A/N: One review! ONE review? *sigh* Can't
win 'em all, I guess - but I must
congratulate MetaChi - read that, everyone? Praise MetaChi and read her stories! She's a
lovely reviewer. Onward! PS: If you don't read the after-chapter A/N, the name is said
"Ahn-dray-uh." You'll know what I'm talking about later in the chappie. ENJOY!
"Where're we going?" Jim asked, jumping up and down to get a better look at the island
the Black Pearl was coming upon.
"Barbados," Jack muttered. "Now stay silent; don't bother me, boy, I'm concentrating."
The captain gave a strong spin of the wheel and the ship made a smooth turn so that it
pointed directly at its next attack spot.
Jim ran up to the bowsprit and clasped tightly around it, putting a hand above his eyes to
see the port they were sailing into. It was clear and peacefully bright.
"Doesn't look too bad," he grumbled to himself. "I could take 'em."
"All hands on deck!" Jack shouted turning away from the wheel. "Drop the anchor!
We're stopping here!"
Pirates poured from the lower levels of the ship, and some who were already on deck
turned to attention or helped drop the anchor.
"Lower the rowboats," Jack commanded. "Load the cannons!"
"Loading cannons, captain," several men answered.
"You won't let me come?" Jim asked a last time, bounding from the bowsprit and
weaving around busy crew members to reach his father.
"No, now be a good lad and stay out of the way, aye?" Jack instructed.
"Aye," the boy grunted.
"I'll be bringing you something back if you stay out of trouble," Jack added.
"Rum?" Jim asked, hopefully.
"A little bit, per'aps," Jack replied, grinning. He then stood straight and shouted, "Fire
the cannons!"
The cannons fired, and Jack left down the gangway to a rowboat, out of sight of the
dispirited Jim.
"Talk about your overprotective fathers," he muttered, pulling a knife out of his pocket
and promptly sharpening it on the main mast while pirates bustled around the gangway to
get into their rowboats.
"'Allo, Jim!" Anamaria called happily as she made her way into her own rowboat. Hers
was the last to leave the ship.
"Nothing to do," Jim sighed, yawning and plopping down against the mast. He tipped his
hat to keep the sun out of his eyes, and began to hum the little pirate song in the silence.
"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me," he sang. "We're devils and black sheep, really bad
eggs, drink up me 'eartie, yo ho."
In the distance, he could hear gunfire and screaming. He even thought he distantly heard
his father say; "We won't hurt you, love, just hold tight while we raid this safe a bit!"
But he could have been imagining it. He knew the captain would never really hurt
anyone unless he felt his personal safety was at risk; besides, Jack was always up to a
sword fight more often than gun fight; he would leave his pistol on the Pearl on purpose
sometimes.
The sun was warm, the distant sound of windows breaking seemed comforting to Jim,
and added up to his boredom, it made him fall into a soft little slumber.
*
"Look at that!" a lookout cried excitedly to his captain, lowering his spyglass to point.
"What?" the captain barked, squinting into the distance from the helm of the ship.
"There's a ship in OUR port!" the lookout replied importantly.
"No!" the captain answered, disbelieving. "Give me the spyglass, give it here." The
lookout handed it to her and she quickly snatched it up. "So there is!" she muttered.
Then she sighed. "I TOLD those people of Barbados that if any of those trading ships
come by, we'd ambush them! But do they ever listen? I don't think so. Don't take a
woman seriously. We'll show them!"
"What are you going to do?" the lookout asked, anxiously.
"I'll tell you what we're gonna do; we'll dock onto that other ship there and steal their
goods, then we can fire a cannon or two to show 'em who's boss, got that?" the captain
instructed.
"Aye," the lookout said, nodding.
"Fetch me Pete!" the captain ordered.
"You made him walk the plank."
"Fine, then, get Sam up here."
"He died in St. Vincent."
"Damn!" The captain rubbed her temples. "Our men just drop like flies, don't they?"
"Well, personally, if I may say so," the lookout said, looking hopeful. The captain
nodded for him to continue, "you're not all that wise in making decision for the crew, if
you know what I mean."
"Nyeh, who needs 'em," the captain muttered. "So who DO we have left that isn't too
stupid or weak to keep up?"
"Actually, we've only got Yukon and Ozzy left," the lookout informed her.
