Cari's breath caught in her throat. Captain Jack Sparrow? The infamous pirate? She turned around slowly to look at Roseline.

"Are- Are ye sure?" she asked.

"Yes! That's him, I know it!" Roseline nodded.

Cari hesitated. Should she help him? He needed the help. But. . . he was a man! And she had vowed long ago that she would never help a man again. And she had promised herself that no man would ever set foot on her precious ship.

"No." she stated. "We're not helping him."

Roseline stared at her in disbelief. "But he's-"

"I don't give a damn who he is, no man is going to board me ship!" Cari shouted.

The deck grew quiet. Jesabel, Robyn, Caitlin and Tari climbed down the mast. Lauren came out of the galley. They watched their captain. Tari suddenly knew why the Captain didn't want Jack Sparrow on the ship.

She walked over to Cari and grabbed her arm. "You're scared." She accused.

Cari whirled around and wrenched her arm away. "Don't talk of things ye don't know about!"

But Tari could see it in her eyes. She was scared.

"Well, I'm not afraid. And I'm helping him." With that, Tari ran to the edge and leaped over, plunging into the water below.

"No!" Cari yelled, leaning over the edge. But Tari was already in the water swimming toward the driftwood. She sighed and turned to face the rest of the crew.

"Are ye scared too?" she wondered.

They looked at one another. Slowly, they all nodded.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jack gave the woman a look. "Why'd ye do that?"

She climbed onto the piece of driftwood he was floating on. "The captain wasn't going to help ye."

"Why?" he questioned.

"She's afraid of yer kind. They all are." The woman slid off the board and went back into the water. She swam a few feet away, then turned to look at him. "Are ye comin'?"

Jack dived into the water, then began swimming after her. "Wait! Why are they afraid of pirates?! They are pirates!"

She sighed. "They're not afraid of pirates. They're afraid of men." She came to the side of the ship. "Hey!" she called up. "Ropes!"

Jack reached her. "Men?"

"Yeah." Someone on the ship tossed down a rope. The woman began climbing it. Jack followed her. She got to the top and swung over the edge. Then she leaned back over to help Jack.

Jack looked around as he climbed over the side. There were only women on this boat. And none of them looked to be older than 25. Too young to be pirates, really. He stood on the deck, studying them all. They stared back at him. Jack found himself remembering something he'd heard once.

"It's bad luck to have a woman aboard."

Jack wondered if the superstition was reversed on this ship, and it was bad luck to have a man aboard.

"Captain Jack Sparrow."

He turned to face the speaker. A young women, her hands on her hips, was glaring at him.

"Aye, that's me." Jack replied. He glanced around. "Could I speak with yer captain?"

As soon as he said it, he knew it was the wrong thing to say.

"I am the Captain." She growled. "And ye may have a word with me."

Jack opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off.

"We have rules on this ship, Sparrow. And if ye do not follow the rules, yer goin' back ta where ye came from." The captain pointed over the edge, at the sea. "First, ye will not touch me or any woman on this ship in a romantic way."

Jack nodded.

"Second, ye will not get any of these women drunk. And that includes ye two, Robyn and Caitlin!" she pointed over his shoulder at the group of women, two who were looking a little guilty. "And ye will not get yerself drunk."

"That might be hard. . ." Jack murmured.

"And last, ye do not breathe a word of this ship to any other man." She finished. "Do I have yer word that ye will obey these rules?"

"Yes." Jack agreed. 'Except for maybe that one about drinkin'.' He thought.

"Good." She waved her hand at the others. "Get back ta work!"

"We weren't workin' in the first place, Cari." One of them said.

"Well then start workin'! And I want yer flasks!" Cari pointed again at the two women who looked guilty. They reluctantly took their flasks out of their belts and handed them over.

"Ye can have these back later." The captain told them. She then walked over to the wheel, and began steering.

Jack felt very out of place. He just stood there, watching them. One climbed up the mast to the crows nest, while another went into the galley. Two others were standing next to the steering wheel, reading a map. One sat down on a box and began watching him. The girls with the flasks were leaning on the mast, talking. The woman who rescued him came over.

"I'm Tari." She introduced. "I'll probably be the only one who'll talk to ye for awhile."

"Why?" Jack asked.

"They don't trust men anymore." Tari answered.

"Anymore?" Jack didn't understand.

"I can't tell ye much. If ye want more information, ye'll have to talk to the captain. I can tell ye that men have played important and sad parts in their lives. They did things to them that girls so young shouldn't have ever had to experience." Tari sadly told him. "It's hard for them, ye bein' here."

"They don't act like it." Jack replied.

