Well, I have some good news. I have finished writing this fanfiction now, just have to type it up so I will try to update every week. I hope you like the chapter. I personally think it is one of the better ones. Enjoy!
Since being a member of the Black Pearl's crew the dreadful dreams I used to have every night had not come. For three months I had been free of sleepless nights and waking torment. Until tonight. It hadn't taken me long to get to sleep where my mind was taken to a brutal scene of fighting men. I recognised it well. I watched as men died and their life forces rose above their bodies leaving a look of pain and sadness on the faces they had left behind. Only now did I realise that I was one of them, a spectator of battle, with no physical form. I could do nothing to help, only watch them die. My gaze drifted across the deck of the ship to the helm where my father lay. I drifted over to him and I am sure that if I could cry in this body of no mass, I would. He lay, trying his hardest to hold onto life but to no avail. His life force lifted from his body but instead of leaving instantly like the others had it traveled towards me and his voice echoed through my mind. "You have strayed from the path of revenge Clara. Don't you forget what Blackbeard did to us."
"I don't want revenge anymore; I have searched for ten years and found nothing. I want to just get on with my life and enjoy it." I barely managed to whisper.
"If you don't kill Blackbeard he will only destroy more lives." I went to say something in response but he was gone. The world around me faded to black. The last thing I remember before waking was Blackbeard's laugh echoing through my mind over and over again.
I had only been asleep for a few hours. I lay in my hammock breathing heavily and for the remainder of the night I was unable to sleep. I kept thinking about my father's words. Now I knew what revenge had done to Cutler Beckett. I didn't want to become that person.
By the time morning arrived was more exhausted than ever and when I was tired, I was clumsy. I fell over the top step on the way out of the mess hall after breakfast, I accidentally prodded my finger with a pin while fixing my clothes, I bumped into Harry at least three times and almost overboard when the ship hit a large wave. I had practically lost control of my body. Even Jack noticed and I think he liked not having to be the only one who had to keep steadying his balance.
It was late afternoon and I had just finished teaching Harry some basic knots. I was on my way to see Jack at the helm to inform him of Harry's progress. I was in a good mood despite being tired, the wind was blowing and I could smell the food being prepared for the evening. I waved at Joey as I passed him scrubbing the deck, he waved back and I smiled. But I wasn't looking where I was going and tripped over a rope that was lying across the deck. Everything went in slow motion then. I flew forward and landed on the floor in front of Gibbs. As I fell the wind lifted my hat up into the air, releasing my hair which fell over my face. There was no way to cover this up now. The truth was out. Gibbs gasped, the crew crowded around me and I saw Harry emerge from one of the lower decks. As soon as he saw me lying on the floor with my hat next to me and my hair all over my face a look of sympathy crossed his face. Gibbs was the first to say something. "You're a lass." he was really stating the obvious but at least somebody said something. I nodded anyway. I then pushed myself up into a sitting position and began to untangle my legs from the rope.
"I'm sorry but I had to lie. I wouldn't have got into the crew otherwise." I bowed my head.
"Let me through." I heard from the back of the crowd of people. It was Jack. "What's going on?" He reached Gibbs and looked down at me on the floor. I saw understanding shine in his eyes and I looked pleadingly at him. "Ah." he nodded. His expression then turned to anger. "Mr Adams, with me to my cabin." He commanded. "Or Mrs Adams," he corrected himself. I obeyed orders and followed him to his cabin with Gibbs not far behind us. "As you were gents." Jack said to the crew. He winked subtly to me as he turned to start walking. I breathed a small sigh of relief. As soon as we were inside the cabin and out of earshot of the crew. he looked at me and said, "well it is about time, I wondered how long you could keep the act up for." he then smiled.
"Wait a minute captain, you knew?" Gibbs asked. Jack nodded.
"Of course I did, worked it out days ago. Her name is Clara."
"And you didn't think to tell me?" Gibbs looked quite annoyed.
