Chapter 10

Jewel moaned, her head hurting. She opened her eyes slowly. The candlelight was far too bright, so she closed them again, noticing something was off.

"Why does my mouth taste different?" she asked in a soft voice.

"Of all the things to ask, you say that?" Came Barbossa's voice from behind her.

"What do you-?" Jewel started before moving, or at least trying to move. Her arms were pinned to her sides, her hands tied behind her back. She opened her eyes more and became more aware of her surroundings. She was sitting on the floor in a cell and there was rope around her. She tried lookng back and could barely see Barbossa directly behind her.

"Oh." she said, "We're tied together, aren't we?"

"They did not want to cut our chains while your were unconscious. The captain also mentioned he wanted you awake before anything was done." Barbossa said. Jewel nodded her head. She was silent.

"... Do you know why my mouth tastes funny?" she finally asked

"NO." Barbossa said sharply. She winced at his tone.

"Sorry. It was an honest question." Jewel mumbled

"Here is my honest question, why did you take us to this vessel?" Barbossa asked

"I don't know, I just wanted to get away from Jones! Maybe this ship was sailing nearby, so we were both taken here, but I don't know. I'm just glad I'm alive." Jewel said, her headache slowly wearing off. They looked to their door hearing footsteps. A man with keys and a musket slung over his back appeared at their door. He was not military, perhaps trading or shipping.

"Is the girl awake?" he asked. His accent sounded Spanish.

"Aye." Jewel said. The man unlocked their door and pulled it open.

"On your feet, the captain wishes to see you." he said. Jewel and Barbossa craned their necks to look at each other.

"Might be easier said then done." Jewel commented. The pirates brought their legs up, feet planted on the ground, knees against their chests.

"On my lead." Barbossa said, "One... Two... Three." The two stood up at the same time. Jewel was lifted into the air slightly, but her feet did touch the ground. Barely though. However, while standing was a problem, walking was a challenge. Occasionally, either one of them would lose their balance, or cause a shift making them strafe toward a wall or a pile of barrels. After some time they finally reached the captain's cabin. Although Jewel was only looking back, at first glance she assumed it was a shipping vessel, but all of the cannons, all of the firearms. How could this be a shipping vessel? And why was it so familiar to her?

"I was wondering when you would wake up." came the captain's, again, strangely familiar, voice. "Would I see you, please?" Jewel watched her feet and slowly walked in a circle. She looked up at the captain and winced. He was a tall muscular man with long blond hair, with a short beard. His long sleeves were rolled up past his elbows and various beads on his gold vest were shining in the dim light. He was seated with his feet up on the table in front of him.

"Heh heh, Vincent Darny, old man. How have you been?" she asked nervously. The man stood up laughing.

"I thought I recognized you, Sparrow. It has been a long time. Years! But your friend here, he doesn't know about us, does he?" Darny asked, taking his feet off the table and standing up.

"You've not been mentioned." Barbossa said

"Well," he walked to the pirates, "if you must know, Sparrow here was a stowaway on my ship, twice! I do not tolerate stowaway's at all. Particularly, you scum piratas!" the word was said with more venom than any snake could ever have, "The second time, I found her and she managed to make a mess of my cargo hold, and blow a hole in my hull. Remember that, Sparrow? Well? Do you?" Darny asked, putting a hand on Jewel's head and roughing up her hair.

"Yes, I do." Jewel said when he stopped, a deadly smile on her face.

"Why, Sparrow, I had no idea you were capable of causing such damage." Barbossa commented

"Yes, well, I had my moments. Now Darny, please listen, I am completely sorry for what I've done the last time we met, and I swear we won't stowaway on your ship again, or any other ship again. But please, we need to go to Tortuga." Jewel said. Darny sat back at his desk.

"Now, why would I do that? If you recall, you have a price to pay for sneaking about my ship, and destroying part of it as well." Darny said, stroking his beard, "Hmm, what is in it for me?"

"Uh..." Jewel said. What would be in it for him? What could they possibly give him in return? He had money and power. Darny was in charge of a shipping company that worked for the East India Trading Compa-... He was very important to the Company. He knew Beckett by name. The more she thought about her first time meeting this man face to face, the more she remembered what he said about himself: He was a self-proclaimed pirate hunter, and had taken many pirates to the gallows.

