Chapter 1
The ship with the black sails was far behind her by the time the mermaid had reached the mouth of the river that her mother was on. She hesitated but the calming and welcoming presence of her mother made the mermaid overcome her fear and wariness, and she swam into the river.
She stays underneath the water as she swims deeper into the river, following the presence of her mother.
Her thoughts drifted back to the ship with the black sails and the three men that were there. Why did that one man thank her? She had never been thanked before for singing to someone, granted the other times she had sung was to put her prey under her spell...to make it easy for her to eat them.
She was so deep in her thoughts that when she popped her head out to see where she was going, she saw that she had arrived at her destination. The mermaid looked around, noticing men standing on the banks but they were silent and not making any threatening advances towards her so she swam closer to the dock.
"Mother?" She called out, placing her hands on the dock. "I want to speak to you." The mermaid closes her eyes, letting the familiar presence of her mother wash over her once again.
It was a feeling that was sorely missed in the sea, it had been too long since their mother was bound to a human form by humans that the mermaid had started to forget what it felt like.
"Is dat my precious daughter?" The sorceress Tia Dalma emerged from her hut, smiling when saw the mermaid peering at her. "Lit'l Margaret."
She stared down into those blue eyes, and within them she saw something familiar. "I see."
The mermaid, Margaret, smiled when her mother emerged from her hut. "Hello, mother."
She frowned at her mother's words. "What does that mean, mother? All you did was look at me."
"De look o' longing, child." Tia smiled, "I know it all too well."
Margaret stared at her mother, thinking about her words. "A pirate ship with black sails had gone by our cove and I saw a man...the captain and I felt something deep inside me come to life." She placed her hand over her heart. "Is that what this feeling is? Longing?"
Tia's smile widened. "T'e Black Pearl... an' you saw t'e dreaded Captain Barbossa... you wait 'ere." She hurried back inside.
Margaret blinked, confused, as she stared at her mother's retreating back. What was that all about? Did it mean something? She will wait here for her return, just like her mother told her to.
At least she got a name to go with the man now. Maybe it'll be easier to find him now.
Tia came back out, carrying a leather pouch and small vials. She got on her knees at the edge of the dock, placing the vials to the side.
Margaret watched her mother for a few minutes in silence before her curiosity got the best of her. "What are you doing, Mother?" She pulled herself even further up so she could see better.
"You wan' ta find dis man, don't ya?" Tia asked. "You gotta blend in wit his kind."
The mermaid blinked at that before she smiled at her mother. "And how will it work, mother?" She frowned as she remembered something. "Would it prevent me from changing if I get wet?" She knows how humans view her kind, many would gladly kill a mermaid.
Though the three men on the ship didn't seem to want to kill her after she sang her good bye to her sisters.
"Wit' dis, your only concern will be water from da sea itself," Tia Dalma explained, picking up one vial. Inside, the crushed teeth of a tiger shark. A dash of the powder was poured into a small wooden bowl. Then the second vial, containing a thick green substance, was completely emptied. Tia reached out and one man came to the dock. She whispered in his ear, and he retrieved a handful of moist earth from the edge of the river.
Tia Dalma tosses the clump of dirt into the bowl, mixing the substances with her bare hand. "Hold out yer hand, Margaret."
Margaret did as her mother told her, holding out her hand with an eager smile on her face. She was interested in what her mother had just made, if anyone could help her it was her mother. Always.
"Dis'll sting." Tia stated before nicking Margaret's finger with a knife, keeping the mermaid's hand over the bowl. One, two, three drops. The potion turned to a glowing golden yellow. "You gotta drink dis. T'e whole ting."
She hissed in pain but no tears came, mermaids were tougher than that. Their mother made sure of that.
Margaret sniffed, her nose wrinkling at the scent before she took the bowl and swallowed down the whole thing. The mermaid lowered the bowl and shuddered at the taste. "That tasted awful."
"You'll be fine." Tia stated before clasping the pouch in her hand. She began to chant, tilting her head back.
She wrinkles her nose playfully at her mother but is silent as her mother started to chant, Margaret watched her mother.
The mermaid stills not wanting even her tail movement to disturb her mother.
Tia stopped chanting and her eyes snapped open, having turned white. "A touch... of destiny."
She spilled the contents of the pouch across the dock and the water began to churn around Margaret. Lightning flashed and the water swept over the mermaid, and the transformation began.
