A/N: Well, another chapter up, a little shorter then the last, but still rather long for me. Well, I'm very surprised and happy at the amount of feedback I've gotten back. It really encouraged me to write faster. Please keep giving that feedback, and as I said before, any kind is welcome. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own it.
Two weeks later found me sitting in my room, upon my cot, a large pile of clothing beside me and a needle in hand. Apparently word spreads fast around a pirate ship. Imagine that. Word sure got spread quickly that I could sew, and after that there was no stopping it. Every member of the crew it seems has come up to me at one point or another and asked me to mend or patch something. Well, maybe not every member, but it certainly seems it.
Its exhausting work really, and while I'm fairly decent at this type of thing, I also have a quickly expendable level of patience. For those of you that have never mended before, let me just tell you that sitting in a room and making row after row of tiny stitches on cloth thats probably never been mended before and has been worn around a ship for years quickly wears out that patience. If it had been up to me, quite a few of those shirts would have made lovely cleaning rags, but alas that sort of decision is out of my hands.
I let out an angry shout as a particularly large wave rocked the ship and the needle missed its target and lodged itself into my finger. I yanked it out with another scream of rage and stuck my finger in my mouth savagely, throwing the shirtwaist and needle at the wall as I did so. I glared fiercely at it, as it hit said wall and slid to the floor, where it proceeded to lay innocently.
I continued to glower at it but its half completed mocking stare shone back at me. An overwhelming urge to kick the offending article welled up in me, but I decided that would be both ineffectual and silly. Instead I satisfied myself with selecting a new piece, a waistcoat this time, and a new needle from the pile to work on next. Just for emphasis, I shoved the half completed shirtwaist to the very bottom of the pile. Take that.
I paused and looked back at my injured finger to find it was still bleeding freely. Mumbling under my breath, I bent and ripped a strip of linen from one of my underskirts to tie around it in a bandage of sorts. If it was that bad I could get one of the crew to find me a bandage latter. In fact, now that I thought about it, it was rather odd that one of them hadn't asked me what all the shouting was about yet (a few of the crew members had begun to look after me in a rather brotherly manner). Then I remembered that all hands were on deck today in preparation for docking into the island of Tortuga.
That was one thing I had managed to achieve in the two weeks I had stayed here; I was beginning to get the hang of whom I could trust and whom I should avoid. There were far too many crewman to know all individually, (I estimated there were at least fifty) but I at least had a pretty good grasp on the identity of the younger members.
Ragetti, who turned out to be nineteen has become a fairly close ally of mine. In fact I would even dare to call him a friend. He had sort of adapted himself into the position of a guide for me, and had proved to be incredibly helpful so far. There was also Lev, who was not only quite a character but one of the youngest on board at seventeen. We had grown fairly close as well. Then there was Conall, who was in his early twenties. I don't know him very well though, except by sight. I'm afraid he's awfully busy with his duties. You see, according to Ragetti, he's actually an officer on the ship. The Sail Master he says. I'm not exactly sure what that means yet, just that it has something to do with being in charge of the sails and rigging, and is apparently a very prestigious job for someone his age.
Pintel is another one of the younger members, also in his early twenties, though I've dodged him at all costs lately since he's made his dislike for me quite clear. I've recently discovered that he has a little group of followers also, and apparently they all dislike me simply because Pintel does and they all seem to share one mind. Owens and Garrett are their names. I haven't seen Owens much, but Garrett seems wonderfully full of himself since he's an 'Apprentice.' Haven't quite figured out to what, but theres plenty of time for that.
The rest of the crew members I wasn't really familiar with yet, except for fathers First Mate Evans. The rest of the crew were all in the late twenties and early thirties and treated me with a sort of mild indifference. At least to my face.
Sighing, I finished tying my makeshift bandage and tucked the remaining pile of clothes under my bed to finish later. I needed a break. I kicked off my uncomfortable buckled shoes, (lord knows why I kept them, I think they need to take an accidental swim with the fish very very soon) pulled on my pair of soft leather boots, (given to me by Ragetti) and headed up onto the deck.
A great gust of salty sea air hit me as I walked up the stairs and onto the deck. People were bustling around every where and a massive British flag was flying from the mast. False colors according to Ragetti. To keep the other ships on their toes according to Lev.
Evans was currently at the helm, one hand on the broad steering wheel, while the other struggled to keep his braids out of his face. I laughed momentarily at his futile efforts, before going to lean against the starboard side railing. From what I could decipher from all the shouting, I gathered that we would arrive at port in an hour or so. Lovely.
"Are ye still with us lass?" Lev ran a hand through his shoulder length brown hair and leaned against the railing beside me. When I didn't respond instantaneously, he waved a hand in front of my eyes.
