A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who reviewed! You all are wonderful :) Hope everyone enjoys this next chapter!
Chapter II
Two days. Two. Bloody. Days. That's how long I was in that godforsaken crevice for. Mind you, the ship only set sail after two days; I still had to wait for it to make port.
Or, at least, I thought I did. As it turns out, something very strange happened on the second day. I believed – at the time, I did not know for sure – that the ship was taken over by someone other than the original captain. When the rest of the crew made it back aboard, there was an ungodly ruckus on deck and everyone sounded enthused. It was not ruckus in a negative sense – no, it seemed rather ecstatic, actually.
When we finally left the cove, the ship groaned and bent and jolted forward at an alarming speed. Like it was new – like it had been reborn. Its clumsy and abrupt movements reminded me of watching a downy baby seagull take its first flight.
This ship was different. I could feel it – it was alive. Well, they'd both been alive. The way the wood creaked when the water slammed against it sounded like the sound of breathing; the steady pitter-patter of rats' feet on the floorboards above was the sound of the blood running through its veins. It was extraordinary. And it seemed to know of my presence. It seemed to know that I, too, was different. The old ship had been tired, beaten down, and, most importantly, sentient; it'd had a mind of its own and intended to use it. Whenever there was a rustle of someone walking nearby, the shadows would shift, move, change, and morph ever so slightly, all in an effort to conceal me – to make sure that I was properly hidden. This may sound mad, but I assure you that there are things in this world infinitely madder than a ship taking pains to house a rogue mermaid.
But this new ship – this new captain – did not welcome me as the other one had. Perhaps it was the absence of the original captain that had allowed the initial version of the ship to protect me. I would never know. What I did know was that this new ship was more ambitious; it wanted to please its new master. And that, apparently, meant exposing me.
One day, a grubby little man caught sight of me. We had fallen upon a particularly turbulent series of waves, and I was thrown forward, into the lamplight.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here!" he exclaimed in surprise. His stature was not particularly intimidating, but the fact that I had been discovered sent me into survival-mode.
I said nothing in reply, but gave him a panic-stricken look.
"What's the matter, girlie, cat got yer tongue?"
Still, I held my jaw firmly shut.
"Well, if yer not gonna talk to me, perhaps you'll talk to the cap'n!" With that, he roughly grabbed my snowy wrist and hauled me up the staircase, all the way to the helm of the ship. As soon as I came into the sunlight, I eyes were scalded. I hissed in pain and scrunched them closed. However, even in my temporary state of blindness, I could sense those around me staring. There were a handful of catcalls, but no one touched me.
"Cap'n Barbossa," the sailor started, "lookit what I found below deck! A stowaway."
The man who turned to me was terrifying. The skin on his face was disturbingly mottled, and his eyes and teeth were yellow with scurvy. He was thin, but you would never be able to tell given his attire, which consisted of a ridiculous, broad-rimmed, feathered hat. But the most intimidating part about him was the fact that he only had one leg; the other, from the knee down, had been replaced with a wooden peg.
"Well, Master Scrum, it appears ye are good for somethin' after all," he croaked. His voice vaguely reminded me of a parrot screeching. He then turned to me and asked, "What're ye doin' on me ship, lassie?"
I only glowered at him hatefully.
"I couldn' get 'er to talk, sir," Scrum piped in.
"Captain Barbossa," as he seemed to be called, quickly unsheathed his sword and pointed it to my neck. I tried to slide away, but Scrum grabbed me and pinned my arms behind my back, forcing me to face the captain.
"Now, now, it'd be such a shame to ruin that pretty face of yers," he said with false concern, stroking my cheek with one taloned hand. "My, my, ye are pretty, ain't ye?"
There was a glint in his eye that I didn't like. For a moment I feared that he knew what I was.
"Always did love meself a ginger," he prattled on mischievously, twirling a lock of my fiery hair around his appallingly sullied finger.
I hated to admit it, but he was right – my beauty was my only weapon; my only weapon on land, at least. I couldn't afford to be mutilated.
"What be yer name?" he asked.
This was tricky; I didn't really have a name, and I didn't know any human ones. I racked my brain, frantically trying to come up with some sort of female name that I'd heard sailors use before.
And then it came to me.
"Cassiopeia," I blurted out.
"Cassiopeia? Like the constellation?" he said in disbelief.
Whoops. Wrong type of name.
But it was too late to rectify my mistake; I nodded fiercely.
"Where did ye come from, Cassiopeia?"
"I – I hid below deck when this ship first made port."
"Did ye now? And where was that?"
"London, sir," Scrum answered helpfully.
"Was I askin' you?" Barbossa bellowed angrily. "No, I was not. I was asking our lovely Cassiopeia here."
"Sorry, sir," the sailor mumbled repentantly.
"Please, sir," I begged, "I meant no harm. I just wanted to get to the Americas, and this was the only way I would be able to. I have no money, you see, and no family to speak of."
"Darlin'," he laughed villainously, "you sure chose the wrong ship. Throw 'er in the brig," he instructed Scrum.
Again, I was dragged away inelegantly; though this time I was being brought below deck instead of above it.
"Sorry, love," said Scrum, throwing me into a cell and locking me in.
Great. Again with the claustrophobia.
The "brig" was absolutely disgusting. There was filth everywhere, but I didn't want to even venture a guess as to what exactly it was.
"Wait!" I called desperately.
Scrum looked at me and quirked an eyebrow, his expression holding a mixture of expectancy and impatience.
"What's going to happen to me?" I asked weakly.
"Couldn' say," he answered indifferently.
