Pirates of the Caribbean

Dead Man's Chest

Chapter One

Brothers

"You shouldn't be so nervous, Will." The young woman told the blacksmith. "If you get cold feet now, then you'll never be able to stand up tomorrow. You're a man, aren't you? Toughen up and act like one."

William Turner turned, smiling at the auburn haired woman that stood there. "Rena," He said softly.

Rena Rush stood behind Will, looking him over with a smile as he stood in the clothes that he was to wear at his wedding tomorrow. Jena Rush, her twin sister, was helping Elizabeth with her dress.

Rena Rush was now in her early twenties, her auburn hair leading a path down her back, almost reaching her knees. She hadn't cut it since…

She was dressed in a dress this time, believe it or not, no pants under it either. It was the dress that she was to be wearing to Will and Elizabeth's wedding tomorrow. She was trying to get used to wearing a dress again, seeming as how she hadn't worn one without pants under it in so long.

She crossed her arms, placed a finger to her lips, her left hip jutted out to a side as she looked the young man over. "I think it's nice, really good looking William, but it's missing something. But what?"

Will looked at her in surprise. "What do you mean, 'missing something'?" He turned back to his mirror. "What is it missing?"

Rena didn't respond, and only looked at him for a few moments longer. She then snapped her fingers. "That's it!" She smiled. "Stay here William, I'll be right back. I know what you need, and I'm going to go get it!"

Without waiting for a reply, Rena rushed from the building. She lifted her skirts and ran. It was at moments like these that she wished that she still had pants one underneath them, but she left the ones that she had hanging in her closet. She didn't like the thought of the men in the village and the guards having full view of her legs, but what she was doing now was more important than worrying about that. She quickly made it back to the Mansion and up to her and her sister's room before grabbing the package off her bed.

How could I have forgotten this, this morning? She asked herself as she rushed by Elizabeth's room. She had no time to go in and look at the wedding gown; she needed to get back to Will, and so she ran outside again, running back to the Blacksmith building.

Two men jumped off a ship known as the 'Red Rose' at the docks of Port Royal, their bags slung over their shoulders. They were twins, around the age of 25 with green eyes and auburn hair. One kept his thin hair back in a ponytail and the other, short. Dressed in black and blue, both men had a silver earring, in the shape of the Knight piece in a game of chess, hanging from their left ear.

"Lance," The man with short hair began in a small voice. "Do you think they're still here?"

Lance tightened his hair tie as he gazed around Port Royal in annoyance; this was not what he was expecting. "Of course they are, Leon. At least, they'd better be. I didn't come all this way for nothing!"
"Do you think that the stories are true?" Leon continued as they walked through the town. "About the Pirates and all?"

"Oh, I'm sure they are. And when I find ole' Jackie-boy I'm going to beat the-" Lance was cut off when he turned the corner and a young woman ran into him. Both fell to the dirt before standing back up and yelling at the other.

"Watch where you're going, you big monkey!" The woman yelled, holding a white box in one hand and placing the other on her hip.

"Me? You ran into me, woman!" Lance replied.

"No I didn't! Haven't you ever heard of 'Ladies First'? You should have checked for someone before turning the corner."

"Ladies first my ass! 1st for someone to run into me, maybe, but nothing else."

As the two of them continued to argue Leon glanced the woman over. She was very young and very pretty; no way possible she could be in her mid 20's yet. She was wearing a white and gold gown that seemed to be meant for other, proper occasions and not meant for wearing around such a sad town as this one. She was about 5'9' with long auburn hair that almost reached her knees and luscious brown eyes, her left eye holding a scar.

Wondering who it was it took Leon a few moments to have the answer to where he had seen this woman before pop up into his mind. Pushing Lance aside and breaking the argument up, he placed himself on front of the woman.

"Is that you, Rena?" The woman froze and looked at him in confusion. "Where's Jena? Is she here too?"

Rena's eyebrows rose. "Do I know you?"

"Yeah, Leon," Lance decided to snort. "There's no way this little brat could be our sister."

The name clicking in her mind, Rena glared at the other man. "Shut it you pompous windbag!"

Leon laughed. "That's Rena, all right. Rena, don't you remember us? Its Leon and Lance! From England!"

Rena thought for a moment before her face lit up. "You're not serious. There's no way in hell-"

"Thought we couldn't find you two, eh?" Lance glared at his sister. "Well, we have and now it's time for some Q&A, little sister."

Rena gulped.

Jena glanced up at the knocking on the door to Elizabeth's bedroom. "Go away," She called out. "We're not finished." She threw her cards down on the bed while Elizabeth giggled.

In truth, they had been done for almost an hour and had been playing cards since.

"Open the door, Jena," Her sister's voice called through the door. "It's really important!"

"Can't it wait 'til later?"

"No!" Three voices rang together and the two women looked at each other in surprise. Who was out there with Rena?

