The Price of ƒ я e e d o м
A PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN FANFICTION

The Price of ƒ я e e d o м © xoxoMyRealityIsFiction
Pirates of the Caribbean © Disney
Ayisha/Amenirdis © A.C. Crispin

Scene Six:
Branded For Life

– JACK –

Darkness. Complete darkness. The only source of light coming from the fickle flame of some candles lined along the narrow hall. The air was thick and musky, filled with the stench of decaying bodies from the other 'live' men locked in the cells buried deep beneath the ground of the Royal Navy Fort stationed in…Africa, was it? Jack didn't even know where he was anymore. The last thing he remembered was being hit across the head with a blunt object when Cutler Beckett found out that he freed the slaves he was meant to send off to New Avalon in the Caribbean; and then waking up in a cramped cell that he couldn't even stretch out properly if he wanted to.

He wondered where Ayisha was, and what Cutler had done to her. Jack remembered her hiding in the wardrobe in his chambers on-board the Wicked Wench once Jack spotted Cutler's ship nearby. Ayisha always hid so that she wouldn't be found by Cutler and forced back into slavery. And even if she was found Jack would never allow her to become a servant to some high-class society member that would end up treating her like dirt, or worse.

The sound of dripping water leaking from the ceiling above him was beginning to drive him mad; how long had he been locked up in this cell? Jack longed to feel the gentle sea breeze blow through his hair, the natural heat of the sun cascading down upon his face, and most importantly, he missed his ship. His beloved ship: The Wicked Wench. An image of Ayisha's smiling face popped into Jack's mind, causing him to frown. He couldn't stand the thought of something happening to her. Licking his dry, chapped lips Jack finally thought that this was it, he lived his life and now it was time to let go of the last shred of life he was so desperately clinging on to. I'm sorry, love, he thought, smiling softly to himself, thinking of Ayisha and how he let her down by not being strong enough to protect her. Just as he felt his body lolling to the side, in step footsteps echoed down the narrow hall and the creaking sound of his cell door opening made him lift his head up with the last shred of strength he had. He quickly regretted it when the bright flame of an oil lamp being practically shoved in his face burned his eyes and caused him to clamp them shut. He then felt his body being forcefully lifted in the air, different pair of arms gripping tightly onto both of his forearms, his boots scrapping against the floor as his captures dragged him out of his cramped cell.

His surroundings blurred together, his eyes still adjusting to the sudden movement, his head pounding in pain as the sun's rays beamed down harshly on his entire body. The men holding him let go and his body fell to the ground with a hard thud, a groan escaping Jack's lips. Clean, polished boots came into view as Jack laid on the ground; and looking up, eyes squinting against the bright light, Jack caught sight of the man who threw him in jail: Cutler Beckett. The EITC man smirked down at Jack, his hands neatly folded behind his uniformed back (a uniform Jack himself once proudly wore –was still wearing– but it was now mangled and dirty) and then Cutler kicked Jack, causing Jack to roll over and onto his back.

"How are you feeling, Mr. Sparrow?" Cutler sadistically smiled as Jack let out another groan of agony. "No, no, no. I can't have you dying on me yet, Mr. Sparrow, I have something to show you first. Lift him up." Cutler nodded over to two of his men, and they did as ordered, lifting Jack off of the ground and holding up his weight. Cutler then lifted Jack's chin with his own hand and pointed it out towards the direction of the sea. Jack recognized his ship from anywhere and was surprised, yet ecstatic, that it was still in one piece. He only wished the same for his crew and Ayisha, if they were still on-board. "You see that? That's your beloved ship. The one I gave you. I have a proposition for you, Mr. Sparrow. You are a one of a kind, kind of man. Someone with great knowledge and skill of the sea –someone I need. I'll give you one more chance to get into my good gracious, but only if you promise never to defy any of my orders ever again. What do you say?"

In response Jack, in a drunken like manner, just spat onto Cutler's neatly, clean boots, and then gave a lopsided grin.

Cutler kept his eyes on the boot Jack spat on, and his hands visibly tightened into fists. "I'll take that as a 'no' then. You have no idea what you have just done to yourself Mr. Sparrow." Cutler nodded over to another one of his men, and a man Jack recognized as Ian Mercer, Cutler's own personal lab dog – a man Jack proudly declared to dislike with every being in his body; and Ian wore a sadistic smile on his lips as he tightly grabbed ahold of Jack's wrist and yanked Jack's arm forward. Ian then ripped open the sleeve of Jack's navy-blue coat, leaving Jack's entire forearm bare, and held his hand out behind him, a man whom looked like a slave handing Ian a branding iron, the tip a blazing orange. Jack tried to struggle free when he realized what it was, but it was useless, his body was weak and tired.

