On Sparrow Wings

Chapter 3: Surprise, Surprise

Disclaimer: Me: I OWN IT ALL!!!!!!!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! 

                     ((Capt. Jack Sparrow wiggles over))

                  Jack: Now, love, that's not entirely true, is it? Ye wouldn't want the authorities to come hunt ye down, would ye? Be content with the soundtrack and me…

                     ((I hang my head))

                  Me: Your right, the music is wonderful, I love song 2, and there's you… and of course my story… I only wish I could own it all. ((to the crowd)) He's right; I don't own anything 'cept my soundtrack… and Jack, but you can't own people, so… That's it. This is just for fun…

                  Jack: There ye go, love. That wasn't so hard. ((he sees the tears in my eyes)) Come here, let's give ye a hug. ((I run to him and he holds me as I burst into tears)) There, there, love, just cry it out. ((he looks up)) Well, I suppose ye'll just have to excuse us and get on with the story.
                    ((Jack picks me up and heads for the door))

                 Me: Enjoy… sniff…

                                                            ~*~

            It was dawn and all the clouds were turning a flaming red. They reflected on the sea, melding heaven and ocean together in intense glory. The only mar in the wash of color was a ship, intent on riding the wind. A lone sailor in the crows nest marveled at the splendor. Another sailor was climbing up to tell him to get down.

            "Hey, Mark! What do yeh think yer doin'?" Jack Sparrow yelled peevishly.

            "Watching the sunrise. Beautiful, isn't it?" Mark murmured.

            "Beautiful?" Jack raised an eyebrow. "All it is is a load of trouble."       

            "What do you mean? Look at it!"

            "Mark, where have ye been all yer life? Haven't ye ever heard of the old proverb 'red sky at mornin', sailor take warnin''"

            "No, what does it mean?"

            Jack gave a long suffering sigh. "It means there's gonna be a storm."

            "Oh. That's not really a good thing, is it?" Mark asked.

            "No! No, it's not really a good thing!" Jack shouted. "What's wrong with ye!? Storms are never a good thing, even when yer in a port! They break things and make noise and everything gets wet and it's not a good thing! Get below deck to help everyone tie everything down! Now! And the next time ye talk to me, pretend ye have some brains!" He stormed back down to the deck and stomped towards the captain's quarters. Mark sat there, shocked by Jack's outburst. Mark hadn't done anything different than usual, maybe asked a few questions more, but nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe it was the storm. Mark climbed down and headed below deck. He found everyone scurrying around, tying articles up.

            "What's the hurry?" Mark asked Ivan as he hurried by. "The wind is barely blowing out there."

            "Calm before the storm. There's a real ripper coming and it's gonna get here soon, trust me." He moved over to help Hairy wrestle one of the cannons into place.

            Mark just shook his head and went to help. Jack stomped downstairs and started directing people. "Winger, what are ye doin'? Move that over there, where it belongs. And you!" he shouted at Hans. "That doesn't need to be tied! What are you thinking!? We might need it when the storm hits! And all of ye! Make sure there's extra rope for when things get dicey on deck!" He growled and stomped back up the stairwell howling about the incompetence of his fellow pirates. Benjie chuckled into his sleeve.

            "What so funny?" Mark inquired. "He seemed really angry to me."

            "Ye hev ter understand. Jack always gits this way 'fore a storm. Puts 'im on edge, they do…" He shook his head and chuckled again. "When the storm finally hits, he'll straighten beck out, and be Jack again… jes' ye wait an' see…"

                                                            ~~~

            After three hours of securing miscellaneous items and waiting, the storm hit in a flash of fury. Most of the crew was below deck playing cards or napping. The ones on deck, however, could see it coming and tried to prepare. Holding on to anything solid they waited for just a few seconds before it hit them like a wall. It caused such a racket that the men below practically jumped out of their skins. Then the ship rocked violently, sending everyone crashing to one side of the ship.

            "Above, we're needed above!" Timmory cried. Mark rushed upwards, totally unprepared for the sight that met his eyes. It was dark as night, except for the flashes of lightning illuminating things with a vicious light, and water was crashing all around. Men slipped and skid from one secure place to next. Captain Langford was at the wheel, hollering orders, Jack was in the middle of everything, repeating Langford's orders, helping those who needed it, and looking like a madman. Mark scurried about, as best he was able to, holding things solid, or passing a rope where it was needed. Suddenly a loud crack rent the air and Langford shouted something unintelligible to Jack.

