The night was dreary and quiet. Fog hung low on the Royal Navy, as they communicated in rushed sentences. The boots of marching soldiers splashed into puddles along the streets. Everyone was tense and jumpy, but not sure why. The chilling air rushed in on them, blowing one of the soldiers hats off and into a puddle. The men were as tense as a bowstring.
Alec Gwillim, chairman of the East India Trading Company, sat at the table under the stone entryway. His advisors stood before him, discussing the girl.
"Sir, where do you suggest we start looking for her?"
Lord Gwillim pinched the bridge of his nose out of frustration. "Try interrogating." The two advisors clutched their guns tighter out of nervousness. Lord Gwillim's tone was impatient, he had been trying to get his hands on this girl for a while, and he was growing tired of this goose chase. "She is well known, someone is bound to know her whereabouts," Gwillim said, glaring at the men. The two white curls of his hair set just above his ears, his hat sitting lightly atop his head. "Put a bounty on her," he commanded, "she'll be in our hands within weeks."
Gwillim was agitated with his men and their inability to do their jobs. This girl was almost as much trouble as one other pirate he had had a run in with recently: Captain Jack Sparrow. The girl was like Sparrow in so many ways, as a matter of fact. She acted like him, and had a strange way with words, just as he did. She was only about seventeen years old, but she was a Sparrow in the making.
"Pardon me," spoke the second advisor in a bold voice, "but is one girl really worth all this trouble?"
Gwillim turned to him with annoyance, "It is if the girl is Araelya Drace."
Little was known about Araelya Drace, but she reeked havoc wherever she went. She had caused enough problems for Gwillim, and he had had it with her. He was willing to do anything to get to her. His only wish was to see her being hung at the gallows, as dark as that may seem.
The soldiers all rushed off to do as they were commanded. A bounty for 1,000 shillings was placed on Araelya. Soon enough everyone was out looking for her, pirates and all. No human would help her stay hidden. They would all want to turn her in and claim their reward. However, Araelya still managed to stay out of the limelight. She wasn't seen for months, and eventually the bounty was raised by another thousand.
People were going crazy in search of the girl, and all they had to do was open their eyes. Araelya was staying hidden in Tortuga. She was in desperate need of a ship to stow away on. She had been sleeping on the streets for a few weeks, and there was said to be sightings of her there in Tortuga; this place was growing old and it was time to move again.
She was crouched behind a pile of crates that were being loaded onto a beautiful boat with black sails. She pushed her hat down over her face in an attempt to keep hidden. She heard men arguing about needing more rum, as men usually did. Turning to the wall behind her, she spotted one of her wanted posters and tore it down, shoving it deep in her pocket. It was best to tear down as many of these as possible. She pushed the lid off of one of the barrels that she was hiding behind and scrambled inside. She managed to get the lid back on just as a man stumbled over and lifted it. He grunted as he barred the weight of it, and carried it onto the ship.
Hours of rocking on the rough seas passed by. Her legs ached from being in the cramped barrel all day. But just outside of her barrel a not-so-famous captain was giving orders.
"Captain," the gruff voice of Mr. Gibbs rang out, "Do we have a heading, sir?" Mr. Gibbs, although he has always stood by his captain, was doubtful of him now. They hadn't gotten anything of value in some while, and Mr. Gibbs knew just what he would like to search for. "Might I suggest we find that girl. Araelya, was it? The reward for finding her might be worth our time, Captain."
"Then we shall start our search for her if you think it is that important," said the voice of Captain Jack Sparrow. He was standing next to the barrel that contained the girl they were to be looking for. He was oblivious.
"She hasn't been spotted in months, sir," Mr Gibbs said in a rush. "Where do we look?" The rest of the crew was starting to gather around to listen in on the conversation.
Jack opened his mouth to speak, holding up his finger as he did so, but he was interrupted by a tiny sneeze. The confused crew looked at each other, trying to locate the source of the sneeze, but it was too small and girly of a sneeze for any of them. Jack leaned in close to Mr. Gibbs, "That wouldn't have been your dainty sneeze by chance, would it?" he asked hopefully.
Mr. Gibbs shook his head, "Nay, Sir. Not me."
