Quick A/N; IMPORTAINT, PLEASE READ!!! Due to complaints of confusion about
the Wills, I'm changing the spelling of the younger Will's name to Wil.
Think of it this way: The young Wil is shorter than his father and so is
his name. Hope this'll help. Smiles! -Ishi-chan
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Wil woke abruptly. He lay still for a few moments, trying to determine what had wakened him. At first he thought it was his arm, still buried under Jac's head and tingling unpleasantly, but he threw that thought away. Something told him that wasn't it. He lay quiet for a moment, ignoring the pull of the waves that tried to slide him ab- hang on.,.,. Pull of the waves? They should be gently rocking. It only felt like this when the ship was moving, and Captain Sparrow had said they would stay in Tortugas for at least a week. Surely they hadn't slept that long? He slipped his arm out from under Jac's head, who muttered in protest but didn't awake.
He peered out from under a crack between the floor and the boat. Boots and bare feet walked across the deck, too many for a day when they were docked. Yes, this ship was defiantly moving. And unless the Captain had hired on some new sailors, they were not on the right ship either. He saw a man scrubbing the deck that he most certainly didn't recognize. Apparently, the man didn't recognize him either. From the scrubber's vantage point so low to the ground, he saw Wil and knew that he wasn't supposed to be there.
"Capt'n!" He called, in true pirate fashion. "I thinks we got us some stowaways here!"
"What?!"
"Jac! Wake up!" Wil hissed, shaking her shoulder forcefully.
"'Fi more mints." She mumbled, turning over and going promptly back to her alcohol-induced sleep. He sighed, seeing that he was going to have to face this one alone. The boat was lifted over his head and set to the side of him. He squinted and moved his hand to block the sunlight. The light pounding into his head didn't help his hangover, which was growing steadily worse every second that he was awake.
"Well what have we here?" The voice came to the man to the right of him, the Captain, he assumed. He was a tall man, in traditional pirate garb: Loose trousers, loose shirt, pointed, strong-looking boots, and at least three different colors of scarves adorned him. He was completely bald except for a shoulder length braid coming from the base of his skull, about the thickness of a coin and less than a centimeter wide. It was a dark brown, as were his eyes, the expression in them unreadable.
"My name's Wil." He replied, politely. "May I ask what ship we're on and who the Captain is?"
"I'll be askin the questions, lad." He replied, not cruelly, but with enough force to point out that it was he who held the power. "But since ye seem to bee a nice boy, I will tell ye. I am Jonovan Or' Hay , that's Captain or Captain Or' Hay while you're on this ship, lad. Speaking of which, yer on the Tainted Windstep, as it would be. Now, how would ye and yer girl there come to be sleepin under my boat?"
Wil gave the simplest answer possible. The truth. "We got drunk and walked aboard the wrong ship, it would seem."
The Captain raised an eyebrow. "Oh, aye? Yer friend certainly fits the description of a pirate, but ye don't." He leaned closer to the boy, looking at him carefully. "Just what ship were you on, anyway?"
He was nervous, but under the look that the Captain was giving him, he felt he couldn't but give him the truth. "The Black Pearl."
The Captain fairly jumped back as though he had been slapped. "Yer from the cursed ship? I won't have anybody connected to that cursed ship on the Windstep, I won't! Ye and you're girl will get off right now!"
"But there's no land in sight!" He replied, bewildered.
"Then you'll swim until you find some! I won't have my ship brought down by no curse!"
"Captain Or' Hay, please, just hear me out! Five more minutes aboard couldn't hurt! Please, just wait before you make that decision final!"
The Captain looked at him warily, then just barley nodded his consent. "There used to be a curse." Wil said, recalling all of the stories he had been told. "Apparently, about twenty-five years ago, some pirates took on some cursed Aztec gold. They ignored the warnings and spent the gold. Well, once they figured out that the curse was real, they found out how to break it. It involved something about blood and returning all the gold pieces. Anyway, they finally broke the curse, and now the ship belongs to Jack Sparrow."
