Your dazed and in shock. Your lungs had constricted themselves and you don't even fully register that you are underwater, your heavily made dress slowly sinking you to the bottom.
Your mind is sinking away, far away into the world of unconsciousness.
A strong arm grabs around your waist as you fall into darkness…
-
You feel something cold touch your skin then you hear a ripping noise and your lungs pulsating with life again. Suddenly, you feel like your going to be sick. You're blinded by light as you roll onto your side and spit up salty water.
Eyes stinging from the harsh water and blinding light, slowly an image of someone leaning over you becomes visible.
"Never would have thought of that…" A surprised male voice states.
"Clearly you've nev'r been ter Singapore", another male voice adds, only much closer to you.
Your eyes focus and you see a man leaning over you. You hurriedly take in your surroundings, more or less just people, as two men in red coats pull you up.
Gaping, you watch in shock. Another female lay unconscious upon the wharf ground, her face pale and her lips turning a light shade of pink. A strange man pulled out a bowie knife, cut the corset from the dying girl and threw it at a red coat standing by.
The girl instantly sprung back to life, spluttering and coughing up the salty seawater across the wooden ground. As she turned to lay on her back again, the stranger stared at the necklace that hung on the young girls neck.
"Where did you get tha'?" the man drawls as he picks up a pendent from the girls neck and observes it. She watched him almost fearfully.
Suddenly the sound of boots thumping against the wood could be heard, and several more men appeared with rifles pointed at the rescuer. One of the men dressed in respectable blue coat and white vest pointed a sword at the stranger's throat.
"On your feet!" He demanded.
A plump man helped up the other girl clad in a bodice and covered her in a fatherly manner. Looking down, you note that your dress is gone and you were only clad in a bodice as well, with the exception of bra and undies underneath.
"Elizabeth, are you alright?" The plump man asked in a worried voice. Elizabeth muttered a hushed 'yes'. You hear one of the redcoats call the plump man Governor Swann.
Governor Swann looked at the dazed red coat holding the corsets. His eyes widened as he noticed the situation he was brought into. He then dropped them and pointed to Elizabeth's and your rescuer.
"Shoot him!" Swann barks.
You gasp, wondering why such a sudden demand had been called upon. Was it because the stranger was clad in very unusual, yet suiting clothing? A frown forms on your face, as you note the stranger staring at Elizabeth's obvious coldness through the upper half of her bodice. You're thankful that you have panties and a bra on beneath your bodice.
"Father!" Elizabeth intervened, before turning her attention to the other highly dressed gentleman, "Commodore, do you really intend to kill my rescuer?"
"Our rescuer!" you add. Eyes turn to your scarcely clad form and you nervously skirt your eyes to look at the ground. The Commodore stares uncertainly at the stranger, observing but obviously not liking.
"I believe thanks are in order-" Holding his hand out, the Commodore offered a shake of approval. Hesitating for a moment, the stranger's eyes observed the hand and the Commodore, before he slowly extended his hand with feline cautiousness. Without thought, Commodore Norrington grabbed his hand and hastily pulled the sleeve up.
There was a chorus of gasps and sounds of shock, and you wonder why a few trinkets on his wrist and a 'P' scar is a big deal.
"Had a brush with the East India Trading company, did we, pirate?" Commodore snarled with a satisfied smirk.
"Pirate?" you mutter to yourself in disbelief.
"Hang him!" Governor Swann demanded in stern aggressiveness.
Norrington continued and pulled the sleeve further up. You see a very detailed tattoo of a sparrow taking flight into the sun.
"Well, well… Jack Sparrow, isn't it?" Norrington drawls.
So, now I know my rescuers name, you muse to yourself.
"Captain Jack Sparrow," he corrects, then finds that he isn't in any position to do so, "if you please, sir." The Pirate said in a polite tone with a small, and wave of his free hand.
Other threats are thrown about, and you stand unnoticed near the Pirate, as you listen on. Elizabeth had suddenly been thrown into a frenzy of anger, as Jack Sparrow was dragged down the wharf.
"Pirate or not this man saved my life and this woman's as well!" Elizabeth's tone of voice was becoming stronger and louder with every stride she took. You follow along in front of two redcoats. Elizabeth turns to you, her face slightly lined with suspicion.
"What is your name miss?" she asks.
You tell her your name and you turn to Norrington, "You know, she's right. He saved two lives and in return his should be spared."
"One good deed is not enough to redeem a man of a lifetime of wickedness", Norrington snaps, his face emotionless, and you lean back startled.
"Though it seems enough to condemn him", Jack stated while pointing his two index fingers upwards, exaggerating his point. He's suddenly snatched and clapped with irons.
"Indeed…" Norrington sneered. There was a moment of silence as Jack was chained. You turn your back to him to ask the Governor where the nearest telephone would be but things don't go to plan.
"Finally!" Jack snarled and swung the irons over your neck, pulling you roughly close to him in a threatening way. Rifles are suddenly pointed at you, and Elizabeth attempts to dash forward to your aid, but her father grabs her.
