War On The Waves

(Narrator's POV)


Now on board The Black Pearl, Jack and Ashley followed Hector Barbossa to the Captain's cabin. Ashley was awestruck as she gazed around at the ship, taking in its beauty. She was overwhelmed, being aboard the magnificent ship. Its tattered sails fluttered in the wind, its hull creaked as it rocked with the harsh waves. Fog followed the ship wherever it sailed to, it was as if the vessel itself was cursed. Ashley knew the backstory as to why it was the way it was, but she also knew it would be improper to bring it up to Jack, it would only depress him. "Do you reckon Barbossa will accept your bargain, Captain?" She muttered to Jack as she stepped closer behind him. Some of the crew members on deck glanced at her as they walked past.

"Depends on how desperate he is to have his bloody curse lifted." He tilted his head back slightly to respond. "Captain Barbossa an I are to negotiate terms 'n such. I expect you to not speak up. Perhaps do something of feminine nature to throw Hector's guard off, sit there 'n look pretty, can ya do that?"

Ashley grinned, "I suppose. He's not exactly my cup of tea so to speak, but if it'll help anyway in our advantage, then I'll do as I must."

They reached a grand doorway as Jack chuckled under his breath. "That's a good lass."

The doors opened to the cabin, and Barbossa took the end seat at the large table. Jack rushed in to pull out a chair for Ashley then himself. She thanked him as they both sat, right across from the enemy.


"So you expect to leave me standing on some beach with nothing but a name and your word, it's the one I need, and watch you sail away on my ship?" Barbossa sarcastically laughed at Jacks offer.

Jack stood up, pacing about the room. "No! I expect to leave you standing on some beach with absolutely no name at all, watching us sail away on MY ship, and then we'll shout the name back to you, savvy?" He extended both arms out and placed them on the opposite end of the table.

Barbossa narrowed his eyes. "But that still leaves us with the problem of me standing on some beach with not but a name and your word, it's the one I need."

"Of the three of us, I am...you haven't committed mutiny, have you, Miss Ashlyn?" Jack inquired.

"No Captain, I haven't, not yet." Ashley briefly gave an intentionally smug grin. She then slightly pulled down the top of her dress, exposing some cleavage, and tossed her hair back.

He smirked back at her as he continued to persuade Barbossa. "Of the three of us, Ashlyn and I are the only ones who hasn't committed mutiny. Therefore, my words are the ones we'll be trusting." Jack sat back down, crossing his legs comfortably. "Although...I suppose I should be thanking you because in fact, if you hadn't betrayed me and left me to die, I would have an equal share in that curse, same as you. Funny ol' world, innit?" Jack plucked a pair of fresh, green apples from the fruit bowl. He handed one to Ashley and the pair both took large bites out of the juicy fruit.

Bo'sun interrupted, "Captain, we're coming up on the Interceptor."

Then, Barbossa's Capuchin monkey named Jack scurried across the table and he sat in front of Ashley. Jack grimaced at the monkey as she petted him lightly.

Barbossa arose and went topside, followed by Jack and Ashley, the monkey scurried up behind.

Jack climbed up the port side railing, balancing himself against a rope and glimpsed out to sea, spotting the Interceptor just ahead.

"Oh no, we're gaining on her. What will happen once Barbossa gets his hands on the Interceptor?" Ashley frowned.

"I'm not quite sure yet, luv. One thing is for certain, he cannot capture the whelp, or else we'll lose our leverage and have nothing to bargain with." Jack ran to the bow of the ship, with Ashley shortly behind. He waited in front of Hector's spyglass, still gnawing on his apple. "I'm having a thought here, Barbossa. What say we run up a flag of truce? We scurry over to the Interceptor, and I negotiate to the return of your medallion, eh? What say you to that?"

Barbossa gave an evil grin, "Now y'see Jack, that's exactly the attitude that lost ya the Pearl. People are easy to search when they're dead. Lock him in the brig!" Bo'sun grabbed hold of Jack and dragged him below deck. Barbossa held Jack's apple in his hand, "And to you, Miss Swann, feel free to stay an' watch us sink yer sister's ship!" He cackled and chucked the half-eaten fruit into the sea. The monkey hopped up onto Barbossa's shoulder.

"I'd rather be in the brig with the real Captain of the Black Pearl, thank you." Ashley spat, then ran off below deck before Barbossa could lash her out for her remark.


(Ashley's POV)

It took me a few minutes to find my way to the brig, for the ship was really large and it was dark and damp down below. When I finally approached Bo'sun and Jack, I could hear him say, "Apparently there's a leak!" I accidentally giggled, and quickly covered my mouth with my palm.

"Why you here?" Bo'sun boomed.

"The Captain commanded that I was to be locked up with the other prisoner."

Bo'sun rolled his eyes and shoved me into the brig, and I stumbled into Jack.

"My apologies!" I backed up and rested on the bench.

"Why did ya come down here, Miss Swann?" Jack questioned me.

"A good crew member never abandons their Captain...and I despise Barbossa almost as much as you do."

He laughed at my response, "What did he ever do to you?"

