Hello everyone! Please review! It doesn't have to be long, just a word or two to tell me what you thought. PLEASE? Also, I have a suggestion to any POTC fan: lindam2254's series about Will Turner and her OC are the BEST ever! So please, if you get a chance, make sure to check that out. You won't be sorry! Lindam2554 will also be included in the series as Linda, so keep watch for her!
Chapter Two
Jack
When I woke up the next morning, I discovered that I had slept late. It was nine o' clock, and usually, I'm up by seven.
Sade's bed sheets were rumpled. Bad dreams, I guessed. The poor captain had been getting a lot of them lately, and often woke in the middle of the night screaming about Davy Jones. She usually brushed off my reassurances and lay down again, but I knew she was only pretending to sleep.
I yawned and stretched, wondering what had led me to sleep so late. Either way, I figured that I had better get out on the deck right that instant, or my duties as second captain would fall to Gibbs, my first mate.
I hurried to the breakfast table, reserved only for Captain Sade River, Karissa Norman, her first mate, Captain Jack Sparrow (me, of course), and Gibbs, my first mate. All I found was a bit of stale bread and half a glass of lukewarm water, heated from the Caribbean sunrise.
"Jack!" Karissa was striding towards me. "You're late."
"Why didn't you or Sade wake me up?" I asked her.
"Captain's orders." Karissa rolled her dark brown eyes and shoved the bread towards me. "She said you were sleeping when she woke up. Barbossa is taking over your duties. Go tell him you're awake."
"Love, I am your captain. You have no right to give me orders. Anyway, why did you put Hector in charge? I told you Gibbs was supposed to…"
"Because Gibbs has overslept as well," snorted one of my crew members, Justin, who had overheard our conversation while he was preparing some rope nearby.
"Justin, that's not the way I showed you," harped Karissa, leaning over his shoulder.
"I don't care!" he snapped. "It'll do just as fine!"
"No, actually it won't!" Karissa snatched the rope out of his hands. While they were squabbling, I managed to sneak away to find Barbossa.
"Oh, hi Jack." Indira was one of Sade's crew members. She was the most beautiful out of the lot of them, but she seemed to have taken a dislike to me for some reason. Right then, she gave me a quick look of distrust and tossed her long, dark, soft hair. "The Cap'n is at the wheel, if you're wondering. Also, Pasquale would like me to inform you that you owe him some gold. He didn't look to happy. I'd avoid him, if I were you." She made a face at this thought, like, And God forbid that ever happens.
"I'm sure I'll get it under control, love, savvy?" I headed to the wheel to speak with Sade, while Indira gave a little, "Humph!" and tossed her hair again.
Sade and Barbossa were by the wheel, conversing quietly and once in a while shaking their heads and tried to explain something to the other.
"Ahoy, mates!" I called loudly. They both jumped about ten feet in the air and turned to stare at me.
Sade put her head in her hands. "Oh my God, Jack… I think my hair is still standing on end. Don't DO that!"
Barbossa reached out a hand to pat Sade's hair, for it was just a bit messy, and then returned to me. "Jack. When will you learn your manners?"
"When you learn yours, Hector," I said, making an elaborate gesture with my arms. Sade and Barbossa rolled their eyes at each other and returned to their conversation.
"And so you can clearly see that the best way to find him is to prove that there's something in it for him. In other words, bribing," Sade explained, tapping her finger on the wheel.
"What will we bribe him with? Calamari?" Barbossa shook his head. "He'll come when he's ready. We can't hurry him along."
They were standing about a foot apart. I squeezed myself into the space. It was time that someone around here took notice of me other than yelling at me.
"I assume you're talking about the one and only Davy Jones," I said loudly, draping an arm around Sade and pounding Barbossa on the back like we were old friends.
"No," said Sade sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "We're talking about Santa Claus. Now, Hector, you know we can't…"
"Now, all in good time, mates," I said cheerfully, smiling at Sade and clapping Hector on the back again. "What say we drop Sade's folks off at the nearest port. Look, there's one over there!"
"That's an island," Sade corrected me, glancing at Barbossa, who shrugged.
"Indeed! What keen eyes you have, Sade! But for all you know, there's a rowboat they can escape on! And what's life without chances, eh?" Another smile directed at Sade, another clap on the back for Hector, who coughed slightly at this.
"Jack Sparrow, have you suggested that I should maroon my parents?" demanded Sade, her hazel eyes ablaze.
