The Makings of a Pirate, by Hellborne
Pirates of the Caribbean - PG-13
Copyright: Characters, not mine, See the Mouse. Story, mine, but I make no money. He does, but not on this.
Typing convention. / is used for thoughts.
Summary: Jack Sparrow seems to be waging a personal war on slavery. Elizabeth and Will want to know WHY.
NOTE: Inasmuch as I'm pulling out of fanfiction.net, I needed somewhere to put all of my fics. This story was originally over there. If you've read it over there, either read it again and enjoy (this version has been beta'd by my ever so wonderful beta Pendragginink - THANK YOU!!!), or just hop out and wait for the sequel, which will be on its way quite shortly. The title will be "And the Winds of Destiny" after an old Irish blessing as quoted in the movie "Blow"...believe me, it's appropriate.
A/N: Feed the plot ferrets or they'll starve...and I won't write anything else.
- - - - - - -
Chapter 11 - A Changing of the Guard
Repairs finished, Supplies loaded, the three ships departed; the two slavers to Montego Bay and freedom, the Pearl to Port Royal to drop off her first mate. Will was feeling much better and had taken over the helm of the slaver that Jack had been steering so that he could go back to his Pearl. Norrington hesitated only a moment before giving up the helm of the dear Lady.
Jack noticed. "Just say the word, Jamie, and we can change course to sail into the arms of freedom."
James straightened. "I can't say it isn't tempting after all that I've been through, but my duty MUST come first."
"Just thought I'd offer, mate."
- -
About a day out of Port Royal, the call came down from the crow's nest. "Sails Ho!" James was at the helm, so he picked up the spyglass and looked in the direction the lookout motioned toward. There, on the horizon, was a small ship that he didn't recognize. It flew no colors, so he assumed it was a pirate vessel. He watched as it tacked toward them. As it got closer, the lookout called "It's the Brigand's Wench, sir!" James looked through the spyglass again. Yes, it was Captain Gibbs at the helm. He smiled, remembering the old superstitious sailor with fondness. As soon as the two ships were lashed together and their sails brought to, Gibbs leaped to the Pearl and ran to the Captain's cabin, barely knocking before he barged in.
Within a minute, Gibbs backed out of the cabin, his hands raised in surrender. There was a sudden report of a pistol from the cabin, which took Gibbs' hat off. Jack's booming voice followed closely on its heels. "Damn it, man! I can't be expected to be in two places at once! I have a ship to run!" The door slammed, shaking the helm. Gibbs turned and fled back to the Wench to wait for Jack to calm down.
Jack was NOT calming down. Curses and crashes could be heard all over both ships coming from the Captain's cabin. Everyone had stopped working and were just staring at the closed doors. Pintel and Ragetti had peeked their heads out of the galley to listen better. After several minutes of what could only be described as a piratical temper tantrum, the noise stopped. A minute later, Jack banged the door open and hollered, "Mr. Strand! Bring the prisoner to my cabin IMMEDIATELY!" and slammed the door.
For a moment, nobody moved. All eyes were on the cabin doors. Then Strand slowly climbed the stairs to the helm, looking slightly confused. "Commodore Norrington? I think he means you."
"I believe he does." Norrington descended the stairs and took his place in front of Strand at the cabin door and knocked.
The voice inside sounded deflated and tired. "Come."
James entered the cabin, followed by Strand and stood facing Jack.
Jack was sitting cross-legged on the bed, combing his dreads out. His scarf lay next to him on the bed, with a couple of trinkets in it. All of the furniture in the room other than the bed looked like a storm had gone through the room. /Hurricane Sparrow./ Suddenly, James realized that he'd never seen Jack truly angry before. On the bed next to Jack was an open chest. In front of him was a small box. There was a piece of paper beneath one foot. His bearing was drooped like a man on his way to the gallows. He looked at James and Strand, and waved Strand out. When the door shut behind him, James felt truly trapped for the first time since his first day on the Pearl.
"Jamie, you spoke to me of duty, and at the time I acquiesced to your request. However, the news that has just reached me has forced me to reconsider taking you back to Port Royal."
Norrington shifted his footing, almost afraid of what the recently violent and crazed man before him might do.
