Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean, nor do I intend on making any money off of this story. Experience is my reward :)

Pre-story Drabble: Thank you for reading (or considering to read) my work. I suppose that I was inspired by so many of the good Pirate fictions out there that I simply had to write one of my own. It's been a while since I have written anything, but I hope that my grammar and plotline are up to par. With that in mind, if you find anything that could use improvement do not hesitate to let me know. You're the one reading it, my goal is to make this as enjoyable for you to read as it is for me to write.

Also, I have decided to set part of my story pre-movie for two reasons; one, because I hardly see any works in which the entire story is based before the movie timeline, and two, because I'm crazy like that. Also, if I end up writing a sequel, I can base that plot post-Pirates movie (just to mix it up a bit).

Enjoy!

Guess What Drifted Ashore

Chapter One: The Most Unlikely Debris

Jack Sparrow, captain of the Black Pearl and scallywag extraordinaire, stood with one hand clutching the helm while watching his crew scuttle about on deck. Directly above the Captain, grey and heavy masses of clouds were ready to let down a fury of hail and rain.

Captain Jack Sparrow, a pirate nearing the ripeness of his life with nothing but a brilliant gold future ahead of him. That is, if he can reach the Isla de Muerta in one piece. Locks of his dark knotted hair and pseudo-dreadlocks whisked about his face in a haphazard manner, facing the brutal winds which were deemed only to get worse. A muddied red bandana held his mop of hair (if it could be called that) away from his face. Under his cat-like eyes, lines of kohl removed the ocean's glare – which had proven useful to the captain many times before. Yet even in the vigorous winds, the Captain stood proud and free in a stance that was as tipsy as his personality.

"Captain," a man cried out from below. "The sky 'ill open up on us any minute!"

"Right yeh are, Pintel. Every man to his station and hope the Pearl will make it through the night," the Captain replied.

This would be one of the Pearls greatest victories, if she could make it through. The crew would make ready for the most fierce battle's of their life.

It was not long into the next morning when Jack Sparrow was found, once again, at the helm. His eyes searching the horizon for another sign of a storm, but the only thing he found were clear skies.

Out of the silence, a yell was heard from the lower deck. "Cap'n! Cap'n! There's a box or somethin' in the water ther! Per'aps it's somethin' we lost in ther storm!"

"Well reel it in, gents! We can't 'ave our cargos amiss can we?" Jack stumbled down to the lower deck and pulled out his spyglass to have a look for himself. "That's no piece of cargo, lads. It's a raft, and what's more, there's a person aboard it – a lass by the looks of it."

By now, a rowboat had been sent out to fetch the drifting raft which had neared the ship considerably since first sighted. Jack tossed the spyglass to a nearby crewmember which decided to use the instrument to confirm the Captain's suspicions.

The rowboat was now on its way back to the ship and ropes were being readied to hoist it back up. Jack could only ponder the reasons for a woman floating adrift after the storm of the century. If she had been on another boat whose ill fate lead it to the bottom of the ocean, she would have drowned for certain. There was land though, not that Jack could see, but according to the ship's current bearings there could be land in some short distance to the east. Yet here she was, with no more than sunburn and perhaps in need of some water.

By this point, the rowboat was on deck and various efforts were being made to lift the maiden onto the deck. However, the large crowd of crew who had come to satiate their curiosity made this task extremely difficult. This was especially challenging when Jack lurched his way to the centre of the group to answer some of his innermost questions. Jack called for one of his crewmen to bring some drinking water at once.

At first Jack was unsure of what to do, for he had seldom had such an encounter with a living piece of debris. He tried prodding at her in the shoulder, which resulted in more disappointment from the crew that he had not tried to prod her elsewhere, but after a few more tries – to her naval, her other shoulder, and finally a pinch on the underside of her arm – her eyes slowly began to open. Almost at once, a gasp and silence murmurings traveled around the on-looking crew.

Jack took in her appearance with a curious gaze trailing from her extraordinarily long wavy tresses to her profound russet eyes to her strange attire. She was wearing an thin and soft looking dress, but not in the usual style of the era. The green fabric lay flat against her body, however not in a revealing manner which could easily be assumed. It had an essence of primitivism to it. It was loose in some areas, and held as a second skin in others. If Jack could presume one thing, it would be that she was not from a British colony. It was not just her attire that could attest to that conclusion. On her wrists were wooden bangles with rudimentary shapes burned into them and around her neck was a long necklace looped around several times consisting of only wooden beads. She must be a tribeswoman, though how she ended up in the ocean on a very questionable raft, he would not know, and would continue not knowing for a very long time.

