DISCLAIMER: The idea, concept, and characters of "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" and it's fictional universe belongs solely to Disney Enterprises, Inc., Jerry Bruckheimer, Inc., etcetera. The descriptions of character's feelings, thoughts etc. are my guess and/or assumptions and are intended to come as close to what the creators of "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" would want them to be. No profit is made from this site/story and no copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter I
"The Boy In the Water"
When Elizabeth Swann found out her father was planning to move to the new world she didn't know what to think. Her life in England and been so pleasurable, why would her father want to leave? But he didn't want to leave- he had to.Telling stories- telling them well- is a gift, you know. I don't have that gift. At least, I don't think I do. I can't devise new and innovative ideas or unorthodox plots, but I can tell you a story I heard from someone else, once upon a time. It's a story of adventure, of laughter, of courage, of love, but, most of all, it's a story of how bending the rules is sometimes okay. Some say that it really happened. As for me, I'll let you be the judge of that....
That's why, before she knew it, her father, Weatherby, and her were sailing across the sea on the Royal Navy's finest ship, the HMS Dauntless. At first it was surprising how quickly time flew and that they were on their way to a brand new place, but after a while, the excitement wore off, and the perky little girl that talked too much wasn't so perky anymore.
To the new world. That's where they were headed. To Port Royal, Jamaica- where Elizabeth's father would become governor. Hopefully, that part of their journey would be more gratifying than this. This was boring.
Elizabeth was twelve. She was a sweet girl who liked to ask a lot of questions- which would probably explain some of the strange passions she had. She was pretty with light brown hair that was fashioned with large curls and partially held back with a large pastel blue bow on the back of her head. She had dark brown eyes that resembled root beer in the way they reflected the light. Her dress was the same color of her bow with little white flowers decorating the material and a lace trimming at the sleeves, collar and hem of her dress.
Elizabeth was a girl that didn't always like to follow the rules. She did it anyway, as it was expected of her, but not always with a positive attitude and sometime a bit of grumbling was present. This was probably why she loved pirates so much: they didn't like rules either. That's right pirates. They were part of the reason she still looked for something exciting to happen on this voyage- it would have been amazing to meet a real one and she secretly wished she could. Be careful what you wish for.
One day, the sturdy Dauntless was slowly cutting through the vast sea before it. It was cutting slower than usual, for there was a little unexcepted twist to this day of the journey- fog. Fog and lots of it. In fact, there so much that it was . . . too much. It draped around the vessel like a thick, cold and wet grey curtain that held what was lying farther than three meters ahead of the ship veiled in mystery.
The fog brought a strange feeling of tension with it. You could smell it, breathe it, taste it and feel it crawling up your spine. It was eerie. The cloud was like a void that swallowed up all the natural sounds of the sea. You could hear a pin drop on the opposite side of the ship. The mere sound of someone's breath made one jump and nervous glances were consistently cast at the fog. How did they know nothing was hiding behind it? What if they hit land without foreknowledge?
Elizabeth crept to the ship's stern. She shivered as a tiny breeze kissed her skin with a rather sharp bite. It was very gloomy. She thought it felt like a graveyard, with the silence and overall feeling of the situation. She didn't like it.
She looked out to the sea. She had once heard a strange story as a girl. It was one of her favorites, as it was a pirate story. Legend told of a black ghostlike ship that from time to time appeared when fog gathered at sea. They said that its sails were an ominous black and that they were cut from the very shadows of Hell. The ship itself was supposed to be stained black as well by the blood of many souls- innocent and guilty alike. But the most intriguing part of the tale was that its crew was said to be cursed to sail forever under an air of slaughter and roguery.
Thinking of the story brought more chills up Elizabeth's spine and a thought to her mind that she had thought many times before: wouldn't be fascinating to meet a real pirate? To her it would have been a pleasure beyond description- to meet a real pirate!
Oh, he would be wonderful! Of course, he would plunder and loot, but for honorable reasons. He'd also be dashingly handsome and the kind of man who could swashbuckle his way out of any awkward situation and then, when caught, he'd go down with honor. That was Elizabeth's vision of a pirate. Principled, brave, honest, and loaded with an adventurous twist.
She smiled. Then the silence started to get the better of her. It closed in around her tighter than before as if it were attempting to suffocate her. It was unbearable. She began to sing a song, softly and slowly, to chase it away:
"We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot, Drink up, me hearties! Yo ho! Yo ho, yo ho; a pirate's life for me, Yo ho, yo ho; a pirate life for me! We extort, we pilfer, we filch and sack. Drink up – "
She jumped and span around when a hand grabbed her by the shoulder without warning. "Quite, missy!" snarled the seaman. "Cursed pirates sail these waters! You don't want to bring them down on us now, do ya?"