Jack took a trinket out of his hair and combed the braid out. "Jamie, you are not the only one of us to have to speak of duty. You have a duty to the crown. You have a duty to the admiralty. Through your duty to the crown, you have a duty to the governor, do you not?" He finished with one braid, and started on another.
"Yes, of course. But what-"
"In a minute, James. Now, for the last month, you have had a duty to me as it were. Would you say that was correct?"
"Yes...I suppose I have at that."
"Now, between you and me alone, which of your duties is the most enjoyable, eh? Not the most important...merely the most enjoyable. Your answer won't leave this room, James."
"I must admit that I have enjoyed this past month more than all my previous years here combined. However-"
"That's all the answer you need give, Commodore. Now, of your duty to the crown and your duty to the admiralty, which is more important to you? Again, your answer isn't leaving this room."
James thought for a moment. "As the admiralty takes its orders from the crown, I would have to say the crown. But what-"
"All in good time, Jamie. Now, if ever you received conflicting orders from the admiralty and the crown, what then?" Jack had removed all of the trinkets and was combing out his hair. Without the braids, he looked much like a Native American.
James considered. "That would depend on how sane the orders were, I suppose, but assuming that both were reasonable orders, I would have to put the crown first."
Jack finished with his hair, which ran all the way down his back. He tied it back with a piece of leather. "I see."
"Jack, why are you asking me these questions?"
Jack peered into James' eyes. James felt as if he were peering into his soul. "James, which would you consider the more 'sane' order: To guard the slaver ships or to rescue the slaves from those slavers?"
"Jack, this line of questions-"
"Is what I need the answers to before I can proceed. Now, what is your answer?" Jack's accent had slipped. He sounded like Lord Raymond now. He picked up a shaving kit and proceeded to shave his face clean.
"I would consider saving the slaves morally sane, but the law dictates that I protect the slaver ships."
"And if the crown told you to go save the slaves?"
"I take it the admiralty would be the side wanting me to protect the slaver ships?"
"You catch on quickly, James." He wiped the excess soap off his face and the kohl from his eyes, and opened the small box on his lap. He started pulling out his gold teeth and replacing them with normal looking ones.
"Jack, what has happened? You're changing into your Lord Raymond costume, and seem to be doing it much permanently than before. Last time you didn't undo your hair."
Jack peered at him intently. "Jamie, I live by duty too, although it's often at odds with some law or another. However, my duty for the last few years has been one of compassion for the human race. Now I'm set upon by another duty; one that I'm sure you'll find amusing till you experience the ramifications." He walked to the wash basin and started cleaning the dirt from anywhere that showed.
Norrington's eyebrows raised. "Oh?"
"Oh." Jack dried his face and hands on a towel and went back to the box on the bed. "James, Governor Swann died of a fever a little over a week ago. Lord Raymond is set to take his place." He watched James as he removed his rings and replaced them with Lord Raymond's.
James thought for a moment, and started to chuckle. Then he seemed to realize where this whole conversation was going and stopped, staring at Jack in disbelief. "Surely you can't be serious!"
"As serious as a pirate on the gallows. I'm to go straight to Port Royal immediately and take over as governor. Now YOUR duty is here, as Captain of the Black Pearl and Commodore of this fleet. You're a good man, James Norrington, and I couldn't leave my Lady in better hands. The men will follow you, and you don't have to worry about any REAL piracy, as the crew is paid through my shipping company anyways. The other ships of the fleet will give you 25% of everything they get, so there's plenty to go around. But as of now, you are in charge. Do you have any problems with this?" He removed his shirt, bandaged his right forearm, effectively covering the telltale brand and tattoo, and put on one of Lord Raymond's lilac shirts.
"Only some personal misgivings, but I'm sure they shall pass. And I'm sure they don't even compare with YOUR personal feelings on this venture. But I do have a question."
"Yes?" Jack changed his stockings and pulled the lilac breeches over his own.
"I would understand Lord Raymond taking the governorship if he were born in the aristocracy. But I do not understand Captain Jack Sparrow doing such a noble thing. Why are you doing it?"
Jack slipped the shoes on and started putting on a powder blue cravat with silver threads running through it. "Why? Because I have to. There is no choice in the matter. I agreed to it years ago when the king asked me to do it. I had just hoped that old Weatherby would live till I was ready to retire."
