Powdered Whigs & Short-stacking Lords

On board The HMS Endeavor : June 1st, 1731

The first thing that Chun Fey Bai noticed when she awoke was the overwhelming smell of sea water. She didn't even have to open her eyes, just breath in and out, and there was the salty sea smell. The next thing she noticed was the gently rocking motion of a boat and the annoying cawing of seagull's overhead. Soon, she noticed the sun was beating down on her relentlessly, and that she was soaking wet.

Now, to wake up and find yourself aboard a ship surrounded by dozens men in brocades, tri-corn hats and powdered white whigs is never a good thing, even if you were partying with revolutionary war re-enactors the night before. The fact that most of them were staring at her like she had three heads made the situation even worse. Two men, that in her mind resembled Mardi gras floats quite closely, cocked their heads to the side at the same time as she sat up.

"Well, look at that." The one on the right remarked with a straight face.

"She's finally awake, Gillette." The one on the left smiled and made his way through the men to help her up. He greeted her with a hearty smile as he bent down to her. Behind him, Gillette was barking orders to no one in particular.

"Will someone please run and get her some clothing? She's almost naked, for God's sake! And get Lord Beckett and Admiral Norrington while you're at it! C'mon boys, hop to it! Stop staring!" A few men scurried off, and as Chun looked down, she noticed Gillette's alarm. She was only in her bathing suit, which was a rather revealing bikini. Instantly, throwing her arms up across her chest, the man next to her laughed.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Chun rubbed her head, as a terrible head ache came on.

"I'm Theodore Groves. You're aboard the HMS Endeavor. We're an English naval ship, just crossing through the islands." Theodore explained slowly, placing a hand on her back, "We found you drifting on piece of ply wood only an hour ago. You must have been adrift for a long time… By the extent of those sunburns…"

Looking down, Chun noticed the redness of her arms and legs. When she moved, it burnt.

"We found another woman with you, she was conscious, and she's with our Admiral and Lord Beckett right now." Chun's eyes lit up.

"Charlotte?" Her voice came out in a hoarse dry exclamation.

"Yes. I believe that's what she said her name was, now-"

"Chun! Oh my god! Are you okay? You scared the living spirit out of me!" Charlotte came rocketing out of the quarters below deck with the slam of a door, and behind her a tall, lean man dressed in naval uniform and all followed an extremely short, whigged man.

Chun was helped to her feet by her friend and pulled into a large hug, but before Charlotte could say anything else, Chun yelped.

"Ow! Charlie! Sunburn!" stepping back, Charlotte's eyes widened as she apologized and tried to hold back laughter. She covered her mouth with both hands and looked her over.

"You look like a lobster…" her voice was just above a whisper, filled with regret and instant apology. She went to hug Chun again, this time more gently. Returning the hug, Chun patted her friend lightly on the back. The hug was interrupted by the cough of the smaller man, as he eyed the two questioningly. A young boy scurried across deck and quickly handed Chun a white under dress, and she accepted it thankfully.

"Ms. Lindsie, would you care to introduce your friend?" His voice was careless and laced with an English accent that made Chun want to punch something. But, now that she thought of it… Mr. Groves and Mr. Gillette had the same accent…

"Ehm, Yes. Sorry, Lord Beckett. This is Chun Bai, she's was my mother's seamstress when we were aboard our ship. She was above deck when the pirates attacked, and I found her and hauled her onto the piece of wood I found on." Chun tried not to smack her friend. Her mother's Seamstress? On a ship? She didn't even know how to sew! Shooting her a questioning look, Charlie gave her the 'Just go with it look'.

"Is this true Ms. Bai?" Lord Beckett took a step closer to her, and she realized that he was roughly about the same height as her. He looked as if he hadn't shaved, and four o'clock shadow lined his strong jaw. His blue eyes were clear of any malicious intent, but full of curiosity. He looked familiar, and Chun thought she knew his name from somewhere…

"Ms. Bai?"

