Disclaimer: I don't own either "Danny Phantom" or "Pirates of the Carabbean". Most of the characters you see are either property of Nickelodeon or Disney. Some others are my own.

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The Spirit of the Ship

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Chapter 7: A Stowaway

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The lowest level of the ship had lots of room in it. Several supply crates were stored there, but it was still very roomy. It was a perfect place for sword fighting lessons. Gustavo took Danny down to the room for just that.

"There are many things to learn about sword fighting," Gustavo told Danny. "One of the most important, Danny, is the stance. They have their own strengths and weaknesses. Let us view mine." Gustavo drew his sword and pointed it downward, leaning over with his right foot in front of his left after. "This stance is good for defense, for since my sword is lowered, I can respond more quickly to enemy strikes by a swift movement of the arm and the wrist. While I can easily slice your feet off of your ankles, offense is quite lacking. An upper body strike would normally take two movement, rather than one. Now, let's see how you choose to stand."

Before Danny unsheathed his sword, he went into his ghost form. He had found it as sort of a confidence booster, mostly in the heat of battle against other ghosts. Afterwards, he drew his blade and held it horizontally over his head with his knees bent.

"I know exactly how that stance works," Gustavo said. "You have an offensive advantage with quick stabs, but how can you defend yourself when your sword is so high up?"

"I dunno," Danny shrugged. "I just thought it'd look cool."

"If that's supposed to mean good," Gustavo said, "I'll agree with that. Now, on to training. This simple excercise will help with your awareness while moveing. I strike, and you block. You'll be moving back, so memorize your surroundings well. I'll attack left, right, up, down, right, left, and at the end, we cross blades. We'll start slowly, and pick up the pace after more succesions."

"I think I can do that," Danny said.

"Then let's begin," Gustavo said. His first strikes were rather slow, for it was just a starting attack. Danny was starting to get the hang of Gustavo's attacks, as they steadily increased in speed. When the two ran out of room, the switched spots, for despite enough area, they do start to run out. Gustavo was now blazing at Danny, who was having a little trouble trying to keep up.

At their final cross blade, Gustavo commented, "You learn quickly, Danny. I like that." The compliment was interupted when a black substance dropped between their blades from above. Gustavo dabbed his finger on the substance, gave it a lick, then immediatly spat it back out. "Ink."

"I'll go check," Danny said, then phased through the roof.

When Danny phased up to the upper storage room, he noticed a small trail of ink leding to a knothole. The trail came from an ink vial, which laid next to a familiar Spanish thief. He saw Adriana writing in her diary, and shortly, Adriana took notice of him. Adriana screamed at him, Danny screamed at her, and Danny quickly phased down to the lower level.

"Who screamed?" Gustavo asked, making Danny jump, even if he was in the air.

"Oh, uh," Danny said, hesitating for an answer, "that was me."

"I know that," Gustavo said, "who screamed after?"

"Hey, I do not scream like a girl," Danny defended.

"So there is a girl up there," Gustavo said, which made Danny bite his lip in nervousness. "I knew that was her. I think I'll just 'introduce' her to the captain. I thank you Danny for finding a stowaway." At that, Gustavo bowed and exited as Danny slapped is head in defeat.

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As evening came to the ocean, the setting sun gave Jack the direction where to go. The sun setted West, which led Jack to steer the opposite. He'd normally follow his compass if it could point north. He was interupted by Gustavo holding Adriana at the wrists. "Captain," he addressed, "I've found a stowaway. That thief again."

"Well, if it isn't Adriana," Jack said, recognizing the girl. "I never thought I'd see you here."

"Enough idle chit-chat," Gustavo interupted. "You're the captain, give the order's for what we should do to her."

"Oh, so you want me to punish her," Jack said. "Well first, I want you to loosen the grip on the young lass."

"What?" Gustavo was almost at nerve's end at that order. "But she'll try to get away!"

"We're in the middle of the ocean, mate. She can't go anywhere. And besides, you doing that to her is like me..." Jack quickly unsheathed his sword and put it upon Gustavo's throat, making him flinch a bit, "...doing this to you. Savvy?"

Before another movement was made, Danny phased to the deck then went to his regular form. "Gustavo, don't do any-..." He paused at what he was seeing.

"Hello, Danny," was all Adriana could say in the current scene he was seeing.

"Look, Jack," Danny said to the captain, "I don't like Gustavo much either, but don't you think that's going a little too far?"

While the comment made Gustavo more frustrated than he already was, he threw down Adriana's wrists, which let Jack able to sheath his sword. "Captain Sparrow," Adriana said, "I know what I did was wrong and would like to apologize. I'll take whatever punishment you have in store for me."

"Well, first and foremost," Jack began, "welcome aboard the Hairy Turtle. Secondly, you're really more on crew duty rather then punishment. You'll be sailing us all the way to Poca Città, Italy, and it's quite a long sail, about two or three more days from-"

"¡Espere un minuto!" Gustavo blurted. "You can't have a woman, let alone a girl, all the way to Italy."

"Gustavo," Adriana said, a bit peeved, "unless sexism is another one of your hobbies, I suggest you stay out of this."

"Besides," Jack added, "I didn't say she'll be taking us to Poca Città completely. You'll be steering at night."

"What?" Gustavo was fuming at the captains commands.

"It's a long voyage, Gustavo," Jack told him. "You don't want poor, little Adriana taking us to Italy all by herself, do you?" Adriana put on a cute puppy face just to make Gustavo feel worse. Based on Gustavo's reactions, Jack, Danny, or Adriana couldn't tell if it was working or not.

"Le odio," Gustavo said to Adriana as he stormed down to the lower deck.

"So," Danny said, "why are you really letting Adriana stay?"

"Two reasons," Jack said. "One: according to Gustavo, she's quite the thief. If we need supplies, she can just grab them. And two: it's too much fun making Gustavo angry." The three shared a laugh as they continued their voyage to Italy.