldn't search without a ship, so now every penny he made was saved so that he could hire his own ship and find them, but the wages of a mere blacksmith would not suffice any time soon.

Will stared at the ceiling, thinking of those last moments with Elizabeth. She was scared, and so was Ali, and there had been nothing he could do to comfort him. He sighed heavily and pulled himself to his feet. The once neat and tidy bedroom that he and Elizabeth had shared had fallen into disarray in her absence. Will spent every waking hour in the blacksmith shop and he didn't have it in him to keep the house as Elizabeth would. It would just further serve as a reminder of what he had lost.

Will looked out his window at the traces of dawn on the horizon. It was time to get to work. He washed his face, pulled on a clean shirt over his trousers, and tied his hair back. He pulled on his boots and surveyed the room once more, sadly. His eyes lingered on Ali's empty crib and he sighed. Enough of that, old boy. There's work to be done. With that, he headed downstairs and left for the blacksmith's shop.

At that very moment, the Black Pearl was anchored in a cove a few miles from Port Royale. There was activity up on deck, with sails being taken in and the second anchor being dropped as well. Jack was up in the crow's nest, his long glass held to his eye, and accompanied by Gibbs and a young woman who sported brown hair and blue eyes. She was dressed in trousers rolled up to her calves and a man's shirt that had sleeves also rolled up to her elbows. A black and white damask bandana tied her hair back.

"Are ye sure that this is such a good idea, Jack?" Gibbs asked as Jack observed the buildings of Port Royale that could be seen through the long glass.

"I agree with Gibbs, captain." The woman said, her arms crossed. "Are ye sure ye should be goin' there?"

"No, you are." Jack collapsed his long glass and turned to the woman. "After all, Christiana, I am a wanted man there."

The woman bristled slightly at use of her proper name. "You're a wanted man everywhere." She replied.

"Well yes." Jack said with a grin. "But, I escaped the gallows there once, and I'm sure that they wouldn't welcome my return in the slightest. With ye and yer chest of disguises, ye can go and retrieve a man for me. After all, being quartermaster of the Black Pearl, ye should make a good first impression on our future crewmember. Ye know, since ye were voted into the position and all. Makes ye seem likable."

"Yes, Captain." Chris said, rolling her eyes at the insinuated insult. "That means I have to wear a dress, don't I?"

"Aye." Jack's grin became contagious and spread to Gibbs. It was a widely known fact on board that, though Chris carried a chest full of clothing to use as disguises in enemy ports, she did not in any way enjoy wearing a dress.

"You're both thoroughly enjoying this, aren't you?" She asked her captain and first mate, her arms crossed.

Jack looked at Gibbs and they both chuckled. "Of course. You better get dressed, my little blossom, you have a bit of a walk ahead of you." Jack grabbed a line to zip down to the deck. "Oh, and I suggest ye don't wear anything with heels in way of footwear." He grinned at her before sliding down to the deck.

Chris sighed and looked towards Port Royale. Gibbs grinned at her. "Ye know Jack just likes to give you a hard time."

"Aye, that I know very well." Chris shook her head. She and Gibbs crossed to the line that Jack took. "See you down there, then." Chris said before zipping to the deck.

TING! TING! TING!

The sun had arced upwards in the sky as Will hammered away at the commissioned sword he had been working for the past week. The blade glowed red and sweat dripped from Will's face onto the sword, making little sizzling noises. There was a slight knock on the door, which the blacksmith thought odd, for no one ever knocked before entering his forge. "Come in." He called, dipping the sword into a trough of water to cool it.

A woman entered, looking rather uncomfortable as she did. Her chestnut hair was pinned up and stuff beneath a hat that was tied about her chin, and Will could see that she was stepping gingerly in her heeled boots. Will grabbed his handkerchief from the back pocket of his trousers and wiped the sweat from his face. "Can I help you, miss?" It was odd for a lone female to be interested in the services of a blacksmith.

"I certainly hope so." She crossed to him and spread a shaky curtsy. She rose, discomfort on her face. "I'm looking for William Turner. I was told that this was his forge."

"Technically, it's Mr. Brown's." Jack and Chris looked over to the bearded blacksmith that lay upon several sandbags in the corner, snoring. "But I am William Turner." Will wiped his hands on the handkerchief and offered his hand for a shake. "Interested in a sword?" He asked with a slight smile.

The woman shook his hand and smiled. "Alas, no. I have a right deadly rapier, but I've heard of the excellence of your craft." Will raised his eyebrows at her and she said, "Oh yes. Introductions and all that… My name is Christiana Thomas and I am the quartermaster of the Black Pearl." Will dropped the handkerchief in surprise.

"It's a pleasure." He stuttered. "But exactly what do you want with me?"

Chris smiled. "Our mutual friend, Captain Jack Sparrow, asked that I come into port and ask if you would be interested in signing onto the Black Pearl."