We had been sailing for two days straight; the crew and myself lagging from the lack of sleep. The men had just started to warm up to me, though a few still threw mistrustful glances my way every now and then. It was on the eve of the third night that one of the men approached me; Johnny I learned his name was.
He leaned against the mast, watching me fumble with some ropes. "Been sailin' long, miss?"
"For about three days now."
"Looks that way, though it don't sound like it."
I frowned as the ropes seemed to twist even more in my hands, becoming a tangled mass of knots. Who knew it could be so hard to secure one little rope to a stupid pole? "What do you mean?"
"The things I heard ya say, miss, I never heard before. Frankly, I'm ashamed of myself for not thinkin' of somea the things ya do." He laughed and a faint blush stained my cheeks. Before I came up with something to say, Mr. Gibbs came up from behind me, his gruff voice startling me. "He givin' ya trouble, lass?"
"No. We were just discussing the proper way for a girl to take two blokes at the same time. Care to share your thoughts, Mr. Gibbs?"
He looked at me wide-eyed for a moment, then turned and walked away, muttering about "devil women" and such. Johnny laughed and gave me a wink before taking the ropes from my hands, securing them properly. I smiled my thanks and he nodded before walking away, off to finish his own task. I was beginning to think I'd like it on this ship.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~
I take it back. I hate it.
Pirates are nothing but vile, dispicable creatures. Is it really so hard to maybe NOT get slobbering drunk for one night? I mean, really. For three nights now I've had to listen to them sing about rotten eggs and watch them be 'manly'. Like knowing who can spit the furthest is manly?
Well, they did let me stay aboard the ship instead of throwing me overboard or something. I guess that counts for something. Maybe they're not so bad after all.
Oh, I'm so confused.
"They're really not a bad lot, these guys. They've always been loyal. I'd trust 'em with my life. Well, some of 'em anyway."
"Is that really so wise, Captain Sparrow? To trust a pirate?" I looked over to see him mimicking my position, his weight leaning on his arms, leaning over the side of the ship. The only difference was a bottle of rum in his left hand.
"Do you not trust me, luv?"
"You haven't given me a reason not to."
"And neither have they." He took a swig from the bottle, then offered it to me.
I smiled as I accepted the drink. "Trying to get me drunk, Captain Sparrow?"
He said nothing, watching as I took a drink. The rum burned my throat as it went down, and he laughed as I started coughing. "Shut up."
~x~x~x~x~x~x~
I threw my head back with a laugh. "Oh, really?" My eyebrow raised and Jack smiled, taking another swig from the bottle. We had been sitting here for two hours now, drinking and laughing about nothing.
"Really."
"I think all that rum is finally getting to you, Captain."
"Nonsense. I could outdrink a fish." He moved to take another drink as if to prove his statement and he drew back with a confused look. "Oh. I guess its gone then." He turned the bottle upside down and I laughed again.
"Nope. Not drunk at all."
"Land ho!"
We both looked up at the yell, before exchanging glances and clambering to our feet. Jack ran up to the crows nest, gesturing for the man on watch to throw down the spy glass. "Jack." He looked at me, fumbling with the spy glass as he caught it. "There's no need for that. Just look."
He looked to where I was pointing, smiling when he spotted the island about a half mile in. "It looks like our luck is changing then, aye?"
"It would seem so."
~x~x~x~x~x~x~
Twenty minutes later, the Pearl was ashore and tied down, the men not straying too far from the ship and looking towards the woods nervously. I was sitting with Johnny when Gibbs approached Jack, and I leaned a bit closer to hear what was being said.
"We picked a bad spot of land to be on, Jack. This is where the Pelegostos are. I've heard right nasty things about them. We'd be in a load of trouble if we ran into them."
"Well then we best not go looking for them, now should we?"
"We don't have to go looking. Just being on their land is bad enough. What's so bad that we need to be here?"
"Some things are better left unsaid, Gibbs." Jack walked off, catching my eye as he did, and I frowned at his sour expression. It was gonna be a long night.
~x~x~x~x~x~x~
"AMBUSH! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" I jolted up and saw chaos around me, the crew in battle with a bizarre group of people, most with body paints and bones sticking through various part of their bodies. Jack ran up, and shoved me towards the cargo hold, shielding me from the fight. "Go hide, and no matter what, don't let them find you."
"What? What do I do?"
"Nothing! Just hide! We'll do what we can to get back, just don't get caught! Now go!" He shoved me into the darkened room, and slammed the door shut. All those days and nights hiding from him before helped, since I knew what spots were flawed and I pushed an empty barrel into a hidden nook in the back, putting a few crates in front of it to be safe before climbing in. I didn't know if they would search the ship for anything, or how good of a job they'd do, but I hoped they wouldn't come this far back.
It wasn't too long after I hid that the yelling died down, but I could still hear footsteps above deck. I didn't know who had won, but I wasn't going to take any chances. I would wait until Jack yelled for me, or I was discovered by the islanders. Either way, I was staying put.