Margaret looked down, trying to see what was happening but couldn't make it out clearly given the churning water and how brackish it was. The mermaid gasps suddenly when she feels her tail changing, splitting in two and almost causing her to sink below the water at the strange change of her lower half but she catches herself by grabbing the dock.
Tia leaned over, offering her hands to pull Margaret out of the water. "Let's see how we did."
Margaret placed her hands into her mother's, gripping them tightly. She was both nervous and excited for this.
With the help of her mother, the mermaid took her first step onto land...and almost fell, unable to support her weight on her two new limbs.
Tia Dalma chuckled, still holding her daughter's hands. "Maybe start wit shufflin', child. Den you do t'e baby steps."
The mermaid started to shuffle, holding her mother's hands tightly. "How can humans move like this? It's so...weird." Though they did make walking look so easy so she was jealous of that, her legs were wobbly and she kept bumping them together whenever she shuffled forward.
"Dey learn to walk when dey're tiny tings, but it's also an instinct for dem. You were born wit a tail in'tead."
Margaret stumbled a bit, tripping on a plank that was sticking out and she cursed. "Bloody hell!" She flushed. "Sorry, mother but this is nothing like swimming." Humans made walking look so easy...she wasn't even going to do running yet.
"I got some garments for you inside." Tia found her daughter's struggles amusing, but Margaret was a smart girl; she had confidence in her.
"Thank you, mother." The mermaid said with a small smile but it dropped as she seemed to think of something, something that scared her. "...how many of my sisters felt this longing towards a human? Did it end in happiness or sorrow?"
"It almost ended in sorrow 'cause she didn't come ta me." Tia had a soft firmness to her voice. "She went to a deceiver, one who did not believe in true love. She only had three days to find dis man she loved, and no voice for 'im ta hear."
"Did she find him, mother?"
"She did, and t'e deceiver intervened; she took a human form herself, and twisted t'e boy's mind. T'e three days were up." Tia helped Margaret to take a seat inside the hut.
"What happened then?" Was it because of the deceiver that her mother now makes sure that her daughters know where she is at so they can come to her for help?
Tia smiled as she searched a large chest. "True love... dat was t'e deceiver's undoing. She turned her back on t'e boy, in her obsession ta kill t'e daughter of t'e king who turned her away."
"He killed the deceiver?"
Tia nodded. "She sank to da depths, ano'ter fallen leviathan. An' all her magic an' trickery was undone."
Margaret winced. "He learned that the mute woman was actually a mermaid?"
"He did... he recognized t'e young woman who saved him durin' a terrible storm. But she was a mermaid again."
"You had said that it almost ended in sorrow, did he accept her for what she was?" She was eager to know, maybe her own will end happily.
"He accepted it, but their worlds would still keep dem apart. So his father worked 'is own magic, to make her human again." Tia smirked. "T'e two married, an' she became a princess."
"I am happy that she got her happiness, I just hope it ends well for me too. What can you tell me about Captain Barbossa?"
"A fearsome man... an' pirate lord o' t'e Caspian Sea. Dey say..." Tia gazed at her daughter with those dark eyes. "... dat Hell itself spat him back out."
Margaret stared at her mother. "...You really can't control who you fall in love with, do you? And will I be safe from this man?"
"'E's a man in great torment, Margaret. But I'll let ya see dat for yerself." Tia came over with a worn green dress. "Dis'll have ta do for now."
Margaret nodded in understanding, her mother was right. She would have to see it for herself when she finds him again. "Thank you," she takes the dress and looks it over. "It's beautiful."
"Now we gotta get ya out ta sea..." Tia pointed a finger in Margaret's face. "But ya cannot. Touch. Sea water. Anyting else is fine, even bath water. But set so much a toe in t'e sea, it's back to tail fins."
"But how am I going to avoid the sea if I am going to be on it?" She asked, it will be a hard rule to follow since she had fallen in love with a pirate.
"Use dis ting ya got on your shoulders, child." Tia poked Margaret's forehead. "Get creative!"
Margaret rubbed her forehead. "Okay, I'll just use the creativity that is normally used for hunting to help me not touch the sea." And whatever lie she uses would be believable to Barbossa.
She looked back at the dress. "Help me get into this, please?"
