Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I own nothing related to Pirates of the Caribbean. That belongs to Jerry Bruckheimer, Disney, and a bunch of other people. Only original characters and plotlines are mine.

AN: Here's another chapter, and a slightly longer one, too! Thanks so much for reading, and please review!

Chapter 7: Acceptance, Fear, and Disappointments:

They would never admit it, but the crewmen of the Black Pearl were becoming rather fond – or at least, relatively tolerant – of their Captain's shipwrecked foundling.

In their experience, women in general were not suited to life at sea. They would never say that in front of Anna-Maria, of course –but then, she was an exception to the rule, and had earned her place as Jack's second mate. She could fight, give orders, and keep the men in line, all without going into hysterics or panic. Her temper was legendary, and her reputation as a hard woman brought not only respect, but a touch of fear from those who served with her, which she used to her advantage. She was a true pirate, and as such, the men obeyed her as they did Gibbs and their Captain.

Having a second female aboard, however, disturbed the Pearl's rather delicate balance of power. Marina (or Rina, as the men now called her) had no experience with ships, hard work, or fighting, which made her rather useless to them.

But worst of all, not only was she mute and female, but she was also attractive. As the men all knew, those without the ability to speak could come to serious harm in dangerous situations, and as she was pretty and a woman, it was like dangling an impressive bit of treasure in front of their eyes.

Much to their relief, it wasn't long before a solution was created for each of those problems.

Anna-Maria was quick to claim that the girl was under her protection, and if anyone dared lay an unwelcome finger on her, the man who did so would lose not only the finger, but the hand attached to it. That quickly quelled any of their desires towards the pretty young thing.

And it was a very short time before Marina began proving her worth onboard. After showing off her knowledge of eatable sea creatures, Rina had promptly been put to work in the galley, where she managed to produce food that not only tasted good, but also didn't cause any illnesses. It also kept her out of their sight, and therefore, out of mind.

But what had fully won the men over was that Marina had begun teaching them the differences between fish that could kill, and fish that could be killed.

Before Rina's arrival, illness from eating fish had been somewhat of a gamble on their health, as the men had no idea if some of what they were eating was poisonous or not. As a native of the Caribbean, Anna-Maria had done her best in combing through the day's catches, but if those who did the main fishing and sorting guessed wrongly, and Anna didn't catch their mistake, then it was a good chance that a number of the crew would be down with upset stomachs, or worse.

Now, there were fewer worries about death-by-supper. After several days of intense instruction, Marina had managed to teach every man who wanted to learn about the fish brought up in the nets. She showed what was good to eat, what was poisonous, and how to turn even a poisonous fish into an eatable meal –with a little careful trimming of the correct body parts. The men were amazed at her knowledge, and as she had shown to never be wrong, they respected her and her abilities.

With the threat of food poisoning no longer looming over their shoulders, the men were able to enjoy their meals, and get their work done without having to worry about their guts turning inside out on them. This quickly caused them to make a small bit of room in their pirate hearts for the mute girl, who was very much proving her worth.

Currently, the only problem they had with the poor thing was her inability to speak or make much noise. She could make a few sounds, but nothing in the way of speech, and the only way anyone knew she was coming was the sound of her boots on the wooden deck. Jack had provided a whistle and a bell for her to carry, but she disliked using them. Gibbs hazarded a guess that perhaps Marina thought the noise would be too distracting, and did not wish to annoy anybody, so these little noise instruments had been tucked away where they couldn't be heard.

For the most part, the men appreciated the gesture, but her uncommon quietness made it hard for them to know she was there. If it weren't for the fact that she was still trying to get her 'sea legs,' they would never hear her coming up behind them. Luckily, Marina spent most of her time below deck in the galley, out of harm's way.

That was a good thing, because at the start of her fourth week on the Pearl, a man in the crow's nest spotted a merchant vessel, ripe for the picking.

"Stay here below, Rina," Anna had told me firmly, before she locked me inside our cabin. "The men have spotted a merchant vessel, and we're eager to do some plundering. It's the slow season for merchants and trade ships, so we're going to take this one while we can. After all, we have to make a living, too!"

Her face serious, she motioned towards my knife. "Things are bound to get dangerous up above, and with you unable to defend yourself, or to even scream for help, you'll have to stay here, where it's relatively safe. Keep the door locked, and if anyone breaks through, kill them before they kill you. Do you understand?"

Without waiting for me to reply, she shut the door and locked it, leaving me alone.

Well, that would certainly explain a great deal. Even in the galley, I could sense that the men were frustrated and in desperate need of some piracy. Their thoughts had been so loud that I didn't have to read them – apparently, they felt that Jack had purposely been avoiding confrontation in order to spare me, even if, deep inside, they all knew that it was, the "slow" season for raiding.