Jack held in a scream of pain when he felt the searing hot metal burn his flesh, and Ian kept pressing it against Jack's skin for longer than necessary. Once Ian removed the branding iron Jack still felt a throbbing pain on his forearm and let his body go limp in exhaustion. His eyes veered over to the mark they've branded him with. The large 'P' on his forearm caused Jack to finally realize that he was stupid to think that he could escape his past of piracy.

"I'm not done yet, Mr. Sparrow."

Cutler's voice filled Jack's body with anger, and Jack forced his tired head to lift and glare with complete hatred for the man before him. Cutler smirked down at Jack and then faced his body towards the sea, his arm lifting in the air. Cutler's hand flicked to the side in a gesturing manner. Jack's attention snapped in the direction of the Wicked Wench just as flames began licking across the deck and smoke raised from his beloved ship. Jack's face paled. Ayisha! Rage bubbled within Jack's stomach and he somehow found a rush of adrenaline and strength coursing through his body, and then struggled free from the hold of the men holding him up. Without a second thought, Jack dove into the ocean to save the Wicked Wench, his crew, and Ayisha... if they were still on-board that is.

…and he failed…

Jack awoke with a startle; his eyes snapped open and frantically searched the captain's chambers that he claimed for his own because he wanted to take a nap before going back to the helm to sail the rest of the way to Tortuga. He hated reliving that memory, even if he was just dreaming. The memory of having almost dying, have he not made that deal with Davy Jones, and the memory of almost losing Ayisha. Fortunately, Ayisha was not on the Wicked Wench when it had sunk. After being reborn, along with the Wicked Wench: which was now the Black Pearl, Jack found out that she was taken back into Cutler's greedy clutches; Cutler trying to convince her in revealing the location of her home island to him, again; like she did with Jack. And as for the original crew of the Wicked Wench, they were not so lucky...

Everything seemed to go downhill for Jack once he had met Ayisha those many years ago. She had made him go soft. Much like Angelica and Esmeralda did; the women Jack let himself love before Ayisha. Still loves, to his dismay. That was another thing Jack hated about himself. Once someone managed to wiggle their way into his heart – they stayed there. He didn't like feeling soft and vulnerable. He didn't like having another weak spot. It was bad enough that he already had one with the Black Pearl! That was the whole reason why Jack left Angelica and Esmeralda – he feared commitment. Angelica and Esmeralda wanted a life with him. A family. Ayisha…she just wanted to be with him. To be in his presence. She remained faithful to him even after she had seen him with many other women. Angelica and Esmeralda would have probably killed him, no, scratch that, would have killed him, if they had seen him with another woman. Ayisha…she just acted like she never saw a thing.

Was she worth being branded as a pirate? The thing he was trying to escape when he ran away from Shipwreck Cove, for breaking the code. She was the one who voiced her dislike of delivering people to their permanent slavery (which he subconsciously agreed with). She was the one who begged him to free them. To look deep within his heart and let them go. And he listened. He freed the slaves, taking them to Kerma, Ayisha's home, and Ayisha convinced her parents to let the slaves be free on their island.

Jack looked down, seeing Ayisha sleeping peacefully by his side. He then slid his legs off of the edge of the bed so that his back was facing her. He took in a deep breath, and thought that yes, yes, she was worth it. Putting his boots back on, followed by his coat and hat, Jack glanced back at Ayisha's sleeping form before leaving the captain's chambers, and going back to the helm.

– AYISHA –

Ayisha groggily wiped her eyes clean of the crust that formed in the corners of her eyes. God, she really needed that nap. The one she had back at Will's shop wasn't very good since it was a forced sleep when her head smacked against something hard, probably leaving a bruise. Sitting up Ayisha noticed that Jack was no longer beside her but shrugged it off since he usually slept at odd hours only. Looking out of the window that took up much of the wall in the captain's quarters she took in a deep breath through her nose at the sight of the darkened sky... Tortuga was at its worse during the night hours, she thought.

Emerging from the captain's quarters Ayisha craned her head up, and back, so that she could look up at the quarter deck. Jack had his full attention on the sea ahead of them, both hands on the handles of the helm. He really was a good captain. Frowning at the memory of the mutiny from the crew of the Black Pearl, Ayisha tore her eyes away from Jack's figure and looked towards Will, who was securing some rope that belonged to the main mast.