Elizabeth stared back wide-eyed. She couldn't think of what to say. She was only singing- why was that such a crime?
The man sneered back at her. He had old weather-beaten skin, a friendly, smiling face (except when angry or distressed as he was now), brown greasy hair that was combed back and bushy sideburns about an inch and a half in width. He was a little stocky, not very tall and, as you could probably have guessed, highly superstitious.
"Mr. Gibbs, that will do!" A handsome young man in a blue officer's suit snapped back. He wore a blue naval officer's jacket, white breeches and a three cornered hat. He had a crystyl-like brown eyes and dark brown hair that was fashioned in a ponytail with curls on the side of his head, as was the style back then. He was tall and had a lot of authority in the way he carried himself.
"But she was singing about pirates!" Mr. Gibbs protested. "Bad luck to sing about pirates with us mired in this unnatural fog, mark my words." He began to hobble back to his work station.
"Consider them marked," the officer sighed as Gibbs passed him by. He had heard enough of his long list of bad luck items. "On your way."
"Aye, lieutenant." He began to mutter to himself what he must of thought silently, but the lieutenant heard every word. "It's also bad luck to have a woman on board too - even a miniature one." He took a swig from his personal flask that he hung about his neck and then went on his merry way.
The lieutenant was followed by Elizabeth's father. He was wearing a long curly wig that was the same color of the lieutenant's hair and he was clad in fine clothing of the upper class.
"Actually, I think it'd be rather exciting to meet a pirate," Elizabeth chirped as Mr. Gibbs hampered away.
The lieutenant smiled his familiar grin, obviously amused with Elizabeth's remark. He was very kind to Elizabeth and she appreciated it. But although Elizabeth did like the man, he was very stiff- wouldn't set one toe out of line and that wasn't much to Elizabeth's liking. "Think again, Miss Swann. Vile and dissolute creatures, the lot of them. I intend to see to that any man who sails under a pirate flag or wears a pirate brand gets what he deserves –" he walked up to the rail, next to Elizabeth, and looked at her with a smile that showed he enjoyed the idea of the subject, "a short drop and a sudden stop."
Elizabeth, unsure of the lieutenant's meaning, looked back at Mr. Gibbs, who kindly demonstrated a hanging by taking his necktie and pulling up on it with his head rolled back and his tongue lolling out. She gasped and quickly looked away from Mr. Gibbs. How could the lieutenant want to hang all pirates?
"Lieutenant Norrington, I appreciate your fervor. But I'm…I'm concerned about the effect this subject will have upon my daughter," Governor Swann put in.
The lieutenant nodded and stepped aside, "My apologies, Governor Swann."
The governor smiled and turned toward Elizabeth. They were all each other had. Elizabeth's mother had passed away when Elizabeth was very young and she had no other children. So, Elizabeth was raised by her father, who had no plans of remarriage at all- he was more concerned for Elizabeth's future.
Elizabeth didn't smile back as widely as usual. What effect? She liked talking to the lieutenant. "Actually, I find it all quite fascinating."
"Yes, that's what concerns me. Elizabeth, we will be landing in Port Royal soon, and beginning our new lives. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we comport ourselves as befits our class and station?"
"Yes, Father," she sighed half heartedly and resisting the urge to roll her eyes. This was his favorite and most boring lecture and she wished to cut it short. She watched her father leave, chatting with Lieutenant Norrington happily. In her eyes, she wasn't allowed to do anything anymore.
"I still think it would be exciting to meet a real pirate...." She frowned. Some adventure. If sailing to the New World was so brilliant, why was it taking so long to get there and why wasn't anything interesting happening? She decided to lean on the ship's rail- she was beginning to tire of having to constantly stand in good posture, and leaning over the rail usually was a good excuse to slouch just a bit.
Setting her face in the palms of her hands and her elbows on the splintery wood of the rail, she stared into what felt like (and appeared to be) the exact same murky blue water that she'd been staring at for the past few weeks. The ripples and waves repeated themselves in the same trickling pattern over and over and over and over . . . . Nothing different ever happened. Left, right, left, mix, right, left, left, mix, left, right, parasol, lef- parasol?
