Disclaimer: Sorry everyone for the horrendous long wait, there's no excuse for that except a bad case of writers block and a habit of laziness. With that out of the way let me get the preliminaries done with, I own nothing save for my OCs and the general story line. And now for a bit of a news flash, I've been debating on creating a website to post not only my stories but also the art I've done of my characters and so on. Once I've figured things out I'll have the link on my profile page here On with the show, oh and for those of you who like Emma-this chapter is for you..
PS: R and R
The Black PearlOne of the easiest ways to travel by sea would be to ride the trade winds until you came to or as close to your destination as you could, in the case of Jack Sparrow this method was as engraved in him as his desire for piracy. And in this particular case his destination was Salvador, on the coast of Brazil, as one of his very old friends lived in the Portuguese city. This friend, or business associate might be a better term considering the circumstances, was a decently wealthy- though corrupt- merchant.
This man, Sebastion Torres, had once served with Jack in their teenage years in the East India Trading Company. In fact as far as the pirate captain knew, his old drinking companion was still making crooked deals with said equally crooked pirate-hating establishment. It was this little fact that drew in the need to visit Brazil, precious information and the dream of a good round of drinks on Torres' treat.
At the moment the shore was on the horizon, but it would still take about an hour or more to arrive, plenty of time to scan for a safe harbor to make port in. Deep in the hull of the mighty pirate vessel Captain Sparrow was readying himself for his departure to land…this of course had to entail a new wardrobe fit to fool enough the most crafty of red coated officers who might otherwise notice something odd about him. Several large trunks and canvas sacks lay strewn about in front of him in various degrees of disarray of their contents. Said contents included several fancy coats in too many colors to count, matching silk breeches, boots and other accessories befitting a man of much higher stature than a mere Caribbean buccaneer. Beside the fashion plate sat a woman, atop an old looking oak chest, dictating what she thought would look best together only to have her companion sniff and pick up the opposite of her advice.
"If yer only going to do exactly what I tell you not to then why 'ave me down here in the first place?" Lucinda Collins asked, a very bored expression on her face.
"I wanted company," Jack Sparrow didn't even turn around, like his three word answer everything that would be asked of then and always.
"Well your 'company' has been watching you play peacock for the past forty- two minutes with nothin' to do but sit here and she wants to actually do something."
"Then try somethin' on then," he held a ruby red coat with gold and silver embroidery against his chest the changed that for a green and white version.
"Unlike some I don't like to cross-dress," she replied blandly. To this he merely ignored the comment, and continued to shift through yet another set of clothes. "And unlike some I don't like to just sit on some old dead man's chest like I'm the guardian of the Holy Grail."
"Believe me, my dearest darling luv, that if you knew which dead man's chest 'eld the Holy Grail ye would be doing much more then sittin'."
"Then why are you making me do this?!" The angered young woman stood from her bulky perch to tromp over to her shopping sweetheart, not caring if her worn leather boot heals left their prints in the fine fabrics strewn across the floor.
"Did ye know how cute you look when you're all upset like this?"
"…….what…?"
"I told ye why I wanted you down here, but have yet as to tell ye, which I should maybe 'ave maybe done in the first place," now he looked at her, his weather worn face grinning like a little boy caught with his fingers in the sugar bowl.
"That might 'ave been useful," Lucy gritted from behind clenched teeth.
"Well, as you know, Salvador is neigh in sight, I'm going to meet an old friend there," he tossed away the red coat for the green one.
"And you need all this…why?"
"Said old friend does some rather erroneous deals with our previous employers," he tossed the green ensemble for a beautiful onyx one instead. "And to pass by without causing too much suspicion, due to my exemplary good looks of course, I must disguise meself." Jack looked rather pleased with himself, it was apparent that he had finally chosen costume, the black with pale green vines and pink flowers embroidered upon it's ridges. It was conservative in cut but expensive in detail, very good choice, very Spanish in taste.
"And why did ye not just tell me in the first damn place?"
"Must 'ave slipped me mind, and I thought you might like the little show," he grinned his silver and gold toothed smile. Lucy rolled her eyes, stood and started to fold the clothes that Jack had discarded and putting them back in their proper places.
"You said this contact of yours worked with you when you were younger," she said as she shook out a wrinkled waist. "Where exactly did you work?"
"The East India Trading Company," her fiancee answered in a voice that sounded as though the name itself left a bitter taste in his mouth.
"You mean to tell that you, Captain Jack Sparrow, were once an honest sailor?" her sarcasm was laced with genuine interest this time. Most of the fancy outfits were safely packed away by now, and the couple was making their way to the tiny wooden steps that lead to the next deck.