At this time, Jack at least had the sense to introduce himself and stop staring at her. "'Ello there, I'm Captain Jack Sparrow of the great pirate ship, the black pearl. Now, who are yeh and how did you end up on my ship?" In return he saw only silence. He passed her the flask of water that his crewmember finally retrieved and continued. "When I say 'how did ye get on me ship,' I don't actually mean how. I know, my crew went and fetched yeh fer me, I saw them. I mean what are yeh doin in the ocean on that raft?" Still, in return he received only silence, even though she had finished the water. "Listen luv, don't pretend yeh can't hear me, I'm right in front of yeh!" Jack's impatience was growing on his face. So he decided another tactic, he decided to degrade her. He pointed to himself and drew out the syllables of his name, "me, Caaaa-pppp-nnn Jaaaa-ckkkk Spaaaa-rrowwww."

He paused and waited for her to take the bait. Any woman would easily feel as though he was mocking her intelligence and refute, but this girl did something he didn't expect. She sat up a little straighter from her original position and tucked her dress (or what was left of it) around the knees and ankles. Then, she pointed to him and repeated his name with a sense of no familiarity. "Cap en Jack Spay-row". She repeated over and over to herself as though she was trying to ensure she remembered it.

Jack noticed a heavy accent in her voice, though he couldn't place it. From his experiences of dialects of the world – all experiences gained from pillaging foreign merchant ships, that is – he would describe it as a combination of Spanish and French decent. Although, there was another element to it that made it sound completely out of place. He slowly kneeled on one knee as though he was ready for her to let out a reply more soft than a whisper.

Then, she pointed to herself and said just as slowly as the Captain had done what Jack could only assume as her name, "Annn-ukkkk-sssseeee-mmmooo-mmmooo. Anuksemomo."

It seemed that only then did she realize the weapons that the men around her carried and slightly shrank back as though she had never spoken in the first place. Well, that name did not sound British at all. Jack now used what little collection of reason he had left and assembled, what he believed to be an accurate, account of how this 'Anuksemomo' had arrived in the middle of an ocean on a piece of driftwood. He would, indeed, confirm that she probably lived on an unclaimed island as part of a tribe of some sort. He would also confirm that for whatever reason, she had built this 'raft' herself and left the island sailing for better waters. However, no matter how believable this sounded to him, Jack would not be able to get a straight answer since she obviously did not speak a word of English, this he concluded from her lack of response and her indifference to his boy-like taunting. Furthermore, the name 'Anuksemomo' did not sound the least bit French nor Spanish or any other foreign language for that matter.

Jack was abruptly awoken from his mind mapping by his first mate, "what exactly do yeh intend to do with 'er Cap'n?"

Jack looked up at Barbossa and stood from his kneeling position where he had been eye-to-eye level with the girl. "We'll wait until we're in Tortuga for trading the treasure after the return from Isla de Muerta. But the lady of the winds is in good spirits and don't want to get thrown off course from our main goal." Jack looked around at his crew for approval. Most seemed pleased that he didn't want to back-track to Tortuga when they had already put so much ocean between the ship and the island. There was no sense to be turning back to drop off a dame. However, some of the crew looked at her with lust in there eye, for although she was very sunburned and had dirt and grime around her, she was a very alluring lady. So, just for assurance, Jack added to his statement, "and if I find that any of yeh scallywags has taken the privilege of gettin familiar with 'er, he'll be lost to Davy Jones locker!"

With that threatening statement, the crew headed back to their posts. To the top of the crows nest to mending the sails, not one pirate – save the Captain and Barbossa – remained within a six meter radius of the girl.

"Are yeh sure about this Cap'n?" Barbossa asked, not sure whether he should trust his captain in taking a lass along with them to recover the treasure.

"Of course I'm sure! I'm a pirate, why should I care if I toss her into the streets of Tortuga with no place to go?" Jack retorted with a slight carelessness in his body language.

"I was referrin' to her comin' with us, not droppen' her off."

"Of course yeh were," Jack seemed slightly taken aback and mentally scolded himself for letting his thoughts carry him away from reality once again. "She won't be much trouble anyway, she can't even talk, it's not like she'll distract us."

"Won't she Cap'n?" Barbossa hinted towards some of the crew who were still eyeing Anuksemomo as though she were a piece of gold glimmering in the sun, ready for any man to steal.

