Chapter 1:
Stowaway
The crewmembers were used to muttering about the weather or sea conditions, but today was different as they spent their time with some interesting gossip.
"Quite a lad, ain't he?" one grubby-looking man chuckled to another rather thickly. "Hasn't spoken a word since we let 'im on the ship back in Port Maria."
"Odd, too," another said. "He walks funny."
"The lad's rather small too, ain't he?"
The said lad was leaning against the edge of the ship on the starboard side, looking out to sea, while the gossiping men worked on the port, and although the original crewmates didn't know it, their whispers were rather loud ones, and the lad could hear every word, although he paid no mind to it.
He had a young, good-looking face, and his hair was held in a worn-out hat, hiding the unusual color nearly successfully, for once he had bent down, the reddish blonde showed off the thick strips of light chocolate brown.
"Looks like a lass," a skinnier man commented, adjusting the ribbon that tied back his hair.
"I was just thinking that," came another voice. "He's rather pretty for a boy, ain't he?"
"Well," a smarter, but still rather stupid, man said, "for all we know, the lad could very well be a lass, eh? He hasn't been talking much. What if it's because his voice is too high--"
"Gentlemen?" the lad called out to them, not turning around to face them. The working sailors swiftly shut their mouths and held still, their eyes wide and teeth clenching in nervousness that the boy must've heard them, but the man who had just spoken noted that, while the boy's voice was high, it was also a bit on the baritone side. He didn't really seem to notice how fake the low voice sounded. "We'll be arriving in Tortuga shortly, then?" Without even waiting for a response to the more statement-like question, he moved from his position on deck to depart downstairs to collect his belongings.
"The lad's crazy!" a bearded, bald man noted. "Tortuga's not fer a couple o' hours, I'd say."
But luck was with the boy, for the winds swiftly changed, and within a half hour he was waving his goodbye and thanks, trudging out of the docks of Tortuga. The crew remained on deck, muttering to themselves about the lad's fortunate guess, while the lad himself bowed his head downwards, allowing no one to see the smirk on his face.
As soon as he was farther away, he turned a corner behind a random wooden house, away from the view of the men who gave him a lift, and his smirk grew. The boy moved his hands under his loose shirt to the knot of cloth by his back. With just one tug on the right section, the bindings holding his chest loosened, and it was very clear that this "lad" was, in fact, not a lad at all, but a young and beautiful girl, perhaps in her mid-twenties, although a teenaged youth was fully expressed on her pretty face.
She took off her hat and undid the twist in her hair, allowing it to fall down her shoulders freely to its natural wavy and unkempt style, her mischievous green eyes twinkling in the lighting. Her naturally rouge lips turned up in a grin at finally being able to relax in this town of buccaneers and whores, as strange as it sounded.
Leaving the bindings on the dirt ground without a care, she calmly began to walk, looking around the infamous Tortuga. The dirty, wild night town surprisingly didn't seem to faze her in the slightest, and she considered herself very lucky, as one of the first things she noticed was a pub, which she honestly couldn't wait to sit down in.
Walking the remaining yards between herself and the "house of holy beverages, meaning rum and such alcoholic means" (in her own words), the few inhabitants who paid attention to her noticed that she was a stranger to them, although she seemed to know exactly what she was doing, as her confidence outweighed her sightseeing, if anyone could call it that.
Moments later, the girl entered the messy pub and, without even looking around in the slightest at the foreign tavern, made her way to an empty chair at a table, perfectly comfortable with what she was doing.
As soon as she sat herself down, many drunken pirates flocked around her, trying to talk to her or buy her a drink, and she effortlessly ignored each one of them. She did, however, find herself hiding a grin as one bloke began to try and impress her, as well as the others around them, with his storytelling and male-like gossip. It was not that the thought of so many gossiping brigands in one day amused her, but it was what this particular pirate was speaking of that piqued her attention.
The man spoke of the legend of Charlotte of the Seas, and once he began speaking of the topic, he noticed the interest the gorgeous girl before him seemed to hold, and, seeing a possible listener, he went on with the tale, his eye on the girl only drifting once in a while.
"They say that she impersonated a princess once, she did," he bragged of his knowledge, "and she made it out with some o' the fine jewels too. Some blokes say she can even beat down five men!"
"It'll be the day," another drunk commented, "when a woman can beat down a man!"