"You mean Ozzy's still alive!?" the captain asked in disbelief. "I mean - that's all we
have left? Two people? How are we supposed to take over a ship with only us four!"
"Um-"
"That wasn't a question, Bob!" the captain shot. Bob flinched.
"Please don't use that name around the others," Bob hissed quietly.
"Bob Bob Bob Bob Bob!" the captain raved. "BOB BOB! Don't like it, you can jump
overboard." Bob shut up.
"We're nearing the port," the lookout said quickly, pulling his spyglass from the captain's
grasp. She swatted him for good measure. "Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!" Bob shouted
and dropped his spyglass, turning white as a sheet.
"What? What is it?" the captain demanded.
"That ship! That - that ship! It's no trading ship!" Bob stuttered.
"What is it then?" the captain asked, impatiently grabbing for the spyglass.
"The Black Pearl!" Bob whispered in awe. He took off his hat and looked up to the
clouds in respect. "The last real pirate ship in the Caribbean..."
"What are you talking about?" the captain shot. "We're a real pirate ship!" Bob stared.
"Well, almost!"
"Yes, and I'm sure the entire Spanish Main has heard of the INTREPID," Bob said
sarcastically.
"Shut up, we're working on it."
"So what do you want us to do?"
"I want you to go and get Yukon and Ozzy. If that's a pirate ship in the port, it's bound to
be empty unless their done with their raid." The captain glanced at the ship for a few
more seconds. "Looks empty to me. We're getting closer."
There was silence.
"Well, go get them, then!" the captain shouted at Bob. He rushed to get the others.
"We are so dead," Bob muttered.
*
Poke.
Poke. Poke.
"Little boy..." a voice said softly, sweetly. "Is your maman or papa around?"
Jim awoke suddenly to see a woman with long brown hair and steely dark eyes dressed in
pirate clothing and carrying a sword at her side. Accompanying her was a bumbling,
balding man with a retracting telescope in his fumbling hands.
The boy lurched forward at the intruder, but the lady dodged swiftly to her left and
laughed at him.
"Feisty lad, we see!" the woman said with her sweet voice. "Allow me to introduce
myself; I am Captain Andrea Blanche of the Intrepid, the fastest ship in all of France!"
"France doesn't have any oceans," Jim said cautiously.
"You know what I mean! Well, fine, it's the fastest, um, in all, oh, I give it up."
Mademoiselle Blanche muttered something incoherently under her breath, but quickly
came back to the real world. "Well, we've come to take your goods, is the point."
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" the boy growled, withdrawing his sword in a
flash.
"Ah! We've got a tough one on our hands," Blanche told the balding man. "Bob, go find
Ozzy and Yukon. See if they've found anything of value yet."
"You won't find anything," Jim said.
"Hm," the captain said in reply. She stared at the boy. "You seem very familiar..."
Andrea looked the child up and down. "Look a lot like that Sparrow."
"He is my father," Jim said. "And he's taught me how to sword fight, so you better watch
out!"
"I'm scared," Andrea sighed. "Now, then-"
"Aye, Mlle.! What is your request?" Two other men hurried up behind the balding one
with the spyglass. Both men were tall and scruffy; the one who had just spoken, who was
more strongly built than the other, flashed his sharp, green eyes at Jim.
"I've changed my mind, men! You see this boy? He's Sparrow's kin. I want your rope,
Yukon. We're taking him instead," Andrea ordered. The man dug around in his coat for
a length of it.
"Just try!" the boy shouted.
"Give it up, lad, we're more than a match for you," the captain warned, snatching the rope
from Yukon. "Besides, we don't have to waste our time searching for any hidden gold.
We've got you."
"What do you want with me?" Jim spat, backing away from the lady captain.
"I'm sure your papa would pay a nice ransom for you," she decided. "I'd say twenty
thousand gold pieces will do the trick." She grinned devilishly. Without a sign of
warning, the captain struck forward and hit Jim's head against the main mast. "Sorry,
lad; hope you understand," she said, watching as the boy stumbled about for a moment in
confusion. "Had to weaken you a bit so we won't have too much of a struggle."
Andrea loosened the rope and yanked it around Jim, who struggled madly as if he had
never been hit. For such a small person, he was still able to knock the captain's hands
away.
