Thanks for reading! This is my first piece of fanfiction ever. I'm so enamored by Pirates of the Caribbean that it seems almost a crime not to try my hand at writing a tale for my dear Captain Jack Sparrow and the rest of his crew. I hope others enjoy the story. ^__^ If you do, I'd really appreciate it if you leave a review.  It'll keep me motivated to finish!!

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The tiny port town was named Delaney, but Jack Sparrow didn't consider it as the Black Pearl slipped through the still waters of the harbor.

If he had given serious consideration to the tall, moss-covered cliffs surrounding the bay or the distance from Tortuga to the small island, Jack would have likely remembered the name of this place. If his mind was especially sharp that morning (and it likely was... Jack Sparrow may have been mad, but he was also rumored to have his moments of frightening brilliance) he could've recalled the special name he had given the island sometime in his past. Jack liked giving nicknames to places and people... it helped him recall the memories associated with each. Sometimes he named places for an especially good haul of loot, a famous battle he had been a part of, especially good food or drink, or -- and he enjoyed this one most -- a past tryst with a lovely lady.

At any rate, the captain of the Black Pearl couldn't be buggered with a detail such as a name that night. The fog along the tiny island's coast was thick, the rocks tall, and his crew tired. "And the esteemed Commodore Norrington seems intent on tracking us to the farthest corners of the earth," Jack thought to himself, smirking.

"That's not a problem for my Pearl, of course. But we need supplies, and most every other port within a few days' sail is being watched closely by those bluebloods. So this little hole in the wall is gonna hafta do."

"Are you talking to yourself again?"

Jack jerked his head around and came face to face with Anamaria. His helmsman -- or helmswoman, as it were -- grinned at him, and the captain raised his eyebrows.

"We need more rum," Jack said flatly.

Anamaria rolled her eyes. "So we'll be goin to port, then? You'll be lucky if there's any warm drink, let alone anything of real value in this no-man's land."

Jack's face split into a grin. "Are ye saying rum isn't valuable, Anamaria?" He raised his voice, shouting down to the rest of the crew stationed around the deck of the Pearl. "Raise the sails an' bring her in easy, mates! We'll be goin' in with blades and guns -- but I'll strip the hide off any one of you dogs who harms the locals!"

Anamaria gave Sparrow an incredulous look. "And if they fire on us first, Captain?"

Jack let his arms drape over the wheel and focused his eyes on the dark patches of land ahead, barely visible through the mist. "Just leave it to me, Ana...."

~*~*~

The Pearl dwarfed every other vessel in the Delaney bay. Granted, the only other boats were fishing boats -- there were no other ships or galleons to be seen.

Crew and captain boarded the rowboats and headed for the single pier that stood out against the isle's coast. Though it was still early morning -- so early that the night of yesterday blended with the gloom of tomorrow -- there were a few burning lanterns at the dock. Beyond these a few other lights could be seen in the village proper, gleaming like small gold sparks in the darkness.

Though Jack looked confident about what lay ahead, the rest of the crew swapped uncertain looks amongst them.

"This place seems 'bout as lively as a graveyard, Cap'n Sparrow," first mate Gibbs grumbled as he worked an oar. "An' I don't know about you, but I've had quite enough dealin's with the dead in recent days!"

Jack kept his eyes forward. "Even a small village such as this must have food, aye?" he said, ignoring Gibbs' comment about the dead. "We'll take fish an' water if nothin' else."

Across from Gibbs, Anamaria snorted. "We're gonna  plunder a bunch of fish?"

Jack smirked at the fiesty woman but remained silent. Anamaria muttered to herself as the rowboats slid up to the pier.

All that greeted the crew of the Black Pearl were the sounds of waves lapping against the shore and the old boards of the dock groaning. And the smell of fish was rather overwhelming.

Jack swung up onto the dock and motioned for Cotton to tie off the boats. The Captain had hardly turned his back on the crew when Cotton's parrot screeched "AVAST!! AVAST!!"

Jack's back arched and he spun around, hissing at Cotton's loudmouthed bird. "Avast yerself, ye bloody pigeon! What we have here is an element of surprise... let's not go and spoil it, hmm? Now keep yer mouth... er... your beak shut!"

Cotton furrowed his brow. The parrot ruffled its feathers.

