A Journey to Freedom
A/N: Hello everybody, Mrs. Capt. Jack Sparrows (a.k.a. Scarlet). This is the first story I have jointly written, and it is AWEsome to be working with my new friend, Bethany Wirthington (a.k.a. Giselle) on this story. Now I know why Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio love writing as a team! It's so much fun to bounce ideas off each other and make things work! Well, I hope you enjoy this story as much as we enjoy writing it! R&R Please! On with the Story!
A Chance Meeting
Kathryn's POV
Kathryn walked up to the helm and took the wheel from Daniels. Her dark blonde hair flying out of the scrap cloth that she had tied it in. Her dark eyes looked ahead to the ocean laid out before her. Her white shirt held onto her slight frame. She turned to look at her navigator and first mate who had his maps lying out on a small table beside her. He was pouring over the maps looking through a small glass. Kathryn spoke to him quietly.
"So, any ideas yet, Carter?"
Carter looked up, surprised. He shook his head sadly, his usually bright eyes dark and gloomy, and turned back to his charts and maps. Kathryn sighed. They had been lost for nearly five days and their supplies were low. She was getting anxious and the crew could tell. She hated keeping things from the crew, but she didn't want to worry them any more than was necessary. She turned back to the helmsman and gave him the wheel.
"Go wherever he tells ye," she said gesturing to Carter. Daniels nodded and looked ahead.
Kathryn went to her cabin and sat at the desk that was bolted to the floor. She put her elbows on the desk and buried her face in her hands. What was she going to do? If they didn't figure out the map quickly, Kathryn was afraid that she would lose her entire crew. They were short on water and the men were getting tired of the rationing.
As Kathryn sat at her desk, deliberating with herself, there was a slight knock at the door. She looked up and quickly and tried to not look so miserable. She sat up and turned to look out the window behind her desk, her back to the door.
"Enter," she said calmly. Henry, a young man from London, opened the door and peeked in.
"Captain?"
"Aye? Come in, man. Don't just stand there in the doorway. And close the door behind you."
Henry came in and closed the door and stood in front of Kathryn's desk. He clasped his hands behind his back and stood waiting patiently.
"What is it?" Kathryn asked.
She tried not to sound rude and frustrated, but that was the way that she felt. She turned to look at Henry and was surprised. She had expected to see Carter or Daniels. Henry was the most gentle of her crew. He had never complained and he always did as he was told without arguing. He was also the best looking of the crew. At least Kathryn thought so. He was tall and very well built. His face was kind and tan. He usually wore a shirt, but when he did take his off, Kathryn could see all the muscles on his abs and arms.
"Mr. Henry Douglas. What can I do for ye today, sir?"
Henry looked embarrassed as he spoke, as though what he was saying he didn't believe in.
"Cap'n, the crew has a request to make," he said slowly and doubtfully.
"Aye, Henry? Spit it out, man." He sighed and turned to look back at the door, "What is it, Henry?"
"The crew requests of the Captain's permission to open the barrels of rum, ma'am. They feel that it will help them to work harder," Henry said sounding uncomfortable and uncertain. Kathryn shook her head.
"Absolutely not! It's for emergencies only! And distributing rum to every crewman would not help them work harder. In fact, the crew would be more unhelpful than they are already!"
"The men feel that this is an emergency, Captain," Henry said sadly. Kathryn slammed her fist on her desk.
"No! Ye can tell them that if they get us to a port, they can have the rum. But until then, not a drop! Is that understood, Mr. Douglas?"
Henry nodded, "Aye, Captain. I'll tell 'em."
Kathryn nodded once and waved him out. Henry turned and left, closing the door behind him. Kathryn put her head down on the desk. Now the crew was trying to bribe her into getting them un-lost. She couldn't have that. Or there could be a mutiny to follow. Stepping up on deck Kathryn noticed a small dingy floating towards them. She walked over to Carter and pointed to the small boat.
"What do ye think, Carter? Is that a dingy or not?"
"Aye, ma'am. A dingy for sure. Should we help the poor soul?"
