Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean, nor any of the original characters from the movie. I do, however, own the plot of this story, and quite a few of the characters herein. Anyone you don't recognize from the movie is probably mine.
Description: When Jeremy, a retired pirate, and his daughter seek refuge on an island that turns feral and rabid approximately three nights a month, his daughter is kidnapped by creatures of the night. Jeremy seeks revenge, while an unknowing citizen of the village finally discovers the horrible truth of the island's occupants.
Author's Notes: Alright, alright. That description sucked. There's going to be a lot more going on than that. And don't worry, Cap'n Jack (and possibly Will and/or Elizabeth, but I haven't decided yet) will be in here. There are, to my knowledge, no Mary-Sues in this story, this is not a self-insertion, and there most probably won't be any romance going on between characters (except possibly canon 'ships). So no worries there, savvy?
This is my first PotC fic'. Go easy on me, please.
Prologue: Port Azure
Hazy clouds drifted languidly across a raven sky. Even behind the clouds, the rays of the full moon stretched wide, illuminating the waves below. A small, solitary rowboat moved amongst these waves, towards a medium stretch of land. Home of a humble village called Port Azure, so named for the waters surrounding the isle.An aged man in tatty clothing sat near the back of the boat, propelling it forward by the means of two oars. A filthy, ragged tricorner hat rested aloft matted grey hair. Several scars adorned the man's face, reminders of harsher times. His once bright blue eyes were now greyed and weary.
A tiny bundle lay at his feet, curled under a thin blanket. Short, dirty blonde hair in tangles, peaking out from under the dirty cloth. Blue eyes rested behind closed eyelids, and a mess of freckles were splashed across her nose and cheeks.
The girl, near 14 in age, answered to the name Allyson Belle. Her father, captain of this miniature vessel, Jeremy Belle as was his name, and age of 49.
Jeremy, a retired pirate, sought refuge for him and his daughter, away from anyone who might find his face familiar. He had plundered his fair share of towns, and stolen his fair share of gold. Now he wished only a quiet place to live out the rest of his life, away from the sword clashing and swashbuckling.
The man's arms were stiffening horribly from a day of rowing, and he was grateful as they pulled up to the beach. As the bow of the boat connected with sand, the figure once sleeping soundly jerked suddenly awake, head of tossled hair poking out of the boat, and sleep filled eyes trying to regain focus.
The elder chuckled huskily, laying a great paw upon the child's head and fluffing her hair vigorously. She grunted indignantly, shoving the arm away. Jeremy chuckled a bit more as he swung his legs over the side of the boat, splashing slightly. He removed his hat and tossed it into the back of the boat, then waded onto shore as Allyson bounced to the front of the craft and onto the sand, desperate to get away from that wretched thing she'd been trapped in the past two days.
Allyson began smoothing her hair with her hands, parting it down the middle. She wore what would be a black dress, if it's length didn't stop just below the waist. Under that were grey cotton pants, tucked into boots a few sizes too big for her feet. A fat belt rested at her middle, drooping to one side.
Jeremy grabbed the edge of the front of the boat, tugging it onto land as his daughter skipped about the beach. Moving to the rear of the now beached boat, he pulled a heavy burlap bag to the seat where he'd been rowing and opened it up. He rifled through it momentarily before retrieving a small, leather coin purse. Stuffing the change filled purse into his pocket, he dropped the bag back into the bottom of the boat, a loud jingling resonating.
Smiling, content, he turned to his daughter, who had ceased her frolic and was staring intently into the dark, foreboding looking jungle of trees just off the beach.
Port Azure was set into a small island, half of which was ruled by a deep forest. The forest's trees were thick knitted and covered in vines and moss. Birds and primates of many shapes and sizes whooped and called throughout most of the day, but for now it was fairly silent.
Jeremy had beached the boat here, as apposed to the town's docks, for seclusion. Privacy. And to get out of paying to dock his boat. He intended on arriving in the town quietly, not to draw attention to himself and his daughter. At least, not right away.
Walking up to Allyson, he took hold of her hand and led her down the beach towards Port Azure. As they continued their trek, Jeremy noticed that her gaze kept wandering back to the forest .