Both stood up and Jena waited until Elizabeth had pulled a robe over her under clothes before she opened the door. Rena pushed her way in and was followed by two men. They immediately looked familiar, like her and her sister, and Jena was able to put two and two together.

"Lance? Leon?"

One of the men, Leon, hugged her while the other just smirked and responded -

"Well, at least one of you is smart. I was a bit nervous after finding Rena."

"Shut it, Lance!"

"What are the two of you doing here?" Jena asked.

"Who are you?" Elizabeth questioned, bringing herself into the conversation. All four turned to her, Jena laughing.

"How silly of me. Elizabeth, this is Lance and Leon Rush. They're our older brothers."

"But only by a couple of years." Rena added.

The brother glanced Elizabeth over. "So, you're the brat that Rena and Jena had to take care of all these years, are you?" Lance asked. "I have to say, they've done a good job. Especially by saving you from the pirates." At the mention of pirates both the sisters let their smiles fall and their eyes glazed over, as it they were remembering something. Lance decided to continue. "Oh yeah, that's right. Where is Jack Sparrow? We have a little thing to discuss, him and I."

"Jack isn't here." Jena replied, her voice made of ice. "He never came back."

Leon looked at Rena sadly. "I suppose it's all for the best that he's not here, then."

"Why?" Rena asked angrily. "What's going on?"

"Will needs to join us first. This concerns you all. Is Commodore Norrington here as well?"

"No. Ole' 'Borrington' resigned a while ago. But why do you need him? What's going on?" Rena asked again.

"When Will get's here, we'll begin." Leon answered.

"So, what is it that we need to worry about?" Jena asked.

The six of them were now sitting around the Swann's dining table, alone in the house for the conversation.

Leon gave his brother a look and decided to begin. "You four, as well as James Norrington, are now being sentenced to death by the East India Trading Company man, Cutler Beckett."
"What?" All three women cried.

"Why?" Will asked.

"Because you helped Jack Sparrow escape. Beckett has death warrants for you all for letting him live."

"And what did he give you back?" Lance's gaze was stuck on Rena now. "The son-of-a-bitch didn't even come back for you, did he Rena?"

"He said he would," She whispered lowly, but they all still heard it. Jena gave her sister a sympathetic look and grabbed her hand.

"Over a year ago!"

Jena now glared at her brother. "And just how do you know about anything that happened?"

"Are you crazy? The whole world knows about Elizabeth being kidnapped and the little love affair between Jack Sparrow and Rena Rush! And the next time that I see that man, I'm gonna kill him."

They all knew that he was just being brotherly and so they laughed, but Rena's faltered as she stood. "Well, I'm not going to w-how do you know that Beckett is after us?"

"The two of us were on his ship a little while ago before switching ships to get here faster." Leon answered, glancing out the window as the sun began to set. We need to leave. Now, before they show up."

"But tomorrow," Elizabeth stood up. "It's the wedding. They can't leave now!"

"I agree," Will stood as well. "You can't just show up and expect us to leave like this. You have to give us a day or two."

"Who said we were taking you two, too?" Lance crossed his arms, glancing at Elizabeth and Will. "I am here for my sisters; no one else."

"Oh, stop it." Jena sighed, squeezing the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "Look, the wedding is tomorrow, so we're not going anywhere until after that. You said you are a day or two ahead of them, so you'll just have to deal with it, okay?" She glanced between Lance and Will. "Lance, Will. Okay?"

Both men gave each other another glance and then nodded.

"So, you mind telling us what happened to your eyes?"

Jena and Rena looked up from the bed that they two of them would be sharing tonight while their brothers crashed on the other bed and the floor. Lance was sprawled out on the floor between the two beds, head propped up in his palm as he gazed at his sisters; Leon was on the bed, leaning against the wall as he wrote in a notebook. At the question though, he paused.

"What do you mean?" Rena asked.

Lance gave a harsh laugh. "I mean the fact that the two of you have a cut across your eyes. Who did it?"

Rena set her book down. "It happened during one of the fights while we were at sea. The Black Pearl was faster than the Interceptor, and we were caught. That's all that's really to it."

"What happened to the man that cut you?" Leon asked.

"Don't worry about him," Jena held a small smirk. "Hector let me take care of him."

"Who's Hector?" Leon asked, looking over at them. Both girls stayed silent and Lance sat up, an angry look on his face.

"You're not serious! What is wrong with the two of you! Both of you want a Pirate, eh? That's ridiculous!"

"You know what? Just shut up!" Jena's outburst made the other three look at her in surprise. Rena was the one that normally exploded, not Jena. "You don't know anything! Don't think that you can just come back into our lives and tell us what we should or shouldn't do!" The door slammed behind her.

Rena sighed while Lance's mouth hung open. "Forgive her. We've…" She stopped before she followed her sister out of the room.

"What in the hell happened while they were on those ships?" Lance asked his brother.

Leon shook his head, unable to think of a reasonable answer.