Chapter Two

That same evening, in the darkest corner of a crowded tavern, a squat creature, more orc than human, was grovelling.

"Good Sir," he whimpered in a low, submissive whine, "I have watched the strange ship for many hours now, on your command."

The other man, dressed in dark and hidden in shadow, leaned forward eagerly now, his one good eye glittering.

"And?" he questioned in a low voice.

The grovelling creature fidgeted nervously.

"And…nothing, Sir. There is no sign of life there and not one living soul have I seen either going aboard or leaving the ship."

Raffas, master amoung theives, sat back in his chair and his pale eye stared i nto space as he considered. natural predator, he could smell an opportunity the same way a wolf smells a fresh kill. He had scented it as soon as the strange new ship had put into the harbour. Many ships came to that melting pot of a port, many from strange eastern lands, far across the sea, but this ship was unlike any he had seen. And so his spies had been watching The Black Pearl throughout the evening, ordered to report any movement in that dormant ship to him immediately.

"Sit there all night if you have to," he ordered in a soft, dangerous voice, "something like this has to be worth a fortune."

The squat man departed, leaving Raffas to his thoughts.

However, while the minion had been crawling to Raffas, something had slipped ashore in the now moonless night. Two things, in fact, and one of them was chasing its eyeball down the length of the dock.

"Stop messing around!" Pintel growled, hitting his colleague on the head. "We're supposed to be incognito here!"

"What?" Ragetti retrieved his wooden eye and began to screw it back into its socket.

Pintel sighed, sometimes it wasn't easy being the brains in the outfit. "It's where nobody knows who we are."

Ragetti thought for a moment, which was fast for him. "But…we don't know where we are, right?"

"Yeah.The captain said that we're not on any map known to man. It happened when we were in that fog in the Devils triangle."

"So…we don't know where we are?"

"Right"

"So how will anybody know us?"

Pintel stopped and considered for a moment. After a few seconds, he reached a decision.

"Who did the captain put in charge of this mission?"

"You."

"'S right," Pintel rubbed one grubby finger around a black, hairy nostril and flicked the results across the dock. "Me. And so you just do what I say, right?"

"Right" Ragetti sighed, whistfully. He knew his place.

In far off Osgiliath, Faramir was restless. Ever since the sunset, a thick fog had been seen above the far-off city port, Pelargir. There was a distant thunder, but the storm remained fixed on the city, and it was to there that his eyes had been drawn since.Faramir had felt this dread on his soul before; all of Gondor had felt it, when the shadow began to grow over Mordor, and war was iminent. He wondered whether he should potition the king to increase the guard on Osgiliath? Or should he take matters into his own hands, as he should have done before the war? Although the minions of Sauron had been killed or lost to the wilderness, there were many enemies still out there, and the corsairs were the most dangerous. This time, Faramir decided as he pulled his ranger's cloak around him, hiding the white tree embroidered on his uniform, this time he would not stand by and watch his country fall under the shadow. Having handed control of the guard of the city to his leuitenant, he saddled his horse, and prepared himself for the night's ride ahead of him to Pelargir. The stars above him faded into the darkness in the south, and a cool breeze passed him as he turned his back to the Citadel of the Stars and his regiment. The night watch saw his white horse as a silver shadow, a white flame in the darkness as their captain sped into the night, and the unknown.

In the city port that was Faramir's destination, Captain Jack Sparrow, having slept off his drink, was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling of his room at the inn, and considering his options. As far as he could tell there were several key points to consider.

1. He had absolutely no idea where he was. For a creature with such a catlike homing instinct as Jack, this was quite a point of annoyance.

2. Wherever he was, the Pearl was also here.

3. If he wanted to get back his ship, he would have to face Barbossa at some point.

And there was another thing. Following his escapre from the island, he had heard rumours about the treasure of Isla de Muerta. At first, he hadn't given much thought to the stories of the 'ghost ship' and it's damned crew, but as the rumours spread, he could ignore it no longer, and had begun to wonder a great deal about the so-called 'curse'. It was interesting to say the least, but time would tell as to the truth of the tales...Sparrow made his decision, and swung his legs off the side of the bed. If he was going to act, it had better be sooner, rather than later.

Meanwhile, Pintel and Ragetti had run into a little difficulty. Raffas prowled, catlike, prowled back and forth in front of the hogtied pirates in the flickering candlelight; his long hair hanging over the velvet patch on his eye, and hiding his evil face in shadow. Pintel and Ragetti did their best to look meek unthreatening.

"Well, gentelmen," Raffas sneered, softly, "let's start at the beginning, shall we? Where is it that you come from?"

"I'm from Wapping," Ragetti said, helpfully. Raffas glared at him.

"You are both strangers to Pelargir, this much i know, and you came on the ship that you call The Black Pearl. Where do you sail from? Who is your captain?"

"Our last port was Isla de Muerta," Pintal admitted.

"Yeah", Ragetti muttered, "not bloody going there again."

"If you want to talk deals," Pintel suggested, hopefully, "we can take you to Captain Barbossa--he's very big on deals."

"But what could you possibly have that I could want?" Raiis asked.

"Gold!" Ragetti piped up.

"Yeah" Pintel agreed, "we can get you as much gold as you want!"

"And supposing I want more than gold?" Raffas held up the gold medallion he had found on the skinny pirate, the candlelight glinting off it's strange surfaces, "perhaps I wish to know the secret to this strange treasure?"

Ragetti and Pintel looked at each other, nervously.

Raffas drew his sword with a soft hiss. "Well? what are you waiting for?"