"Yukon, hold him still for me, will ya?" Blanche ordered, rolling her eyes. Yukon
stepped up in front of Jim, who tried to bolt for the deck, but was nearly whiplashed back
by one burly arm of the grown pirate's. "Careful!" the captain snapped. "Wouldn't want
our treasure being injured."
Yukon pinned the boy's arms to his side and held him while Andrea carefully bound him
and knotted the rope precisely.
"Now all we need is a gag!" she gushed, admiring her handiwork. The captain rummaged
through her pockets and retrieved a dirty bandanna. "Hope this works - hold his mouth
shut." Yukon clamped his hands around Jim's jaw. "Perfect!" Andrea said, pulling back
when she was done. "Now, go on with Yukon, boy, no need to have all these hostile
feelings. It's not you we want, it's your papa. You see, I'm sure after he's come with our
ransom money, he'll be wanting to fight."
"Mmmffmmffmmm!" Jim protested, eyes narrowed to slits. Even bound and gagged, he
was a fierce little nuisance.
"Don't think we can win, eh?" Andrea guessed. "Don't you worry about that."
"But, Captain! All four of us ain't no match for Jack Sparrow!" Ozzy whispered loudly.
"Shut up, you buffoon!" Andrea snapped. "The stupid kid didn't know that until now!"
"Mffmmfoo!" Jim retorted.
"Oh, you did not!" the captain shot back. "Carry him to the ship, crew!" She turned
around and retrieved a scrap of parchment from her jacket and a quill, and quickly
scrawled a ransom note. "...Got boy...Ransom...20,000 gold pieces...Soon as you
can...Martinique-" she paused in her muttering to sigh in honor at the island she had
picked. "Kindest personal regards..." She tapped her quill against her chin thoughtfully.
"Captain Blackbeard."
Jim gave a snort of laughter before being thrown onto the joke of a pirate ship, the
Intrepid.
A/N: Good? Bad? Like? No? It's 9:45 PM and yes; I'm tired already. Sad. Luckily, I
think I write the best late at night; the problem is, when I read over my stuff the next day I
think it's terrible. So what deh you think? Hopefully Andrea Blanche is as far from a
Mary Sue as possible. PS - it's said "Ahn-dray-uh." Thanks for reading! Please review!
:D :D :D
congratulate MetaChi - read that, everyone? Praise MetaChi and read her stories! She's a
lovely reviewer. Onward! PS: If you don't read the after-chapter A/N, the name is said
"Ahn-dray-uh." You'll know what I'm talking about later in the chappie. ENJOY!
"Where're we going?" Jim asked, jumping up and down to get a better look at the island
the Black Pearl was coming upon.
"Barbados," Jack muttered. "Now stay silent; don't bother me, boy, I'm concentrating."
The captain gave a strong spin of the wheel and the ship made a smooth turn so that it
pointed directly at its next attack spot.
Jim ran up to the bowsprit and clasped tightly around it, putting a hand above his eyes to
see the port they were sailing into. It was clear and peacefully bright.
"Doesn't look too bad," he grumbled to himself. "I could take 'em."
"All hands on deck!" Jack shouted turning away from the wheel. "Drop the anchor!
We're stopping here!"
Pirates poured from the lower levels of the ship, and some who were already on deck
turned to attention or helped drop the anchor.
"Lower the rowboats," Jack commanded. "Load the cannons!"
"Loading cannons, captain," several men answered.
"You won't let me come?" Jim asked a last time, bounding from the bowsprit and
weaving around busy crew members to reach his father.
"No, now be a good lad and stay out of the way, aye?" Jack instructed.
"Aye," the boy grunted.
"I'll be bringing you something back if you stay out of trouble," Jack added.
"Rum?" Jim asked, hopefully.
"A little bit, per'aps," Jack replied, grinning. He then stood straight and shouted, "Fire
the cannons!"
The cannons fired, and Jack left down the gangway to a rowboat, out of sight of the
dispirited Jim.
"Talk about your overprotective fathers," he muttered, pulling a knife out of his pocket
and promptly sharpening it on the main mast while pirates bustled around the gangway to
get into their rowboats.
"'Allo, Jim!" Anamaria called happily as she made her way into her own rowboat. Hers
was the last to leave the ship.
"Nothing to do," Jim sighed, yawning and plopping down against the mast. He tipped his
hat to keep the sun out of his eyes, and began to hum the little pirate song in the silence.
