Praeda[1]
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I am not Jerry Bruckheimer and hold no claim to the Disney franchise. Therefore, I do not own any characters that appeared in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. However, I do own all of the original characters.
Author's notes: This goes before Starry, Starry Night and after the Passing Storm, and hopefully, they're all coming together in a nice little series. There is one more, and I'm hoping to finish beta-ing it later this week, after I get together with my friend. Unfortunately, my muse went out of town, so I'm a little slow lately.
Again, I'm not a professional sailor, so my perspective on the sailors is taken from my muse's unnaturally extensive, but very helpful, nautical knowledge.
A big thank you to everyone who's been reviewing, and all the constructive criticism. I'm working as hard as I can, and every bit helps.
*************************************************************
After being stranded in the waters for only a day, Will Turner decided that of all the foul things he'd ever smelled in his life, the Saragossa Sea smelled the worst. On the decks of the HMS Regina, sailors stood idly as the becalmed merchant ship drifted lazily on the edges surrounded by great mats of seaweed. Will had stood up there for only a few minutes, mesmerized briefly by the swaying vegetation, and then tromped off deck to his cabin in a huff.
"Of all the bloody idiots!" he yelled as he stormed into his cabin. All he could possibly do was catch up on the horribly long queue of repairs to fittings, or find a group of sailors on deck to share tales with. Since Will had joined the Regina anonymously, he couldn't very well go telling his favorite story about Jack and the Curse.
Will looked at the small blacksmith's toolkit Captain Cummings had bartered for him, and he seethed. The Captain of the Regina was a sweet old man, paunchy and balding, set in his ways and in love with his ship. However, despite how much Cummings loved the true Regina, his ship would never be one of his majesty's finest. Even so, Captain Cummings had been kind enough to allow Will on board in return for his skills as a blacksmith, even though Will could never do anything truly useful without a forge. The fact that Cummings had drifted the ship into the nefarious edges of the Saragossa Sea was literally a silent and calm testament to his not being the brightest spark in the fire. Best they could do was hope for a wind to point them starboard and sail them out.
The smell of seaweed had drifted into his cabin, and he could hardly stand the reek of salty vegetation. Will pulled out his kit and sat at his workbench and listened to the ship rock every so slightly in the current. In moments, the steady poundings from his hammer on the tiny anvil blocked out all other sensory experiences, and Will missed the hubbub that began a few moments later.
Above deck, Captain Cummings stood at the wheel with his Lieutenant by his side, a man by the name of Sanders. With the spyglass in hand, the Lieutenant scoured the ocean to see if help might be sailing on the horizon, but so far, only endless, crystal clear ocean water stretched before them… and possibly a dot that just might be a ship.
"What do you see Sanders, that keeps you so fascinated?" the Captain asked his Lieutenant, as he leaned idly on the wheel.
"I think I see a ship, hold on…" Sanders peered into the spyglass and watched, as the dot became a ghostly black ship, with deathly black sails and a black flag lying listless on the masts. However, it was the massive collection of oars that stretched from the belly of the ship that moved it speedily on through the ocean of seaweed. "Oh… we're in trouble."
"Give me the glass, Sanders." Cummings looked out towards the ship, which could only mean one thing. "We have a little time, if we alert the sailors now, we might just be able to fend the bloody pirates off."
"But Captain, we're already dead in the water." Cummings gave Sanders a disgruntled look, but Sanders' dark eyes flashed. After a second of tension, Sanders looked at his old captain with despair and roused the Midshipman. "Ericson! Send the Bo'sun below decks and rouse the men! Open the ports and prepare to fire the cannons!"
"Fire at what sir?" asked Ericson, who, though lower ranking, was taller than the other two men, and loomed over all of the sailors like a mountain. He looked over the deck, and Sanders stood beside him. "I don't see anything."
"You're looking for a black dot that's moving incredibly fast… oh wait, there it is." Sanders pointed at the target, coming up over the visible horizon, and the Midshipman suddenly sprinted across deck.
"Poole! Go below and rouse the men, open the ports and load the cannons!" he shouted, as his long legs ran past the Boatswain. The young man looked at him sulkily and moved to action. All of a sudden, the whole ship became a flurry of activity: cards were dropped, tales left unfinished, and the crew looked like rats scurrying around a maze.
Sanders watched as Captain Cummings slowly put down the spyglass and smiled sadly at his Lieutenant. "We're doomed…" he said, handing the scope to Sanders. "It's the Pearl."
In his cabin, Will sat dazedly working through repetitive motions, the sound of the hammer hypnotizing him. A general roar of confusion above decks broke his silent, solitary reverie and Will stood from his workbench. He opened the door to his cabin and the first thing he heard was a crewmember's shout. "We're bein' attacked!" the old sailor yelled, and Will grabbed his sword. Running out of the door, Will intended to go above deck and prepare to fight, but a strong hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"Mr. Turner, if you might help us man the cannons?" the boatswain yelled above the crew's chaotic excitement.