"Captain." Jac muttered quietly, still asleep.
He grinned at her. "Right. Captain Jack Sparrow. The curse has been destroyed. There's nothing to be a-worrying about anymore."
The Captain looked doubtfully at him. "Yer sure?"
"Yes. Curse is gone. Is there a way I could convince you to keep us aboard till we get to the next port?"
"Ye wish to barter passage?"
"Aye, Captain, if that's what you call it."
The Captain looked at him with a critical eye. "I'm not bein so sure that'll work. Yer friends a girl, tis bad luck to have those aboard. The neither of ye have any valuables upon ye. What do you have that'll make me want ye aboard?"
"We're both good workers. Jac's been sailing just as long as she could walk, and as for the bad luck, well, the Pearl is one of the richest ships in the Caribbean, so what ever luck she brings can't be all bad. I'm a fast learner, and I'll be a good hand at whatever job you set me to if you give me a day or two to learn it."
The Captain raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that so?"
"Yessir."
He once more seemed to examine him. "Deal. You'll work you're way to Singapore, then. Speeds! Get this boy here to a task, I don't care what, and wake the girl! Have her brought to my cabin." He turned on his heel and strode off. Speeds, a skinny, weasely-looking fellow, motioned for Wil to follow him. He brought him to the port side of the ship, and handed him a bucket saying, "This is a bucket. It is filled with water. This is a brush." He announced, dropping it into the bucket. "It scrubs the deck. Get to work." Wil stared reproachfully after the man's retreating back, then dropped to his knees and began scrubbing.
Sleep is nice, Jac thought, encased in the silent black world of slumber. Whoosh. Ice cold water covering her when she was asleep, wasn't. "Alright, ye slime-toed, chicken feather excuse for a mangy dog, what in the nine hells do ye think yer doin throwin water on a sleepin lass for?!?!?!"
"What do ye think yer doin, fallin asleep in another man's boat for?" came the reply. "And without even a by-yer-leave." She opened one bleary eye to try and get a clearer picture of the person in front of her. "Speeds! She cried. "What is it that ye be a doin here? And what do ye mean, 'another man's boat'?"
Speeds grinned toothily at his former messmate. They had once sailed together, coming to know each other fairly well. "Just that." He told her. "Ye got on the wrong boat, girl. This is the Tainted Windstep. Yer sailin under the command of Capt'n Or' Hay. "
Considering how much she had drunk the night before, it can be forgiven that Jac didn't fully comprehend this at that moment. "Are you sure?" she asked, squinting at him.
"Aye. Completely sure."
"Positive?"
"Aye, girl, I'm positive that this is the Windstep."
"Are you-"
"Yes, girl, this is definitely the wrong boat. Yer friend just bartered yer passage to Singapore."
She groaned. "He did? What did he barter, exactly?"
He looked her straight in the eye. "He sold his soul and yer body to be used as the ship pleases."
She was wide awake now. "WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"
He laughed at her. "I'm just a-teasin ye, girl. Ye two'll just work, same as the rest of the crew, only ye don't get paid at the end."
She managed to breathe again. "SPEEDS, IF YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!" He managed to stop laughing, but a smile still tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Being as that may." He choked out, "The Captain still needs to see ye. In his cabin. Kin ye find the way?"
"Aye."
"Good. I'll speak to ye again at mess, then, aye?"
"Aye."
He trotted off, and she just stared after him, shaking her head. She headed to the Captains, even though she knew what was coming, and knew her answers. No, she didn't know the coordinates of the treasure, and no, she wouldn't tell him if she did. She sighed, knowing what would be expected of her as soon as she walked out of that office. She hated scrubbing the decks.
