Times of Courage

by Lady Dawson

Chapter Four: Tortuga

Making a quick pit stop by the blacksmith's shop, Arianna quickly traded her gown for some of her brother's old clothes. They were a little big, but they would make fighting easier. She quickly grabbed a sword, tying it to her belt before hurrying out to meet Will and Jack at the docks. Will immediately yanked out his sword as she approached, not recognising her at first, but Jack grinned, showing all of his teeth.

"You're a speedy dresser, Master Turner," he remarked before looking towards the ships. He studied the two ships that were in the harbour, the Interceptor and the Dauntless. "Now, let's see here . . ."

"We're going to steal a ship?" Will protested once he got over the shock of seeing his twin in boy's clothes. Arianna bit her lip carefully; this was starting to sound dangerous. "That ship?" he added weakly, looking at the Dauntless.

"Commandeer," Jack responded as he nodded towards the Interceptor. "We're going to commandeer that ship. Nautical term. One business about your business, boy, or there's no use going." He looked towards Will. "This girl . . . how far are you willing to go to save her?"

"I'd die for her," Will responded. Arianna's stopped listening after this, because her attention had caught sight of the soldiers that were at the docks, her eyes falling on one of them as the wind blew off his hat and Arianna caught sight of the blond hair.

She hadn't realised until that moment that Finn was a member of the army, but now she realised that she shouldn't have been so stupid. If he had just come here from England, she would've heard about it and she would've known him if he had a shop somewhere in town. Port Royal was a proud little seaport, but it was small enough to know everyone.

"Ari?" Will looked at her, touching her shoulder gently. "What's the matter, sister?"

"Nothing," Arianna said quietly, tearing her gaze away from Finn. She couldn't bear to look at him any longer. "Nothing, I'm fine. Really, let's go and get this over with."

Will looked disbelieving, but said nothing as they headed out onto the beach, crawling underneath a boat and walking with it over the heads into the water. As crazy as Jack's idea was, they did manage to trap air within the boat as they walked.

"This is either madness or brilliant," Will muttered when they were halfway to the Dauntless.

Arianna chuckled as Jack responded, "It's remarkable how often those two traits coincide."

"Well, whatever it is, how exactly are we going to get the soldiers off of the Dauntless?" Arianna wanted to know. "I mean, there's probably at least ten or twelve soldiers watching the boat."

"Ship, darling," Jack corrected, looking pained. "It's a ship. And don't worry about a thing, I've got everything under control."

"Why does that worry me?" Arianna wondered out loud. Jack shot her a dirty look as they finally reached the Dauntless.

Climbing onto the ship, the trio walked onto the deck and Jack announced, "Everybody stay calm! We're taking over the ship!" The soldiers all looked around at them as they arrived and laughter erupted from all around them. Arianna rolled her eyes as the captain stepped forward, looking at them with an amused smile.

"This ship cannot be crewed by thee people, one of them a woman," he told them, glancing towards Arianna. She made a disgusted face at him. "You'll never make it out of the bay."

"Son," Jack said tiredly, cocking his gun and pointing it directly in the captain's face, "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow."

To Arianna's great surprise, it didn't take much to convince the soldiers to climb into the boat and start rowing towards the Interceptor. "Pride of the Royal Navy, they are," Jack murmured as he returned his gun to where it belonged. "Everyone ready?"

Arianna nodded as the Interceptor came sailing towards them. They hide amongst some barrels as the soldiers came aboard the ship, looking for them. Jack signalled them and they swung onto the ship, landing on the deck of the Interceptor. Will hacked the ropes holding it in place and the Interceptor started moving out of the bay.

Almost the moment that they started moving, she heard Commodore Norrington shout, "Back to the Interceptor!" But by then, they were already out of reach.

"Thank you, Commodore, for getting us on our way, we would've had a hard time of it by ourselves!" Jack yelled back. Arianna couldn't help laughing as she glanced over the railing towards the Dauntless.

Laughter died on her lips as she saw them bring out their guns. "Duck!" she yelled to Will, diving down onto the deck and narrowly avoiding the gunshots that were fired in their direction. They were about to bring out the cannons, but to Arianna's great relief, Jack had disabled them earlier, making it all too easy to sail out of Port Royal.

--

Arianna was sitting on the deck as she listened to Will talk about their mother to Jack, determined to get answers from him. She had already guessed the truth—or at least part of it. Their father had been a pirate. It made sense, after all. Jack knew their father, William Turner had left some years ago to answer the call of the sea and never returned.

Not wanting to listen to the confrontation, Arianna went below deck to see what she could find. There were a couple of barrels of potatoes and some other ingredients she could probably use and they were going to have to eat eventually.