"Aye, Mr. Poole," he answered, glaring at the boatswain. He might have made all of the cannonballs, but he didn't want to be the one to fire them. He was the best swordsman on board, and if they were boarded… Will stopped thinking about it, and pushed through the frenzy towards the armory.
When he arrived, the crew was in chaos. Will took one look around and sighed deeply, and then sighted Mr. Poole. The man's booming voice began to give orders, and Will grabbed a cannonball. The young blacksmith cum sailor began to load the cannonball into the cannon, but a rough old hand and a gruff voice stopped him. "It's no use, boy. You'll naught fire a cannon the way you've got it." Will looked at the old sailor with a mix of annoyance and pride, and handed the ball back to the old man win a huff. In return, young Mr. Turner was given the fuse box to light the fuse with.
"Aye, Mr. Hawkins." Will stood detached in the confusion as the noise of the cannons drowned out the shouts. Only the cannons on the port side were being fired, and so Will slunk back and watched the crew as they all loaded and fired in erratic intervals. In the din, Will could only catch bits and pieces of conversation, mostly along the lines of "we're doomed," and "No prisoners." As he stood behind the cannon, he could only see the shadow of the attacking ship as it pulled up along side the Regina, with its own cannons firing.
A sudden return shot tore through the hull near Will's head, missing by only a few feet. The blast shook Will's impassive façade, and he began to shake. Hawkins signaled to Will, and the young man lit the fuse with trembling hands. The noise of the shot temporarily deafened him, but he could see through the hole that had been torn in the ship, and the shadows of boarding ropes were visible.
Will watched carefully as Hawkins prepared another shot, but the first clear thing Will could hear was Poole ordering a cease-fire. The Bo'sun turned to look up the ladder to see who had given the order and suddenly fell like a dead man. Crowding in behind the fallen Mr. Poole, a group of scraggy Pirates scurried in and dragged out the fallen man.
Moving into the shadows, Will gripped the hilt of his sword and watched as each Pirate grabbed a crewman and hauled them above deck. Quickly, Will was left alone in the shadows, save for one ugly fellow with a peg leg and a shabby sword. Moving quietly as he could in buckle shoes Will snuck up on the poor man and clubbed him over the head with the pommel of his sword. Stepping over the fallen pirate Will made his way up the ladder.
As he walked towards the hatch, he heard muffled, familiar voices. "So… your intentions towards the goods are crystal clear, my dear man," Will heard Captain Cummings' voice ask tiredly. "What about my men?"
"Your men are part of the booty and we may do with them what we please. As Will reached the top of the ladder, he peeked his head out of the hatch. He saw a young man being held at sword point by a pirate with his back to the hatch and Captain Cummings, who was addressing the pirate who held the poor crewman. To Will, the voice struck a bell, but the garb and the manners did not. Therefore, Will surmised, it was time to make his move.
Rushing out of the hatch, Will pointed his sword at the back of the speaking pirate. "Let the man go, or I'll run you through!" he exclaimed, standing stiffly and well aware that he was probably surrounded by pirates.
A sharp point in the small of his back reminded him once again. "This is an inopportune moment, lad, to be puttin' yer neck out where a man like me can… well, it's really not important. What's important is that yer doin' somethin' extremely stupid." Will turned slowly and faced the sun-darkened visage of Captain Jack Sparrow. Will's eyes widened, and Jack held his sword on Will's neck. Any elation he felt was quickly replaced with panic as Jack aimed a pistol at his head.
"No, what are you doing?!" he whispered under his breath to Jack, who merely winked and shifted his eyes to look at the captain.
"Sir, please! He's just a blacksmith!" The Captain of the Regina was going into fits of distress, as he called out from behind Will. Jack smiled merrily at him in return.
"M'dear Cap'n." Jack began, "I've been needin' the services of a blacksmith fer quite some time, and I like th' look of yer's. Henceforth, the plan… as such, is this. I'll be takin' all yer goods, an' th' blacksmith – "
"None of the goods, and the blacksmith." The voice that had piped up came from the Lieutenant, who stood beside the Captain at sword point with his eyes sparkling.
"ALL of th' goods – " Jack looked severely at the man, who smiled.
"Half of the goods."
"Three quarters of th' goods and who argues with a bloody pirate!?" Jack shouted, as he turned his pistol on Sanders. Sanders merely smirked and reached past Will to point the pistol away from his own face. "Fine. Three-quarters of th' goods and th' blacksmith, and I'll let ye all live." Jack smiled darkly at Captain Cummings, and then turned to someone behind Will. "If you would be so kind as to collect Mr. – "
"Turner, sir." Will replied, catching on to Jack's game. The Captain looked taken aback, for Will had never given his name as anything other than 'Smith.' Jack grinned at the confused Captain and continued.
