Title: Searching for Truth
Summary: A young girl searches for the truth of her past, crossing paths with a familiar pirate. Could their fates be intertwined?
Rating: PG-13, just in case. No actual sexual stuff, just references, like jokes and stuff…you know…plus I like to swear sometimes, although I suppose there wouldn't be much cursing in this timeline…
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own Pirates of the Caribbean, if I did, I would be commanding Johnny Depp to come to my house and be my slave. XD Jokes, jokes…anyway, yes, I don't own PotC, and I definitely am not making money off of this story.
Author's Notes: This is my first attempt at a Pirates of the Caribbean fan fiction, so if it sucks, that's why. Hope you enjoy it and heeeere we go!
Searching for Truth
The ocean was calm, and the sails were barely filled, the large ship moving slowly across the seas of the Caribbean. A dense fog had crept up, making the night even more frightening. Most of the crew were asleep, leaving the captain almost alone as he walked the deck of the ship, pulling a young slave along behind him. The captain had a sword hanging from his side, a long, tangled black beard, greyish hair, black eyes and a golden tooth was made visible every time he smiled maliciously at the poor girl being dragged along behind him. If you haven't guessed already, this was no navy ship. This was a pirate ship, the Death Star. ((A/N: Yes, I know, bad name…))
"Well, do you not prefer serving me on this ship then dying along with the crew of that merchant ship you were stowing away on, slave?" He asked, tugging roughly on the rope around her neck when she didn't answer. The young girl glared at him, then nodded angrily, seeing no other option. The girl appeared to be in her early teens, maybe fourteen or fifteen, and might have possessed some form of beauty, had she obviously not been filthy from weeks out at sea. Her hair was jet black, or perhaps a dark brown, depending on how dirty it was, and her dark eyes, despite the hard labour she was being put through, were sparking with anger at the injustice that life was dealing to her.
"That's what I thought." He said, as if she'd answered on her own. What the girl's name was, the captain had not bothered taking the time to find out. To him, she was just his personal slave, to be disposed of when her usefulness was exhausted. There was a rope around her neck, and around her wrists, that allowed him to easily manipulate her where he wanted her to go, and she stumbled along behind him, absolutely exhausted. She would have given anything for the pile of hay she'd slept on in the merchant ship.
The flag that flew up at the top of the mast was the pirate flag, proudly displayed. The merchant ship she'd been stowing away on had never had a chance. The crewmembers were poorly trained in fighting, and were useless against the trained, ruthless fighters that the pirates were. She was lucky to have not been killed, she supposed, but she was beginning to wonder if a life of slavery was really better than a quick death, even if it was a painful death.
Suddenly there was a booming noise, remarkably close, and suddenly the captain was dragging her towards his cabin, just as there was a huge splash as the cannon narrowly missed the ship, causing the ship to rock back and forth, sending her off-balance. The captain flung her inside his cabin, and she tumbled to the ground, hearing the door slam and lock behind her, and the captain's retreating footsteps as he yelled orders to his crew.
Yanking herself to her feet, she ran towards the door, slamming her fists against it, in an attempt to get out. It must be a navy ship, if it was attacking the pirate ship, and they would be able to help her. As long as they knew she was there, anyway. Suddenly the ship lurched as one of the cannons obviously made contact, sending her sprawling to the floor, dazing her. She could hear lots of footsteps pounding up on deck, and was having a horrible feeling of déja vu. Listening carefully, she could hear lots of swords clanging, and curses flying back and forth. This definitely did not sound like an attack by a navy vessel. She seriously doubted that the navy would sound like the people she could hear yelling.
The fighting apparently went on for about half an hour, maybe, and then it became eerily silent. She had a good idea who had won, considering that ninety percent of the crew had been asleep at the time of the attack, leaving her fate up to whoever the attackers had been. Suddenly there were some footsteps, and someone tried to open the door. Then someone yelled from on the other side.
"Oy, Gibbs! Here's the captain's cabin, but it's locked! Must have something valuable inside, eh?!" She gulped, then crawled over beneath the table, crouching, shaking in fear. There were more footsteps, then another voice came from nearby.
"What are you going on about? The captain's cabin, eh?" Although she knew that voices could be deceiving, she felt as if the voice sounded very friendly. Sort of like the author of a children's book. The door was tried again, then she heard the sound of a gun being drawn and covered both ears as the loud boom of a pistol blasted the lock in, and the door was kicked open. She retreated farther under the table as the two men walked in, one older man with sideburns and a beard, wearing traditional pirate clothes, followed by a very short bald man.
Actually, if it weren't for the smaller man, she might have remained hidden, but the man's eye-line was just right to see under the table without much difficulty. He grabbed the rope that was attached to her wrists, smirking and pulling her roughly, causing her to fall over, banging her knees. "Hey, Gibbs, looky what I found!" He said, causing the older man to turn as she stumbled to her feet, eyes darting with fear. The man was holding some of the captain's goods that he had acquired from various raids over the years. He raised an eyebrow, obviously wondering what the bloody hell a young teenager was doing on a pirate's ship.
