Disclaimer: I own nothing of Pirates of the Caribbean, though sometimes fantasizing is pretty fun. smirks evilly. Just kiddin youz guyz.
This starts off similar to my Riddick story, and I don't know if I'll ever finish this one. It was just an idea I had the other day, so I decided to put it on paper…er…the internet. :)
Kendra waited for the crew of the black ship to exit onto the docks before moving any closer. It was going to be hard enough to sneak onto the Black Pearl, and she didn't need any of the crew finding her. She didn't want them to find her. She'd hide on the ship, and when the voyage was over she'd find out where she was and that would be that. If anyone found her, it could mean her life, and she wasn't ready to die. And pirates wouldn't be the ones to end her existence, anyway.
She used a rope near the back of the ship to get aboard, climbing it with all her strength. She was a pretty good climber, and runner. She could fight, but swordfighting was something she'd never quite mastered. She'd seen men swordfight in Tortuga, but she'd never learned how herself.
Kendra was a very fit young woman at the sprouting age of twenty-two. There wasn't an ounce of body fat on her; it was all muscle. She had a mild six-pack, toned thighs and calves, and strong arms. Her body was lean and small and didn't reveal her actual strength, which she found quite useful at times. She had light brown hair that curled in tiny spirals all over her head, and her blue eyes were the color of the ocean.
At the top of the rope, she peeked over the edge of the black wood to see the captain still standing at the wheel. He wore a long, tattered jacket that reached his knees, and a tricorner captain's hat made of brown leather. She could see long dark hair protruding under the hat with a few dreadlocks, and she also caught the glint of a few beads twined in that head of hair. His back was to her, so she knew she couldn't be seen. He appeared to be the only one left on the ship.
What if he stays on the ship? Don't some captains do that? They just stay on their ships while the crew goes out into the city. But this is Tortuga…surely he'll want to leave for even just a little while. Please let him leave…Kendra prayed to herself, her arms beginning to shake with the effort of her holding her up. It was like holding yourself in the position of a pull-up after you've pulled yourself up. She could only do it for so long before her arms gave out on her.
She completely froze when she heard him humming something. "…And really bad eggs…" A song. He was singing a song. How interesting… His voice was deep and rugged sounding.
Now, what was this captain's name again? She couldn't remember. She'd heard plenty of stories about the Black Pearl and its newest captain, but she couldn't remember! Something about an animal, she thought. Something with speed and grace…but what?
His movement snapped her out of her thoughts. He bounced merrily down the steps and disappeared into the captain's cabin. That was when she decided to make a break for it. Jumping over the railing and onto the ship, she sprinted silently to the opposite side of the ship. She closed the door that led downstairs as the captain was coming out of his cabin. She prayed he hadn't seen the door move, or if he did that he just discarded it, thinking it one of the crew. Still, she didn't waste time to find out if she'd been spotted. She turned and ran all the way down into the ship until she was in the cargo hold.
There, she sat down, ready to wait for however long it took them to reach their destination. She didn't know where they were even headed, but she would find out when she slipped off the ship later. Slowly, she faded into sleep, wondering how long it would take for them to get to wherever they were headed.
She was jerked awake by rough hands grabbing her arms and yanking her to her feet. She heard a rough, "What do we have 'ere, little lady?" And suddenly two men were dragging her through the darkness.
Knowing she was caught but deciding to fight anyway, she jerked her arms away from the one holding her and punched blindly, connecting with his mouth and feeling blood splatter across her knuckles. The other pirate grabbed her arms and tucked them tightly behind her back, but she used his support to jump and kick the one still in front of her. She heard a thump as he fell to the floor. The pirate behind her toppled over, pulling her down with him.
Hopping to her feet, she tried to run out of arms reach, but to no avail. One of them grabbed her ankle and jerked her back to the floor. Her knee connected with the hard wood, probably bruising. She turned and kicked at the one holding her, her heel hitting a forehead. She couldn't really see anything in the darkness. Another grabbed her around the waist and punched her in the stomach. She grunted, but quickly rebounded the abuse by slamming her foot between his legs.
He let out a howl and pushed her away. She tumbled to the floor, and as she was getting to her feet, someone suddenly grabbed her arms behind her back again and yanked her to her feet by her wrists, hurting her shoulders in the process.
"Let me go!" She screamed and spun around out of the iron grasp. She kneed him in the groin as hard as her leg muscles would allow, and he let out a strangled hiss.
Not thinking at all and only focused on escaping her two assailants, Kendra turned and ran out of the room. There were a few pirates in the hallways, but she bypassed them all. They followed a little more slowly, not understanding what was going on and that she was a trespasser. She could hear heavy footfalls not far behind her, and she knew her two attackers were after her again.
She busted through the door and onto the deck, where the rest of the crew was. The captain was out on the deck, not behind the wheel, and he was shouting orders at someone when she practically knocked him over with the door.
"Jack, we've got a stowaway!" One of the men yelled who was after her.
Kendra turned to see the man, her knees bent slightly, preparing for whatever his move was. She'd never fought like this in her life; it was all instinct. But she had always trusted her instincts, and so she used now as the perfect moment to let them come into play. And who's Jack?
"That's Captain Jack to you, mate." Came the reply. She glanced up to see the captain staring at her. Her moment of falter was the moment when the pirate chasing her tackled her to the floor. She grunted as her back contacted the wood.
