Post by piperminime on Oct 26, 2007 21:14:45 GMT -5
The girl stared up at the towering ship from the street below. Its black sails stretched out against the early morning sky, like a shadow ready to engulf her. The ropes that stretched from each side of the ship resembled prison bars. That's what she was doing; she was willingly putting herself in her own personal prison. She wasn't completely sure if this was the right ship but either way she walked toward it with a confidence one was only born with.
A large cloud of dust and smoke rolled by, obscuring the girl from view for the moment it took for it to pass by. When it did clear away though she was no longer on the street but was instead standing on the deck of the ship. It was like she had just bypassed the gangplank. She glanced around the deck looking for the one person she was here to see but couldn't find him. Maybe this wasn't the right ship. She turned to leave when one of the passing crew members mentioned the person she was looking for. She skidded to a halt and spun on the heel of her knee high, black leather boots. Obviously she was in the right place. She began walking across the deck but was stopped half-way by Gibbs, who, unlike the rest of the crew, noticed the girl.
"Sorry lass but we're not takin' on anyone and if you're here to see Jack, he's not on board." Gibbs recited the last bit from memory. He had learned from being around Jack Sparrow that if a mysterious woman showed up on the ship they were usually looking for him, in which case Jack usually got hurt.
The girl ignored the first part, did the foolish old man really think that if there was any other way to get what she needed she'd be here, and the second part of his sentence didn't mean much to her either. The man she was looking for wasn't named Jack.
"You're Captain wouldn't be around would he?" she asked, making it seem as if she hadn't even heard Gibbs.
Gibbs aged face wrinkled further in confusion. The lass wasn't looking for Jack, that part was clear when her face didn't register any recognition, but the only other person she could possibly mean was Barbossa, and seeing as Barbossa had been undead for the last ten years he couldn't imagine a girl would be looking for him, especially since he was pretty sure he and Elizabeth were together.
"If ya mean Capt'n Barbossa, he's at the helm."
"Thank you," The girl replied, with the briefest of smiles.
She turned and headed in that direction, beginning to feel that this might actually be pretty easy when once again Gibbs jumped in front of her again.
"Sorry lass, but he an' the other are havin' an' important discussion and don't want to be bothered."
The girl rolled her eyes, clearly the man didn't understand when he was no longer needed, and if he really thought that after everything she had gone through to get here he was going to stop her now, he really needed to stay out of the sun so much because it was frying his mind.
"Did I ask whether or not he wanted to be bothered?"
Gibbs didn't know whether or not this was a trick question so he was hesitant with his answer.
"Well no-" Gibbs started but the girl cut across him.
"Didn't think so," she said side-stepping him and walking away from him as fast as possible.
"But," was all Gibbs managed to get out in protest before the girl spun angrily to face him. Flames seemed to suddenly blaze in her icy blue eyes. Gibbs cringed away from the horribly familiar look and said nothing else.
The girl turned away, now on edge and walked up the stairway to the quarter deck. Luckily everyone's backs were turned and they were too deep in their conversation to notice her approaching footsteps.
"There must be somethin' Beckett would be willin' tah trade the heart fer." Barbossa was saying
"Why is this not a surprise. Always tryin' to get somethin' from somebody." the girl said, a nasty smile curling across her full lips.
The groups heads all looked up in unison, confusion registering on all their faces, except Barbossa's, who was all too aware of the person speaking.
"Kate," he said curtly, his eyes narrowing as he looked at her.
"Awe, not happy to see me?" Kate asked, configuring her face into a look of mock sympathy.
"What happened?!" Demanded Barbossa, knowing full well trouble followed Kate around like a lovesick puppy.
"What, a girl can't visit without somethin' bein' wrong?" Kate shot back, her expression retuning to resentment.
Barbossa didn't reply; he instead looked her over. She wore a large brimmed black hat, adorned with an extravagant red plume. He had to admit it was pretty nice. Her shirt was curve hugging and dipped down low, revealing an ample amount of cleavage, including the first couple letters of a tattoo on her chest. She wore a deep red vest, which matched nicely with the feather in her hat, and unsurprisingly a pair of tight black pants. None of these things really pulled his focus, but his eyes did end up landing on her stomach.
"Yer not pregnant are yeh?" he asked looking back up to her face. There was no way he was going to help support a baby. If she had been stupid enough to get herself into the mess she could get herself back out.
Kate's mouth fell open slightly in disbelief, but turned almost instantly into a snarl. She had been expecting him to ask her a lot of questions about her sudden reappearance but that was definitely not one of them, that wasn't even in the list of the top ten.
