By Kitty =^.^=
A/N: Yaaaaay! We--I've updated! Chapter 9 is here and we hope all of you are ready (sorry it's a day late, apparently FanFiction.Net was "encountering heavy traffic" and the upload was interrupted...right. Uuuuh-huh... doubtful glare)!! A review of last time: We FINALLY got out of Jack's FLASHBACK of when the Black Pearl docked in Tortuga. He feels he needs to go someplace where he won't remember "her..." So he decides to go to Port Royale to visit the newlyweds, Will and Elizabeth! But at the end, gasp!, what's this? Someone standing at the top of a ship with the wind blowing in their hair...much like when Jack first came in at the beginning of PotC...how'd that happen...what was I thinking...why are you asking so many dumb questions??? Oh well! Onto the story, for we must hurry and finish Chapter 10! Our friend Brittany says she won't review until I get to Chapter 10. teary glare Damn you, Salazar...DAMN YOU, SALAZAAAAAR!! Wait...somehow those just aren't the right words...
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Silhouetted against the rising sun, a figure stood atop the mast, gazing out at the sea with a lovely arrogant smirk, hair flying back against the wind. Chiffon scarves tied around the person's hat whipped around their face, and grazed the slender fingers that stroked a black diamond charm hanging upon a black pearl chain...
Back on the Pearl...
Opening the doors out onto the deck (well, opening them after running into them a few times...) Jack walked out, shielding his eyes against the early morning sun. He looked over onto the streets of Tortuga and saw that his crew was walking back after a long night of spending their money on wine, women, and amateur dramatics. Sighing Jack, leaned down, folded his arms, and rested his chin on the side of the ship. I should find Gibbs soon, Jack thought wearily. Ask 'im if he 'eard anythin' about ships passin' through nearby...
"Jack?" A hand lightly clapping him on the shoulder accompanied the voice. Jack turned rather suddenly, almost falling over, but he grappled the wooden side and held his upper body to it.
"Mornin' Gibbs," Jack said, straining to push himself upright.
"Morning, Jack," replied the first mate, looking quizzically at Jack's futile attempts to regain balance. "How ye feelin'?" Jack shrugged, which further impeded his efforts to stand up.
"Oh, just--woah," Jack finally stood up, and he grabbed his aching head, "just fine." Gibbs, although he saw that Jack was not fine, began to walk away to start counting heads to make sure all the crew was there (even if they weren't, he'd still leave without them, but that's beside the point...) "Gibbs!" The first mate rapidly turned around in the direction of Jack's distraught voice.
"What?! What is it cap'n??"
Jack just looked a moment at him with a look of embarrassment, almost disgust. "For gods sakes, man! Quit dancin' about the deck like some blasted sugar plum faery!" Gibbs turned his head slightly to the side, leaning forward, and shaking his head as though he didn't hear Jack correctly. "I mean," Jack continued as he shakily walked past him to the wheel of the ship, "have ye no dignity? Dear lord, the people I associate wiv...ow! What?" Gibbs had grabbed Jack by the back of neck and steered him towards the captain's cabin.
"I don't think so, lad," Gibbs said in a very parental manner. "Yer drunker'n'a fish and yer not gonna be steering the ship when yer loike that!" Jack looked at him like a teenage boy would look at his father when the father was saying the boy wasn't a man when the boy knew damned well that he was and... Oh dear, I jest confused meself... Jack forgot his protest and walked back through the cabin's doors (again, after running into them a few times...)
As soon as the doors shut, Gibbs sighed and turned back around to walk to gangplank. Most of the crew was back by now and he went a few yards in front of the ship and yelled, "Come along now, ye scurvy bilge rats!!" And every man in Jack's crew knew that it was Gibbs calling out and that they better hurry their arses up!
As soon as all of the men were on board (the last just made it by jumping off the dock onto the deck because the gangplank had already been pulled in) Gibbs called out directions so that they could set sail and the respective members of the crew echoed them. "Raise anchor! Hoist the mainsail! Let's look alive out here, men!"
