A Pirate's Boy
Chapter Three- Honestly Dishonest
Author's Note-Just in case there was any confusion, no, I am not Walt Disney. Therefore I do not own any of the concentrated awesome that is Pirates of the Caribbean. Phew, glad I got that off my chest... :]
The weather-beaten pirate frantically darted back and forth across the deck of the Misty Lady, desperately searching for a certain Sparrow that was nowhere to be found, all the while muttering to himself about how he was too old for this sort of thing. After his second or third excursion throughout the entire ship, a near-hysterical Captain Teague sought out his most virtuous crew member.
"Joshamee?" Teague tapped Gibbs on the shoulder with an uncharacteristic inflection of panic in his normally strong, gruff voice.
A disgruntled Gibbs turned around to see who had so rudely interrupted him while he had clearly been harassing the new cabin boy, only to find himself face to face with his captain. "Cap'n, sir! I'm awful sorry ye had to see that, ye know I was only-"
Teague appeared to have neither seen the cabin boy's plight nor hear the sailor's hasty excuses. "Joshamee," the older man whispered, "I can't find Jackie."
Gibbs was appropriately relieved at the pirate's negligible statement and he soothingly assured the distraught man, "No need to worry yerself, Cap'n. Why, ol' Jack's followin' orders just like ye told him."
Teague's gaze eagerly followed the young pirate's outstretched hand, only to see a middle-aged man vigorously scouring the deck with a soapy brush. "Not that Jack, you idiot!" Teague bellowed in his customarily harsh tone before he lowered his voice back to the apprehensive whisper that he had made use of previously. "My Jackie!" The upset father urgently pointed to himself, insistent upon conveying the dire situation to the oblivious Joshamee Gibbs.
Gibbs tilted his head in apparent perplexity before comprehension slowly dawned on his face. "Oh!" the first mate exclaimed, "That Jack!" Partially hoping for some sort of praise for his educated supposition, Gibbs turned to the man expectantly. Instead, however, he was rewarded with a sarcastic glare from the increasingly distressed father. "I'm awful sorry, Cap'n, but I haven't seen the lad since he came aboard yesterday."
Teague sighed, concluding that he would be required to appoint a search party for his missing son until he heard a voice drifting down from high in the mast.
"...Nah nah nah nah... And really bad eggs... Drink up me hearties yo ho..."
The pirate captain very nearly collapsed with relief at the sound of Jack's voice. He turned his eyes upwards and drank in the blessed sight of son sitting contentedly on a cross beam of the topmast, leaning nonchalantly against the sturdy timbers that held the ever-imperative sails.
Still overwhelmed with relief, Captain Teague deftly scaled the rigging of the ship with the agility of a far younger man, eager to reach his son, who had, technically, been as good as drowned and dead to him for a good two hours. Only a moment or so later, the reassured father situated himself across from his boy in the upper level of the mast.
Teague attempted to appear cross and irritated at Jack, but his absolute gratefulness that the lad had remained in one piece betrayed the man's valiant effort of remaining stony-faced as fatherly love won over the unforgiving pirate.
"Bloody..." Teague mumbled as he gathered the child into his arms, "What am I going to do with you, Jackie?" Previous resolutions of a lengthy reprimand evaporated as the dark-haired boy nestled himself deeper into his father's faded coat.
"S'pose you could get me a ship of me own," came the muffled voice of the child.
Teague smirked. "I was gonna teach you the tricks of bein' a pirate today, Jackie, but you had to run off and get yourself stuck up here..." Teague started regretfully.
Squirming out of his father's grasp, Jack stared into the man's twinkling eyes with a matching pair of his own. "Really Da? Would you really?" the boy asked in disbelieving awe.
"Course I would. Where else is Captain Jack Sparrow going to learn his piratey ways from? Your mum?"
And so the pair, still positioned forty feet above the deck, conversed about a variety of things, pirate and otherwise. Fleeting glances towards the two figures settled in the mast confirmed several of the crew members suspicions. Not being as nearly as dull as they seemed, many of the sailors had made the connection between their captain and his miniature duplicate. Mischievous dark eyes, bronzed skin, even the confident swagger in his stride marked the Sparrow boy as the son of the malicious pirate.
"Da?" Jack had thoroughly enjoyed the lengthy conversation with his father, yet, as any young boy, his attention span was not significantly long and was looking forward to the conclusion of his Teague's speech. "How'd you get to be a nice pirate?"
It was a legitimate question, as Teague had just spent the better part of an hour voicing the cutthroat nature of said criminals. Pirates, Teague had explained, were not the type to take 'no' for an answer. They weren't required to follow any rules, save for their own. Pirates were unforgiving, murderous thieves. And villainous as they were, pirates were free.
Therefore, Teague was rather taken aback by his son's innocent inquiry. After contemplating for a moment or so, Teague tried to explain his long-established belief in terms that a child could comprehend.
"Now Jackie boy, every good pirate is quietly a noble, honest man. The trick is to keep that respectableness a secret." Teague concluded sagely as he tapped his temple with a gnarled forefinger.
Jack was about to point out some of the conspicuous flaws in his father's reasoning, but was cut off by a voice from the deck.
"Beggin' yer pardon, Cap'n, but yer needed on deck, sir." A clearly disquieted Mr. Gibbs frantically beckoned Teague with a stout hand.
"Best to not be gettin' your knickers in a bunch, Joshamee," Teague called back as he began to descend, "What seems to be the problem?"
As the captain, closely followed by his son, clumsily alighted on the deck, Gibbs gestured towards the starboard side of the ship into a seemingly endless fog. "See for yerself, Cap'n,"
Teague casually walked across to the starboard railing of his beloved ship, straining to distinguish what had caused his young friend such distress. However, the mirthless fog discouraged the pirate from seeing barely stone's-throw ahead of him.
But then he saw it.
"Jackie, get to the cabin." Teague commanded urgently.
"But Da-"
"Please, Jackie boy. Just go."
Nonetheless, before the boy was out of earshot, Teague whispered to no one in particular, albeit the fog itself, "Bloody... They've finally caught up with me, eh?"
The child scrambled across the deck, haphazardly dodging the crew members that were hastily rushing to their stations. Phrases such as, "...come after Teague... five hundred pound reward... Eldridge Becket hisself... entire Royal Navy behind him... hide the rum..." were echoed across the Misty Lady as Jack darted towards the captain's cabin.
Upon reaching the cabin, Jack peered over his shoulder, only to glimpse an unfamiliar ship emerging from the dismal fog.
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