AN: My first fic of POTC. I hope it's okay. This is just the prologue, how Will's life was different and all' so please ignore the lack of details.
Summary: What if Will wasn't rescued by Elizabeth and crew? What if he escaped and instead grew up in Tortuga? If he was a thief? How would the story be any different?
Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean.
"Find it!" Barbarossa roared to his crew as they invaded the ship. Many women aboard screamed and squealed in fear as the pirates chased them around. An old man quickly turned and slammed the door behind him.
Lucas threw open the window, where a small dingy was hooked just below. One by one, he piled the children in. Melanie Andearsan, George Bellamy, and Will Turner. When they were tucked firmly in the little boat, he began unhooking it. That's when the something slammed against the door. He looked behind himself and made a decision. He looked at the oldest: George. "I want all of you to sail that way," He pointed to the east. Melanie spoke up, "What about you?" He smiled at the little red head. He pat all their heads, his heart jumping when the glass broke. He grabbed a heavy bag and handed it to George. He stared at them all sadly, before glancing to the door briefly. "Go, now!" he exclaimed as he pulled a knife from his pocket and immediately cut the line. The children screamed as the boat fell to the water roughly. At that very moment, the door broke and Lucas was grabbed.
"Which one of ye is capt'n?" Barbarossa hissed. He turned towards the room as Pintel and Ragetti brought out an aged man from the cabins. He smirked cruelly as the man viciously pulled at his arms, freezing when he heard the click of a gun. He stared Barbarossa right in the eye as the pistol was pressed against his forehead harshly. "Ye the capt'n?" Barbarossa asked with a smirk. At the man's nod, he scowled. He turned to Pintel and Ragetti. "You too! Were there any others in there?" Both shook their heads.
Growling in annoyance, Barbarossa turned and asked, "What's yer name, capt'n?" Mocking the man's title, while Barbarossa's crew laughed. "Lucas," the man hissed, spitting at Barbarossa. Barbarossa glared, before pulling the trigger.
XxX
Melanie whimpered softly as the biting wind rocked their dingy harshly. George and Will looked to the seven year old sympathetically. George put down his oar, and motioned for William to do the same. They had been rowing for two days and a half, both boys' arms sore and aching, literally shaking at the tension. None of them thought of the bag that had been given to them by their kind captain. Melanie coughed softly and Will finally looked to the bag. "What's in that, anyway?" He rasped. George seemed to share his curiosity, for he unfolded it.
A silence fell upon all of them. "Are you serious?" George finally asked skeptically. There were four canteens, a rather thick, but small, blanket, some bandages, and bread. After smelling the canteens, William gasped. "It's water!"
They all dug in, relieving themselves of hunger and thirst, before George finally realized what they were doing. With hurried haste, he ripped everything from Melanie and Will's hands. "We need to ration these," he explained, "Who knows how long it'll be until we reach land.
A few moments of silence and William nodded in agreement. "He's right." Even at twelve years old, he knew better. Will was raised to be wise from his mother. She was always rough with him, but he knew she loved him. But she was dead now, after being sick for four, long, desperate years, she passed and he left to find his father. William fingered the medallion on his chest nostalgically.
Melanie had a different life. She was raised spoiled and, when both her parents dumped her on the street to keep in their house, she snuck on the ship. She was treated kindly by the crewmembers on the ship; while Will and George had adopted her into their life easily. Both she and William looked towards George as the leader. What he says goes.
With some reluctance, all of them put everything back in the bag. George and Will took up rowing again, while Melanie sang softly to help encourage them.
XxX
Two years later, the three were comfortable in the rather lively town of Tortuga. Only William and George had jobs, while Melanie lay in a very filthy cot, struggling to stay healthy, while the boys struggle to find a cheap doctor. Will was a thief, mostly stealing what was necessary to survive, unless there was a desperate time. George was a bartender. He was paid by the hour and didn't exactly approve of William's choice of earning money. Though neither did Will. Five months more, and dear little Melanie passed on. George and William fought many times after that. When George couldn't take it anymore, he stomped off and never returned, leaving Will to himself, and struggling. The little trio was no more.