She never felt more useless than she did just right now. After traveling with Jack for many years she still didn't know a thing about boats. Oops – ships. Then again, she never really tried to learn. All she did while she was on-board the Pearl was cook, clean, and care for wounds that the crew would get. Perhaps now was a good a time to learn how to sail a ship as any since it was just the three of them sailing the Interceptor. From memory Ayisha could tell that they were near Tortuga. And she was right. Just as the Interceptor rounded a cliff, Tortuga was in sight, and even from their distance Ayisha could hear the gunfire, laughter, and loud music blaring. No wonder the royal navy feared coming to this island; drunken pirates were not to be messed with; they just became more irritable and violent. Hopefully they wouldn't attack the Interceptor since it technically was a royal navy ship, even though they stole it. Oops, commandeered. Okay, first step in becoming a better pirate: learn how to talk like one.

Settling the Interceptor by one of the many docks of Tortuga, Jack stood in front of Will and Ayisha just after Will and he slid the plank down to the dock. Jack pointed at Will, "Stay by me side at all times. I can't afford ye getting killed. And you," Jack moved his finger over to Ayisha, "raise your hood."

Ayisha rolled her eyes but nonetheless pulled the hood of her new cloak over her head, casting a shadow over most of her face.

"Why does she need to wear a cloak? Should I find a cloak as well?" asked Will in bewilderment.

"Not unless there is a eunuch somewhere in Tortuga, no," answered Jack, "I just don't want anyone staring at me lass. She's too pretty for her darn good," Jack added as if Ayisha's beauty was a nuisance, and dismissively waved his hand in the air. "OK, now that ye know all the rules, let's go find me a crew." Jack swaggered down the plank as if he owned the entire island, and Will and Ayisha shared a glance.

"You love that man? That one right there?" Will asked, skeptically to Ayisha, pointing at Jack's retreating figure,

"Hurry up ye scallywags, I ain't got all night!" Jack bellowed from over his shoulder.

Ayisha simply grinned at Will as her answer, tugged on her hood so that it hung over her head more, and followed in Jack's direction. Tortuga was the same as she remembered when she and Jack last paid it a visit. Drunken pirates dancing without a care in the world in the middle of the streets, whores lifting the skirts of their dresses, flashing every man who so happened to be looking in their direction, and music flowed out from the many taverns or brothels.

"Tortuga, how I missed you!" Jack shouted to the heavens, his arms spread wide apart. "I'll tell you mate, if every town in the world were like this one, no man would ever feel unwanted. What do you think?" Jack wrapped an arm around Will's shoulders, and with the other, he swept it to the side in a showy manner, gesturing to the utter chaos that was Tortuga.

"…it'll linger," Will answered, obviously feeling out of place in Tortuga. He practically grew up in the well kept society town in Port Royal, and now he was thrust into the living arrangement that was Tortuga.

Ayisha came up to Will's other side, eyes scanning the street ahead of them. Tortuga really was a mess; but it was a free mess. And even though she hated to admit it; it was the safest place they could be right now since they just stole a navy ship. Commodore James Norrington's ship. From the corner of her eye Ayisha spotted a redheaded woman stomp over in their direction, and then Ayisha turned her full attention onto the redhead once she saw that the angry looking woman was marching straight towards Jack.

Ayisha watched as Jack did a double take at the redheaded woman and grinned. "Scarlett!" he exclaimed joyfully, and Ayisha silently huffed with a roll of her eyes.

'Scarlett' then proceeded to slap Jack across the face and stormed off soon after. "…not sure I deserved that," Jack muttered, his head snapping in Will and Ayisha's direction from the blow.

Ayisha couldn't help but smile at the fact a woman slapped Jack, but then another woman came forth, Ayisha immediately recognizing the blond as the very first woman she ever saw Jack with when she snuck off the Black Pearl without permission.

"Giselle!" smiled Jack, spreading his arms apart, as if expecting a hug.

"Who was she?" the blond woman gestured, with her head, towards the retreating figure of Scarlett, but before Jack could answer she, too, slapped him across the face, leaving in a huff.

"…I may have deserved that," Jack muttered, again. "Ayisha, darlin'," Jack smiled charmingly towards Ayisha without skipping a beat. "That wasn't what it looked like."

Ayisha sighed and shook her head, Will leaning down in her direction, mumbling, "Is this one of the reasons why I would not understand why you are in love with him?"

Ayisha frowned in response; not knowing how to answer Will's question. It seemed that since Will began to tag along, he only saw the bad side to Jack, not the good. But, then again, Jack had only been showing his bad side since leaving Port Royal. Suddenly, startling Ayisha, Jack wedged himself between Will and her, wrapping his arms around both of their shoulders, but then he pushed aside Will, so that only Ayisha was still under his arm, waving dismissively at the confused look on the young boy's face, leading Ayisha deeper into Tortuga.

Ayisha could help but smile at Jack's antics from underneath the hood shadowing most of her face.

(A/N) Authors Note: This is where the story is a bit AU compared to the book by A.C. Crispin. This is my intake on Jack's branding of becoming a pirate - what do you think?