"Aye, like me father before me," they both squinted as the bright sun stung their eyes as they came to the top deck at last. He passed off his disguise to a passing crewman with orders to leave it in his quarters then relaxed slightly now that one task was out of the way. For a few minutes they walked hand in hand along the ship, until they came to the bow, the spray of the ocean water dotting their skin, the wind blowing their long hair behind them and cooling their bodies.
"What is your father like?" she asked, still looking out to sea.
"Rather like myself, I'd wager, if one were to compare us," he smiled.
"So, a crazed, sea salted old buccaneer with nothing better to do then steal away 'elpless maidens at the drop of a hat?"
"More like a charming rogue, well versed in the ways of the sea and won't hesitate to not step up to the lady of his choice."
One would never know the last two statements were talking about the very same person, but opposing points of view are common, and the two expressing them were by now long used to the opinions of the other. Jack went on to tell her more about his own family, or at least those she had not yet met, as she had confided in him so often the sad details of her own. He told her that his sire, a man called Captain Teague, had met a beautiful spice trader's daughter from India while he too was in the employ of the E.I.T.C.
"How romantic."
"Now ye see where I get it from."
Padma, the lady, had run off with the English sailor, and they eloped, by then Teague had begun to have problems with the Company and started to fraternize with pirates to make ends meat. Their eldest child was born while they visited one such acquaintance, when young Jack was grown enough his father sent him to work for the Company as well, as one of his childhood friends had joined as well. It was his parent's hope that by now the establishment had mended its ways, but that was not to be either. Jack's friend, a boy by the name of Cutler had become greedy, corrupted and willing to deal in just about any market, his favorite was that which brought in the most gold, the slave trade.
"Cutler Beckett? That horrible man Lizzy told me Governor knows?"
"Aye, slimy little thing ain't he?"
He finished his story, when Cutler wished Jack's aid in his slavery commerce Jack had refused, he could do rotten things, but that was one he would never touch. Prizing his own freedom above all things, taking some one else's to have them imprisoned in the mansions of the British elite as servants seemed nothing short of the worst sin imaginable. In punishment Jack had been branded a pirate, literally and his ship scuttled and left to sink to the bottom of the Indian Ocean.
"Then how…how it is still 'here?" Lucy laid a hand on the rail of her beloved home.
"Ah….that's more or less a tale for another day. To sum things up, I got it back by certain means, by then my father had constructed a twin ship for my brothers and the rest of the story ye already know." She nodded, trying her best to take it all in, if this was his life before meeting her she could only guess what the rest of hers would be like with him now permanently in it, seemed like fun.
Suddenly a crewman with one leg shuffled up to them, proclaiming that they had spotted a safe harbor to dock in, and was ready to go ashore at the Captains command. Said Captain nodded and offered his arm to his lady, she took and they made their way back to their cabin to prepare for the mission at hand.
Half an hour or so later the ship was properly anchored and Captain Jack Sparrow emerged from his cabin a new man…he had even changed his hat. He posed for his crew, slight peacock that he was, and many congratulated him on his disguise. The black silk actually looked rather well on him, the jeweled trims held the eye away from his face, as they were placed along the collar and edges, just as he had wanted. No on would look twice at his face with such shinnies being presented, and in a corrupt port that was a brilliant tactic. His tanned skin also helped him pass for a Spaniard, as did his black hair, overall he was rather pleased with himself.
"Thank you gents, but now I must be on me way," he held a hand out towards the double doors that made up the entrances to his rooms. "Ready, luv?" A pale hand reached out, the wrist had about it a glimmering diamond bracelet, many of the pirates started getting itchy fingers for the fancy trinket. But that stopped when they saw the rest of the owner of the pretty jewelry, Jack lead his lady out for all to see, how he loved to show off the girl he adored and who loved him n return. At some point without her realizing he had found a dazzling obsidian gown, that somehow conveniently matched his own. It's long sleeves were trimmed in antique lace, the revealed underskirt was an off white with a pearl like sheen. The bodice was elaborately embroidered in many brilliant threads and semi precious stones, the neckline not too low and finished in a plain edge.
Several members of the crew had been dressed in servant's garb, Anna-Maria had been chosen as ladies maid and stood behind the couple along with her fellow pirates-in-disguise. The group departed quickly and landed by long boat and made their way to the home of their leader's old friend.
IndiaEmma sat on her rather lame excuse for a bed, watching out the dirty window as the filthy crew of the Demon went about their daily, actually nightly, business. This was usually how most of her own day went, for several weeks she had been quarantined to the small suite of rooms allotted to her. This suite consisted of the bedchamber, a sitting room and would have included a balcony if said out look had not been barred shut. She had however noticed that most of the French doors leading to the balcony had in fact been nailed shut, and that the metal bars were all but rust.
Apparently Daniel had not had the time to ensure that prisoner's quarters outside of the brig in the hull of his garish ship were up to standard.
