Pirates of the Caribbean: The Ring of the Abyss
By: Anna SummersQuestion: Do I have to do a bloody stupid Disclaimer
every time I make an entry? Well, if I must, I must.
Once again, I STILL do not own Orlando Bloom or Johnny Depp...unfortunately.
Hey, shut up, I can dream.
Oh yes, and many, many thanks to ping*pong5 for the wonderful review! Meant a
lot to me :) Thank you!
~~~
Ten Years Later
~~~
Colonel Eastman, a strict, overweight man with a heart of stone, entered the
kitchen were Katherine Pearl was sweeping a stone floor. Kate, now eighteen,
had been daydreaming of ten years prior, when her father had presented her with
a beautiful ring on the evening of his death. She looked down at her finger;
the ring fit now, and accented her long beautiful fingers. Kate lost all her
belongings, and she had to persuade the Colonel profusely to let her keep her
one and only memoir of her parents. Sirus had left Kate with the Eastmans when
she was just eight years old, before commandeering a ship of his own and
fleeing the Port Royal. Sirus said he would return shortly, but she knew better
than to trust any pirate other than her father. And she had been right. Ten
years later she still slaved away at the Eastman mansion. Sirus wasn't coming
back.
"You missed a spot. There." The Colonel's cold blue eyes glared into
her own brown ones, and she curtsied slightly, as was the custom.
"Sorry, sir." She bowed her head a bit.
"Don't slack, Miss Pearl." He marched off, and Kate scowled at him
behind his back.
"Slime," she muttered under her breath.
Kate leaned against her broom and gazed out the open window, where a light
breeze calmed her worries and let her mind drift back to ten years back, back
to the life she loved with the people she adored. Everything was so perfect, so
complete. But nothing lasts forever.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Captain Jack Sparrow, a rough, yet surprisingly charming man no older than
forty, squinted into the morning sun. He opened his compass that didn't point
north, and stared straight ahead, smiled slightly when he noticed the
silhouette of an island not a few miles off.
"Land, Gibbs."
"Port Royal, Captain." Jack's first mate, Gibbs, said knowingly.
Gibbs stood behind his captain on the helm, following commands. Gibbs was a
chubby pirate with graying hair and a good heart, always the sensible one between
the two. Jack trusted and respected Gibbs and they made a perfect team.
"Give the order and let go of the anchor." Jack ordered, still
smiling, never taking his eyes off the island. If it wasn't for Port Royal,
Jack might have never met William Turner, and if Jack had never met William
Turner, he may have never gotten the Pearl back. The Black Pearl, Jack's ship,
was his pride and joy. He had fought for this ship, and nothing could take it
away. Nothing.
"Captain? Don't fall for their trap. Aye, the island is beautiful, but
last time ye were here they tried to hang ye. They don't take kindly to
pirates, if ye have forgotten." Gibbs reminded his captain.
"Gibbs, I'm Captain Jack Sparrow." Jack said matter-of-factly.
"And that was years ago. Surely they couldn't hold a bloody grudge that
long."
"Wouldn't be surprising if
that Norrington bloke is still in charge."
Gibbs mumbled.
"Anchor, Gibbs."
"Aye."
Gibbs jumped onto the deck and began yelling at the rest of the crew to wake
from their sleep. It was early morning, not yet nine by the position of the
sun. Gibbs stomped on the deck and rang the Pearl's bell.
"Land, you dogs! Lower the anchor! Hoist the mail sail! Anamaria, get the
bloody hell out of bed!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
William Turner's nose twitched when he smelt something burning, but he didn't
worry. His wife, Elizabeth, had been working on mastering cooking since the two
married five years before. She had yet to achieve an edible meal, but Will knew
Elizabeth better than to insult her work. It was Saturday, and Will was
relieved he didn't need to be at his work in the Blacksmith Shop until later in
the afternoon. He stretched and got out of bed, where he then stumbled tiredly
into the kitchen and kissed Elizabeth's cheek.
"Good morning," he
whispered into her ear. Elizabeth smiled.
"Hello, Will. Breakfast is
ready. I have a new recipe I'd like you to try."
"Can't wait. I'm
famished." Will said, trying to sound like he meant it. In truth, he was
truly hungry, but he had to decide whether or not he was ravenous enough to
choke down Elizabeth's cooking.
Will sat down at the couple's wooden table next to an open window. He loved
their little home; it sat on a hill, away from the commotion of the town. It
was one story, nothing fancy, but Elizabeth had furnished it beautifully with
items from her youth. Will adored it.
The sun was shining, and a breeze carried the smell of the ocean seawater into
the room. Barely a cloud in the sky, it was a beautiful day.
Will's expression turned from hungry, to a look that suggested that he had lost
his appetite when Elizabeth placed his meal in front of him. The eggs seemed to
bounce when the plate struck the table, and the bacon was strangely orange in
color with brown spots.
"New recipe, eh?"
Will eyed the strange meal.
"Supposed to be very
healthy. Well, go on, then! Dig in!"
Just then, a trumpet sounded. Elizabeth was familiar with the Royal Navy's
code. Her father, the Governor of Port Royal, had taught Elizabeth at a young
age the codes and orders of the Navy. She recognized the trumpet call and
looked out the window.
"What is it?" Will
asked, noticing Elizabeth looking out the window as he picked at a strange mold
of oatmeal on his plate.
"The trumpet sounding
means approaching ship. Let's have a look."
Will, glad to have an excuse not to eat, followed his wife to the open window
in their small Port Royal cottage, where they saw a ship not too far off shore,
with very black sails and white crossbones decorating the flag.
"Tell me that's not the
ship I think it is." Elizabeth feared, staring
out the window.
"It is. It's the Pearl...It's Jack." Will spoke quietly, staring at
the ship, which was growing closer and closer by the moment.
"What the blazes does he want?" Elizabeth shuddered at the memories
of being held captive on that ship by its previous captain, Barbossa.
"Elizabeth, come on. We haven't seen the chap in five years. The least we
can do is welcome him. He did save our lives."
"Good luck to him getting past the Commodore. He would not love anything
more than to hang another bloody pirate."
"I'm a pirate." Will looked her in the eye. Elizabeth knew it was
true.
"I try to forget." She smiled.
~~~
That silly pirate William. Wonder what messes Jack will cause on his little holiday in Port Royal? Hmm, well I suppose you'll just have to press the little arrow at the bottom of your screen and find out as you read the next chapter!
You all are great!
-Anna Summers
