11A/N: Hello!
I decided to write another Pirates if the Caribbean/ Jack and Angelica fanfiction. Unlike with my other ones, I din't have a real plan on what I am going to write, just a few ideas. I hope I will be able to update regularly. This story takes place before The Curse Of The Black Pearl, at least, at the moment. I hope you'll like this.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean (duh).
/Anelah
Chapter 1: Every
The rain was pouring down onto the cobblestone streets. Large puddles of water had formed and were only increasing in size with every raindrop that fell. The moonlight cast a slightly blue glow onto the land below, but one could only make out a small part if the full moon, since it was hidden behind the big, dark clouds.
A lonely dog with dirty fur quickly made its way across the street in a hopeless attempt of finding some shelter. The windows and doors of every single house along that one wet, dirty cobblestone street were shut to keep the cold and the rain outside and a dim glow from a candle lit up some of the windows. Lightning blinded the lonely dog, shortly followed by thunder so loud one might think the world was going to end.
A figure wearing a long, dark cape with the hood pulled so far down one couldn't see their face at all, dark trousers and heavy, leather boots, hurried down the little alley as fast as the circumstances they were in allowed them. The figure turned into an even sketchier looking, narrow street and followed it until he reached a dead end. Or at least, that's what it looked like. In actual fact, it was merely a wall, a high wall at that. The hooded person squeezed along in between the wall and a house until he reached a bigger area, almost like a courtyard. It would of course have been possible to reach the courtyard by simply walking straight down the main road, but this person did not want to be seen. He looked around frantically, but nobody was watching him, from what he could tell. He turned back around, facing the wall, which, where he was standing had a little, metal gate, behind which was a muddy path that lead to the front door of a rather square, decently sized building not too far from a church. After glancing over his shoulder one more time, the figure, who, as one would be able to tell, now that he was no longer hiding in the shadows, was a man with a bushy black beard, opened the gate and, while trying to make as little noise as possible when walking on that muddy path, marched right up to the door of the building. He opened his jacket and took out something wrapped in a lot of towels and old clothes. He put the bundle down onto the steps and sighed heavily, looking at it. It was for the best. He was doing the right thing. He pounded on the door three times, as hard and loudly as he could, then proceeded to sprint away from the scene as fast as he possibly could, disappearing into the night. That was when a very tired looking nun opened the heavy wooden doors.
~nineteen years later~
He stepped behind the helm and caressed the wooden steering wheel of his beloved ship. He finally had her back. The Wicked Wench. Or, Black Pearl as he had renamed her. He threw a glance at his arm and immediately felt his blood begin to boil. He was branded a pirate. He might be a pirate, but he was still a better man than Beckett. If being a pirate meant being free, not having to transport slaves and goods all across the seven seas, because Beckett said so, then he was happy being a pirate. His father was one aswell, after all.
„Cap'n Sparrow, sir?" Joshamee Gibbs, a pirate he had recruited in Tortuga, who had recently also become his first mate, adressed him. Jack grinned. That sounded great. He finally was Captain Jack Sparrow again, a title he had earned after trapping Capitán Salazar and his crew in the Devil's Triangle, but had to sort of give up, after he had been forced to start working for the East India Trading Company.
„Master Gibbs." Jack replied, implying he was listening. „Well, I was wonderin'-" Gibbs was interrupted by the boy in the crow's nest: „LAND-HO!" Jack shooed him off, without waiting for Gibbs to continue speaking, they needed to get ready to make port, after all. Already an hour later, the Black Pearl was safely docked in Cádiz, Spain. Jack had payed double for being allowed to dock his ship in the harbour and being allowed to not use his real name. He wasn't as well known in Spain and he wanted it to stay that way. Beckett was still looking for him, after all. He was the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow, the entire Royal Navy was out looking for him and the „wanted" posters covered the walls of many, many houses all over the most important, to the Navy at least, coastal cities, although mainly throughout the Caribbean.