So, over time she had slowly pried nails from the edges of windowpanes, using a metal hinge that had the little blonde had yanked off of an ancient dresser. When it came to how to slip through the bars, she discovered that for once she loved being the "bean pole" of the family, by sucking in her middle (which there really was not overly much to speak of in the first place) she could just fit between two.
The drop from the overlook was quite the trip down, but it was attached to a side entrance to the house, this was part of an overhang supported by several columns. If she could shimmy down one of those imitation Greek columns then all she had left to do would be to get off the house's land.
From watching the daily guard changes of the crewmen she knew when they took their meal breaks, when they took their turns and who was more likely to fall asleep on the job. Overall she felt rather pleased with herself, her sisters would no doubt have done something very similar if they had been in the same position. Emma's big brown eyes glazed over slightly when the thought of her family came to mind…she had never been away from them before, let alone as long a stay as this. In fact she had depended on them for the majority of her life, even when she had woven baskets to sell in the market in Port Royal she had left all the money handling and such to Amanda.
Red haired, round figured middle sister that she was had been the most financially savvy of them all. It was Amanda, of Manda, who had taken care of their taxes, debts, profits and generally had keep them from the poor house. More times then the Collins sisters would admit this, but many times they had been a footstep away from that choice; and it was Manda who bartered, pushed and forced their debtors at bay with her strong efforts.
As the youngest sister thought she pulled several more nails from the bottom of the left side door with only the moon and a candle for light, the near end of her hard work. This helped her from getting too emotional as she evaluated her life, or rather her place in it when others seemed to mean more on so many levels. If Amanda had been the means to their next meal then Lucinda had been their leader for sure.
Eldest, most sacrificing and beautiful though she would never believe it herself, Lucy had kept them from falling apart after their world had changed time and time again. She had made way through the strenuous job of serving drunken sailors and those of ill repute in the Wharf Rat tavern, learning her trade in both defending herself and her reputation. But more then that, she gave her love openly to those she deemed close and would, and did, take any blow to protect them.
"So what am I then?" Emma asked herself, pushing a lock her newly shorn hair from her pointed face. What did she bring to the family plate, what Was her purpose anyway? Almost in a strange answer to her question she saw both her siblings laughing faces in her mind's eye, happy, embracing her like none of this nasty business had never happened. But then another image came to her mind, one that had been frequenting her dreams as of late, a tanned face with dark, slashing brows above warm chocolate colored eyes. "Zackariah…"
True, the youngest Sparrow brother had long shown interest in her, and she had, as usual, no idea what to do about it. Now she regretted not taking the path the other two Collins' had taken with their own pirates, what he must be thinking of her now she could only guess. On one hand he had been the one to take the life threatening risk to brave the stormy waters in attempt to rescue her, so he would very likely believe her drowned and be mourning. But then there was the fact that they really had not known one another for very long, he might just be a risk taker. And by now he could have gotten over one slip of a girl and found a new one to toy with, as many males of his kind were prone to do.
A hard feeling came from her chest at the mere thought of the later, almost like a vice about her heart, crushing it like a hand could crush a blade of glass. A new thought came to her, one Amanda would have thought up really, that there was such a thing as love at first sight…look at Lucy and Jack.
But all thoughts of love and family were interupted when the last nail came loose; all that stood between her and freedom was the night and her ability to find the nearest town. She prayed to anyone that would listen to help her escape, another day with a dandy wanna-be would drive her out of her little mind. Quickly and quietly she pulled herself through the bars after checking that the guards at the door were indeed switching shifts and found that she was now on her blocked balcony.
"Please, please, please work," was her mantra as she swung both her skirted legs over the side of the creaking rail. The ledge was thin, it's paint crackling away and hard to balance, she kept a tight grip on the rail that was just as frightening in it's sturdiness. Baby step after baby step she made her way to where she met the capped crown of a column and slowly knelt. As gracefully as she could she took hold of the support and slide down the Grecian piece of architecture and started to smile when she saw she was half way down already. So elated was she that she didn't notice that she had stopped to admire her work and in doing so for so long had started to loose her previously strong hold.
A slight 'eeep' was let from her lips when she accidentally let go of her lifeline, luckily something broke her fall so that she didn't break any bones or suffer a worse injury. Then down side was that her cushion was the previous guard who had fallen asleep on duty, a tankard of ale lay empty next to him, the cause of this un-called for incident. His replacement had just come for him and was already pulling his pistol from his belt, waving it to the door, for her to get back inside of her crumbling cell, her cushion was glaring up at her.
"How do Lucy and Manda make this seem so easy?"