"Yes I'm still with 'ye' Lev. You don't have to worry about that." He turned his gaze seaward also. The view really was stunning to look at.
"Lookin' forward to land 'gain?"
"Not really, I'm just now able to walk around without looking like I'm severely intoxicated, and now I'm going to have to go through it all again on land!"
"Ah, ye get used to it after a bit. The life of a pirate really. And if ye need it bad'ly I can give ye a hand." I nodded thanks.
"Thank you, I'll need it. What's Tortuga like anyway?"
"Wonderful' place, really is. Most ev'ryone there' a pirate, so there be none of this 'merchant ship' dung that you run into 'n other cities."
"What's there to do?"
"Loads really. There be plenty of taverns, so if yer at all fond of the drink you'll be right at 'ome."
"You know I don't drink. Besides, like I said before, I'll already look drunk enough once I'm on land again."
"Aye well, ye get used to it."
"What else is there to do?"
"Well, eh- not much."
"I thought you said there was 'loads' to do?" I shot him a sly smile.
"Well apparently I was mistaken!" he snapped. After a few moments thought he added; "There are some small shops like 'ny other cities, and a couple of Inns to stay at, but we never use 'em much since we can stay on the ship. And there are plenty of places to, er...," Lev paused and continued on choosing his words very delicately. "Find... pleasant... uh, company- for the night." A light tinge rose in his cheeks and he looked away.
"Lev! For gods sake!" I hit him on the shoulder playfully, before throwing my hands in the air. "You know what? Never mind. I'm staying out of your- personal life entirely, all right? Meaning I don't want to know about it!" Lev smiled, and shrugged.
"What can I say love?" We both looked back out over the water and at the steadily approaching shadow of land in silence, both of us completely content despite the fact that I thought Evans might rupture a lung if he yelled at Lev any louder to get back to work.
It was nearing mid-day when we strode up from the docks and into the city. Well, I should say Lev and Ragetti strode and they held onto me while I staggered unsteadily. Several of the men had stayed back at the ship (according to Ragetti it was unwise to leave a vessel unattended here) but the rest of the crew has seemed pretty anxious to leave and now filed ahead of us.
As soon as we arrived in the town square, Father and Evans headed off in the direction of one of the taverns to 'clear up some unfinished business,' which I decided from the look on Fathers face and the way Evans' hand rested on his dagger that I probably didn't want to know any more about. Father left though, only after giving us a strict warning that I was not to be left alone for a minute in 'a place such as this,' and finished by shooting a suspicious look at Lev, who put a hand to his chest in a manner of mock surprise.
Slowly, each of the men dispersed and the three of us were left alone, while I looked around the dirty, crowded streets in shock. Scantily clad women with makeup closely resembling house paint were parading around on the arms of men who made no secret to that of their intoxication, and more then one brawl was making itself known. And it was only mid-day!
"Well, what 'r we to do now?" Lev asked, interrupting my thoughts and rubbing his hands together, a sly smile on his face. Ragetti pulled a folded and sealed piece of parchment out of his pocket.
"Got a message to deliver," he muttered looking around for a way to fight the crowd. "Lets 'ead that way," he said, putting a hand on the small of my back and pushing me through the crowds.
"Where are we going?" I asked, ducking under a mans flying fist. He ended up hitting another man who currently passing by, who then stopped, cursed at the other man, and joined in.
"Up to the Inn. Everyone leaves messages there, and everyone knows to check for messages there." Ragetti was forced to raise his voice as we passed by a tavern from which loud, drunken singing was pouring through the open door.
A moment later, the back door of the tavern opened and a man tossed a large bucket of what appeared to be food scrapes from the kitchen into the already muddy road, and I was forced to jump out the way as it sloshed right where I had been standing. This combined with the fact that I was still swaying dangerously caused me to nearly tumble over and would have splashed right into the mud if Lev hadn't been walking along slowly and staring absently at one of the passing girls. He was in just the right position for me to grab his arm and halt my descent.
A fairly small and broken down building came into view just ahead of us, which I could only assume was the Inn. Several men sat on the porch, tankards in hand, leering at us as we passed. Ragetti glared at them coldly, before pushing me behind he and Lev. Normally I would have hated being shown extra attention like this merely because I was a girl, but in this particular circumstance I didn't mind one bit.
Inside was a small room was a long wooden counter running the entire length of the wall, with an old man slumped over asleep on a stool behind it. Pealing yellow wallpaper covered the walls, and a dingy red carpet adorned the floor. A few rusted keys hung on the wall behind the counter, but other then that it was completely unadorned.
"This is the Inn?" I whispered sharply in Lev's ear as he stopped near the door and held out an arm for me to do the same. He shrugged and Ragetti slowly approached the sleeping man at the desk.
