Chapter 1: The Singing Siren

The Black Pearl sliced through the blue gray waters of the Atlantic seeking any new adventure that might come into its wake. Captain Jack Sparrow stood at the helm, inhaling the warm salted air blissfully. But another fragrance was infiltrating the scrumptious breeze of the sea; thick, pungent smoke. The young fellow in the crow's nest bellowed to the crew below about a merchant ship, badly battered but still afloat. Jack made the necessary corrections to head towards it, examining it through his spyglass.

"Don' 'no Captain, looks to me like who's ever took it over, left nothing to salvage." His mate, Joshamee Gibbs, stated cautiously. Jack nodded, but looked at the dying ship again.

"Aye, Mr. Gibbs, but ne'er hurts to take a look." To that Gibbs just shook his head, eyeing the craft in the distance. The Singing Siren, a bad omen indeed, mayhap luring more men to their deaths. Jack ordered a small group to accompany him aboard the foreign ship, and the rest of the crew to keep watch, in case whomever had attacked the vessel decided to come back to sink it whilst they were on board. Abe, Gibbs, and Quibble had their pistols ready and headed to the lower decks and storage. Anamaria followed Jack towards the Captain's quarters. Poking through the first few rooms, the interior was ransacked and stripped of anything that could be of value. Jack continued on to the Captain's cabin, noticing its complete disarray as well. He began to rifle through maps on the desk, noticing the destination of the vessel was Port Royal, Jamaica. He looked sadly around the chaotic mess of a ship, suddenly ripped from his thoughts by Gibbs shouting for him. He hurried down to the lower decks, gun in hand and adrenaline pumping madly through his veins. Jack came upon his crew in what could have been the makeshift brig of the ship, surprised to see them all stunned silent except for Gibbs calling for him. He entered the dark room, the only window was blocked out by something hanging in front of it, blocking most of the light out. Anamaria was kneeling by a dirty mess of clothing. But Quibble entered with a lit torch, revealing it was a woman's body. Another lay in a bloody pool, hair that was once blonde now stained a maroon red. The hanging object was also revealed, a barely clothed woman, bloodied whip marks across her back that had started to dry. The woman was shackled at the wrists then suspended from the floor with a rope so that she barely stood on her tiptoes.

"They're dead, Cap'n." Anamaria stated quietly, checking the other woman on the ground. Jack walked around to see the face of the woman strung up. He thought he heard a sound, like a soft whimper and leaned in closer. The tear streaked face grimaced slightly and he felt her hot soft breath against his cheek.

"This one's not. Gibbs, quickly now, cut her down."

"But Cap'n, what if…"

"Just do it." Jack watched Gibbs slice through the rope with a dagger and the woman started to slump forward, and her blazing eyes opened. Before Jack could tell what 

happened, she had the shackles that linked her wrists together around his head and pulled him in front of her.

"Nessun movimento, o voi avrà bisogno di nuovo capitano!" She shouted at the people before her, trying to ignore the pain that wracked her body. They all looked upon her confused and spoke slow English to her,

"Easy lass, easy now. No one's go'na be hurting ye." Gibbs tried to reason slowly cocking his firearm, just in case she did something crazy. Jack was calm, gesturing for him to lower his weapon. He could feel her small frame shaking from fatigue and pain and knew she would not be standing much longer.

"No one move, or you will need a new Captain!" She stated again in English for them with a heavy Italian accent. Suddenly the shock of the torture and exhaustion of her body was too much and she started to swoon. Luckily Jack whipped around to catch her, lifting her gingerly up into his arms.

"Come on, back to the Pearl. Me think's she has got a tale to tell about all this." Jack swaggered slightly with the new weight, but carried her out of the torture chamber quickly.

Jack looked down at the unconscious figure on his bed. He had gotten rid of the shackles that had bruised the young woman's wrists, and began cleaning the whip gashes along her tanned back. He wondered absentmindedly to himself why someone would mark up a fine patch of skin like that, knowing there would be some scarring. He touched the damp rag to one of the marks and heard her whimper in despair. The once downy white cotton of her under dress was ripped to disrepair and a transparent gossamer veil over her. He stroked delicately to one mark while gazing down the length of her, noticing her rounded bottom practically visible under the garment. In his distraction with her form, his patient woke slowly and panicked, slinging a hand back at him and trying to roll off to the opposite side of the bed. But Jack caught her and subdued her with his own weight, hoping to calm her down.