The Black Pearl
Running something not normally hard for Lucinda Rose Collins, soon to be Sparrow, but when it involved running in full skirts she only felt like choking her fiancee with the heavy lace he draped her in. Behind her, and gaining, were several Spanish and oddly enough British militia, shooting pistols and yelling curses that she truly couldn't make out. Beside her on one side was her dear lover, who at present was damning all militaries and their pirate-hating rules. They had retrieved the information they needed, or Jack needed, but the moment they stepped outside his informants dwelling they had found themselves thoroughly surrounded. It was a wanted poster that had given them away, an old poster really that just happened to be noticed by a law abiding citizen just before it was to be covered by a new poster advertising well priced snake oil. He had of course gone to the authorities, received a reward and been on his way, leaving the crew of the most feared pirate ship in the world running down cluttered alleyways dressed to the nines and pulling weapons out of their expensive costumes.
From inside the tightly cinched front of her bodice she pulled a long, wicked looking dagger, Jack saw this from the corner of his eye and nearly ran into a stack of barrels when he tried to make a double take at what she had managed to hide from Him. Ignoring the gawking mouth of the mad running with her, she turned and saw her opportunity: a shop front that was busy hauling a net of merchandise into the storage loft above the front door. Quickly found the pulley, took aim, and through her knife as fast and hard as she could, all the precision was thanks to the 'games' taught to her by her dear friend Anna.
The wooden handled dagger sliced through the aged rope, letting the supplies of fresh fish fall behind the escaping pirates but in front of and on top of the chasing soldiers. Slippery fish juices splayed across the cobble stone street, making both militia and bystanders blunder into one another, a domino effect really, until no one was left standing in a pile of cursing men and dead mackerel.
"Where the bloody hell did ye learn to do that?" Jack yelled over the loud noise of a busy dock.
"I've been livin' on a pirate ship for almost a year and you ask me where I learned to throw a knife?"
"Point taken, luv," the rushing group run up the gang plank just as the final ropes were pulled loose from the dock's edge. "Alright you dogs makes way, up with the top sails, move!" he shouted at the skittish crew. Cannon shots sounded from behind them, just missing the hull by a few feet, they were being shot from the small port to the far side of the port town. Meanwhile Lucy was busy stripping down right in plain sight on the top deck, Anna was making herself useful by unlacing the body of the gown, which was inconveniently placed right down the middle of the back.
"From now on, Dearest," Lucy gritted out, "when there is even the Slightest chance we have to run, I'll be wearing breeches or-" this conversation seemed too familiar. "You get the point."
"I'd love to talk darlin but could ye hold on for just a moment?" he ran off in his usual prancing-like manner to the side of his first mate. He whispered something into Mr. Gibbs ear then took the time to notice just how far the love of his life had removed from her person, stays and shift and not a stitch more remained on her.
By now they had sailed safely out of range of the bombarding cannon fire but from the crow's nest a sailor yelled down that it looked like they were boarding smaller battle ships. But it would be some time before they were ready to fully set sail, and besides, the Pearl could easily blow them out of the water at even this range.
"If you need me I'll be findin' some practical clothes." She stomped off to her room, coming out several minutes later clad in a pair of pants Jack had worn in his much younger days, an old linen shirt and a vest she had worn in her tavern-wench time. Said vest was more or less a corset of it's own, starting just below her breasts and ending at her waist, its straps went over her shoulder and held her bountiful chest in place. As she walked she pulled on a British officers coat she had found in a trunk, her boots clicked harshly against the wooden planks as she muttered to herself.
"Prepare to fire, men!" Jack ordered his crew, the sooner he ended this the sooner he could escape the wrath he knew was coming his way. What he didn't understand was why exactly she was so boiled up about it all…they still had gotten away-sort of. And off the point, she looked so pretty when all dressed up and angry.
"Jack!"
"Fire!"
An explosion of shouts and flame erupted from the pirate galleon, one Spanish ship took damage imminently and fatally as it already started to take on water and sink slowly. The few that followed it were now preoccupied with taking on survivors then continuing the fight, the Black Pearl was already making way on another of it's famous escapes.
"Another victory to moi," Jack said, his hands proudly on his hips as he watched.
"So, do tell me, why did we have to go through all that again?" his wife to be asked, fanning smoke from her face.
"Oh just to solidify where ol' Danny has got to and…."he trailed off uneasily.
"Tell me now or yer gonna be sleeping on the floor tonight," several crew members made 'oho' noises, they were silenced by a glare from the Captain. "Alright, and to see if an old…..friend……would be there, ye know, just in case somethin' goes all….poky."
"Poky…?"
"Aye, poky," he turned to his faithful second in command, "make route for given destination."
"Which is where?" she asked as the Captain leaned back against the rail, holding out his hand for her to take. She did in fact take his hand, and was pulled so that her back rested on his chest, both his arms wrapped about her fully.
"To see me old man," he replied, albeit a little nervously.