"Oi! Sir!" When the man didn't respond, Ragetti pulled out his dagger and prodded him a few times with the hilt. "Sir!" The man began to stir, before jumping up and looking around, mumbling incoherently all the while. "Sir!" Ragetti continued. "We have a message to leave."
"Wha?" the man mumbled, sitting back down on his stool and rubbing his eyes. Ragetti raised his voice.
"We have messages to leave for the ships in harbor!"
"Wha? Oh. Yes, jus a minute then." The man ducked behind the counter and came back out with a flask in hand. After taking a long sip he straightened and accepted the folded paper Ragetti handed him.
"Anythin else for ye?"
"Yes, are there messages for any one on The Validus?" The man placed the letters Ragetti gave him in various small boxes that lines the back wall, and pulled several pieces of parchment from another.
"'Ere ye are lad. 'Ave a nice night. Or morning-" The man took another long draw from his flask before lying his head upon the counter again. Ragetti tucked the papers in his pocket, turned, grabbed my arm and exited swiftly. The three of us began our trek back to the ship.
"I'm so confused!" I wailed, looking down at the assortment of cards in my hands.
"I've already explained the rules to ye three times lass," Lev said, taking a sip from the bottle of cheap alcohol he had picked up on the way back. The three of us were sitting on the deck right now, taking a turn watching over the ship so the others could go on land a while. A large wooden crate was serving as a table for us, and three upturned buckets as chairs.
"I know you have, but I'm still confused," I threw my cards down agitatedly, and shoved them across to Ragetti. "You play, I'll just watch." He shrugged, picked them up and began playing. I soon discovered it was pointless to try and watch though, they were both so skilled at the game that by the time I finally figured out why one move was made, they were already three moves ahead. I sighed and rested my head on my hands in resignation.
Two games later ( I think), Father and Evans returned. Father looked the same as he had, wearing his colorful outfit of a captain's jacket, breeches, and striped socks (after the fashion of British noble men) but there was a large bruise forming on Evans' cheekbone, and a bit of blood stained his shirt.
"How'd your meetin' with Kowal's men go?" Ragetti asked, never looking up.
"Fine," Father muttered, looking at me in a way that clearly said he wasn't going to talk about it while I was lurking around. Ragetti nodded and pulled the small pile of parchments from his waistcoat pocket.
"Here you are Capt'n," he said, keeping his cards in one hand and passing the stack over to him. "Messages for the crew. They were up at the Inn when we went to drop off ours." Father nodded, before heading downstairs to his cabin.
"Whose Kowal?" I asked, when I was sure Father and Evans were safely out of ear shot.
"No one," Ragetti said quickly, shooting a pointed look at Lev, who took another long sip from the bottle. Judging by what I could see through the dusty green glass it was nearly half empty.
"Ah, no point in not tellin 'er Ragetti, shes bound to be findin out eventually. He's another pirate you see, and ye could say he and the Capt'n got a bit of a rivalry goin'."
"What sort of rivalry?" I asked eagerly. Lev held up a hand and swayed a bit drunkenly.
"No, I'm not tellin ye anymore. I told ye who he was and thats good enough. Don't want ta end up on the Capt'ns bad side now do I." Lev threw down his cards determinedly, and waggled a finger at me. I bit mylip harshly to stifle a laugh.
"To late," Ragetti muttered under his breath. Lev didn't seem to hear him. Father reappeared on the deck a moment later, and walked over to us.
"I figured since we're in port and all, and since your birthday's in a week Ana, that we could have a nice big dinner tonight. And just to let you know ahead of time Lev, Sparrow and his son are coming by as well. Something about a proposition for me." Father held up one of the folded pieces of parchment. Lev nodded. When father had retreated back downstairs, I turned to Lev.
"Why does he have to warn you that this Sparrow fellow is bringing his son?" Ragetti gave an awkward sounding laugh, his eyes still intent on his cards. Lev glared at him.
"Lets just say we 'ave creative differences," he said stubbornly. Ragetti laughed again.
"Lev 'ere ended up with a black eye last time they saw each other. Never gotten on well to say the least."
"He's a bastard if I ever did see one," Lev said savagely, picking up his cards again and studying them with an interest to intent to be real.
"He's a lot like you!" Ragetti cried, picking a card from his hand and laying it down. "He drinks, he visits women in Tortuga all the time, he's even better then you with a sword, which hes demonstrated quite a few times might I add, and he's dishonest. "
"I'm not dishonest!" Ragetti rolled his eyes.
"Right."
Carefully, I flipped my head upside down and dipped my long hair in the bucket of fresh water I had drawn up from the well on the edge of town. After two weeks of washing only in salt water, my hair was stringy and dry, and I could still feel the salt on my skin after two washes. I did still find it difficult to bath out of a bucket, though I was slowly getting used to it. I grabbed the small cake of plain soap that Father had given me, and covered my hands in it, before rubbed it into my hair and dipped my head in the bucket again. The cool water was refreshing.
