The Eaglet of the Sparrow
Chapter 3: The Attack
Disclaimer: see chap 1
Note: I may have gotten some facts wrong, and if I did, and you notice, please tell me and I will try to change it asap.
Some 12 years later...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack stared into the wind, eyes half closed, his mind on neither the compass in his hand or the wheel he was holding. His long, beaded hair under his red bandana and old Captain's hat, flapped in the wind. With snaps and bangs it hit his back against the dark vest that he always wore with billows of cream shirt flowing out of it. As always, his belt with the pistol and sword hung against his dark pants. He feet in the boots were spread apart and braced on the rolling and diving deck.
Ceara perched on the railing behind him, her arms bracing her on either side. Like her father in front of her, she too wore a cream shirt that contrasted with her dark brunette hair. And though she wore no beads and no vest, her baggy pants were a dark green and tucked into her knee-high, worn boots. She also wore a belt with a pistol, and sword, and floppy shoes, as well as several concealed weapons. She stared patiently at Jack's back, waiting for her answer.
"Why did I not leave you on some god-forsaken port somewhere." Jack mused, in a quiet voice he continued, "I guess it was because of the first day I had you. That night we had dinner in the cabin and you fell asleep on my lap. You clutched to me as if I was the only saving rope in an ocean of sharks. No matter what your mother drilled into you about me, and my actions to you awake, you fell asleep in my lap. When I looked at you, I couldn't-" he broke off at a loss for words in this soft moment.
Ceara said nothing, she knew that the slightest intrusion in his mood would break it, and she wanted to know. "SHIP HO!" the cry rang out and Ceara cursed the lookout under her breath, "I hope that blasted lookout will loose all eyesight and hearing and fall into the sea and go to Davy Jones!" she mumbled into the wind flowing past her.
Jack was at once captain of the Pearl; his reveries forgotten as he glanced down at the compass to get his bearings. "It's the Lady Margaret." Her father pronounced with a happy note.
"The merchant and supply ship?" Ceara asked and whistled at Jack's nod, "Good eating tonight!" Ceara whooped, she may as well enjoy the happy moment, Jack's reverie would not be brought back today, she would try in a few days, she had patience, and she could wait. It had taken her two years to get him to talk about this far back. He told of William Turner and Elizabeth Swan's adventures fair enough, but not about anything before or after it, she was working him gradually there, she would learn her past, with or without her father's approval.
Ceara leapt down the stairs, rushing for the hold and her small cabin. She automatically accounted in all her actions her sword and the weapons hanging about her. She slipped below and ran down the corridor. She banged a wall with her fist as she rounded a corner and the ship rolled and then spurted into her cabin. Small and kept clean, the room had barley enough room for the small bunk, desk and chair and trunk. She dove into her trunk, pulling out two things. She shrugged into a leather vest like her father's and tied her hair back with a maroon bandana.
The Pearl sped up and soon caught up to the ship, once there, the sailors that were crossing, all prepared, swung across. The remaining crew threw boards between the two ships. Soon the fights were breaking out and cries rent the air as people lost and won. Ceara had swung across in the first wave and was soon battling pirates, she could kill and had, but she preferred to wound, bloody, useless wounds that would cripple for the time being but not prove fatal or harmful.
She gave a grin at the startled look of the blonde pirate in front of her. He looked about the same age as her; his sun bleached hair fell into his wide gray eyes. Suddenly he thrust at her and she grinned, she was yearning for a good fight, and just maybe, he could provide one.
She parried and thrust, recovered, and blocked, she saw a blade coming at her from the right and rolled out of the way and beneath her opponent's blade. It was a risk, but she was counting on the fact that he would be too surprised to act on the sudden let down of her guard in an unusual way. He didn't and got hit over the head with the but of her pistol for it; as he collapsed on the deck she moved on. She kissed the eagle head that made the but of her pistol and yelling, continued onwards.
Suddenly she heard her father yell, "The Dark Moon Lady! Another pirate ship is coming!"
