Runaway Buccaneer
Chapter 3: Crew-d Introductions
Disclaimer: Arg. Take not me character and blame not for the use of ones from the movie.
Captain Jack Sparrow awoke two hours later and staggered to his desk for a drink. It seemed sleep would not come for longer, and his beloved rum would have to serve as the only remedy for the killer headache he was suffering. He swallowed a little of the precious liqueur and stumbled back towards his cot. There, still on the window ledge was the girl-what was her name?-Anyway, whatever her name was, she was a nuisance. Sleeping all too peacefully, and cramped up on the tiny ledge on top of that. Jack made a scornful face, took another sip, and placed the bottle on the floor. He walked over to the girl and picked her up and placed her on his bed. If he wasn't to be using it tonight, why not let the lass have a place to stretch out on? Then he picked up his bottle and made his way out on deck to inform his crew of their newest addition.
"Gibbs, gather the crew. I have an announcement to make." He slurred, waving in the relative direction of the cabins. In minutes his ten or so member crew was standing before him. It should have been more, but for the absence of Anamaria. Jack shrugged. She'd get tired of life on shore and meet up with them somewhere. She always did. Anamaria was the sister that Jack never had. Although, she didn't drink nearly enough. Jack was brought out of his thoughts by Gibbs clearing his throat. He stood up straight, trying to hide the fatigue and the drunkenness as best he could. "Right, my announcement..." he paused for effect, then dived right in. "I discovered a stowaway on board." The men began to talk excitedly about 'walking the plank' and other gruesome stowaway deaths. "However, we will not be killing her." Jack said and wasn't surprised to hear a gasp run through his crew. Tearlach was the first to recover.
"But the code…" he started
"…Is more of a guideline really," Jack cut him off. "Anyway, when she wakes up, I'm guessing sometime in the next three hours as that will be dawn, I will be introducing her to you all. No lewd comments or anything of the sort, savvy?" His crew nodded and grumbled as they continued about doing their chores. Jack stood for awhile looking out at the sea. He loved the feeling of freedom it brought him. An hour later Lachlan awoke on Jack's bed. She sat up slowly and looked about the lamp lit room. It wasn't exactly her idea of cozy, but at least it wasn't as bad as the horror stories she had heard from sailors in Port Royale.
Lachlan carefully climbed out of the bed and shook her dress to straighten out any wrinkles. She walked cautiously to the door that led to the deck. Opening it just a little, she found that there were only 4 or so pirates on deck. Dare she venture out? She tentatively stepped out then squared her shoulders. Lachlan Nola was no simpering girl. 4 measly, bloodthirsty pirates couldn't scare her…if she closed her eyes and pretended they weren't there. She stepped out onto the deck and opened her eyes. So far she hadn't been noticed. She walked to the railing and stared out at the dark water.
"Eh, Lass!" called a voice from above her. She looked up to find Jack Sparrow at the helm. Lachlan gave a half- hearted wave then looked back nervously to where the present crew was working. They had all paused in their labor to catch a glance of the girl their captain had mentioned. She waved at them as well, feeling a blush grace her cheeks at the attention.
"This's th'lass, is it?" Kursar, a crew member, called to the captain. Jack Sparrow nodded in his usual drunken manner and slurred, "Aye, tha'be the lass that snuck aboard me ship and commandeered me window sill as a bed." Lachlan glanced around at the crew members faces. Were they not the least bit worried that they had a drunk as a "cap'n." By the looks of the crew, she gathered they were all pretty loyal to Jack, no matter how inebriated he got. Lachlan made her way to the stairs that led to where Jack stood and slowly made her way up. "How'd ya sleep, love?" Jack asked keeping his eyes on where he was sailing.
"Good, considering I slept on the windowsill of a pirate ship and yet somehow found myself awaking in a certain captain's cot…" Lachlan said idly toying with a bit of rope hanging over the railing to the lower deck. Jack looked at her and grinned.
"Ya looked a bit cramped there, so I took the liberty o' movin' ya. No offense meant, love." Lachlan couldn't help but give a small smile back.
"None taken, Captain." She said. She couldn't believe she was here and she got the feeling that Jack couldn't either. She glanced down to see what the crew was doing. They were all seeing to whatever needed to be done to keep the ship moving. Some glance up occasionally to look at her curiously and she would acknowledge them with a nod of her head. However, one particular crew member kept looking up at her and scowling. She didn't quite like the way he was looking at her and was tempted to go stand behind Jack to avoid the scowling gaze. Lachlan instead turned and walked to the side of the ship and stared into the murky depths of the sea-waters.
A/N: Sorry it took so long. I have a demanding editor/beta, and ff.net was being a bugger. Suggestions, as always, are welcome.