He was about to inquire about her curiosity when a loud, resounding howl emanated from just beyond the trees. Jeremy's heart skipped a beat at the sudden clamor. It was so close! The chilling melody was soon joined by another, not far away. And another quickly followed. Father and daughter stopped slowly, full attention upon the forest's wall. Allyson's hand clenched Jeremy's tightly, her thin frame shaking.
As the first howl died, the two others carried on a few seconds. Jeremy squeezed Allyson's hand briefly.
Two glowing orbs suddenly blinked open just inside the forest, bright yellow in color. A deep, long growl broke the short lived silence. Jeremy gasped, knees feeling suddenly weak. Allyson's hand flew to her mouth, eyes wide in terror.
It was too far to dare try running to Port Azure, but perhaps if they could make it back to the boat the wolves would be intimidated by the water. They'd have a better chance on the water, even if the wolves decided to swim.
Jeremy's hand tightened around Allyson's again, and he tugged her along as he began backing towards the boat. She followed suit, stumbling slightly at first, as if she had forgot how to walk momentarily.
The yellow orbs bobbed forward slowly, as if not worried about their prey escaping.
A large, shaggy wolf head stretched out of the undergrowth. It was big. Bigger than any wolf Jeremy had ever imagined being. And the body the head was attached to was most definitely not the body of any wolf Jeremy had ever seen pictures of. The wolf was hunched over as it walked. The thing looked deformed! It was huge, at least eight feet tall. Bulging muscles rippled beneath its silver pelt as it sauntered forward.
It was unnervingly amazing. With the head of a large wolf, and the torso and arms like that of a human, though horribly mutated. The beast stopped and reared up onto its legs. Even though it stood at its full height, the creature's legs seemed bent forward. Long, huge, wolf feet and claws. Its forepaws were somewhat human, with thumbs. But it had thick, black pads jutting out, and a long claw at the end of each digit.
At the sight of the wolf raising up, the young girl at Jeremy's side couldn't contain the shrill scream that escaped her lips. The wolf's ears perked at the noise, and a long, smooth tongue ran from a corner of its mouth to the front.
Sensing an inescapable fate, Jeremy jerked backwards, wrenching his daughter around with him and tugging her along as he sprinted towards the boat. The wolf lifted its head, eyes widening slightly. Growling beneath its breath it leapt forward.
Jeremy thrust Allyson at the boat as he went to heave it into the water. But the wolf caught up. It swung its trunk-like arms at the much smaller mortal, connecting with his chest and knocking him easily away.
Jeremy rolled a few feet, kicking up sand behind him. The desperate need to get up and protect his offspring pushed pain away from his mind, but he was slightly dazed, and his vision blurred. He was shaky upon his feet, but he had to get to Allyson!
His vision cleared and he realized that the beast was stalking away, an unconscious Allyson slung over one shoulder.
"No!" He screamed desperately, chasing after the towering beast. But, as he approached, the wolf shoved him roughly, easily causing the man to stumble.
Jeremy picked himself up again, ready to have another go at the werebeast. But just as he was taking a step forward, two creatures, each just as hideous as the first, stepped into the dim light. Jeremy reeled backwards, heart sick with defeat. The fact that this battle could not be won by him alone was obvious to Jeremy.
The first wolf sort of grunted to the others, both staring hungrily at Jeremy, whom was already backing away. He couldn't protect Allyson now, this he admitted to himself. But if he could escape, he would have revenge for her on these creatures in the near future.
Just before the first wolf entered the forest, Allyson's eyes fluttered slowly open. Fixing on Jeremy, who was now dashing back to the boat, she groaned lowly.
"Unhh... Papa?" Her brows knitted together in confusion. But as he rowed swiftly away, and two large animalistic beasts chased after, comprehension dawned on her. Before she could call out to him, warm blackness filtered back into her mind.
Jeremy had been extremely lucky. He was still quite baffled by his luck. The wolf creatures had started at him as he began rowing, they were wading into the water, mere yards away, and then the wolf carrying Allyson growled harshly from beyond the forest wall. And the creatures stopped. Their tails twitched in irritation, ears laying against their craniums as they turned around to follow their comrade.
He was at least a mile out at sea, now, and he had not stopped weeping from the moment the creatures had abandoned him.
