Hello again, reader! This chapter is considerably longer than most other chapters will be, just to let you know. I normally cut them off around 1,500 words so consider this a bonus. XD Please review my story and let me know what you think, I value your opinions!

Disclaimer: I do not own POTC! The characters Rainne and Nicholas belong to me, as well as the story told in this chapter by the two men. All of the characters and events so far are products of my own bizarre imagination.


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The two men leaned closer each other, and the first pirate began to talk. The noise in the tavern almost drowned out their voices, but Rainne focused on what they were saying and managed to make out thier words.

"Aye, that sounds like a mighty interestin' story. Let's hear it."

The first man lowered his voice. "Ye ever been hearin' of Trevelyn Gregory, Cap'n of a ship called The Blood River?"

The other man responded "Aye, so I 'ave."

Rainne could hear through the intonations of his voice that the name really did mean something to him, and he sounded fearful. The story teller resumed his tale.

"Good. Well 'bout one hundred years ago, he were the most feared pirate the whole ocean. Every time 'is ship went on a raid 'e'd personally murder all them crew what were on the other ship. He 'ated the world, and everyone in it. He were a wanted man by the law, but always managed to escape with his life. Many a story were told 'bout him and how he had no heart."

The man took a big gulp of ale, and glanced around the tavern as if afraid of being overheard.

"Well, as the story goes, he'd been sailin' around plunderin' and killin' men for near 20 years. One particular day, 'e were raidin' a pirate ship when 'e saw the most beautiful woman he'd ever lain eyes upon. She had long wavy golden hair the color o' the sun, and beautiful green eyes like any tropical forest you or I 'ave ever seen. She was helping her crew kill all Gregory's men. The lass was good with a blade and was killin' more than 'er fair share of 'em. Gregory took 'er captive on The Blood River, locked 'er in the brig, and spared 'er life. It's said that her beauty cast a spell over 'im and he couldn't hurt her. The captain cross'd over to the enemy's ship and killed e'ery last one o' the opposing sailors and pirates with him own sword. He took all thier loot from candles and sails to gold and rum, and replaced it with greek fire which he lit as 'im own ship sailed away into the blood red sunset."

"This woman he'd captured were smarter than any man you or I could name, and had a will of iron more than any general or king. She got 'erself out o' the brig and insinuated 'erself into the crew. To this day no one knows quite how the lass managed it, but somehow she had a hold over 'er captain. She wouldn't take orders from no one, 'specialy not the captain but ne'er so much as gave 'im any reason to kill her. She wouldn't let no man touch 'er, and she never spoke neither."

"Now, the Captain Gregory was no match for her intellectually speakin', and every day he let 'er walk all over 'im. He wanted so much to kill 'er, but for some reason he couldn't bring 'imself to do it. He realised 'e was fallin' love wit' her, but it were too late. See, 'e couldn't get her out of his head. He never told 'er how 'e felt 'bout 'er, he was too afraid of rejection. The one thing 'e did was 'e gave 'er a beautiful diamond an' sapphire necklace, beautiful beyond anything a treasure lovin' pirate could imagine in 'is most fanciful dreamin's . The lady never wore it."

"She had been on his ship for near five years, when the Blood River attacked a ship belongin' to the Royal Navy, the curs'd bastards that they are. As the two ships fought bitterly, each hatin' the other with a passion, the Capt'n of the Navy ship snuck onto Gregory's ship. He smashed holes into the ship, renderin' it near useless and murdered a great number of the deckhands. Then he went into the capt'ns quarters, and found the woman tied to a desk, by order of the capt'n for 'er protection. He took 'er up to the top o' the deck and held him pistol to 'er head. He told them pirates to drop them weapons and after they did, he shot the woman in front of 'em."