Tia helped her daughter get the dress on, lacing up the back once the sleeves came on. "T'ere we go."
Once the back was laced up, Margaret turned and hugged her mother. "Thank you...for everything."
"No need ta thank me, Margaret..." Tia returned the hug. "Jus' know t'e path to love isn't all smooth."
"I'll keep that in mind and act accordingly," Margaret promised. "Any idea on where he'd be heading?"
"Tortuga... the gatherin' spot for all pirates. Dat is for sure. All ships need restockin'."
"Tortuga." She repeated before she nodded her head. Now she has a place, all she had to do was to get there before he leaves.
Two men came in the doorway, watching Margaret expectantly.
"Dese two will take ya there." Tia explained to her. "Since ya can't sail."
"I know how to destroy a boat but actually sailing one? No, that'll be even harder than walking." She took her first step, not the shuffling she was doing a while ago. Margaret had been watching her mother move around and noticed that there's a certain technique to it.
She wasn't confident on running yet but walking should be fine...as long as she doesn't keep looking down as she walks.
"You'll be fine..." Tia smiled, caressing her daughter's cheek.
Margaret smiled and gave her mother another hug, kissing her cheek then she released the other woman, walking towards the two men with much sturdier legs.
Tia Dalma grasped the pendant around her neck as she watched Margaret go. 'Jus' don't make my mistakes, child.'
Margaret sat in a cell in the haul of a pirate ship, not the one she was looking for of course, she wasn't that lucky, the pirates who owned this ship that the mermaid found herself a prisoner on had attacked the dinghy that she had been traveling on with two of her mother's men.
Those two men had been killed and dumped into the sea while the pirates captured her with plans to sell her in Tortuga to a place called a brothel which didn't sound like a place Margaret wanted to be.
The mermaid would have sang for those two men but knew it would have given her true identity away, so she settled for silently mourning for them. Those men had been nice, even knowing what she really was they still showed kindness towards her.
Margaret never gave any thought that her beauty could ever be considered as a curse, she always viewed as a blessing because it helped lure in men. Now she was viewing it as a curse.
She was pulled from her thoughts by shouting, they must have finally docked at Tortuga and the Captain would no doubt head to the brothel to sell the 'woman' in the brig. The mermaid shifted and stood up, she moved to the bars of the brig, blue eyes peering at the man that had been ordered to watch her throughout the entire journey here.
He would remain here with her, she was sure of it.
Soon the noise above ceased and the mermaid gave a smile to the man before she opened her mouth and started to vocalize, the man's eyes started to get glassy as he stood up and walked towards her. Margaret reached out, grabbing a fistful of the man's coat before she viciously slammed him into the bars, knocking him out cold.
She grabbed his keys and unlocked the door of her cell, she opened the door and stepped out. The mermaid silently crept up the stairs and across the deck, she walked down the ramp and grabbed the cleanest looking clothes on her way down the pier.
The mermaid needed to change clothes and start looking for her pirate Captain before she was found again…
Barbossa gazed out over Tortuga with a bored expression. He wasn't about to step off this ship; no point in indulging in the temptations if you couldn't even enjoy them.
His boredom gave way to anger, and he averted his gaze towards the docks... wait. A woman was hurrying off one of the ships, nearly tripping several times. He was further surprised when the bold lass snatched some clothes off a trader's cart. Jack descended from the rigging, landing on Barbossa's shoulder.
"Ye saw it, too?" The pirate asked his small companion, earning a reply that consisted of trills. "Aye, let's have a look."
Margaret found a secluded area of the city to change but she didn't know how long it would remain secluded so she stripped out of her dress quickly, she ended up having to tear it because she couldn't reach the ties in the back.
After several attempts to put her new clothes on, she soon figured out how to put them on correctly. She placed the hat on before she crept out of her hiding spot, nearly colliding with a man that seemed to suddenly appear there. "Sorry." She mumbled before she moved past him without even looking at him.
Now it was time to look for the Black Pearl and Captain Barbossa.
"Not very light on yer feet, are ye, missy?" The man asked, following her.
Margaret doesn't even look at him as she walks, she wasn't going to sing again to get him to leave her alone. Not with this many people around her, it could end badly.
"Not a missy," She replied, deepening her voice a little. "So I don't know why you'd confuse me for one."