"You're taking us to Beckett." Jewel said, a twinge of fear showing. Darny smiled. A cigar was placed in his mouth.

"A fine reward has been put on the heads of pirates and those with ties to piracy by the East India Trading Company. Cutler Beckett wants to rid the world of your kind, and will pay anything for it to be done." Darny stood once more, walking to Jewel. "Just how much would I get if I brought him," he ran a hand on the side of her face, "the daughter of one of the pirate lords?" Jewel snapped at his hand with her teeth. He smiled when she missed. "But also, what little prizes can I get from you two? And even... what use could I have for you especially, Ms. Sparrow?"

"I will not be used! Neither of us will!" she shouted

"I believe you have no choice." Darny said. The playfulness he had in his voice was gone. He turned his back on them and strode to his seat.

"Are you forgetting who we are?" Barbossa asked

"Are you forgetting your situation... Mr. Barbossa, is it?" Darny said, "So long as this ship is mine, so long as you two are tied together, so long as these men obey me, I am the king of this castillo!" He slammed his palm on the table before sitting down. "For the crimes of piracy, you two will be hanged at the gallows, and I will be rewarded handsomely for your heads. We should reach Port Royal soon. Carlos!" The man from before, came in. He was shaking slightly. Barbossa and Jewel made notes of this.

"Take these scum to their cell. They will want some time to pray before we reach Port Royal." Darny said, waving them off. The man, Carlos, stood out of their way and followed them to their cell.

"He's not exactly a nice man, isn't he?" Jewel asked Carlos when they were a ways away from Darny's cabin. He shook his head and focused on the floorboards.

"I-I shouldn't talk to-" Carlos started

"Oh please, we won't tell." Jewel said. After a moment, Carlos exploded. They stopped walking in the hall that led to the cell.

"He is horrible! Rude, Vicious, Nasty! We were docked and my friend brought his wife on board. Darny shot his wife, but didn't kill her, and fired him." Carlos said

"That's awful! Why would anybody do that?" Jewel asked

"We are supposed to let him know if we are bringing anybody on board." Carlos said, "She was there waiting for my friend, and she was excited. He is pirate obsessed you see, especially after you stowed away. At time's we've also been shipping information and special tools-I shouldn't have-!"

"Who are we gonna tell?" Jewel asked, "I'm sure the rats will be thrilled."

"He- He is superstitious and cruel. I only pray he gets what he deserves." Carlos continued

"The audacity of that man! I would have understood the girl wanting to see her love. What about you, Barbossa?" Jewel asked

"I would have allowed it." he said with a shrug.

"And he's the man hell itself spat back out." Jewel said with a smile, jerking her head back to Barbossa. Barbossa rolled his eyes and grumbled.

"Si, but what can we do?" Carlos asked, opening the door.

"Fight back." Jewel said, a smile still on her face, but it slowly grew wider, "Barbossa, lets help them start a mutiny." Barbossa smirked before his expression turned serious, thinking of how his own mutiny on Jack went. Considering Carlos' hatred for Darny though, he couldn't be the only one who disliked the man. Yes, the pieces were all in place. They just needed to be put together.

"Do you have your captain's trust?" he asked

"Si." Carlos nodded, "Everybody is trusted by the captain, which makes him even more angrier when we break his 'rules', and when we find a stowaway." Barbossa smirked.

"Then you are well to start a mutiny." he said, "Are there those who fight beside him without delay? Those he can call his own mates, brothers even?"

"A few men, yes, but they are the best at swords. None of us have been able to defeat them." Carlos said

"Did I mention you would fight them?" Barbossa asked, "We'll help you overthrow your captain. In exchange, you must take us to Tortuga."

"It is a deal." Carlos said quickly, before locking their cell door and rushing to tell his friends. Jewel and Barbossa sat down.

"I hope you know how to free us from these binds." Barbossa said

"Oh, is that what I'm supposed to do?" Jewel asked, a slight smirk on her face.

"Do you, Sparrow?" he asked. Jewel looked at her boot. She rubbed the side against the ground, and smiled.