When the shout had gone up, and the crew had excitedly begun running around, I had been afraid that something bad had happened. Then Anna had appeared at the galley's doorway and pulled me towards our cabin, where I was now locked in, my hands toying with my thick braid of hair. Part of me was happy to be where it was safe, but another part feared for the others and what might happen to them.

Finally, as my anxiety began to get the better of me, I lay down on the bed, picking up an object Anna had called a "book." Apparently humans used 'writing' in order to keep track of stories and information, so that they or other people could 'read' it and learn things. It was rather fascinating, and I had longed to learn how to decipher the different symbols, but knew I could not ask Anna to teach me –she did not have the time, when she worked so hard, and neither did any of the men, who were still a bit wary of me.

In the end, I had taken to gently going through Anna's mind whenever she read to herself, and learned to put meanings to symbols (called 'letters' and 'numbers') that way. I had to be careful while doing this, but over the past few days, I had been able to put a few words together. I could not wait until I was able to read an entire book on my own!

A tremendous loud noise suddenly rang through the ship, causing me to jump. It was a horrible sound, and not long afterwards, the Pearl rocked to the side, nearly sending me falling to the floor. Soon, it was followed by shouts, and of weapons clashing violently together. My heart leapt into my throat, and I immediately drew my knife, ready in case someone should break in. To keep myself from going mad from anxiety, I closed my eyes tightly, drowning out all thoughts except my own.

For many terrifying minutes, I sat there, my fingers turning white from clutching my blade so tightly. Slowly, slowly, the sounds of fighting faded away, and only when they were replaced with cheers and shouts of joy did I feel the knot in my stomach loosen.

At last, at last, there were footsteps outside the door. "It's me, Marina!" called a voice, causing me to almost faint in relief. It was Anna-Maria, and from what I could read of her thoughts, she was practically humming with satisfaction and happiness as she unlocked the door.

"Well, it's over," she said, stepping into the cabin. "We've got a nice pile of swag for our troubles, too, so I expect the men to be breaking out the rum and causing a ruckus tonight with their singing and such."

I had no idea what she was speaking of, so I merely smiled and nodded, which seemed the right thing to do. Anna returned my smile and produced a small pouch, which she handed to me.

"This is your share," she explained to my puzzled expression. "Everyone gets a bit of the stuff we take during a pillage, and this is yours. You've worked hard, Marina, and everyone knows that. Take it and then you can spend it or put it away for the future, it's your choice."

Gingerly taking the small bag, I carefully pried the top open and peeked inside. There was a pile of small, round metal objects in gold and silver. Oh! Money! I had seen a few men counting it out once, and a quick glance at their minds told me that money was exchanged for things a person wanted. I had seen piles of it inside of ships before, but since they weren't wearable, like jewelry, I had thought it unimportant. I knew better now.

I smiled my thanks at her, and went to carefully tuck it into the chest that held my other possessions. Anna nodded her approval. "Come on, the Captain has asked that I boil up some crabs and lobsters for tonight. The men are having a fine time catching them in the nets, and since all of us going to partake of those, all at the same time, you and I both have to get to work."

Nodding, I followed her, eager to get to work.

I had never heard human music before today, and I was amazed at how much it made me want to join the men in jumping around the deck, swinging their arms and legs around as they celebrated. Seated beside me, Anna had asked me if I wanted to join the 'dancing,' and it took a little while for me to realize that 'dancing' was what the men were doing in accordance with the music. It actually looked rather fun, but since I was still worried about keeping my balance on legs, I shook my head.

'Walking is one thing; dancing, jumping and other movements are another!' I was fortunate that the crew thought my clumsiness was due to my being washed ashore, so my unsteady movements were looked on with pity, rather than as an oddity.

Instead of dancing, I watched the food being passed around. I recognized most of what was being served, such as bread, salted meat, fruits and vegetables, but there was something new that I hadn't seen before. It looked tasty, and since the men were actively indulging in it, I thought that perhaps I ought to try it.

"Would you like some cheese, Rina?" Anna asked, taking a piece from a passing Mr. Gibbs. "We didn't get any in Tortuga, since their cheese is rancid half the time, but the merchant vessel we raided had plenty of the good stuff. Here."

I tentatively accepted the offering and looked it over. The outside was grey, lightly dusted with white, and the inside a white faintly tinted with yellow. The whole thing was soft, however, and when I took a small bite, the cheese seemed to melt on my tongue, salty-sweet and absolutely marvelous.

'Oh, how lovely,' I thought dreamily.

"It goes better with the meat and hardtack we've got," Anna commented, taking a bit of hardtack and coating it with the soft cheese, before dropping some of the salted meat on top. "Here, try this."