"Hell no! Besides if I was, you'd be the very last person I'd go to for help." Kate spat.
"Then why are yeh here, wastin' my time?" Barbossa asked once again, giving up on trying to figure it out himself.
Kate crossed her arms defiantly, glaring back at him.
"Alright I don't know who you think you are, but you can either start answering some questions or you can leave." Elizabeth chimed in; not at all happy at the way this girl was treating Barbossa.
Kate turned her attention onto Elizabeth, noticing her for the first time, and saw right through the facade. The girl may have looked like a pirate but Kate could tell by the way she held herself and the proper way in which she talked that she wasn't a pirate at heart. She had grown up in a cushy, high society life. She had no idea what it was like to work for what she had like Kate did. She didn't have pirate in her blood.
Kate snorted with laughter, which only made Elizabeth glare even more at her.
"Oh you were serious?" Kate asked pretending to be stunned. "Well in that case I'd keep my pretty little mouth shut if I was you, darling, because you'll only embarrass yourself even more. Now why don't you take your prissy, upper class self and go stand over there and let the real pirates talk."
Jack chuckled, liking this girl more and more with each word she spoke. Elizabeth turned her sharp gaze on Barbossa who was also shaking a little with suppressed laughter. She slapped him in the arm and he stopped laughing, instead sliding his arm around her waist.
"Easy now Kate, what've I told yeh about playin' nice with others?"
"Why? Nice is so...overrated. I believe you were the one that taught me that." Kate said leaning back against the rail.
"That may be, but this time yer messin' with my girl." Barbossa answered, pulling Elizabeth closer to him.
"Oh, so you two are sleeping together then?" Kate asked, careful to keep her voice light and conversational. "Well you could always tell your age by the woman on your arm."
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Elizabeth snapped
"Yes, I think I'd like to hear this too." Jack said, taking a few steps forward so he was next to Barbossa.
Kate looked at him and smirked. So this must be the Jack I was asked about, she thought only because in her opinion he was undeniably the best looking man on board.
"Its actually quite simple," she said keeping her eyes on Jack. "The older he gets the younger and stupider his woman get."
"But don't worry," Kate said spinning to look at Elizabeth. "I'm sure you won't be the last. He probably won't stop until he gets a girl younger than me and from the looks of things he's pretty damn close."
"That's enough!" Barbossa bellowed his voice rising an octave or two as his anger raised with it. He pushed Elizabeth behind him, hiding her from Kate's view. He knew exactly what she was doing and he wasn't going to stand there and keep letting her attack Elizabeth. She picked her out as the weakest and was feeding off of her and he wasn't going to allow it.
"Nonsense, I'm just getting started." Kate said; pleased at how long it had taken for Barbossa to figure out what she was doing and come to Elizabeth's rescue.
Barbossa took a step closer to Kate, so they were only a foot apart.
"Stop playin' these frivolous games with me, Katherine." he said, using her full name, causing Kate's anger to increase even more. "Tell me why yer here or get the bloody hell of me ship." Growled Barbossa.
"My ship!" Jack sneezed behind them but no one noticed or at least paid him any mind.
"Go ahead, abandon me. Not like it would be the first time." Kate replied, her eyes full of malice.
Both gave the other the same identical glare, neither blinking, but still not looking away either. Barbossa's glare turned stern, the kind of look a father would give when scolding a child and Kate knew she was going to have to tell him now.
"Fine! I'm here because my ship was attacked by the East India Company bastards and they captured me and my crew and sentenced us to hang. Seein' as I was Captain they gave me the honor of lettin' me go first. I probably would've been doin' the Hempen Jig if I hadn't managed to make the rope snap.
"I escaped and bartered my way to Tortuga and started workin' at one of the local taverns to try and get some of the money I lost back. I received word that eight of my original 24 man crew got out too and are now waitin' for me in Nassau Port, with the ship they were able to commandeer. I figured I was goin' to just barter my way to Nassau Port like I did to get here when I heard you were in town and so I decided why waste money when I can get a free ride.
"Are you happy now? I've given you another perfectly good reason to add to your very long list of why I'm a screw up and you're just perfect."
Barbossa went to reply but suddenly became aware of all the watching people, who would be witnesses if he lost his temper, so he collected himself.
"Maybe we should continue this in my cabin."
"Why, don't want everyone to find out the kind of man you really are, Hector?" Challenged Kate.
"Yeh know how yer supposed tah address me!" Barbossa shouted, his anger flaring up again.
"What, do you want me to call you Captain or would you just prefer I salute, because normally I wouldn't be caught dead doin' either but if it will get you off my back, I may make an exception." Kate yelled back.
