"She's obviously new Jack. But ye almost got me worryin' for a moment. Had she been new, it'd be bad luck for us."
"Gibbs, how ignorant have ye been. I saw 'er side empty without any name." Jack chuckled, standing behind the helm without his coat. The sun in the sky was scorching and he reckoned it'd be useless for the day.
"Well then name her now!" Gibbs demanded, turning red as he glared the the captain.
Jack thought for a moment; the first name that popped into his head would do since the ship would not be his permanently. His Black Pearl, once freed, will be his again then he'd abandon the ship in some port or give it someone so he didn't really care.
"Amante Delle Onde." he answered, snatching his telescope from his belt before looking through it, oblivious to Gibbs' rant while asking what it meant. He chuckled to himself, searching for something, anything, in the waves that might caught his eye.
And something did.
He tensed, catching from the corner of his eye, a dinghy that had two people riding it in. A familiar looking man with a lass on the opposite side. It should have been any usual and common scene but the man there looked somewhat familiar. More so, the woman was in a dress and a cloak, her head buried between her knees and chest, either asleep or upset.
Then Jack noticed that another man was swimming in the waves, someone who looked quite familiar as well..
"Gibbs," he called, placing his telescope down. "I think there's someone out there."
She woke up to a start, quickly sitting up before her dream could even continue past the point where she discovered the pirate's dagger. What had followed years ago was somehow traumatizing in a way and Judy was relieved that she woke up before the next part.
But she had woken up into an unusual situation.
In the opposite side of the dinghy was Fat in the boat with Patch complaining in the water, swimming by the dinghy. Her mouth fell open as she stared at the duo. What had happened after the fire? Why were they here?
"Oh, look. Poppet's awake." Fat exclaimed in a sarcastic jolly tone.
Judy, appalled, pushed him off the dinghy with all the strength she had left. A scream of protest before Fat fell off and the princess leaned against the other side as she crossed her arms and watched. Patch began to laugh as he climbed onto the dinghy; the brunette let him since it was Fat who annoyed her anyway. She inspected her dress and realized it was wet. It was most probable that the waves were wild last night and she had gotten wet. A hand reached her hair, her hair-do now ruined, and realized it was wet too. God, I'm so cold.
A moment when it all hit her. She was cold, probably sick, and alone with these two. Even as the sun shone in the sky, she still felt cold and began to shiver.
Within a moment of recovering, the man in the water began to complain as he reached for the vessel and rocked it. "Who gave you the right to push me off the bloody thing?!" he asked in exasperation as Judy held on as Patch demanded Fat stop.
The lady could no longer bear it and surrendered to hugging her knees and burying her head between her chest and knees, the least she could do to stop herself from shivering. Muffled sounds of sobs emanated from her and at once, the two stopped squabbling and switched their attention and gazes at the crying lady.
"This is all your fault!" Ragetti whispered to his uncle who was staying afloat the calm waves.
Pintel cast him a look of disbelief. "I told you we should've just pushed 'er off the dinghy!" he exclaimed in reply.
"Push her off, she drowns. She drowns, she dies! Do you want people after us for killing the princess of London?" Ragetti retorted, eventually silencing the other as he thought about it in silence. "Finally, my nephew is able to make sense." he commented, cue an eye roll from Ragetti as he stared at the lady.
Her body may not be tired besides the corset she was wearing, which she forgot to remove before she left (in which case she had trouble breathing at the current moment), but her mind was. Everything that just happened the night before seemed to hard to process with many questions left unanswered. Who caused the fire? Where were the others? We're they the only survivors? What happened to the ship? Where would she go now? Most of all, where was her brother? What happened to him? Was he dead? Even if he was, could she accept it?
Judy let the tears flow; she no longer cared what the two thought of her as long as she could let it all out now. The stress, the sadness, the worry, all of it in the form of tears.
Within a few minutes, sleep came to claim her with unconsciousness bringing her to its side.
"Oh! Captain Sparrow! We have not been happier to see you!" the two exclaimed in sheer joy and relief as the dinghy was hauled up then settled aboard the ship. Jack simply watched in amusement, a smirk curling at his lips, as Pintel rushed over him and Gibbs inspected the dinghy with a puzzled and worried look on his face with Ragetti by his side, the same expression on his face.
"O' course! Who else can ye rely on but the captain Jack Sparrow, ye grimy halfwits. And welcome to the-"
"Jack!" Gibbs interrupted, gesturing for the captain to come. Jack sighed and reluctantly did so and upon seeing another body on the vessel, he blinked in surprise. How could he forget about the woman he saw from the distance?
She was still in the same position, hugging her knees with her head buried between her knees and chest. Ragetti was biting his fingernails and Gibbs shook her to no avail while Pintel explored the ship. Jack's eyebrows scrunched in worry. Was she dead? Was she alive? What happened to her? Why was she with the pair?
"Jack, she's alive." Gibbs declared in which Ragetti did the sign of the cross and kissed his fist. "She's breathing but I don't know what happened to her."
Jack bent low and noticed her wet hair and wet dress. "She's sick. Probably asleep." he concluded, his face twisting with worry. Who was this girl? "Do ye know who she is?" he asked Ragetti.
"Oh, uh. Princess of London."
The words struck Gibbs and the captain hard and the first mate backed away while Jack stared at the sleeping lady with disbelief. "Bloody Jones, Jack. What kind of fortune has befallen you today?" he heard Gibbs ask him.
He simply shook his head. The question was, how did she end up with the two?
Making up his mind, he slowly and with caution removed her arms from her knees, causing her to fall backward but his arm caught her before she fell. Placing the arm behind her nape and the other under her knees, he lifted her with little effort. She was not heavy had she not been wearing such articles of clothing.
Jack walked towards the captain's quarters as Ragetti helped Gibbs fix the dinghy as the first mate ordered Pintel to take charge of the helm. It was only then that Jack saw the woman's face; her features reminded him of the seductive priestesses' he once encountered during his adventures crossed with an angel's now that she was asleep. Was this really the princess of London?
A moment before they entered the quarters and the captain laid her down on the bed with care before stretching his arms. The memory of his visit to Port Royal where he had saved Elizabeth and stripped her off of the heavy dress and her corset ran through his mind as his eyes fell on the woman's waist. Had he been not using his brain at the moment, he could've have forgotten about the wet gown the lady was wearing.
Without hesitation, he turned the woman on her side before unlacing the back of the dress. The deed took some time as the lacing was done elaborately. After that, he removed the dress and dumped it on the nearby table before proceeding to do the corset when his eyes fell on a sheathed dagger strapped to her thigh.
Without any second thoughts, he went for it and upon seeing its design he took in a gasp. Its design was not royal, but a pirate's. Brown orbs stared at the sleeping lady; was this really hers?
Jack shook it off then used it to slice through the corset, careful not to wound her under-dress nor her skin. He no longer had the strength to undo the corset by its laces, he getting lazy. Once it was unhooked from her body, he noticed a change in her breathing and a small smile crossed his lips. He dumped the corset with the dress.
His hands grabbed the white sheet on the bed and unfolded it to spread it on her shivering body. And with that, he turned to leave but not without giving another glance at her beautiful face. The sheet would have to do for now, he hoped, before she woke up to another start.