            "Main sail's come loose! Mark, run up and tie it! Quick! Hairy, set the rigging right! Gunnar, go with Mark!" Jack shouted into the wind. Mark gave a nod, building his courage up. He and Gunnar slid over to the ropes and began climbing.

            Upon reaching the top they surveyed the damage. Gunnar directed Mark as they climbed out to solve the problem. The whole time the ship rocked back and forth, tossed like a toy on the waves. The two men set to work pulling the sail straight and securing it. Gunnar glanced up, and seeing a huge wave approaching, shouted at the top of his lungs, "Duck!"

            While Mark didn't catch the entire word, he got the gist of it and held on with all his might. The wave crashed over the ship, pitching it sideways. The two were left clinging to the rigging like half-drowned rats. When the ship had mostly righted itself, they continued their work. Quickly gathering the sail, they wrapped the length of rope around it. Gunnar was tying the last knot when the next colossal wave struck. The shockingly icy waters hit Mark and Gunnar full force, pounding them like angry fists. Gunnar clung to the ropes for all he was worth, and Mark grabbed quickly, but it was too late. The waters had drug the line out of his reach and he was battered off. Falling in the wave, Mark fought down a scream and lost. His voice was lost in the wind. Gunnar yelled as soon as he saw Mark torn from his perch, but water filled his mouth and he choked. He spit and sputtered, trying to holler. The last of the wave crashed down and he was free.

            "Man overboard!"

            Jack's head snapped up. Man overboard. He looked around. Everyone that was on deck was accounted for. He looked up and saw only Gunnar's terrified face looking back. He ran to the side of the ship. There! He saw a shape bobbing in the water. It disappeared. His eyes strove in the darkness, looking for something, anything! The shape reappeared. Jack dove in.

            "Jack! No!" Langford shouted. "He's lost!" It was too late.

            The force of the impact had caused Mark to lose consciousness. He sucked in water and began to sink. In the water, Jack cast about for a sign. A hand. Jack saw it just before it disappeared under the thrashing sea. He dove under; his eyes open, seeking some shred of humanity. He swam toward the place where the hand had been, hoping to see Mark. The water was so dark and the salt stung his eyes. He was running out of breath but he kept swimming. At last he saw him. Jack pushed himself forward, desperate to reach him before it was too late. Grasping Mark's arm, he kick up as fast as he could. He needed to breathe! Gasping as his head broke the surface, he almost inhaled as much water as oxygen. The crew members at the side of the ship hollered when they saw him. He swam with one arm towards the ship, occasionally shoved under by attacking waves. Every time he and Mark reappeared there was shouting on board. A rope was lowered and Jack grabbed on with the last of his strength. The two were hauled up and Mark was flung on the deck. Jack crawled over and started poking and prodding him. He was softly slapping Mark's cheek when Ivan made a startling observation.

            "Look at his hair… It's longer than Hairy's"

            Jack glanced up and shrugged. Hairy had lots of hair, granted it wasn't all on his head, so Mark could, too. Jack was more concerned with the fact that he couldn't get Mark to breathe. Try as he might, nothing was working. Something had to be constricting him. A quick search revealed nothing obvious. Jack was getting stressed. In a last ditch effort he cut open Mark's shirt and froze. Everyone gaped. Mark had breasts. They were bound up, tight as could be to keep them hidden, but now, with out a concealing shirt, it was quite obvious that they were there. He was a she.

            Jack came to his senses quite suddenly. Girl of not, Mark still wasn't breathing. He reached down and cut through the bindings on one side. Mark gasped and started coughing up water. His, or her, chest convulsed violently and deep, racking coughs continued to bring up water. Jack carefully closed Mark's shirt as best he could, offering the girl some modesty. She convulsed one last time, then lay quiet. Jack was reaching for her pulse when her eyes fluttered open. Her gaze settled on Jack and read his shocked expression. She became aware of the looseness around her chest and her worst fears were confirmed. She had been found out at last. With that one last terrifying thought, she passed out.

            As the silence drug on, Captain Langford shouted to his men for news. Jack gave Hairy a meaningful look and picked the girl up. Hairy slid over to the captain and Jack carried her below. He settled in to wait for the captain's arrival. Soon enough, Langford was below, staring at Jack.

