Title: Celia's Wind
Author: -LoveAndPiracy- (Pepper)
Rating: T (Alcohol)
Summary: (I suck at these, fair warning) A girl named Celia, who can down a bottle of rum and walks straight afterwords, finds her life dull in Tortuga. Nothing more than prissy girls and soggy men. But when she meets a certain pirate with a swagger in his step, things turn upside down.
"Hmm Hmm, Hmm Hmm, a pirate's life for me." Celia half hummed, half sang quietly to herself. She drank from her clear rum bottle and leaned back on her bar stool.
"How ya' been, Cece?" The Tender asked, and she caught a slight slur in his voice.
She sighed and shrugged. "Okay, I reckon. Bored in this Dump of a town not worth livin' in," she took a drink, "Maybe my Mum thought it'd be fun, I don't know. I don't even know where she is at the moment!"
Celia sighed once more, putting her head down, cradled by one arm. Celia Hawkins was only 18 yeas old, living in Tortuga all her life. Her mother, a spicy one, Elaina, had more fire than Celia could handle at times. But that's how women are in this town, she'd think to herself, why aren't I like that? She barely brushed her midnight hair, leaving it in a long braid most of the other girls wore their hair up in crazy styles, sticking anything and everything in it. She never wore low-collared dresses for the fancying of men. In fact, the men on the isle were the last thing she thought about. She sighed about freedom, and having a story to tell everyone. She pretended to have interest in the petty stories the girls her age told, giggling and fanning themselves flirtatiously.
"So he looked at me from the other side of the room, for the whole time!"
"Really?"
"Really! I tried to act like I never noticed. So the next time I see him we'll maybe talk!"
"How romantic..." some girl would say. Then another would come forth with yet another stupid story.
"What about you, Celia? Do you have anything interesting to tell us?"
That usually shook her from her thoughts.
"Oh, of course not!"
Some would gasp."That's sad..."
Some would snort. "With all the rum you drink, you'd probably forget anyway." Then they'd all giggle and move on.
Ugh. She'd do anything to get out. Tortuga, the drunken pirate's haven, was like a jail to Celia Hawkins.
She shuddered and took another drink.
"--so I had to fight him, to get the chest. And I'm standing as best I can on the bloody mast of the ship! Tryin' to keep me balance, not to fall to a certain brutal death in this giant maelstrom the sea cooked up below us." A voiced piped up.
"Whoa, ye' really did all that? Someone asked.
"Truly. When oll' that was done I ended up..."
She stopped listening and put her head down, trying her best to drown everything out for a moment.
"--I had the heart, and nearly stabbed the beating thing. But then he stabbed William..."
There was a noticeable pause. Celia sat up.
"And?" The other voice asked. "Jack, what happens next?"
"Then he was saved and now we're all happy, savvy? Have to go now. Ta." Jack said. He sounded really uncomfortable, and he'd gotten up and headed for the door. Out of her curiosity and boredom (--not to mention slight intoxication) she went after him.
She followed for almost half of an hour. She'd followed Jack all the way to a quieter part of town Celia had been to once or twice. He just swaggered along, Celia quietly sneaking along not too far behind, half forgetting what she was doing following him in the first place. He'd stop to flirt with the occasional wench along the way, say a "Hello" to a man passing by he must have known. One thing that struck her as interesting, he'd greeted politely one of her "friends". Odd, she thought, I always knew she was a little loose. On the much more quiet side of town, he stopped at a tall brick building and stood against the wall casually.
"So how long, exactly, did you plan to follow me without my noticing, young miss?"
It took a moment for Celia to realize he was addressing her.
"Uh, ah, I wanted to know..." What was it again?
"Miss...?"He held out his hand like a gentleman.
"Hawkins. Celia Hawkins." She took it.
"Hawkins," he nodded in a sort of bow of understanding, "it's rather late but I can make an exception--"
"N-NO! I just wanted to know what happened to William," she scoffed quietly, snatching her hand back and holding it to her chest as if he'd burned it.
He grinned, exposing a gold tooth. "Ah, you'd like to know the grand adventure?"
She shook her head, causing her braid to lap over her shoulder."Just William's part. You seemed distraught when Thomas asked about it. I- I was wondering if you'd tell me. Is he the William that's now the Captain of the Flying Dutchman? What was it," Celia bit her lip, silently cursing herself for drinking so much, "Turner?"
"S'a long story, Celia. How about we meet up tomorrow, and I'll tell ya' the whole tale, savvy?" He did really look tired in the face, Celia noted.
She thought about it for a moment. Should she trust this man? He obviously was a pirate, but his name and appearance seemed familiar. "What's your name? No lies."
He took off his hat and bowed. "Captain Jack Sparrow at your-"
"-YOU'RE CAPTAIN SPARROW?!" Celia gawked, losing her balance for a moment.
He looked shaken up, but smug. "It would appear to be so, Miss, join me round noon tomorrow?"
"Sure. I'll be at Faithful Bride!"
"Champion. Until we meet again?."
"Farewell." She curtsied slightly, and was on her way to her home not too far away. Not that she had anything else to do, anyway. Why not? It sounded like a good story. If the scoundrel tried anything funny, she could defend herself. She smiled. This was definitely going to be interesting.
Celia nodded to whatever her mother was going on and on about, watching the fire dance. She was laid out comfortably on a lounge chair.
"And all of my friends always snicker about how weird my daughter is. 'Perhaps she can become a philosopher' they tease. I'm tired of it! Why can't you be normal, Celia?"
Celia shrugged. She hated times like this: her mom fussing about whatever some catty wench says. Her mother never seemed to be normal; what kind of mother tells their only child to be something they're not? "Just because I'm not bubble headed and salty like those other girls you see, it doesn't mean I'm abnormal, mother!''
"Well that's what people are saying, Cece!" Elaina paced the room. She wore a long ruffled silver dress over her curves. Her brown hair was pinned up behind her ears.
"I don't care what they say about me! Why doesn't anyone get that?!" She turned and crossed her arms.
Her mother breathed out, trying to pace herself. Every spoken word between them ended up a fight. The only thing Celia had in common with Elaina was their household.
"Sticking your nose in those... books. Where do you get those anyway?"
She laughed bitterly. "I simply ask for them. Because I like to read things, because I can"
"Your father would've loved you for that..." She had a distant stare, her face still cold.
Celia stood. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight." With that, she stomped to her room.
Celia's room was like a haven to her. She lit a candle and went to her closet to pull on a nightgown. Smoothing down the sides, she sat in front of her vanity table. She sat and stared at herself for a moment. Slowly, she undid her frizzy braid and brushed it. When it wasn't in her usual braid, her black hair was wavy and long. Her dark eyes were visibly sleepy in the moon and candle's light. She was tired, and annoyed, and needed a break. That was all she asked for: A Break.
Short books she'd read about the infamous Jack Sparrow indicated He'd started pirating all on the fact that he needed time off from his equally infamous father, Edward Teague, Keeper of The Pirate's Code. Time off. A Break.
"Maybe a little adventure is what I need..."
Celia yawned.
"...a Small one".
Toldya I sucked. But yea, this was an idea that'd been floating around in my head. Thanks for reading!! Hope you liked it! REVIEW!!!!!!! And maybe, just maybe I can crank out nother chapter. Haha.