Jack turned back to Anuksemomo and took her by the hand and lead her to his cabin. He looked around and realized that he had set specific rules for his crew, and what sort of captain would he be if he disobeyed them himself? More importantly, what if the gesture of letting this woman sleep in his room would encourage the crew to make similar and less civilized offers to her? No, he would take her somewhere else.

Thankfully, no one had been sick in the last few weeks, and so the sickbay was free of use. He turned around on his heel and while slightly raising a finger to point at her as though to explain his actions, he thought the better of it and simply dragged to below deck instead. Although she would be residing directly above the crew's quarters for the remainder of this voyage, he had an easy access to her chamber as well.

When Jack reached the sickbay, he turned Anuksemomo to face him and looked her in the eye. "Doooo yeehhhh neeeed anythinnn'?" he asked hoping that the slower he spoke, the more she would understand. In this case it seemed to have worked, since she held up the empty water flask and made a gulping noise while pointing to her open mouth. "Of course yeh do," Jack grabbed the empty bottle and headed out of the door.

He was five paces out when he realized he heard someone behind him. He swiftly kicked his right leg out in front of him and used the motion to propel him to turn on his left heel. In front of him stood Anuksemomo who seem slightly startled, "no, no no! Yeh stay in here!" Jack grabbed her shoulders and backed her back into the room and closed the door to finalize his actions.

It had been five days since they had recovered Anuksemomo from the ocean. She had made quite the ideal patient, for she somehow managed to remove the grime built on her skin – though no one knew how since none of the crew had delivered enough water that she could use in addition to quenching her thirst – and had also made a full sunburn recovery. Rather than peeling skin and red rashes, she had developed an even tan which made her look more exotic, especially to the eye of a certain captain.

Most of the crew had grown accustom to her presence. Those who could not pronounce her name used abbreviated forms, such as "Anne" or "Mo". For the first day or so, Anuksemomo would not respond to anyone who called her these new nicknames. It wasn't until Jack had pointed to her and recited these new names did she understand that they were to represent her.

As for her language, Anuksemomo had taken to repeating most things people had said to her in attempt to learn English. Some of the crew had taken advantage of this and would play a game to see what naughty phrases they could make her repeat. Little did they know that later in her life, this would earn disdainful looks from people of reputable social status, but for the present moment, she remained oblivious to the things she said and only remained focused on learning as much as she could.

Jack, of all of the crew enjoyed this aspect the most. He found it entertaining when she would join him at the helm or in his quarters and they would spend hours learning different words. He would sometimes, for his own amusement, drag out long words to see if she could manage it. Of course, after a couple of tries she always could, but after a day of such proceeding, she quickly realized what his motive for choosing difficult words was. She would sometimes stumble on smaller words or mispronounce them just for his amusement.

Jack was standing at the helm, holding the wooden pegs in his tight grip while slowly saying, "man the braces."

Anuksemomo, now referred to as Anne, repeated with her unusual accent, "man th brasses." Jack could tell she had the essence of the command, but how she would learn what it meant, he had no idea.

"OK, let's try a harder one." Jack looked deep in thought for a moment before using his gruffest voice and roared, "all hands on deck yeh scabrous dogs!"

Anne replied in a similar gruffness only it was shaded by her feminism and peculiar dialect as she attempted to repeat what Jack had said with the most terrifying accuracy, "all haunds on deck ya scab-borous dog!" Jack let out a chuckle at her attempt at sounding like him and noted her cleverness, even for an individual that would be considered a savage amongst England society. Just as he was beginning to tear at the private joke and Anne's giggles joined in though she was not sure why, Barbossa came out from below deck and called for Jack to join him for a discussion in the underbelly of the ship. Jack left the helm in the hands of a large bearded pirate who looked like he had spent his life with someone yelling in his ear. For his facial expression looked very similar like his eyes were squinted in just the off-set fashion as if he was wincing at the pain of an overexposed eardrum.

Jack was lead into Barbossa's quarters and sat on an uneasy chair on the opposite end of a desk to Barbossa. The First Mate began with why he had called Jack there, "listen Jack, the crew is misinterpretin' your regard for the young Anne and her company on the ship."

Jack snarled a bit with the upper right quarter of his mouth. "I thought we'd already discussed this, mate."

Barbossa laughed a bit, "yer right Jack, but the crew seems to think that yer objection has been lost in the pursuit of educatin' the new recruit." Jack just stared at Barbossa with the slightest raised eyebrow. "All I'm sayin, is that if yeh want to regain their trust, yeh need to prove it to them."