"Well, nothing to me specifically. He's an awful man who shouldn't have mutinied you long ago. The Pearl doesn't belong to him."

"You do know a lot on pirate lore, I'll give ya that."

"I know more than just some legends, Captain, you should know that by now."

"And how would I, Miss Swann? I do not know much about you, so pray tell, we have the time." He sat beside me and waited for my response.

"And if I told you," I sadly sighed, "You wouldn't believe me." I decided it was time for me to tell him who I really was, or at least try to get him to believe me.

"Oh trust me, I've seen a thing or two." He was serious.

"Alright, fine. I'm...not exactly from where you think I am."

"Ah, you must be from England or France. You're a daughter of a Queen or some sort, a woman of nobility?"

I giggled, "No, though I wish I was. I, I'm from a land that hasn't been explored yet..." I stuttered nervously. "It's very far away from here. And if I'd like to visit the sea, it is also not anywhere near my home. I've longed to sail or visit the beach, and possibly live onboard a ship. Life where I'm from...is dull. Freedom is limited, the government is corrupt and unfair for lower-class and middle-class citizens like myself, and there are plenty of laws. I suppose not much different than the East India Trading Company, huh?"

"Not much." He sighed, hanging his head lower. "Freedom is only given if you live a life of piracy, an even then the authority hunt pirates down, striving to kill off every last one. Working for them ain't exactly much betta either. I tried that some time ago, absolutely terrible being an honest man for so little pay. Nonetheless, where exactly do you live? Could you point it out on a map? If you're not near a port, you must live in a jungle, or forest, or on a mountain? You sure you're not of royal descent?" He sat back up and stared at me in disbelief.

"I'm certain. Or else I'd be fabulously wealthy, which I'm not."

"...married into it? You married some prince or hierarchy?"

"No!" I laughed, "I'm not married, nor royal. I live in a town, fairly large one, in a fairly nice home. I could point it out on a map, it's landlocked. We have rivers, lakes, streams, waterfalls, but no ocean. I live closest to the Pacific ocean, roughly 16 hours to get there."

"How terrible!" He inched his arm across my shoulders and rested his hand above my right breast. "Then what brought you 'ere?"

"Not quite sure. One night I went to sleep in my own bed, the next morning I awoke inside the Governor's mansion."

"We've all done that luv, woken up not sure where we're at or how we got there." He chuckled, making a joke about alcohol. He's not understanding me at all.

"That's not what I meant. But besides that, would you like to hear something else dreadful?"

"Do tell dearie." He moved his arm down my back, his palm now on my hip.

"A heavily enforced law in my country is you have to be at least the age of 21 in order to drink any sort of alcohol, so I'm not allowed to have rum."

"That IS dreadful, more than anythin'! We'll have to have a lot to drink then while you're here, aye?"

As I was about to respond, I heard a booming sound in the nearby distance. Oh shit! Cannons! I tilted my head to the side to gaze behind Jack, and I could see a cannon through the small hole. It was shot from the Interceptor and it was aimed right above us!

"JACK MOVE!" I leaped on top of him and we both fell onto the floor. As the booming sound grew closer, a cannonball blasted through the ship, right above our bodies. I buried my head into Jack's chest until the rumbling sound stopped. I slowly opened my eyes and lifted my head.

"STOP BLOWING HOLES IN MY SHIP!" Jack screamed from underneath me. "If it weren't for you, I would have gotten me head blown right off!" He grinned widely up to me.

I smiled back, "Is that gratitude I hear, Captain Sparrow?"

"It might as well be. Thanks very much, Miss Swann."

"My pleasure...call me Ashley. That's my real name."

"Ashley...that's a lovely name, Ashley. I have not heard of it before." Very common name in 2016, that's why I don't like it. But if he thinks it's pretty, then I'll have to believe him.

"Thank you, that's very kind of you. I think Jack is a very charming sounding name, did you know it means 'God is gracious'? Not that I'm religious." I babbled on.

"No, I did not. That sheds some light on it, don't it? I like it a lot better now." He stared up at me. I gleamed down at him, admiring his dark chocolate brown eyes as if they held the entire universe. Suddenly, he lifted his chin up, slowly closing the distance between us, making it smaller and smaller. I found myself moving my gaze down to his lips while anxiously biting my own. Millions of thoughts ran through my head as he placed his rough right hand on the side of my face, the other on my lower back.

Without warning, another cannon blasted through the side of the ship, reminding us both that a battle was taking place. I ducked back down. Damn it.

"Unfortunately, Miss S-Ashley, we must make our escape. And as much as I hate to say it, you must stand first."

"Oh, yes, right. My apologies." I got up awkwardly. "It'll be easy to escape, the door is broken." I pointed up at it, and Jack saw that the lock was damaged.

He also stood, pushing the cell open. I looked down and spotted Mr. Gibbs's flask floating in the inch deep water. "You might want to give this back to your first mate." I handed it over to Jack.

He got really excited and twisted the top off. He poured the remaining content into his mouth, which was only a few drops.
"Damn, it's gone!" He shook the flask with a frown. I smiled, rolled my eyes, softly grabbed his other hand and dragged him out of the brig.


