"I think so." Will replied in his opinion, with a slight smirk. "He has a lot of willpower, which will cause him to excel far in life." Will gulped down a pint of rum in mere seconds. "Maybe he has a little too much willpower." Will smirked. "I don't know why, but..." He sat down for a moment, allowing the salty breeze to blow through his hair which wasn't in a ponytail anymore. "Hmm?" he heard the captain say. His gentle eyes looked up at the figure of the captain. "He looked a lot like you."
"Nonsense!" the captain chuckled heartily, and looked at his compass to ensure the correct path was being taken. "I'm a bachelor. Always have been, always will be. I've never lost my virginity…" If that's what you call it, ha-ha!
"Or have you?" Will laughed. "Most men are too drunk to realize half of what they're doing secretly in their own lives." The captain gave a half-serious look of disgust, but the other half seemed to be smiling. "Oh, come on, I'm serious. Once, when I was seventeen, I downed three bottles of rum, and woke up the next morning in a different continent." True story. "You don't want to know about when I was twenty-one." he joked.
The captain smiled, "You make me laugh at times, Will. That's what makes me pleasurable and joyful and even grateful to have a crew that was inspired like you." The man put his hand on the taller man's shoulder. "Yes." He agreed, and smiled.
---
"OPEN THE DOOR!!" Beatrice and Joanna shouted outside of the local tavern. They hollered, cursed, and banged wildly against the door, while Jack Sparrow amazingly slept through the ruckus.
"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!?" a feminine voice came from the other side of the thick, heavy wood doors. "WHAT DO YOU WANT!? I THOUGHT I BANISHED YOU FROM MY PROPERTY!!"
"THIS IS IMPORTANT!!" Joanna, the younger prostitute, shouted. "OPEENN THE DOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRR!!!!!"
"ALRIGHT!!"
A girl opened the door. She had curly blonde hair that reached to her breasts, and she had the most gorgeous green eyes. She wore a pale, golden cream dress, that was layered and taken to extreme detail, with embellishments and embroidery beyond imagination, described with golden roses, bows, laces, ruffles, and other feminine features. It was definently Victorian or Elizabethan-styled, and the two prostitutes took in as much sight as they could to memorize that beautiful evening dress that they saw. "What. Do. You. Want?" She firmly said.
"YOU'RE A LOVELY LADY, STOP ACTING LIKE YOU'RE NOT!!" Beatrice said, waving her purse about.
"ARE YOU INTERESTED IN CHILDREN!?" Joanna blurted out.
"WHAT?" the girl was offended. "I'M NOT GOING TO END UP AS STUPID AS YOU TWO --"
"WE AIN'T NAME-CALLING!" Joanna shouted. "WE'RE ASKING YOU AN HONORABLE, CIVILIZED-LIKE QUESTION, SO SHUT UP AND LISTEN!!"
The girl scowled, leaned against the door, and in a low tone asked, "What do you want?"
The prostitutes, still yelling because they were half-deaf by the effect of alcohol, explained the story of Jack Sparrow being found. "I see..." The girl said after their ill-described story was told.
"HERE'S PROOF!" Beatrice shouted, handing a piece of paper to the girl.
"Jack Sparrow?" she whispered. "Ohh..." She looked sad. "Anne."
"YOU KNOW THE BABY'S MOTHER?" Beatrice shouted. "LET'S FIND HER!"
"No." she said. "No, no, no, no... My friend... My big sister's best friend... no... Oh, no..."
"WHAT'S WRONG?" Joanna asked in her sort of language which meant she was concerned.
"Nothing..." she replied. "I'll take the baby."
"THANK YOU, NICE TO KNOW HE HAS A SUITABLE MOTHER!" The prostitutes exclaimed joyfully, and went to the saloon to indulge more alcohol.
The lady sighed, looking down at her newly adopted son. "Hello, Jack." she cooed to him, picking up the basket. "I'm Clarisse, the tavern-owner. How'd you like to be my son?" Jack squealed with delight, and held out his tiny hand. Clarisse shook the hand. "Welcome to my home."
Clarisse had raised him alone with all that she had. She was fifteen years old, and treated him as if he was her own son. She was a night-owl, slept all day, and woke up at 5 PM, and went to bed at 7 AM. She taught Jack how to be raised in this condition called 'the night shift'. She would often be sweeping the floors at three o'clock in the morning to see Jack helplessly trying to walk by himself for the first time. Also, Jack spoke a foreign baby language only known to infants, which was a bunch of gibberish blobbed into heaps of words that made no logic sense.