Jack turned back around, ready to march boldly down the pier and begin a looting that would surely be remembered for years to come (he could just hear the rumors already -- "those scurvy dogs sacked the entire village while everyone was asleepin'! Unbelievable!"). But the Captain jerked back in surprise as he came face-to-face with a wrinkled old prune of a man. Sparrow's eyebrows shot up. "Avast!" he exclaimed.

"Avast!" said Cotton's parrot.

The man, whose back was hunched and his hands gnarled, barely stood to the height of Jack Sparrow's chin. "Welcome ta Delaney," he croaked. There was a distinct Irish bend in his voice... and something else... something Jack couldn't quite place. "We dun get many visitors 'ere... must be a special occasion. What's yer name, laddie?"

Though caught off his guard, Jack forced his mouth to curl into his trademark roguish grin. "Captain Jack Sparrow, at yer service! This here be me crew." He gestured to the dozen sea-dogs standing on the pier behind him, all of whom wore expressions of utter confusion. Jack rambled on as if he knew exactly what he was doing. "We've sailed in rough waters for the past week, and we need some food in our bellies and a place to lay our heads. Think yer lovely village 'ere could help us out?"

The Captain smiled his most charming smile.

The old man's face scrunched into an expression of distaste. He leaned around Jack and eyed the crew, then leaned back into place and said simply, "If ye be pirates, yer outta luck. There be nothin' of value left in Delaney -- ye can thank the demon-men of tha Black Pearl fer seein' ta that."

Jack blinked. "The... the Black Pearl, you say?"

"Stole what little coin and finery we 'ad in Delaney. Which weren't much to begin with! And they took all the food an' drink we could find and tossed it all into tha bay. They burnt our homes, kilt our men... raped our women...." The man shook his head, scowling. "Bad times to belong to a litl' scrape of a village. Why, all we really have left of our livelihood is tha tavern."

A familiar glow suddenly sparked within the depths of Jack's charcoal-lined eyes.

"Jack!" Anamaria hissed from behind the Captain. "If there be nothin' here, we should probably move on. When the fog clears, they may --"

"Nonsense!" Jack exclaimed, loud enough for the rest of the crew to hear. He removed his hat and bowed to the elderly Irish man (who was still regarding him with an uncertain gaze). "We're hardy sailors with a bit of gold in our pockets. In exchange for a few bottles of rum an' a pile of hay to sleep upon, we could gladly contribute to the town's coffers. What say you, old boy?"

"JACK!" Anamaria blurted, and without warning the Captain reached out and grabbed Ana in a rough headlock. The woman struggled and muttered curses as Jack beamed a smile at the old man in front of him, awaiting a response.

The man seemed to shrink down, pulling away from the crowd of pirates. His cloudy gray eyes shone with suspicion. "Ye don't want to be here... take me word fer it. Go back to yer ship and ferget about this cursed place."

Captain Sparrow furrowed his brow as the elderly man turned away and began to totter down the pier, toward the village. Even Anamaria ceased her struggling and watched him go.

Gibbs stepped to Jack's side. "I dun like this, Cap'n...."

"You don't like anything, Gibbs," Jack said with a chuckle.

"Well I happen to like plundering!" Anamaria snapped, and Jack released her this time as she pushed away from him. "And if there's nothing for us to plunder, I say we go elsewhere! You heard the old rat... hey, say it again you wrinkled-up codger...!"

Anamaria whirled around, one arm pointing toward the place where the pier ended and solid land began. Her dark eyes scanned across the area quickly, then she drew back her hand. Her mouth made a small "o" shape of surprise.

The old man was gone.

Jack smirked and raised his head to the cloud-streaked night sky. "The Pearl was here," he murmured. "Barbossa. I think there's more to this place than meets the eye."

Anamaria's scowl could've seared the flesh from a normal man's bones -- Gibbs flinched at that venomous look and stared down at the planks of the pier -- but luckily the Captain seemed immune to such displays of female temper. "If you think I'm going to follow you on some wild goose chase, Jack Sparrow, you are sadly mistaken!"

"That's Captain Jack Sparrow, m'dear," Jack said, flashing a coy grin. Anamaria had to restrain the urge to punch the smile right off his face. Jack whirled away from her, his hands making elaborate gestures in the air. "And any man who doesn't wish to find tha tavern with me may certainly return to tha ship. I, however, intend to be holding a bottle of rum before tha sun comes up."

"And perhaps an answer or two along tha way," Jack mused to himself.