While the rest of the crew began to prepare the ship for departure, Gibbs realised that Jack hadn't even said where they were going next. He slapped his head and heard something rustle under his hat. Taking it off, Gibbs found a ragged, folded piece of paper. He opened it up and found that it was a trade route map of a Spanish merchant ship. "Aye, that's right," he said to himself. "Picked that up last night from Jimm." Calling out a few more orders, Gibbs walked into Jack's cabin. The poor drunken pirate was face down on his bed, mumbling something about 'bloody rum.'
"Cap'n." No answer. "Cap'n?" A few waves of the hand that were meant to repel him. "Cap'n!"
"Aaghhowinthe...!! The what now??" Gibbs shook his head and groaned.
"Jack, Oi've 'ad a thought:" the first mate put on an expression of mock wonder, "'ow can we set sail and leave Tortuga when we don't even know where we're going?" Jack, who wasn't even looking at Gibbs, sleepily growled in frustration as he tried to scratch his back and couldn't reach. "JACK!"
"Jaysus, Gibbs, do ye have to yell suh damn much?!" Jack cried gripping his head. "I told ye where we was goin'."
"When?" Gibbs asked doubtfully.
"Yesterday."
"No ye didn't!"
"Oi did!"
"Where then?!"
"Port Royale!"
"Ye never said nothin'!"
"I did so, I said I needed to get a weddin' present for Will and Elizabefth!"
"But that was yer dumb-arsed excuse for not talking about--!" Gibbs stopped suddenly and slightly back away from Jack. Even with a helluva hangover, that man could you give one dangerous stare that said 'Don't even think it.' "Eh, anyway!" Gibbs tried to change the subject, "Where are we gonna get somethin' now?" Jack snatched the map that was gripped in his first mate's hand. "Oh, uh," Gibbs fumbled over his words, "yeah, Oi got that last night from Jimm." Jack stared at it in disbelief.
"Not Ole Jimmy-Jim-Jim Jimm??"
"Nah, nah, Jimmy-Jim-Jim's been long dead! Oi got this 'ere from Jimmy-Jim-Jim-Jim Jimm."
Jack stood up, walked over to the table, and flattened the yellowed piece of paper on top of the other maps. "A Spanish merchant ship?" he asked.
"Aye," replied Gibbs. "Called La Diabla Liza. On its way back to Madrid from the Americas."
"Aaah..." Jack smiled slightly and stroked his beard in thought, liking this idea more and more. "Bound for Maddy, eh? Well," Jack stood up straight and strode towards the door with a kick in his step, "coming from the colonies they 'ave up there, that ship's bound to 'ave bundles of loot aboard it. All right then, Gibbs! Ow." Jack knocked into the door once more, but quickly composed himself. "We're goin' after La Diabla Liza!"
Besides, thought Jack as he swayed over to the helm and Gibbs barked the new plan out to the crew, this all'll keep me mind off of...damn it all...
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"Oo's that then?"
"Don'know. She just came into port a bit ago."
"Run into Sparrow at all, did she? Ee just left, I fthink, right before she got 'ere."
"Nah, we woulda 'eard 'im screamin' and yellin' something terrible, ah ha ha!"
"Whot? Ye think she's annovvah wench ee di--?"
The man who had been speaking never finished his sentence...for a silver gilded dagger, studded with emeralds, had been shoved through his back, all the way through to the other side, jutting out of his stomach. As quickly as it had gouged through the man's flesh, it was drawn back out and the attacker just kept walking down the street, their weathered coat whirling behind them, their long dark hair waving about their face. Their features were fixed with long-simmering anger, sly suspicion, and just an overtone of proud, arrogant power.
The other two men that had been left standing gaped as their friend's body crumpled to the ground.
"Mary, mudder o' god..."
"Oo was she?!"
"Didn't ye see that jewelled silver dagger of 'er's, man?"
"Aye, what of it?"
"Oo is one of the last pirates thas'a'woman left, then? Oo captains two of the most feared pirate ships in the Caribbean, possibly the world?"
"Dunno. Oo?"
