This is a future fic. Set about 20 years after the end of Pirates. Will and Elizabeth married (shocking) and had one son, Will Junior. After reading about his father's epic adventures with Captain Jack Sparrow he decides to rebel and go after Sparrow himself to join the crew of the Black Pearl. This is my first attempt at writing a Pirates of the Carribean fic so all criticism is welcome. Thanks!
****
Young Will Turner sat in the yard of his great Victorian mansion. His father and mother were sitting on either side of him, enjoying their afternoon tea. He was restless, though, and was tired of the boring tirade of the social life they were accustomed to. Never in his life could he imagine to more dull, unadventurous people. And the way they fawned over one another still - day in and day out - was enough to make him gag.
On this sunny late afternoon his mother, Elizabeth Swann Turner, turned to him with a very pointed look on her face.
"William, don't you think it's about time you decided what to do with your life?"
Not this again. Anything but this. He was beyond tired of being badgered into finding a profession and a good wife. He looked over at his father who didn't say a word as he never dared argue with his mother.
"Honestly, mother, I'm in the process of trying to figure it out."
"You're just such a bright, talented boy and it's such a shame seeing all that go to waste. You've always had such an aptitude for writing. Your stories are just charming. Don't you think you could dedicate yourself to becoming an author or perhaps a teacher?"
The last thing Will wanted was to be stuck behind a desk and trapped indoors. He longed for some sort of life-fulfilling adventure. The kind of excitement the characters in his stories experienced.
"William, you've been in the 'process of trying to figure it out' for two years and, from what I have observed, have not gotten very far."
His father offered him a sympathetic smile, but it didn't help.
"As much as I so enjoy these lovely moments of family closeness, I think I must excuse myself."
And with that Will got up and walked off in a huff towards the house. Elizabeth was less than pleased at her son's rebellious behavior, but said nothing.
****
Will wandered into his father's study, knowing that before long his mother would be storming up to his room, asking the questions again and expecting a different answer. He knew hiding there would be far from suspicious and he enjoyed all the books and maps and artifacts his father had displayed throughout the room. When Will was little his father would tell him all sorts of fantastic stories about pirates and ghosts and sailing on the sea. When his mother found out about it she had a fit and the stories stopped there and then. But Will could still remember them and thought of them often when his wanderlust became overwhelming.
Will wandered over to a large wooden plaque hanging above his father's fireplace. Mounted on the plaque was his father's old sword, a tad beaten and tarnished with age. Will always wondered how it had gotten so beaten and how it had been used, but his father would simply dismiss it as the marks and wear of time.
Will gently lifted the sword off the plaque and began waving it around in the air. He had never studied swordsmanship, but he had read quite a bit about it and found it fascinating. After a few moments he sorrowfully lifted the sword to replace it back on it's mount, when suddenly the plaque slipped down off the wall on one side. Will, feeling embarrassed and worried about being caught, immediately moved to place it back in it's proper place, but only then noticed that there was a small space in the wall hidden behind the plaque. He moved the plaque down further and noticed that hidden in that space was a leather-bound journal. Will picked it up and blew the dust off the cover, fingering it gently. It was old and well-used. It was at that exact moment that Will heard his mother's footsteps approaching. He tucked the journal into his back pocket and quickly replaced the sword on the plaque, moving it back into place. He managed to just jump down as his mother entered the study looking less than amused.
"Honestly, William, if you spent as much time working as you do conjuring up new hiding places…"
****
Will lay on his bed, dressed in his nicest formal attire. Downstairs the noise of conversation and soft music drifted up into his room. Will so hated his mother's awful society parties. It was always just a disguise for her intention for him to meet a nice, respectable young lady to marry. He had met the same women over and over again and found them all painfully dull and not the slightest bit interesting. Thus he had developed a knack for slipping out of the parties undetected for a few moments of solace.
He reached under his mattress and pulled out the journal he had hidden there earlier in the day. He opened it to the first place and began reading.
