Disclaimer: I have no rights to PotC…
A/N: Once again I have gone over this chapter and made some little tweaks here and there. A kind reviewer had enlightened me to the fact that most people could both read and write back then so I changed the story around to be more accurate historically speaking :D Thanks for the info KrissXed!
Pirates of the Caribbean: Cursed Souls
Brianna stirred out of her light sleep as voices echoed through the storeroom doorway. She blinked getting her eyes accustomed to the darkness in the room and caught her breath as the door opened suddenly. Through the crack between the large crates she was hiding behind she could see a couple of pirates enter, rolling an empty keg before them.
"Just put it over by them crates," ordered the fatter one, who swayed unsteadily on his feet. "Blast it all! Hangovers have to be the bloodiest nasty things ever," he complained, rubbing his eyes with one hand.
"Oh aye, that they be!" giggled the other pirate.
"Shut yer trap!"
Ragetti ducked as Pintel's hand swiped through the air, intending to knock him against the head but missed completely as his depth perception wasn't the greatest at the moment due to last nights drinking fiesta. Ragetti laughed as he easily skipped out of harm's way, belching loudly as the movements stirred his stomach.
"That was some good ale thou' weren't it?"
"Some o' the best I've had in a long time," agreed Pintel. "But it's back to work now, must get ready to dock in Tortuga."
"Ahh Tortuga…I love that place," sighed Ragetti with a far-off look to his face. "Lovely ladies there be to keep a man 'appy." He made some vulgar movements with his hips that had Brianna blushing down to her core.
"Aye, that be the truth," Pintel laughed heartedly.
Brianna shrunk down even more against the wall as the pirates moved closer to her. She clapped a hand over her mouth hoping to quiet her ragged breathing and was sure that they could hear the loud thumping of her heart, which was beating so fast in her chest that it was beginning to make her dizzy.
Ragetti placed the barrel right next to one of the crates and cracked his knuckles as the job was completed, "There, that be a good spot."
They turned to leave when all of a sudden Brianna's stomach gargled loudly. She squeaked and wrapped her arms around herself as Pintel stopped walking.
"You bein' hungry already?" he grumbled, turning to his companion. "By gods man, we's just had a big ol' dinner last night and breakfast ain't even cold in yer belly yet."
Ragetti scratched his head confused. "It weren't me mate. I ain't been 'ungry since the meal. I'm bloody stuffed as tis."
Brianna's eyes widened as Pintel frowned, slowly turning towards her hiding place. She hunched over in a ball on the floor squeezing her eyes shut. She trembled with fear as she heard the pirate's footsteps move around the room.
Please let them leave, she prayed trying to keep her whimpering quiet. The footsteps stopped and she cracked open one eye. Beyond the crates the room was empty, neither of the two pirates could be seen and Brianna let out a little sigh of relief. They had left.
She wiped the sweat from her brow and straightened her shirt out.
Suddenly a large hand clamped down on her shoulder and grabbed a hold of her clothing, lifting her out from behind the crates. She cried out in surprise as she was swung against the wall none too gently with the hand firmly planted against her shoulder holding her immobile. Brianna looked up into two pairs of eyes as Pintel and Ragetti sneered down at her.
"Well well well. Wha' 'ave we got here?" Pintel murmured. The tone of his voice made Brianna go cold.
"It looks as if we picked up a stowaway," giggled Ragetti.
"O' course we did!" Pintel yelled at the younger pirate. "The question is… wha' shall we do wi' him?"
"Oh oh, I know!" Ragetti cried out happily. "We's kill 'em!"
"Aye, that we do," he flashed a wicked grin. "And d'you know how we's go about killin' stowaways, lad?"
Brianna didn't move; she was too frozen with fear.
Pintel leaned in close, his stagnant breath wafting down on her. "We's tie them up wi' a line, cut 'em a bit wi' a sword, and then throws 'em overboard."
"We's throws ye overboard," echoed Ragetti softly.
"Then we's tie the other end of that there rope to the ship and drag the body wi' us across the ocean."
"Across the ocean behind the ship."
"A little snack for the sharks, ye see."
Ragetti clapped his hands together with glee and Pintel pulled out a knife from his belt and waved it just in front of Brianna's nose.
"We cut ye up good but not too much lad. Don't want ye to be dyin' on us before the sharks come. Just enough to make the blood flow so that they'll be attracted to ye."
Brianna bit back a sob at his words. She knew that she must look completely terrified to the pirates but she didn't want to emphasize her fear even more.