"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me," he sang. "We're devils and black sheep, really bad
eggs, drink up me 'eartie, yo ho."
In the distance, he could hear gunfire and screaming. He even thought he distantly heard
his father say; "We won't hurt you, love, just hold tight while we raid this safe a bit!"
But he could have been imagining it. He knew the captain would never really hurt
anyone unless he felt his personal safety was at risk; besides, Jack was always up to a
sword fight more often than gun fight; he would leave his pistol on the Pearl on purpose
sometimes.
The sun was warm, the distant sound of windows breaking seemed comforting to Jim,
and added up to his boredom, it made him fall into a soft little slumber.
*
"Look at that!" a lookout cried excitedly to his captain, lowering his spyglass to point.
"What?" the captain barked, squinting into the distance from the helm of the ship.
"There's a ship in OUR port!" the lookout replied importantly.
"No!" the captain answered, disbelieving. "Give me the spyglass, give it here." The
lookout handed it to her and she quickly snatched it up. "So there is!" she muttered.
Then she sighed. "I TOLD those people of Barbados that if any of those trading ships
come by, we'd ambush them! But do they ever listen? I don't think so. Don't take a
woman seriously. We'll show them!"
"What are you going to do?" the lookout asked, anxiously.
"I'll tell you what we're gonna do; we'll dock onto that other ship there and steal their
goods, then we can fire a cannon or two to show 'em who's boss, got that?" the captain
instructed.
"Aye," the lookout said, nodding.
"Fetch me Pete!" the captain ordered.
"You made him walk the plank."
"Fine, then, get Sam up here."
"He died in St. Vincent."
"Damn!" The captain rubbed her temples. "Our men just drop like flies, don't they?"
"Well, personally, if I may say so," the lookout said, looking hopeful. The captain
nodded for him to continue, "you're not all that wise in making decision for the crew, if
you know what I mean."
"Nyeh, who needs 'em," the captain muttered. "So who DO we have left that isn't too
stupid or weak to keep up?"
"Actually, we've only got Yukon and Ozzy left," the lookout informed her.
"You mean Ozzy's still alive!?" the captain asked in disbelief. "I mean - that's all we
have left? Two people? How are we supposed to take over a ship with only us four!"
"Um-"
"That wasn't a question, Bob!" the captain shot. Bob flinched.
"Please don't use that name around the others," Bob hissed quietly.
"Bob Bob Bob Bob Bob!" the captain raved. "BOB BOB! Don't like it, you can jump
overboard." Bob shut up.
"We're nearing the port," the lookout said quickly, pulling his spyglass from the captain's
grasp. She swatted him for good measure. "Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!" Bob shouted
and dropped his spyglass, turning white as a sheet.
"What? What is it?" the captain demanded.
"That ship! That - that ship! It's no trading ship!" Bob stuttered.
"What is it then?" the captain asked, impatiently grabbing for the spyglass.
"The Black Pearl!" Bob whispered in awe. He took off his hat and looked up to the
clouds in respect. "The last real pirate ship in the Caribbean..."
"What are you talking about?" the captain shot. "We're a real pirate ship!" Bob stared.
"Well, almost!"
"Yes, and I'm sure the entire Spanish Main has heard of the INTREPID," Bob said
sarcastically.
"Shut up, we're working on it."
"So what do you want us to do?"
"I want you to go and get Yukon and Ozzy. If that's a pirate ship in the port, it's bound to
be empty unless their done with their raid." The captain glanced at the ship for a few
more seconds. "Looks empty to me. We're getting closer."
There was silence.
"Well, go get them, then!" the captain shouted at Bob. He rushed to get the others.
"We are so dead," Bob muttered.
*
Poke.
Poke. Poke.
"Little boy..." a voice said softly, sweetly. "Is your maman or papa around?"
Jim awoke suddenly to see a woman with long brown hair and steely dark eyes dressed in
pirate clothing and carrying a sword at her side. Accompanying her was a bumbling,
balding man with a retracting telescope in his fumbling hands.
The boy lurched forward at the intruder, but the lady dodged swiftly to her left and
laughed at him.
"Feisty lad, we see!" the woman said with her sweet voice. "Allow me to introduce
myself; I am Captain Andrea Blanche of the Intrepid, the fastest ship in all of France!"