I"Captain Jack Sparrow has agreed to help me track down the Black Pearl and rescue my beloved Elizabeth from the hands of it's feared Captain Barbosa. While I should be elated by this turn of events, I sense that Jack is hiding something from me and, with the morals of a pirate, I wonder if perhaps mine or Elizabeth's safety is in danger in his hands as well…"/I
Will's jaw dropped at this. It was his father's journal. Only, it couldn't be! His father was a respectable blacksmith who's workmanship was in high demand throughout the nation. He had a career and a wife and a family and would never consort with pirates or danger. And if his mother had been held captive by a pirate he surely would have heard about it as that is not the sort of thing that is often kept a secret. He read on, determined to know more.
I"Jack has found a crew for our ship. I know that Commodore Norrington and his fleet are no doubt after us at this point. Thankfully with the speed of the Interceptor we should have a day's headstart. Jack told me that he did know my father. He claimed that he was 'Bootstrap' Bill Turner, a notorious pirate and crew member of the Black Pearl. This can't be. My father was a good, respectable man and would never associate himself with such vile scum as pirates…"/I
Will was shocked and elated at what he was reading. He tore through the entire journal learning of his mother and father's adventures with a man named Captain Jack Sparrow and how they defeated the ghost Captain Barbosa and his cursed crew. He could not suppress his envy at their adventures and exciting encounters. At the end Captain Jack Sparrow sailed away on the Black Pearl, never to be heard from again, and his mother and father wed and attempted to settle down into a normal, quiet life.
Will tucked the journal back into it's hiding space underneath his mattress. His heart was beating a mile a minute. Could all of this be true? Did his parents successfully keep their secret hidden for years? His imagination was wandering in every direction. He was particularly fascinated by the maps of Tortuga and the islands that his father had drawn in the journal.
In a fit of spontaneity he tore off the party clothes and replaced them with his rugged ones. He tucked the journal as well as some of his other belongings into a rucksack and snuck quietly out of his room and down into his father's study. Carefully he removed the sword from it's place above the mantle and quietly snuck out the window. He was headed for the docks and did not know if he would ever return.
****
Young Will Turner sat in the yard of his great Victorian mansion. His father and mother were sitting on either side of him, enjoying their afternoon tea. He was restless, though, and was tired of the boring tirade of the social life they were accustomed to. Never in his life could he imagine to more dull, unadventurous people. And the way they fawned over one another still - day in and day out - was enough to make him gag.
On this sunny late afternoon his mother, Elizabeth Swann Turner, turned to him with a very pointed look on her face.
"William, don't you think it's about time you decided what to do with your life?"
Not this again. Anything but this. He was beyond tired of being badgered into finding a profession and a good wife. He looked over at his father who didn't say a word as he never dared argue with his mother.
"Honestly, mother, I'm in the process of trying to figure it out."
"You're just such a bright, talented boy and it's such a shame seeing all that go to waste. You've always had such an aptitude for writing. Your stories are just charming. Don't you think you could dedicate yourself to becoming an author or perhaps a teacher?"
The last thing Will wanted was to be stuck behind a desk and trapped indoors. He longed for some sort of life-fulfilling adventure. The kind of excitement the characters in his stories experienced.
"William, you've been in the 'process of trying to figure it out' for two years and, from what I have observed, have not gotten very far."
His father offered him a sympathetic smile, but it didn't help.
"As much as I so enjoy these lovely moments of family closeness, I think I must excuse myself."
And with that Will got up and walked off in a huff towards the house. Elizabeth was less than pleased at her son's rebellious behavior, but said nothing.
****
Will wandered into his father's study, knowing that before long his mother would be storming up to his room, asking the questions again and expecting a different answer. He knew hiding there would be far from suspicious and he enjoyed all the books and maps and artifacts his father had displayed throughout the room. When Will was little his father would tell him all sorts of fantastic stories about pirates and ghosts and sailing on the sea. When his mother found out about it she had a fit and the stories stopped there and then. But Will could still remember them and thought of them often when his wanderlust became overwhelming.
