well, it's finally here! thanks soooooo much to all you who supported me out there! it was so unbelievably cool i don't even know how to tell you ^_^ in this chapter, katrina is introduced to a brand new character (you'll know who it is once you read it) and i'd just like to mention that she is NOT of my creation. she is owned by lauren cassidy and therefore she has all the copyrights. okay, i think that's about it now ^_^

disclaimer: we already know i don't own pirates. and if you're the one loser out there who didn't, sucks for you. but i do own katrina. i know you all want her but there's nothing i can do.
Chapter Two


"But Uncle! You promised!!"

Katrina fumbled along after her uncle, who was steadily ignoring her. She nearly tripped for the fourth time that day over the clothes Barbossa had given her two years earlier, when she had been nine. Although they hung from her like a dead man would from a noose, she never complained. They did signify, after all, her change from being just a normal girl into being a pirate.

A pirate she was becoming all too slowly.

"Un-cle-Bar-bos-sa!"

"I heard ye the first time girl!" he shouted suddenly. "And all the bloody times after that! And if I do recall, I said I'd take ye shootin' later."

Katrina pouted. "But you said you'd take me now. . . ."

"Then for the love of God I lied!"

With that, the stomped off quicker than ever, leaving Katrina on the deck with a scowel on her face. "Stupid blighter," she muttered with slight contempt, and took to leaning over the side of her Uncle's ship.

The Medallion, if Katrina remembered correctly, had been a gift to her uncle and her father from their father, and when Christian had denied it, Barbossa took it without a second thought. He put it to good use, as Katrina could easily see. For five years he had been sailing with it to numerous port towns all around the Caribbean, looting them for everything they had. With him he took a group of his most trusted confidantes, occasionally picking up one or two stragglers along the way. Katrina smiled as she thought of the newest additions to the crew, Eye-Patch and Straggles as she called them, Ragetti and Pintel as they were to everyone else. A ridiculous duo of idiots, always seeming to get themselves into trouble. Though Katrina still referred to him as Eye-Patch, Ragetti had indeed found himself a fake eye, popping it in and out every now and again so as to clean it. At first, everyone besides Pintel had found this utterly annoying, but had grown disturbingly used to it. Everyone, that is, except for Barbossa.

"If you do that one more time around me, I'll have your bloody arse for shark bait!" he had threatened Ragetti once, who had shuddered in fear and swore never to do it again. The promise didn't last long, however, for within a few days he had regained himself and started popping out his eye once more, though he went warily about it whenever Barbossa was around.

Then of course there was Murdock, who Katrina had discovered was Barbossa's first mate. He had been the only man aboard The Medallion to welcome Katrina with ease, despite his first words to her five years ago. Katrina, in turn, began to look at him as a faithful watch dog, the one who would stand up for and protect her when the master wasn't around. Out of all of the crew, Murdock was probably the closest to her heart, next to her uncle.

And then there were those who Katrina thought of as less than family. One of them was Jacoby, a menacing little man with beady eyes the size of a shilling and green, rotting teeth that were pointed and sharp, and the other was Bo'sun, a tall and daunting African who was bald and had small, golden studs embedded beneath his skin. She guessed that he was about her uncle's age, perhaps slightly younger, with cold, heartless eyes and an even colder glare. Every time she saw him, he would always look at her the same way: a perverted disgust. Katrina would try to return his look, but would never get very far. It was too sickening even for her.

"Hey! Katrina!"

Reality flooded back to her in a rush, and she turned to see who had called her name.

It was Ragetti. "Murdock's almost done with dinner! Pintel's got us a cuppla seats; so hurry up then!"

Katrina smiled and dashed over to follow him down below deck. Only a few others were there, including Pintel, who motioned her and Ragetti over when he saw them. The rest of the crew came down not too long after that, and soon the room was bustling with activity. Katrina noticed Barbossa wasn't there.

At that moment, Murdock came bursting through the doors carrying tray upon tray of delicious food. The men clapped and cheered as it was set down on the table, and Katrina could feel her own stomach growl at the sight of it. Spirits were then passed around, and Barbossa came through the door.

"Eat well, men! We'll be dockin' at the next port in but a few hours!"

Another cheer went up. This time Katrina cheered with them. Another port meant another raid, and she had some things to get anyway. Well, to steal, that is.

She felt an elbow poke her left rib and turned her attention to the one who owned it, grabbing a leg of pork as she did. "So whatcha aimin' to get this time, Trina?" Pintel asked her, his mouth full of meat and drink.

"Actually I'm thinkin' to get meself some new bullets," she told him, ripping a portion of pork from the leg with her teeth. "These ones I got are bloody useless."

"Not that you've had the chance to use 'em, mind," her uncle's words came drifting from across the table.