"I don't understand."
"Neither does anyone else who knows ol' Jack. James, I'm 67th in line for the throne of England. I don't like it, but that's the way it is. My family and peers don't like it either, since I'm a half-breed redskin. But my father made sure that I was legally accepted by the crown, so here I am. I didn't go to London to buy my title, James. I went to London to bury my father. The title was mine from birth. So you see, I HAVE to take it."
Norrington couldn't help but pity Sparrow. At the height of his success in his own dream, the man was attacked by his past and forced into a servitude that he HAD to have run away from. "How long have you been on the Pearl, Jack?"
"Since I was ten years old, James. That would be thirty-three years if you include the ten years that she was in Barbossa's clutches." He finished putting the wig on. Norrington would never have recognized him as Jack Sparrow had he not watched him transform.
"I'll take good care of her, Jack."
"I know you will, James. Oh, before I forget, you'll find all my journals and rutters in that bulkhead." He pointed. When James looked at him blankly, he hopped down off the bed and walked over to where the desk had been and pushed in on three knots in the wood. The wall popped open into a bolthole large enough for a man to stand in had it not been for the piles of books and paperwork. "You'll find all the notes I ever made in there. If you read them and take them to heart, you can't go wrong. And now, I believe I should vacate your quarters, Commodore Robert James, and leave you to your new command. They're waiting for you in Montego Bay. Lizzy'll be there shortly, I'm sure." With that, he pocketed the small box containing his gold teeth and made to leave.
"Lord Raymond?"
"Yes?"
"What do we say happened to Jack Sparrow?"
"Oh. Yes. Well, I suppose we'll have to hang him then. I'll see to the details."
"And what about the trinkets and scarf that you left on the bed? Don't you want them, if only for the memories they'll bring you?"
"No. You keep them. Something to remember old Jack Sparrow by." He turned and left.
- -
TBC
A/N: Sadness! Jack leaving the Black Pearl!!! So why have I not received outraged REVIEWS???!!! Do you not give a damn about Jack's happiness? And what of Norrie??? How will he adjust to being a PIRATE commodore???!!! Hit that REVIEW button and tell me what you think!
Pirates of the Caribbean - PG-13
Copyright: Characters, not mine, See the Mouse. Story, mine, but I make no money. He does, but not on this.
Typing convention. / is used for thoughts.
Summary: Jack Sparrow seems to be waging a personal war on slavery. Elizabeth and Will want to know WHY.
NOTE: Inasmuch as I'm pulling out of fanfiction.net, I needed somewhere to put all of my fics. This story was originally over there. If you've read it over there, either read it again and enjoy (this version has been beta'd by my ever so wonderful beta Pendragginink - THANK YOU!!!), or just hop out and wait for the sequel, which will be on its way quite shortly. The title will be "And the Winds of Destiny" after an old Irish blessing as quoted in the movie "Blow"...believe me, it's appropriate.
A/N: Feed the plot ferrets or they'll starve...and I won't write anything else.
- - - - - - -
Chapter 11 - A Changing of the Guard
Repairs finished, Supplies loaded, the three ships departed; the two slavers to Montego Bay and freedom, the Pearl to Port Royal to drop off her first mate. Will was feeling much better and had taken over the helm of the slaver that Jack had been steering so that he could go back to his Pearl. Norrington hesitated only a moment before giving up the helm of the dear Lady.
Jack noticed. "Just say the word, Jamie, and we can change course to sail into the arms of freedom."
James straightened. "I can't say it isn't tempting after all that I've been through, but my duty MUST come first."
"Just thought I'd offer, mate."
- -
About a day out of Port Royal, the call came down from the crow's nest. "Sails Ho!" James was at the helm, so he picked up the spyglass and looked in the direction the lookout motioned toward. There, on the horizon, was a small ship that he didn't recognize. It flew no colors, so he assumed it was a pirate vessel. He watched as it tacked toward them. As it got closer, the lookout called "It's the Brigand's Wench, sir!" James looked through the spyglass again. Yes, it was Captain Gibbs at the helm. He smiled, remembering the old superstitious sailor with fondness. As soon as the two ships were lashed together and their sails brought to, Gibbs leaped to the Pearl and ran to the Captain's cabin, barely knocking before he barged in.