Slicing up the potatoes, Arianna glanced up as Jack climbed below deck, surveying her critically. "What are you doing, girl?" he wanted to know.

"We'll have to eat eventually," she replied. "Unless you'd prefer to wait until we got . . . wherever we're going."

"Tortuga," Jack responded. "Good idea, though. Can't captain on an empty stomach." As he spoke, his stomach grumbled and Arianna rolled her eyes. "You seem to be taking this a lot better than your brother did. You suspected the truth?"

"That our father was a pirate?" Arianna said dryly. "It's the only thing that makes sense, Jack." She sighed. "I'm not going to pretend that I'm all right with this, but if it helps to save Elizabeth, then I'm going to do it. She's not just the love of my brother's life, she's been a good friend of mine for a long time, ever since we came here from England. Friendship like that doesn't come easily and I'm not going to lose the one true friend I've ever had."

"Ever thought about turning pirate yourself, Arianna?" Jack inquired, looking at her severely. She stared at him. "You know, piracy gives women more freedom than other societies. I think you'd be happier if you had more freedom. You don't see content living the life of a common woman."

"I'm content with living the life that I choose. I don't intent on spending my life running from the law, never able to come home. If I did turn pirate, then that means I would have to say goodbye to Will, never able to see him again, save in secrecy." She shook her head. "I couldn't do that to him."

Jack considered this and shrugged. "Well, it's your decision, but the two of you are well on your way to becoming pirates." She blinked in confusion. "You sprung a man from jail, commandeered a ship of the fleet, and are just about to sail with a crew out of Tortuga."

Arianna chuckled. "You forgot the fact that Will is completely obsessed with treasure, Captain Sparrow," she pointed out. He stared at her, bewildered. "Elizabeth is his treasure."

"Ah." Jack nodded, admitting to this fact. "Well, we'll be coming up on Tortuga by nightfall. Best be prepared." He headed out of from below deck and Arianna shook her head.

"Why do I have the feeling that he's just using us for his own personal gain?" she wondered as she continued to work on the meal.

--

If Arianna thought about what to expect when she entered into Tortuga, then her imagination was nowhere near what it was like. The pirates' haven was like one big, drunken party that had gotten out of hand. She had barely stepped through the streets and had almost been trampled twice because of two street fights that were going on.

"It is indeed a sad life that has never breathed deep this sweet, luxurious scent that is Torguta. What do you think?" Jack asked the twins as they walked through the streets.

Vaguely, Arianna wondered if he was actually serious while Will replied, "It'll linger."

"A fairly honest response," Arianna muttered as Jack grinned, walking further into the streets. She glanced back as she heard gunfire in the background. If this was Jack's idea of paradise, then he was crazy.

"I tell you, mates, if every town were like this one, then no man would ever feel unwanted." Jack's eyes lit up as a redheaded woman came over to them. "Scarlett!"

She struck him across the face and Arianna suppressed a giggle as Scarlett walked away with even a word. "I'm not sure that I deserved that," Jack muttered as a blonde woman appeared. "Giselle."

"Who was she?" the blonde asked him. Before Jack could respond, she struck him across the face and walked away.

Jack rubbed his face gingerly and looked towards the twins weakly. "I may have deserved that," he said.

"Suddenly, I'm liking this town a whole lot better," Arianna said. At that, both she and Will burst into laughter and Jack reluctantly smiled.

After they'd retrieved a friend of Jack's, whom Arianna remembered as Mr. Gibbs, once a part of the Royal Navy, they headed into the bar, where she and Will kept a look out while Jack spoke to Gibbs about a crew. Arianna didn't pay much attention to the conversation until she heard Jack say, "Let's just say that it's a matter of leverage."

She glanced towards the two men as Jack jerked his head towards the twins. "The kids?" Gibbs whispered, following his gaze. Arianna pretended to be watching out for the men in the bar while listening closely.

"Those are the son and daughter of Bootstrap Bill Turner," Jack responded, his voice quiet. Arianna glanced quickly towards Will, who met her eyes carefully. "His only children, savvy?"

"Are they now?" Arianna could feel Gibbs' gaze on the pair of them, but she kept utterly still. " 'Leverage,' says you. 'I think I feel a change in the wind,' says I. I'll find us a crew. There's bound to be some sailors on this rock as crazy as you."

"One can only hope," Jack replied.

Arianna looked at Will and he wrapped an arm around her gently. He said nothing, but they both knew that Jack needed them for some reason. But they needed him to rescue Elizabeth, who was in grave danger. So for the moment, Arianna knew that they had to trust him.

She hated that.