"No! Don't shoot!" She yelled.
"I knew you'd warm up to me," Jack cooed through clenched teeth at the Commodore, "Commodore Norrington, my effects, please, and my hat," Norrington was unmoved. You find that slightly offensive, "Commodore!", Jack hissed.
His effects are roughly handed to you, and Jack spins you around and cocks his gun to your temple and says your name in a snarl, "Would you be so kind?" He indicated to his sword, compass, belt, sash and hat. You glare at him.
"Come, come, dear, we don't have all day." He says, his few gold teeth glittering as you begin to dress him. You tighten his belt, pulling roughly.
"Easy on the goods, darling", he coos.
"I doubt a man of your stature would have any goods", you hiss. A grim smile forms on his face, before you are spun around again.
"Sticks and stones, love. I saved your life, you saved mine, we're square," Jack huskily says into your ear before addressing the bystanders, "Gentlemen, mi'ladies, you will always remember this as the day that you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow!"
Your thrown forward as Jack made his escape. You land roughly into a redcoat who shrugs you off, letting you hit your head upon the ground. You hear gunshots and people running. Finally you're out of your daze and the first thing you see is a gun in your face.
"Who are you and what is your business in Port Royal?" asks one of the redcoats.
You pull yourself up and sigh, "My name is none of your business, Mr-?".
"Mullroy. What's your business?" he asks again. You stare at him, and try to leg it past but are suddenly hit over the head with the end of a gun. Once again, you're greeted with the coldness of dark…
-
You groan as you start to wake up. You don't bother to open your eyes to know that you're on a cold stone, straw covered floor. Rubbing the back of your head, you find that it is mildly sticky from dry blood. A line of swear words come mumbling out of your dry mouth.
There's a shuffling noise then you get the feeling something is leaning over you. Something hairy brushes your cheek and your eyes snap open. You see a man hovering over you.
A spine chilling scream wretches from your throat at the sudden shock and close proximity. The man screams equally as loud back in your face.
It stops screaming and so do you. Suddenly, something bristly touches you again and you scream like mad. He yells as well and you try to get up but head-butt him and fall to the ground. The man falls back, rubbing his nose.
"Bloody 'ell, woman!" he hisses.
Ignoring the pain in your forehead, you back away until you hit a wall. The room is so dark, but maybe because your eyes haven't adjusted yet.
You notice a small lamp and concentrate on that for a moment as your eyes become more accustomed to the dim atmosphere.
You quickly rub your forehead and step away from the wall. You look around and see where you are. You first notice the small window with bars, then the large steel door with a lock then the brick walls. Great!
Turning your attention to your cellmate, he had sat down in the corner and tipped his hat over his eyes, but you still know he's watching you. Gradually, you recognise the attractive, roguish man before you.
"Your J-Jack Sparrow!" you whisper.
He looks up and smiles, "Tha' I am! An' yer tha' lass tha' nearly drowned."
You nod and sit down across from him. Your memory is all jumbled up, so you decide to study the man in front of you. Slim, fashionably dressed with grey linen pants, white loose shirt, large boots and red and white sash.
His face was well-structured, high cheek bones, bronzed tan, dark eyes with smouldering black around the lids, and nicely formed lips. His hair was full of trinkets, a shaped bone and altogether held back with a red bandana.
"You look awfully familiar," you say, "have I met you before?"
Jack takes his hat off and raises an eyebrow, "Nay, before below tha' fort."
Frowning at your actions, you realise his raw red nose. You sigh and take off his hat to inspect the wound more clearly, "Look, I'm sorry about before," you tilt his head up and examine the damage, "it's just you scared me."
Jack is smiling at you, most likely from the closeness and how you eagerly tended to him.
Your thoughts are interrupted by a loud bang and Jack turned his head away.
"I know those guns," he looks out the small window and you watch curiously.
"Its tha' Pearl."
You hear the pirates locked up in the next cell, move over towards the wall between your cell and theirs.
The pirate closer to Jack speaks and you hold your breath from his terrible breath, "Black Pearl? I've 'eard stories. She's been preyin' on ships an' settlements fer near ten years. Nev'r leaves any survivors."
"No survivors? Then where do tha' stories come from, I wonder?" you hear Jack say with a bemused smirk. The pirate frowns at his fellow cellmates.
Before you know it, your roughly grabbed and thrown to the ground; your face and head covered with Jack's arms. The ground shakes as debris of brick and stone land around and on you.
Eventually, you pull yourself up with a few disbelieving curse words and your eyes catch the gaping hole in the wall in the cell next to yours. Jack stares solemnly at the 'blessed' pirates as they begin to hurriedly towards the escape. The story telling man turns, his face unreadable, "My sympathies friends, you've no manner of luck at all."
From the look upon Jack's face as he watches the pirate scum escape, you can easily tell that he isn't happy with the results what so ever.
