Hector Barbossa: Beginnings
By: Kimmie-Sama
Chapter Ten
"Don't ya even think about leavin' this ship." Hector tied the rope tighter around his bag, making sure that the contents wouldn't spill out while he walked around town. He then hooked it to his belt, under his dark coat. He wasn't sure what kind of town Tortuga was, so he rather not take any chances. He then tied another bag in a more obvious spot, filled with round stones to make the illusion complete. A trick he had learned from Aison, years ago.
"Oui, Captain." Her French accent was almost gone, but when Lucy spoke her native language he knew it was flawless. Her body seemed tense, looking out his windows towards the town. "Are you sure you will be alright?"
"Aye, been through enough t' know when trouble is brewin'." The Captain of the Espada placed his hat on his head as a final touch and then took a small glance in a tall mirror. "I'll scout the town. If it be acceptable I will be back t' take you ashore."
"I'll do as you wish Captain." Her voice slightly trembled and he knew her to be scared, but Barbossa ignored it for now. The safest place for her to be would be on the ship with a few crew members he trusted aboard.
Wanting to say more but didn't, Barbossa turned and to walk out of his quarters. "Barbossa?" Her voice called out, but he didn't turn. He simply moved his head slightly as a response. She was moving, walking closer towards him. Hector could barely hear small feet as she walked across the wooden ground. "I better return this."
Her hands held out the small white handkerchief, the same he had given to her years ago. His body turned towards her and then lifted his hand to touch her fingers. With ease he closed her hand around the lace and smirked lightly. "It be a gift, Lucina. To return a gift is a great disgrace."
Eyes of emerald looked up at him then she nodded in response. Not another word was spoken as Barbossa turned and walked out; his fingers offering another small embrace before letting her hand go.
--
It wasn't like him to worry, but he found his mind to wander as he walked through the town of Tortuga. The people here were just like other pirate ports he had been to over the years, drunken and aggressive. Lucina wouldn't fit in around here and he knew that if he tried to walk with her most of the men would mistake her for a wench. Hector tried to calm himself as he thought of the obscene things they would most likely say to her.
He may be a pirate himself, but he knew what proper things to say to a woman.
Walking into a rather busy tavern he felt a body hit his side lightly and he knew that he just lost the pouch of stones. It would be their folly in the end, so he didn't plague on it. Deeper into the room he went, maneuvering around others. The smoke was bothering him from the multiple men smoking pipes so he kept his pace up a stairway at the far of the room.
A voice called his name as he reached the top and Barbossa was surprised to see a familiar face in the far corner. "Captain Teauge." He allowed himself to grin; a familiar face was always a good sign.
The old lord smiled back, his hair even longer and fuller of trinkets then before. He sat at a table with various foods and rum; the men around him were older but offered their seat to Barbossa as he got closer. Hector took the one to Teauge's right, his hand gripping the other man's. "It's always good t' see yeh, Captain Teauge."
"Same to you, Captain Barbossa." The man moved a hand and instantly there was another plate and cup in front of Hector. "What kind of business brings you here to Tortuga?"
"In all honesty, it be my first time here." Barbossa took the new cup of rum and drank. "I thought it would be profitable trip."
"The real profit is out at sea, Barbossa. I would have thought you would have learned that so far." Teauge smirked.
Hector grinned back, helping himself to an apple he saw sitting on the table. "But yeh can only hear whispers of great treasure on land, I'm afraid."
The other man chuckled deeply. "Then here is to good ears for good plunder." Hector joined him in a raised glass.
--
He had drunk quite a bit and as Barbossa woke the next morning, leaning back on the wall corner, he took a moment to really recognize his surroundings. Amazingly enough, he had not a single thing missing from his person, mostly due to the fact that a few of the other men that were passed out around him was his own crew. Dogs they were, but loyal.
Finding aches in many different places, he stood from his chair and looked around the less then crowded tavern. It was quieter too, which he was appreciating. It had to be early morning; the sun was bearing in through the small windows all around.
Wanting nothing more then a bed, he walked down the stairs and out of the tavern. Teauge was no longer anywhere around but Hector could remember him leaving late into the night with a final toast. It had been an odd thing to see him out here, but then there was still a great many things that Hector did not know.
Each step closer to the docks made him uneasy. Some nagging voice in the back of his head was chirping away, talking about his ship and how much of a fool he was to leave it so venerable. Even as he saw his ship from afar, the voice did not leave him. His headache made it worse and without realizing it, he had started to run towards his beloved Espada.
Bottles surrounded the men that were passed out on deck, in clear view. Fully annoyed, Hector gave a swift kick to one of the men's side, his Boatswain. The man groaned and yelled words that Barbossa knew to be indecent in Spanish. As the man looked up at his Captain, however, he jumped at attention, clearly worried at the glare he was receiving.
"I thought ah made it clear that no drinkin' was allowed while yeh watched the ship!" Barbossa yelled, his head pounding with worry and last nights drinking.
The man stuttered lightly, looking around at the bottles that were on the deck. Men around them had woken, stumbling as they stood. "Sí, you said so sir. But... a few men from shore offered some free drinks, sir. They came aboard and-"
"Yeh allowed men on me ship, men I did not know?!" The Captain grabbed the man's torn shirt and then pushed him to the starboard side of the ship. "What kind of men?"
The man swallowed hard as he looked for help from the men around, yet their eyes were cast downwards. "I... they were foreign. They spoke in English but... what was it...Ah! francés!"
"French pirates?" Hector asked and as the man nodded, he let his shirt go. Turning quickly, Barbossa walked swiftly to the forecastle of the ship. He paused as he saw that the Captain's quarters was open, the door cracked just barely. The handle was broken; a force had to have opened this door.
Pushing in then looking around, Hector's mind wandered. The room looked ransacked, a chest he had kept charts in toppled over, papers everywhere. He kept his gold in a certain place under the floorboards, which thankfully was still firmly closed. Chairs, tables, all were still there. Yet, there was something very, very vital missing.
Lucina was gone, her bag still sitting next to his bed untouched.
"Lucy..?" He said quietly, hoping that she too would emerge from a secret place like his swag. All he heard was his men outside coming aboard and the waves hitting the hull outside.
Moments later, he was pinning the boatswain on his knees, with one hand pushing the man's arms behind his back threatening close to breaking, the other pulling a rope around his neck. "You!" He yelled to a tall dark skinned man, who he had picked up near the America's port of Boston a year back. "If yeh want t' be the new Boatswain, grab this rope!"
The enormous man nodded and grabbed the rope, doing exactly what Hector asked him too and climbed the shrouds to tie the rope in the mizzenmast. The crew watched as Hector allowed the old boatswain to hang by his neck, feet above the deck.
Barbossa looked on at his remaining crew, pulling his sword out and pointing it at the man swinging helplessly. "This be yer fate if yeh ever disobey me!" The big man dropped from the shrouds to watch with the other crew as the man stopped swinging and hung limp in death.
..tbc..
A/N:
Almost done editing then the new chapters come!