Kathryn thought, staring at the boat.
"A dingy that small couldn't have come too far, aye?" she asked and Carter nodded. "Perhaps they'll be happy to show us in the right direction, eh?"
"Aye, Captain." Carter turned to the crew and began yelling out orders to pull the person aboard the ship.
Jack's POVIf Jack had been on the Pearl he would have been about a day out from Tortuga. Since he was not on the Pearl, it had taken him three days with his little dingy to get that far and was finding he was going nowhere fast. Jack let out a sigh as he looked over the ancient charts. Jack leaned back and thought about all the events that had happened to him in the last two years.
He finally got his ship back only to Captain it for a year and have it taken from him once again by bloody stupid Hector Barbossa! Jack's mind began to wander to Elizabeth and William. Jack could forgive Elizabeth, but he didn't think he could ever forget that she killed him. And William…a Captain, not just a Captain but the Captain of the Flying Dutchman!
Jack sighed again pushing his thoughts aside, looking out to sea. He had been so absorbed in his thoughts he missed seeing the on coming vessel. Jack squinted his eyes looking out to the ship. She appeared to be a pirate ship and looked to be well built, probably fast, didn't have much treasure in their hold though. It would be far better to make friends with the Captain and see if he could utilize this ship to find his Pearl so he could then find the Fountain of Youth. Jack stood up and began waving his arms above his head.
"Oy! Over Here! Help!" Jack cried out as the ship got closer to him. Once it seemed like the ship was planning on picking him up, he quickly began rolling up the ancient chart, tucking it in his inside jacket pocket. He then attached his compass to his belt, and gathered up his other supplies he had with him (mainly his rum) and threw it all in a knapsack.
Soon the ship was right beside him. A few crewmen threw down two ropes and Jack made light work of tying the ends securely to either end of his dingy. Once Jack was sat down, the crewmen began to haul him and the dingy up on deck. Once the boat hit the deck, Jack stepped out looking for the Captain.
"Thank ye much fer ah… rescuin' me. Where be Captain o' this fine vessel so that I might thank 'im personally."
"That might be a bit difficult to do sailor." A strong female voice rang out.
"Oh? Would that be because an unfortunate fate befell upon said Captain, leaving said Captain uh… dead or something equally unfortunate?" Jack asked the still unseen female.
"Nay. The Captain o' this fine vessel is not a 'him', therefore ye can not thank 'him'." The woman said, as she made her way through the crowd of sailors.
Standing before him was a dark blonde woman, her messy hair pulled back with a strip of blue cloth. She had a light brownish tan colored tricorner hat perched on top of her head. She was wearing a dirty white shirt and gray pants with tan knee high sailor boots on her feet. She had on a gray Captain's jacket what looked quite similar to his own, just a bit lighter in color and obviously made for a woman's body.
"So I'm to assume yer the Captain then?" Jack asked still taking in the sight of the woman standing in front of him.
"Aye, Captain Kathryn Hawk, an' who might ye be?"
"Who am I?" Jack asked, shocked she didn't know him. The woman just shook her head, waiting for him to fill in his name. "I'm Capt'n Jack Sparrow!"
"Captain?" Kathryn nearly laughed. "Captain of...that?" she pointed to the dingy.
"No! I have a ship...or did... perhaps ye've heard of her? Eh? The Black Pearl?"
Kathryn looked up surprised. "The Black Pearl you say?"
"Aye... but that slimy little bastard of a man, Barbossa, took it from me. Again!" Jack said through gritted teeth trying to maintain his composure.
"Took it from you?" she asked raising her eyebrows.
"Aye. I was ah... spending some much needed time ashore with a few fine young women. Come morning, I was gonna show me Pearl to said fine young women and it was once again gone. Barbossa had sailed off without me." Jack explained, "Don't know why she had to bring him back from the dead..." Jack muttered to himself looking to the sea.
Kathryn looked doubtfully at Jack and said, "Maybe we should talk in my cabin, if you please, Mr. Sparrow?" Kathryn felt that the crew was paying too close attention and she didn't know what this man was going to tell her.