Within a minute, Gibbs backed out of the cabin, his hands raised in surrender. There was a sudden report of a pistol from the cabin, which took Gibbs' hat off. Jack's booming voice followed closely on its heels. "Damn it, man! I can't be expected to be in two places at once! I have a ship to run!" The door slammed, shaking the helm. Gibbs turned and fled back to the Wench to wait for Jack to calm down.
Jack was NOT calming down. Curses and crashes could be heard all over both ships coming from the Captain's cabin. Everyone had stopped working and were just staring at the closed doors. Pintel and Ragetti had peeked their heads out of the galley to listen better. After several minutes of what could only be described as a piratical temper tantrum, the noise stopped. A minute later, Jack banged the door open and hollered, "Mr. Strand! Bring the prisoner to my cabin IMMEDIATELY!" and slammed the door.
For a moment, nobody moved. All eyes were on the cabin doors. Then Strand slowly climbed the stairs to the helm, looking slightly confused. "Commodore Norrington? I think he means you."
"I believe he does." Norrington descended the stairs and took his place in front of Strand at the cabin door and knocked.
The voice inside sounded deflated and tired. "Come."
James entered the cabin, followed by Strand and stood facing Jack.
Jack was sitting cross-legged on the bed, combing his dreads out. His scarf lay next to him on the bed, with a couple of trinkets in it. All of the furniture in the room other than the bed looked like a storm had gone through the room. /Hurricane Sparrow./ Suddenly, James realized that he'd never seen Jack truly angry before. On the bed next to Jack was an open chest. In front of him was a small box. There was a piece of paper beneath one foot. His bearing was drooped like a man on his way to the gallows. He looked at James and Strand, and waved Strand out. When the door shut behind him, James felt truly trapped for the first time since his first day on the Pearl.
"Jamie, you spoke to me of duty, and at the time I acquiesced to your request. However, the news that has just reached me has forced me to reconsider taking you back to Port Royal."
Norrington shifted his footing, almost afraid of what the recently violent and crazed man before him might do.
Jack took a trinket out of his hair and combed the braid out. "Jamie, you are not the only one of us to have to speak of duty. You have a duty to the crown. You have a duty to the admiralty. Through your duty to the crown, you have a duty to the governor, do you not?" He finished with one braid, and started on another.
"Yes, of course. But what-"
"In a minute, James. Now, for the last month, you have had a duty to me as it were. Would you say that was correct?"
"Yes...I suppose I have at that."
"Now, between you and me alone, which of your duties is the most enjoyable, eh? Not the most important...merely the most enjoyable. Your answer won't leave this room, James."
"I must admit that I have enjoyed this past month more than all my previous years here combined. However-"
"That's all the answer you need give, Commodore. Now, of your duty to the crown and your duty to the admiralty, which is more important to you? Again, your answer isn't leaving this room."
James thought for a moment. "As the admiralty takes its orders from the crown, I would have to say the crown. But what-"
"All in good time, Jamie. Now, if ever you received conflicting orders from the admiralty and the crown, what then?" Jack had removed all of the trinkets and was combing out his hair. Without the braids, he looked much like a Native American.
James considered. "That would depend on how sane the orders were, I suppose, but assuming that both were reasonable orders, I would have to put the crown first."
Jack finished with his hair, which ran all the way down his back. He tied it back with a piece of leather. "I see."
"Jack, why are you asking me these questions?"
Jack peered into James' eyes. James felt as if he were peering into his soul. "James, which would you consider the more 'sane' order: To guard the slaver ships or to rescue the slaves from those slavers?"
"Jack, this line of questions-"
"Is what I need the answers to before I can proceed. Now, what is your answer?" Jack's accent had slipped. He sounded like Lord Raymond now. He picked up a shaving kit and proceeded to shave his face clean.
"I would consider saving the slaves morally sane, but the law dictates that I protect the slaver ships."
"And if the crown told you to go save the slaves?"
"I take it the admiralty would be the side wanting me to protect the slaver ships?"
"You catch on quickly, James." He wiped the excess soap off his face and the kohl from his eyes, and opened the small box on his lap. He started pulling out his gold teeth and replacing them with normal looking ones.