"Why hello there, little missy." He said, pulling off his hat respectfully. Wow, a pirate that had respect. That had to be a first. He smacked the smaller man upside the head and snatched the rope from him. "Give me that. The captain's gonna wanna see 'er…" The smaller man frowned, but brightened as Gibbs shoved the various things he had picked up from the cabin into his hands and started pulling the girl along towards the door, and she followed, deciding that going with them couldn't be much worse than staying and waiting to be sunk.
"So, little missy, what be your name?" Gibbs asked kindly as they were walking up the stairs towards the deck, which she saw was splattered with blood and dead bodies, and there was also another pirate ship pulled up alongside the Death Star, attached by ropes and planks. She gulped before answering.
"Danielle." She answered simply, wishing he would untie her. After all, if he wasn't going to kill her, and he was going to be her friend, then why was he dragging her along like a slave? Gibbs was trying to be gentle with the ropes, so as not to scrape or cut her skin, but didn't want to risk untying her in case she wasn't as innocent as she appeared. As they started to cross the planks, he turned to make sure she didn't fall, and held out one hand to help her across.
"A pretty name, lass, what's a pretty miss like you doing aboard a scum ship like this?" He asked, and took one of her hands to help her down onto the other ship, but before she could answer, another voice came from behind him.
"I wasn't aware we were taking on prisoners, Mr. Gibbs." Mr. Gibbs turned, still gripping her ropes tightly, and she stared at who was apparently the captain of the ship. He had beaded braids in his beard, a bandana tied round his head, and a number of gold teeth. His black hair was wild, and his skin was tanned to an almost golden colour, and his nails were dirty, as were his clothes, of which he seemed to have a lot of. Although he had the appearance of a fearsome pirate, and she was certain she'd never met him before, she felt as if he was someone she could trust.
"Not a prisoner, sir. Found her locked in the captain's cabin, tied up and scared to death. Don't rightly know who she is yet." Mr. Gibbs said, indicating the obviously terrified Danielle. The captain sauntered over, examining the young girl, and his eyes seemed rather lost for a moment, as if recognizing her from somewhere else, then seemed to come back to reality, drawing his sword, causing her to flinch and back away, but she was stopped by Mr. Gibbs, who pulled her back roughly, causing him to be reprimanded by the captain.
"Mr. Gibbs, that is no way to treat a lady…" He said as he raised up his sword, then turned to her, addressing her. "Don't move, I'm gonna deal with those bonds." She did as she was told and flinched as the blade came swinging down, slicing through the ropes and as they fell to the floor, she massaged her chafed and sore wrists, staring at him. "Now, that choker there…" He did a neat little flick at the rope on her neck, which also fell to the ground.
She looked between them, then started speaking, stammering slightly in fear. "Thank you, sirs, my name is Danielle. I know Mr. Gibbs asked me how I ended up on that ship, so I'll answer that…" She spoke with a slightly British accent, and sounded quite educated, which made the two pirates wonder even more how she ended up a slave on a pirate ship. "You see, I was stowing away on a merchant ship, trying to find…Port Royale, when the ship was attacked by those pirates." She spat out the last word like it left a bad taste in her mouth, and she got the distinct feeling that they could tell that she was lying about what she'd been trying to find. "The captain apparently decided he could use a personal slave…" She trailed off, deciding that they didn't need to know anything else.
The captain seemed to think for a moment before sweeping off his hat in respect, giving a short bow. "Seems you've had a journey full of danger to get here, lass, but let me tell you. The Black Pearl is the safest ship on the whole ocean, none alive have ever defeated her. Captain Jack Sparrow is my name, and welcome to my ship." He glanced out towards the Death Star, as if thinking, then added. "Now, did these scurvy cads take any belongings of yours when they captured you?" He asked, and she shook her head.
"All I had were the clothes on my back, and a bit of food, which has long ago been consumed." She watched as Captain Sparrow made a loud whistle, and the remainder of the crew that was aboard the ship came back, and the last one off lit up a line of gunpowder, which ignited, trailing along the ship, and she watched it with a sort of hunger in her eyes, as the Black Pearl sped away to avoid getting damaged by the explosion, which she watched, not even flinching. She then turned away from the burning wreckage, placing her face into the wind that had started blowing, getting rid of the fog, and as the sun made it's appearance over the horizon, she was found sitting at the bow of the ship, legs dangling over the edge, staring at the ocean waves, black hair blowing around her face, unaware that she was being watched curiously by the entire crew, but most curiously by Jack Sparrow at the wheel, who could see something in that face that reminded him of someone…someone he hadn't seen in a long time…
((And…finished…for now…hope you guys like it, I said before that this was my first PotC fan fiction, so don't expect anything spectacular…next chapter will be up soon…))