"Captain! Captain Sparrow!" Jack said, as he followed her to her cabin. "Why is that so bloody hard for people to remember!"
Kathryn chuckled at his response. "I'm sorry, Captain. I'll do my best not to forget," she smirked. They walked into her cabin and she sat at her desk and Jack sat in the chair opposite her.
"So, Captain Sparrow. Where have you come from? Surely in a boat that small you've not come far."
Jack suddenly looked to his shoulder and saw Mini-Jack. Mini-Jack snickered. "Shut up you!" Jack said.
Mini Jack looked at him, "No you shut up, she'll think ye're crazy."
Jack looked at the small version of himself indignantly, sticking out his tongue, "I am not crazy!"
Jack suddenly realized that Kathryn had asked him a question.
He turned to her, "Eh…ah... what? Oh…uh…Tortuga."
Kathryn raised her eyebrow and nodded. "Ah! Tortuga! So, it's not far, aye? I'm running a wee bit low on water. And my crew are more tired than hell. Could you, perhaps, give us a hand, Captain?"
"Aye, but only if I get something in return. eh? Tell me, how fast does this ship travel? "
"Well," Kathryn decided to gloat a bit. "She's probably the fastest ship here in the Caribbean. She's a grand ship." She smiled. She had always prided herself in being able to outrun the navy.
"Alright, so the second fastest ship in the Caribbean."
"The second fastest," Kathryn said, feeling insulted.
Jack ignored her. "So, ye think once I show ye to Tortuga, restock this lovely little ship o' yourn, we could go find me Pearl? What say you to that?"
Kathryn thought about it, still feeling offended. She needed to restock and this man knew where they were.
"Do we have an accord?"
"Well, I suppose. But what would be in it fer me?"
"Ye'd find land?" Jack offered hoping that would be enough.
"Hmmm. Well, what about after that. Aye?"
"Aye..." Jack knew she'd want something bigger than just showing the way to Tortuga, which in a few days of sailing they'd stumble across with or without him. Jack sighed dramatically.
"What if," he leaned forward and spoke quieter. "What if I were t' tell ye I knew how t' find the Fountain o' Youth. Eternal life. Eh? What would ye say then?"
Kathryn was suddenly interested. "The Fountain of Youth, ye say?"
"Aye," he leaned back in the chair, put his boots on the desk and spoke louder. "What if I let ye in on findin' it? Live forever. Think about it, with the Pearl and yer ship, the ah... sorry didn't catch the name o' her..."
"This ship be The Venture."
"Imagine, the Pearl and The Venture pillaging the high seas fer all eternity. Think about it! We'd be unbeatable. They could hang us, an' we wouldn't die."
"Unbeatable, eh?" Kathryn's eyes narrowed. "But how do I know yer telling me the truth?"
"I can take ye to the Fountain o' Youth with this." Jack said taking his compass of his belt, holding it up by the strings.
"A compass?" She nearly laughed.
"Not just any compass. My compass is unique. Points to the thing you want most in this world. Given t' me by the great sea Goddess herself, Calypso!"
"Calypso?? You mean-" She stopped.
"Aye, Calypso. Don't know if ye heard or not, but the Brethren Court recently convened and united in War against the East India Trading Company, we were victorious by the by. Not only that, but they released Calypso from her human bonds."
Kathryn's eyes went wide. "Released her? How… and why?"
"Because... how much do you know about Davy Jones?"
"Not much. Just what all pirates know."
Jack took his feet off the desk and leaned forward again, putting his elbows on the desk and began examining his fingernails.
"That he ripped out his heart and locked it away in chest because he was betrayed by Calypso, aye? An' the only way to kill him is to stab the heart. But the Dutchman must always have a Captain, you see? Davy Jones is dead. I know, I was there. He stabbed... He stabbed my friend, William Turner. William was dying. So to save his life, so his lover would not have to suffer, I helped him to stab the heart of Davy Jones. William Turner is now Captain of the Flying Dutchman. Calypso was released so she could release her fury upon Davy Jones. She created that maelstrom a few weeks ago."