            "What is it, Jack? Hairy said there was something important ye needed to speak ter me about. It's not the lad, is it?" He looked anxious.

            "Aye, it's the lad. Look, Capt'n, Mark isn't a lad at all. He's a girl." Jack motioned to Mark with one arm.

            "No…" Langford breathed.

            "It's true…" Jack looked down at Mark, feeling a bit betrayed. His best pal, the one he'd risk his life for, was not anything like what he had been. It hurt Jack to know that he'd been lied to so ferociously. He felt sick and it had nothing to do with the tossing of the ship.

            Langford looked at Jack unsmilingly. "Get me when she revives. There are some questions that need to be answered."

            Jack nodded and Langford left for the wheel

                                                            ~~~

Jack stayed with Mark, leaving the rest of the crew to deal with the storm with out him. For two more hours the storm raged. The girl was unconscious through it all. Captain Langford came to see how Jack was faring.

"Any word out of her yet?" he inquired.

"No, Capt'n. She just lies there, like the dead." Jack shivered.

"It's bad luck to speak of the dead, Jack. Keep watch" He headed back up top. Jack sat down and started thinking. He thought about how he and Mark had met and how they had become friends. He thought about how well they got along and how he used to tease Mark. Then it hit him. Mark's responses to the normalest of events hadn't been like the responses of any other man that Jack had met. That's what had made him so fun to tease. Mark didn't like rum. He had sounded shocked when Jack had commented on the distress the ugly statue had caused in Tortuga last month. And for being a farrier's son, he wasn't totally up to snuff… But then there was the fighting. That pointed to a masculine background. But Mark had said the Royal Navy had taught him… How much of what Mark had said was true, and how much was lies? Jack shook his head. He was so confused. He didn't know what to think. He and Mark had been so close, only Mark wasn't Mark anymore, but Jack still thought of her as Mark and as a friend, but then he felt betrayed. He shook his head again.

Chrispy, one the quieter of the crew, came down. "Capt'n Langford requests knowledge of the young lady currently residing in you care. What news have you?" Chrispy was an ex-slave, bought free, and far too educated for most of the crew. Jack, however, could communicate just fine.

"Said young lady is still quiescent in the same position as when the Capt'n was down here. Savvy?"

Chrispy nodded and headed for the stairs.

"Hey, wait!" Jack said suddenly. "I think she blinked. Yep, she's awake! Chrispy, collect the capt'n. It's time for an interview."

                                                ~~~

Captain Langford strode into the cabin. Mark gave him one terrified look and noticeably shrank back. Langford did not look like the cheeriest man alive. A creased brow and a dark frown overshadowed anything else in his expression. He looked at Mark and began to pace. Mark's eyes followed the movement nervously. Jack stood by, torn by loyalty to friend and loyalty to captain. He knew Mark was in for something big, but he wasn't sure how big.

"Alright, lass. Let's begin at the beginning. What is your true name?" Langford stopped pacing and stood facing the girl.

She looked startled. "M-my name? It's, uh, it's…" Her eyes darted around, coming to rest on Jack. Something he had once said entered her mind. Can't ever give up. That's another pirate thing ye'll have to learn. She straightened up. "My name is Maris Katharine Morrison," she said.

"Righty, Miss Morrison. What are ye doin' on my ship!?" he glared at her.

"I ran away from home disguised as a boy, and made Jack take me to your ship so I could be totally and completely free. That's what I'm doing on your ship." She replied haughtily.

"Ran away, eh? As a boy, eh? With no thought to others, eh?" he growled. "Just hop on any ship, not thinkin' at all. Never occurred to ye that ye'd bring bad luck ta whoever took yeh on. I want to know why ye did this!"

She frowned. "Pardon me, but I don't bring bad luck. I did 'this' because I wanted to have a life. My life. Not the one my parents had planned out for me. Is that good enough, or must there be some deeper, uglier motivation?"

"Pardon me, but ye do bring bad luck! Yer a woman! All women bring bad luck."

"Oh, good grief! I'm a good crew member and you know it! You just don't want to admit that you were fooled!" Maris lost her temper and stood glaring at Langford. He looked slightly taken aback.

"What did ye say?" he said in a dangerous tone of voice. "Do ye think I'm foolish enough to deny that I was taken in by yer disguise? Ye've got the wrong end of the oar on that one. I admit it; I thought ye were a boy. But I can see what it brought me. A miserable, damaging ruddy storm! And its all yer fault!"