"Gregory uttered a cry o' despair and agony an' threw 'imself at the Navy captain, his sword skewering the man through and pinnin' him to the ship's deck. Gregory seized 'is love an' took her below deck. When 'e came back, his face be stained with tears and he looked like he waned nothin' more than the murder of all tha' surrounded 'im. All the pirates were shocked 'nd scared; no one 'ad ever seen 'im cry. Hell, no one had even heard of him e'er cryin'. Captain Trevelyn Gregory's heart were broken from losin' the only person 'e'd ever loved. He took out 'im pistols and shot all his crew and the other fer good measure. He raided the other ship and took all thier treasure to 'im own ship. He sailed to a deserted island in the Caribbean and buried all the treasure under the sand. He took the woman and dug 'er a grave with 'im own hands, and buried her. He put the necklace around her neck and put a spell on 'er that's said to have made 'er undeadl. Gregory put a curse on the treasure and destroyed 'im own ship. He stranded 'imself on that island and sat by his love's grave. He found an empty rum bottle and a peice of parchement, as using 'im own blood as ink, he wrote a letter and put it inside said bottle, then chucked to sea. According the legend, he still sits on that there island, waitin' for someone to claim his treasure."

The man took a break from the story and ordered another round of ale. Rainne stayed where she was and waited for the man to continue talking. She risked a glance over her shoulder, and saw the man remove something from the pocket of his filthy overcoat that could have been a very old piece of parchment. She quickly turned back around, but listened intently.

"What the blazes be that?" the other man asked.

"This be the very letter written by Trevelyn Gregory 'imself."

There was a long pause in their conversation. The first man continued.

"Me grandfather found an empty bottle o' rum afloat in the sea. He found this letter inside the bottle, which proves me whole story true." He unfolded the letter and read it to the other pirate.

"This be what the letter says:

This letter was written by Trevelyn Gregory, Captain of the Blood River on the twenty third day of October, in the year 1611. To the one who receives this letter, you have a great honour. In exactly 100 years (in the year 1711) an island with a river of blood will appear in the middle of the Caribbean sea. Sail to this island, and you will be rewarded with a treasure beyond your dreams. Be warned, if you are not worthy of this treasure you will die. Also, there is one item of value on this island you are not to take. This item is a necklace of diamonds and sapphires, do not touch it. To find this island you must be aboard a sea vessel during the year of the island's emergence. Your ship will change direction suddenly; do not try to fight it. It will lead you to this island, and the treasure. I will be waiting for you.

If you happen to receive this letter sometime before the year of 1711, tell my story to your eldest child, and tell them to do the same. Give them this letter, and when the 100 years has come to an end, the one who knows this story can come to claim it. The moment you choose to reveal to them this letter, you will die. Only one person may know about this treasure at any one time.

Let me warn you once more. This treasure cannot be claimed by the unworthy. If you prove to be such a man, expect my wrath to be evoked upon the entire world.

Signed, Captain Trevelyn Gregory."

"Now, if I be rememberin' correctly, this be the year 1710, therefore in one year this here treasure will be up for the claimin'. Now you listen to me young man. I'm not young as I once were, and something tells me my time will be up before next year. I want you to be the one to claim said treasure, my son. Just promise your old man you'll have him a funeral to be remembered and to make me 'appy, you hear?"

"I won't let you down." The younger man promised, and the tone of his voice indicated that he would do exactly what this man had asked of him.

Rainne made the logical assumption that these two men were father and son, which had previously gone unnoticed by the girl.

The two men were silent for an eternity, which was infrequently punctuated by the sounds of mugs being set down on the table. During that interminable silence, Rainne imagined she could hear the ticking of a clock, slowly counting down the seconds left to the older man's life. How long would it be? A minute, a day? The noise around the alehouse seemed surreal and Rainne sat in a bubble of silence which existed in slow motion and ticked like a bomb. Her brain absorbed the story she had heard, but it also seemed unreal. She imagined what the old man might have been feeling at that exact moment, powerful emotions of terror, elation, uncertainty, dread, loneliness…

The moment you choose to reveal to your child this letter, you will die. Only one person may know about this treasure at any given time.

A thought suddenly occurred to the young woman. How did anybody know this treasure was real at all? Of course there had been a pirate Trevelyn, but the man sitting near Rainne had offered no solid proof whatsoever except for the letter allegedly written by the pirate himself. The whole situation suddenly seemed absurd and Rainne almost laughed. She had been caught in the spell woven by this storyteller at the table next to hers, been made to believe in a powerful curse, immortality, a pirate who seemed not to care about a fortune of treasure, and thought a man was going to die for simply speaking a story. How foolish could she have been? Rainne sighed and stood up from her seat at the wooden table near the two men. There was no use sitting around and listening to a ghost story when there was work to be done.

