.Taunts.

„And here I thought I'd never have to see you again," Volly spat at Dag as they sat down at a table tucked away in a quiet (if that was possible) corner of the tavern. "Oh well, some dreams never come true." Dag blinked a bit, but otherwise didn't seem disturbed by Volly's comments.

"I missed you too, Volly. Where've you been? Haven't seen you around here- in fact, haven't seen you since… well, a while." Both of them knew he was avoiding the topic of being sent into exile. "How are you?" Volly shrugged.

"Well, after that filthy bit if scrum threw me off a cliff with my hands tied to my back, I somehow managed to get them to my front. Admittedly, it was a little hard swimming like that, but I made it to the Academy, where I… I uh, stole a boat. You?" It was odd, Dag noted, how she was acting. His friend was usually full of sarcastic and snide remarks directed towards him, but she was actually acting as if she really hated him. That meant she was trying to have a friendly conversation with him. And there was something off about her story- something had happened at the Academy, but he wasn't sure what.

"Well, after our buddy Rollo sold us out, Commander Perry did pretty much the same to me, and I guess great minds think alike because I wound up at the Academy eventually too. I politely asked someone to lend me a ship and they were only too happy to," Dag grinned at Volly, trying to cover up the slip up about Rollo, but it was clear that Volly did not find it amusing.

"Okay, first off, I know you threatened to kill Bjorn if he didn't give you a ship, and secondly, you don't know a thing about Rollo."

"Oh, don't I? Let me refresh your memory. Daniel killed my father and then was threatening you. Luckily, I spotted him in time and killed him. When he heard screams, Rollo came running, saw blood on me and you and ratted us out to his daddy dearest, that's what happened! He didn't care what happened to us, just to look good to his father, that's the truth!" Dag shouted angrily, but found Volly still looking at a point right past him with the same blank expression she had been wearing as soon as Dag's rant started.

"The man who told me to steal a ship earlier, who was he and why am I sailing with him?" She asked, expressionless, her voice dangerously controlled. Unfortunately for her, it only made Dag angrier.

"Goddammit, Vollan!" He shouted as he stood up, slamming his fist against the wall, using Volly's last name in rage. Luckily for them, the shouts of the drunken men and women around them drowned it out slightly, so no one got suspicious. "Why? Okay, why, I'm asking it, why? You never talk about it, there was clearly something that happened, you always get the same god damn expression! I'm starting to think you just don't care!"

"The man, his name?" Volly hissed at Dag, standing up, crossing her arms, and glaring at him, a venomous glare that would've killed, had it been able to. Breathing hard, Dag turned and leant against the wall, silently fuming, but figuring it wouldn't get him anywhere- being angry at Volly.

"Captain Jack Sparrow; our ticket back up north. We're stealing a ship for him and acting as tour guides to find a man by the name of Barbossa who sails on the Queen Anne's Revenge. In return, we get a ride back up there to settle our scores. I don't know about you, but after a few days in these warm waters, my boat started falling apart."

"Yeah, mine too. So… I'm guessing we're gonna go steal a ship. You wanna come?"

Dag didn't get it, how she could talk so simply, as if he hadn't just gotten angry at her. But he shrugged anyway, following her out of the crowded tavern and into the rain outside, making their way down to the docks.

"So I'm guessing we're looking for something on the smaller side, preferably flexible and fast." Her eyes quickly landed on a boat and she smiled, running over to the Light of Victory, a ship that fit her descriptions perfectly. Dag groaned.

"Volly, you do know that this is the ship of-"

"Captain Eagle, I know. I mean, there's no fun in stealing a ship that belongs to some unknown captain or sailor. No, we're stealing this one, Dag. Okay… so, you see that clump of rocks off to the right? That's where all thieves hide their stolen ships and that is where Eagle is going to look first. What most people don't know however is that if you sail around the right, you come to a small channel that leads to the center, where my boat fell to bits. But it's completely secluded and invisible. So, we sail out there tonight and then take the little boat thingies back to shore, you find your captain and tell him we're clear, allt í lagi?"