The Dark Moon Lady? Here? Ceara was shocked, why was it here, it never came this far south in the Caribbean? She looked to the right and northeast and saw the ship. The sails were a dark silver and the flag was of a half moon and half skull head joined together at the center. The Moon Lady was almost as famous as the Pearl in her own fashion. The Pearl didn't deal in slaves or bonded men. Lady did, and was a deep deal into the trade. The tales of the many slaves it has transported as well as made were horrific.
Suddenly her mind was diverted to the fight at hand when a blade came down and narrowly missed her hand holding the pistol. Instead the pistol gained a new cut, "Hey! This is my favorite pistol!" She spun and glared at the blonde. He had a small trickle of blood in his hair but he was grinning maliciously at her, "I've never defeated a female pirate before, this could be quite interesting." With that she joined the fray anew, she would just have to hit him harder in the future.
Soon other pirates were swinging out of the air and onto the Lady Margaret who was pinched between the two dark ships. The duel between the good sailors and the two parties of dark sailors grew and became bloodier.
Suddenly she found Jack beside her, he had lost his captain's hat somewhere and had gained a few cuts that stained his cream shirt, but otherwise he looked fine. "Go below!" he parried a lunge at his chest, "In the Pearl, NOW! GO!" "What?! No, I'm not leaving!" she protested.
As strong and as good a fighter she was, she was still female, and he was still an older and stronger male, especially one powered by drives unreachable or unknowable by her. She found herself picked up, and he yelled at her, "Cover us!" before he bolted through the battle.
She found herself swiveling on his shoulder fighting with dagger and pistol (she had put her sword away with much difficulty, too unwieldy on his shoulder) as he charged through the press and onto a board across the Pearl, Margaret, and the Lady.
He threw her into the hold and locked the wooden grating, "Stay there, for ONCE please obey me. This is important Ceara!" that quieted her, he rarely used her birth-given name, he would call her Cea or Eaglet, but if Ceara was used, he was unusually sober or in a very difficult jam.
She was quiet but as soon as he was gone from sight she started to work on picking the lock. She heard him grab some sailor; it must have been one from the other pirate ship, because he immediately started to question him on who and where was the captain of the Dark Moon Lady. All the sailor got out was, "Zzzzzaaaa-" "Zara? Is that who?" Jack sounded desperate and frightened.
"Yes, Jack, it is." a sultry voice answered Jacks question. The sound of a sailor hitting the floor reverberated through the floor to her. The sounds of the fight on the Margaret were faint, she could hear the conversation so they must be the only ones on the Pearl's deck. Jack would have some words with his crew later about abandoning the ship with no one on it.
She worked frantically on the lock, the other hatch was automatically locked at any boardings. "So Zara, we meet again. It's been a long time." "Yes Jack, almost 20 years." The smooth voice sounded cold.
Ceara stifled a gasp of joy; the lock was open! She lifted it up a bit to try and see 'Zara'. She managed to see tall, knee-high, black, shiny boots on bare, and obviously feminine, legs. She stood with her feet apart and blanced lightly on the balls of her feet, ready to leap in any direction, but that was all Ceara could see without giving herself away.
"Grab him!" Zara's crisp voice lashed out and Ceara turned her head to see three pairs of legs descend around her father's feet. Soon Jack was on his knees, and his hands tied behind him.
"Jack, you crossed me one too many times, now you'll pay," "NO!!!!!!!" Ceara leapt up, ready to fight. She met the blazing green eyes of the woman who must be Zara. She had long red hair down to her waist and wore a blousy shirt with the bottom cut off to expose her tanned stomach. She wore a knee length green skirt that had slits up to her mid thighs and was sewed loosely with thongs the rest of the way to her hips.
"And who's this Jackie dearest?" she turned and glared at Jack.
"Just some wench that stowed away on the Pearl." Jack said "I'm the daughter of a sailor on the Pearl." Ceara said at the exact same time.
"Your both lying, take them both and get them to the Lady's hold immediately." the swirl of the poison green skirt of hers was the last thing Ceara remembered as she was hit over the head and darkness descended, man, this was not her day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey! So what do you think? This is where my ideas are starting to get fuzzy, so bear with me. Any help or ideas people have are welcome and appreciated. I have some basic ideas for future chaps but it's definitely getting harder so updates may take longer, sorry!
