Hello fanfictioners, and welcome to my new and improved chapter prologue of 'The Gift of the Siren', now 'The Rare Compassion of the Sea'. If

Any of you have read my Author's Note, then you will know that I am re-writing part of my story. My original idea is still in place, however my

changing the first chapter has prompted me to change the next few chapters as well. I hope you will continue to read my story and I apologize

for any inconveniences. Also, if any of you are wondering when this story takes place, it is after Dead Man's Chest, and before At World's End.

Prologue

Dezeray held her breath as she watched the man step into the hull. She had known that someone would probably find her eventually, though she hadn't thought it would be this soon. The man looked around, and she slowly ducked her head back down behind the large barrels where she was hiding. She was fairly certain that he hadn't seen her and she wanted to keep it that way. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on her side toady and the seas were rather rough. The ship lurched involuntarily and she fell against the barrels she had been hiding behind, knocking them over and stumbling to the ground. The man quickly went over to her, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her to her feet.

"I knew we had a stowaway onboard!" he sneered triumphantly. "And now I have proof!"

"So, I guess we can't just keep this between you and me?" She asked with a small smile. The man grunted in reply before exiting the hull, making his way above deck and dragging her along behind him. He walked across the ship to the quarter deck, where he pushed Dezeray in front of the man at the helm.

"Found her in the hull, Captain," the man who had just pushed her stated. The man at the helm turned to look at her, he was obviously the captain. He was a tall man, with light brown skin, short, dirty looking black hair, dark brown eyes, and a mouth filled almost entirely of gold teeth. All in all, he was not very attractive.

"My apologies for doubting you, Roberto," the captain replied in a slimy voice. "It's just that we don't often get stowaways. I thought maybe all that rum had gotten the better of you." Both men laughed, and Dezeray began to laugh as well.

"What are you laughing at you little wench?!" Roberto barked angrily, Dezeray looked up at him innocently.

"Well, what you said just sounded so hilarious, I thought I'd laugh too," she explained, shrugging her shoulders. Roberto grabbed onto her shoulder and pulled her back toward him.

"What would you have me do with her, sir?" he asked the captain.

"Well...you found her, so you can have the pleasure of choosing what to do with-" Before the Captain could finish his sentence, a huge splash was heard beside them, and moments later, the bowsprit of an enormous ship broke the surface of the water. All three stared at the ship in awe, as did the rest of the crew, their mouths hanging agape as they watched the rest of the ship surface.

It was like no other ship Dezeray had ever seen, she was intrigued by it. Its bowsprit was shaped into the form of a large menacing mouth, and the whole ship looked as if it had been at the bottom of the ocean for years. It was a dark, greenish black color, algae and coral sprouting out of various places, and its sails looked almost as if they were constructed of seaweed.

Dezeray closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to snap out of her trance. She noticed that Roberto's grip around her shoulder had loosened greatly, and without even thinking, she broke free of his grip and headed for the forecastle deck. However before she could get there, the exclamation of "FIRE!" was heard from the other ship. The ship she was on suddenly began to convulse violently, causing her to stumble to the side, though she managed to stay on her feet. Stray pieces of debris began to fall all around her and she dashed for the front of the ship. She noticed that most of the men above deck were scrambling for cover, seeming not to notice her at all. Another set of tremors, and she had made it to the ships forecastle. She jumped onto the railing, prepared to dive into the choppy sea water. Another blast from the enemy ships cannons caused the ship to pitch to the side, and her dive was transformed into a hasty flip over the side of the rail.

She plunged into the water with a splash, and managed to swim to the surface for a few breaths of air. The choppy water made it very difficult to swim, however she managed to swim a great distance from the ship she had jumped from. She stared back at the ship in horror.

The Ranger, as it had once been called, had been destroyed in mere minutes it seemed, and it's now charred remains bobbed above the waters surface desolately. The ship that had destroyed The Ranger, stood by its prey. Dezeray suddenly noticed that another ship was fast approaching, also noticing that it had become increasingly difficult to stay above the inclement water without something to hold on two. She thought about swimming back toward The Rangers' wreckage to find a board or barrel to hang on to, quickly made her decision and began to swim back toward the ship's remains. She found a large piece of driftwood that, at some point, must have been part of the ships deck, and climbed onto it.