"The dress was more fetchin' on ye, if ye don't mind me sayin'..." Barbossa sidestepped, reaching her side.
He saw her sneak off the ship but he wasn't a member of the crew so who was he? "Go. Away." She growled out, getting angry as her pace quickened. She knew she shouldn't be moving this quickly since she just started walking but she needed to get away from this man before he drew the attention of the pirates who had brought her here. It was only a matter of time before they learned that she had escaped. If he had seen her before than he should know that she had some sort of reason for doing this.
Jack sprang onto her back, chittering as he reached up to her shoulder.
Margaret jerked in surprise when she felt something small and furry land on her back, stumbling a bit before she caught her balance. Looking to see what was on her shoulder, she saw that it was a small and adorable looking animal.
A monkey, if she remembered the name correctly, she had overheard a sailor say the word once.
"...Hello there." she said, eyeing the animal warily.
The monkey stared back at her, chirping as he ran his small paws on her loose locks of hair that emerged from under her hat.
Margaret regarded the monkey in silence for a few minutes before she shrugged her shoulders, he wasn't doing anything to harm her. Just touching her hair.
"You are such a handsome monkey, what's your name?"
The monkey chirped again, baring his teeth as if he were smiling.
"Jack usually isn't that friendly to strangers..." Barbossa noted, narrowing his eyes at the little primate.
"Maybe he can sense that I am not like the other women here." Margaret said as she finally turned around to look at the man who this monkey belonged to.
Her eyes widened when she finally saw his face.
The man who had been following her was her pirate Captain, Barbossa. And he was even more handsome up close.
Barbossa mirrored her surprise, staring back. He had seen his share of lovely faces, but the one before him now... it was almost unnatural, how beautiful this woman was.
Margaret blinked, shaking off her surprise before she realized something that she had forgotten to do: to hide her unnatural beauty. No human woman was as beautiful as mermaids, it was why those pirates had been so eager to sell her for a high price.
She should have dirtied her face before leaving her changing spot so she wouldn't draw unwanted attention or put men in a stupor by just looking at her. While this beauty helped her hunt, it certainly wasn't helping her hide.
"Are you going to keep staring? Eyes are starting to look now and I was trying to not be noticed."
Barbossa snapped out of his daze, glancing back towards the docks. He cursed under his breath, grabbing Margaret by the arm and pulling her into an alley. He scooped a bit of mud in his fingers and proceeded to rub it on Margaret's face. Jack shrieked indignantly when a drop of mud splattered on his little vest.
Margaret tensed when he had grabbed her and pulled her into an alley, and she would have struggled if she didn't notice him scooped up a bit of mud and rubbed it on her face. "...You're helping? Why?" She was so surprised that she froze, allowing him to coat her face with mud. This was the fearsome man, that Hell itself spat him back out? There was obviously more to him than others knew. Margaret would say that he had honor.
She reached up and pulled Jack off her shoulder, the mermaid tucked him under her jacket so he wouldn't get even more dirty.
"If a wench wants to make her livin' of movin' from bed to bed, it's her choice..." Barbossa muttered. "But bein' sold of as cargo... ne'er sat right with me. There. Now ye should have less trouble. The stumblin' of yers, I can do nothin' for."
"Thank you," Margaret smiled at him before she rolled her eyes at his last remark. "I wasn't stumbling, the dock needed to be fixed and the ground was muddy."
She stared up at him before she blurted out: "Can you take me with you?" Not how she wanted to ask him but she didn't have much choice, she had found him and didn't want to lose him. And if he didn't want to take her, well, she still had his monkey..
Barbossa rose an eyebrow. Then... he laughed. "A wide-eyed lass who hasn't even gotten her sea legs yet? Why?"
Margaret narrowed her eyes. "Because if I remain here, those pirates who murdered the two men that I was with and captured me with the intent to sell me to a brothel will surely find me again. And as you so kindly showed, I am not go at hiding so it'll only be a matter of time before I am found." She titled her head to the side. "And I would hate to undo the hard work that you just did to help me."
She opened her jacket to reveal Jack who was nestled against her chest. "And I have your monkey who seems to be quite content to remain with me...Captain."
Barbossa's smirk faded when saw how cozy Jack looked. "Jack. C'mere."
The monkey stayed where he was, blinking his large, dark eyes rapidly.
"... Jack. Come here."