Maris didn't know how to respond to that. She knew it was preposterous to think that her presence had brought on the storm, but she was too angry to think of how to reply. Jack could see the impending conflict and attempted to intervene.

"Come on, Capt'n, she is a good crew member. She works really hard, and this is the first bad thing that's happened since before we took her on. Things were bound to go sour sooner or later."

"You stay out of this, Jack. I'll not have a woman on my ship. The next port we drop anchor in, she's gettin' off."

Jack frowned. The captain was acting rather irrational. He could feel his loyalty to Mark, or rather Maris, strengthening the longer he was around Langford. And he didn't like the thought off abandoning her in some strange place. Maris was radiating anger and it was apparent that she was about to say something stupid.

"So, Capt'n, since we've decided what to do about Miss Morrison, why don't we let her get some sleep so she's out of the way and you can go rest in yer quarters an I'll supervise the crew," Jack suggested quickly. Maris turned her glare to him. He tried to tell her not to say anything with out attracting Langford's attention. She seemed to get the message because she stopped glaring at him and stood silently surveying the captain. "She can have my quarters till we get to port and I'll sleep with the rest of the crew."

Langford gave a curt nod and shouted for Chrispy. "Take Miss Morrison to Jack's quarters." He turned to Jack. "I want to talk with ye for a moment." He strode out and Jack followed.

"If you will gather your things, miss, and come with me?" Chrispy gave a slight bow.

Maris gave a huge sigh and seemed to deflate. "Certainly," she murmured.

                                                            ~~~

Maris had no illusions. She had known she would be found out sooner or later and had planned accordingly. While she had only male clothing, she had brought her favorite of her old nightgowns. She pulled it from the bottom of her pack and looked at it. It was a pale green and reached almost to the floor. With some ruffles at the bottom and at the end of its short sleeves, and a scooped neck, it was nothing extravagant. And loathe as she was to admit it, it would be nice to sleep in something other than the clothes she had worked all day in. She frowned at the thought of never flopping down again in her clothes to sleep. Then she sighed and changed into the nightgown. Sitting down in a chair set in a corner, Maris had barely started brushing her hair when the door opened and Jack burst in. She stood up, startled. Then she felt herself get angry all over.

"What? Come to tell me not to touch anything? That I might give it bad luck?"

Jack stopped short and his mouth fell open. Maris was just standing there, in nothing but a cotton nightgown. Her hair was loose and falling to her waist. Her angry expression and heated words broke his stupor.

"What? No! No, I wanted to talk to you, but I, uh… I can come some other time." He made to leave, but Maris stopped him.

"Say what you have to say."

"I wanted to tell ye that I won't just let him dump ye somewhere. I'll help ye somehow… Yer my friend." He flashed her a quick grin and was gone. It was Maris's turn to stand staring with her mouth open, but all she could look at was the door.

                                                            ~~~

The next morning, Maris awoke to numerous shouts above her. She couldn't clearly hear what was happening so she dressed as quickly as possible and made for the stairs.

The crew was in a frenzy. Everyone was running around and dashing up and down. Shouts of "Make ready the cannons!" resounded over the ship. Maris grabbed Hans as he went by with two loaded pistols.

"What's going on?" she inquired.

He gave her a withering look and replied, "A ship from the Royal Navy is fast approaching."

                                                            ~*~

A/N: AAAAAHHH!!!!!!! I GOT PIRATES ON TUESDAY!!!!!!!! THE BLOOPERS ARE A RIOT!!! I LUV PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN!!!!  I worked extra hard on this to get it out around PotC's release date to celebrate. So here it is! The day after the movie was made available to the general public! AND I bought a PotC t-shirt on Saturday and of course wore it on Tuesday! So now my disclaimer is inaccurate… I own the soundtrack, a t-shirt and the movie!!! And to think Mom was gonna make me wait till Christmas! I stomped on that idea, I can tell you! So now that I'm freaking out with happiness, hope you liked the latest installment of the story! Review please! I'm eager to know your thoughts, good, bad, or indifferent! ((Jack:  Freaking out with happiness? Eager? Aren't those just the biggest understatements of the century?))

SUPER HUGS!!!!  Have some cookies! I LUV PotC!!!!!!  ((Runs into bedroom to watch the deleted scenes))