Chapter Two

As the stranger tied rope around your wrists, you tried to think about the positive things that were happening; you were meeting new people, you were away from home…that was about it.

"Stop squirming and get on the stage!" He shouted at you, pushing you onto the stage with the other two girls. One was a girl with long red curls in a matching dress and the other was in a green dress with long blonde curls. They weren't saying anything, just merely staring saucily into the crowd of drunken men.

"What's going on?" you hissed at them. The blonde turned to you; her darkly outlined eyes were staring at your green ones.

"We're being auctioned off to these blokes; I've been here hundreds of times. You don't know your way around Tortuga, do you love?" She whispered before looking back at the audience.

"What do you mean, hundreds of times?" you asked. The red-head looked at you this time.

"They don't care if you've already been auctioned off, married, wealthy, whatever. If you're lying in the streets by yourself, they'll take you here," she looked back at the crowd. She gave a cheeky smile and the whole crowd went wild.

"We wants the red head!" some men began to shout. You stared at them, petrified that you had to go through with this, too.

"Show us your harbour side!" The auctioneer said. The red-head turned around, showing the men a side view of her body. They wolf whistled and began to laugh. One man looked up at you, suddenly cheering.

"Hey, mate! How much for the little one with the dark curls?"

"I saw her first!" the man beside him shouted.

"Well can't we share her around? You'd like that wouldn't you?!" The two began to laugh, pointing up at you. It was something out of a really bad dream; you just wished that it would end. You then saw a familiar face in the crowd, the man from the bar. You looked at him, pleading eyes. But you realised, he wouldn't recognise you. You were Christopher when he met you, but now you're innocent Katherine. Or maybe not…Jack was looking up at you with a smile and a twinkle in his eye. He glanced over at the auctioneer, catching his attention.

"Mate, where did you find this one?" he asked, pointing at you.

"Oh her? She was lying in an alley, all dark and filthy. Thought she could use a good home! But she was a feisty thing to catch," he smiled up at you. You spat in his eye, disgusted by the way he looked at you. The crowd roared with laughter.

"Twenty quid!"

"Thirty and a bottle of rum!"

"Thirty five!" Oh god, it had started. Jack pulled out a small sack of coins; it jingled a tune as he handed it over to the auctioneer.

"Everything in there for the dark one," he said. The auctioneer looked at you and then back at Jack, he nodded. You smiled and jumped off the stage, the crowd started to groan as you got off. The auctioneer started to open the bag; Jack grabbed your arm and ran off.

"Mate! There are only two coins in 'ere!" the pasty man called after you. So that's why we're running, you thought. You ran harder, following Jack back to the dark ship that you had stowed away on. So he was the captain of your ship? That was a major coincidence. You turned around, seeing a gang of angry drunks running after you. You heard a bullet whizz past your head, making you scream. Jack was already at the ship, untying the ropes that kept it there. You kept running, felling as if your heart were in your throat. Your wrists were beginning to burn behind your back; if you survived, the first thing you were going to do was untie them. Jack pulled you onboard, his hand gripping tightly around your arm. The boat slowly began to drift off and the crew began to untie the sails. One of the members walked up to you and Jack, his dark hair tied into a ponytail.

"Jack, we found this downstairs in the rum cellar." He held up a sack, your sack. He handed it over to Jack, who looked at the contents and back at you.

"You said you were a stowaway," he said. You looked up at him, a face full of innocence.

"You said you were a captain, but I'm not getting upset about it." Jack chuckled, handing the sack over to you. You grabbed it, holding it to your chest.

"I can pay," you said as you pulled out two gold necklaces; they shined in the captain's eyes. He grabbed the necklaces and pulled the bottle of rum out the sack, taking a long swig before handing it over to the other pirate.

"Gibbs, take it to the rum cabinet. Christopher, go with him," he waved his hand over to the door. You followed Gibbs but turned around as you reached the stairs.

"It's not Christopher, its Robyn," you yelled to Jack. He smiled at you and inspected the necklaces. You followed Gibbs down the dark stairs; there were a few lanterns out for lighting but that was it.

"Captain Sparrow's pretty young for a pirate; he looks about…twenty four?" you said to Gibbs. He turned to face you, a smile on his face.

"He used to be older, but that all changed when we discovered the fountain of youth," he said before trying to unlock the cellar door.

"How can you go there? It's a mere fairy-tale," you asked him. The sea-salt in the air must've gotten to his head. Either that or the man thought of you as a child...Gibbs glared at you as he opened the cellar door.

"If you really want to be a pirate that badly, then stop acting so high-and-mighty." He gave you a final look-over and went inside the stinking rum cellar. Even though you were slightly hurt by his comment, Gibbs did have a point.