"Let's bring him up on deck, Pintel!" Ragetti laughed, "Let the boys see the stowaway and get in the fun!"
"Aye." He grabbed her by the back of the neck and shoved her forward through the doorway.
She was kicked out onto the main deck and landed in a sprawled position before most of the ship's crew.
"Hey mates!" yelled Pintel. "Look wa' we found down in the storeroom!"
The other pirates stopped what they were doing and came over to them. A huge bear of a man walked right up to Brianna and lifted her to her feet none too gently. "A stowaway," he sneered, "And a scrawny one at that."
The others laughed and made jeering comments about her while she was shoved from one pirate's grasp to another. They took the pouch from her belt and found the coins she had taken.
"Pretty boy, pretty boy!" mocked one pirate.
"Shark bait!" yelled another.
Brianna landed in the middle of the circle that had formed around her. She sat there looking up at the crew with wide eyes.
The crowd parted suddenly allowing Barbossa through.
"Why are ye dogs not at work!" he barked at them.
Bo'sun, the giant black skinned pirate, stepped forward. "Pintel and Ragetti found us a stowaway, sir," he said in a rumbling voice. "What should we do with him?"
"Cut his throat!" shouted a pirate.
"No, use him as shark bait!" argued Ragetti. "It'll be more fun!"
Brianna looked up at Barbossa as he towered over her. Is this their captain?
The man certainly looked the part, being armed to the teeth and having a wide hat with the plume of a feather sitting on top of his head. His hair and beard were completely gray and his teeth were a sickening yellow as he grinned down at her, his cold gray eyes giving her chills down to the bone.
"Go get Jack!" ordered Barbossa, "It's the Captain's decision about what the fate of this lad should be."
"Aye, sir!" Pintel replied and ran off.
Barbossa squatted down close to Brianna. "It seems as if yer in a bit of a predicament, lad. No where to go, no one here but us humble pirates. Yer life is in our hands so try not to do anything imprudent as to make us run ye though through with our swords. Aye?"
Brianna managed a nod and Barbossa laughed aloud.
"That be a good boy."
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BANG! BANG! BANG!
Jack moaned and squinted open an eye, looking around his room wondering where in the hell that infernal racquet was coming from.
"Cap'n! We's got us somethin' out here that requires yer attention!" yelled Pintel from behind the door.
Jack rolled his head around, cracking his neck, hoping that the room would stop spinning long enough for him to get his wits back about him. He stretched, knocking his empty bottle of rum off the bed onto the floor and gradually got to his feet.
"Cap'n?"
"Aye! I'll be with ye in a moment, mate!" he called out.
Where did I put those blast'd pants… ah here we go.
He grabbed a hold of his clothing and fumbled around with the trouser opening trying his best to sort out the pant legs. He hopped around the room pulling the pants up and did up the buttons. Putting on his belt, shirt, and waistcoat proved to be much easier and he quickly took a mouthful of water from the basin on his dresser and splashed some onto his face, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Feeling a bit better, he grabbed his pistol before opening the door to come face to ugly face with Pintel.
Jack grimaced slightly. It was unlawful to have to wake up to such an ugly sight.
"Aye?"
"We's found us a stowaway, Cap'n," Pintel explained. "The bugger's up on deck right now."
"Stowaway? …That's interestin'."
Jack followed Pintel out onto the sunny deck of the Pearl. The others parted widely to allow him a good view of the small boy crouched low against the planks. He was surprised at how tiny the lad was.
Brianna looked up as another pirate joined them. This was their Captain but he wasn't what she had expected. The man was quite young looking with wild black hair hanging just above his shoulders and there was a bountiful collection of coins, beads, and other trinkets braided throughout it giving the man an odd but strangely exotic appearance. He wore a faded green overcoat with black pants, high black boots, and a white shirt that was undone at the top allowing the golden skin of his chest to show. His face was clean shaven save for a well maintained goatee however it was his eyes that Brianna found herself staring at. They were a dark molten chocolate, almost black, and were rimmed by a thin line of kohl and she felt herself being pulled into them as he stared down at her.
She swallowed hard and made herself get to her feet with what little courage she had. It wasn't a good thing to cower on the ground, letting the pirates have their fun with her. Better to make them have a bit of respect for her… or at least that's what she hoped to achieve.
"Are you the Captain of this ship?" she asked steadily, thrusting her chin out a little and trying to lower her voice more than normal; after all she was pretending to be a boy.
