Author's Note: This is my first Pirates of the Caribbean fanfiction, so please don't be too hard on me. I've done a lot of research to make this story as engaging as possible. This was done with HUGE amounts of help from my friend, ArchDruid. Also, I am aware that The Revenant is the name of a ship from "Pirates of the Spanish Main". My friend was telling me about the game and mentioned that ship. At the time, I didn't have a name for Barbosa's ship and that name just worked so well, so I used it. It's not the same ship, just the same name. Anyway, thanks for reading. Don't forget to review! Now, on with the story.
Blood is Thicker Than Water, But the Sea Runs in Their Veins
Chapter One- Setting Sail
They all stood –or in Elizabeth's case, sat- in silence, looking expectantly at Tia Dalma. The strange and mysterious soothsayer had just told them that she knew how they could find Jack and bring both him and his beloved Pearl back. They would have to sail to World's End under a captain who knew those waters. The sudden appearance of the supposedly dead, yet apparently very much alive captain Barbosa had been unnerving, but after the earlier events of the day, none of them really had it in them to be perturbed. At the moment they were merely curious. Tia Dalma had yet to inform them just what, precisely, their task entailed. She was studying the divining stones, which she had just cast onto the table. On them were symbols written in a strange alphabet, one that apparently did make sense to her. After what seemed like hours, she spoke.
"You must find the ship called the Josephine. The captain will give you the only ship that can match the Pearl. You will need that ship. And you will need the compass." Tia Dalma turned and fixed her gaze on Elizabeth, "Come now, take it out of your pocket." Startled, but not surprised, the guilt-ridden young woman removed the requested item from her pocket and placed it on the tale in front of her. "Good. You'll be needin this compass if you are to find Jack Sparrow and The Black Pearl. As the most of you know, this compass is unique. It shows a man the way to whatever it is that him heart desire most. Durin this journey, it will work for one person at a time –and one person only. More about the compass I cannot say, except to give you this advice. Only one in this whole earth has the heart to find Jack. You must find this person. And last of all, you must expect help from the places most unexpected." For a moment all of them merely stood or sat quietly trying to commit to memory the requirements Tia Dalma had just set out for them.
Finally, Will had the sense to ask, "This person, the one who has the heart to find Jack, who is it?"
Turning her face away from the young blacksmith-quite-arguably-turned-pirate, she raised her arms in a halting motion and proclaimed airily, "I told you all you are to know. Ask no more questions." Her voice softened, and she told all of them, "Go. Get your rest. You'll be leaving tomorrow morning at sunrise."
POTCPOTCPOTCPOTCPOTCPOTCPOTCPOTCPOTCPOTCPOTCPOTCPOTCPOTC
It was dawn when the crew of seven, under the recently revived captain Barbosa set sail on his ship, The Revenant. Barbosa was at the helm and Elizabeth sat nearby. The compass was in her right hand. "So girl," the captain asked, "can ya give us a heading?"
Elizabeth was a little flustered, due to the fact that her past experiences with Barbosa were a far cry from leading to comforting notions about this voyage. "Give me a moment, captain Barbosa," she replied aristocratically, letting her formal, distant mask slip into place. "Using this device can take time. Surely, you are a patient enough man to wait a minute or so." Meanwhile, she was inwardly concentrating on making the unique compass work. 'What do I want most in the world,' she thought to herself. 'I want to save Jack so that I won't feel so guilty about what I did.' Not good enough. 'Fine. What do I need to do in order to save Jack? I need to find him of course.' Still nothing. 'I need to get us to World's End if I want to save him because that is where he is.' At last the needle began to slow. As she concentrated on that thought, the needle narrowed its direction, second by second, until finally it fixed to point exactly northeast. Sighing in relief, she stood up and crossed the few paces between her and Barbosa, showing him the compass and announcing, "Our heading is directly north east. That way." She illustrated by pointing in the same direction as the compass, toward the port side of the bow.
"Thank you, Miss Swan," Barbosa said in his usual gravely rasp, a sound which Elizabeth decided most certainly bothered her. She tucked the compass away, and having done her job for the time being, Elizabeth made her way to the stern of the ship, to join Will. Her fiancé was on the quarterdeck, leaning to one side against the starboard rail, staring off into the brightening eastern sky. Judging from the look in his eyes, he might as well have been as far away as that unreachable horizon. It was clear from his expression that he was troubled. More than that, she could not glean. He appeared not to notice her presence at all.
Hoping she wouldn't startle him too badly, she gently placed a hand on his arm. "Will?" She had to repeat his name several times, but the far away look slowly dissipated. He blinked and looked over at her, slightly confused as to when she had moved to stand next to him. The last he had really been aware of, she had been sitting on the stairs that connected the forecastle to the main deck, on the other end of the ship. "What were you thinking of?" She was actually quite curious. She couldn't recall seeing such an expression on his face in the entire ten years she had known him.
"It was nothing," he replied softly, not quite meeting her eyes.
"Will," she protested, "it was something. You didn't even notice that a quarter of an hour as gone by since I was ordered to find our heading."
"It was nothing of importance," he amended, "just a dream. That's all." He pause for a moment it thought before adding, "Actually, it wasn't just a dream. It was a memory of my childhood, before I knew you."
"What was it a memory of?" Now she was intrigued. Will had never told her anything at all of his childhood back in England with his mother.
"Well," he began, "it was one of those rare times when my father would come home to visit us. I must have been about six in that memory. It was night and my mother was cleaning up after dinner. I sat on my father's lap in front of the fireplace. As I always did whenever I saw him, I begged for him to tell me a story. He was quite good at it and his stories were always filled with adventure, hidden treasure, and the sea. Always the sea. Even though I almost never saw him, I adored my father. His stories always filled me with excitement and longing. You see, I wanted to live those adventures. I wanted to grow up to be like him, to live free as a bird, to sail the seas. Jack once told me that pirate was in my blood. Now I realize that it isn't just in my blood. The need for adventure and the lure of the sea have been calling to me ever since I was a little boy. It's in my heart. In my soul. Right here, right now, standing at the stern of a ship at dawn, with the salt air and the sea breeze, the sound of the waves, the colors of the sky reflected on the water- honestly, I don't know how I managed to live so many years happily in Port Royal without ever once setting foot on a boat. And now that I realize all that, I- I'm not entirely sure that I could ever go back to such a life." He sighed in frustration as he finally got to the heart of what was troubling him. At last looking her in the eyes, he explained, "Elizabeth, you don't deserve to live a life like the one my mother did: left alone at home with your children while your husband is off sailing who-knows-where, only coming back to see you every few months. Then only once a year. Then only every few years. I could never leave you completely, but if I am completely honest with myself about who and what I am, I can't tell you that I would stay in Port Royal. That would be lying. I know I couldn't. And you-"
"Will," she interrupted him, seeing how distressed he was becoming. "Will, wherever you go, I'm going with you."
"But, Elizabeth, you deserve a peaceful, comfortable life in Port Royal," he told her earnestly.
"I don't want a peaceful life in Port Royal, Will," she told him soothingly, "I want a life with you."
Yes, I know, the end was rather cliché. I just couldn't resist. Sorry that this chapter was so short. I promise the next one will be longer. Remember that reviews equal chapters. The more you review, the more motivated I will be to write!