"You don't think he'll…"
"Nah, I don' think he'll kill ye. He's in a right good mood, he is. But ye didn' 'ear none o' this from me, got it?"
I nodded vigorously. Scrum, despite his unfortunate name, didn't seem too bad. Well, at least not as bad as he could have been.
He turned again to leave, but I quickly asked, "Could you tell me where we're headed, by chance?"
He grinned at me, revealing several rotten teeth. "Tortuga," he answered bluntly.
Tortuga? Didn't ring any bells. Although, my knowledge of geography was very basic. I knew Europe, and I knew that in Europe there were Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece. I also knew that across the way lay the "Americas," and in the Americas lay the Caribbean, which was where we were. I also knew that across from us lay Africa and beyond that the Orient. This, however, was a complete account of my geographical awareness. As you can see, it was severely lacking.
However, I certainly couldn't afford to be picky about where we were going and where I could theoretically be dropped off. Wherever Tortuga was, it was better than here.
Later in the day, Scrum wander back down to the brig. He looked around shiftily, before approaching me.
"What are you doing?" I whispered quietly – worriedly.
He began to reach under his shirt and I backed away skittishly until I was pressed against the far wall of the cell.
"I ain't gonna hurt ye," he hissed, "I just came to bring ye some grub…" He held his hand through the bars, a bread-like substance displayed on his grimy palm.
I snatched it from him mistrustfully. As disgusting as it looked, I was starving – I hadn't eaten in ages. Like some sort of feral animal, I shoved the morsel in my mouth and finished it in nearly one bite.
"Thank you," I murmured when I'd finished chewing, "Why are you doing this?"
He shrugged and scratched the back of his neck in slight embarrassment. "Dunno, seemed like the right thing to do. Y'are quite thin, Miss, and we wouldn' want ye starvin' to death. Not 'fore the cap'n decides what 'e wants to do wit'ye, anyway." With that, he turned again and left the room.
Pretty soon, before it was time for the crew to turn in for the night, I was visited by hoards of men. They all stuck their arms through the bars and tried to reach me, but luckily I was far enough away to be out of their grasp. If only we were in the water; I'd teach them a lesson…
The prejudices of my species were becoming more justified by the minute, but I refused to believe that all humans were so vile.
Scrum. I just had to remind myself of him. He was kind. He was different. There had to be others like him out there – there just had to be. Otherwise this whole thing would have been a waste – I would have spent days on this dark, damp ship without food or sunlight for nothing.
Another two days later, a rather timid looking cabin boy informed me that we had arrived in Tortuga.
"Captain Barbossa will be comin' down shortly," he announced, his eyes cast downwards. For some reason, he refused to look at me, which I found very bizarre. I wasn't accustomed to people not looking at me. It quite irked me, actually.
As if on cue, I heard the steady tap-tap of wood against wood, signaling Barbossa's descent down the staircase.
"Ahoy there, Miss Cassiopeia. As ye may well've noticed, we've just lain anchor in the glorious hellhole that is Tortuga," he growled jovially. He turned to the youngest member of the party and snapped, "Leave us, boy."
The cabin boy scampered away obediently, not wanting to incur Barbossa's wrath.
"What are you going to do with me?"
"That is an excellent question, m'dear – one that I meself don't quite know the answer to just yet."
"Please, sir," I begged, "I haven't done anything wrong! I just wanted to come to the New World. Please, can't you just let me go?"
"Let ye go? Now where would be the fun in that, mermaid."
I looked at him in shock. He did know what I was, after all.
He let out a bark of laughter. "Ah, never underestimate the intelligence of ole Hector Barbossa, darlin'. I knew what ye were the moment I saw ye. T'ain't no coincidence that a young lady such as yourself just happened upon my ship right out o' Whitecap Bay."
"Are you going to kill me?" I asked gravely.
"Kill ye? Why would I kill ye? No, no, that would be such a waste..." he trailed off.
"If you want me for the Fountain, you might as well just – "
"I ain't interested in the Fountain," he interrupted.
"Then why…?"
"Perhaps I shall let ye go, after all – unleash you and see what havoc you'll wreak on this godforsaken island. I've just got meself a brand new ship, gotten revenge on the bastard who took me leg, and am now just about ready to drink meself into a rum-induced stupor. I think it's safe to say that I'm feelin' a bit on the generous side. I have to ask, though: why on earth do ye want to be amongst humans? Why go through all o' this trouble?"
I cocked my head to the side, trying to tell whether or not he was sincere. I decided to answer him regardless: "I want to see what it's like," I told him simply.
He studied my face for a moment, but then his demeanor changed entirely. "Good enough for me!" he said, swinging open the door to my cell.
However, I still didn't move. I didn't trust him.
"Ye'd best be off, before I change me mind," he warned menacingly.
That was all the push I needed, however, and I darted out immediately. As I reached the top of the stairs, he called out, "Oh, and Miss Cassiopeia, I think you'll find that this brig is infinitely safer than the streets of Tortuga." He let out an ominous cackle, but I didn't stick around for any other pearls of knowledge.
A/N: So there you have it! Good old Captain Jack will be appearing in the next chapter, don't you worry. I hope everyone thought Barbossa was in character... Even if he's not, I have to say that his lines were extremely fun to write...
Also, I am trying really really hard not to make Cassiopeia a Mary-Sue, so bear with me and if you think she's listing to that side, don't hesitate to call me out!
On another note, if you're enjoying this (or if you're not) pretty please leave a review? It'll only take a moment and it would mean the world to me! Even if you don't, thanks for reading! :)