"I was afraid not." He turned on his heel to look at the barrel that the sneeze had come from. He poked at the lid like it was a live creature. The crew leaned in, urging him on. He slid the lid off to reveal Araelya crouched inside.
Araelya instantly leaped from the barrel and lashed out at Jack with her knife, but he stepped back out of her reach and the crew disarmed her quickly. She kicked and jerked her body around, but it was no use. Two men, by the names of Ragetti and Pintel, held her arms back, but Fiona had other ways of making them release her. She lunged at Ragetti with her head and crashed into him with such great force that his wooden eye popped out of his face and was sent rolling on the ground. Ragetti yelped and dropped Araelya's arm so that he could go after the eye. Araelya took this chance to swing her fist at Pintel. Her fist collided with his nose. Blood burst out from it and he too released her arm.
As she turned to run, she hit the chest of Jack Sparrow. She gasped and whirled to run in a different direction, but two more crew members hit her forcefully on the face and the stomach. She curled in on herself in pain and she was seized. Araelya squirmed in their grip, but someone came up behind her and pulled her hair tight so that she couldn't move her head in any direction. She hissed through her clenched teeth, not wanting to accept her capture.
Jack came to stand in front of her and tilted his head up to peered at her, "Who are you?" He was rather impressed with the damage she had done, considering her small size and fragile looking body.
The only sound was that of the sea. Araelya pressed her lips tight together, refusing to speak. She was not about to cooperate with the people who would most likely turn her in to the Royal Navy.
It didn't take long, however, for a strangely small man to recognize her. He waddled forward, his bald head shinning in the sunlight and pointed at her accusingly, "She be the one we are looking for. I recognize her from the wanted posters."
Mr. Gibbs stepped up beside of Jack, "You're Araelya, then?" He smiled and looked a his captain, "Finding her was much easier than I though it would be."
Jack was still eyeing the girl. Everyone questioned what to do next, and Jack didn't exactly have the answer. If they went to the Royal Navy to turn her in, they would be arrested too, same has Araelya. If a different pirate turned her in it might've been a different story, but Jack was greatly wanted by Lord Gwillim also. And, frankly, he didn't feel right turning this girl in, but when was he ever known for doing the right thing.
He studied her closely. Her oversized white shirt blew in the wind, and her black hair was escaping from its braid and blowing in her face. The look she gave him was so haunting that he actually felt intimidated.
"Lock her up," Jack said finally. "We shall take her to the Royal Navy."
Araelya wiggled in the grasp of the men again, but winced as her hair was yanked. She wanted to yell at him or make him some sort of deal that would convince him to let her go, but for the first time her mind was blank and she had nothing to say.
Jack smiled at her with his crooked teeth and leaned in closer to her. "Welcome aboard the Black Pearl."
Araelya flinched away at the stench of his breath creeping into her nostrils. The crew snickered and pulled her away and down to the brig. She groaned and strained against them. They tossed her into a cell and locked it tight.
She pulled at the bars but regretted it later when she saw that her hands had become covered in a dark gooey substance from them. Araelya was left alone and the Black Pearl set out to deliver her to the Royal Navy. She looked around for anything that might help her escape, but even if she got out of her cell, where would she go? She didn't know how far away land was, so it was no use trying to swim away. She wasn't trying to get herself killed.
Above deck Captain Jack was shouting orders at his men. They all rushed around doing their jobs and getting ready to meet the Royal Navy. Some men murmured about what they planned on doing with the money, most of their ideas including rum.
"Sir," Mr. Gibbs came rushing up to the captain. "How do we plan to approach the Royal Navy without getting caught?"
Jack had been turning this over in his head, he didn't know what to do, but he was guaranteed to figure something out. He considered hiring someone to go in and deliver the girl. But who is to say that they wouldn't run off with all the money for themselves. He pondered for a while before the idea hit him.
"Mr. Gibbs, we have an appointment with the Flying Dutchman." He had a feeling that Will Turner, the captain of said ship, would help them out after he heard Jack's proposition. He planned to make a deal with him: If Will delivered the girl for them, he could have a small sum of the profit.
With a sly smile Jack stood at he helm of the ship, steering it away, singing, "Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a pirates life for me."