Kathryn raised her eyebrows and tried to follow the story. "That's when we got lost. The storm was terrible and got us knocked off course." Everything was coming together.
"What'd you go an' tell her all that for? Now she's gonna think yer crazy." Mini Jack 1 said.
Jack turned to his shoulder. "No, I'm not crazy, now go away an' leave me be!"
"Ye shouldn't have told her that, she'll put ye adrift again." Mini Jack 2 countered.
Jack gritted his teeth, "Shut up!"
Kathryn looked at Jack, her face full of confusion. "Umm, excuse me? Were you telling me to shut up?"
Jack turned back to Kathryn, "What? I didn't say anything!"
Kathryn looked at Jack, doubtful. 'Perhaps being out at sea alone was too much for him,' she thought. "Alright, Captain Sparrow. So, you're goin' to tell us where Tortuga is, aye?"
"Aye." Jack said taking out his compass and opening the lid. The needle spun and then suddenly stopped. Jack looked at it curiously, tilting his head to the side. Jack followed the needle to where he put down his knapsack.
"Oh." Jack laughed opening the sack, taking out a bottle of rum, popping the cork and taking a swig. Looking back down at the needle it spun once again pointing in the direction of Tortuga.
"Much more better," Jack said walking out on deck, rum bottle in one hand compass in the other up to the helm. Jack pushed the man at the helm to the side and took control of the ship pointing it in the direction of Tortuga.
Kathryn followed Jack up to the helm, curious. As he stood behind the helm, Kathryn tried to peek over his shoulder and look at the compass that he held in his hand. Jack looked back at her, furrowing his brows, snapping the compass closed. He quickly retied it to his belt, then took a swig of rum.
"We should be there by night fall."
Kathryn tried not to look disappointed as he closed the compass. "Good. Night fall. Uhh, Alright." She turned to Carter who was staring at Jack confused. "Carter, this be Captain Sparrow. He knows how to get us to Tortuga." Carter looked surprised and nodded. He then turned to go and help the crew.
"So," Kathryn said slowly. "What shall I do?" She was curious as to why Jack was steering her ship and she was standing behind him as though he were in charge.
"This be yer ship, keep her straight an' true. I'll come by every once in a while t' make sure we're still on course." Jack said knowing how much a Captain hates to be separated from their helm.
Kathryn smiled and took the helm from Jack. "And what shall ye be doin', Captain? Should ye like to sleep or eat, just tell me and I'll get someone to help ye."
"Nay... I've got... quite a bit to think about... I think I should like to just sit and drink me rum."
"Aye. So long as you're not causin' any trouble for the crew, ye have freedom to walk about The Venture as ye wish."
"She's takin' pity on ye. She thinks ye need t' be coddled." Mini Jack 1 sneered.
Jack snorted, "She's not coddlin' me!"
"She thinks yer crazy, so she's coddlin' ye." Mini Jack 2 egged on.
Jack scowled. "Will ye both jus' shut up an' go away? I'm not in The Locker anymore. Why don't ye both jus' go back t' The Locker an' bother somebody else. eh?"
"Captain," she asked gently. He seemed to be talking to himself, and this made Kathryn rather uncomfortable. "Captain, did ye hear what I said?"
"She's talkin' t' ye, ye daft fool!" Mini Jack 1 pointed out.
Jack seethed. "I know, thank you. Now shut up and go away." Jack turned and looked at Kathryn standing behind the helm, "Aye... I'll be ah... I'll be around." He started to descend the stairs.
"She sure is pretty. Too bad she thinks yer crazy." Mini Jack 2 teased.
Jack turned to his shoulder again, "Will you shut it? Why couldn't ye have stayed in The Locker? Ye're doin' me no good here."
Kathryn watched humorously as Jack went down to the deck, stumbling twice. She watched him walk away and smirked. He seemed to be a very experienced pirate and knew what he was doing. He also was rather good-looking and Kathryn couldn't help but be attracted to him. She turned back to the helm and continued The Venture straight as Jack had said. Jack sat down at the bottom of the steps, drinking his rum, arguing with his conscience. Kathryn watched Jack as he whispered to himself and she laughed quietly. She called the helmsman over and asked him to continue straight. He took the wheel and Kathryn walked down to sit next to Jack.
