Chapter 2

"Resemblance"

A young girl of sixteen was sitting in front of a fire in the dirty shack she called home. Her third bottle of rum was nearly finished. The bottles of previous rendezvouses with the enticing liquor scattered the grimy floor. Her black satin dress glimmered in the firelight as did her eyes. Another night with her good friend: intoxication.

She rather liked her life of solitude with only the warm amber liquid as her company. Men, or more properly deemed "boys", were useful only for heavy lifting and less pleasurable jobs. But then you had to feed them. Cooking was never an area the girl excelled in. Now, rum... it was committed and oh so appealing. And the best part of all, it wanted nothing in return. As she took her last gulp, the shack door burst open and a voice bellowed "Stay calm, we are seizing your home!"

The girl's heart did not even skip a beat. She finished the bottle and replied to her intruder "I don't have any gold, jewels, or valuables of any sort but feel free to ravage through the empty rum bottles and rat droppings. Don't let me be in your way of stripping down this pile of dung called a house."

Her hand slipped from the rum bottle and it crashed to the ground. Jack Sparrow was intrigued by the mature, female voice coming from the hearth area. What intrigued him most was the slur that the voice had. He took long strides in an effort to see the mysterious figure. The disinterested girl was still facing the fire and therefore impossible to see.

"Do I know you?" Jack asked. The girl turned to face him. They absorbed each other's striking features. He was ruggedly handsome in a way that was indescribable. She had never seen someone so peculiar. The "pirate realization" did not even occur to her until she noticed his ornate rings and tattoos. The thought did not disturb her.

Jack took in her pale skin and strong cheekbones. Her long, black spindly hair cascaded down to her black dress. She seemed surprisingly regal for someone who lived in such destitution. His mind wandered, trying to remember who she looked like. Then, he caught his reflection in a dusty mirror across the room. She looked...like him.

"Why should you care if you know me or not?" the girl said snappishly.

"I don't care",the pirate said in mock defensiveness,"I'm curious."

"Curiosity killed the pirate." the girl said wittily and rose out of her chair. She gave no indication she was intoxicated when she walked, unlike some people.

"I believe it was a cat, curiosity killed the cat." he added feebly.

The girl ignored Jack and took his pistol from his hand delicately. He realized the only way he could distinguish her hands from his, was by the rings he wore. The girl let each one of her fingers drop slowly over the weapon, admiring the detail. Amusement glittered in her eyes as she noticed he had no shots left in it. His brown eyes looked worried as she handled it. She handed it back to him and said "It's a fine pistol, but nothing compares to a sword." Jack assumed she knew what she was talking about.

"As I was saying, who are you and why do you live in this...charming abode?"

Just as Jack uttered this, a rat scurried across the floor. She laughed as if he has said something darkly humorous and replied "Who are you, pirate?"

"Well, love, it's your lucky day! You get to meet the infamous, and devastatingly handsome, Captain Jack Sparrow!"

The ground trembled and the very foundation of the ramshackle home was threatening to give way.

"Bloody hell!" Jack yelled and fell against a wall. Meanwhile, the girl was finding it difficult to breathe. Her upper chest had seized up and she writhed on the ground in pain. She groped about her neck and absentmindedly pulled a chain off that had been hanging from it. The quake ceased and the girl's lungs filled with air.

She eyed the chain she had torn from her neck. She had it since she was an infant. Three charms dangled from the silver necklace. The first charm was a gold coin with the seal of a sparrow upon it. The second charm was a large black pearl. The final charm was a small purple stone of some sort. Jack was still trying to stand up as he asked the girl "Do natural occurrences of that sort happen often?"

She stood up and walked confidently up to him.

"You want to know who I am, Captain Sparrow?"

"Err...sure, love."

"I am Siren...Sparrow."