After that, William took a permanent job of stealing. He took small jobs, before he actually started to live off it. He went many places and three years later, he found himself in Port Royal.
XxX
The grass certainly was greener here. The air so much cleaner, but Will didn't enjoy it. He was used to the smell of sex, rum and just plain filth that he nearly fainted at the lack of it here. At fifteen, he was still very much innocent to not-so-innocent gestures. He didn't understand gestures, and he certainly never thought of sex. Most of his life was spent surviving, and holding onto the little dignity he had left. He couldn't waste time on such things.
He was here to retrieve a tiny little diamond bracelet. A tiny little diamond bracelet that was in the Governor's mansion. He looked at the rather magnificent home, and, for a small fleetingly second, thought of his mother. He shook his head and looked to the setting sun. He could steal it tonight and be gone. He hated this place, as was aware of how reckless the idea was to just barge into the mansion. He didn't even know where they kept it!
He touched the medallion that had come to be a little courage charm. It helped ease his rapidly beating heart. He had many jobs to do; there were three here in Port Royal, and he could do all of them tonight. A little risky, but what was life without risks?
XxX
Four hours later, and he was creeping along the cobblestone of the mansion's garden. His back was to the open sea, the heavenly scent of salty seawater, nothing but a barely-there lick. That was barely reassuring. He looked to the open window to the right on the second story. He had already stolen the other object, and gathered information for another payer. He was on a roll and this was his last job here. He tried to ignore the feeling that he'd be back someday.
He grabbed a stone sticking out of the wall unevenly and used that as leverage to climb the wall. He pushed the window open farther and slipped in with a practiced lack of noise. He smirked victoriously and took a step forward. The smirk disappeared when his leg hit the edge of a desk. He fell and slammed into the ground rather loudly. The medallion, in all its golden glory, fell out of his shirt. It clumped to the ground, and one of its chain links got caught in a stray nail on the wooden floor. In a hurried haste to get up, Will forced him self to stand quickly. When he met resistance, he didn't even think twice before ripping his neck free. The medallion, chain and all, was not even given a second glance as Will quickly left the room.
A quiet sigh of relief left Will. No one heard him; no alarms were raised. Cursing himself for his stupidity, he quickly checked every room that was unlocked. When downstairs, he went to the room at the left of the entrance. In there, he realized, was where most of the treasures were kept. He quickly lit a lantern at the draped windows. When he saw all the gold, he nearly fainted. He quickly looked for anything that could resemble his objective.
A quiet 'ah hah!' left his lips as he picked up a very similar bracelet that his client had spoke of inside a glass case. He inspected the case, before he turned it around. A little latch, right at the top of the case; hidden by the rim of gold on the case. God, people were so stupid. He unlatched it, grabbed the bracelet and quickly bolted.
Of course it wasn't until he was safely docked in Tortuga, that Will, rather heatedly, realized that the medallion was gone.
XxX
Elizabeth turned under the covers, turned again, then sighed and got up. The sun was bright in the morning sky, barely rising above the horizon; and Elizabeth planned on asking her father for drapes. Heavy, thick drapes. Layers, just to block out the sun. God, she was tired.
She wrestled with the covers before untangling herself from them. She gasped when her feet touched the cold ground. Must have been around 0600 or maybe 0700? She pondered this while she walked, before her feet stepped on something so cold she jumped. She looked down and noticed a medallion glinting up at her.
Upon closer inspection, she realized it was a pirate medallion. She ran the pads of her fingers over it; it was gorgeous. It seemed to have been carved, real gold. She was going to keep it. After all, it was in her room. She frowned, realizing that she'd have to keep this from her father, lest it be taken from her. Shaking her head as if to rid herself of these thoughts, she put the chain around her neck and clipped the links together.
AN: Congrats to you if you read all the way through!