"Mr. Turner's things from below," Jack finished, and the someone who turned out to be Gibbs moved past Will to the hatch. Jack suddenly grabbed Will and pulled him towards his body, shifting his weight as he cocked the pistol towards Will's throat. Will's mind raced, and adrenaline rushed through his body making him shake in Jack's arms. "If I were I kind man, which I ain't," Jack said, as he smiled at Captain Cummings, "I'd kill ye all. Th' Saragossa is a harsh sea, but I'd be supposin' you already know that. 'Tis a hard fate gettin' lost in her waters." Jack's smile glinted in the sunlight and Will winced, knowing the Regina's possible fate. "So, I'll be supposin' t' let ye live. Yer lucky yer only on th' edge. I'd say th' wind 'll pick up in a day," he paused, "or two."
The earlier speaker turned and sheathed their sword, and Will faced Anamaria in a man's attire, looking as harsh as any other pirate. She smirked, and Will began to struggle in Jack's arms. "You can't do this!" he yelled, trying to act the part Jack had cast him to, and Jack stopped him with a thumb into his hip.
"Don't go doin' somethin' stupid, boy," said Jack, hissing through bared teeth. "I may just decide th' pirate's life isn't fer you." They began to walk backwards until they reached the plank the crew of the Pearl had thrown earlier. Jack turned and they walked across the plank together, the crew behind them, and Will turned to look solemnly at the crew of the Regina.
The abandoned crew looked at Will sadly, and he could imagine the thoughts running though their heads. In his mind, a dirge played and Will had to suppress a smile. Captain Cummings took off his hat in salute, and the rest of the crew of the Regina followed suit. Will smiled sadly, and he could hear a shanty being sung as the crew of the Black Pearl took their places at the oars.
A hand on his back pushed Will violently below decks, and his head narrowly missed the top of the hatch. He tumbled over his feet on the stairs and lurched into the grand Captain's cabin of the Black Pearl. Jack grinned as he shoved Will into a bolted wooden chair, and flopped his own body into the plush seat reserved only for him.
"I dare say, young Mr. Turner," Captain Sparrow began, "I always knew ye'd turn pirate." Jack smiled fondly at the boy, and Will could do nothing but return it.
"Only for you, Jack," Will replied, his relief painted on his face boldly. "You don't know how good it is to finally see you."
"That's Captain, to ye, whelp." Jack leaned back and twisted a finger around the braids in his beard, now longer than before, but well trimmed. "I thought I'd heard tell of ya," he said, looking at Will thoughtfully, "But I didn't believe it 'till today. Lucky for ya we were passin' through." The grin on Jack's face grew wider, and his golden teeth gleamed in the dim light of the cabin. "I ne'er thought I'd see ya on the likes of th' Regina. She's an awful ship, mate." He looked out his window disdainfully, where the merchant ship sailed sluggishly in the calm water. The Black Pearl creaked with the rhythmic pace of the oars, and the ships were rapidly gaining distance from each other.
Will laughed heartily at the Captain's distaste for Will's former habitation, the mirth reaching his eyes for the first time in more than a year. "Oh, Jack, you don't understand how awful it's been. I've been bored senseless…It's so good to see a familiar face." The mirth quickly faded, and Will sighed finally. "I think you're the only one I have left."
"Ah, but where's yer bonny lass?" Jack asked, his grin slipping off his face, and Will's face darkened.
"Elizabeth died," he replied and Jack frowned. "Over a year ago, of scarlet fever. I… had it as a boy in England, but she…" he trailed off as he looked at the floor. Jack stood and pulled him up from the chair.
"Well, I'd say you'll fit right in," Jack said, opening the door and offering Will his hand. "We're all lost men 'ere, in some way or another." Will walked up the ladder and walked out to the rail, looking at the black decks and the crystal ocean contrasted against each other. As he leaned against the rail, he missed Jack's lost look that trailed over his body and mirrored Will's own.
As the Pearl rowed on, a faint breeze stirred and Gibbs yelled to Cotton to release the mainsail. Soon, the Pearl sailed swiftly away from the bewitching sea into the Caribbean waters. Cotton's parrot flapped its wings and settled on the mizzenmast, screeching an awful tune. Amongst the usual commotion, Will watched the sea and looked to the horizon where the Regina was a small dot bobbing back and forth. Behind him, Jack walked up to the wheel and relieved Anamaria while watching Will become familiar with the horizon.
As he gripped the rails, Will breathed deeply and the smell of seaweed faded into the salty sea air. "Ah, the smell of freedom…" he whispered under his breath, and looked into the horizon. He stood there for what seemed like an eternity, watching the sun glint on the sea.
[1] Praeda is a bit of a joke, at least to a Latin geek. It is a reference to Virgil's Aeneid, where Dido is referred to as Aeneas' booty (treasure).