This POTC story is dedicated to Johnny Depp, the one and only Captain Jack Sparrow!
Revised and extended recovery-upload of my story "A Captain's Love: Black Pearl"
This is Part Four, mainly following the events of the third POTC-movie, "At World's End", but, of course, also using the background and the OCs I created for my first POTC-Story.
When I reread my first story, lately, I concluded that some chapters are missing and that it has a lot of voids. So, I decided to revise it, to add the missing chapters, and to rewrite some of the already existing chapters. The original version(s) will remain published on my original account - YangHuiZhen - so, you'll get the chance to compare all versions...
I hope you'll enjoy this story and if you do so, feel free to tell me...
Disclaimer:
I do not own any rights to "Pirates of the Caribbean", its content or its characters (unfortunately), except for the OCs and the storylines I invented myself.
Prologue: 1710 – The Betrayal
Blood oozed from the corner of the man's mouth, thrown onto the street through the window of one of the nearby taverns. He lay dazed, but neither on the street nor in the taproom did anyone give a damn about it. He wasn't the first to be kicked out of a tavern or brothel like this, and he wouldn't be the last.
Especially not if the dive in question was one of many on Shipwreck Island.
Anyone who wasn't involved in one of the countless fights that took place almost daily in one of the several seedy establishments continued to drink and whore away until someone threw a beer mug at them or hit them in some other way. Then they threw themselves into the tumult with fierce zeal, until nothing and no one stood on their own two feet any more - and kept drinking afterwards.
However, the man lying in the dirt outside the bar that day saw things differently. He was utterly enraged and barely able to restrain his fury. In his opinion, the guy who had thrown him out of the window so roughly had no right to do so, and that he would let his opponent know.
As soon as he would stand upright again!
He shook his head a few times to clear it, adjusted his shabby, wide-brimmed hat, and was just about to scramble to his feet again, when, just inches from him, the tip of a grappling hook dug into the pavement: "Dare you move, bastard, and I'll aim for a spot between your ears!"
The owner of the grappling hook left no doubt that he meant what he said, and a tinge of panic crossed the other's face as he became aware of it. He tried to escape imminent danger by crawling backwards over the pavement, but the apparent attacker seemed in no mood to back down: "Like vermin looking for its equal in the slime! So, this is the way how you squirm in your own intrigues and lusts, Seamus Finch?"
"I swear to you, Jeffrey! If I had known..."
"If you had known what? That Prue is my daughter? And then? Would you have asked my permission before you tried to grope her and make her your whore in one of the chambers of the brothel over there?"
Finch slowly regained his composure. Maybe Jeffrey Stevens was right and he should have stayed away from the girl, but...: "If you don't want your daughter to be mistaken for a whore, perhaps you'd better lock her aboard your ship before you go ashore! How would a simple guy like me know that the girl is not available for a suitor? Especially, if the way she was dressed made her appear like she was looking for a stud to take care of her virginity!"
Jeffrey bent down to Finch, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and pushed him back against the wall: "Be glad I do not belong to the bunch of scum you've been gathering in this fortress for quite some time! How Teague can put his trust in a man like you I will not understand until the end of my days! The Keeper of the Code! And he even allowed a sleazy character like you to turn his wife's life into hell on earth behind his back!"
He spat out in front of the other and went on: "You cannot imagine, how I'd love to hang your guts from this grappling hook...!"
More than sure of his cause, Finch grinned crookedly before answering: "You can be glad if Teague doesn't put you before the tribunal, Jeff!"
"And then what? Unlike Jeremy, I'm not part of your Brethren of Cutthroats who get rid of their opponents under the cloak of honour and a twisted code of pirate law! Trust me, I have no intention of joining your band of hypocrites!"
"Hypocrites! To hear that word from you of all people," Finch sneered: "Of you who owes his not exactly small fortune to the fact that you sink ships randomly, that you deal in slaves and that in the eyes of every decent pirate you fly the red flag a little too often!"
Jeffrey shook his head, disgusted with the man he was still pinning against the wall with a firm grip: "There are a few more I know who conduct their shady dealings under the protection of your code and their title of Pirate Lord. My brother must be one of the few decent captains belonging to your Brethren! In any case, the others, above all Ammand and Jocard, make no secret of the fact that they sell their prisoners to whoever can pay the highest price. And yet, compared to you, they're still decent men because at least they go hunting for the slaves they sell themselves. Whoever ends up in your spider web of lies, betrayal and schemes, though, doesn't even know who they owe it to if they lose their ship, their honour, or even their life!"
With that, Jeffrey Stevens let go of the infamous Captain Teague's closest confidante and watched him disappear into the dark alleys of Shipwreck Town like a shadow in the night. Had it been up to him, he would have sent a bullet after Seamus Finch. The man deserved it, and certainly no one on the island would have cared. But as long as he was anchored in the bay of Shipwreck Island with his "Neptune's Bride", he had no intention of attracting any more attention than he already had.
Furthermore, the unexpected death of an informant of the Keeper of the Code would inevitably have created even more tension between him and his younger brother Jeremy, who, to make matters worse, was part of the Council of the Brethren Court of Shipwreck Cove as the Pirate Lord of the Adriatic Sea.
Tensions Jeffrey wanted to avoid since in this case he had come to the island for only one reason: To warn Jeremy!
During one of his last raids he had learned that there were plans to lure the decent Jeremy into a trap in order to take his Piece of Eight from him. And even if he didn't understand his brother all too often, Jeffrey still had no intention of abandoning him, his wife and their little daughter to their fate unwarned.
