DISCLAIMER: I do not own PotC. Does it look like I own PotC? If I owned PotC, would I be here writing this? No.
A/N (3/5/04): Here I am, typing another chapter. I've been bad and haven't typed anything for about a week. But hopefully I'll get this chapter done today.
Katie and Nick invited themselves over to the Astras' house the next day. They brought with them Katie's younger sister, Lisa. Lisa was fourteen, a year younger than the rest (except for Tom, who was twelve, and Nick, who was sixteen; so really she was a year younger than the other girls).
"Tell us more about your adventures in the Caribbean," Katie said. "You left off where you met Will, but surely that wasn't all. Surely Jack wasn't going to stand for it that you stole his hat."
"Yer right," Lyn agreed. "There is more."
As mentioned before, Lyn had stolen Jack's hat. Well, there was a reason for that. That reason became apparent when one of their fencing lessons was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in," Will called, motioning for the young adults to put away their swords.
Ja—Captain Jack Sparrow entered, acting very Jack-like. "Will, have you seen—ah, there you are." He'd spotted Lyn in the middle of his question. "You stole my hat."
"Borrowed," Lyn corrected. "Borrowed without permission, but with every intention of bringing it back to you." She bowed with a flourish and presented Jack with his hat.
Jack noticed that the hat was a bit heavier than normal. When he looked inside, he discovered the reason: there was a cat curled up inside. Jack tried to take the cat out. That part worked. What didn't work was when he tried to give the cat back to Lyn. Lyn wouldn't take her, and the cat clung to Jack's sleeve and wouldn't let him put her down. "Please take her?" Jack begged. Lyn shook her head.
"She likes you. Besides, now I have to come with you."
At that moment the cat began to purr. Jack smiled at her, then suddenly glared. "You cheated!"
"Gypsy," Lyn retorted for her cat.
As they sauntered toward the harbor, Jack explained, "We'll be taking a dinghy to Tortuga, where we'll rendezvous with the Pearl. The Pearl is a pirate ship; therefore the Pirates' Code applies. Savvy?"
Lyn and Tom exchanged a glance. "Any man who falls behind is left behind," Tom recited dutifully. The siblings exchanged another glance, then ran to the docks, jumped in the dinghy, and had just pushed off when Jack leapt in after them.
"What was that for?" he demanded.
The real reason they'd done it was because they were crazy and felt like it, but Lyn couldn't pass up this opportunity to recite one of her favorite poems:
What is the moral? Who rides may read
When the night is thick and the tracks are blind;
A friend at a pinch is a friend indeed,
But a fool to wait for the laggard behind.
Down to Gehenna or up to the throne,
He travels the fastest who travels alone.
White hands cling to the tightened rein,
Slipping the spur from the booted heel.
Tenderest voices cry, "Turn again."
Red lips tarnish the scabbarded steel.
High hopes faint on a warm hearth stone—
He travels the fastest who travels alone.
One may fall but he falls by himself,
Falls by himself with himself to blame.
One may attain and to him is the pelf,
Loot of the city in gold or fame
Plunder of earth shall be all his own
Who travels the fastest and travels alone.
Wherefore the more be ye holpen and stayed,
Stayed by a friend in the hour of toil,
Sing the heretical song I have made:
His be the labor and yours be the spoil.
Win by his aid and the aid disown—
He travels the fastest who travels alone!
As the journey progressed, Lyn recited more poems to pass the time. Whenever she began one, Tom plugged his ears and hummed—loudly and off-key.
All they had to drink was some rum Jack had stowed aboard. At first Lyn refused even to go near it. "Beer smells bad," she would say, "and wine tastes bad." But eventually thirst got the better of her, and she took a sip. "Hey! This is actually pretty good." Even then, she was careful not to drink too much; she'd read enough about hangovers to make her cautious. Still, she needed fluid, and she drank enough that she became slightly tipsy—enough to slur her words. "They come c'eepin' out o' dar'ness, an' to dar'ness they aturn. In their wake they lea'e des'uction—"
"Desuction?" Tom interrupted, taking his fingers out of his ears. "Lyn, yer drunk!"
"No I not," Lyn protested weakly. "I on'y had four drinks today." She held up five fingers.
"Lyn," said Tom, "yer hol'in' up siss fin'ers."
Lyn blinked at him. "Sleepy time," she announced suddenly. She lay her head in Jack's lap and promptly fell asleep.
Thar she be! The third chapter. An' now for a word to my reviewers:
Dragon Faere: I'm continuin', mate. This 'ere story's gonna continue until they get back home.
Madame Wolf: Yes, the situation is a bit overused, but I couldn't resist. I'm glad you like it.
Olivia: I'm hurryin', love. Or trying to. Bloody homework!
L: Oh, I feel bad for them too. Especially considering there's going to be a sequel....
Culurieneldoreth: In the original version, there was more description, but I like it better without the description. Keeps it moving faster, an' makes it seem crazier. As for Will, he didn't mean to meet them at the docks, they just spotted him there an' went to talk to him, savvy?
ChancingFaith: Yes, much funness. And it gets better, especially in the sequel.
Squidsbabygrl: Yay! A well-thought-out review! Now for my response. Yes, I'm using a lot of lines from the movie, but that's because that's in character for Lyn and Tom. See, they're obsessed with PotC, and now that they're in it they're probably having trouble thinking properly, so these ready-made lines (from PotC, of course) are the best they can come up with most of the time. (I actually came up with most of that on the spot, but it makes sense so that's the official explanation.)
Pirate Rhi: I've now told their ages (thanks for pointing out that I hadn't), but in case you missed it here they are again: Lyn is 15, as is Katie. Nick is 16. Tom is 12.
ApocalypseTwinsNo.666: Heh. Lyn and Tom are actually based off myself and my brother, just made a bit crazier; although, maybe not at that. I'd probably stop following any rules right off if I ever got aboard the Black Pearl.
ElfIcarii: I haven't abandoned you. Lightning is back, as it says in my bio. And ff.mort is stupid. I've gotten this one author alert honestly about forty-two times ( I use that number because it's the answer to the Big Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything). Non sequitur means "it does not follow." A non sequitur is something that just comes out of the blue, or seems to. Eh, this story prolly won' be all that long, but the sequel's gonna go on forever, as far as I can tell.