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Hello, friends! Finally got another chappie up. I'm not sure I'm happy with this one, though, so you might expect some revision soon. Haven't decided. So, did any body expect that? Heh. It came to me around chappie two, and so I'm like ok, why not. Thanks to my only reviewer, Reese Sparrow. Please review! Flames are welcome! Smiles! -Ishizu
Wil woke abruptly. He lay still for a few moments, trying to determine what had wakened him. At first he thought it was his arm, still buried under Jac's head and tingling unpleasantly, but he threw that thought away. Something told him that wasn't it. He lay quiet for a moment, ignoring the pull of the waves that tried to slide him ab- hang on.,.,. Pull of the waves? They should be gently rocking. It only felt like this when the ship was moving, and Captain Sparrow had said they would stay in Tortugas for at least a week. Surely they hadn't slept that long? He slipped his arm out from under Jac's head, who muttered in protest but didn't awake.
He peered out from under a crack between the floor and the boat. Boots and bare feet walked across the deck, too many for a day when they were docked. Yes, this ship was defiantly moving. And unless the Captain had hired on some new sailors, they were not on the right ship either. He saw a man scrubbing the deck that he most certainly didn't recognize. Apparently, the man didn't recognize him either. From the scrubber's vantage point so low to the ground, he saw Wil and knew that he wasn't supposed to be there.
"Capt'n!" He called, in true pirate fashion. "I thinks we got us some stowaways here!"
"What?!"
"Jac! Wake up!" Wil hissed, shaking her shoulder forcefully.
"'Fi more mints." She mumbled, turning over and going promptly back to her alcohol-induced sleep. He sighed, seeing that he was going to have to face this one alone. The boat was lifted over his head and set to the side of him. He squinted and moved his hand to block the sunlight. The light pounding into his head didn't help his hangover, which was growing steadily worse every second that he was awake.
"Well what have we here?" The voice came to the man to the right of him, the Captain, he assumed. He was a tall man, in traditional pirate garb: Loose trousers, loose shirt, pointed, strong-looking boots, and at least three different colors of scarves adorned him. He was completely bald except for a shoulder length braid coming from the base of his skull, about the thickness of a coin and less than a centimeter wide. It was a dark brown, as were his eyes, the expression in them unreadable.
"My name's Wil." He replied, politely. "May I ask what ship we're on and who the Captain is?"
"I'll be askin the questions, lad." He replied, not cruelly, but with enough force to point out that it was he who held the power. "But since ye seem to bee a nice boy, I will tell ye. I am Jonovan Or' Hay , that's Captain or Captain Or' Hay while you're on this ship, lad. Speaking of which, yer on the Tainted Windstep, as it would be. Now, how would ye and yer girl there come to be sleepin under my boat?"
Wil gave the simplest answer possible. The truth. "We got drunk and walked aboard the wrong ship, it would seem."
The Captain raised an eyebrow. "Oh, aye? Yer friend certainly fits the description of a pirate, but ye don't." He leaned closer to the boy, looking at him carefully. "Just what ship were you on, anyway?"
He was nervous, but under the look that the Captain was giving him, he felt he couldn't but give him the truth. "The Black Pearl."
The Captain fairly jumped back as though he had been slapped. "Yer from the cursed ship? I won't have anybody connected to that cursed ship on the Windstep, I won't! Ye and you're girl will get off right now!"
"But there's no land in sight!" He replied, bewildered.
"Then you'll swim until you find some! I won't have my ship brought down by no curse!"
"Captain Or' Hay, please, just hear me out! Five more minutes aboard couldn't hurt! Please, just wait before you make that decision final!"
The Captain looked at him warily, then just barley nodded his consent. "There used to be a curse." Wil said, recalling all of the stories he had been told. "Apparently, about twenty-five years ago, some pirates took on some cursed Aztec gold. They ignored the warnings and spent the gold. Well, once they figured out that the curse was real, they found out how to break it. It involved something about blood and returning all the gold pieces. Anyway, they finally broke the curse, and now the ship belongs to Jack Sparrow."
"Captain." Jac muttered quietly, still asleep.