~Kit ;)
Chapter 3: The Attack
Disclaimer: see chap 1
Note: I may have gotten some facts wrong, and if I did, and you notice, please tell me and I will try to change it asap.
Some 12 years later...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack stared into the wind, eyes half closed, his mind on neither the compass in his hand or the wheel he was holding. His long, beaded hair under his red bandana and old Captain's hat, flapped in the wind. With snaps and bangs it hit his back against the dark vest that he always wore with billows of cream shirt flowing out of it. As always, his belt with the pistol and sword hung against his dark pants. He feet in the boots were spread apart and braced on the rolling and diving deck.
Ceara perched on the railing behind him, her arms bracing her on either side. Like her father in front of her, she too wore a cream shirt that contrasted with her dark brunette hair. And though she wore no beads and no vest, her baggy pants were a dark green and tucked into her knee-high, worn boots. She also wore a belt with a pistol, and sword, and floppy shoes, as well as several concealed weapons. She stared patiently at Jack's back, waiting for her answer.
"Why did I not leave you on some god-forsaken port somewhere." Jack mused, in a quiet voice he continued, "I guess it was because of the first day I had you. That night we had dinner in the cabin and you fell asleep on my lap. You clutched to me as if I was the only saving rope in an ocean of sharks. No matter what your mother drilled into you about me, and my actions to you awake, you fell asleep in my lap. When I looked at you, I couldn't-" he broke off at a loss for words in this soft moment.
Ceara said nothing, she knew that the slightest intrusion in his mood would break it, and she wanted to know. "SHIP HO!" the cry rang out and Ceara cursed the lookout under her breath, "I hope that blasted lookout will loose all eyesight and hearing and fall into the sea and go to Davy Jones!" she mumbled into the wind flowing past her.
Jack was at once captain of the Pearl; his reveries forgotten as he glanced down at the compass to get his bearings. "It's the Lady Margaret." Her father pronounced with a happy note.
"The merchant and supply ship?" Ceara asked and whistled at Jack's nod, "Good eating tonight!" Ceara whooped, she may as well enjoy the happy moment, Jack's reverie would not be brought back today, she would try in a few days, she had patience, and she could wait. It had taken her two years to get him to talk about this far back. He told of William Turner and Elizabeth Swan's adventures fair enough, but not about anything before or after it, she was working him gradually there, she would learn her past, with or without her father's approval.
Ceara leapt down the stairs, rushing for the hold and her small cabin. She automatically accounted in all her actions her sword and the weapons hanging about her. She slipped below and ran down the corridor. She banged a wall with her fist as she rounded a corner and the ship rolled and then spurted into her cabin. Small and kept clean, the room had barley enough room for the small bunk, desk and chair and trunk. She dove into her trunk, pulling out two things. She shrugged into a leather vest like her father's and tied her hair back with a maroon bandana.
The Pearl sped up and soon caught up to the ship, once there, the sailors that were crossing, all prepared, swung across. The remaining crew threw boards between the two ships. Soon the fights were breaking out and cries rent the air as people lost and won. Ceara had swung across in the first wave and was soon battling pirates, she could kill and had, but she preferred to wound, bloody, useless wounds that would cripple for the time being but not prove fatal or harmful.
She gave a grin at the startled look of the blonde pirate in front of her. He looked about the same age as her; his sun bleached hair fell into his wide gray eyes. Suddenly he thrust at her and she grinned, she was yearning for a good fight, and just maybe, he could provide one.
She parried and thrust, recovered, and blocked, she saw a blade coming at her from the right and rolled out of the way and beneath her opponent's blade. It was a risk, but she was counting on the fact that he would be too surprised to act on the sudden let down of her guard in an unusual way. He didn't and got hit over the head with the but of her pistol for it; as he collapsed on the deck she moved on. She kissed the eagle head that made the but of her pistol and yelling, continued onwards.
Suddenly she heard her father yell, "The Dark Moon Lady! Another pirate ship is coming!"