"So, Captain Sparrow. What's your story? What were ye doin' out here in a very small dingy?" She nearly laughed as she remembered the image of him standing in his small boat, waving his arms. At first Jack didn't acknowledge Kathryn and continued his argument with himself.
"She asked ye a question, mate." Mini Jack 2 prodded.
"I know!" Jack turned to Kathryn. "I've had one hell of last few months. Well, not really sure how long it's been... lost track..."
Kathryn looked at him with pity. "Well, can I ask ye how ye were planning on finding the Fountain if I'd not come along?"
"That dingy... or the Pearl... if I happened across her."
"Ah. I see." Kathryn turned to watch her crew. She noticed that they were all watching them very closely. She suddenly felt embarrassed.
"Ye probably think I'm crazy, aye?" The words from his conscience becoming too much for him.
"Crazy?" She turned back to him. "Nay." She looked back to the crew. "Eccentric, maybe."
"Who knows, I probably am... God only knows how much time I spent... there..." Jack trailed off quietly.
Kathryn looked back at him, confused. "Spent where?"
Jack turned to her, his eyes serious and intense. "The Locker."
Kathryn gasped and covered her mouth. Then, slowly she shook her head in disbelief.
"It was worse than what the stories say." Jack continued, the entirety of it suddenly crashing down upon him.
"But, how did you..." She tried again. "How are you..."
Jack looked amused. "How am I not dead?"
Kathryn nodded, "Aye."
"The Green Flash... Ever seen it?"
Kathryn thought. "Aye, once."
Jack took a drink. "Recently?"
"Aye, about...maybe three weeks. Why?"
"It was me, love."
"You? You doing what exactly," Kathryn looked confused.
"Comin' back from The Locker, of course. The Green Flash signals when a once dead soul returns to the land of the living and becomes... living once again."
"So, ye were dead, but now, you're not..."
"Aye. I had friends, if ye could call 'em that, who came fer me... wanted to use me is what it was." Jack smirked as Kathryn frowned, "Except for... her... she came 'cause she felt guilty. Thought that bringin' me back from the dead would make up fer killin' me."
"You're gonna have to be a touch clearer, Captain."
"Her name is Elizabeth Swann. She was the daughter of the now late Governor of Port Royal."
"Elizabeth Swann? She's a pirate now?" She turned back to look at the crew, lost in thought.
"She took the place of Pirate Lord Sao Fang. She was... Pirate King... of the Brethren Court."
"She was?" Kathryn looked back at Jack, concerned and afraid.
"Aye, lives on a quaint little isle now, well not so little, waiting for her husband to return to her. He cannot step foot on land but once every ten years."
"Her husband?! She's married?"
"Aye. Got married right in middle of a battle, she did. Right before Davy Jones killed her husband." Jack smirked as Kathryn's eyes went wide.
"I could have stabbed Davy Jones' heart, I could o' been the Captain o' the Flying Dutchman." Jack said somberly, "I had his heart in me hand. Dagger poised above it... then Davy Jones just... spun around an' plunged his sword into William."
"Poor Elizabeth! But I'm confused. You say he died..."
"I saw Elizabeth pleading with Will not to die. I set the heart down on the deck, put the dagger in William's limp hand an' plunged the dagger into Davy Jones' heart, killing Davy Jones. But you see the Dutchman must always have a Captain. William's father, Bootstrap Bill, cut out his son's heart, an' locked it away in the chest, making William the Captain of the Flying Dutchman. Together, with the Pearl at me command an' the Dutchman at William's command, we defeated the entire East India Armada." Jack chuckled at the memory.
Kathryn was surprised and still trying to work the story through to make sense. "Good Lord!" She shook her head and turned to watch her crew.