"Gods, man, don'you listen to anyfthing you 'ear in da taverns?! She's supposed to be the wildest fthing evuh, on the seas, an' in bed," he added with a slight chuckle, "Oi've 'eard people call 'er Feral Ella, she's so fierce'n'rufthless. They sai that on one of 'er ships she even keeps a menagerie of sorts, wiv wildcats that she's trained to be like an army of killing beasts whenever she takes a town or a ship! Teh... As if she needed 'em. She's killed hundreds of men in battles by herself with just that cutlass she 'ad. S'true!"
"Cor! I wouldn't wanna get in 'er way!"
The mystifying, enigmatic female pirate captain walked through the lightening streets of Tortuga and even though no one recognised her at first, everyone seemed to realise that she was dangerous. The femme brigand walked into the Serum Pub, looking around at the people still there in the early morning hours. Choosing a table in the back of the tavern, she sat down, crossing her feet up on the table. As she silently wiped her precious blade of the fresh blood on a pitch-black cloth, a young woman wearing an ashy-blue dress, tied up on the sides with frayed black ribbons, walked over and stood at the side of the table. "What's yer pleasure then, dear?"
The dark-haired woman looked up slightly from under her hat. "You do know that I'm a woman, luv?"
The blonde laughed with genuine amusement and put a hand on the table. "Oh, course I do! No man on Tortuga can walk in as straight as you did jest now wivvout fallin' ovah. I was askin' whot ye wanted to eat or drink." The sitting woman raised her hat a little and looked the blonde up and down.
"You're a waitress then?" she said, doubt and sarcasm filling her voice. Then regretting her comment somewhat, added, "Meant nofthing of offense, luv, nofthing of offense."
With a good-natured chuckle, the blonde replied, "S'all right. None taken. I know I don'ezactly look the part of 'waitress'," she said looking down at her clothing, "but is'a dai job, innit? So will ya be wanting anyfthing?"
The seated woman shook her head. "No. Thank you. But there is somefthing you could tell me." The blonde leaned closer. "Are there any women here who are...tough, I s'pose ye'd say. Not afraid of a lit'ul work, can taike an order, maybe brandish a sword?" The blonde lady peered into the deep sapphire, flecked with cyan. They held complete seriousness, she hadn't been joking. There was also...anger, maybe even...pain? Shaking her head a little, she answered the question.
"Um, I guess'so, but...why?" The marauder brushed aside a shiny bunch of onyx strands from her face, revealing a small wry smile.
"Let's just say I'm in need of a few good women," she smoothly drawled. "I'm rather weary of the incompetence of the men in my crew."
"Ah," the blonde nodded emphatically with understanding, and placed a sympathetic hand on the other woman's shoulder. "Ain't it the trufth...yeah, I know a few women oo'd be perfect." With a smile, she offered a hand in introduction. "Oi'm Giselle, by the way."
The dark-haired woman accepted the handshake. "Wonderful tuh meet ya, Giselle. I'm..."
"Yeah, ole Jack was in 'ere last noight!"
"Ye jokin' roight?!"
"No, no ee was, Oi swear it!"
"Cap'n Jack Sparrow, eh?"
"Aye, the very same. 'Ad one 'elluva time wiv all that rum ee did and--achk! Oy! Whas'all this then?! Ye mad woman?!?!"
The pirate captain had jumped up from the table and grabbed the man by the collar before he could finish what he was saying. Staring menacingly into his eyes, she shouted, "Where is he?! WHERE is Jack Sparrow?!?!" The frightened man couldn't say a word as the terrifying woman dangled him in the air by his shirtfront. Shaking him fiercely, she screamed again, "WHERE IS HE, DAMN YOU?!"
His forehead dripping with cold sweat, he finally shakily replied, "J-jack left a hour ago, b-but Oi d-d-d-don't know where to."