"So, what now?" you ask after he moves away from the cell wall.
He slowly turns, his face expressional with gradual annoyance that seemed to simper down almost instantly as his eyes land on something to your right.
"It's a matter of luck", he says and scoops up a chipped bone. He begins his own feebly attempt of escape.
"Come on, doggy. It's just you and me now. It's you and ol' Jack, come on. Come on, good boy," Jack coos with almost a fake admiration. The dog has taken a few steps closer.
"Tha's it, good boy, come on! Bit closer, bit closer. Tha's it, tha's it, doggy," you nodded approvingly as the dog is now only an arm-width away, but you frown as Jack starts up again, "come on you filthy, slimy, mangy cad-"
With a small whine, the dog drops all the attention and turns to look towards the stairs as a loud thump is heard. Jack begins to apologize immediately.
"No, no, no, no, no, I didn't mean it. I didn't…"
"Friggen' idiot", you mutter to yourself and think of saying more so words, but stop as a red-coat comes tumbling down the stairs and limply lays across the stone ground.
"This ain't tha' armoury!" An angered voice yells. Before words could escape your mouth, two ruggedly dressed men appear by the body of the red coat and look around dumbly. You study them for a moment, one man dark skinned, hair full of dreads and matted knots and overly sized gums and rotting teeth. The other doesn't look as confident, more or less a follower with a dirtied face, yellow eyed and his face lined with day upon day whiskers. Finally, eyes land upon Jack and your form sitting by the corner.
"Well, well, well, look wha' we 'ave 'ere Twigg – Capt'n Jack Sparrow", the darker skinned pirate sneers. There's a moment of silence before he lurches forward and spits upon Jack's feet. Jack looks disgustingly down at the insult before looking even more revolted back at the men before him…
"Last time I saw you, you were all alone on a godforsaken island, shrinking into tha' distance. His fortunes aren't improved much!" The other accompanying pirate exclaimed with acute distaste.
"Worry about your own fortunes, gentlemen. The deepest circle of Hell is reserved for betrayers and mutineers", Jack's normally cheerful and optimistic voice had become dark, rumbling and resentful.
Before anymore obscure words could be shared, the dark skinned pirate let out a growl and before Jack realised, a rotting, bone-visible arm had shot through the cell gap and grabbed him viciously around the neck.
Jack stood visible shocked, but remained in his said stature. "So there is a curse, Koehler. That's interesting." The words only just escape his mouth.
Koehler's rotting teeth glisten, "You know nothing of hell."
Without much thought, you're on your feet and slowly walking towards the men. The male induced hormones are flying in every general direction, that they only realise you are there when you grab what remaining sleeve is on Koehler's arm and pry his arm and hand from Jack's reddening throat.
"Ugly", you mutter quietly through clenched teeth and vigorously wipe your hand upon your bodice. As your eyes leave inspecting your hand, you notice attention firmly appointed in your direction.
"What did you say?" Twigg asks suspiciously.
Before any other words can be said, Jack is standing in front of you, blocking you from their view. "She ain't said a damn thing", he says firmly.
You peak over Jack's side and mouth two immensely insulting words towards Twigg. Leaning back defensively as he lurches forward, Jack is still unmoved.
"Interesting", you whisper with a quirk of your brow.
You stand silently just watching as no words are shared from then on as the two pirates gradually leave.
Slowly turning with a slight sway of his hips, he stares curiously at you, "Tha's very interesting…"
"What is?" You ask while wondering whether the odd pirate had actually heard you. He walked so he was now directly in front of you, close enough for you to notice a small blood splotch on the side of his face.
"Ye' coulda' caused trouble." His face is questionable.
A sigh is your reply. When he continued to stare disapprovingly at you, you decide to start objecting. "What do you mean? They couldn't have got to us!" you bark at him, he leans back slightly as if your going to throw a threatening punch, "mind you, it was your fault the mutt got away anyway!"
He continued to stare down at you, his expression still unmoving. "Perhaps so," he finally says then plants his hands upon his hips and exclaimed loudly, "but ye' still coulda' caused trouble!"
You throw your hands up in defeat and groan in annoyance, "My god! You are, no doubt, the most complicated person I have ever met!"
-
Slowly and gradually, you're awoken by the sound of footsteps entering the jail. Peeping an eye open, you find that Jack is lazily sprawled out upon the ground, his hat still over his face blocking the sun pouring onto his face through the large gaping hole in the wall in the next cell. Unfortunately for you, it wasn't the warm sun that had woken you but a red coat that had come downstairs to check which prisoners had survived and which had escaped.
The red coat snickers at Jack, who in turn mumbles a few words that are inadequately related to alcohol beverages. His eyes are then turned to you, and you remain in your position and close your eyes. There is a moment of silence before you hear his feet shuffle and finally the tip-tap of him ascending the stairs then finally the door closing and locking.
Sighing, you rearrange yourself into a more comfortable position (if it is even possible) and doze off again.