Jack had business in Sevilla, which was a decent way away from Cádiz, he would have to travel for a day by horse and carriage, so presumably, if they found one fast, they would reach Sevilla very early in the morning when it was still dark, as it was already midday. He needed to visit Capitán Fernández, a man his father used to talk about a lot, and that man happened to live in Sevilla. „Jackie, bein' a pirate's in yer blood. I know, as much as I may not like the idea, ye're gonna become one anyway. If ye ever do, be sure to visit Captain Fernández, in Seville. He be a very wise pirate who ye can learn a lot from. Go see him. Remember that, Jackie." Was what Captain Edward Teague used to say. Jack Sparrow respected his father enough to follow his advice. He was a wise pirate and Keeper of the Code. „Gibbs, you and I are going to steal some carriage and travel to Seville. Have business there. And you lot," Jack said, now turning towards the rest of his crew, „will mind the boat. Take it in turns, if ye want. But if I return and my ship's gone, all of you are going to die, slowly and painfully. Mark my words." The crew nodded, shaking with fear. They repected and liked their Captain, but feared him as well. He was being absolutely serious and they knew it. Jack and Gibbs started to stroll further into the town. Only a few minutes later, they had found the market. Many people were selling different fruits, most of them what the Europeans called „exotic", fruits that didn't grow in Spain, or Europe in general, as a matter of fact. Of course there were pots, pans, plates, silverwear, cups and things like that sold as well. Jack had even spotted an elderly woman trying to get people to buy an extremely overpriced wooden chair and table.
Long story short, whatever you needed, you could find it here.
Just as Gibbs was about to head over to said elderly woman, Jack held him back and nodded in the direction of the street. Gibbs squinted and, despite his terrible eyesight, he could make out a two horses pulling a carriage, coming towards them at a steady pace. Gibbs nodded at Jack. The carriage came to a halt in the center of the marketplace and a woman, probably around thirty years old, got out of the carriage, closely followed by two maids. She appeared to be very wealthy. Jack watched the lady intently, secretly wishing he wasn't on some „mission" and had more time to get this damsel to fall for him. He could use some female company, now that he thought about it. He had- „Jack! What be yer plan of action?" Gibbs hissed, snapping him back to reality. „Take that man down. Then we escape." Jack planned immediately, pointing at the well-dressed man who was guarding the carriage, who also happened to control where the horses went. „What do I do, Cap'n? Do I kill him?" The chubby man inquired. Jack narrowed his eyes, thinking this through. „No", he said decidedly, „We can't have people notice us. Besides, why fight when you can negotiate?" He smirked. The two pirates marched over to the carriage and Jack only stopped inches away from the elderly, well-dressed man's face, who made a face, but quickly got himself under control. „Mornin'" Jack greeted him. „Can I help you... sir?" The man politely started the conversation, wondering if the sarcasm in the word „sir" had been too obvious, also trying to remember any English he had learnt when he was young, since these two lads obviously weren't Spanish or didn't speak it. Jack grinned. „A bloke like yeself shouldn't be working for other people, eh? What say ye? How about being free?" He tried, the man kept his poker-face though. „I apologize, I cannot do that, sir."
„Thing is, we need a ride." Gibbs interrupted. He knew what his Captain was trying to do, which was get the man to join his crew and therefore be on Jack's side and help them out, but honestly, Gibbs didn't like him. At all. Jack shot his companion death glares and mouthed „What the Kraken are you doing?" The man had now raised his eyebrows and was about to say something back, when Jack simply hit him in the back of the head with his pistol and he fell unconscious to the ground. Jack jumped into the „driver's seat" of the carriage, Gibbs climbed in the back and they got the horses to start gallopping through the streets, for once not followed by guards, since there were only two, who either couldn't be bothered or just didn't notice, at the market.
„I thought ye said we were going to negotiate!" Gibbs called out of the window to Jack, who smirked. „Change of plan, Gibbs!" The Captain seemed to be very content for some reason. „Pirate, aye?" Gibbs replied and Jack nodded, smirking. He liked Gibbs.
~Sevilla, España~
A single candle placed on her desk lit up the room and gave her enough light to be able to read.