"France doesn't have any oceans," Jim said cautiously.
"You know what I mean! Well, fine, it's the fastest, um, in all, oh, I give it up."
Mademoiselle Blanche muttered something incoherently under her breath, but quickly
came back to the real world. "Well, we've come to take your goods, is the point."
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" the boy growled, withdrawing his sword in a
flash.
"Ah! We've got a tough one on our hands," Blanche told the balding man. "Bob, go find
Ozzy and Yukon. See if they've found anything of value yet."
"You won't find anything," Jim said.
"Hm," the captain said in reply. She stared at the boy. "You seem very familiar..."
Andrea looked the child up and down. "Look a lot like that Sparrow."
"He is my father," Jim said. "And he's taught me how to sword fight, so you better watch
out!"
"I'm scared," Andrea sighed. "Now, then-"
"Aye, Mlle.! What is your request?" Two other men hurried up behind the balding one
with the spyglass. Both men were tall and scruffy; the one who had just spoken, who was
more strongly built than the other, flashed his sharp, green eyes at Jim.
"I've changed my mind, men! You see this boy? He's Sparrow's kin. I want your rope,
Yukon. We're taking him instead," Andrea ordered. The man dug around in his coat for
a length of it.
"Just try!" the boy shouted.
"Give it up, lad, we're more than a match for you," the captain warned, snatching the rope
from Yukon. "Besides, we don't have to waste our time searching for any hidden gold.
We've got you."
"What do you want with me?" Jim spat, backing away from the lady captain.
"I'm sure your papa would pay a nice ransom for you," she decided. "I'd say twenty
thousand gold pieces will do the trick." She grinned devilishly. Without a sign of
warning, the captain struck forward and hit Jim's head against the main mast. "Sorry,
lad; hope you understand," she said, watching as the boy stumbled about for a moment in
confusion. "Had to weaken you a bit so we won't have too much of a struggle."
Andrea loosened the rope and yanked it around Jim, who struggled madly as if he had
never been hit. For such a small person, he was still able to knock the captain's hands
away.
"Yukon, hold him still for me, will ya?" Blanche ordered, rolling her eyes. Yukon
stepped up in front of Jim, who tried to bolt for the deck, but was nearly whiplashed back
by one burly arm of the grown pirate's. "Careful!" the captain snapped. "Wouldn't want
our treasure being injured."
Yukon pinned the boy's arms to his side and held him while Andrea carefully bound him
and knotted the rope precisely.
"Now all we need is a gag!" she gushed, admiring her handiwork. The captain rummaged
through her pockets and retrieved a dirty bandanna. "Hope this works - hold his mouth
shut." Yukon clamped his hands around Jim's jaw. "Perfect!" Andrea said, pulling back
when she was done. "Now, go on with Yukon, boy, no need to have all these hostile
feelings. It's not you we want, it's your papa. You see, I'm sure after he's come with our
ransom money, he'll be wanting to fight."
"Mmmffmmffmmm!" Jim protested, eyes narrowed to slits. Even bound and gagged, he
was a fierce little nuisance.
"Don't think we can win, eh?" Andrea guessed. "Don't you worry about that."
"But, Captain! All four of us ain't no match for Jack Sparrow!" Ozzy whispered loudly.
"Shut up, you buffoon!" Andrea snapped. "The stupid kid didn't know that until now!"
"Mffmmfoo!" Jim retorted.
"Oh, you did not!" the captain shot back. "Carry him to the ship, crew!" She turned
around and retrieved a scrap of parchment from her jacket and a quill, and quickly
scrawled a ransom note. "...Got boy...Ransom...20,000 gold pieces...Soon as you
can...Martinique-" she paused in her muttering to sigh in honor at the island she had
picked. "Kindest personal regards..." She tapped her quill against her chin thoughtfully.
"Captain Blackbeard."
Jim gave a snort of laughter before being thrown onto the joke of a pirate ship, the
Intrepid.
A/N: Good? Bad? Like? No? It's 9:45 PM and yes; I'm tired already. Sad. Luckily, I
think I write the best late at night; the problem is, when I read over my stuff the next day I
think it's terrible. So what deh you think? Hopefully Andrea Blanche is as far from a
Mary Sue as possible. PS - it's said "Ahn-dray-uh." Thanks for reading! Please review!
:D :D :D