Katrina narrowed her eyes. "And who's fault would that be then?" she snapped. By that point the other men had grown silent, occasionally passing a snide remark to one another. They loved to watch the miniature fights that went on between Barbossa and his troublesome little niece. And for them, the fight could go either way; if Barbossa lost, they'd snigger continuously behind his back until he threatened to gut the lot of them, and if Katrina lost, they would have hours of fun pushing the little tyke around about it, fully aware that there wasn't too much she could do.

This time, however, the fight didn't get a chance to go very far.

"Land! It's land!" Murdock's heavily accented voice was shouting. Many of the men were mouthing the word "what?" before Barbossa was able to shake them to their senses.

"Get up ye lazy swine! Make fast to the deck! Ready the guns!!"

The cabin was instantly bustling with men frantic to get to their positions. They pushed and pulled each other in a struggle to get up to the deck. Katrina was no acception. She sprung up from her sitting position, and before she left the table shoved a piece of hardening bread inside her pocket, just in case she wasn't able to eat later. Because of her petite size, she was able to slip through the bulks of her fellow crewmates with some ease. As a result, she was one of the first to get out on the deck, where Barbossa was already barking more orders.

Katrina could see the port town from here, seemingly completely unawares that it was about to be attacked. It was smaller than the usual towns they pillaged, and from where Katrina was standing looked shabby and poor. She doubted if there was going to be found anything worth keeping here.

"Katrina!" Barbossa yelled suddenly. "Quit bloody standin' there and get down to the guns, girl!"

She didn't have to be told twice to know where to go. Almost tripping over her excessively large clothes once more, she sped down below deck again, only this time going to where she knew Pintel and Ragetti would be. . .with the cannons.

"Oh, 'ello Trina!" Pintel exclaimed as he noticed her presence. "Got stuck with us today, 'ey? Hand me that ball there, would ye?"

Katrina picked up the heavy ball of lead he motioned to and handed it to him. She watched as he placed it in the cannon, and then moved aside to allow Ragetti to set the light. All three covered their ears just before the deafening blast. Katrina grabbed another ball.

"Hey, when do we get to go ashore. . . ."

Just as the words escaped her mouth, she saw from the open hatch five boats that were already docking at the harbor. Katrina gaped at them with fury. "What the. . .? Straggles! Why've they gone?!"

"Didn't ya know?" Ragetti answered instead. "Those on the guns don't usually go ashore. Someone hasta keep them blighters at the dock busy while the others do the work, 'ey?" He snickered at this and elbowed Pintel, who then snickered back. But Katrina couldn't find it within herself to laugh, or even to smile. She was furious. Barbossa. . .that. . .that. . . .

". . .That BASTARD!!"

The word erupted from Katrina's mouth like fire, making both Pintel and Ragetti stop in their tracks.

"Wuss that?" Ragetti questioned, confusion edging his tone.

"BARBOSSA!" Katrina fumed. "HE DID THIS ON PURPOSE!"

Pintel snorted. "Well ye can't very well go 'gainst what the capt'n says, ye know. . . ."

"To the DEPTHS with what the captain says!!"

Katrina dropped the cannon ball she had been holding, nearly having it land on Pintel's foot, before storming out of the room and pounding upstairs to the deck. The only thought on her mind was to make her uncle seriously regret tricking her into staying behind.

I'll shoot two more holes in that bloody hat of his, and then perhaps add two holes in his head! No. . .then I'll have no one to shoot with. . . .

She ignored the taunting calls from the other crewmates as she made her way to the port side of The Medallion, bent on getting ashore.

"Hey Trina! Got left behind did ye?" "Poor baby Trina! Can't get her little bullets!"

"SHUTTUP!" she screeched finally, grabbing the rope that held one of the last boats. Now grumbling to herself how she'd like to kill the lot of them, she prepared to jump in the boat, when something caught her eye.

The men were returning.

Already? she thought suspiciously. Maybe there was nothing to find there after all.

She recognized the man in the first boat instantly; the hat was unmistakable. Though it did have one less feather than before and had a black patch across it to hide the hole, her uncle Barbossa still wore the bloody thing proudly. Katrina felt her fists clench at the site of him, swearing to herself to give him a piece of her mind as soon as he stepped on this ship of his. But sitting on his shoulder was something that definitely hadn't been there before. Katrina squinted at it, sure it was some sort of small furry animal, but unable to make out just what kind of animal it was. It did seem, afterall, to be wearing clothes.

But that wasn't the only new addition. Katrina glimped past Barbossa's boat only to see another with a person she'd never seen before. It was a small girl, maybe the same age as she, maybe younger, from this distance Katrina couldn't tell. But she was there all the same. Despite herself, Katrina smiled. That girl. . .she was a captive, and Katrina had never had experience with a captive before! She had heard enough stories, about men walking the plank and being eaten by sharks before they could even start to swim away. Any anger that she had held for Barbossa before that moment was instantly swept away in fascination of this new arrival, and Katrina continued to watch the boat with the girl in it until she had to crane her neck over the side to be able to see. At this point, the girl looked up. Their eyes locked for a split second, and in that time Katrina was startled by the blue brilliance of the eyes she was looking into, before she snapped her head around and ran to the other side of the ship.