Jack was born with dark skin and slick, black hair. He had a cute face, and his eyes were black. He was almost always thin, even as a baby. When Jack tried to walk around, he had no success until he was over a year old. Clarisse praised him for everything he learned to do all of his life. She taught him to walk, talk, feed himself, go to the bathroom by himself, adapt daily routines, and does something fun with him after every three days.
One day, Clarisse was mopping the floors after the late-night people had left, and it was the most silent hour ever in Tortuga: 3:00 AM. This moment of peace lasted for one hour until the early-birds got up at 4:00 AM. Jack had adjusted himself to the night shift, and was walking around as a little two-year-old, trying to learn sentences. She smiled at the little boy that was putting things away, rather than making a mess. Clarisse was muttering to herself that she needed to go to bed in two hours, but suddenly noticed the neat-freak baby that was being very obedient and kind. "You're going to be extremely fine when you grow up." Clarisse told the young child. "You make me wish I was a mother. I love children." There was silence as Jack merely gave a big grin at her, without a clue what she said, but loved the way she smiled. "You're so cute!" she exclaimed as she scooped up the toddler, and cradled him in her arms. "I want to be with you forever!" she said what she meant.
"Clarisse!" Clarisse looked up to see a familiar man walk in. "You look rather ravishing this evening." It was Will Turner, Bootstrap Bill. He gave a broad smile at her, and winked.
"How long were you here?" she asked in utter shock. "How much did you hear?" She held Jack close to her.
He looked to the floor and grinned again. "So you want children."
"Yes, I do." Clarisse openly admitted. "Why are you here? Do you have certain affairs to handle?"
"No." Will said, smiling at her again. "I've come to see the child."
Will's smile really started to annoy her. "What do you want from Jack, BILL?" She spat out his name like a powerful blow.
"I want to hold him." Will replied, giving a more serious tone, but didn't stop grinning at her. "I want to see the child I rescued two years ago."
"Hi…" Jack said his first word looking at Bootstrap Bill, and he held his tiny hand out and made a babyish squeal of joy. Clarisse looked down at her adopted son with horror, and Will's eyes lit up with fascination. "Hi!" Jack said even louder, still holding his hand out.
"The child wants to see me, Clarisse." Will insisted. "Will you let me see the human being I rescued shortly after his mother died?"
Clarisse gave a disgusted look at the pirate. "Today, I'll make an exception. But I don't like pirates entering my tavern! Take heed, Bootstrap." She hissed. "You're a devil! You're a black sheep!"
"I know, love." Will grinned, scooping up Jack, and exiting the tavern, walking rapidly on the crazy streets with drunken men and women of all kinds. "Well, Jack, I want to sing a pirate song to you. We love it a lot, and the whole crew sings it all the time. Clarisse called me several things, and we wrote a song out of it. It's based also on the pirates that have entered Tortuga, and what Clarisse called them. You heard her call me a devil and a black sheep, right? Well, wait until you hear THIS song!" Will sneered, "It's a wonderful song, mate. I think you'll like it."
Jack tilted his head, and was listening intently. Will started humming the tune lightly, and said, "First of all, Clarisse made rude comments of pirates that pillage and plunder. The next time I saw her she said we rifle and loot, which is true, due to our guns and how we steal, savvy? Also, the day I saved you, she said we kidnap and ravage."
Jack laughed at Will, and clapped his hands randomly. Will smiled and continued, "Soon she made a rude comment, and the words I picked up from it were that we extort and pilfer. Soon, when one of the crew members got to sleep with the pigs, she said we filch and sack. Later, she said we maraud and embezzle. As soon as I jacked her jewelry box, she said 'and even high-jack'."
"The list goes on, my friend." Will said, and strummed the strings of a guitar. "This is what becomes of it." The strings played with great expertise, and Will hummed the first verse, and soon sang,
Yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirate's life for me.
We pillage, and plunder, and rifle, and loot.
Drink up, me hearties, yo-ho.
We kidnap and ravage, and don't give a hoot.
Drink up, me hearties, yo-ho.
Yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirate's life for me.
We extort, we pilfer, we filch, and sack.
Drink up, me hearties, yo-ho.
Maraud and embezzle, and even high-jack.
Drink up, me hearties, yo-ho.
We kindle and char, inflame and ignite.
Drink up, me hearties, yo-ho.