Unfortunately, he had no idea who it was who threatened his younger brother's life, which would make it all the more difficult to make the warning sound plausible to him. A thought, avid pirate and gunsmith Jeffrey Stevens didn't like...
In the farthest and darkest corner of one of the most notorious taverns on all of Shipwreck Island, a handful of shadowy figures sat over a bottle of rum. It wasn't the first bottle they'd downed that night, and it wouldn't be the last. But each of them was careful not to be recognised by other patrons of this dive, as what they had to discuss was not meant for the ears of a halfway decent man.
"If you want to become Lord of the Adriatic Sea, you'll have to do something about it. Or do you think Stevens will serve you his Piece of Eight voluntarily and on a silver platter?"
"Hardly, but I guess I can't just put the gun to his forehead and demand the title from him, right," gave a second voice to consider.
"Why not? You wouldn't be the first to get his title through dubious detours," the third in the league threw in.
"Of course you can't get him out of the way here on the island and in front of everyone," the first declared: "You've got to lure him out of the fortress! The best thing to do is to sink his vessel on the open sea! Far from any island or any other possibility of getting ashore!"
"Just sink his vessel like that," the fourth man at the table laughed: "Nobody sinks Jeremy Stevens just like that, gentlemen! If you want to get rid of him, you have to be clever!"
"I agree with my dear colleague," replied the third: "The easiest thing would be to lure him into a trap."
"A trap?" The second seemed sceptical.
"A trap! And even better than doing it yourself would be to let others do the work," grinned the third.
"What are you thinking about," asked the first.
"Very simple, sell him to one of the pirate hunters. Vargas is always looking for pirates to hang and you're Spanish. Tell him all you want in return is the Piece of Eight. What happens after that is none of your business."
"And what do you think will happen to his wife and the girl then," objected the second.
"Who cares," the first brushed the objection off the table: "Let the Spaniards think of something for the black-haired witch and her little bastard. I bet they fetch a good price in the market."
"I hold that bet," replied the second: "I would even buy lovely Rose myself and let Jeremy watch me mount her before they hang him. And, of course, I'd wear his Piece of Eight around my neck when I'd bestride his wife!"
They burst out laughing and the first remarked: "I wouldn't have expected you to be so sneaky, but I like the idea. Mind sharing the woman with me?"
"Be my guest!" The second nudged the other: "After all, you gave me the idea in the first place."
"Good! Then let's see how we can convince the Spaniards that we want to do them a favour. One of us will have to bite the bullet and take the risk..."
"Leave that to me. The sooner we're rid of Jeremy, the sooner we'll have some fun with his wildcat..."
"Is that all you can think of? We're supposed to be hiding here in the fortress until you find out who's trying to kill us? That's not enough for me!"
Rosalind Stevens made it clear that she found the proposal Edward Teague had just made unacceptable. She kept pacing as she spoke, her icy gaze fixed on the man the entire island knew only as the Lord of Shipwreck Island and Keeper of the Code:
Captain Edward Teague.
"Jeremy is one of the Nine Pirate Lords. No one will dare attack him while he is under the protection of the Code and the Brotherhood. Even you should understand that, Rosalind!"
"Do you really think I'm going to encourage him to hole up here? Do you really think I'll raise my daughter in this fortress? Not after that son of a bitch, Seamus Finch, tried to lure my niece into his bed. And not after I witnessed how you treat your own son!"
"As far as I know, this isn't about Jack, right?" Teague put his feet up on the table in front of him and leaned back in his chair: "You wanted my advice. I gave that to you. Stay and wait, or take the risk and set sail! But don't tell me it's my fault if the Spanish or anyone else sends your 'Zephyr' to the bottom of the sea!"
Rosalind leaned against the edge of the table and grinned as she looked down at the infamous captain: "You should have stayed in Madagascar, Edward! Maybe Kidd and Every could have taught you about pirate honour and decency, but somehow I doubt it! Anyone like you who allows a toady like Finch to subject his wife and child to a veritable witch hunt, and then dares to rant about Brotherhood and code, has long since lost sight of all that goes on in the outside world! You should lock yourself in your chamber, leaf through your oh-so-precious Code, and leave the world to those who still have a sense for it! But before you do that, you should let the boy go! Jack deserves better than wasting away in this swamp!"
"Are you done now," Teague finally snapped at her. "Then let me tell you something, Rose: What I do and don't do with my son is none of your business! Take care of your daughter and niece if you want, but never meddle with the affairs of this fortress again!"
"Don't worry Edward! Jeff convinced Jeremy to forget their disagreements, at least for now. We sail with daybreak! Jeremy will let you know who he will make his successor, but don't expect him to return to Shipwreck Cove again! Once we're through the passage, none of us will ever set foot in the fortress again! I only wish I could get Jack aboard the 'Zephyr' and be it only to get the boy out of your reach! As deluded as you are, you would probably rather watch Finch chastise the boy than believe your own flesh and blood."
"I took note of your protest, Rose! Just one more thing: Once you're through the passage, Jeff, Jeremy and you, you're on your own. Once you have cleared the passage, the code no longer protects you!"
Rosalind turned, placed both hands on the tabletop, and leaned over to look Teague straight in the eye: "We lived without the Code before Jeremy inherited his Piece of Eight. And we'll live on when he passes this piece of junk on! From today on we're sailing under our own flag again and I hope this will teach Prue and Caith a lesson! Farewell, Captain Teague! Send my regards to Seamus Finch! I hope he gets what he deserves soon...!"
A couple of days later, a note got sent out to inform the Spanish pirate hunters that their prey was on the way...