The girl's eyes sharpened in his general direction, her voice doing the same ever-so-slightly, although he was too drunk to pick up the subtle hints. "You don't think a woman can fight a man?"
The pirate grinned at her cheekily. "I never said that they couldn't fight a man, but they could never beat one down."
"Is that so?" the girl raised an eyebrow, looking at him incredulously, but smooth. She didn't wait for him to finish nodding his smug opinion before she stood from her slouching position in the wooden chair and swung her fist at him.
Some men on the side, including the storyteller himself, sat in their seats and stared, shocked at the fighting girl. While the pirate staggered in surprise, his nose starting to bleed, she took advantage of his shock and gave him a swift left uppercut and a kick in the shins, successfully knocking him to the floor.
"How's that for beating down a man?" she smirked, setting herself back in her seat.
The men around her were shocked into silence, but most of the people in the pub itself were much too drunk to care. Besides, plenty of the people in here were having fights of their own, whether it was for a purpose or not, and just another fight of her beating on a drunk wasn't big news.
The girl grinned to herself, one or two of the men around her backing away, although some other suitors remained around her person. She rolled her eyes at them, but they didn't seem to notice, too wasted and talking about random topics to capture her interest or for her to capture theirs, despite the fact that these pirates were supposedly interested in her.
Oh well, the girl thought, shrugging inwardly. It didn't matter to her in the slightest.
It was by coincidence that Jack Sparrow happened to be in the same pub as the little vixen herself was.
Mr. Gibbs was currently attempting to yell across the other intoxicated men in the crowd to him, who was not wavered by the rowdiness of the others occupying the tavern. A knife shot through the air at him, but he mindlessly sidestepped from it, swaying and looking horrified all the same with his wide but uncaring eyes. The man was a walking contradiction, as if that mattered to him.
"'Tis no time to be silly, Jack," Gibbs said casually. "I've got some interestin' news fer ya first."
Jack plopped crudely onto a wooden stool, rum bottle in his ring-clad hand, across from Gibbs. "What's this news, then?"
Gibbs gave his usual smirk that he always threw off before going into a tale. "'Twas talkin' to some of the crew on the Dolly. They claim there was a fickle lass aboard."
Jack just stared at him drunkenly for a few seconds before darting his eyes back and forth once and making eye contact once again. "So…what's this 'fickle lass' have that I'd want?"
Gibbs chuckled. "Sharp as always, Jack!" He took a swig from his own bottle of rum before continuing. "But if ye're goin' to be hasty, then I suppose ye won't be interested in hearing news of Charlotte of the Seas."
Jack's interest seemed to suddenly burst like a spark turning into a quick flame. His eyes widened, a grin already beginning to form on his handsome face. "Charlotte of the Seas, you say?" He tapped his fingers on the table, leaning back against a column and focusing his gaze on Gibbs. "In this port…?"
"Aye," the pirate leaned forward, "and I wouldn't be surprised if she was right here in this pub."
Jack stood eagerly, still swaying on the spot. "This pub, eh?" He looked around the tavern, skimming his eyes around the room, although he didn't focus his gaze much before turning back to his crewmate. "What did you say she looked like?"
Gibbs looked surprised at the question, not completely sure of the girl's appearance himself. "Well…maybe…" he stammered, lifting his hand up, "…about ye tall?" He looked up, unsure, but he looked around for a short while and turned back to his rum once he realized that Jack was already gone.
Jack stumbled through the crowd looking for the infamous Charlotte of the Seas, even though he honestly didn't know exactly who to look for.
He finished off his bottle of rum and threw it behind him, hitting a drunk over the head with it, but no one, including Jack and the other man, really cared. Continuing along his search, Jack indeed found a girl, although it was definitely not the one he was looking for.
Not far off was a Tortuga whore, that Giselle girl, if that was really her name. He couldn't be so sure anymore, could he? Jack's bored look suddenly turned horrified as he sneered to himself and realized she was turning in his direction. In his moment of "panic", he ducked straight under the table right in front of him, half under someone's chair.
The woman occupying the chair wasn't stupid like the rest of the people here in Tortuga, unfortunately for Jack, and she leaned down under the wooden table to stare at him incredulously.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Jack looked up naturally, already feeling the concubine's hand slapping into his cheek. "Shh!"