With an enraged, growling snarl that echoed through the building, the streets, the whole tiny island it seemed, the lady pirate dropped the quivering man to the ground. She stormed out of the pub and sprinted to the docks like she was racing death. Not even bothering to get a plank of wood to cross over onto her ship, she leapt over the side and kept running to the crew's quarters below deck, without ever breaking her pace. Kicking open the door when she found it locked, the captain burst inside, startling her first mate and his female "acquaintance." Despite his confused protests and the woman's shrill shrieks, the captain dragged her first mate out on deck. Disappointed at losing his company (the poor woman had run off the ship as soon as he and the captain were out on deck), he spitefully shouted, "What in blazes is wrong with ye woman?!"
His captain raised her head and said quietly, dangerously, ominously, "Jack Sparrow just came through here with the Black Pearl..."
The first mate's eyes looked as though they were going to bulge out of his head. Gulping for breath, he asked, "You...you don't mean?"
Taking off her hat, the woman's face was revealed to the light after what seemed forever. She spoke with deadly severity in her voice as she stated, "Yes. I do." She looked out at the water, visualising the Black Pearl in the distance, "We're going after it."
"B-b-but, Cap'n, we can't go after the Pearl!" the first mate objected. "We'd never be able to reach it, it's too damned fast!! And even if we did, it's captained'n'crewed by som-o-the most fearsome pirates e'er heard of in the Caribbean! And--!"
Click.
As was her custom, apparently, the lady captain had silenced another man before he could finish speaking. This woman with salient black hair and striking blue eyes looked like a demon at that moment...and those eyes...those eyes that told the story of someone who had been battered and beaten like the ocean waves breaking upon the hull of a mighty ship...held the tiniest traces of tears, barely visible to divine eternal power, and completely unseen to mortal eyes. She had cocked her pistol and was pointing it at her first mate's throat, as her cerulean eyes, regaining their steady, proud, condescending gaze, still looked out at the water.
Smiling almost wickedly, she murmured, "I'm going to pay Jack Sparrow a little visit,"
BANG!
"Savvy?"
The first mate opened his eyes and fearfully stared at the pistol that had swiftly moved to the side of his face.
"Now...gather the rest of the crew." The woman put back on her hat and pushed the first mate down to the ground. "And go into the Serum Pub. There's a girl in there, blonde hair, blue dress, name's Giselle. Fetch her nicely," she glared at him for a moment, a warning. "Tell her I should like her help in a few matters and that I've got a proposition for her."
The first mate, annoyed but curious, asked "What are ye plannin', Cap'n?" The woman brushed aside a few strands of hair and leaned over the side of the ship's railing, as her fingers lightly drifted over the necklace hanging about her throat. The slightly calloused fingertips smoothed over the intricately cut black stone, and feathered over the slick, silky, shadowy pearls.
"We're catching up," was her dreamy, impious reply. It was a threat, a vow, a promise...a plea...
And even though he was out of sight, far out on open ocean, as the world was pulled into daylight, Jack felt the back of his neck prickle, and his ears burned, as though someone was talking about him, and summoning him in their thoughts.
Somehow, Jack feared that even though that day that he hated, loved, despised, adored...feared...wanted...was over, that that glorious dream and abhorrent nightmare was far from over. In fact, it was only just beginning.
And Jack's fate was tangled and intertwined with the object his affections and hatred, more than he ever would have cared to realise...
TBC!!! HASHEEN!!!!
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A/N: Aaaaaaaaaall righty then! This one's done, we must go finish Chapter 10! Aren't you excited?! You should be!!! We like this chapter very much, we does. Yesh, yeeeesh...
ERIC: How come I'm not in it??
KITTY: Eric?? How'd you get here??!!
ERIC: Well, see Mr. And Mrs. Fridel had just been married and--
KITTY: No, no, no, no whispers dear GOD no!! I meant in my AN.
ERIC: Uuuum...you put me here??
KITTY: I did?
ERIC: Yup!!
KITTY: But I don't remember doing that!! confused, frantic sobs Damn you ADD... DAMN YOU ADDeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!
ERIC: Ya know, somehow those just aren't the right words, babe.
KITTY: Hey that's my line!! groan Never mind, forget it. All of you points at you through the computer screen Please review. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, no, no, JACK (possibly even Kitty if you love us that much...), REVIEW. Thank you much...
Until next time, luvs...
Love,
~*Kitty*~
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