They were watching her and Jack more than was necessary. She put on an expression of annoyance and determination and a few of the men turned away. Jack seemed to be totally oblivious to the crew. They were watching him eagerly, curiously. Sometimes whispering to one another about him.
"I… I… I was… dead… swallowed up by Jones' terrible beastie… who knows… I may still be dead… all this, some cruel twisted humor… you know… when I was there… in The Locker, I was hallucinatin' somethin' fierce. The Locker is… it's not a place of death, it's a place of punishment." Jack said, the weight of his words and the events finally baring down on him.
"I was dragged there body an' soul with me Pearl. Nothin' but, hard ground, blindingly white everywhere, not a drop of water, rum or food in sight… 'cept fer a half a peanut… An' me crew… was meself, in multiples. I... I was everywhere, I even shot meself, stabbed meself. It was… weird… even weirder still, every once in a while… they… come back, not all of 'em mind ye. Just a few of 'em. Two mostly… annoying little twits." Jack went on, glaring at his shoulders where the mini Jacks were still standing.
"You see hallucinations? Of… of… yourself?"
"Now ye've done it! Now she knows yer crazy mate!" Mini Jack 1 laughed.
"Ye told her about us yet ye didn't mention the one what laid the egg and who was in love wif a goat!" Mini Jack 2 cackled.
"God damnit! Shut it! Both o' ye!" Jack cursed, glaring at the mini Jacks. Jack finished off his rum in one big gulp, tossed the bottle aside, breaking on the deck. Jack stood up and began pacing the deck yelling quietly at the two mini Jacks. All of the sudden Jack clapped his hands over his ears, "I'm not listening t' ye! Lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala! Not Listening!" Jack repeated over and over.
"Captain Sparrow? Are you alright? Captain Sparrow?" Kathryn asked as she got up, walking over to where Jack was pacing and continuing to rant. She placed a hand on his shoulder, startling him, Jack gasping a little. Jack lowered his hands from his ears and stopped his chant. "What?" He asked, still startled a little.
"Sorry but, are you… are you seeing hallucinations, right now?"
"Aye… stupid little buggers."
"Where are they?"
"Me shoulders. One on each."
"Oh… wut's she gonna now eh?" Mini Jack 1 mocked.
"Ohhh I'm so scared o' the woman who can't see us!" Mini Jack 2 added.
"Your shoulders, so they're tiny?"
"Aye. An' they're makin' fun ye… laughin' at ye."
"Really? Well, I don't tolerate that on my ship, hallucinations or not. So…" Kathryn reached up to his shoulders and tried to grab at the hallucinations, "Have I got them?"
"No! Wut's she doin'?" Mini Jack 1 squealed.
"Tell her t' put us down!" Mini Jack 2 squeaked.
"Yeah, ye got little buggers." Jack glared at the two Jacks in her hands, then stuck out his tongue at each.
"Good." She said as she walked over to the railing. The mini Jacks protesting all the way over, and Jack mocking them. "I'll not tolerate being mocked. Those who mock me, are thrown overboard."
"NO!" Both mini Jacks squealed.
"Oh yes!" Jack said sticking out his tongue again as Kathryn threw the hallucinations as far away from the ship as she could. Jack cackled as he saw the mini Jacks fall out in the middle of the ocean and drown. "Thank God ye thought o' that love." Jack said then acted as if nothing happened. Jack turned and walked off to find his knapsack in the Captain's Cabin.
Pulling out another bottle of rum, Jack popped the cork with his teeth, spitting the cork out on the floor. Jack took a long swig as he stepped out of the cabin and walked up to the helm pulling his compass from his belt. Jack opened the lid and readjusted the wheel to get them back on course.
"Keep her goin' in this direction mate." Jack told the helmsman, then went back down the stairs, sitting on one of the steps to drink his rum, as they waited for Tortuga to come into sight.
a/n: So there is our first chapter, I know it was REALLY, REALLY LONG! According to the word count it was 4,528 words! Yay! Go us! Read and Review please!
As Always… Take What Ye Can… Give Nothin' Back!
Captain Sparrow's Pirate Wenches
Scarlet & Giselle