Barbossa could have sworn he saw the little imp's paws grasped the woman's shirt tighter.
"Jack."
Margaret gave her own smirk to the Captain. "Well, what'll be, Captain? I go with you or Jack stays with me and we go our separate ways." But she suddenly reached out and grasped his wrist, ignoring the jolt that seemed to go through her at the contact. "I will not be a burden, I am a quick learner and I can read the waves."
Barbossa reacted strangely when she grabbed him, almost as if he had been struck by lightning. He stared down at her hand that clutched his arm, his breathing almost erratic. He felt that... not quite a touch, but it was something!
Margaret frowned at his odd behavior, noting that it had started as soon as she touched him. She and her sisters had smelt the scent of a curse of death on them but was there more to the curse than she realized? Could it also have taken away his other senses and somehow touching him was allowing him to feel something?
"Captain? Do I go with you or do I go on my way?"
Those blue and yellow-tinted eyes met hers again. It wasn't possible, he thought, this woman couldn't be one of them... or could she?
His hand then grasped her arm in return. "... we have an accord."
She stared at him before she nodded her head and smiled. "Thank you, Captain. I am Margaret Smyth." The mermaid gave a slight shiver as the feeling on his hand on her arm, she didn't think that just a mere touch could make her feel this way. Was this the longing that drove her to seek her mother?
"Come along, then." He seemed to walk proudly, despite sporting a limp. People who walked by him quickened their pace, while others averted their gaze.
Rough hands suddenly grabbed Margaret's arm, yanking her back. "Hello, poppet, where do you think you're going?"
Margaret growled as she struggled against his hold. "Let. Me. Go." Her hand immediately going to rest where Jack was hidden not wanting him to get dislodged.
"And why should I? You'll make us rich, poppet."
The mermaid could feel the familiar urge to kill and eat start to raise up. To put this man under her spell.
"You heard the lady." Barbossa spoke up, turning to face the man. Jack emerged from inside Margaret's coat, biting the man's hand.
The man cried out, pulling his now bleeding hand away. He glared at Jack as he held the wounded limb against his chest before he looked at Barbossa and raised an eyebrow despite the fact that he paled as soon as he saw who she was with. "And why is the most fearsome man, the very one the even Hell itself spat out helping some tart?"
Margaret hid behind Barbossa while the other Captain was distracted, holding onto his jacket as she peered around him. Eyes narrowing at what he had called her, she might not know what some words mean yet but it was obvious that wasn't a compliment.
"Why is some cockroach so eager to be crushed under my boot?" Barbossa retorted. His stance was relaxed, radiating confidence... and power.
The other Captain sneered at him. "She'll make us rich, women like her are very rare...if you give her back, I'll give you a cut." He glanced behind the two, smirking when he saw his men sneaking behind them.
Margaret noticed the look and glanced over her shoulder, shifting until she was pressed closer against Captain Barbossa's back as she gave the men a look that drew them up short. She placed Jack on her shoulder, just so he can bite them if they try to grab her.
Barbossa drew his sword. "Ye should know better than to pull wool o'er me eyes, boy."
"You really think you can take us all on?" He asked with a smirk. "You're not as young as you uses to be and she'll just hold you back."
Barbossa closed the gap between them with a single step, running his blade through the man's stomach.
Margaret blinked at the suddenness of his attack but didn't scream or get into hysterics like she had seen women do.
"Remarks on your age a sensitive subject, Captain?" She teased. "And will you be fighting them too?" The mermaid motioned to the other men.
Barbossa looked at the two men, shoving their dead captain to the ground. "Will I?"
The two men looked at each other before shaking their heads but are quickly joined by a tall, muscular man who the two men immediately cowered before. "We want that woman, Barbossa, and we will take her from you."
"...Do greed usually blind you pirates from a threat?" Margaret quipped.
"It compels us." Barbossa pulled out his flintlock. "Till we are consumed by it."
He shot the second man in the chest.
The loudness of the weapon caused Margaret to jump but once again, she didn't scream. She watched as the man fell down, dead.
Their way of killing was different but she wasn't new to it. She has had those weapons aimed at her before.
"So what should we do? Run or fight?"
"You can run." Barbossa shot the third man who fumbled to unsheathe his sword. "Get on the ship with black sails."
"...Yes, Captain." She said, not knowing if she could but not wanting to hear a sarcastic remark from him.