Elizabeth blinked and looked again to see if she was seeing things. Sure enough, a white and pink parasol had fallen through the fog and was spinning and twirling as it gently bumped against the ship's large hull. Elizabeth grinned as it began to slip away back into the fog. It was quite funny, watching it do its watery dance. What was a parasol doing in the middle of the ocean? She leaned out a bit further, watching the parasol until it quietly slipped past the ship and back into the mist. That was strange. She looked back out ahead of the ship.
Well, whether she liked it or not, that was the highlight of her day. A parasol. It was funny while it lasted but now the rest of the day was bound to be the same as every other day. She gazed out into the fog and jumped inside herself when a larger dark silhouette of something formed in the fog. She squinted to see what it was. Her jaw dropped as the object floated closer towards the Dauntless.
"Look! A boy!" she called after her father and the lieutenant, pointing into the sea. "There's a boy in the water!"
They calmly (but quickly) walked to Elizabeth's side and looked to where she was indicating. Norrington felt his stomach seize up uncomfortably and his heart jump violently as he saw what he expected to be a figment of Elizabeth's imagination. There was a boy in the water- floating on what appeared to be the remains of a ship's deck.
"Man overboard!"
"Boy overboard," Elizabeth corrected.
"Fetch a Hook! Haul him aboard."
The crew reacted quickly to his commands. They were all curious as to find out about this mysterious lad in the water. The boy was snagged by the hooked and drawn aboard as Elizabeth moved to try and get a closer look- this was far more exciting than usual. Mr. Gibbs took the boy in his arms and gently laid him on the ship's deck.
The lieutenant pushed his way to the boy and knelt beside him. "He's still breathing!" he declared, a bit shocked, with his ear beside the boy's mouth. A murmur ran through the crew. The news was wonderful, surely, and they were all pleased to hear it, but that didn't explain where the boy came from. He couldn't have just appeared out of thin air.
The lieutenant proceeded to check the boy's other conditions: his pulse, body temperature, et cetera; and Mr. Gibbs climbed a little higher in the rigging to look out for an answer to the puzzle.
Elizabeth looked at the boy from over the lieutenant's shoulder. She was slightly surprised to see that he looked no older than someone her age. He had dark brown hair (of course, being wet, it was hard to tell and could've been another color) and light skin. She couldn't tell what color his eyes were, as they were shut. He was wearing a loose white sailor's shirt that was open at the chest, a brown vest, brown pants and was barefooted. He looked quite pitiful and she frowned from a feeling of sorrow for him. Obviously, he was alone, poor and apparently helpless.
The silence was interrupted when Mr. Gibbs let out a gasp, "Mary, mother of God!"
The crew abandoned the boy and rushed to the rail to see what Gibbs had witnessed. Elizabeth squeezed her way between two sailors and gasped as yet a larger shape emerged from the murk. A sharp orange glow cut through the fog with a keenness sharp as the sun and quickly took form as fire. The flames were eating hungrily at a vessel that was sinking from its middle where a large hole was and the main mast was snapped in two. Amongst the ship, or what used to be a ship, a bunch of debris was scattered: chunks of wood that no doubt used to be part of the hull or the ship's cargo, a few objects that belonged to passengers- like the parasol- were mingled with the rubbish and the torn and tattered colors of Great Britain's Union Jack lay lifeless just below the surface and was slowly sinking.
Yet another murmur arose in the men. How could this have happened?
"What happened here?" the governor asked a bit breathlessly.
"An explosion midship- most likely the powder magazine. Merchant vessels run heavily armed," the lieutenant calmly thought aloud. And it could have been so, except no one took comfort nor believed the suggestion. It had to be something else.
"A lot of good it did them. Everyone's thinking it; … I'm just saying it … pirates!" Gibbs stammered. Elizabeth took a deep breath as most of the men onboard agreed to this. Pirates couldn't really make this much damage, could they? They weren't that brutal . . . unless, of course it was. . . .
"There's no proof of that. It was probably an accident. Lieutenant, these men were British, and therefore under my protection. If there is even the slightest chance one of those poor devils is still alive, we cannot abandon them!"Governor Swann protested.
"Of course not." The lieutenant stood in thought for a few seconds. Then, coming to his decision, he marched aft at a quick speed. "Rouse the Captain immediately! Heave to and take in sail, launch the boats. Hope for the worst, pray for the best. Move the boy aft- we need the deck clear."
The crew rushed to carry out their orders, readying the cannons, preparing a longboat to search for more survivors and arming themselves. The lieutenant turned away from the governor and continued to instruct his men. The boy was wrapped in a thick grey blanket at the waist and moved out of the way by some sailors.