"Yeh know what I mean!"
"Whatever you say," Kate hissed, her fingers resting on the handle of the pistol on her belt, using every ounce of will power to not shoot Barbossa right then. "Father!"
A large cloud of dust and smoke rolled by, obscuring the girl from view for the moment it took for it to pass by. When it did clear away though she was no longer on the street but was instead standing on the deck of the ship. It was like she had just bypassed the gangplank. She glanced around the deck looking for the one person she was here to see but couldn't find him. Maybe this wasn't the right ship. She turned to leave when one of the passing crew members mentioned the person she was looking for. She skidded to a halt and spun on the heel of her knee high, black leather boots. Obviously she was in the right place. She began walking across the deck but was stopped half-way by Gibbs, who, unlike the rest of the crew, noticed the girl.
"Sorry lass but we're not takin' on anyone and if you're here to see Jack, he's not on board." Gibbs recited the last bit from memory. He had learned from being around Jack Sparrow that if a mysterious woman showed up on the ship they were usually looking for him, in which case Jack usually got hurt.
The girl ignored the first part, did the foolish old man really think that if there was any other way to get what she needed she'd be here, and the second part of his sentence didn't mean much to her either. The man she was looking for wasn't named Jack.
"You're Captain wouldn't be around would he?" she asked, making it seem as if she hadn't even heard Gibbs.
Gibbs aged face wrinkled further in confusion. The lass wasn't looking for Jack, that part was clear when her face didn't register any recognition, but the only other person she could possibly mean was Barbossa, and seeing as Barbossa had been undead for the last ten years he couldn't imagine a girl would be looking for him, especially since he was pretty sure he and Elizabeth were together.
"If ya mean Capt'n Barbossa, he's at the helm."
"Thank you," The girl replied, with the briefest of smiles.
She turned and headed in that direction, beginning to feel that this might actually be pretty easy when once again Gibbs jumped in front of her again.
"Sorry lass, but he an' the other are havin' an' important discussion and don't want to be bothered."
The girl rolled her eyes, clearly the man didn't understand when he was no longer needed, and if he really thought that after everything she had gone through to get here he was going to stop her now, he really needed to stay out of the sun so much because it was frying his mind.
"Did I ask whether or not he wanted to be bothered?"
Gibbs didn't know whether or not this was a trick question so he was hesitant with his answer.
"Well no-" Gibbs started but the girl cut across him.
"Didn't think so," she said side-stepping him and walking away from him as fast as possible.
"But," was all Gibbs managed to get out in protest before the girl spun angrily to face him. Flames seemed to suddenly blaze in her icy blue eyes. Gibbs cringed away from the horribly familiar look and said nothing else.
The girl turned away, now on edge and walked up the stairway to the quarter deck. Luckily everyone's backs were turned and they were too deep in their conversation to notice her approaching footsteps.
"There must be somethin' Beckett would be willin' tah trade the heart fer." Barbossa was saying
"Why is this not a surprise. Always tryin' to get somethin' from somebody." the girl said, a nasty smile curling across her full lips.
The groups heads all looked up in unison, confusion registering on all their faces, except Barbossa's, who was all too aware of the person speaking.
"Kate," he said curtly, his eyes narrowing as he looked at her.
"Awe, not happy to see me?" Kate asked, configuring her face into a look of mock sympathy.
"What happened?!" Demanded Barbossa, knowing full well trouble followed Kate around like a lovesick puppy.
"What, a girl can't visit without somethin' bein' wrong?" Kate shot back, her expression retuning to resentment.
Barbossa didn't reply; he instead looked her over. She wore a large brimmed black hat, adorned with an extravagant red plume. He had to admit it was pretty nice. Her shirt was curve hugging and dipped down low, revealing an ample amount of cleavage, including the first couple letters of a tattoo on her chest. She wore a deep red vest, which matched nicely with the feather in her hat, and unsurprisingly a pair of tight black pants. None of these things really pulled his focus, but his eyes did end up landing on her stomach.
"Yer not pregnant are yeh?" he asked looking back up to her face. There was no way he was going to help support a baby. If she had been stupid enough to get herself into the mess she could get herself back out.
Kate's mouth fell open slightly in disbelief, but turned almost instantly into a snarl. She had been expecting him to ask her a lot of questions about her sudden reappearance but that was definitely not one of them, that wasn't even in the list of the top ten.
"Hell no! Besides if I was, you'd be the very last person I'd go to for help." Kate spat.
"Then why are yeh here, wastin' my time?" Barbossa asked once again, giving up on trying to figure it out himself.