Squirming frantically, she wormed her way out from under him and kicked him in the side as she clambered to her feet. Holding out her fists, she turned around slowly, staring at each pirate on the deck in turn as though warning them. Then, her eyes fell across the captain again.
"What exactly do you think you're doing 'ere, me lady?" He asked. Her every instinct was going haywire. Part of her was drowning in his chocolate brown eyes. Part of her was still on alert, saying he was a pirate and couldn't be trusted. And another part of her was saying he was completely harmless…well not harmless, but he meant her no harm.
She knew what her story was supposed to be, but she didn't want to give up information too freely in case he didn't believe her. She just stared at him, fists still raised. She watched as he turned and mumbled something to a crewman behind him, and when he turned back to her his eyes glanced up and down her body, inspecting her. This is exactly why I didn't want to be found. Who knows what will happen to me now?
"Are you mute, or just stubborn?" The captain—Jack—brought her out of her reverie.
"I'm not mute." She replied emptily.
"Well, then I guess that only leaves stubborn, doesn't it?" He smirked, one corner of his mouth going up.
She merely shrugged.
"Why did you sneak on board my Pearl, me lady?" Jack asked, stepping slowly toward her.
Again, she didn't speak. The pirate Jack had spoken softly to had returned, holding two sheathed swords under one arm. Kendra couldn't suppress her confusion. Her fists fell to her sides and she frowned before realizing that she was letting her guard down around the most feared pirates in the Caribbean.
Jack tossed her one of the swords, and she fought her reflexes and let it clang to the floor in front of her. She didn't understand what was happening. "I want you to fight me." Jack announced.
"Why?" She asked, eyeing him warily.
He shrugged. "You can fight with a sword, can't you?"
This time she shrugged. "I don't know."
"I'll take that as a no, luv." He grinned, revealing a few gold-capped teeth, and withdrew his sword from its scabbard. When she didn't move, he just raised his eyebrows and attacked.
She blocked his sword with one of her gloves—the kind that had no fingers made in them and showed her knuckles. She'd wanted them originally to climb aboard the ship, but apparently they came in handy in other places. When she tried reaching down for her own sword, he kicked it away.
"You should've taken it when I gave you the chance, sweetheart." His eyes beheld his amusement. But instantly, he looked away from her. "Don't touch it, Anamaria."
"Watch out for her, Cap'n. She likes hitting where it hurts."
"And where would that be, Mr. Gibbs?" Jack half-turned toward the one speaking—one of the ones who'd found her downstairs.
She took the opportunity to show him where it was. She grabbed his shoulders and kneed him between the legs, and when he went down on one leg—his expression enough to emit a spark of laughter from her—she took off at a run for the sword he'd kicked away.
Her foot came down on the wood, expecting solidity beneath her, but what she got was Jack's sword sliding beneath her foot at the last second. She slipped on the metal and sent herself flying forwards onto her stomach. She started to jump to her feet again, but suddenly a hard body was on top of her back, holding her down. Jack locked his knees around her hips, refusing to let her up.
Using those hard muscles, she pushed herself up in push-up position and rolled so that he was on his back on the floor and she was on her back on top of him. She didn't wait for him to move. Kendra jumped to her feet again and ran toward the sword. It must be a tradition for pirates to grab at feet, because Jack grabbed her ankle and yanked her back toward him. She kicked him in the chest, knocking the breath out of him, and scrambled to her feet again to get to her sword. She reached it as Jack did.
That was when she noticed he was missing his coat and hat. His shirt was half-unbuttoned, revealing a hard, bronze chest. Her eyes were her traitors, because when she looked away from her destination he reached out and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her away from her desired weapon.
"No!" She screeched, slamming her foot down on his. He released her and grabbed the foot she'd stomped. He would never let her get to the sword, not unless she could get away from him and gain a little distance.
She ran toward the side of the boat, hearing him chasing after her. She jumped and grabbed at a rope attached to the rail. She swung out in a circular motion, her feet above the water, and when she swung inward toward the ship she gave the captain a nice, hard kick in the jaw. When he hit the floor, she dashed toward the sword, the other pirates making room for her. They knew Jack didn't want them to interfere.
She finally reached her sword and drew it out of its sheath. She couldn't fight with it, but she could sure as bloody hell try. When she saw Jack getting to his feet and swaggering toward her, sword at his side, she slowly let hers sag as well.
"Well done, darlin'. Ye can stay on me Pearl. What's yer name?" He asked, rubbing his bruised chin.
She considered lying to him. He was a pirate, after all. She decided against lying, though she was still far from trusting of him. "Kendra."
"Well, Kendra, welcome to the Black Pearl." He proffered his hand, and she took it tentatively, wondering why he was suddenly being so kind to her after she'd just kicked him in the mouth and kneed him in the groin.
As if remembering his crew, he glanced around him and bellowed, "What are you starin' at, you scabbardous dogs! Back to work!"
Kendra glanced around her as Jack nodded politely and returned to steer his ship. They weren't in the port anymore. They were out in open water.
And so it begins…she thought to herself.
YAY! There's chapter one! Now, don't forget to press that little button down there on the left hand corner of the screen! Do me that lil bitty favor. It gives me the motivation to keep writing. And I know you want to see what happens next, right? Right? RIGHT! Good, that's what I thought. So, review for me, youz guyz! Don't leave me hangin!