"Já, elskan" Dag simply replied, following Volly up to the Victory, though his plans were put slightly to hold when she turned and punched his gut, warning him not to call her elskan again. But it just wasn't the same. Usually, neither of them would've minded the teasing nicknames anymore, but something had changed. Exile hadn't done either of them well.

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By the time morning came, Jack Sparrow had managed to get out of the old storage house, though it had been proven somewhat difficult, especially with so little rum in his system. So, when he stumbled out in the early morning hours, it took most of the nonexistent energy he had not to faceplant.

"Sleep well, Jack?" A taunting voice spoke from next to him. "It took you longer than I expected to break out of there; the window in the top was open," Angelica smiled innocently up at him.

"Well, after I noticed that, I also noticed that you left me without a rope, Angelica dearest, so I was trapped with several mice and rats and whatever else was scurrying around there for the night."

"Oh poor you," she deadpanned. "I'm sure you've had worse," she finished, throwing him a bottle of rum and walking down towards the ports, beckoning him to follow her. Knowing he had no better place to go and wondering if he already had a ship, Jack followed her, though it was against his better judgment (if everything had gone according to him, he would be back in the tavern, drunk as ever).

As they reached the docks, the bottle of rum was almost all the way empty, and Jack couldn't help but be sad about it. His mood wasn't improved when he found no new or other ship tied up somewhere, and no sign of either Volly or Dag. Making his way slowly down the walk, he kept a close lookout for the assassin and the thief, but, surprisingly (sarcasm), he didn't find them. Well, they had to be well trained in disguise… wait a minute.

As he rounded a corner that lead onto a street back into down, he abruptly stopped, causing Angelica, who had taken to following him, to run into him. He turned and walked briskly out towards the end of the rows of boats, ignoring Angelica's questions (or were they insults), out to where only four little longboats were tied to the pier. Sleeping quite peacefully in one of these were the two kids, though by the looks of it, they had tried to sleep away from each other as far as humanly possible, but still on the same ship. Odd.

As if she were a creature he wasn't sure was dead or not, Jack poked the girl (what was her name again? Dolly? Colly? Volly, that was it) in the shoulder. She shot up, blinking, but upon seeing no apparent danger, leant back down against the ship, when she noticed Jack and Angelica, and jumped up into a defensive position with a small shout.

When she noticed it was just the captain, she sighed, turning back to Dag, pushing a few loose strands of hair out of the way. Rolling her eyes, she stepped out of the boat, grabbed a piece of rotten wood off the walkway, and threw it with quite some force at the sleeping boy. Dag's eyes flew open as the piece of wood hit him square in the chest, and even though the force of impact wasn't so great, he still toppled over the side of the boat, landing with a splash in the water.

Angelica pulled Jack aside, seemingly quite angry with him.

"These are the people who are going to steal a boat for us?" She hissed incredulously.

"Admittedly, he did sound more professional…."

"Jack, these are children! Children, they cannot be trusted!"

"Look, love, that might be true, but Barbossa is heading up north and they are our tour guides."

"Tour guides?"

"…Yes, tour guides."

"I can't believe I'm going to be sailing with you."

"I never asked you in the first place."

"You know, I really hate to break up fight, and please, by all means, get back at it after we're done talking, but we've got you a ship, captain," a voice said from behind Jack. The voice was rough, for a girl, almost hoarse, and sounded unhealthy. Jack figured it was the first time he really had heard Volly speak.

They turned around to see Volly and Dag (the latter of which was soaked and looking unhappy). They looked even worse they had had last night- the yellow light of the tavern had given them a semi-healthy look, but in the cold grey morning, they could see the children's pale skin stretched tightly over their bones, as if they hadn't gotten enough to eat for the last few months. Their eyes were dark (even though they were actually light blue in color) and their hair was dull. And even though it was clear they had energy, they had an odd energy less appearance.

