A/N: Hey there, its time for my very first pirates of the Caribbean fanfic. I've actually be planning this story for years but I've recently come back to this website after a good 3 year Hiatus, so I decided it was time I wrote it. Hope you enjoy (:

The sun was streaming down from the deep blue sky, baking the land with its intense rays, reflecting across the turquoise waves. A young girl ran down, barefooted, her soft feet hot underneath the perfectly white sand. She didn't care though; she was a child, her high spirits soured up to the cloudless sky. Her mother, father and twin brother were far behind, the parents watching with affection as their small daughter made her way to the sea. The girl stopped at the edge, laughing with delight as the cold water splashed at her warm toes, seeping with an icy chill around her. She looked up to the horizon and let out a small gasp, a large boat was sailing by, not like the big sailor boats that she usually saw, this looked different, scarier, with huge tattered sails billowing in the sea breeze. On top of the mast, a black flag was waving, decorated with a white, sinister looking skull. She turned around to her family.

"Mama, what's that boat?" she shouted, pointing her chubby fingers at it. Her mother made her way over and peered at the boat.

"It's a pirate ship Alice" her mother explained, her eyebrows frowned slightly, troubled by the appearance of the ship.

"Pirate?"

"Yes, they're like sailors, but they steal things and cause trouble, they're very mean people, you shouldn't be interested in that sort of thing" her mother warned.

Alice didn't say anything else, but carried on watching as the boat floated by until it was hidden by the large cliffs that surrounded the island.

Alice's eyes flickered slowly open. She yawned and sat up, her white soft sheets falling around her. She looked up, smiling. She remembered what had happened in her dream, it had happened many years ago, when she was about six years old. After that day, despite her mother's dislike of the subject, she had become fascinated by pirates. She had borrowed many books on them without her parent's knowledge and spent many years reading stories and legends about pirates. Of course, she never wanted to become one, or even encounter one, but she still thought they were interesting. She slipped out of her bed and lit up a candle, carrying it over to the window. She raised her hand and parted the heavy curtains, peering out the gap into the dark night. She had lived on this island since before she could remember, she knew it so well, every street, every stretch of beach, and she loved it with all her heart. She watched the darkness for a while, until something caught the corner of her eye, I bright orange light, in fact, lots of orange light. She peered curiously, trying to get a better view of it. The light seemed to be moving, growing. A fire. She opened the window, and stuck her head out into the windy night. She could hear shouts and screams in the distance, coming from the direction the fire was in. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she could see shapes moving around the town, large swords and explosives in their hands. She looked over at the sea and saw a huge ship; a pirate ship. She gasped. Pirates, they were attacking the town. For some reason, she felt cold, like ice. She tried to move, but felt as though she had become frozen to the spot. The fear started to size in her throat, she couldn't make a sound. All she could think was all the stories she had read about pirates attacking towns and islands, about the destruction and pain they caused. She had a sharp realisation that these stories were real, they did happen; it was happening now. Her mother had been right to discourage pirate interest. By now the sinister shapes were close to the house. She fell backwards in shock; at once she was able to move. She scrambled to her feet and ran to the other side of her room, flinging her door open. She could hear a scream downstairs. With sickening dread, she realised she was too late, the pirates were already there. Across the hall she could see her brother's door open.

"Alice! What's happening?" he asked sounding panicked. She ran forward, holding onto her brother.

"Nick, there are pirates, they've come to the town, and they're inside the house!" she told him, her words almost incoherent from her fear. He grabbed her arm and moved towards the large staircase, looking down into the hallway. Sure enough, a mass crowd of scruffy, evil looking men were downstairs holding vicious looking weapons scouring the area, grabbing at gold and valuables greedily. Their parents ran out of their bedroom, running over to their two children.

"I was right," Alice's father said gloomily, "it is pirates,"

At that moment, a large group of them came running up the stairs. Before any of them could react, a large, dark skinned pirate with scruffy black hair and a scarred face grabbed Alice in one huge, muscular arm and pressed a shiny blade against her neck. She kept still, terrified.

"Hello there governor." The pirate said in a gruff, sinister voice. "Any funny stuff, and you're daughter here is dead," Alive trembled slightly at his words. The blade felt icy against her neck.

"What do you want from me?" her father asked

"We want you to all come quietly back to our ship. We're taking this island over. The captain will decide what he wants to do with you when we get there," the pirate said, his fellow men moved forward as he talked, tying Alice's family up with strong, rough-looking rope. None of them made any attempt to resist, all eyes were locked firmly on Alice stood petrified in the pirates arms. The pirate smirked at them.

"Well done, now follow me." He pushed Alice into one of the other pirates who proceeded to tie her up with her family and began marching them out the house to the beach.

By the time they had reached the beach, light was beginning to break over the cold sea. Alice looked around at the beach she had known and loved for so long. It looked so different this morning. It was surrounded by a smoking, defeated town. Scattered across the beach were boxes and sacks of food and gold that the pirates had stolen. There were a few other people tied up dotted around the sand, all looking as weary and scared as her. The pirates had left her for a while as they started to load up their stolen goods onto the boat. Her family had already been taken on board. God knows when they would come for her. She longed for them with all her heart. Deep inside, she had a terrifying notion that she might never see them again. Her mother, who walked out into town, arm in arm as they looked at dresses under their parasols. Her father, who had always looked out for her in his quiet, accepting way as she matured into the woman she was, always ready to assist in any way he could. Her twin brother Nicholas, who she shared everything with. She hoped desperately that they were okay. She couldn't take the waiting any longer; she flailed around in her bound state. She saw a glint of metal on the sand and slid over, to her joy it was a blade. She turned her back to it and reached for it with her hands. A few minutes of struggling and she had successfully cut herself free. She sprung to her feet, the blade felt comforting in her palm. She crept across the beach, ducking beneath the boxes as she went. She found herself cornered in a large pile of chests. She turned around trying to figure out the best way to get onto the boat. She heard footsteps behind her and turned around sharply. A group of about five pirates were closing in on her. She took a step backwards and found herself blocked by the chests. She gripped at the sword nervously. One of the pirates took a step closer to her and she lunged for him, taking him by surprise. The other pirates seemed angered by her attack. They moved forward together striking at her. She held the blade in front of her, hearing the metal collide. She managed to hold them off for a while, but she could feel herself tiring. She closed her eyes in defeat. She knelt down on the sand, the sword dropping from her hand. She sent a silent goodbye to her family and waited for the first blade to strike. The was a sharp crash of metal and then a cry. She opened her eyes and saw a man stood in between her and the pirates. His long sword blocking theirs.

"It's not very nice to gang up on a lady you know lads," he said with an air of amusement. Then proceeded to knock their swords out of their hands. The pirates retreated, a look of fear in their eyes at this stranger's skill. The man turned around and smiled kindly at her, offering a hand to her.

"Are you alright?" he asked

She nodded gratefully. "Yes thank you. Who are you?"

"Me, I'm Jack Sparrow, Captain Jack Sparrow" he told her, with a slight air of impressiveness.