She was suddenly aware of how close she was to the ominous ship that had just ravaged The Ranger, and was unsure of what the ships crew might do if they spotted her. She would soon find out however as she saw someone look over the side of the huge ship. He yelled something she couldn't hear, though it hadn't seemed to be to her, before he disappeared back behind the ship's rail. She looked up at the ship in confusion. She was to far away to make out what the man had looked like, though she had thought he looked a bit...unusual. Had he been wearing some kind of mask? She didn't have time to ponder the question however as something suddenly grabbed hold of her wrist and yanked her into the water.

Her first thought was that it was a shark, however although the current grip around her wrist was tight, it was nowhere near painful enough to be a shark's jaws. Moments later, she was suddenly dropped upon a deck. The grip on her wrist was relinquished and she felt another grip on her shoulder, abruptly hauling her up. She coughed and sputtered, clearing her mouth and nose of the putrid sea water that she had involuntarily inhaled when she had been pulled into the water. The salty liquid stung her eyes, and the grip on her shoulder allowed her to wipe away the water, clearing her vision. When she opened her eyes, she gasped at what she saw and a scream hitched in her throat. She was aboard the ship she had seen, surrounded by men who couldn't really be described as men at all.

One man had a head that seemed to be incased in a conch shell, while another had a face half covered in sharp spines; they were all rather frightening. She closed her eyes, thinking that this was all just a bad dream, however when she opened her eyes, she was still on the ship, and the 'men' were still surrounding her. Footfalls were suddenly audible, but she noted the irregularity of them. She had never heard footsteps like this before, one heavy step followed by a strange, dull thud. The footsteps continued to approach until the group of men surrounding her parted, revealing who it was that owned the footsteps. She recoiled in fright as she saw the man...thing approaching her, and although she tried to back away, the grip on shoulder tightened, rooting her to the spot. It was only then that she decided to look up to see who was restraining her. He was very tall, with pale bluish skin and a mouth filled with sharp, jagged teeth. The top of his head was separated into two parts, and she thought he looked very much like a hammerhead shark.

When she brought her head back down, she saw that the man who had been approaching her now stood right in front of her. She began to tremble with fear as he kneeled down to her level, the strange tentacles of his beard hovering mere inches from her face. He opened his mouth to say something, however before he could, more footfalls, and the strange fish-men were suddenly surrounded by a group of normal, human men. Dezeray noted that they were all dressed in military type clothing. A man with a very bored expression on his face began to approach the strange man standing in front of her, stopping directly behind him.

"Jones, do I have to remind you of your place under the command of the East India Trading Company?" The man asked blandly. Jones huffed impatiently, standing and turning toward the man.

"You are to find and board any ship sailing under a pirate flag, bring the pirates aboard your ship, and I will have my men interrogate them." He paused for a moment, continuing. "That way, we can find out the location of other pirates without having to sail around the entire ocean."

Dezeray was amazed that this man could stand up to someone so frightening without even flinching. He was treating the captain like a child, explaining the right way to do things.

"I'm sorry to disappoint, Lord Beckett," Jones spat angrily through a strong Scottish accent, "but that's not the way we do business-"

"Well that's the way we do business, so I suggest you follow suit," Beckett interrupted, before pushing Jones aside. He walked toward Dezeray, kneeling down to her level, and staring at her for a few moments. She stared back into his blue eyes defiantly, watching as a small smirk grazed his features.

He looked her up and down, and she felt slightly self conscious. "She is a sole survivor I assume?" Beckett questioned, looking up at the shark man. He nodded. "Very well," he replied, standing to his full height. "Take her aboard The Endeavor," he ordered one of the military men, who jogged over and grabbed onto her opposite shoulder, causing the shark man to let go. He began to pull her toward the side of the ship, helping her over the rail, and instructing her to climb down into the large longboat awaiting them below. She did as she was told, and soon, she and a number of other men, were heading toward the ship she had seen approaching before.

There were soon, aboard the ship The Endeavor, and she was being led to the ships brig. She was shoved into a large cell, where the man who had been leading her closed and locked the cells door. He left her alone, heading back above deck.

'Wonder how I'm going to get out of this,' Dezeray thought hopelessly to herself, as she sat down on the cold floor of the cell.

So, that's my new prologue and I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as my first one. I know it's been a while since I updated, though I have

been incredibly busy the past week. I'll try to post chapter 2 shortly. Later!