Kate crossed her arms defiantly, glaring back at him.
"Alright I don't know who you think you are, but you can either start answering some questions or you can leave." Elizabeth chimed in; not at all happy at the way this girl was treating Barbossa.
Kate turned her attention onto Elizabeth, noticing her for the first time, and saw right through the facade. The girl may have looked like a pirate but Kate could tell by the way she held herself and the proper way in which she talked that she wasn't a pirate at heart. She had grown up in a cushy, high society life. She had no idea what it was like to work for what she had like Kate did. She didn't have pirate in her blood.
Kate snorted with laughter, which only made Elizabeth glare even more at her.
"Oh you were serious?" Kate asked pretending to be stunned. "Well in that case I'd keep my pretty little mouth shut if I was you, darling, because you'll only embarrass yourself even more. Now why don't you take your prissy, upper class self and go stand over there and let the real pirates talk."
Jack chuckled, liking this girl more and more with each word she spoke. Elizabeth turned her sharp gaze on Barbossa who was also shaking a little with suppressed laughter. She slapped him in the arm and he stopped laughing, instead sliding his arm around her waist.
"Easy now Kate, what've I told yeh about playin' nice with others?"
"Why? Nice is so...overrated. I believe you were the one that taught me that." Kate said leaning back against the rail.
"That may be, but this time yer messin' with my girl." Barbossa answered, pulling Elizabeth closer to him.
"Oh, so you two are sleeping together then?" Kate asked, careful to keep her voice light and conversational. "Well you could always tell your age by the woman on your arm."
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Elizabeth snapped
"Yes, I think I'd like to hear this too." Jack said, taking a few steps forward so he was next to Barbossa.
Kate looked at him and smirked. So this must be the Jack I was asked about, she thought only because in her opinion he was undeniably the best looking man on board.
"Its actually quite simple," she said keeping her eyes on Jack. "The older he gets the younger and stupider his woman get."
"But don't worry," Kate said spinning to look at Elizabeth. "I'm sure you won't be the last. He probably won't stop until he gets a girl younger than me and from the looks of things he's pretty damn close."
"That's enough!" Barbossa bellowed his voice rising an octave or two as his anger raised with it. He pushed Elizabeth behind him, hiding her from Kate's view. He knew exactly what she was doing and he wasn't going to stand there and keep letting her attack Elizabeth. She picked her out as the weakest and was feeding off of her and he wasn't going to allow it.
"Nonsense, I'm just getting started." Kate said; pleased at how long it had taken for Barbossa to figure out what she was doing and come to Elizabeth's rescue.
Barbossa took a step closer to Kate, so they were only a foot apart.
"Stop playin' these frivolous games with me, Katherine." he said, using her full name, causing Kate's anger to increase even more. "Tell me why yer here or get the bloody hell of me ship." Growled Barbossa.
"My ship!" Jack sneezed behind them but no one noticed or at least paid him any mind.
"Go ahead, abandon me. Not like it would be the first time." Kate replied, her eyes full of malice.
Both gave the other the same identical glare, neither blinking, but still not looking away either. Barbossa's glare turned stern, the kind of look a father would give when scolding a child and Kate knew she was going to have to tell him now.
"Fine! I'm here because my ship was attacked by the East India Company bastards and they captured me and my crew and sentenced us to hang. Seein' as I was Captain they gave me the honor of lettin' me go first. I probably would've been doin' the Hempen Jig if I hadn't managed to make the rope snap.
"I escaped and bartered my way to Tortuga and started workin' at one of the local taverns to try and get some of the money I lost back. I received word that eight of my original 24 man crew got out too and are now waitin' for me in Nassau Port, with the ship they were able to commandeer. I figured I was goin' to just barter my way to Nassau Port like I did to get here when I heard you were in town and so I decided why waste money when I can get a free ride.
"Are you happy now? I've given you another perfectly good reason to add to your very long list of why I'm a screw up and you're just perfect."
Barbossa went to reply but suddenly became aware of all the watching people, who would be witnesses if he lost his temper, so he collected himself.
"Maybe we should continue this in my cabin."
"Why, don't want everyone to find out the kind of man you really are, Hector?" Challenged Kate.
"Yeh know how yer supposed tah address me!" Barbossa shouted, his anger flaring up again.
"What, do you want me to call you Captain or would you just prefer I salute, because normally I wouldn't be caught dead doin' either but if it will get you off my back, I may make an exception." Kate yelled back.
"Yeh know what I mean!"
"Whatever you say," Kate hissed, her fingers resting on the handle of the pistol on her belt, using every ounce of will power to not shoot Barbossa right then. "Father!"