He grinned at her. "Right. Captain Jack Sparrow. The curse has been destroyed. There's nothing to be a-worrying about anymore."
The Captain looked doubtfully at him. "Yer sure?"
"Yes. Curse is gone. Is there a way I could convince you to keep us aboard till we get to the next port?"
"Ye wish to barter passage?"
"Aye, Captain, if that's what you call it."
The Captain looked at him with a critical eye. "I'm not bein so sure that'll work. Yer friends a girl, tis bad luck to have those aboard. The neither of ye have any valuables upon ye. What do you have that'll make me want ye aboard?"
"We're both good workers. Jac's been sailing just as long as she could walk, and as for the bad luck, well, the Pearl is one of the richest ships in the Caribbean, so what ever luck she brings can't be all bad. I'm a fast learner, and I'll be a good hand at whatever job you set me to if you give me a day or two to learn it."
The Captain raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that so?"
"Yessir."
He once more seemed to examine him. "Deal. You'll work you're way to Singapore, then. Speeds! Get this boy here to a task, I don't care what, and wake the girl! Have her brought to my cabin." He turned on his heel and strode off. Speeds, a skinny, weasely-looking fellow, motioned for Wil to follow him. He brought him to the port side of the ship, and handed him a bucket saying, "This is a bucket. It is filled with water. This is a brush." He announced, dropping it into the bucket. "It scrubs the deck. Get to work." Wil stared reproachfully after the man's retreating back, then dropped to his knees and began scrubbing.
Sleep is nice, Jac thought, encased in the silent black world of slumber. Whoosh. Ice cold water covering her when she was asleep, wasn't. "Alright, ye slime-toed, chicken feather excuse for a mangy dog, what in the nine hells do ye think yer doin throwin water on a sleepin lass for?!?!?!"
"What do ye think yer doin, fallin asleep in another man's boat for?" came the reply. "And without even a by-yer-leave." She opened one bleary eye to try and get a clearer picture of the person in front of her. "Speeds! She cried. "What is it that ye be a doin here? And what do ye mean, 'another man's boat'?"
Speeds grinned toothily at his former messmate. They had once sailed together, coming to know each other fairly well. "Just that." He told her. "Ye got on the wrong boat, girl. This is the Tainted Windstep. Yer sailin under the command of Capt'n Or' Hay. "
Considering how much she had drunk the night before, it can be forgiven that Jac didn't fully comprehend this at that moment. "Are you sure?" she asked, squinting at him.
"Aye. Completely sure."
"Positive?"
"Aye, girl, I'm positive that this is the Windstep."
"Are you-"
"Yes, girl, this is definitely the wrong boat. Yer friend just bartered yer passage to Singapore."
She groaned. "He did? What did he barter, exactly?"
He looked her straight in the eye. "He sold his soul and yer body to be used as the ship pleases."
She was wide awake now. "WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"
He laughed at her. "I'm just a-teasin ye, girl. Ye two'll just work, same as the rest of the crew, only ye don't get paid at the end."
She managed to breathe again. "SPEEDS, IF YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!" He managed to stop laughing, but a smile still tugged at the corners of his mouth. "Being as that may." He choked out, "The Captain still needs to see ye. In his cabin. Kin ye find the way?"
"Aye."
"Good. I'll speak to ye again at mess, then, aye?"
"Aye."
He trotted off, and she just stared after him, shaking her head. She headed to the Captains, even though she knew what was coming, and knew her answers. No, she didn't know the coordinates of the treasure, and no, she wouldn't tell him if she did. She sighed, knowing what would be expected of her as soon as she walked out of that office. She hated scrubbing the decks.
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Hello, friends! Finally got another chappie up. I'm not sure I'm happy with this one, though, so you might expect some revision soon. Haven't decided. So, did any body expect that? Heh. It came to me around chappie two, and so I'm like ok, why not. Thanks to my only reviewer, Reese Sparrow. Please review! Flames are welcome! Smiles! -Ishizu