The girl glared down at him. "Who do you think you are to be telling me to--" The pirate looked up to her face again, but the girl actually looked at him this time. Her eyes threatened to widen and her cheeks nearly blushed many shades of red, but they thankfully didn't, avoiding an embarrassing situation. The pirate was very handsome, no doubt about it. She couldn't even fathom the reason why she thought like this, for she never did, even though she was constantly around males, at least whenever she wasn't alone. "Why are you under the table…?"
Jack rolled his eyes to look up in her direction. "What, are you stupid?" he said in a loud whisper, his mouth wide when he spoke. "Shh!"
The girl glared at him, throwing her unusual-colored hair behind her. "Who the hell are you hiding from?" she muttered, looking around for anyone who could be looking in this general direction. The only one she found to be "staring at them" (when in all honesty, she was just flirting with a drunk, but the girl made the correct assumption anyway) was a prostitute with practically kegs and kegs of eye shadow and lipstick smeared all over her face "attractively". "Oh," she said shortly, "I'd hide if I were you, too."
Jack shook his head and rolled his eyes. It was obvious there was only one way to shut that girl up. He grabbed a fistful of her manly breeches and yanked her down under the table with him, thankfully not pulling said breeches down in the process (although, in the back of his mind, he was a bit upset that they hadn't fallen with her). Slapping his hand over her mouth, he shot her a drunk but forceful look, basically telling her to shut up.
Her first reaction was a flood of shock that filled her eyes, but once she broke herself out of her stunned reverie, she started to struggle. Once she began, however, he released his hold on her and started crawling away in his usual random choices, his priorities on a roller coaster ride, as always.
The girl followed him, her curiosity getting the better of her, plus the fact that she never ever let someone go without a fight, or at least a bit of juicy information. Besides, this pirate was beginning to bug her, no matter how gorgeous he was.
She nearly rolled her eyes at how easy it was to just crawl out of the pub, both she and this mysterious and annoying pirate. Even though they were already closer to the exit, she couldn't believe how drunk everyone else in the tavern was to not even notice two people crawling around their feet.
Once outside, she continued to follow the man in front of her, both of them standing up and ignored by the buccaneers and whores outside the pub. "What was that about?" she hissed at him.
He simply looked at her and suavely said, "Now listen…uhh…what's your name again?"
"Erm, Lottie…" she gave him a strange look.
"Yes, well, Lulu, while you're a very beautiful girl--" he said, looking her up and down, namely her chest, "--it's not going to work out, darling. I'm terribly sorry, but I'm already looking for a girl." He sadly seemed to regret his words, looking mournfully at her chest, which he was obviously very fond of. "You wouldn't happen to know a gal named Charlotte, eh?"
Lottie just stared at him incredulously. "Don't tell me you're looking for Charlotte of the Seas, now."
"Yes, yes!" he exclaimed, grabbing her hand excitedly. "You know her?"
"And what if I do?" she practically looked down at him, even though he towered over her. She had, what they called, the "right leverage" over this notorious pirate at the moment.
"Ah, then you do know her!"
"I never said I did."
"But you implied it." He smirked suavely. "Now, name your price."
Lottie rolled her eyes. "Who says I want a price? And really, what if I told you Charlotte wouldn't waste her time meeting the likes of you?"
"And what if I told you she would? After all, I'm Captain Jack Sparrow."
Lottie was surprised at the familiar name, but hid it well. "What of it?"
A nearby drunk apparently "overheard" the conversation (meaning he was eavesdropping towards the end of it) slurred, "You haven't heard of Jack Sparrow?"
"Captain Jack Sparrow," the captain himself interrupted.
"Aye, he's one of the best pirates around! Why, he's the cap'n of the Black Pearl! He's even met Davy Jones 'imself…and survived!"
While the man complimented him, Jack developed a cocky grin and looked at his fingernails proudly and "modestly". Watching his antics, Lottie had to suppress a laugh. "Yes, well, while Jack Sparrow--"
"Captain Jack Sparrow."
"--Captain Jack Sparrow might be quite well-known, but he's nothing compared to Charlotte of the Seas." She grinned sarcastically at Jack, turned, and walked away.
A surprised, drunken look crossed his face as he watched her walk away. "Now, what do you think's her problem?" he asked the drunk beside him, who just shrugged. "Who is she, that Lulu?"
The drunk, who had recognized Lottie at the sight of her and had believed Jack had as well, looked at him surprised. "Lulu? Nah, that's--" He trailed off as he watched Jack no longer paying attention, already flirting with two random flower girls.