Will wandered over to a large wooden plaque hanging above his father's fireplace. Mounted on the plaque was his father's old sword, a tad beaten and tarnished with age. Will always wondered how it had gotten so beaten and how it had been used, but his father would simply dismiss it as the marks and wear of time.
Will gently lifted the sword off the plaque and began waving it around in the air. He had never studied swordsmanship, but he had read quite a bit about it and found it fascinating. After a few moments he sorrowfully lifted the sword to replace it back on it's mount, when suddenly the plaque slipped down off the wall on one side. Will, feeling embarrassed and worried about being caught, immediately moved to place it back in it's proper place, but only then noticed that there was a small space in the wall hidden behind the plaque. He moved the plaque down further and noticed that hidden in that space was a leather-bound journal. Will picked it up and blew the dust off the cover, fingering it gently. It was old and well-used. It was at that exact moment that Will heard his mother's footsteps approaching. He tucked the journal into his back pocket and quickly replaced the sword on the plaque, moving it back into place. He managed to just jump down as his mother entered the study looking less than amused.
"Honestly, William, if you spent as much time working as you do conjuring up new hiding places…"
****
Will lay on his bed, dressed in his nicest formal attire. Downstairs the noise of conversation and soft music drifted up into his room. Will so hated his mother's awful society parties. It was always just a disguise for her intention for him to meet a nice, respectable young lady to marry. He had met the same women over and over again and found them all painfully dull and not the slightest bit interesting. Thus he had developed a knack for slipping out of the parties undetected for a few moments of solace.
He reached under his mattress and pulled out the journal he had hidden there earlier in the day. He opened it to the first place and began reading.
I"Captain Jack Sparrow has agreed to help me track down the Black Pearl and rescue my beloved Elizabeth from the hands of it's feared Captain Barbosa. While I should be elated by this turn of events, I sense that Jack is hiding something from me and, with the morals of a pirate, I wonder if perhaps mine or Elizabeth's safety is in danger in his hands as well…"/I
Will's jaw dropped at this. It was his father's journal. Only, it couldn't be! His father was a respectable blacksmith who's workmanship was in high demand throughout the nation. He had a career and a wife and a family and would never consort with pirates or danger. And if his mother had been held captive by a pirate he surely would have heard about it as that is not the sort of thing that is often kept a secret. He read on, determined to know more.
I"Jack has found a crew for our ship. I know that Commodore Norrington and his fleet are no doubt after us at this point. Thankfully with the speed of the Interceptor we should have a day's headstart. Jack told me that he did know my father. He claimed that he was 'Bootstrap' Bill Turner, a notorious pirate and crew member of the Black Pearl. This can't be. My father was a good, respectable man and would never associate himself with such vile scum as pirates…"/I
Will was shocked and elated at what he was reading. He tore through the entire journal learning of his mother and father's adventures with a man named Captain Jack Sparrow and how they defeated the ghost Captain Barbosa and his cursed crew. He could not suppress his envy at their adventures and exciting encounters. At the end Captain Jack Sparrow sailed away on the Black Pearl, never to be heard from again, and his mother and father wed and attempted to settle down into a normal, quiet life.
Will tucked the journal back into it's hiding space underneath his mattress. His heart was beating a mile a minute. Could all of this be true? Did his parents successfully keep their secret hidden for years? His imagination was wandering in every direction. He was particularly fascinated by the maps of Tortuga and the islands that his father had drawn in the journal.
In a fit of spontaneity he tore off the party clothes and replaced them with his rugged ones. He tucked the journal as well as some of his other belongings into a rucksack and snuck quietly out of his room and down into his father's study. Carefully he removed the sword from it's place above the mantle and quietly snuck out the window. He was headed for the docks and did not know if he would ever return.