So she turned and ran...and proceeded to stumble, almost falling on her face in the mud.
His sharp laugh could be heard behind her.
Margaret blushed in embarrassment. "It's not that funny," She snapped as she straightened. "I am fine, Captain, thank you for your concern."
"Just get to the ship, already."
"Yes, Captain." Margaret said as she ran off, this time being careful with her footing.
"Get the woman!" She heard a voice shout from behind her.
"Bloody hell, when did I get this popular?!" She muttered as she picked up the pace. "Jack, if you know a faster way to get to the ship, let me know."
The monkey pointed ahead, to two men who were heading in the direction of the Pearl.
One of the men was stocky and short while the the other was tall and gangly.
Ragetti was the first one to notice the woman running towards them though what caused him to stop and stare was the sight of Jack on her shoulders. The Captain's monkey didn't like anyone so the fact that he was perched comfortably on this woman's shoulder was very odd.
He looked at the woman and frowned, she looked...familiar but he didn't know why.
"...Why's Jack on her shoulder?" Pintel asked, frowning.
"No idea but she's heading towards us."
Margaret skidded to a stop when she got close to the two men, immediately recognizing them as the two who had been on deck with Barbossa. "Crewmates of yours, Jack?"
The monkey shrieked, tugging Margaret's hair before leaping off her shoulder and scurrying down the dock towards the ship.
"Thank you, Jack," She called after the monkey before she looked at the two men. "I'm Margaret Smyth. I'll be a member of your crew for a while."
"Um...Ragetti, miss." The tall and gangly man said.
"Pintel," said the stocky and short one. "C'mon, poppet. Do you know much about sailing?"
"No but I am a fast learner."
Pintel smirked at her. "Good to hear because our Captain runs a tight ship and he doesn't like people who don't pull their weight."
"Come on, miss," Ragetti said. "We'll turn you into a proper pirate before our captain gets here." He couldn't shake off the feeling that he had seen this woman before sans the mud on her face.
Barbossa eventually made his way back to the Pearl, seeing half the men were already returning. Good... the woman didn't set them back any; they had to leave port before the moon appeared after sunset.
Margaret was standing on the railing of the Pearl, balancing as best she could as she re-tied the rope that Jack had undone and Pintel had gone after the monkey for. The monkey was sitting close by, showing his teeth as if he was smiling at her. "Jack, you have to be more careful or someone will try to shoot you." She told the monkey, not caring if she looked crazy for talking to an animal though Jack seemed to be the smartest one on this ship.
Barbossa chuckled. "Taken a liking to the li'l fiend, have ye?"
Margaret gasped in surprise, losing her balance because she jumped at the sudden appearance of Barbossa.
She could feel herself starting to lean backwards, towards the sea. The mermaid struggled to regain her balance, her mother's warning coming to mind on what will happen when she touches the sea water but she could feel herself leaning back even further as gravity started to take hold of her.
Barbossa caught her, one hand catching her arm and the other reaching to grab her waist...
But as Margaret went further back, Barbossa's reach was misdirected and he grabbed well below her waist.
Jack tilted his furry head to the side, chirping.
Margaret gave a sharp intake of breath at the feel of his hand on her rear. "Captain, I don't want to seem ungrateful that you had saved me from a watery fate but I feel that I must tell you that your hand is on my stern and not my port which I believe is what you were aiming for."
Pintel and Ragetti had taught her the parts of the ship and she felt that using the term for rear would be less vulgar than using the actual word.
Barbossa looked down, then back up to meet Margaret's gaze. He looked... embarrassed. And just minutes ago he had laughing sadistically as he killed three men in cold blood. "... that was me intention." He shifted to move his hand and pulled Margaret back onto the deck.
Margaret stared at him, finding a new piece of him that she hadn't expected. The pirates that had brought her here had been very handsy, trying to grope her but this fearsome Captain was embarrassed that he had accidentally grabbed her rear.
"...You're a very complex man, Captain." She said, giving voice to the thought that she had just had.
Barbossa scoffed before limping away, into the sanctity of his cabin.
Margaret frowned, watching him before she looked at Jack. "Was it something I said?" She asked the monkey before she held out her arm. "Come on, let's find something to do before I get yelled out."
