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Chapter Two:
The Dauntless
The trio stole across the road. Commodore Norrington was still on the watch for Captain Jack Sparrow, so they had to be careful. And it was when they stole across the road that Jack and Will learned something worth knowing. Will walked across the road casually, because he had no reason to be afraid, so he simply walked across it and waited for Jack and Arav at a tree on the opposite side of the road from them. Jack dashed across, hoping he wouldn't be seen. Arav stalked across like a cat, but a cart came so he ran across as fast as he could. He rammed into Jack, and Arav fell over, but to his instincts Jack grabbed Arav, but his shawl came loose and tore off. Will and Jack were astonished. For what lay there now, what they had taken to be a man, was actually something completely different than what they had thought. The shirt was slightly see-through, and they could make out two things: the outlines of an undershirt and breasts. This pirate was not a man, but a woman! Will was speechless, but Jack almost seemed mesmerized.
"So, when were you going to tell us?" he asked, still staring at her. Arav sat there for a moment, then stood up and wrapped her shawl around her again.
"When we got onto a ship and got sailing. So you would keep me." She sighed. "My name is actually Aravis. It's not as though I told you I was a man, you just assumed it, like everyone else. I swear, everything else I told you was true." she said, waiting for his judgment. In reality, Jack was not angry at all. Surprised, maybe, but not angry. He smiled one of those "this is amusing" sort of smile.
"No, love. I'll keep you. You can come with us." he said, his smile never leaving his face. "Love, I'll take you on board if you give me one thing."
She was calmer now, and she removed the turban-mask to reveal a smiling-and beautiful-face. "Name it." She said softly.
"If you let me kiss your hand," he said, with that weird look in his eye. She didn't answer but gave him her hand. And Jack winked when he kissed it.
Will broke the silence. "Shall we be off?" Jack and Aravis blinked, as if they had just awakened from a trance.
"Right," Jack agreed. "Let us be off." The trio again started for the beach. It was much easier to cross than the road, for there were no guards. Aravis went first slowly, still checking around for guards. Will saw Jack stop for a moment. He was looking Aravis up and down, and he appeared rather impressed. She had a good disguise, for the shawl was big and it hid her chests fully, and dropped down so it looked much like a man's even chest. Jack seemed much more willing to give her respect now that they knew it was a her, and he was very impressed with her skill at the sword, her skill at disguise, and her beauty.
Will tapped Jack on the shoulder. He shook his head as if suddenly remembering where they were, then continued on.
"Oh, crap! Look!" Aravis pointed about 500 feet away. The Black Pearl was swarming with British soldiers. Aravis sat down. "Well, we could steal that one over there." The Dauntless lay anchored in the harbor, no guards, no sentries, and no sailors. But why all of them? Didn't the Commodore have enough sense to leave a few men behind? Will knew the answer. "They all went to the parade for the return of Commodore Norrington. The rest were chasing you, I presume," he said to Jack.
Jack only smirked and whispered to Aravis, "This should be an easy catch." She grinned and ran to the water, the two guys following close behind. She swam through the water like a fish, and climbed up the rope that the anchor was on. She got to the top with ease; Jack had some difficulty but made it quickly with the aid of Aravis; Will was a different story. He was not a pirate, and he had never done any climbing. But with the help of Jack and Aravis, he made it up too. Once they were all on board, they pulled the anchor up and hoisted the sails. After they had safely gotten away from the bay and Commodore Norrington and his men and had a good wind under their sails, Jack asked Aravis of her intents.
"So, what are we going to do now?"
"We could go to Tortuga, and get a crew, and some people to beat up the Brits, and..."
"Rum?"
"Good idea."
"It is pretty far away, though."
"Well, my schedule has been kind of lacking lately," she admitted. Jack looked at her. Will passed by. And Jack thought of another question.
"Why did you want to come, young Mr. Turner?"
Will thought for a moment, but he didn't look like he was going to answer. Jack turned the wheel so hard that the pole that the sails were tied to swung around and came flying at them. Aravis jumped on top of it quickly so she didn't get rammed into, but Will got smacked by it and was lucky he grabbed on to it before he fell into the great deep sea below. Jack leaned over the rail.
"Now, young Mr. Turner," Will gasped for air but couldn't speak, so he just listened. "Can you sail under the command of a pirate, or can you not?" He jerked the wheel back, and Will flopped off. Aravis jumped off the pole, and landed right next to Jack. From the force of the fall, she nearly pushed him over, but he regained his balance and steadied her. He smiled down at her again, and she returned his gaze.
"I suppose I must." Will said, brushing off his clothes and trying to get up at the same time. But Jack didn't seem to have noticed. He was too deep in his thoughts.
My, he thought. She's a real beauty, that. More than that of all of Tortuga. Will stared at them.