Rivulets of tears poured down his cheeks and neck, but he didn't dare remove his hands from the task of rowing to wipe them away. He had to find help! But what could he possibly tell the authorities? He highly doubted they would believe an old seadog's fairytales of full moons and werewolves! But what other options did he have?
By the next evening Port Royal was looming just ahead, growing steadily closer with each row. The trip back had taken a considerably less amount of time. He had barely stopped rowing at all. He had to take a few rests of course, for fear of his arms imploding. He hadn't eaten once since escaping Port Azure. His stomach churned violently, desperate to gain attention from its master. But thoughts of food were far from Jeremy's mind.
The pain in his arms was dulled by the picture of Allyson resting in the center of his mind.
His eyes were burning by the time he'd reached the docks, and he tried desperately to bite back the fresh batch of tears welling up inside him.
As soon as he pulled up alongside one of the docks, Jeremy dropped the oars in the boat, and scrambled out as swiftly as possible without falling into the water. He sprinted as best he could over the length of the dock, shoving past someone and nearly knocking them over.
That someone, apparently the person who dealt with the sailors who arrived at Port Royal, was yelling at the man, but Jeremy paid no heed.
As Jeremy passed through the fairly large port town, he noticed vaguely that hardly anyone was out and about. Besides a few townspeople working outside here and there the place was a ghost town. He pushed the thoughts away from his mind as the jail house came into view.
Not really knowing of a better place to start looking for someone of authority, he headed there instead. As he jogged to the door he could see no guards stationed outside. His heart was racing and he fought to calm himself as he knocked on the door, careful not to make it sound too erratic.
Extremely impatient, he waited only a few seconds before pushing the door open and poking his head inside. The innards of the jail house were very dim, lit only by a few torches along the walls and a window in one of the cells.
At least 20 grubby, weary faces stared at him from behind the iron bars. He was taken aback as he realized just how full this jail was! The tiny enclosures looked pretty cramped, he guessed about seven occupants to a cell.
Unsure of what to do, or where any guards were at the time, he strolled down the steps into the jail and cleared his throat.
"Ye gentlemen have any clue as to where yer keeper be?" He asked, his voice a little huskier than intended.
A few of the prisoners snorted, but one of them, a fairly young looking man with his head pressed against the front bars, and sandy blonde hair covered in filth, raised a thin arm up. In his hand he held a thick bone, with which he pointed at the wall behind Jeremy.
Jeremy, not really expecting to see anything explaining the absent officers, turned to the wall to find a list posted. He strode over to it quickly and glanced over it. Names and dates. This was a list of prisoners to be hanged!
At the top of the list in bolded letters, larger than the rest of the list, read the name "Jack Sparrow" and it appeared he was being punished at that exact moment!
No wonder most everyone was nowhere to be found.
Jeremy glanced over the rest of the names quickly, and stopped dead when he thought he saw something familiar. He scanned the parchment again until his gaze rested on exactly what he thought he saw.
"Pintel, David." He repeated the name aloud, and heard a sudden shuffle behind him. He spun around quickly, just as a bulky, balding man pushed his way to the front of one of the cells.
"Eh?" The pirate, Pintel, pressed his face against the bars, squinting through the gloom and trying to get a good look at this person.
"Heavens! It is you, Pintel!" Jeremy rushed to the cell suddenly, a grin stretching over his face.
"Belle? That you, mate?" Pintel's lips quirked as the familiar face finally came into focus.
"Aye!" Jeremy, momentarily forgetting his troubles, chuckled slowly. "What've ye got yeself into this time, boy?"
"Hangin', I'm afraid." Pintel suddenly frowned.
By this time all of the other pirates were staring at the two curiously, and the blonde pirate in the cell next to Pintel's stalked up to his side.
"This yer friend, Pinters?" The pirate motioned towards Jeremy; Pintel nodded.
"Aye. Old friend." Pintel grinned again. "Say, Belle, mind givin' yer old friend a bit o' help?" At this all of the other pirates in the cells jumped to attention immediately, standing and leaning against the front bars.
"How's that? There's no guards to knock unconscious, if ye haven't noticed." Jeremy waved his hand vaguely at the jail house for emphasis.
"There be one guard here still that we didn't think to tell ye about. And ye needn't knock him out." Pintel stretched a meaty arm through the bars, finger pointed at a curled ball of matted fur resting in a dark corner, a ring of keys clamped between it's jaws.