I grabbed a large piece of linen from my trunk, using it to carefully dry my hair, before brushing and braiding it. Once finished I washed my face one last time in a last ditch attempt to be rid of the salt. When I was done, I felt clean and refreshed, my skin was raw and tingling slightly. I pulled on a clean dress, refastened my boots, and headed back up to the deck.
Lev and Ragetti were already there, looking considerably more cleaned up then they had an hour ago, yet still looking a dash intoxicated on the part of Lev. They were back at the card table, playing now with Pintel, and Garrett as well. I couldn't hear much of what they were talking about, but I didn't quite feel like joining the four. Several other members of the crew were om deck as well. Leaning against railings or sitting on crates. One man had even pulled out a set of hand pipes, and was playing a slow, mournful tune on them, while several of his friends tried to sing along. In the shimmery light of the moon, I noticed a lone man sitting on a platform high in the rigging keeping watch.
At a loss of what to do, I wandered up to the bow of the ship, and sat down on the deck by the railing, my feet dangling over the side. Even though we were in harbor, there was a lovely breeze about, and I felt totally at peace sitting there. Dusk had fallen now, and the water appeared to be a deep ebony color, the ripples glistening slightly in the now growing moonlight.
In the immediate vicinity I could hear the soft lapping of water against the hull, and the faint cawing of birds as they settled in for the night. From farther away, in town strains of drunken singing could be heard, and the sounds of various brawls.
Suddenly, shouting erupted from the docks several yards away. From the sounds of it, two men were yelling, and a moment later, the sounds of people hitting each other started up as well. I jumped up and leaned against the railing, eyes staining to see what was going on in the darkness. All I could make out though, were three vague shapes, one of which stood aways away, its posture suggesting boredom, while the other two were busy attacking each other. Another moment passed, before a large splash echoed throughout the harbor, and the two remaining figures proceeded forward, towards The Validus.
I turned and sped down to the rear of the ship, where Father had lowered a plank of wood onto the dock and the two figures became cleared as they climbed on board.
"Ian..." Father muttered, giving the first man a long look.
"What?" he said shrugging. "He was in my way." Father laughed and I looked at the man closely. He wore clothes similar to that which the rest of the men had, except he wore a knee-length black coat fastened over top, and had a long sword fastened at his side. He looked to be about Fathers age, with long black hair pulled back in a leather cord and greenish eyes.
I could feel Lev and Ragetti's sudden presence beside me, and turned to look at them. A deep scowl adorned Lev's face as he glared off at the figure behind Sparrow. I followed his gaze and noticed a youth standing there. I was surprised to notice that he was looking at me, his dark eyes holding a look of mild interest. Once, our eyes locked however, I became oblivious to everything else around me.
A/N: Hope you liked it, and I know it ends rather abruptly, but I wanted to post something before I left. Please review! And just as a little treat, here's a few sentence teaser for chapter three, which is in the works:
"I know what yer thinking." Jack paused. "The door is shut," he took a step closer to me, though I could do nothing except press myself harder against the bed frame. "We're already in a cabin. The crew wouldn't hear you even if you did scream with all the noise up there, and lets face it love, when it comes to strength, I've got ye there." Jack grabbed my wrist tightly and my heart caught in my throat.
Hehe... Thats a mean teaser to give you all, but I couldn't resist.
Hollie: Sorry if its not enough Jack for you, but he is in it! blushes Your too kind. Really, I don't deserve the compliments.
DarkAngelB: You'll see about the pairing. And I'm glad its better then you thought anyway.
slvrfng: Yeah, Pintel is rather scary... Well, if you ever do type one, be sure to let me know! I'd want to read it.
ElfVulcan: hehe... Of course Jack's in it! How could he not be? I love Jack to much for him to not be in it.
Jessica: Glad you liked it!
mornie alantie: Thanks for the review, glad you liked it!
Nati Fire-Mage: No problem about reading your story, as long as you post more soon. And yeah, Johnny Depp is hot, shame he's 40.
Court: Yes, I do look forward to writing Jack, (I only got a line of him in this chapter) however don't expect him to be quite as loopy as in the movie. Since hes so young he hasn't quite lost it yet. I'm at three right now, but tomorrow afternoon in will be four.
Eskimo: One more familiar face in this chapter! Who else do you think I should bring into it? I can't quite decide.
Mariam: Confusing? How so? Please let me know so I can fix it. And don't worry, there will be plenty of Jack in this fic.
PinkPineapple: Yes, definitely before the wooden eye. lol. Glad you like it. And Ragetti? Really?
Please review!