Both of them were wearing completely black clothes, tight fitted, presumably because of their training. It was obvious that they were designed to be worn in cold weather, seeing as Dag had his pant legs and sleeves rolled up, and Volly had tied her shirt up to her ribcage. While both were barefooted, Jack could see two pairs of boots lying in the boat the children had slept in; identical pairs apparently made of leather and wool, dyed near to black with something or another.

"We stole the ship. I will not tell you where it is, but you said we leave tomorrow morning?"

"Sounds 'bout right," Jack commented, a sudden urge to drink rum washing over him again as he put the now empty bottle to his lips one more time.

"Okay. Meet us here whenever; we've got no other place to be. The crew can come and start loading whenever they wish. Now please, I interrupted a fight. Continue." And with that, she turned and walked back over to the long boat, getting into the same position she had been in earlier, and promptly falling asleep.

"I apologize for… her. But she is the best thief we have- they had. She actually didn't use to be like this, but ex- never mind. I should probably also go back to sleep," Dag muttered, abruptly breaking off his previous sentence, presumably not wanting to talk about exile.

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Valentin Ivory hated the fact that his father was in the military. For him, it meant being on best behavior at all times, his dad throwing him at other people's daughters, and having to deal with a certain amount of royalty. Secretly, he always envied the pirates on the wanted posters his father brought home, wishing that he would have a chance to run away some day. He knew he'd be a good pirate, he just did.

Unfortunately, security at the Ivory residence was at a maximum. Even after the death of the infamous Blackbeard (less commonly known as Edward Teach), the Pirate Lords were still roaming the Seven Seas, and Jonathan Ivory, Valentin's dad, thought that at any moment, a pirate would break into his house and steal his children, and more importantly, his riches.

The one thing that Lord Commander (and whatever other titles he had) Ivory had forgotten was that the windows in the attic didn't lock properly, and what he didn't know was that his son was an often visitor with the maids up there. In fact, after having been out on missions so much, he had completely missed his oldest child entering puberty and growing up- he had become quite popular with the young women of the town.

Valentin's younger sisters were still young, very young, at tender ages of ten and twelve, and didn't know of Valentin's nightly journeys to the attic. Mary and Victoria were proper and would never think anything bad of their brother or father for that matter. Valentin knew how to use that to his advantage, by telling them that he was going out for some extra mathematics classes.

Instead, he donned a plain white shirt and a black waistcoat, brown pants and the oldest looking boots he could find that didn't look military. He knew that the clothes would be removed in a few minutes anyway by some eager young maid, but it was easier to have them there to put on again, instead of going back downstairs.

Before he left his room for one last time, he grabbed three things- a sword, a dark cape and a triangular hat that he had often seen pirates wear on their 'Wanted' posters. With these things under his arm, he chuckled, making his way up to the attic.

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"And what makes ye think ye 'r worthy to travel the seven seas?" a small man with sideburns and a drunk aura around him asked Valentin later that night (or was it earlier that morning) over a bottle (more like five) of rum in a loud crowded tavern. Valentin had had to wait his turn with all the other people in line; apparently sailing with captain Jack Sparrow was an honor that many desired, but out of the somewhat thirty that had been in line with Valentin, only five had made it so far.

"Please. I was born and raised all around ships, and it's my dream to get away from this godforsaken piece of land. Really, it's all I've ever wanted. I am a good and hard worker, and honest."

The man seemed to nod, and for a second, Valentin got his hopes up. He hadn't travelled all the way to Tortuga just to be rejected after all.

"Ye seem a bit youthful in the years to be lookin' for adventure." This comment yet again made Valentin angry. He knew he was short and thin for his age, and he didn't have a very mature hue around him- stubble had yet to form on his chin.

"I am seventeen. I think I'm old enough to make my own decisions."

The man (Gibbs, by the name) looked slightly suspicious, but then sighed.

"Alright, Mr.…?"

"I- Avery. Just Avery," Valentin replied, deciding against using his real name.

"Alright then, Avery, t'morrow at dawn, be at the end of the docks where there be four long boats. Don't be late."

"Yes, sir," Avery replied, smiling, but not letting his happiness shine all the way through- he didn't want to come across as more suspicious than he already was. "I'll be there."

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