I did, and nearly fell off of the barrel I was sitting on. It truly astounded me with how humans could produce such wonderful food and combine it to create even more marvelous things to eat.

When my belly was full, I turned my eyes to the dancing, though my thoughts had turned elsewhere. In the back of my mind, I had the sudden revelation of how alike merfolk and pirates were.

Both my (former) people and pirates loved treasure, even if they obtained it in slightly different ways. Pirates lived on taking treasure from other ships; merfolk took treasure from sunken ships. Most pirates killed for survival, while others were merely savage in their kills; some mermaids killed humans in order to protect our people and our secret existence safe, while others killed out of anger and hatred.

'Perhaps we aren't so different after all,' I thought, grinning as one man linked arms with another and the two swung each other around in an absurd circle.

Just then, the music changed tempo and became much slower. When it did, someone came up to my side and tapped my shoulder. Turning, I was surprised to see Jack standing there, a smile on his handsome face. "Care to dance, Rina?" he asked, offering a hand.

Swallowing nervously, I shook my head. There was no possible way for me to dance without causing trouble.

But Jack would not accept a refusal, so I found myself pulled to my feet and dragged out to the deck, where he took me by the waist with one hand, while keeping hold of the other. My entire body stiffened. This was not comfortable to me.

"Relax, luv," Jack said. "Follow my lead and move with the rhythm of the music."

That was simple for him to say! My people had nothing like this kind of music, and as for dancing –it was hard to dance when you'd once had no legs!

Unfortunately, I had no choice, as he began to gently move us about the deck. My cheeks grew warm as I did my best to focus on his steps and to mirror them. I knew I was clumsy, and as I did not wish to look foolish in front of the crew, I resorted to brushing Jack's mind with my own, my feet slowly finding the steps as Jack led me in the dance.

After a short while, I realized that I was actually having fun dancing. It was fun to move my feet in steps that went with the music being made, and Jack was proving to be a rather amusing teacher. He whispered how well I was doing, and that I had a good sense of rhythm, unlike a few of his crewmen. If I could laugh, I would have, but instead I settled for smiling at him as the song came to an end.

"Well done, Marina," Jack said, releasing me from his hold. "And my thanks for a lovely little waltz. Now, Marty, play something lively so that this lass knows how pirates celebrate success!"

The small man, Marty, began playing a fast rhythm, and as Anna pulled me to sit beside her, several of the men gathered to clap, dance, and sing a song about pirates. As they sang, I began to clap along with them, joining in the lightheartedness until long after the sun went down.

I spent that entire evening watching the men at their dancing and games, refusing any more attempts to get me to join them. I wasn't very good at dancing, so I chose to sit with Anna and watch until my eyes grew heavy and my body cried for sleep.

Dawn came, and it was a quiet one. Anna had explained to me before we went to bed that, after a gathering such as last night, the crew tended to sleep late and that there would be no need to prepare lunch or supper.

"Just leave out some cold food from last night," she said as we blew the candles out. "No need to put effort into anything when you know they probably won't be able to stomach it later."

I had to gently probe her mind about why that was, and discovered that pirates frequently indulged in something called 'alcohol,' which if they drank too much, tended to leave them ill the next day. I wondered why they drank something that could make them sick, but decided to let it lie, and swear to never drink it myself.

This was why, after a morning of laying out cold crabs and lobsters, as well as hardtack and cheese, I went onto the deck and wondered at the emptiness of it. The only person I could see was Mr. Cotton, who smiled at me from his place at the helm. Like me, he was mute, and had the most darling bird on his shoulder. I often fed it, and it seemed to like the attention I gave it. Sometimes, it even said things to me, which I found funny.

It might seem odd, but my muteness did not cause me much trouble here aboard the Pearl. On my infrequent visits above deck, the men did their best to treat me as they would any other person, and often asked me questions or for my opinion about something. They were even kind enough to phrase their words so that it merely required a 'yes' or 'no' from me, which I could easily communicate through a nod or shake of the head.

But even though they were becoming more accepting of me, none of them attempted to become my friend. Thus far, only Anna was my friend, and it tore my heart to know that the men might never want to become more than fellow workers on the Pearl.

My spirited dampened by these sad thoughts, I walked towards the front of the ship, which had a partition that hid me from sight. It was a good place to go when one wanted to be alone, and since nearly everyone would not be waking for quite some time, I would have no one to witness what I was about to do.

Since I had become human, I had kept all of my efforts focused on the humans around me, and ignoring anything below the surface of the sea. Today was my only chance to try and remedy that.

And so, looking over the railing, I closed my eyes and opened my mind. My thoughts immediately delved into the depths of the water below, seeking out the lives that called the sea their home.