Pintel lowered his arm to the bars as the blonde next to him thrust the bone at Jeremy.
"'Ere, take this." Jeremy nodded, grabbing the bone and began to stalk slowly towards the dog as quietly as possible. He didn't make it very far. The dog jerked suddenly awake at the sound of enclosing footfalls.
"Bit skittish, idnee?"
The dog sat up quickly, looking immediately to Jeremy, who grinned innocently. The dog's ears pulled back as Jeremy moved the bone slowly toward it.
"C'mon luv, don' be shy now." Jeremy cooed lowly as the other pirates watched in desperation. Suddenly the dog began to move towards Jeremy, though painfully slowly, scooting slightly closer every few seconds.
The pirates all seemed to hold in their breath as the dog's mouth slowly opened. More seconds passed, and then the dog abruptly dropped the keys, snatched the bone out of Jeremy's hands, and bolted to the back of the jail house.
A rousing chorus of cheers exploded, and a grinning Jeremy sauntered over to the cells, now holding the ring of keys in his hand. He began unlocking each cell, and as he opened Pintel's the pirate lunged at him in a huge bear hug, then bear hugged the blonde pirate whom Jeremy noticed was standing suddenly next to him.
A few of the pirates slapped Jeremy on the back thankfully and the jail house was filled with talk as the pirates began to devise a means of escape. Jeremy explained quickly in a hushed voice to Pintel (and inadvertently the blonde pirate, who stuck close to Pintel and listened in to their conversation) about how his daughter had been kidnapped and how he needed help.
"I know it sounds quite farfetched-" He stopped short as he watched Pintel and the blonde pass each other a look, then grin as they turned back to him.
"Not really." Pintel stated simply, a mischievous glint in his yellowed eyes.
Pintel had talked it over with the rest of his crewmates and they all agreed to help Jeremy in return for him literally saving their necks. And, with Barbossa gone, what else was there really to do? This had lifted some of the weight on Jeremy's mind, though it was still plagued by images of Allyson and the beasts.
Jeremy and the pirates had made it nearly all the way down to the waterfront before so much as seeing any townspeople of any kind. Some of the pirates had split away from the main group, their plan being to find any small boats easy enough to steal and bring back to the others.
The pirates and Jeremy, waiting under a large stone bridge for their cohorts, were in very high spirits. They joked and laughed quietly amongst themselves, though careful not to make too much racket.
Pintel and his blonde companion were leaning against the wall of the bridge, Jeremy standing in front of them, looking absently across the beach, no doubt watching as a few people walked past the hideout.
"So, what's yer friend's name, then?" Jeremy asked Pintel, without bothering to look at him.
"This muttonhead 'ere?" Pintel grinned at the blonde, who gave him a dirty look, "Why, that's me best chum, Ragetti." Pintel chuckled as Ragetti suddenly broke into a grin.
"Aye, ye can call me James, if ye want." Ragetti bent his leg to rest his foot against the stone wall behind him. Pintel rolled his eyes.
"No one calls ye James, save for yer mum, why should 'e be any different?"
Ragetti shrugged, smiling dumbly. Jeremy smiled politely and stuck his hand out towards Ragetti, who straightened up and grabbed it in turn.
"Pleasure to make yer acquaintance, James Ragetti."
Ragetti, a lopsided smile on his face, shook Jeremy's hand as he replied, "Likewise- err… Belle, was it?"
"Jeremy," Pintel amended.
"Jeremy," Ragetti repeated immediately, "And call me Ragetti." He smirked as Pintel smacked his own head, growling slightly.
Jeremy smiled and dropped his hand back at his side. Ragetti leaned back against the stone and suddenly began chattering amiably away at Pintel, who appeared to be only listening with half an ear.
Moments later the five departed pirates could be seen rowing up to the beach, most of them grinning triumphantly. The men under the bridge looked over their surroundings cautiously before jogging down to meet their comrades.
Most of the men jumped immediately into the boats, eager to get as far away from Port Royal as possible, but Pintel and Ragetti stayed on the beach with Jeremy, who still needed to fetch his own boat.
