Author's Note: Hello, darlings! This is the new-and-improved, edited version of Chapter One, for those of you who are long-time readers. Guarenteed to be typo-free and thrills a'plenty! I'm going through and editing ALL my chapters for maximum reader happiness ^.^ For those of you who are "new" to this story, it takes place not long after Pirates of the Caribbean : Curse of the Black Pearl ends, and yes, it is a sequel. Enjoy! Also, I'm sorry this chapter is short… it was to begin with, but I did add quite a bit to it. It's just one of those chapters that can't be long no matter how hard I try. O_o Sorry!

Disclaimer: I don't own Jack Sparrow (unfortunately), or Will Turner, Elizabeth Turner (Swann), Barbossa, Ragetti, Pintel, etc. etc. All of them belong to Disney, yadda yadda. You get the picture. HOWEVER, "Mandie Hannet" is my creation (and also appears in the comic "Oh, Captain!" by Steph Chateau) as is Captain Amien. ^^; Enjoy!

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Pirates of the Caribbean : The Wrath of Cortez
Chapter One : Monkey See, Monkey Do

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"Morning, love." Will Turner gently touched his wife's cheek as he lay in bed beside her, fairly early in the day.

"Mmm..." Elizabeth smiled, opening her eyes slowly. "Morning."

Will kissed her on the cheek before rising to get dressed, the early light of the day peeking through the curtains in the bedroom. "Have ye chosen our vacation spot yet, Miss Turner?" He flashed her a charming grin as she sat up, sheets pulled to her chest with a smile.

"Aye, and if I tell you, will you remember to call me Elizabeth?"

He grinned. "Perhaps."

The two finished dressing, and Will headed out to the blacksmith's shop, as usual. The sun was shining brightly by now, and brightened up the shop quite a bit when Will tugged open the windows.  He loved the morning, especially in the shop.  This place had practically been his home since he'd come to Port Royale, everything about it was so familiar.  The anvils, the hot fires, the rack that he held assorted weaponry on. Everything about it pleased him, in every way.  It was his 'happy place', so to speak, and probably always would be.

He picked up a sword from the fire, idly twirling it in one hand as he surveyed it. His work hadn't been as good, lately, but what could he do? He'd been distracted.  Odd things had been happening, lately, things even he couldn't explain.  But it was probably all nothing, as it usually was. His thoughts were interrupted, however, as there came a loud crash from behind him.

"Who's there?" He held the red-hot sword defensively ahead of him, cautiously approaching one of the dusty corners where he had first fought the great pirate captain, Jack Sparrow.  He could see the fire burning behind a large sack, silhouetting a figure of some sort. He immediately tore the sack away, half expecting to see the Captain again.

However, he did not reveal Jack- but a small, familiar monkey of the same name. Will's eyes widened. "What the hell..." A glint of golden metal from the monkey's paw caught Will's eye.  "The medallion!" he exclaimed. He lunged forward, and all at once the monkey darted away at the sound of a trigger release from behind Will.

"Not so fast, Turner." Will spun around, coming face to face with Pintel, one of the few remaining members of Barbossa's crew. "You're coming with me."

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Later that afternoon, Elizabeth made her way down to the shop, a basket tucked under one arm.  She knocked on the door a moment, frowning slightly as no one answered. She poked her head inside curiously. "Will?" She frowned a bit more, stepping in and glancing around. Something was wrong, very wrong. And Will was nowhere to be seen.

"Will, where are-' She froze. The dirty ground just in front of her was littered with dusty, unfamiliar footprints - two sets from men, and one set belonging to what appeared to be a small, furry creature. "Monkey..." she breathed, stepping forward a bit. She let out a small gasp, taking up an object in her hand and dusting it off. It was, indeed, what she had thought it was; but at the same time, it scared her more than it should have. Elizabeth had only found half of the gold piece! So where was the other half?

She searched the shop over with no luck, before grabbing one of the many hanging swords and running down to the docks, lifting her skirts up to her knees to increase her speed. Knowing she couldn't get what she wanted by propriety or sheer dumb luck, she skillfully snuck up behind one of the guards and held the sword to his neck, standing on her tiptoes so she could speak right into his ear. "Mister Garnet," she said, rather harshly. "Prepare me a ship."

He opened his mouth to object, but she quickly interrupted him, bringing the sword closer to his flesh with even harsher words. "We are going to Tortuga."