AN: Here ya go! Chp five up!

Chapter Five: "Land Ho!!"

Jessa stretched leisurely in the 'Fledgling's Perch', sighing contently. The rough sea winds blew her midnight hair into her face and she swatted the strands away but to no avail. She untied a blue piece of cloth from around her arm and tied it around her head to decrease her rebellious hair getting in her face.

"Yoho, yoho a pirates life for me..." She sang above a whisper, the sound floating lazily with the wind.

Jessa had not slept long the night before. She had Jack to thank on that one. It had been a rough six hours after her father had come up on deck screaming his head off for 'movement', proclaiming that Mr Gibbs set course to 'land', at the speed of 'run' and she was exhausted!

She was worried to top things off, Jack had turned from looney to insane in a little over five minutes she figured. For when he had stomped down to the cargo hold, ranting and raving he was normal, but he had come back up looking like he had seen a ghost and saying that the devil himself was chasing after them.

But that had just been last night and this morning he seemed fine when Jessa scurried down the rigging and headed for the galley for her morning rations. Fine enough in fact that he came up to her and gave her hug! Which was something Jack did not normally do... to anyone.

"Mornin' luv," he said untangling himself from the rope one of the crewmembers had left sprawled all over the deck.

"Morning Captain, fine day for being out at sea is it not?" She asked helping him up off the deck smiling cheerily. She noticed that the three-cornered hat that he always wore was not on his head, thus she was rightfully...curious.

"Captain may I inquire at to the were abouts of your hat?" she asked following him up to helm. Jack must have not heard her because when he turned around he jumped back a bit and was rubbing his left hand obsessively.

"What?" he asked looking as though nothing was out of place and as if Jessa had just addressed him.

"Weres your hat Jack?" Jessa said slowly.

He thought for a moment as if looking for a best way to answer and finally pointed to the pet of the ship, The Undead Monkey Jack. "Ask the monkey luv," he said walking off to his quarters and closing the door behind him.

Jessa shrugged and retrieved a semi-hard biscuit, a lump of cheese and a bottle of water from the Pearls cook. The man was around five feet, five inches and he had graying brown hair. He was a bit on the chubby side with a belly to prove it and had a grisly beard. He went by the name Pot Belly Thomas but Jessa called him Mr. Pot because of the small pot he wore on his belt.

"Fine day is it not lass?" he asked in a gruff tone. In his younger days he had smoked a pipe and his voice now suffered for it.

She nodded sitting on top of a barrel and taking a swig from her bottle "Aye it tis be a very fine day. Shame Captain's locked himself in his cabin though," She said sighing and biting into her biscuit.

Thomas nodded and started chopping up an onion, dinners on the Pearl where the only cooked meal of the day and it was always something wonderful. Jessa watched him work silently munching on her breakfast and saving her water for the work ahead.

"Need any help Mr. Pot?" she asked coming to stand next to him, observing his technique of chopping the onion.

"Sure ting lass, grab a knife and start peeling them taters in the barrel to my right." Thomas said indicating to the barrel with a twitch of his head and putting the finished onion into the stew pot.

Jessa did as asked and got to work on the brown 'taters', all was silent for a good half hour when Thomas broke it with his baritone voice "Has a young 'un like yerself ever heard of 'The Sword of Fire an' Stone'?" he said looking at her with a lifted eyebrow.

She shook her head and replied, "no never heard of it Sir. Should I have heard of it?"

Thomas shrugged and started cutting some pork into small squares."Just askin' lass..." he trailed off sounding like he was hiding something. Now with Jessa being 16 an all she was naturally curious and didn't like it when some one kept something from her knowledge, which was something she was always willing to expand. So Thomas was not surprised when two minutes later he heard her quite, soft voice pieced the silence.

"What about this sword Thomas?" Her voice was full of eager curiosity.

The old cook smiled while dumping the pork squares in along with the onion and sat down next to her and began dicing the taters that she had finished.

"De sword Im talking about lass is a sword of unknown origin and mysterious sires... Tis be said that the sword can light up like fire or turn as hard as stone. But that is only a tall tail, a good friend o' mine said that his father had seen it once and said it was as tough as stone and stung like fire." He paused for breath and Jessa picked up another tater and began peeling.

"But that is not whats important about it, ye see?" Thomas asked looking at her, she nodded in response "What be important is that it is said to be able to... destroy or kill de..." he trailed off, a look on his face that looked like he had scorched his tongue. Jessa was to into the story for it to be over, so with a look of anguish on her face she turned to him saying "Destroy what? What is it?"

Thomas shrugged off his goose bumps and continued in a hushed tone "De Dragon Lady!!" His eyes where wide as if frightened yet not at the same time, though Jessa had a look that plainly said 'What'. The old cook sat up straight and cleared his throat.

"Tis be said that a Chinese Captain by the name of Sao Feng has position of an ancient mythological being that has the form of a mature woman but has the abilities of a fierce dragon!" He said this in a loud hissing tone that made Jessa jump with unexpected fright.

"What does this Dragon Lady have anything to do with the sword?" Jessa said picking herself up off the floor, though she remained standing.

"As the legend goes lass, de sword is only able to be wielded by a chosen mortal and is also said to be able to pierce the hide of the Dragon Lady." He stood and dumped the cut up taters into the pot, added a mixture of spices and herbs and stirred the brew. "But a lass like yerself should not go asking around about such things...it would bring an unbalance to the Pearl."

Jessa looked confused but nodded "Aye sir, I wont do such a thing, you have my word as an honest sailor." Thomas merely chuckled and watched the child head for the deck. Such a lovely lass she was. She would make a fine sailor, and perhaps one day a fine young gentleman a lovely wife. The girl wasn't ment for the life of pirating and the consequences it reaped, hopefully she would see that before something happened.

Jessa hung from the rigging that afternoon contemplating what Ol' Thomas had told her. From what she could tell there was still an unfinished tale and she was curious, but she remembered his warning and soon forgot the urge of inquiring. She took her bottle from her belt and drank some more of her water, it was a bright day and the sun beat down unkindly.

Jessa made her way to the steps up to the foredeck and sat in the shadows that they cast below. She gingerly touched the silver chain around her neck and pulled out her locket. She traced her finger over it's soft surface and turned her thoughts to the soft melodious tune the gears of the music box produced.

She sighed and returned it to its place under her shirt and stood up pulling her spyglass from her belt and walking to the railing. She focused it on the horizon and swept across the ocean, taking in the calming effect that the swirling blue gave, but it was interrupted by a burst of green and brown. And that could only be one thing.

"Land Ho!!"

AN: Ow! I smell some insight to future chps!! Okay for all who are dying to know chp 7 is going to be called "Enert Davy Jones". So R&R please.