Upon reaching the starboard side, Katrina almost ran head first into her uncle. He said nothing, but grasped her roughly by the shoulder and drew her to his side.

"Ow!" she exclaimed, more to aggravate him than for the actual pain he had caused.

"Be silenced," he spat with a subtle anger in his voice. Katrina could tell he was just as annoyed with her as she was with him. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms before noticing once again the little animal on Barbossa's shoulder. Her jaw dropped as she realized what it was.

"You have a monkey..?!

"I said be silenced!"

Katrina glared at her uncle, tempted by the thought of disobeying him. She in the end thought it would be best not to, and if her thoughts had been read, the monkey in clothes screeched in a sort of mocking laughter. She already didn't like the blasted thing.

"Captain Barbossa!"

It was Bo'sun. He had the girl Katrina had seen earlier by the shoulder, and seemed to be digging the back of his thumb into her neck. Katrina didn't have to know who this girl was to feel sorry for her.

"The last of the Blackhearts, sir."

Blackheart? Katrina had never heard the name before. But apparently, as she soon found out, Barbossa had.

"A Blackheart? Nay, don't ye see her eyes! Blackhearts be dark all over." Katrina didn't know if Blackhearts were really dark all over, but she did know that this girls eyes most definitely were not dark. They were a bright blue, one might even say a Caribbean blue, that at the moment Katrina could see were sparkling with fear.

"Aye, Captain. But she be branded!" Bo'sun roughly took up the gir'ls arm and pulled down the sleeve, showing to the rest of the crew the white scar of a P that rested on the girl's wrist. Katrina's eyes widened at the sight of it. She resisted the urge to look down at her own wrist, bare and white. She had longed for a brand of her own for some time now, but Barbossa had said she hadn't done anything worthy of gaining it.

"Ye've been a pirate for two years!" he had told her. "Can ye tell me what ye've done that makes ye think ye deserve a brand?"

Katrina hadn't been able to answer, and the memory stung her mind like a freshly open wound. And then there was this girl. Younger than her, Katrina was sure, and with a brand. What had she done that Katrina hadn't?

Barbossa observed the raised arm carefully. "Too many maidens on board," he said after a pause. "Don't need another one. Take her below!"

Katrina scowled as the girl was snatched up by Bo'sun and taken down probably to the brig. She turned to Barbossa, who now had his back to her. "Are we killin' her then?"

He didn't turn around. "Course. Why would we need more of yer kind?"

Katrina sighed and rolled her eyes. She had expected an answer like that. Instead of arguing back, she decided to go visit the girl down at the brig. She wanted to know how she had gotten that brand. It must've been something pretty incredible if she had gotten it so young, and Katrina wanted to know everything.

Following the footsteps of Bo'sun, she made her way down below deck. When she arrived at the brig, she came across Bo'sun just finishing locking her up in one of the dank cells. When he saw Katrina, he let out a low growl from the pit of his throat. "You have no business down here, girl."

"That's Miss Katrina, to you," she replied calmly. "And my business has nothin' to do with you. So why doncha go up top and find someone else to stare at, 'kay?"

Bo'sun curled his mouth in a snarl and did as Katrina said, though not for her benefit, and purposely knocked into her as he went past. Katrina's face scrunched in disgust, and with Bo'sun out of the way she continued to walk over to the cell with the girl inside. She peered inbetween the bars and stared at the small and fragile figure within. The girl had solid black hair, like Katrina's, except it was styled in soft ringlets that fell on her shoulders. She wasn't quite as scrawny as Katrina, and had far more delicate features. Katrina was a bonnie child, but this one was beautiful.

"Hi."

Katrina's simple word seemed to echo throughout the room. The girl looked up at her. "H-Hello."

"You shouldn't mind me uncle," Katrina said simply, starting to feel more comfortable already. "He's bloody mad." She held out her hand through the bars. "Name's Trina. Katrina to you."

The girl took Katrina's hand gingerly, as if it might bite her. "E-Eclipse Blackheart. Nice to meet you, Miss Katrina."

"Miss?" Katrina glared at her. Why was she being so polite? It was weird.

Eclipse cocked her head to the side. "Pardon?"

"Would you quit that?"

"Quit what, Miss?"

"That." Katrina drew her hand back from the cell. "It's strange you bein' all polite, an' all. 'Specially when you're, well, you know." What Katrina wanted to say was "when you're about to die." But looking at the poor, pathetic thing before her, she couldn't find it in herself to do it.