We burn up the city, we're really a fright.
Drink up, me hearties, yo-ho.
We're rascals, scoundrels, villains, and knaves.
Drink up, me hearties, yo-ho.
We're devils and black sheep, really bad eggs.
Drink up, me hearties, yo-ho.
We're beggars and blighters, ne'er-do-well cads.
Drink up, me hearties, yo-ho.
Aye, but we're loved by our mommies and dads.
Drink up, me hearties, yo-ho.
Yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirate's life for me.
"Really bad eggs." Jack repeated, and seemed to love that phrase.
"Yes, REALLY bad eggs." Will said. "REALLY, REALLY bad eggs."
For the next three years, Clarisse was driven insane with Jack singing pirate songs as a five-year-old. The people in Tortuga thought it was cute, unlike the British army who would often curse at the little, innocent boy that was singing without care and very off-tune. Jack had known the song by heart, and Clarisse said, "Why do I even make comments to pirates?" she mumbled to herself for hours on end as she mopped the tavern floors, and angrily would beat on the walls sometimes, but paid for her own damage to her property. This made her laugh at herself for no apparent reason. For five years, Jack and Clarisse had bonded in a mother-son sort of way, and Clarisse was only twenty years old.
There was one day, when Jack's curiosity grew. Clarisse had closed her tavern down because she caught a cold, and had to stay in bed recently. It was eight o'clock, and being the night owl she was, it was rare for her to go to bed at this time, especially since she had only been up for three hours, and immediately felt ill. Jack hadn't adjusted himself to the day shift yet, and he couldn't sleep, so he walked over to Clarisse's room, hugging a locket that was his mother's.
"Jack, you're awake!" Clarisse said, rubbing the tears away, and the puffiness from crying wouldn't stop. "What are you doing up so late, baby?" She had been crying because of the love story novel she had been reading to keep herself entertained in her miserable time of sickness.
"I couldn't sleep…" Jack said. "I wanted to hear stories about pirates!"
Clarisse giggled to herself, "Honey, you know pirates drive me insane."
"We're rascals, scoundrels, villains, and knaves." Jack reminded her.
"Right, really bad eggs." Clarisse grinned. "I think you're going to be a pirate someday."
"How WAS I found, mom?" Jack asked; his black hair was already nearly reaching his shoulders, his skin was tanned, and his black eyes caught Clarisse's attention, looking at the handsome child. He had always forgotten the stories that Clarisse tried to teach him, and tried to tell him about his background. She had to repeat it, but this time, he would remember it. She didn't want him to remember it. The story was too depressing. She sighed, Jack cocked his head, and she wiped a few more tears, before speaking in a cracked voice.
"Your mother died in childbirth, Jack." Clarisse said. "You know that, and that locket's all you've got left of her, and it's a blurry picture anyway. Your father is anonymous… we're not even sure if he's still alive."
Jack sighed sadly at this. "But there's still a chance?" he asked, and his eyes lit up with interest.
"Slight chance." Clarisse said. "After all, he's probably a pirate."
"I want to be a pirate when I grow up!" Jack said, hugging onto the locket. "I'm just scared."
"Scared of what?" Clarisse asked. "Pirates have no fear or mercy!" She gave a cheap imitation of "Arrrrrrgh."
"What's in the ocean, that's what." Jack said. "What if there's something big and scary?"
"Such as the Poseidon?" Clarisse laughed. Poseidon is the sea god that is a huge mermaid-like monster that has a huge triton and is as tall as the ocean is deep.
"Yeah." Jack replied, hugging onto the locket.
"Pirates have no fear." Clarisse reminded. "Don't be afraid, Jack, we believe in you."
"We?" Jack asked with a head-tilt.
"'We' as in Bootstrap Bill and I." Clarisse said, and instantly blushed mentioning the pirate's name.
"You like him, don't you?" Jack innocently asked which made Clarisse lose her sanity.
"He's rather dashing." Clarisse confessed.
Jack smiled, "Yeah, he is."
"Promise me, Jack, to be brave." Clarisse said. "If something were to happen to me, I want you to resist all just saving yourself. You are Captain Jack Sparrow."
"Captain?" Jack asked, already liking that word.
"Bootstrap chose that name for you." Clarisse said. "The title 'Captain' works every time."
That night, Jack learned something. He could feel it in his heart. Never be afraid, and save yourself, since you are Captain Jack Sparrow.
"I am Captain Jack Sparrow."
