Chapter Four

You jumped out of your longboat as it reached the shores of Port Royal. It had been several months since you last set foot on this sand. Port Royal was practically famous for its beautiful men and women. But you didn't see it as an island of beauty...you just saw it as your old home. A mere memory that you had forgotten thanks to all of the rum and looting that the pirate life involved. Your potato sack slung casually over your shoulder, you followed Jack and the rest of the crew as you ran into the main square of the town. You heard women screaming as several pirates lunged towards them, some children cried as they watched their families mugged by these criminals. Any other person would have looked at all these people with pity and fear, but you barely gave it a second glance. You had heard all of theses noises before; they didn't really mean anything to you anymore. You followed Jack and Gibbs, as well as several others, as they ran up the hill to the governor's house. It was lit up with several torches and maids that could see your group of scoundrels running up to the mansion were screaming on the top of their lungs. Jack had filled you in about Elizabeth and Will, so you understood about the fact that she used to live in the exact house you were robbing. They had changed governors after Elizabeth's father had died, so there was a whole new family living inside. As a guard jumped out at Jack with a pistol, you quickly stood in between the two and put your sword against his throat.

"Stand aside," you ordered. He quickly glanced over to Jack, who was looking at the guard with a smug smile on his face.

"I'd better do as the young lady says..." he said to him. The guard backed off, running out into the night. You smiled to yourself as you realised that he must have been new to the whole pirate thing. You looked around the well-lit room, smiling at all of the panicking faces. You suddenly looked up at the balcony railing, seeing a tall woman with a baby in her arms. She was very beautiful, with porcelain skin and long red locks tied up in a messy bun. She clutched her crying baby to her breasts, trying to protect it from these drunken fools. But it wouldn't really help the poor thing. And it certainly wouldn't shut it up, either. That was something that Mother had always nagged about, the fact that you'd never become a mother if you hated children this much.

"I'll take upstairs," you called to Jack as you ran up the stairs. You were disguised as a boy of course, so the governor's wife thought that you were about to assault her. She ran into her room, slamming the door but not locking it. You pushed it open and slowly walked around the room, trekking mud in every footstep. The young girl gasped as she saw you, not planning what to do next. She stood there in shock, her baby still crying.

"Sir, stay away from me." She whispered to you as she fell to the floor. Her white dressing gown was half-open and she tried to cover her shame. You walked over to her and sat down in front of her, an evil glint in your eye. She was about to scream, but you covered her mouth with your hand as soon as she began to open it. You took off your leather hat and looked into her pale green eyes. She gasped as she realised that she had your gender confused, the tears quickly fading.

"Listen, have you got any bath oils?" you asked her. Even the baby stopped crying, your remark was so strange. You released her mouth and she gasped for air. You spotted an open door into her bathroom and walked inside, opening up your potato sack. You grabbed two bottles of the sweet-smelling goodness and walked back into the main room, opening up a chest of drawers.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she asked. "You're a young woman...not a pirate!" You sighed and looked back at the governess. She was just like all the other girls you met. They seemed to demand a male pirate, probably one to whisk them off of their feet and drag them to the Pearl. But whenever they found out about your gender-swap, they would suddenly think it was all a joke.

"Has anyone in this bloody place heard of a female pirate?!" You snapped at her before rummaging through the drawers. You grabbed a couple of golden trinkets and hung them loosely over your neck.

"I know you..." she whispered. "You're Robyn Christopher...you used to live here in Port Royal." You slammed the drawer shut and looked into the frightened woman's eyes, pulling out your sword to her pale throat.

"Breathe another word and I swear..." you drew back your sword as a big, crystal-like tear fell down her face. You could never kill an innocent girl. Especially one with a child to hold onto. In fact, you couldn't kill anyone. Most of the others had killed several times on the past lootings, but not you. You just couldn't do that. That was still part of your womanhood that you couldn't let go of.

"But...why soaps?" she asked. Damn it. Another part of your womanhood that you were missing was hygiene. You had to admit, you missed all of the lovely baths you had in your old house. There was something about sinking into the warm water and coming out sparkling clean that you just loved. You shrugged and swung the sack over your shoulder once more after filling it up with more jewellery. You hadn't told anyone about your little collection of oils. You thought it was too...ladylike to have onboard something as piratelike as the Pearl. You shoved on your leather hat, slammed the doors open and joined your fellow pirates downstairs. Jack smiled at you as he saw the heavy sack and the golden goodness around your neck. He obviously thought that it was all full of golden glories. How wrong he was...

"Check the governor's study for rum!" he ordered, sending you running down a hallway to what you guessed was the study. The door was locked, but you finally managed to push it open after much force. You looked around the room, you were in the study. But someone else was...