"I suppose," said Eclipse quietly. "Um, Mi- I mean, Katrina? You said not to mind your uncle, but. . ."

"Yeah, me uncle," Katrina confirmed. "You know. The big, scary hat-man with the monkey."

Eclipse's eyes met Katrina's with a childish surprise. "The captain?"

Katrina sighed and rolled her eyes. "Or you could put it that way, yeah."

"I see. . . ." Eclipse lowered her eyes again. "He's. . .condemning me to death, isn't he?"

Katrina shifted in place. She hadn't liked the way Eclipse put it. "I wouldn't exactly say. . .condemning."

"Then what would you say?"

Nothing. Katrina decided to change the subject. "So, um, have you ever kissed a boy?" She could feel Eclipse's questioning gaze on her. "No. . .I haven't."

"I have," Katrina lied, fingering her pocket and the contents therein. "It was gross." She pulled out the piece of bread that she had placed in her pocket earlier (and had up until now forgotten about) and handed it out to Eclipse. "Bread?"

Eclipse hesitated, and then took the bread from Katrina's hand. She began to knaw on it slowly, her mind obviously elsewhere. At that point, Barbossa, followed by Murdock and Bo'sun came down the stairs. Katrina jumped back away from the cell and clasped her hands behind her back, acting as if though she had done something wrong.

Barbossa stopped a few feet in front of her. "Bo'sun, open the cell," he ordered. "It's time."

Bo'sun sniggered as he pushed Katrina aside and used the keys on his belt to unlock the cell. He dragged Eclipse from her position on the floor to a standing one, and roughly held her arm as he moved her forward.

"Uncle wait!" Katrina protested suddenly, and ran over to tug on the hem of Barbossa's sleeve. "Let her stay!"

"Why the blazes should I do that?" Barbossa exclaimed. "What good is she to us?" He yanked the sleeve away from Katrina's grasp and motioned to Bo'sun, who forced Eclipse forward. But Katrina wasn't finished.

"She can be my shooting partner!" she cried, and much to her satisfaction Barbossa stopped in his tracks. "See? Then I won't 'afta do it with you anymore!"

Barbossa sighed and turned to face her. "If ye think I want another one of you runnin' around, ye've got another thing comin', lass. Especially if that's the only reason she'd stay. . . ."

"But I'm sure she can do other things!" Katrina continued. She looked desperately at Eclipse, who she just realized would probably turn out to be the only real friend she could have. "Can't you?" Eclipse opened her mouth to reply, but no sound came out. Katrina repeated her question more frantically. "Can't you?!"

"I-I-I can c-clean!" came Eclipse's stuttered reply.

Barbossa rolled his eyes. "We have plenty of men for that! Now that's enou--"

"I-I can cook too!!"

A smile instantly appeared on Katrina's face when Barbossa hesitated at this. "See, Uncle? I'm sure she could help Murdock in the kitchen. Murdock could use some help in there," she looked at the huge man with pleading eyes, "couldn't ya, Murdock?"

Murdock smiled softly at her. Katrina knew he was on her side. "Well, I 'spose I could use an extra hand, mate. It's hard work cookin' by meself."

After that was said, Barbossa knew he was defeated. ". . .Fine! Fine, she can stay! But mark my words, girl," he said lowly, looking at Eclipse dead in the eyes. "If I see even the slightest change of ye becomin' like that miss there," he pointed to Katrina, "it'll be the depths for you! Understand?"

Eclipse gulped. "A-Aye, Sir."

With another sigh, Barbossa motioned to Bo'sun to release Eclipse, which he did so with some reluctance. Barbossa glared at Katrina vehemently. "You'd best not be a bad influence, girl. For her sake."

Undaunted by his words, Katrina only smiled proudly as the two men made their way back up to the dock. Before he followed them, Murdock gave a wink and a nod to Katrina and Eclipse. After a moment of uneasy silence, Katrina sighed happily and clapped her hands together, spinning on one foot to face Eclipse.

"Well, Miss Blackheart!" she said with mock politeness. "Welcome aboard The Medallion!" The smile that graced her features was broad, and full of triumph.


A/N: well, there's chapter two. i'm really sorry if it doesn't seem as good as the other two chapters....i was kinda rushing through it cause i wanted to get it up. but oh well, sucks for me. you'll be happy to know that i've already started chapter three...and i'm actually pretty much almost done with it. be prepared though...it's a LONG chapter. you think these are long..HA! wait till you see this baby. i would split it up into smaller segments, except it just wouldn't work that way. ya know? oh well. in the next chapter, half the crew of the medallion (haha, don't you love the cheesy irony of the name?) get CAUGHT! and what's this? a death? oh no! so until next time folks....(and i don't really know when next time'll be either. i mean, i start school in two days!! AAAAH!)
-Meru