"And how exactly am I supposed to do that, Barbossa? Throw her overboard?" Jack has a look of disgust on his face, though he hardly tried to hide it. The truth is, he had become quite fond of Anne's presence on his ship. She seemed completely uncorrupted by the crew and their actions. She always had sweetness to her and an optimism that he admired, although he wouldn't necessarily follow her example, but it was certainly nice to see something other than criminal tendencies on the ship.

"I'm not sayin' yeh have to get rid of 'er, Jack."

"Well then what do yeh want me to do?"

Barbossa thought a bit while pouring rum into a small iron mug and passing it to Jack. "Yeh know, Isla de Muerta may be the answer." Jack sat there, not even having touched his rum before giving a confused glance toward Barbossa who took this as a signal to carry on. "Well, yeh say that each crew member has an equal share of the treasure. Why not gain their trust by sharing the bearings of the island? The men will respect yeh for it." Jack nearly coughed on the sip of rum he had been taking before looking up at Barbossa from the rim of his mug. "'Tis a very 'captainly' thing ta do." Barbossa finished before pouring himself a mug of rum as well.

"How far off the goal does the crew think I am?" Asked Jack, who had this point had been trying to prove to himself, more than anyone else, that he thought no more of Anne than a fish thinks of waves.

"They think yer pretty far gone, Cap'n."

"Let me think about it." Jack replied before knocking back the remainder of rum and heading back to the upper deck.

All night, Jack had tossed and turned thinking of what to do. He had just met Anne, and sure, she hadn't been as annoying he had believed, but he certainly couldn't lose the respect from his crew over her. He had, at that moment, decided what to do. He went over to his desk and pulled out an old map, before taking a scrap piece of parchment and scribbling to the best of his ability, coordinates found on the map, as well as drawing a loosely based copy of the map itself. He then set out for the upper deck where he found Barbossa at the helm. Convinced he was doing the right thing, he handed Barbossa the pieces of parchment in hope of regaining the crew's trust. Barbossa only smiled.

As Jack lay back in his bed, rolling over whether he should have done a different gesture to prove his dedication the mission and his crew, two pirates had barged into his room and grabbed him by the arms. Jack fought off these two pirates with little effort. Before he knew it, two more pirates had burst through his doorframe. His ship was under attack! Jack fought these pirates off as well and then set off to Anne's room to tell her to hide from the invaders. He was halfway there when he realized that there was no gunfire or battle-cries resounding from the deck above him. His ship was not under attack from another boat. He looked back at the four pirates lying on the floor in his quarters. The ship was not being invaded at all! The pirates that had attacked him were his crew!

Just then, he ran up the stairs and onto the deck which was covered by a tent of glimmering stars. He looked off the side of the ship and could faintly see an island in the distance. He noticed something out of place though. Jack trailed his hand along the railing of the boat and noticed that once he had gotten to the panel in which the gangplank would be laid, there was a long wooden plank. He turned around quickly as if to look for a place to hide, but came face to face with Barbossa and six other crew members.

Jack looked to his left and saw Pintel and Ragetti holding Anne. Her long hair was strewn about and floating on the small breeze almost as though she was suspended in water. Barbossa came in closer and whispered to Jack, "thanks for the treasure," before removing the pistol from Jack's belt. On any normal occasion, Jack would have rushed to defend himself, and his property, but at this particular time, there was three or four other pistols aimed at body at various angles. Barbossa tossed the pistol into the water and exclaimed, "ladies first."

Jack had expected Pintel and Ragetti to bring Anne forward, but instead he found the crew closing in on him and forcing him onto the plank. He could hear Anne's muffled screams in the background and tried with all his might to think of a way out of this predicament. "What are yeh doin, mate. I gave yeh the coordinates," Jack explained, hoping that all that was needed was an explanation.

"I know, and therefore the less reason to be keepin' yeh around," Barbossa sneered. "Ye've lost yer edge, Jack. Yeh can understand why we're doin' this."

"No, actually I can't," Jack replied. He had been sure that by giving Barbossa the coordinates, he had ensured his place on the ship as the Captain.

"Well, yeh won't have to dwell on it for long." With those as the last words Jack heard before being shoved off the plank. It was only moments before he felt the ocean pounding into every crevice of his body. His only hope was to swim towards that island, or to drown.

A/N: well, that's it for now. I know it's sort of slow picking up, but I'll really delve into the plot in the next few chapters. Yay!