A Fateful Rescue: "You're a pirate..."
by SimbiAni™

Summary: «PotC1» Who's up for the movie in words? This is scene one! Miss Elizabeth finds a boy lost at sea... her thoughts during that scene! My scene fics are for thoz who want to re-live the movie written... Part of an upcoming SceneFics series for PotC. ©2G3. Plz read&review, thx!

July2005: I've reposted this becuz it was in script format before, which ffnet has outlawed (boo!), so they deleted it and it lost all its reviews. I like to write in script form, but oh well. LoL. I've edited this to be regular story form. It had more than 10+ good reviews. I hope to get at least that again!

(warning: this fic is already 2 years old... lmao once again, its OLD and not new!)

A young girl, about the age of ten, was at the maidenhead of a British ship, the HMS Dauntless. She was singing with a melancholy voice, into the thick swirling fog of the ocean air.

"We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot- Drink up, me hearties, yo ho..." Her name was Elizabeth, and she had slightly curly strawberry-blonde hair. "We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot- Drink up, me hearties, yo ho... yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me..." She held onto the railing, gazing into the fog. "We extort, we pilfer, we filch and sack- Drink up- oh!" Elizabeth started at an unexpected hand on her shoulder.

"Quiet, missy! The cursed pirates sail these waters..." It was one of the sailors on her ship, named Gibbs, and he looked around warily. "You don't want to bring them down on us, now, do ya?"

Elizabeth shook her head in a guilty "no, of course not" expression.

"Mr. Gibbs! That'll do!" The Lieutenant of the ship, a dashing young man by the name of James Norrington, came up behind them, along with Elizabeth's father, Governor Swann.

"But she was singing about pirates!" Gibbs protested. "It's bad luck to be singing about pirates with us mired in this unnatural fog, mark my words..."

"Consider them marked. Be on your way." Norrington ordered.

"Aye, Lieutenant..." Gibbs' muttering could be heard as he stalked off. "Bad luck to be having a woman on board, too- even a miniature one..."

"Well, I think it'd be rather exciting to meet a pirate..." Elizabeth said matter-of-factly.

Lt. Norrington kind of sneered. "Think again, Miss Swann." He stood next to her, squinting out thru the fog. "They're vile & dissolute creatures, the lot of 'em. I intend to see to it that any man who sails under a pirate flag or wears a pirate brand gets just what he deserves: a short drop and a sudden stop." He smirked.

Elizabeth glanced over to Gibbs for an explanation, and behind Norrington's back, Gibbs made a face like he was being hanged. Elizabeth gasped.

Her father suddenly walked over to interrupt. "Lieutenant Norrington, I appreciate your fervor, but I must- I'm concerned about the effect this subject will have upon my daughter."

"My apologies, Governor Swann." Norrington left them, and Elizabeth nodded to her father.

"Actually, I find this all just fascinating."

"Yes, that's what concerns me..." He knelt down next to her. "Elizabeth, we will be landing in Port Royale soon, and beginning our new lives. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we comport ourselves as befits our class and station?"

"Yes, father." As he walked away, she turned to stare into the dark ocean over the bow rail. "I still think it would be exciting to meet a pirate..." The fog was still shrouding the ship, but then she noticed a parasol drifting along, and surveyed it she smilingly. But when it floated out of sight, her eyes came upon something else. A small figure on a piece of driftwood, seemingly from out of nowhere. Instantly, her first thought was to alert the others to see if they could possibly save him. "Look! A boy! There's a boy in the water!"

The Lieutenant noticed what she pointed at, and called an alert. "Man overboard!" Then he yelled some orders for others to retrieve him. The crew used a boathook to catch onto the piece of driftwood the boy lay on, and they drew him in.

Elizabeth looked on as the crew bustled around him, and they set him on the deck.

"He's still breathing..." Norrington observed.

"Where did he come from?" Swann wondered out loud.

But they were distracted as Gibbs, who was still on scout, directed their attention to what appeared to be a disaster. "Mary, Mother of God..." he murmured.

There was a second of commotion, as they observed a wrecked ship, in pieces, and all afire. The hull burned brightly and highly, a ragged British flag hanging from the stern.

"What happened here?" The Governor demanded of no one in general.

"Most likely the powder magazines exploded. Merchant vessels run heavily armed..." Norrington tried to reason.

"A lot of good it did them." Gibbs muttered. Gov. Swann and Lt. Norrington blanched at his comment. "What? Everyone's thinking it- I'm just saying it; Pirates!" Gibbs shrugged.

The Governor tried to chuckle that off. "Heheh, there's no proof of that! It was, probably just an accident..."

"Right..." Gibbs sounded extremely doubtful. The Lieutenant began giving orders.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth approached the unconscious boy.

Her father came beside her. "Listen, Elizabeth, I want you to accompany the boy, okay? He'll be in your charge. Take care of him?"

She nodded gravely as her father hurried away to see over the crew's inspection of the wreck. She followed to where the boy had been placed on a blanket. She gazed down at him, then reached to touch his hair, when suddenly his hand shot up & grasped her wrist. He was gasping for air. She was shocked at first, but swallowed her suprise and spoke to him in a calming voice.

"It's okay. My name is Elizabeth Swann."

"W-Will Turner-" The boy breathed raggedly.

She smiled. "I'm watching over you, Will."

But he seemed to faint back to sleep just then.

She watched him another moment, then noticed he was wearing a sort of necklace... on which was a medallion pendant... She picked it up, and the chain's clasp pulled free as she inspected it. It was all gold, with an engraved skull, among some other strange patterns... Her eyes widened in a realization. "You're a pirate..."

"Has he said anything?"

Norrington's sharp voice startled her. She jumped slightly, but quickly hid the pendant behind her back as she turned to face him. "His name's William Turner. That's all I found out."

"Men, take him below!"

She regarded the men as they did as they were told, then she stared out into the foggy sea again. When no one was around her, she peered at the pendant medallion clutched tightly in her hand. What did it mean? Where had he gotten it? He was just a boy... Had he lost his family?

As Elizabeth fingered the large coin, a strange sight came into focus. Out over the sea, moving through the misty fog, she alone spied a large worn-down sailing ship, with all-black sails. She stared, too frightened to move, or cry out. Admist the top, there on the ship's flag waved the frightening skull and crossbones of the Jolly Roger. Elizabeth glanced from the flag to the medallion- the skulls matched.

The black ship began to fade back into the gloomy fog. As Elizabeth watched, the skull on the flag appeared to turn and grin at her! But the ship disappeared over the horizon silent as a ghost, before she had a chance to react. She shut her eyes tight... I must keep his secret...

For if any of the older men found out he was the son of a pirate, they would probably... She didn't dare even think about it. Will... Will Turner... He'd seemed so scared... I must rember to ask him his age later... Although she guessed he was about twelve. Yes, later... She wondered how the next few days would turn out... What was her father going to do with him- find him a good home? Or leave him at an orphanage? Maybe he could come live with us...

She silently laughed at the thought. Her father wasn't that generous... But if it was any other way, she'd at least make sure her father found him a proper home. Life ahead did seem more interesting now that she had someone her more her own age, to associate with... Just imagine the adventures they could have if her father let them play together!

Hearing her father beckoning her, Elizabeth answered his call weakly, and as she ran to him, she slipped the pendant protectively into a pocket of her dress. And that, is where her adventure was only beginning...

PiRATES of the CARiBBEAN™ is copyright of Disney, etc. ˆ-ˆ
©2G3