"Jack?" Will asked. He still didn't respond. He didn't awaken from his half-asleep state until Aravis spoke.
"It's a twelve day sail to Tortuga at fifty knots." Will had no idea what she said.
"Excuse me?" he asked, dumbfounded.
She giggled a little then spoke softly, "I forgot that you are no seaman." She smiled and turned to look at Will. "I meant that if we get a good wind, we'll get there within two weeks. But if we get a strong wind, which is very likely around here, it will be less. The auction will be held on August 29th, so we have about a month to get to Tortuga and back. Well, I'm going up to the crow's nest. That's what I did on The Black Pearl, that's what I am going to do now. See you gentlemen later." She started walking to the ladder to the crow's nest, but slowly, as if waiting for something.
"Wait!" There it was. What she was waiting for, Jack's voice telling her to wait. She turned around to look at him. He felt a bit silly now, but he had gotten her attention, and Will's, so he had to ask. "I will see you tonight?" Now he felt really stupid. Aravis walked up to him.
"You will." she spoke softly, so Will wouldn't hear. And with that, she walked to the ladder and climbed up to the crow's nest. Aw, crap, he thought. Nighttime is so far ahead. He went back to the wheel. Will went about swabbing the decks, checking the sails, though he knew nothing about them, checking the few weapons they had, and looking over the rail to see if any land was near. Jack was amused at his going to and fro, and his unintelligence about the sails. After Will had gone back and forth enough to make Jack dizzy, he pulled Will back and repeated the question he had asked nearly two hours ago.
"Why did you want to come with us?"
Will was silent again, and Jack was about to jerk the wheel again when he finally opened up. "Well, a friend of mine got captured a few months ago, but I wasn't able to do anything." Jack smiled. Will seemed to say that a lot. "She was taken to Tortuga by pirates." That widened Jack's weary eyes.
"She?" he asked.
"Yes. She."
"I see." Jack said, trying to hide the amusement in his voice.
Will ignored Jack, and went on. "They left her there and sailed away." Jack was still curious.
"How do you know all of this?"
"They caught one of the pirates-"
"They?"
Will stiffened. He didn't like being interrogated. "-Commodore Norrington and his army-"
"Ah."
"-and squeezed the information out of him, but they were too busy to go and get her." He sighed. "So now I'd like the opportunity to go and see what became of her." Jack nodded. He was done asking questions. For now. Will, being tired, got up and stretched, then climbed below deck and found a suitable cabin to sleep in. He was sleepy, so he hopped into the bunk and was fast asleep in moments.
Jack was alone for a few hours, holding the wheel, steering past rocks, and almost falling asleep a number of times. He would have fallen asleep, but each time he started to slump, he would hear Aravis shout something like, "Wake up, sleepyhead! The sun's still shinin'!" "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" "Look, a giant rock!" Each time she did, he smiled. She thought it was funny that he almost fell asleep, but he thought it was funny that she would shout at him every time he did. Eventually it got dark, and Aravis climbed down like she said she would. She slumped over to the rail and watched the blue sea grow dark.
Jack made sure Will was still below deck, which was very easy because they could hear the faint "hoo haa hoo" of his horribly loud breathing and slight snoring, he stared at Aravis' fine features. "Where are you from?" he asked, still looking at the sea ahead of them. She turned around to look at him.
"I'm from the North," she said. She leaned on the rail, and was about to continue, but a huge black lump appeared on the starboard side, behind Aravis. She almost started speaking when she saw the odd look on Jack's face. "What's wrong?" she asked, then turned around to see what he was looking at. What she saw answered her question.
The black lump was growing bigger, and there were several more lumps behind them. It was keeping up, whatever it was, and making Aravis very nervous. It grew bigger and bigger until she saw something that made her nearly jump out of her skin. Jack had seen it before, and he knew what it was, so he was a bit more calm, but he still looked nervous. The lump had two beady red eyes that pierced right through you. It grew higher and higher until they could see a snout longer than Aravis herself, and they could also see two huge fangs coming out of its opened mouth.
"Jack!" Aravis screamed, and she ran over to Jack and hugged him for comfort. Jack was wide-eyed, and very worried too. He knew what it was, and she was beginning to realize. It was what terrorized the open seas, putting extreme fear into the hearts of all its victims, right before it pounced on them or smacked into the ship. It was a Sea Serpent.
Hello. Again, I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean, or anyone in it except (so far) Aravis. Reviewing makes me happy! Good or bad, I don't mind, but please make it constructive. I have a "big idea", so there shouldn't be a long wait for the next chapter, hopefully. Thank you for reading this far, and please Please PLEASE REVIEW! It makes me happy. Anyways, thankies to reviewers, and double thankies to constructive reviewers! Ta ta!
