Yes, I know it's been a while, but I left for Colorado right after finishing this chapter and couldn't get it to upload onto fan fiction. So sorry, but here it is, enjoy!

A while later I heard a knock on the door. "Lily? It's Will. You can come out now."

I rolled the barrels away from the door and cracked it open. "Elizabeth's been sedated?"

Will shook his head. "She's above deck, but we've worked everything out." He looked towards the sun streaming through the doorway. "I'm afraid though I won't be able to teach you any more about sailing."

I cocked my head. "Did you come up with a job for me?" I asked

"No, it's rather that Elizabeth and I decided it might be more beneficial for someone else to teach you."

I scowled. "So what you're really saying is that 'dear sweet Lizzie' pitched a fit and forbade you from speaking to me. Basically."

Will ignored me and went above deck. "Ragetti and Pintel have offered to keep a close eye on you. You should get along with them just fine."

Offered at the point of a sword more likely. I grumbled to myself. But Ragetti and Pintel were two of my favorites characters in Pirates so I figured it couldn't be all bad. Although they didn't look so creepy and repugnant on the big screen. For being on a ship it was obvious they hadn't touched water in weeks. Ragetti's hair was smeared to the top of his sunburned forehead with grease and grime. There were two tracks of clean-ish skin running down his forehead and cheeks, presumably from sweat. He really wouldn't have looked bad if he had shaved his way past five O'clock shadow every so often. Pintel was a little grosser, simply because he was rounder, and sweatier, which made him smell much worse. His whole balding head was sunburned to a blistering mess, and there were small pieces of food stuck in his beard that I imagined he'd eat when times were hard. Obviously at that point I was majorly grossing myself out and had to take a moment to get my gag reflex under control.

"Lily, this is Argus Pintel and Bailey Ragetti. Pintel, Ragetti, this is Lillian Groves."

"Please, call me Lily." I said weakly, bracing myself on a cannon.

Will looked up to the wheel, where Elizabeth was giving him the evil eye. "Well, I'll uh, just leave you three to it then."

I sighed and sat on the deck. "Whipsh," I mumbled at Will's retreating back. "That girl's got you on a short leash."

"Well girlie, don't get into any trouble alright? We'll be below deck if you need us." Pintel said grinning and showing his rotted teeth. Excuse me; I think I need a bucket.

"Wait! Will said you had to keep an eye on me. And I want to learn about sailing." I pouted

"And what, per say is in it for us?" Pintel replied.

I wracked my brain for a suitable trade. "I'll teach you to read." I offered.

Ragetti's eyes- or should I say eye? - widened. "You mean you can read?" I nodded. " Then it would be an honor, Miss Lily to ameliorate your education in maritime terms."

I giggled. "And what about you Pintel? Would you care to learn as well? I'd be more than happy to teach you."

Pintel looked towards the hallway leading below deck and then back at Ragetti and I. "Well, can't hurt me any, can it?"

I smiled. "Not really I don't think. Now, what do you two know about the alphabet?"

"You mean like the A B C's?" I nodded. "That's all."

My jaw dropped. "All you know is A B C?" The pirates nodded. "Okay then, that's where we'll start. Now there's a song that always helps me remember them, how are you at memorizing songs?"

"Now I know my A - B - C's. Next time won't you sing with me!" seeing two grown men, let alone pirates, singing the Alphabet song at the top of their lungs was undoubtedly one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

"Very good. Now we'll start on the sounds the letters make. Now an A can make a noise like ă, like in apple, or ā like in card. B sounds like the b in baby." I could tell I was loosing them. "Actually, how about you teach me something about ships? That way I can make this part more interesting."

Ragetti lifted his head from his hand slowly and looked around for a moment, yawning. "Yes, well the right side of the ship is called the Starboard side. The left is the port side. The front is the bow, and the back is the stern. The helm is where the captain stands and steers the ship."

I nodded. "Let me try." I stood up, closed my eyes, and spun around a few times. When I opened them again I got my bearings and tried to name what I saw. "So the port side is this way, and that's the stern. Up there's the helm, and there's two masts here, and here. Right?"

Ragetti nodded. "So how does that help us read?"

I grabbed a nearby bucket of water and sat it on deck. I dipped my finger in the water and spelled out helm on the wood. "This is the word helm, okay? And each letter has a different sound, which contributes to the pronunciation. So the H makes an 'h sound, and the E makes an e sound, L is ll and M is mmm. if you put it all together it sounds like h.e.l.m., got it?"

Pintel looked at me blankly and then coughed. "Well, I'll be below deck if you'll be needin' me. Good luck mate." He said, patting Ragetti on the shoulder and making his way to the stairs.

Slowly Ragetti and I worked on other easier words like water, port, mast, and -at his request- God. Because once you've learned to spell it it makes everything better. I smiled, watching the concentration on his face. It was interrupted by a loud cry of 'Dinner', which meant immediately everyone dropped what they were doing to run to the galley. I, on the other hand, wasn't starving due to a day of hard labor, so I calmly rose to my feet and followed the crowd of pirates below deck.

The food was unappetizing to say the least. As far as I could see the main ingredients in the stew-like concoction was alcohol and lard. I saw a few lonely, shriveled carrots that I quickly snatched up, and off of nearby plates. Seemed I wasn't the only one stealing, I saw many of the crew taking morsels for themselves. I smiled, thinking of back home when I would take food off of Ruth's plate and turn to see Jan taking some off of mine.

After I had all I could stomach I got up (as there wasn't much call to excuse myself) and went to my bedroom. It finally hit me that I was sharing the quite small bed with Elizabeth. Will's fiancé. The woman that hates me with the passion of a thousand suns. I just as quickly decided to relocate-and fast.

"Erm, Captain? This room here, what's it used for?"

Barbossa sighed and peaked in quickly. "That's for the rum lass. These barrels are empty but for the barren bottles." He spoke to me like one would to a small child.

I frowned, but an idea started to form regardless. "Do you think I could stay in there? I know I can rig something up to stay safe."

Barbossa wrinkled his brow and after a few moments sighed. "Alright lass. But be quiet about it. No one need know where you be sleepin'"

I nodded. "Yes sir."