"They can hide their feelings well. The only way ye can tell what their feelin' is if ye look at their eyes." She smiled. "By the way Cari was yellin' at ye, ye never would have guessed she was scared."

Jack absorbed this information. Only in the eyes. . . they had trained themselves to look strong, intimidate others. They were good at it too, Jack had been very afraid of the captain when she shouted at him. But she had been afraid of him, too. . .

"Well, I got ta get ta work." Tari walked to the mast and was quickly up in the sails.

"Sparrow."

Jack turned. A women stood before him, the one who had been watching him earlier.

"Ye will find that most of the women on this ship have been broken. Very few have managed to put themselves back together." She said solemnly.

"What?" Jack was really confused.

She did not answer. She stared at him with her piercing gray eyes. Then she walked back over to where she had been before, and continued watching him.

Jack began wondering if it had been wise to come aboard this ship.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

By nightfall, Jack had learned who everyone was and what they did. Most didn't speak to him much, save for Tari and the two girls with the flasks, Robyn and Caitlin. Those two had been the ones to tell him who everyone was. They had talked with him for awhile, but when he moved to shake their hands, they had stepped back. They were afraid of his touch, Jack realized.

At dinner time, Cari stopped Jack from going into the galley with the others.

"I want a word with ye in me cabin." She said.

He followed her in, grumbling to himself that he was hungry and wanted something to eat. Jack couldn't tell if she heard him or not. But then she stopped Sara, the first mate, and whispered in her ear. Sara nodded and went into the galley. He hoped she was getting food.

In the cabin was a table. Cari motioned for Jack to sit down. He did. A few seconds later, Sara appeared. Cari shut the door behind her.

"No food?" Jack's stomach grumbled.

"Ye can have food later." Cari told him, sitting down across from him. "Sparrow-"

"Captain Sparrow, luv." He interrupted.

Cari glared at him. "Captain Sparrow. Do ye know what ship yer on?"

Jack thought, and realized that no one had told him the name of the ship. "No."

"Ye are the first, last, and only man who has boarded the Dark Storm. And that is a privilege." Cari smiled a little and looked around her cabin. Jack could tell she was very fond of her ship. His heart suddenly ached for his Pearl.

"Me ship is the most talked about one in the Caribbean." The captain stated proudly.

"No, mine is." Jack disagreed.

"It's not yer ship anymore. Not really anyway." Cari said softly. "But ye'll get it back." She seemed to realize what she was saying, and became firm again. "True, Captain, yer's probably is the most talked about ship for all pirates. But every woman pirate has heard of me Dark Storm. Yer the first man to find out about it."

"Why is that?" Jack questioned.

"We want to keep ourselves a secret. Our ship is a refuge for women pirates. I've found most of me crew in Tortuga, lost and alone. Except for Sara here." Cari gestured at her first mate, who still stood next to the door. "I found her shipwrecked."

"Just after she got this ship." Sara added. "She didn't have any other crew. That's why I'm first mate."

Jack nodded. "I didn't think women pirates needed a refuge." He said.

"We're no treated the same way ye are. We're. . . bad luck, they say. Or just toys." She grimaced. "Sara."

Sara turned around, then lifted up the back of her shirt. Jack's eyes widened as he saw her scar, going from her shoulder to the bottom of her back.

"We all have scars, Jack." Jack turned his attention back to the captain. She had rolled up the sleeve of her shirt, revealing a long straight scar, going down from her shoulder to a bit above her wrist. "Some on the outside, and some on the inside."

"How-" Jack was getting awfully tired of getting cut off.

"That's none of yer business, Sparrow." Cari snapped. She put her sleeve back down, covering up her scar, and the past that went with it.

"Sara, take him to the galley. His stomach is growling." The captain smiled a little.

"Yes, ma'am." Sara opened the door, then turned back. "What about ye?"

"I'm not hungry. When he's finished, find somewhere for him to sleep. A hammock on the deck or somethin'." Cari replied.

Sara nodded. "Come on, Sparrow." She walked out the door.

"Captain. Captain Sparrow!" Jack muttered as she followed her.

Cari waited until they were gone and the door was closed before bursting into tears. A man was on her ship! She had broken every vow she had ever made. He would do something to one of them, she knew it. And he would tell everyone about the ship. They would find them, hunt them down. Her crew was as good as dead.

'But what about the last H?' she asked herself. 'What about hope?'

Hope. This ship had been built on hope. So maybe. . . they'd be alright. Maybe nothing would happen.

'Ye worry too much.' She scolded. With that last thought, she climbed into her bed and fell asleep.