A cacophony of familiar 'noise' filled my head, but it was all blissfully familiar. As my people were mind readers, we learned from a young age to close off the mental 'noise' that all creatures tended to give off. That skill eventually became instinctive, and for the most part, the mental wall we put around our inner selves became rooted in place and could only be removed when we chose to do so.

Now I relished hearing the thoughts of dolphins, sharks, fish, eels, and even crabs. The sophistication of their minds varied, but they all blended together perfectly in my own, greatly easing the longing I had in my heart to return to the sea.

I swallowed harshly, trying to fight the urge to weep. I missed the water so much! I wanted to dive into the waves and swim with the dolphins, or go hunting for food with sharks. My body longed to be suspended in the water, to go wherever I pleased and not be confined to the vessel that now rose and fell beneath my feet.

'It is truly a miracle that I haven't lost my mind after being in such a limited space for so long.'

Of course, I had been trying to find a place for myself here aboard the Pearl, and with both my mind and my hands occupied with work and learning, it had been difficult to miss my old life.

A sigh escaped my lips, one of the few noises that came from my throat. Oh, how I longed to talk and laugh, just like everyone else!

"Enjoying the view, Marina?" drawled a voice behind me. I turned, smiling as Jack came to join me. "It's quite a pretty day, isn't it?"

I hadn't noticed it much, but now that he mentioned it, the day was quite nice. There were few clouds in the sky, and the sun was shining brightly on us as we watched the waves go by. I had grown to like having the sun on me all the time, though it had caused my skin to turn red and painful my first few days aboard. I was better now, and had healed. Anna said my skin was a bit darker from the sun, but that was alright. As far as I was concerned, it marked me as a sailor and member of the crew.

"Well, with all the swag we've gotten from this raid of ours, we'll be making port soon," Jack said, with a smile in my direction. "I'll make sure that Gibbs gets more for you and Anna-Maria to work with down in the galley. I don't doubt that the men will want a bit of variety before long, and we need more meat, not to mention fruits and vegetables to keep off scurvy. Not a nice illness, scurvy."

I nodded politely, since it was the only way I could respond. That was when he turned serious, his dark eyes looking apologetic as he spoke. "Rina, I'm sorry I have to do this to you, but I can't risk your safety by taking you into town."

He must have seen the sadness and disappointment in my face, because he rushed forward with an explanation. "I know you must have been excited to get off the ship, but a pirate port is no place for a young woman in your…situation. I can't risk you getting hurt or killed, especially when you can't fight back or scream for help. I promise, though, that as soon as Anna and Gibbs have you trained up on fighting, I'll let you on shore like all the others. For now, however, you'll have to remain on the Pearl, or take extremely short visits to the dock to stretch your legs. Savvy?"

Those were all perfectly good reasons for me to stay here, but I had been excited at the prospect of seeing and exploring a human town. Still, Jack was right to want to keep me safe, and so I nodded, my head tilted down as I did my best to hide my mournful expression.

A gentle hand came to rest on my chin, forcing me to look up in kind brown eyes lined with black. "I promise, I'll find a way to get you onto land, at least for a little while, Rina," Jack softly whispered. "But, for now at least, promise that you won't go anywhere unless you have someone with you."

Forcing a smile onto my face, I nodded. My apparent surrender to his logic seemed to satisfy him, because he gently released my chin. "Thank you, Rina. And since you've given me peace of mind, I swear on pain of death that I shall bring you a little trinket from town. How about that?"

As though a small gift could stand in place of the enjoyment I would get exploring a town! Well, as long as he swore that I would be able to walk on land for at least a little while, I suppose I could be content with that.

I gave him a genuine smile as I stepped forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek in thanks. The skin beneath my lips was warm from the sun, and scratchy with his whiskers, but still rather soft. It was as it had been before, when I had kissed him in thanks for my new name. And as before, I found it rather pleasant.

When I pulled away, I immediately turned and headed back to the galley, my stomach begging for something to eat before I returned to bed for a bit of extra rest.

He felt terrible for depriving Marina of a bit of shore-leave, but Jack could not bear the thought of her getting hurt. Sweet little thing that she was, she was bound to get captured by someone who could do her serious harm. He'd seen her hurt and vulnerable before and never wanted to see her like that again.

'I'll bring her back something nice, to make it up to her. And I'll have Anna take her on a short walk along the docks so she can stretch her legs and not feel confined, or get cabin fever.'

Alright, it wasn't much, but it would have to do, for now. As soon as she was able to skillfully handle a weapon, Marina could join them on a jaunt into the port. But as things stood, she was much safer aboard the Pearl, where someone could keep an eye on her.

His anxiousness soothed, Jack turned towards the helm to relieve Mr. Cotton of his task. It was time to make for port.

AN: Review?