Jack smiled, flashing his teeth at her. "Aye lad that I am. And must I say that ye have quite the set of balls on ye to have boarded this ship. Don't ye be knowin' that this be the Black Pearl?"
She sucked in a breath at the name. Brianna had indeed heard many tales about the infamous Black Pearl and its captain, Jack Sparrow; it being one of the most feared pirate ships ever known in the Caribbean, seemingly unstoppable with the most ferocious crew imaginable.
Jack's smiled widened at the look on the lad's face. "I take that as a no."
Barbossa stepped up to Jack's side. "What shall we do with him?" he inquired.
Jack stroked his chin in thought. It was in the custom that any stowaway caught was to be set adrift at sea and it was apparent that his crew wanted a bit of bloodspot this morning by the eagerness in their faces.
Brianna could tell that her time was running out and she stepped forward.
"I wish to join your crew!" she requested in a loud voice that even surprised her. Jack raised an eyebrow while the others murmured back and forth between themselves.
"And just what reason should I let ye join me crew for?" he asked her. "Ye ain't much but a twig, lad. Yer speech speaks o' bein' high born and yer skin, white as the arse on a nun," there came snickers from the crew, "says ye ain't seen much o' the sunlight. So I can guess that ye don't know much about ships and sailin' and the whatnot, am I right?"
"I'm a very fast learner!" she faltered cursing her appearance for the second time in the past two days. "I… I can be your cabin boy."
"Cabin boy?" guffawed Pintel. "He ain't be needin' no cabin boy!"
The others laughed along with the remark. Jack however gave him a thoughtful look. The ship did in fact lack a cabin boy at the moment, the last one having decided that swimming and late night alcohol binges were a great combination and sadly, much to Jack's dismay at losing someone who could bring him rum anytime he wanted, vanished into the deep before anyone could yell man overboard.
"How old are ye, lad?"
"Twelve, sir. I'll be thirteen in a week."
"And what else can you do for me besides bein' a cabin boy?" he wondered aloud.
"I can read and write proper" she replied, grateful that her chances were improving somewhat. "And I can speak six languages!"
This shocked Jack slightly. "Six languages? And what might those be?"
"Um… English--"
"We know that one, lad," he said interrupting her, "It's the others I'm askin' 'bout."
"French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and I know some Chinese, Mandarin that is, and I'm perfectly fluent in them," she finished
"Well, ain't we've got a learn'd lad wi' us today," Jack grinned. He waved one arm in the air in a lively gesture, "Tell ye what boy. Since I happen to be only versed in the King's English and French, ye teach me a bit of speakin', readin' and writin' o' them other languages and what say I give ye a chance at becomin' a real pirate? But--" he shook a ringed finger in front of her face, "ye must live under my command, do as I order wi'out question, and treat the Black Pearl with the utmost respect or ye'll find yerself in the company of some verra hungry sharks faster than ye can say Davy Jones's Locker. Savvy?"
Brianna stood with her mouth agape. She was going to live! "Yes! Of course, sir!" she stammered thankfully.
"Are ye really going to take this boy on as one of the crew, Captain?" Barbossa whispered to Jack, "He doesn't look like he would last one day as a pirate."
"Aye he does. But his small stature could come in handy as well as those languages of his, such as in Singapore." At the name of the city the crew's mood suddenly improved, since they had found Singapore to be a great place of entertainment, wealth, and adventure, "Besides, we've been needin' one since young Daniel's little accident and there's no harm in another set o' hands for the Pearl."
Barbossa nodded and stepped back, satisfied with Jack's decision. He couldn't care less of what happened to the boy, as long as he didn't get in his way.
Jack clapped the lad on the shoulder. "And what be yer name, lad?"
"Um… Brian, Captain," Brianna thought up quickly. Short, sweet and easy to remember and close enough to her real name that she shouldn't have a problem responding to it.
"Well Brian welcome aboard the Black Pearl." With that Jack turned and strode up to the helm, leaving her alone with Barbossa and the others. She gave a quick prayer of thanks to the merciful heavens above that her life had been spared.
Barbossa turned to Pintel and Ragetti, "Since it was the two of ye who found him, you'll be the ones to keep your eyes on him. Real and wooden," he ordered, pointing at Ragetti's fake right eye, "Take him to that small room off the bow. That'll be his quarters from now on."
"Aye, sir." Pintel snapped a hand to his brow in a rough salute and motioned with his head for Brianna to follow him and she moved quickly to comply wondering what was in store for her next…
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A/N: Well Brianna was finally caught and brought before our beloved Jack Sparrow and thank you for all of your kind reviews!