The Dark Moon Lady? Here? Ceara was shocked, why was it here, it never came this far south in the Caribbean? She looked to the right and northeast and saw the ship. The sails were a dark silver and the flag was of a half moon and half skull head joined together at the center. The Moon Lady was almost as famous as the Pearl in her own fashion. The Pearl didn't deal in slaves or bonded men. Lady did, and was a deep deal into the trade. The tales of the many slaves it has transported as well as made were horrific.
Suddenly her mind was diverted to the fight at hand when a blade came down and narrowly missed her hand holding the pistol. Instead the pistol gained a new cut, "Hey! This is my favorite pistol!" She spun and glared at the blonde. He had a small trickle of blood in his hair but he was grinning maliciously at her, "I've never defeated a female pirate before, this could be quite interesting." With that she joined the fray anew, she would just have to hit him harder in the future.
Soon other pirates were swinging out of the air and onto the Lady Margaret who was pinched between the two dark ships. The duel between the good sailors and the two parties of dark sailors grew and became bloodier.
Suddenly she found Jack beside her, he had lost his captain's hat somewhere and had gained a few cuts that stained his cream shirt, but otherwise he looked fine. "Go below!" he parried a lunge at his chest, "In the Pearl, NOW! GO!" "What?! No, I'm not leaving!" she protested.
As strong and as good a fighter she was, she was still female, and he was still an older and stronger male, especially one powered by drives unreachable or unknowable by her. She found herself picked up, and he yelled at her, "Cover us!" before he bolted through the battle.
She found herself swiveling on his shoulder fighting with dagger and pistol (she had put her sword away with much difficulty, too unwieldy on his shoulder) as he charged through the press and onto a board across the Pearl, Margaret, and the Lady.
He threw her into the hold and locked the wooden grating, "Stay there, for ONCE please obey me. This is important Ceara!" that quieted her, he rarely used her birth-given name, he would call her Cea or Eaglet, but if Ceara was used, he was unusually sober or in a very difficult jam.
She was quiet but as soon as he was gone from sight she started to work on picking the lock. She heard him grab some sailor; it must have been one from the other pirate ship, because he immediately started to question him on who and where was the captain of the Dark Moon Lady. All the sailor got out was, "Zzzzzaaaa-" "Zara? Is that who?" Jack sounded desperate and frightened.
"Yes, Jack, it is." a sultry voice answered Jacks question. The sound of a sailor hitting the floor reverberated through the floor to her. The sounds of the fight on the Margaret were faint, she could hear the conversation so they must be the only ones on the Pearl's deck. Jack would have some words with his crew later about abandoning the ship with no one on it.
She worked frantically on the lock, the other hatch was automatically locked at any boardings. "So Zara, we meet again. It's been a long time." "Yes Jack, almost 20 years." The smooth voice sounded cold.
Ceara stifled a gasp of joy; the lock was open! She lifted it up a bit to try and see 'Zara'. She managed to see tall, knee-high, black, shiny boots on bare, and obviously feminine, legs. She stood with her feet apart and blanced lightly on the balls of her feet, ready to leap in any direction, but that was all Ceara could see without giving herself away.
"Grab him!" Zara's crisp voice lashed out and Ceara turned her head to see three pairs of legs descend around her father's feet. Soon Jack was on his knees, and his hands tied behind him.
"Jack, you crossed me one too many times, now you'll pay," "NO!!!!!!!" Ceara leapt up, ready to fight. She met the blazing green eyes of the woman who must be Zara. She had long red hair down to her waist and wore a blousy shirt with the bottom cut off to expose her tanned stomach. She wore a knee length green skirt that had slits up to her mid thighs and was sewed loosely with thongs the rest of the way to her hips.
"And who's this Jackie dearest?" she turned and glared at Jack.
"Just some wench that stowed away on the Pearl." Jack said "I'm the daughter of a sailor on the Pearl." Ceara said at the exact same time.
"Your both lying, take them both and get them to the Lady's hold immediately." the swirl of the poison green skirt of hers was the last thing Ceara remembered as she was hit over the head and darkness descended, man, this was not her day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey! So what do you think? This is where my ideas are starting to get fuzzy, so bear with me. Any help or ideas people have are welcome and appreciated. I have some basic ideas for future chaps but it's definitely getting harder so updates may take longer, sorry!
~Kit ;)