"Well, I knew you would tell me that it is bad luck to have a woman on board."
"It is bad luck. Don't you remember Elizabeth? She had you sent to Davy Jones Locker." Gibbs stated.
"Aye, she did. But she also assisted in rescuing me and played a huge part in sinking Cutler Beckett's ship." Jack countered.
"And what about Angelica, she was bad news from the start." Gibbs shook his head in disbelief.
"But she helped me find the fountain of youth. Not that I needed any help." Jack responded quickly.
"Well what good can it do, having a woman on board?" Gibbs really was superstitious.
"What bad can it do." said Jack, clearly unable to think of a better comeback. "Clara has been working on the Pearl for months now and what bad has happened?" Gibbs opened his mouth to respond. "That was a rhetorical question Mr Gibbs. I'm captain. I say she stays." jack put his hands on hip hips and nodded in triumph. Something inside me did a small cartwheel. I smiled. Gibbs groaned and left the room.
"Thanks Jack" I breathed.
"That's alright." he responded, "I'm not ready for you to go yet." I smiled and adjusted my hat and hair.
"I guess I should get back to my duties." I sighed.
"Wait." Jack said abruptly ad my hand touched the door handle. I turned slowly to face him and I sensed that I was glad that I didn't have to leave yet.
"Is everything ok?" I questioned.
"Yes," Jack took several steps towards me and stumbled slightly as I noticed he did rather a lot. "I just think that now the crew all know that you are a lass," he waved his hands at me in an elaborate way. "They may try to take advantage of you."
"Thank you for your concern." I interrupted. "But I am perfectly capable of looking after myself." I said with a sharp voice. It really got on my nerves when men saw women as weak or not as able as them. I turned to leave again but Jack was quicker than me and grabbed my wrist. The rings on his fingers were cold against my skin. His touch was gentle but firm.
"I'm sure you can... I just thought that maybe you would be more comfortable with a different place to sleep, without the crew there." I considered this for a moment. It would be nice to have a more private location to sleep.
"Where abouts do you suggest?" I asked cryptically. Jack simply smiled and lifted up a trapdoor in the corner of his cabin. I looked inside and then jumped down to see what it was like. It was maybe 10 feet in both width and length so it was defiantly large enough for me, my hammock and my guitar. Jack grabbed a lantern and reached out to hang it on the wall. He smiled at me.
"Is this to your satisfaction?" He asked and raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, defiantly." I paused and looked around once more before climbing out. "Thank you." Jack nodded.
"You don't have to knock by the way to get in here. Just walk straight through." he explained. The look in his eyes told me that he was glad that my identity was no longer a secret though I couldn't understand why.
"I'll go and get my hammock and guitar then." I braced myself for the stares from the crew I was almost certainly going to get and waked oh of the room. I was correct. As I walked along the deck every crew member's eyes turned to look at me at some point. I was glad to be walking down the stairs towards the hammocks where there was nobody to stare. Looking around the room I saw Harry sitting on his hammock just across from mine, he looked up as I approached.
"So... Do you have to leave?" his eyes were wet, he looked as though he had been crying. I shook my head.
"No, thankfully Jack had already worked it out and thought I was too valuable a crew member to loose." I began to untie my hammock from the wall. "I do have to move to a different room to sleep though, because of the gender difference between me and the rest of the crew, Jack is worried that I will be taken advantage of." I laughed. Harry nodded and came to help me roll up my hammock.
"Where are you moving too." He picked up my guitar and handed it to me.
"A room under his cabin looks ok to me." I began to walk up the stairs with my few belongings. Harry followed. "Thank you for being such a good friend to me, I spent so much time alone I had almost forgotten what it is like to not be lonely." I smiled.
"I know the feeling. Thank you as well, if it weren't for you I probably wouldn't be here right now." He gave a quick smile and left. Leaving me alone with my thoughts.