The Black Pearl had sailed across the seas for two weeks when the weather started to change. The wind got stronger every day, and the sun was barely visible. Four days after the first changes, an actual storm broke loose, and the whole crew was needed to keep the ship in course.
Jack called the small group of teens and Martin, and started to give orders. "Martin, take Yuri down to the hold, and secure our load, we can't have it moving around. Ann and Arvin, I need you two to help raising the sails, alright?" He asked, waiting for everyone to nod, or give another sign of understanding. When the four had, and went on their way, he thought for a second.
"Collin, can you help Gibbs with steering?" he asked, but didn't wait for an answer. " And Mary, you are light and agile, I want you to climb up to the crow's-nest, and search the horizon for Isles, alright?" The second he'd said it, Ann and Collin turned around. Mary had visibly paled when she'd looked up, but Jack didn't notice.
"I can do that!" Collin cried out. Mary bit her lip and looked at her friend, up to the crow's-nest, and back to her friend again. "You don't have to, I can do it myself." She stated, trying to sound strong. She hated showing her weaknesses, and didn't want to refuse an order from Jack.
To give her statement more power, she walked to the rail where the ropes to get high in to the mast started. Ann put a hand on her friend's shoulder, and gave her a look that said: 'Be careful up there, Mary.' Mary nodded, took off her jacket, and grabbed a rope above her.
The girl knew most people could climb way faster than she could, but she was extremely cautious not too look down, and to have grip at three points before she reached higher. Slowly she got higher and higher.
She was so concentrated on the climbing, she didn't notice the storm getting worse. The wind blew hard against the ship, causing her to tilt heavily, and when they were sailing through an area where a ship had sunk, a thunderstorm started.
Mary saw the flashes of the lightning, and she realized that she was in a really dangerous spot. The girl had reached the crow's-nest, but she slowly started to climb down again, not wanting to be up so high with lightning flashing around. She felt completely isolated from the crew on the deck below her, and she tried to get down as fast as she could without losing her balance.
A lightning bolt struck the iron ring around the crow's-nest, and Mary needed to let go of the ropes to shield her face from the sparks. It wouldn't have been a problem if a gigantic wave hadn't crashed into the side of the Pearl at the same time, causing the ship to tilt even further. And Mary fell down in to the chaos of the waves, where wooden boards of a sunken ship were floating.
An ear piercing scream was heard by the crew on the deck. Ann recognized the voice and ran towards Jack as fast as she could, but the young captain had realized what had happened already, and took of his jacket and boots, while he ran to the rail. He couldn't see where Mary had fallen into the waves, but he saw her hair floating in the water. He quickly dove in to the ocean and started to swim.
It didn't take him long to reach the girl. She was slowly sinking into the depths of the ocean. Jack noticed she wasn't conscious, and cursed in his head. He carefully wrapped his arm around Mary's waist, and started to swim to the surface.
"Drop a rope ladder!" He shouted at his crew. The men did as he asked, and Martin climbed down. He carefully took Mary. "I've got her." He said softly. Jack waited until the other male had climbed onto the deck with the slender girl before he went up himself. He slightly smiled to himself as he saw how his crew gently helped Martin with the unconscious girl.
Jack grabbed a bottle of rum before he walked to the small circle that had formed around Mary. Most of his crew had went back to work when he came closer, but Martin, Collin, Yuri, Arvin and Ann still sat kneeled besides the pale unconscious girl.
He sighed when he saw her torn shirt, which was red with blood. He took the cork out of his bottle of rum, and poured it over the gash in Mary's arm. The girl flinched, and at once she shot up, coughing al the salt water out of her lungs. She gasped for air, and softly started to sob.
"Keep still." Jack muttered as he tore of a strip of cloth of his sleeve and carefully wrapped it around her arm. "She'll be fine, but the girl will need some rest." He told her worried friends. They let out a sigh of relieve simultaneously. "Ann, Collin, do you know where my cabin is?" when the two teens nodded, he sent one of his famous grins their way.
"I want you to take her there, give her some of my clothes, and let her sleep. The rest of you, get back to work, there's a storm raging around my ship!" They did what was told, and Ann softy helped Mary get up. She and Collin led the wet girl to the captains quarters.
Collin quickly walked to the wardrobe, grabbed the smallest clothes he could find, and handed them to Mary. He stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, until Ann turned around. "Just go, we'll be fine." She stated rolling her eyes, as she continued to help Mary drying her hair.
When Mary had changed in to Jack's clothes, which were way to big, Ann hugged the girl, and left. Mary slipped under the covers of the bedstead, and slowly drifted off to sleep.
The girl woke up when she heard Jack entering the cabin. She pushed herself up on her elbows and let her eyes adjust to the darkness. She noticed the ship didn't rock as heavily as before. "Are you feeling better now?" Jack asked as he walked to his desk, opened a drawer and pulled out another bottle of rum.
Mary nodded uncertainly, and flinched when she felt the sharp pain in her arm. Jack sat down next to her, and handed her the rum. "it will make you feel warmer." He stated when he saw that she looked at the bottle as if he was offering her fire to drink.
She took a sip, and indeed felt a rush of warmth spreading through her body. "Your friends told me about your fear of heights, why didn't you protest when I gave you that order?" he asked. Jack noticed how Mary tried to speak, but stopped, and just shrugged instead. He motioned for her to drink more of the rum. He knew it wasn't a good idea to give a fourteen year old girl alcohol, but he understood that she had a hard time talking about her feelings and fears. And she would loosen up from the rum.
When she'd gulped down a few more sips, he gently took the bottle from her. He only wanted her to get a bit more talkative, not get her so drunk she would get a hangover the next morning.
"So why didn't you?" He asked again. Mary looked him in the eyes, and softly said: "Because I hate showing weakness." Her eyes had gotten teary, but she just wiped them with her sleeve and continued. "I was bullied when I was younger. When my father wasn't around I was sad, and because I'm shy I was an easy target. I've gotten over it, but when I'm in new situations I'm still scared to show my weaknesses, because I never know if they'll be used against me." This time she let the tear roll down her cheek. "And now I've even made things worse." She scoffed at herself.
"I know the lightning struck the crow's-nest, Mary, I saw it happening." Jack told her, and the girl looked at him surprised. "You couldn't have done anything else, what happened isn't your own fault you know." The girl nodded softly, and Jack put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close.
"You are strong, no matter what anybody tells you. I wish I had a child like you." He said, whispering the last part. Mary pulled away a bit, a small smile spreading on her face. "A child like me? Do you have someone in mind to have a child with?" She asked with a devious tone. She wasn't sure if he'd met Angelica already until she saw his slightly pink cheeks.
"There might be someone I've got 'stirrings' for." Jack reluctantly admitted, but he was glad to see that the young girl had cheered up a bit again. "Get some more rest, I'll sleep with the crew tonight." He said when he saw her getting up.
She nodded gratefully and slipped back under the covers in the bedstead again. "Goodnight." She muttered, before closing her eyes again. "Goodnight." Jack whispered back, before leaving his quarters.
A/N: Hey everybody, I'm not dead! (big surprise, isn't it?) I had some problems with the uploading system of though, so I decided to make this chapter longer as an apology. With 1600 words, it's my biggest chapter yet :3 Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter as much as I do, and I'd love to get some feedback. ( thank you for reviewing on earlier chapters everyone!)
Love, Piuletta