She was sitting at her desk reading the bible. It was so peaceful and quiet at this time of night. Not that it ever was loud at a convent, but she just preferred this time of her day. Technically, she should already have been fast asleep, it was almost midnight and morning prayers took place at 4AM already. She sighed and closed her holy book, blowing out the candle and hopping into her little bed. Soon, she was going to become a nun. Not that she ever was going to be anything else. She had grown up in the convent. The sisters told her she'd been found at the convent's door in the middle of the night, after someone had left her there. She did sometimes wonder what was outside the little part if town she knew. What was the rest of the world like? But she could not waste time on such thoughts, she was not supposed to dream about things like that. Jesus was the only person of importance in her life and it had to stay that way. She wanted this life. It had chosen her. It was her destiny to become a nun, just like her parents had apparently wanted.
Captain Jack Sparrow and Joshamee Gibbs were strolling around the town of Sevilla, late at night, or early in the morning, depending on how you wanted to look at it. 4AM.
„So where do you suppose we start our search for this Capitán Fernández?" Gibbs asked and Jack shrugged. „It be late, Gibbs. I say... we start tomorrow and now we just go for a drink?" Jack's first mate grinned in approval. The two men quickly found an inn and ordered some rum only to minutes later be approached by a woman in very revealing clothes. „Hola, señor." She purred and sat down on Gibbs' lap, merely because he was sitting closer to where she had come from. Frankly, she did find the lad with the dreadlocks and the tan skin more attractive. „Excuse me." Gibbs said, smiling winningly and disappeared with the wench. Jack sighed. Great. How stupid did he look, sitting here alone? He drunk the rest of the rum and decided to head out and find a brothel. A few minutes after passing a church, he spotted a rather large building with a wall surrounding it. That looked promising! With big, determined steps, he opened the gate, walked right up to the door and pressed the handle down. Nothing happened. The door wouldn't budge, apparently it was locked. Jack frowned and rounded the building. He found a little window and pulled himself up to be able to look through it. Inside was a small room lit up by a candle with a bed and a desk in the corner. Definitely a brothel, he was convinced now and climbed all the way into the building, not without landing on the floor with an overly loud thump. Someone beside him gasped. Jack jumped up and looked around. Oh bugger. Sitting up in bed was a young woman, mouth agape, with the sheets pulled up to her chest. From what he could make out in the candlelight, she had dark brown hair and eyes, slight freckles, full lips, a small nose and was just overall very pretty. She slowly lowered her hand and looked at him with a challenging look.
God, she was beautiful.
He felt a rush of excitement run through him as he stared her up and down as she slowly got out of her bed and took one step towards him. She was without a doubt the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. „Hello, love." He greeted her with a raspy voice and felt his heartrate accelerate, for seemingly no reason at all.
„I don't know who you are or what you are doing here, but get out. Now. Or I will scream and get the other sisters and we can get you hanged." The woman threatened, her voice shaky, but she was doing a good job at hiding it. She was clearly scared. Shehad never been this close to a stranger before and here she was in a small room with a weird looking man, who knew what he wanted or could do to her.
„Are the others as beautiful as you?" Jack flirted, winking at her. She blushed, but he couldn't see it, since it was too dark.
„Get out." She repeated. „This isn't a brothel, is it?" Jack asked carefully and earned a confused look from the pretty lady. „This is a convent. And I am about to take my vows, so get out. I don't want some stranger ruining this for me." „You scared I'll corrupt your pure soul?" The sarcasm was evident in his voice. She gasped and without a warning she screamed at the top of her lungs: „AYUDA! (Help!)" Jack panicked and she glared at him. „See ya soon, love." He grinned and quickly jumped back out the window. „Stop calling me that, you disgusting bastard!" She yelled at him, leaning out of the window. „Well, if ye tell me yer name I'll know what to call ye next time!" He retorted. „There is no next time." The woman insisted and closed the window with that.
The pirate slowly left the property. Change of plans. Ferdinand or whatever his name was, could wait.
He had a novice to corrupt.