As we stormed onto the deck, the battle was far underway. Jack climbed up and onto the railing, waiting for a rope to swing nearby. Just as expected, a pirate swung over from the Interceptor and fell onto the deck of the Pearl.

Jack got a hold of the rope just in time, "Thanks very much." He nodded for me to climb up.

"But there's only one rope." I acknowledged.

"Pity, you will just have to come with me then." He extended his hand to me. I put my hand in his and climbed up.

"Hold on tight luv." He smirked. I did as commanded and wrapped my arms around his neck.

He jumped off the ledge and we swung across the ocean.

As the rope flew over the deck and back again, I accidentally bumped into a man and he fell overboard. The rope swung back and forth between the two ships. Guns pointed at us from the Pearl, causing Jack and me to scream. Luckily, we were able to hop off just as the rope swung over the Interceptor. Jack landed on his feet, I did not, I landed on my ass.

"Jack!" A happy Mr. Gibbs smiled.

Jack handed Gibbs his canteen, "Bloody empty!" He then helped pull me up onto my feet. "We must find your sister, the one with the medallion." I groaned for I wasn't so sure I wanted to see Jasmine again. But, I walked off with Jack to search for her anyway.

We found Elizabeth and Jasmine, struggling to fight off a grimy pirate. Jack stood behind the buccaneer and grabbed him by the arm. "That's not very nice."

Jasmine and Elizabeth saw their chance and they hit him overboard with their muskets.

"Ashlyn!" Elizabeth hugged me tightly. But over her shoulder, I saw Jasmine give me a look of frustration. "I'm so glad you're all right! Your clothes! You're dressed like-" She stared at me, then over to Jack. "You."

"Me?" Jack responded. Guns shot in our direction, we all ducked down swiftly. Jack held onto Elizabeth's shoulder and demanded, "Where's the medallion?!"

"Wretch!" She tried to hit him, but he caught her hand.

"Ah, where is dear William?"

Elizabeth searched around the ship, "Will." She muttered and ran off.

Jasmine gave me one final glare, then ran after Elizabeth.

"Monkey!" Jack blurted and sped off over to the broken mast, following the Capuchin. I paced over to them and saw Jack crawling on his hands and knees across the mast, right behind the monkey. Jack then stumbled into a pair of boots.

"Why thank ye, Jack." Barbossa held the medallion.

"You're welcome." Jack gave a fake grin.

"Not you, we named the monkey Jack. Gents, our hope is restored!" The pirates all cheered in victory.


"If any of you as much as thinks the word "parley", I'll have your guts for garters!" Pintel pointed his pistol at each Interceptor crew member tied up against the mast of the Pearl. I was bound up beside Mr. Gibbs and Elizabeth, with Jasmine at her other side, glaring at me. I didn't even do anything, and she's mad at me. It's not my fault I went with Jack and she didn't.

Abruptly, Elizabeth threw the rope over her head and charged towards the side of the ship. Alas, she was too late. The Interceptor blew up into a million pieces. That was the coolest thing I've ever seen.

Tears welled in Elizabeth's eyes as she whispered Will's name. In anger she attacked Barbossa, screaming at him. He was able to get a hold of her, "Welcome back, Miss. You and the other wench took advantage of our hospitality last time. It holds fair now that you return the favor!" He shoved her at his crew, they caressed her as they did to me in the cave.

"LET HER GO!" Jasmine screamed beside me.

I didn't think this through very well. So many potential threats here, women have no rights. Pirates are lustful, greedy, selfish men. They're villains, rapist, thieves. I'm thankful that most men aren't as bad nowadays as they were in the 18th century.

"Barbossa!" A familiar voice shouted. All three of us looked up to the railing and saw William Turner pointing a gun at Hector.

"Will." Elizabeth sighed with relief.

"They go free!" Will glanced to Elizabeth, then to me and Jasmine.

"What's in your head, boy?" Barbossa strode forward.

"They go free."

"You've only got one shot and we can't die."

"Don't do anything stupid." I heard Jack beg.

"You can't, I can."

I saw Elizabeth lose her composure as she aggressively tried to break free.

"Like that." Jack and I uttered.

"Who are you?" Barbossa said with confusion.

"No one! He's no one." Jack faced him, shaking his hands, "A distant cousin of my aunt's nephew twice removed. Lovely singing voice, though-eunuch." He pointed his thumb at Will.

"My name is Will Turner!" Jack sadly walked away, defeated. "My father was Bootstrap Bill Turner, his blood runs in my veins!"

"E's a spittin' image of ol' Bootstrap Bill, come back to haunt us!" Ragetti shouted with fear.

Will continued on, "On my word do as I say, or I'll pull this trigger and be lost to Davy Jones' Locker."

"Name yer terms, Mr. Turner." Barbossa listened.

"Elizabeth, Ashlyn, and Jasmine Swann go free!"

I'm shocked he said all of us and not just Elizabeth.

"Yes, we know that one, anything else?"

Jack grinned at Will and pointed to himself.

"And the crew! The crew not to be harmed."

I looked over to see Jack's look of utter and complete disappointment. Will's lucky he's handsome because he's not very bright.

"Agreed."