"I'm sorry, my lord. Yes, that is correct." Chun felt his eyes on her, studying the way she had just done to him. The blue orbs darted across her face and to her eyes. No doubt he was questioning her oriental heritage.

"Please, do explain that rather… revealing outfit you were sporting earlier… No woman should ever be caught wearing that. Let alone on a ship with men." Chun shifted uncomfortably under his gaze and saw Charlotte hold back laughter out of the corner of her eye.

"Well, you see, Charlotte's mother, Lady Lindsie, was a very… interesting woman. She wanted an outfit that she could wear when swimming. And of course, since Ms. Lindsie's husband was gone of late, she decided to… Have some fun with it, I think she said." Chun paused and looked to Charlotte who was blushing furiously. The men on the ship were smiling now, and some were laughing. She noticed Lord Beckett's cheek tinge pink, "I had finished and was merely modeling for here when the attack happened."

Beckett nodded once and looked to Charlotte.

"Very well then. Please, you must be tired from this whole ordeal?" Beckett turned to face the man behind him, "Admiral Norrington, would you show Ms. Lindsie and Ms. Bai to the private quarters below deck. I think they will meet their fancy quite well."

Norrington nodded and motioned for the girls to follow him below deck. Once they were out of Beckett's and the men's sight, James laughed.

"Not to be too forward, Ms. Lindsie, but your mother sounds like quite the character." James voice was gentle and humorous. Charlotte groaned.

"You have no idea. And please call me Charlotte."

As the trio made their way below deck, James showed them the room where they would be staying and gave them the key. As he was leaving he called over his shoulder that if they needed anything, just holler and he would be down in an instant, as would many other men willing to help them. Charlotte and Chun stepped into the plainly decorated room, and locked the door.

"Oh my god." Chun breathed before sitting on the bed against the right wall. She placed her head in her hands, "I'm your mother's seamstress? Our boat was attacked? What is going on? Who are these people!"

"I had to make something up! What was I going to tell them? That we drowned in a scuba diving accident and magically ended up here?" Charlotte sat down at the desk against the window and looked out to the sea, "As far as I can tell, that Spanish gold sent us back in time or something…"

"Spanish gold? You mean we found The Pearl?!" Charlotte was quick to shush her friend. Motioning for her to be quieter, Charlotte nodded.

"Don't go saying the name around here. When I was in Beckett's office, I saw a map… It's got all the places that The Black Pearl has been seen mapped out on it." Charlotte paused and stood near the door, "Apparently, The Pearl hasn't stolen the Spanish gold yet…"

"Maybe we were sent back to stop them from stealing it." Chun reasoned, running a hand through her short black hair, "So we've got to find the Pearl quickly. What's the date anyways?"

"June 1th, 1732."

"Well… We've got a 10 days to find the ship and it's crew."

"Great. This is like a game of Jeopardy. You better have memorized all of that stuff you read on that goddamn ship." Charlotte sighed, "Or we may be stuck here forever."

"Speaking of stuck, what the hell did you tell them? Our ship crashed?"

"Uh, actually no. I told them that our ship was attacked by Pirates. And the ship had black sails. Also, I told them that we want our belongings back from the pirates… And Beckett said tat might be able to happen Seeing that the ship was spotted near here." Pausing, Charlotte notice Chun's smile.

"So, we just have to stall long enough to stay on the ship, and then hop aboard the Pearl as it sails away." Chun worked the plan out, and gave props to her friend. It was a pretty good plan, but only one problem…

"How the heck are we going to get away with this… I mean, it's a ship full of naval officers…"

"Eh, all men have their weaknesses." Charlotte closely examined her nails when there was a knock at the door. Looking up, both girls called out, "Yes?"

"Lunch is being served on deck, maladies." A small voice piped up from behind the door. Opening it carefully, Chun saw the same boy who had given her the white dress earlier in the day.

"Oh, thank you. We'll be up in second." Charlotte smiled and as the boy turned to leave Chun suddenly called out.

She was not looking forward to dinner.