"So...what was it like at the fountain?" you asked him. "Is it really like the legends say it is?" Gibbs looked back at you, a smile on his face. His took another large sip of rum and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand.

"That's more like it, missy... The fountain was everything and more...beautifully carved inscriptions and crystal clear waters," he said. "But it wasn't just a pretty sight...we lost a dozen men on the journey, and a few more died when we arrived." Your heart was full of curiosity as you listened to his tale. He was like a grandfather that you never had.

"How did they die?" You asked. His face lost its mysterious smile and it faded to a hurt expression of sadness.

"They...they went too far back," he replied. You understood, they suffered the pain of pre-birth and faded away from existence. You nodded, showing that you understood what he meant. He smiled and put the rum bottle in a holder before walking back up the stairs. You stayed alone in the room, absorbing the smell of alcohol. There wasn't exactly much to do, so you finished off the bottle of your rum and went back upstairs. The ship creaked as the waves lashed against it, but the Pearl maintained her course. Tortuga was far behind you, lit up in orange torch lights. You felt safe as you found yourself away from the angry mob of perverts. You felt sorry for the two girls you were standing with, but they seemed to be fine when you were talking to them. They could cope... Looking around the deck, you soon found Jack up at the wheel. He was looking out to the open horizon, a smile on his face. You sat on the stairs, looking up at him. He seemed so content, as if nothing had happened to him at all. You sort of admired him for his calm attitude; you had a million things worrying your little mind nearly every day. He noticed you watching him and smiled at you.

"So, Robyn...what's your story?" You looked out at the horizon, trying to find a way out of this question. You shrugged and kept staring at the sea. The moonlight had lightly kissed the water and a sudden calming sensation had come over you as you watched the light ripple with the waves.

"I'm a stowaway...that's it." You looked back up at him, wanting to see if he accepted it as a decent answer. He didn't, let's leave it as that.

"But what happened before all that?" he asked, waving at the mess that was Tortuga. You sighed and shook your head sadly.

"Love, if you don't want to say anything...then tough. Tell me," he pleaded. You eventually gave in. He was your new captain, so you had to follow captain's orders.

"I'm Robyn Christopher," you started. "I was leading a fine life...it was filled with wealth and beauty. But then my mother introduced me to my fiancé...and everything changed. I realised how I was like a trapped bird...I yearned for more freedom. I fell in love with the ocean and its majesty. I wished for the pirate life...the free life." Jack raised an eyebrow at the mention of your fiancé, but that was the only sign of interest that he gave. You sighed and continued looking out to the sea, hypnotised by its beauty. After a long pause, Jack looked back down at you.

"What's your fiancé like?" Ah, so he was paying attention to you. You didn't bother to turn your head to Jack; you instead rested it against the wooden railings.

"A pig-like creature named Henry who only wants me as a wife so that I can have children, do chores and look pretty..." you looked out to Jack from the corner of your eye, he was chuckling and smiling back at you. You chuckled with him, happy to have finally found someone that sees Henry as the 'charmer' that he really is. You kept chuckling, soon turning the chuckle into full-on laughter. Either the rum must've gotten to your head or you were actually having a fairly good time. You began to get onto your feet, stumbling slightly. Yep, it was the rum. Jack watched you as you began to collect yourself, trying to maintain your cool. You fell back against the railings as the ship swayed slightly, feeling vomit rush through your mouth. But, with a heap of effort, you managed to swallow it all back down and wipe your hair out of your face. The disgusting taste in your mouth stung with pain of your red-raw throat. Looking back to Jack, he seemed to understand what just happened. It certainly wasn't the best way to make a good impression on your captain. You sighed, loving the feel of fresh air in your slimy throat.

"So what exactly do pirates do?" You asked. "Gibbs told me about the fountain of youth...do you lot just go travelling everywhere?" Jack smiled and walked over to you, leaving the ship under her own course. You sat on the wooden railing, smiling at him as he smiled back.

"A little more than that, love." He said as he gently stroked a finger under your chin. What a flirt, you thought. You looked in his eyes, showing that you weren't fooled by his clever trick. His smile grew and he let his hand fall by his side.

"There's the classic looting..." he said, not as interested in you anymore.

"What sort of treasure do you find?" You asked him. He suddenly pulled out a little black box, his compass. When he flicked it open, you saw that it didn't point north. What a stupid little thing, you thought. But remembering Gibbs' words in your mind, you pushed the thought away as quickly as it came.

"Anything your heart desires," Jack whispered. You reached out for the compass, but Jack quickly shut it with a snap and made it retreat back to his belt.

"Not yet, sweetheart. You're going to have to be on the Pearl a lot longer in order to figure out the magic behind this little thing."