"Easy love, yer okay here. Safe love, relax." He tried to sooth her, but she became a hellion under him. She began shouting in her native language bucking against him and trying to smack him away. To hush her loud gibberish he capped a hand over her mouth, only to feel the sharp pain of her teeth sinking in. She managed to knock him to one side of her and leapt from the bed quickly, searching for a defense or an escape. He watched amazed as she picked up his sword and pointed it at him. "Hey now love, there is no need for all this. Calm…"

"Don't come near me. I'll cut out your heart if you come any nearer to me, pirata diabolico! Stay away from me!" Her voice was thick and rich with the Mediterranean accent, as she kept the sword as steady as she could. She watched him with her fierce dark eyes as he took a seat on the bed and observed her. Her hair was a frenzied mass of dark 

mahogany around her head, curling down one shoulder to hide what the transparent material of her gown exhibited.

"I stay right here, love. But put the sword down before ye hurt yerself." He was trying to reason with her, and from the looks of it, it was like trying to reason with a ravenous tiger. "Where is it ye think ye'll go? Yer aboard the Black Pearl now, love."

"I will go find my sister. And murder the bastard that did this to me." She proclaimed defiantly, watching him nod slowly and appear to contemplate her words.

"Right, very good, love. But how do ye suggest ye goes about doing so on me ship and all by yer onesies?"

"I'll do whatever it is I have to, to find her. And stop calling me love!" She seemed to become infuriated in a single moment again. Jack could not conceal the half smirk on his lips, hearing all the old tales of the hot Italian temper.

"Alrighty, love… What be yer name then?"

"Marietta Cavaliere, daughter of Sir Dante Cavaliere. And who are you?"

"Captain Jack Sparrow, love, I mean Marie. Surely ye've heard of the infamous Captain Sparrow?"

"No, I make it a habit to not associate with pirates."

"Ye were rescued by one, darling."

"Yes, and one also left me to die on a sinking ship, only after having…" Marietta paused and gulped slowly, unable to process everything that had happened to her since the attack. Tears welled behind her eyes, threatening to over spill. Jack felt very uncomfortable dealing with weeping women, but attempted to calm her, walking towards her. She noticed his sudden movement and lashed out with the sword, catching only the sleeve of his shirt and ripping it. She backed away like a cornered animal, bumping into a cabinet behind her. The pain seared through her again, weakening her grip and causing her to drop the sword. Jack took the only opportune moment he saw and captured her in his arms. He trapped her arms at her sides and held her body close to his. He could hear her heart pounding wildly behind her breast, and could smell the salt and blood on her skin. He looked down at her dirty face and noticed more tears spilling onto her cheeks. There was probably a pretty face somewhere under all the grime, and he would see it.

"Alrighty, darlin' Marie. Stop yer fighting and listen. Yer aboard me ship, no one will be hurting ye here. I'll get ye in a nice hot bath and tend to those nasty pains, if ye promise to calm. And promise to tell me what in the bloody 'ell happen on that ship." She looked up at him, and he saw the fierceness in her eyes slowly mellow, though not completely gone. She nodded and he released her, taking the sword away from where she stood though. He 

bellowed out the door for bath water to be brought along with some food. When he turned back to her, she was attempting to smooth her tangled tresses and unsuccessfully. He walked towards her slowly, and offered her a seat as a young cabin boy brought in two large buckets of steaming water. She watched the young boy pour them into a tub at the end of the Captain's cabin then move swiftly to leave, eyeing her for a moment before leaving. She didn't realize Jack had moved behind her until she felt a comb tugs softly through her hair. He noticed she was tense through most of it, until he had gotten her hair to fall in silky waves down her back.

Marietta rose from the chair and walked stiffly towards the tub, but Jack wasn't sure if it was from the pain she felt or nervousness of something taking her by surprise. She peeked at him over one shoulder as one sleeve of her gown slide off. He seemed to have no intention of be a gentleman and offering her privacy, but what could really be expected of a pirate. She started to remove the other sleeve when agony raced through her, causing her to gasp out loud. Material of the dress had dried and stuck to one of the whip wounds at her lower back. She felt a pair of hands gently tug at the excruciating spot, dampening it with water from the tub to make it easier to pull away. His hands continued to help, bracing her as she stepped out of the tattered gown that pooled at her feet. She eased into the tub as he held up her hair, splaying it outside the bath.

"Ready to tell me what happened, love?" She heard him speak softly, before he moved away. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a soft knock at the door. "Come." The same cabin boy brought in a try of food that smell so delicious, Marietta almost climbed out of the tub to sample it. The young boy seemed stunned that the same woman that had been in the chair by the door was now in the tub, naked. Jack hurried him out as the boy gawked for a few moments too long. Jack looked at her again, grabbing an apple from the tray of food and began cutting it with a small knife. "Go on, love, I'll bring the food to ye."

"Well, I was sailing towards Jamaica with my father and younger sister Miabella on the Singing Siren. We were leaving Italy to settle some place more prosperous…" Marietta looked off distantly as the memories played in her head.