As this was done, Governor Swann took Elizabeth aside after some quick thought.
"Elizabeth I want you to accompany the boy."
Elizabeth was quite surprised to hear this. What could she do? She was only twelve!
"He'll be in your charge. Take care of him." Her father gave a weak smile and lightly touched his daughter's cheek. Elizabeth studied his face for a few seconds. He was serious, he really wanted her to watch him. She took a deep breath and turned toward the boy as her father walked away with swift step.
She peered at the lad. He was soaking wet and lying there motionless. He looked dead. She looked about the deck for a second. Had there been any other survivors? As she looked about, everyone was running around doing their own business. She finalized he was indeed alone and took a seat next to his body. Poor kid. His family was probably all gone. She reached out and began to brush some hair away from his forehead.
"Ah!" The boy sprang to life and clutched her arm in a frenzy of panic.
Elizabeth jumped a mile high when he yelled. She hadn't expect anything like that to happen. She look into his terrorized eyes and, pulling herself together, she quickly realized he had mistaken her for someone else. She needed to calm him down, he was safe now. She decided that an introduction was a good place to start a conversation and soothe him. "It's okay. My name is Elizabeth Swann," she stated calmly.
"Will Turner," he stammered, still recovering from his sudden shock.
She frowned. He was clutching her arm very tightly and it wasn't too comfortable. "I'm watching over you, Will," she attempted to comfort him, but he fell back in a faint before she could receive a response.
Well, that wasn't very progressive. Finally, she gets someone her age to talk to, who probably had seen a pirate and he hasn't enough strength to even carry out a thirty second conversation! Great.... She sighed and looked at Will a bit disappointed. She couldn't help but notice a chain was around his neck and the end was tucked under his shirt, appearing to hide something. Being as inquisitive as she was, Elizabeth couldn't help but check what the chain was holding at its end.
She slipped the chain out from under his shirt, and, to her surprise, she discovered a brilliantly carved gold medallion. Around its border there were many shapes and designs (mostly triangles) and, in the very middle, there was carved in a fashion that Elizabeth had never seen before a skull. She felt a pit form in her stomach. The only place she knew where a skull was used as a symbol was for pirates. That could only mean one thing: "You're a pirate!"
"Has he said anything?" Elizabeth jumped again and hid the medallion behind her back as she turned to face the lieutenant.
"His name is William Turner," she answered slowly. "That's all I found out." She bit her lip, praying that he wouldn't ask what was hiding behind her back.
He looked at her for a what felt like a long while. He just stared at her. Oh, he probably knew she was hiding something. He sighed and then nodded. Then he turned to the sailors that stood behind him, "Move him below."
Elizabeth wandered to the ship's stern as Will was taken below decks. She stood there, clutching the medallion and was soon swept away in thoughts too many to list. After thinking for a long time she came to a decision. If Will really was a pirate then she'd have to keep the knowledge of it completely secret. If Lieutenant Norrington found out Will's life could be in grave danger and she knew that he didn't deserve it, he was only a boy. She would hide the medallion and never show it to anyone nor tell anyone about it or Will's possible identity. She wasn't going to be responsible for a boy's death.
She glanced down at the medallion once again. Where did Will get it anyway? It looked so weird. After checking to make sure no one was watching, she held up so she could see it with a better light. With her peripheral vision she noticed a black blob hiding in the fog behind the medallion. She lowered the medallion and, squinting to see it clearly, she jumped inside and was as shocked as she would have been had she been slapped across the face. A large black galleon with yards of tattered black canvas, tall masts and a Jolly Roger blowing in a gust of wind sat right before her eyes. It couldn't be! The legendary ship she'd heard about! Perhaps she was seeing things? She quickly shut her eyes tightly, counted to three and opened them again.
Author's Notes: 'kay. I realize that writing this is a risky business. There are so many people who love PotC and who interpret the characters in many different. Hopefully I've struck a note with some of you. I've got the first five chapters done and so those are all loaded and ready to go, however, should you for some reason become attached to this ... story (OMG!!! I have to find out what happens!!! Heh, heh. Yeah right. Not much different from the film, dearies- go watch it), you'll have to be patient. I am currently working on another story, "On the Edge of a Knife, Off the Edge of the Map" and for now, that's where my highest priorities lie. This comes as a second. So updates won't be as fast as you may like, but I'll try to keep them going, 'kay. I promise I won't stop.
But first off, I have to find out. Whether you guys even like it! Please review and please be gentle. I'm still very new to this fanfic thing. Don't hurt me. Tear leaks out of eye Please.