Jeremy walked up to one of the last men standing on the beach, one whom Jeremy figured must have been among the highest ranked of the crew. The dark skinned man was tall and well muscled, and had some sort of markings all over his face. Scars, possibly, but Jeremy wasn't sure. Jeremy dug in a pocket sewn inside of his brown vest and retrieved a worn, folded map with deep creases all over it. He also revealed a compass, both of which he handed to the man whenever he turned toward him.
"We'll be heading to Tortuga, for starts." Jeremy stated as the man before him looked down at the objects now resting in his large palm. The man, Bo'sun as Jeremy would later find his name to be, grunted and nodded once in acknowledgement, before stuffing the handful into a pouch tied around his waist and pushing the last boat on the beach into the water and climbing in.
The boats seemed slightly cramped, but Jeremy figured they would do. At least until they could find a suitable ship to commandeer.
Jeremy, Pintel, and Ragetti retrieved Jeremy's boat with little trouble. As they approached the dock a man, whom Jeremy assumed must have been the one he had previously knocked into, noticed them immediately and jogged forward.
Pintel and Ragetti, who had been walking close behind Jeremy, ducked their heads in attempt to hide their faces.
"Whoa! Hold up, there! You've got to pay the docking fee!" The man slowed to a walk as the trio approached him.
"That'll be a shilling, and I'll also need your names."
Jeremy patted his pocket to see if the pouch of money he'd put their yesterday was still there. It indeed was, and he removed it and shook out about five coins, to which he held out to the man before him.
"What if I give you all of these coins…" the man looked down at the shillings sat in Jeremy's grubby palm, "and we leave?"
"No names?"
"No names."
The dockmaster contemplated this a moment, eyes on the coins, before holding his hand out.
"Very well, family Smith."
Jeremy dropped the coins in his hand with a grin. He led Pintel and Ragetti to the boat as the dockmaster scribbled something onto a piece of parchment he held.
Pintel and Ragetti kept their heads down until they'd rowed a few yards beyond the dock.
Now drifting further out to sea underneath a bright sky, Jeremy was surprisingly in high spirits. Ragetti had opted to row, for a while, and Pintel and Jeremy sat opposite of him, telling tales of all that had happened since last they met.
When Ragetti suddenly began to tell Jeremy of something that had happened on his and Pintel's old ship, the Black Pearl, the two pirates turned to look at him. It was the first time Jeremy had really looked at Ragetti in decent lighting, and he almost immediately saw that something was… amiss with his left eye. Ragetti didn't seem to notice Jeremy's staring at his eye, and mistook it for him paying attention to the story, but Jeremy was indeed staring.
The eye. It was oddly discolored and empty, and it didn't seem to swivel in accordance with the other eye. It also protruded quite grotesquely out of it's socket. Not too much, but it definitely wasn't normal. Jeremy resolved that it must be a replacement, though not one made of glass.
Jeremy removed his attention from the eye, focusing again on Ragetti's story as the boat moved over the waves.
A/N: Erm… I'm not sure if that's where I should leave off. The ending seems a bit impromptu, doesn't it? Shrug It just feels like I don't have anything else to put… and if I did, it would seem a bit rambling, y'know? Anyway. Sorry for the lack of Jack (heh, I rhyme!) in this chapter, but hopefully he'll show up in the next. I'm not sure where, though. You might actually have to endure another chapter without him (Gasp!) but I'll try and get him to you ASAP.
Oh, and a few things you should know/don't need to point out to me because I know they're mistakes or whatever: Yeah, I made up Port Azure. Forgive me. Also, I do realize that at first it seems like Allyson is a baby the way I described her. Sorry 'bout that. And there's tons of stuff wrong with the whole trip to Port Royal… Oh, well… And I made up Ragetti an' Pintel's first names. Just having a bit of fun. Pintel's nickname is from another story, not mine, but I thought it was really nifty =)
(I'll put this at the bottom, because I know most people probably won't want to read it :P )
Dedication: To Tori, my best friend in the entire world, who is so patient with me. I swear I'll have all of my stories finished, eventually. All for you, bebbeh. And Neil, a really good friend, who read a couple of stories of mine for me and gave me some helpful hints. And last, but oh-so-definitely not least, my little Carmela woman! Who oft times feeds my malnourished, tiny, feeble, runt of an ego and who always puts a smile on my face =) Like that right there.