ROPE-WALKER

Written By Jashi

N O T E: THE FIRST NIGHT IN TORTUGA! Long have I awaited this particular chapter…XP…PotC is not mine. If it were, Jack would be in my closet right now…eh heh eh heh. *dances 'round* Thanks to Maze for helping me with everything…^_^

CHAPTER FIVE

Now, it had been a day and a half since the battle in Port Royale. Tades had mended the sails, but they were so far gone, forlorn, and godforsaken that she thought they should quietly lower them into the sea while Gibbs said aloud a prayer. But she wasn't worried about the sails, not now. She was a mite excited. Tortuga meant fun. Tortuga meant pirates. Tortuga meant her younger half-brother, Romulus. She hadn't seen him in five years, but he'd known where she'd been. On the sea, then in jail. It was he who'd told Jack she was in that bloody jail on the coast of Spain, god bless her sibling.

But that was a story for another time, eh?

It had been a nice day, the wind was blowing steady. Tades was up in her crows nest, watching the horizon. The late afternoon was passing by quickly, the sun just beginning to dip below the waves, when Tades spotted the city.

"Land ho, sir!" she called down loudly, and most of the crew gave whoops of joy. Jack looked up.

"C'mon you scurvy land-lovers! If ye want the night off, then HURRY UP!"

The crew shuffled around, and time passed quickly as Tades came down from her nest. They were quite close to Tortuga, and the evening was just beginning, with sounds that were original only to the pirate city.

"Oy, Tades, c'mere." she heard her captain call. Her head swiveled around to see him walk into his cabin. Right, right, right…gold fer the sails…can't bother to buy 'em himself…

She opened the door and followed him in. He had his back turned to her, and was looking through a drawer. Tades tapped her foot impatiently. The captain smelled of alcohol, as usual. The woman pirate wondered how she could ever feel secure under a captain who didn't believe in being sober for more than an hour at a time. He finally turned around with a small bag, and he handed it to her.

"I want half-way decent sails, love, black or white, it doesn't matter. Bring 'em back t' the ship, and ye can put him on tomorra'…" he turned his back for a moment. Tades took this opportunity to roll her eyes and began to step away towards the door.

He turned again, and the captain flipped something small and shiny to her. Tades caught it without a second thought and looked at it. It was a silver coin, small in size. A shilling.

"Sir?" she asked with skepticism in her voice.

"Ah…just something for not getting yer head blasted off by a cannonball…yes, love, I saw." he said in a most roguish and casual manner.

Tades gritted her teeth and glared. She turned on her heel, and flung open the door. She slammed it shut with a mighty rattle. Anamaria threw her a questioning stare.

"What?" she complained irritably, "the door sticks!"

Anamaria just shook her head and went back to her task.

AND WOULD IT KILL THE MAN TO GIVE ME A NIGHT OFF?!?! she thought furiously.

Yes, Tades was quite irritated, to say the least. She pocketed the bag, and the silver shilling. Land crept closer to them, and the Black Pearl finally docked on Tortuga just as the sun dipped below the surface.

"Alright, men…and women!" Captain Jack Sparrow added quickly, noticing the glares from Tades and Anamaria, "Take yer night off…"

There was another loud cheer amongst the crew, and they disembarked from the Black Pearl, Tades going much slower than the rest. She was the last one to step off, behind Will and Jack. Jack was talking animatedly to Will about Tortuga's twin taverns, and he noticed Tades stalk off out of the corner of his eye.

And the captain of the Black Pearl grinned.

An hour or so later, Tades was walking back to the ship, her arms full of black and white linen. The sails had been cheap and of a half-way decent quality. So she'd gotten some black…and some white. The woman pirate set them down beside some barrels on the ship. A slight ping reached her ears, and she noticed a silver shilling had fallen out of her pocket. Her brow furrowed as she picked it up.

"I'm only worth a shilling?" she whispered angrily and cocked her arm back as to chuck it out into the sea. But she faltered and lowered her arm, looking again at the silver in her hand. She tucked it in her pocket and shook her head.

"I'll never be able to understand myself…" she murmured, and disembarked again from the Black Pearl.

The dark hours of night were creeping upon her, and she made it to Tortuga's twin taverns. The first, called the Rusted Ropes was owned by a chap named Briagadeer. It was a messy, loud tavern with bad rum. But it was a good place to meet other pirates. There were brawls and fights and massive riots every few days there.

The second, dubbed Longshanks, was a bit quieter. But there was very nice rum there, according to her captain, much better then Rusted Ropes'. Tades always grinned at this.

Her half-brother, Romulus, owned this tavern.

She had checked in the Rusted Ropes to see if Jack was there, but there had been no trace of Jack Sparrow. There was a long hall in between the two taverns, with rooms and such. Tades sighed and looked around. About half-way down the hall, she spotted a door. She opened it cautiously and looked inside. Tades' eyes widened and her mouth opened in a silent scream.

Will Turner walked the long hall that connected the two taverns. He was grimacing as the skin around his eye grew puffy and dark.

"That was a mighty hit ye took, Will." Jack commented, "What a sunrise it'll be tomorrow."

Will rolled his eyes.

There was a slamming sound to be heard, and the half-pirate spotted Tades leaning against one, her fist tight around the doorknob, face stretched tight in unknown terror.

Jack's eyes widened. "Lass? What happened?" he called up to her. Tades released the doorknob, turned, and rubbed her eyes furiously.