From the other side of the alehouse, a cacophony of noise erupted. First there was the regular sound of broken glass, screams and yelling, which was rapidly followed by multiple gunshots and more screaming. The trouble originated from a corner where two sailors stood facing each other, each pointing their pistol at the opposing man and aiming to kill. Nicholas and Rainne had been in similar situations before, and they knew not to get involved or anger either of the men with weapons brandished. Instead, they normally ushered people out of the building to avoid any accidental deaths that would deter business from the Cursed Paradise and let the men have their fight, which is precisely what happened on this day, as any other. As people filed out of the alehouse, the sailor with his back to the corner fired multiple shots at his opponent, but the alcohol that he had consumed previously inhibited him from a decent shot. The bullets whizzed past their intended target and instead imbedded themselves in the bodies of two men, one in the chest and the other in the neck. These men were the very same that Rainne had been listening to previously.

The moment the men were shot, Rainne's blood ran cold. The curse had been true, the man had died after telling his son about the treasure. Terror filled her and she fought to stay standing. But something was horribly wrong with the situation before her. The younger man should not have died! He was supposed to carry on the legacy of his father and carry out his promise to the older man. Instead, he lay on the floor with a bullet in his neck, the bleeding had been powerful enough to spray onto the ceiling and walls, as well as ending the man's life instantly. The older man died moments after, collapsing on the floor next to his son. Rainnes' body seemed no longer to belong to her and she moved against any logical thought towards the two dead men. As she approached, she remembered the letter the old man had shown his son. Rainne searched the fathers' jacket and eventually found the old piece of parchment, which she slipped down her shirt under her corset.

Her hands were covered in blood but the horror failed to penetrate into her mind which had dulled to a completely useless state. From a seemingly impossibly far distance, another gunshot was heard, followed shortly after by a dull thud as a body hit the ground. Nicholas arrived to assist Rainne in the removal of the two bodies, as well as the sailor who had been unfortunate enough to be killed in the duel. They hauled the men into the alley behind the alehouse and then walked to the cemetery located three short blocks away. Even though it was the city of Tortuga, men deserved a respectable burial, no matter what social position they held. Rainne and Nicholas knocked on the door to the grave keeper's house, and then stepped over the threshold into the domain of the dead.

"Yes hello, can I help you?" A short man shuffled towards the doorway from an obscured passage down the hall to the left.

"Yes, we work at the Cursed Paradise down the road. Three men were shot in a fight but moments ago, and their bodies were dumped in the street. We need a burial."

"Three men, you said? What went on, a full scale riot?" the man grinned and it looked nothing more than a horrible grimace to Rainne. She shrank back slightly.

"Do you know their names?"

"No sir. They were not regulars to our business and it's likely that they were strangers to everyone. And unless you have a great deal of money in which to bribe the not-so-law-abiding folk around here for information, we'll never know their identities."

The grave keeper was silent for a moment.

"Aye, I'll bury them. Will unmarked graves do?"

"Well enough, thank you."

The grave keeper disappeared into the shadows and returned with three burlap sacks. He accompanied Rainne and Nicholas back to the alehouse in his wagon, which he later filled with three bodies contained in large, nondescript brown sacks and returned to his cemetery.

Rainne was emotionally exhausted. She still functioned in a state of semi-awareness which had taken hold of her after the three men's deaths. She stumbled out of the Cursed Paradise and up the road to Eagle's View, dimly aware of her surroundings. Suddenly the improbable seemed much more possible than she had believed but a few hours ago.

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Long chapter! Please review and tell me what you thought. Sorry if the conversation between the two men was hard to understand. I just wanted to incorporate a pirate-like speech into their dialogue. Sorry for any literary inconvenience I have caused!

Other characters from POTC that we know and love will be introduced in later chapters, so for now you'll have to sit tight and wait. Thanks guys!

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