"Jackie, can't you just leave us alone?" sighed Barbossa. "Before you came, we were discussing something very important, and now you've got the lass screaming in anger."
"I'm not screaming!" screamed Sade.
"Oh, so I'm a third wheel around here, am I?" I sighed, releasing them. They instantly ignored me again, returning to their conversation.
"We need to use some sort of bait…" Sade was speaking, but I zoned out and went off to find Gibbs.
"Sade!" called Taylor, who was up in the crow's nest. Sade glanced up and I halted.
"What?" she called up crossly. I imagine she was tired of being distracted.
"There's a young woman on that island, Cap'n! Looks Finnish, from a glance, ma'am!" Taylor was an expert on foreign countries. Of course she'd be able to pick out a German from a French from a Danish from a Swedish, and now apparently a Finnish.
Sade pondered for a second. "Okay. Let's rescue her. But keep in mind she could be hostile and armed…" and she proceeded to list items on her fingers while the rest of her crew began getting rowboats ready. "…and if she was marooned, you'd have to wonder why, of course, and…"
"Love, maybe you should be quiet," I told her. Nobody appeared to be listening anymore.
"Fine," she sighed, then shouted out orders. "Hoist the colors! The outcast flag, I mean, not the pirate flag. Prepare the boats! Karissa and I are going aboard!"
"Aye aye, Cap'n!" shouted Karissa earnestly, saluting. Sade rolled her eyes at her best friend's formal behavior.
"Come on! Oh, and Jack, hold down the fort, will you?" she asked.
"But, Sade, it is a gentleman's honor to accompany a lady," I argued, raising my eyebrows and smirking.
Karissa rolled her eyes and muttered to herself as she looked the other way, but Sade bit her lip in thought. "It wouldn't help to have a pirate along, Jack. We don't want to scare her. Besides, who's going to hold down the fort if you're not?"
"Barbossa?" I ventured, referring to the time he had been left in charge, allowed a drunk pirate to take over the ship, and therefore allowed Sade's parents to board the Ocean Pearl.
"Another reason to leave you in charge. We need someone partially sane." She spoke calmly, gripping her first mate by the sleeve. "We'll see you later, everyone," she called to the crew. "Jack's in charge. Get some food ready!"
"Aye aye!" the crew shouted. Sade gazed around at them, then smiled at me and ruffled my coat fondly.
"Make sure it's good food. She's obviously been marooned for a couple days," she whispered to me.
Ah! The first form of positive interaction I'd had all day. "Right you are, love," I told her. "The rum, then?"
She rolled her eyes and kicked me lightly (well, I'm sure she meant it to be light- those boots of hers… ouch!) and headed to the boat with Karissa by her side.
The young Finnish woman was yelling and waving her arms about. When she knew she had our attention, she stopped and patiently awaited her rescue. I turned my eyes from the scene and returned to the crew.
"Right! Now Taylor, back on the crow's nest. Barbossa, at the wheel. Justin, you're STILL not doing the rope properly! Oakley, Janet, Hadley, the best quality food, please. You might want to see if Mrs. River's made anything lately."
Mrs. River was famous for her amazing cooking, and she had indeed made some soup. I had a bowl of it in my hands by the time Sade, Karissa, and the Finnish woman were making their way back in the boat.
"Jack… food…" Sade was panting from rowing, and Karissa was beside her. We all knew the tale of Karissa's famous two-day boat trip with no breaks, so this had toughened her up a bit.
I thrust the bowl in the captain's hands, and she handed it to our new crew member, who ate as though she hadn't eaten in weeks… maybe she hadn't.
"My name is Linda," she explained when she finished. She was about to go on, but then looked wistfully at the soup bowl. "Please, may I have more?" she asked Sade and Karissa.
"Of course, of course," said Sade hurriedly, gesturing to Nettle, her most loyal crew member, who nodded and raced off to get more.
"My brother was captain of a ship…" Linda started to explain, when Nettle was back with another bowl.
As Linda tore through this next bowl, I observed her. Definitely Finnish, as far as clothes go. She had dark hair, was tall and slender, and had dark brown eyes that glimmered as she smiled at Sade. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," said Sade. "Tell me, why were you marooned? You were telling us about your brother."
"Yes, my brother." A look of distaste flashed in Linda's eyes. "Bit of a long story there…"
And she began her tale.