Pintel and Ragetti walked over to her, causing Margaret to come to a stop, both looking at their Captain. They had never seen Captain Barbossa react like that.
"Do you know where you'll be sleeping?" Ragetti asked. "I don't know if you'd feel comfortable sleeping with the rest of the crew."
"...Only if they keep their distance," The mermaid said. "Or I can sleep on deck."
The rest of the crew was already taking notice of Margaret. Twigg sauntered over. "Wha' have we here?"
Margaret looked at the newcomer, blue eyes scanning over him. "I am your crewmate, Margaret Smyth."
Twigg grinned. "Is that so? Was it the captain's word?"
"Yes," Margaret cooley said, arms crossing over her chest. "If there's an issue take it up with him."
Ragetti and Pintel were looking between the two. This woman was showing no fear towards Twigg or the other pirates, they had never seen a lass like her.
But how long would that fearlessness last when the moon comes out, the two men wondered.
Twigg seemed to be wondering the same thing. "We'll see how that bold tongue manages, miss."
A few men watching laughed, whispering to themselves as they dispersed to make way for the open sea.
Margaret stared after them before she looked to Ragetti and Pintel who just shrugged as if to say 'You'll see'. The mermaid sighed and shook her head before she looked to Jack. "I seem to have joined a crew full of secrets, Jackie boy, do you have secrets, hm?"
"You do realize that he can't talk, right?" Pintel asked.
The mermaid walked over to him and draped her arm over his shoulders, squeezing him to her side. "Yes but from what I have seen, Jack's the smartest one on this ship." She released the now blushing pirate before she patted Ragetti on the cheek. "No offense, gentlemen. Now if you'd excuse me, I have to figure out where I'd be sleeping."
She wasn't lying when she said that she would be fine with sleeping on the deck, under the stars and the sea all around her.
Twigg came from below sometime later, carrying a bowl of broth, some salted meat and a green apple. "Oi, you two." He approached Ragetti and Pintel. "Give her all this. Don't need a fresh pair of workin' hands dyin' on us."
Ragetti and Pintel both shared looks of surprise when Twigg handed over the food for Margaret.
"So was that an act? Are you trying to scare her away?" Ragetti asked as he took the food away.
"It won't be necessary when she sees under the light of the moon," Pintel added.
Ragetti nodded his head in agreement before he looked at Twigg with a serious look on his face that took his friend by surprise. "Did you feel something from her?"
"Yeah... or I almost did."
Pintel looked at Ragetti and dropped his voice to a whisper. "What are you doing?"
"There's something about her that's different, we shouldn't be feeling anything but with her, we're getting a faint feeling," Ragetti explained. "...I was thinking that she could be that mermaid that we saw."
Pintel stared at his friend before he started to laugh. "You think she followed us, grew a pair of legs and learned to walk just so she can be with us?"
Ragetti gave a slight nod and Pintel stared at his friend in shock.
The sun was already setting, casting a gold and red gleam on the water.
Margaret was watching the sunset, it was different seeing it from a ship, she was used to seeing it either underwater or on the shore. Her face was free from the mud, Ragetti had almost dropped her food when he saw her.
But what bothered her the most was the look of realization that came to Ragetti's and Pintel's faces, she didn't think they saw her but it would appear that they had.
She looked at the green apple in her hand. "Apparently there's more to Mr. Twigg than what I had first thought," She said to Jack, the monkey hadn't left her shoulder. "Ragetti is smarter than he lets on."
Jack didn't seem to have a response to that, glancing briefly at the apple before nuzzling his head against her dark hair.
Margaret smiled and reached up to scratch under his chin. "Do you think your Master is hiding from me?" She asked, taking a bite of the apple before she bites the piece in half so she can offer the other half to the monkey. "I haven't seen him since my near going overboard." She glanced at the sun, seeing that it had sunk even lower behind the horizon.
Soon she will see why they smell like death.
Barbossa glanced out the window. It wouldn't be long now.
The mermaid watched as the final rays of the sun disappeared, she looked up when the ship was bathed in the light of the moon and stars. She usually would just star gaze but she was distracted by what was happening behind her.
So she took a deep breath and slowly turned around, blue eyes widening at the sight behind her..
"Scared yet, miss?" Twigg asked from his spot next to the ruthless Koehler. They were both rotting skeletons, their clothing reduced to tattered layers and cold eyes gaping from black sockets.