"Jack, what has happened? You're changing into your Lord Raymond costume, and seem to be doing it much permanently than before. Last time you didn't undo your hair."
Jack peered at him intently. "Jamie, I live by duty too, although it's often at odds with some law or another. However, my duty for the last few years has been one of compassion for the human race. Now I'm set upon by another duty; one that I'm sure you'll find amusing till you experience the ramifications." He walked to the wash basin and started cleaning the dirt from anywhere that showed.
Norrington's eyebrows raised. "Oh?"
"Oh." Jack dried his face and hands on a towel and went back to the box on the bed. "James, Governor Swann died of a fever a little over a week ago. Lord Raymond is set to take his place." He watched James as he removed his rings and replaced them with Lord Raymond's.
James thought for a moment, and started to chuckle. Then he seemed to realize where this whole conversation was going and stopped, staring at Jack in disbelief. "Surely you can't be serious!"
"As serious as a pirate on the gallows. I'm to go straight to Port Royal immediately and take over as governor. Now YOUR duty is here, as Captain of the Black Pearl and Commodore of this fleet. You're a good man, James Norrington, and I couldn't leave my Lady in better hands. The men will follow you, and you don't have to worry about any REAL piracy, as the crew is paid through my shipping company anyways. The other ships of the fleet will give you 25% of everything they get, so there's plenty to go around. But as of now, you are in charge. Do you have any problems with this?" He removed his shirt, bandaged his right forearm, effectively covering the telltale brand and tattoo, and put on one of Lord Raymond's lilac shirts.
"Only some personal misgivings, but I'm sure they shall pass. And I'm sure they don't even compare with YOUR personal feelings on this venture. But I do have a question."
"Yes?" Jack changed his stockings and pulled the lilac breeches over his own.
"I would understand Lord Raymond taking the governorship if he were born in the aristocracy. But I do not understand Captain Jack Sparrow doing such a noble thing. Why are you doing it?"
Jack slipped the shoes on and started putting on a powder blue cravat with silver threads running through it. "Why? Because I have to. There is no choice in the matter. I agreed to it years ago when the king asked me to do it. I had just hoped that old Weatherby would live till I was ready to retire."
"I don't understand."
"Neither does anyone else who knows ol' Jack. James, I'm 67th in line for the throne of England. I don't like it, but that's the way it is. My family and peers don't like it either, since I'm a half-breed redskin. But my father made sure that I was legally accepted by the crown, so here I am. I didn't go to London to buy my title, James. I went to London to bury my father. The title was mine from birth. So you see, I HAVE to take it."
Norrington couldn't help but pity Sparrow. At the height of his success in his own dream, the man was attacked by his past and forced into a servitude that he HAD to have run away from. "How long have you been on the Pearl, Jack?"
"Since I was ten years old, James. That would be thirty-three years if you include the ten years that she was in Barbossa's clutches." He finished putting the wig on. Norrington would never have recognized him as Jack Sparrow had he not watched him transform.
"I'll take good care of her, Jack."
"I know you will, James. Oh, before I forget, you'll find all my journals and rutters in that bulkhead." He pointed. When James looked at him blankly, he hopped down off the bed and walked over to where the desk had been and pushed in on three knots in the wood. The wall popped open into a bolthole large enough for a man to stand in had it not been for the piles of books and paperwork. "You'll find all the notes I ever made in there. If you read them and take them to heart, you can't go wrong. And now, I believe I should vacate your quarters, Commodore Robert James, and leave you to your new command. They're waiting for you in Montego Bay. Lizzy'll be there shortly, I'm sure." With that, he pocketed the small box containing his gold teeth and made to leave.
"Lord Raymond?"
"Yes?"
"What do we say happened to Jack Sparrow?"
"Oh. Yes. Well, I suppose we'll have to hang him then. I'll see to the details."
"And what about the trinkets and scarf that you left on the bed? Don't you want them, if only for the memories they'll bring you?"
"No. You keep them. Something to remember old Jack Sparrow by." He turned and left.
- -
TBC
A/N: Sadness! Jack leaving the Black Pearl!!! So why have I not received outraged REVIEWS???!!! Do you not give a damn about Jack's happiness? And what of Norrie??? How will he adjust to being a PIRATE commodore???!!! Hit that REVIEW button and tell me what you think!