"Mother?!" You yelled at her. She looked like an older version of you, except her face was flustered and sweating. Her corset was half-open and her dress was quite rumpled. She was sitting on top of the governor, his face also pink as he tried to neaten up his wig. You had always thought of Mother as a respectable woman, even on your journeys you sort of missed her. But seeing her like this was just too much for your system. You glared at her, your dark eyes lit with fury and rage. Hers were full of happiness and anger.

"Robyn? Where have you been?" she exclaimed. You kept glaring at her, not caring about the governor that was crawling from underneath her bosom. She walked over to you, her arms outstretched.

"My darling..." she cooed. "We've missed you so much."

"From the looks of it, I'd say that it was the complete opposite." Her happy eyes turned to angry daggers and she slapped you across the face. You didn't say a word; you just stared into her very soul.

"Like you're one to talk!" she hissed. "Dressed up like a...a..."

"A pirate, Mother." You smiled at her, knowing that she was full of rage. She reached out to slap you again, but you side-stepped her movement. You noticed an open cabinet that was full of rum, whisky and other drinks. You grabbed every bottle, stuffing it into your now heavy sack. You turned back to Mother, her mouth was open with shock as she watched you.

"How could you just throw away your life like this?!" she yelled at you. "Your father and I provided you with everything fine in life, but you simply dismissed it all ever since we introduced you to Mr Dallows!" You slammed the cupboard door shut; the noise seemed to echo in the silence between the two of you. Your mother jumped at the sound, but didn't mention anything about how angry you were.

"What have you got against him?" she asked impatiently, but quietly. You didn't answer; the two of you had gone over this discussion at least a thousand times. Every time caused the argument to end with the two of you not speaking for the rest of the night.

"Is he the reason why you left?" Once again, you didn't answer her. It was obvious what the answer was, anyway. You tipped your hat to the governor, who was hiding in the corner of the room, and walked out of the door. The pirates were bolting out of the door and you could hear a few gunshots coming from upstairs. Jack suddenly bolted down the stairway and grabbed you by the arm, dragging you out the door. It reminded you of the first night you had met, when you were running away from those awful men. But this time, you were the awful ones. It made you sort of sick inside, knowing that you had become a person feared by most women everywhere. But as you looked up to see Jack's shining silver tooth looking back at you, you couldn't help but push those feelings aside. Your heart pounded inside your chest, but you couldn't tell if it was because you were running as fast as you could or something else entirely. Either way, seeing Jack's smile gave you a tiny boost of courage as the two of you fled from Port Royal and into the long boats. But that's when your mother's question hit you... was it Henry that made your decision... or was it Jack?

You clinked your bottle against Jack and Gibbs'. The whole crew was cheering with joy; it had been a good haul this time round. The moon glowed above your heads as the stars twinkled and danced with you. Every lamp on the ship was lit, so from a distance it would look like it was a floating orb of light. You took a deep sip of whisky, loving the taste of it on your soft pale lips. The taste flowed through your mouth, drowning into your body. The pirates began to sing old sea-songs, making you laugh with them. You tried joining in, but it wasn't really proper singing. Just drunken, messy chants that spewed from every crew member's mouth. Jack watched you from the corner of your eye and you looked over to him from yours. His lips curled into a smile and he held out his arm. You bobbed a curtsied and took it, acting the part of an innocent girl. The girl that you once were. Gibbs and the other men cheered even louder as the two of you skipped around on the helm, not really following a proper path. You waved bottles of alcohol in your free hands, spilling their contents over the two of you and the deck. But you didn't care, it was just some fun. Nothing more than that. 'See Mother, I made the right choice. I'm having more fun than I would ever have back home or with Henry,' you thought to yourself. Jack pulled you close to him, his arm wrapped around your waist. You would've struggled against him, but somehow... you just couldn't pull away from him. Your eyes locked with his for a moment and you didn't look away. You couldn't help but smile with him as you rested your arms lazily around his neck. His lips went for yours, but the sounds from the crew interrupted your magical moment. Crap, they were still watching. You broke away from him and went back to your room, which was separated from Jack's quarters or where the rest of the crew slept. It used to store the rum, but Jack had discovered that it was too small for their supply. You found your sack on your hammock, which was lighter than before seeing as all the drinks had been taken out. You emptied out the two bottles of bath oils and put them with the rest of your collection. It was hidden underneath a floorboard in the corner of the room. The other three bottles lay there like soldiers as you placed the new recruits in quietly. That was when you saw the tall shadow standing over you. Turning around, you saw Jack standing behind you. He was gazing upon your collection with interest.

"Don't laugh..." you said immediately. "I know it's stupid but...I don't even know, really. It's just some part of my old life that I can hold onto." A sly smile appeared on Jack's face, but he merely turned away and walked out of the room without saying another word. You climbed into your hammock and shut your eyes, your head heavy with alcohol. You hoped that you would get some sleep, but it took what felt like hours before you heard the chanting men outside die down and trudge to their quarters. Your eyes felt heavy, but your mind still couldn't rest. But all that changed when you heard the waves sigh as they crashed against the boat.