"Tades?" inquired Will as they came up to her.

"Gibbs is in there…with a woman…" she trailed off and Jack started laughing. Will also permitted a grin, though inside he was wincing along with the pirate lady.

"Did they notice ye?"

Tades glared and then looked sheepish. "No, sir…they were too far along."

Jack laughed even harder at this, and clapped his hands over Will's ears lighly. "Don' let the virgin lad hear it!"

Will glared and pulled Jack's hands off of his ears.

"I am not a virgin!" he said much too loudly and even Tades laughed.

"No need to shout it to the world. Yer wife is living proof o' that, Turner." she drawled.

Jack clapped his courier on the back. "Come on, love, we're ta see yer brother now."

They began to walk and Jack left his hand on her back a half-moment too long. Tades bristled and stepped quicker.

The three reached the door of the Longshanks tavern, but the door opened and two men went flying out.

"Get outta my tavern before I shove a keg of rum up yer arse!" someone from inside the Longshanks shouted.

"And it really hurts, believe me!" called Tades at the two men's retreating backs.

A head stuck out the door. "Tades?"

"Gidday, Romulus."

Jack, Will, and Tades stepped into the tavern, and Will gawked. The man was huge. He was at least three heads taller than Tades, and Tades was only a hair shorter than Jack.

The pirate lady bounded forward and was swept up in a big brotherly hug.

"Tades, you scoundrel!"

"I am not the scoundrel. Jack's the scoundrel. I'm the jinx."

"And who's he?" Romulus had a deep voice that resonated around them.

Will opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off.

"He's the eunuch." said Jack and Tades at the same time.

"I am not a eunuch." said Will tiredly, "My name is Will Turner."

Romulus released his half-sister and grinned broadly. He was a very tall man, well-muscled and definetly looked as though he was related to Tades. They had the same dark brown hair, and Romulus' was long and tied back. Tades wore hers the same way, though her hair was longer. Their noses and faces were the same, though their eyes were very different. The man had chocolate-colored eyes, while Tades had green.

"So, sister. What brings you here?"

"Rum!" said Jack loudly and Tades grinned.

They sat down at the table, and Romulus brought four pints of rum in his broad hands.

"Take all you can!" said Jack, raising his mug.

"Give nothing back." replied Tades, Will, and Romulus. There was no talk for a moment while they drank.

"So tell me the tale, sister, of what brings you to the Longshanks once again?" Romulus asked after a few moments.

"We're going ta Isla Presentar, Romulus." said Jack. Romulus began choked on his rum. Tades gave him a mighty whack on the back.

"Yer crazy, plain and simple as that." the bartender guffawed.

Tades grinned and took a sip of her rum. "Aye, we know of the stories…that's half of what we're goin' on, ain't it, sir?"

Jack nodded. "We got a map, and some pages of an old journal…the stories are aidin' us a bit. I don't know quite what to expect."

Will's brow furrowed. "What stories?"

Romulus got a darkened look in his eyes. "Isla Presentar…the Islands of Sacrifice are a famous tale among here."

Jack put his two shillings in: "Three islands: Isla Dolor, the Island of Pain. Isla Tentación, the Island of Temptation. And the Island of Culls…which goes without saying…is the island of death. The last island is Triste Alegre, the Island of Saddened Happiness."

"How can you be sad if you are happy? The last island has the treasure, correct?"

"You get the treasure if you survive all three islands, lad. But people will die and be mauled along the way…a sacrifice for the treasure…hence the name."

Will took a great gulp of rum. Time to switch to another subject. He wasn't liking the sound of this…especially the Island of Temptation. Thankfully, Tades intervened with something quite off subject.

"Got yerself a girl yet, brother?"

Romulus sighed. "Nay. No girl pretty enough to catch my eye."

"Better be careful, or you'll end up like me."

"And what would this be? Gettin' locked up in Spanish jails an' sailing with th' great Cap'n Jack Sparrow an' bein' an old maid?"

Tades glared at her half-brother. "Watch yer tongue, lad."

Jack grabbed another rum.

"I don't think Tades is an old maid." he said, taking a swig.

Tades blinked. "That's the nicest thing you've said ta me in months."

"Well…I mean…she's not THAT old…well, she's not young, but…" Jack trailed off and finished the pint. Tades kicked him under the table.

"Watch YER tongue, sir."

And so the night went, ending with Tades and Will attempting to pull an extremely drunk Jack out of the Longshanks. He was singing wildly, and finally passed out ten feet out of the Longshanks door.

Will sighed. "Should we just leave him here on the side of the road, or drag him back to the Pearl?"

"He's too bloody heavy to carry back to the ship…eh, he's fine right here." Tades remarked. Will walked on ahead, back to the Pearl, stopping to look at his reflection on a moonlit pane of glass.

"What a sunrise…" he said, repeating what Jack had said earlier.

Tades went back to the Pearl the long way, cutting through the Rusted Ropes and a few other streets. She got on the ship once again, climbing up to her crows nest.

She leaned against the rail, her head drooping off to the side. Rum made her sleepy. It was why she hardly drank. She needed to stay awake for her job. But this one night, while she was in Tortuga, with people who knew better than to try and steal from Captain Jack Sparrow's Black Pearl, she could afford a few winks.

Tades' eyes closed and she was swept off into black, with a single voice calling her name in the darkness of her dream…

(to be continued! Please review, it helps me tremendously!)