FicWad

My breathing came in quick gasps and my eyes were tightly shut. My whole body shook and I seemed to be drowning in a river of fear. The arms that had closed around me suddenly released me. I stumbled backwards against the wall and then slid to the ground, still shaking. My legs were like jelly and couldn't manage to hold me up anymore.

Slowly, I looked up with a tear-streaked face to see what had become of the dark man and whoever had caught me. The scene that met my eyes was rather gruesome. The black man lay on the ground on his back. Dark red blood was flowing steadily from a shot in his chest. Barbossa was standing above him with an unreadable expression. In his hand, was a pistol. Barbossa had no doubt shot the man and now the life was fading quickly from his body. I didn't approve of killing people, but today was an exception.

Barbossa kicked the man with his black boot and when the man lay still, Barbossa wrinkled his nose and turned to me. I was still huddled on the ground with my arms wrapped around my legs and with my eyes leaking a torrent of tears. When Barbossa looked at me, his gaze was kind and gentle. Tilting his head at me, he asked, "Can ye stand?"

I figured I would have to stand sooner or later, so I might as well get it over with now. Taking a deep breath, I slowly got to my feet. My legs were still shaking quite violently beneath me, but there was nothing I could do to make them stop. Not wanting to look too pathetic, I took a step forward. Then I took another one and another...

Abruptly, my legs gave way. I couldn't handle it. With a little cry, my knees buckled and I went hurdling towards the ground. I would've smacked it hard if it hadn't been for Barbossa. His reaction to my fall was surprisingly quick. He immediately leaned forward as I began to topple and swung me up into his arms. The next moment was awkward. Very awkward.

Barbossa was holding me in his arms with one hand under my knees and another one under my back. We were very close together. I could feel the heat from his body, smell his musky scent, and could feel his warm breath on the top of my head. There was a second of awkwardness where we just stared at each other. Finally, Barbossa said, "Why don't I just carry ya to the dining room?"

Barbossa didn't talk about what had just happened and neither did I. It was easier just to keep my mouth quiet and cry my silent tears. So instead of answering him, I simply nodded. Barbossa carried me up the stairs and onto the upper dock. Sitting on a barrel with a big bottle of rum in one hand, was Mr. Gibbs.

Stopping right in front of him, Barbossa called out, "There be a little...shall we say 'mess' down below. Ya wouldn't mind cleanin' it up for me now, would ya?" Mr. Gibbs jumped at Barbossa's words and looked around with blurry eyes until he realized that Barbossa and I were standing right in front of him. He was obviously pretty drunk.

"Of course not, sir," Mr. Gibbs replied in a slurred voice. He stood up and started towards the stairs. However, before he could reach them, Barbossa rested a heavy hand on his shoulder and brought Mr. Gibbs to a halt. Mr. Gibbs immediately stopped, turned, and looked at Barbossa in surprise, "Is there something else you want?"

Barbossa cackled rather evilly and rolled his eyes, "There are many things I 'want'. I think the real question is more along the lines of what-do-I-want-you-to-do, aye?" Mr. Gibbs, whose mind was running a bit slow from all the rum, considered this for a moment and then nodded, "Aye, you're right as always, Captain. What else can I do for ya?"

"I want ta know how close we maybe to Tortuga and ta finding Sparrow," Barbossa said. Mr. Gibbs frowned and seemed to be running a few calcuations threw his head. Finally, he answered, "I would say about a day and a half until we get to Tortuga. But do remember that I only said I thought Sparrow would be there. He could be somewhere else for all I know."

"Yeah, yeah, we know that," Barbossa replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I certainly didn't think it was the most obvious thing in the world though. I had no idea what they were talking about. I mean, what or where was Tortuga and who or what was Sparrow? My mind whizzed with questions, but I was still hurting too much to ask them.

Mr. Gibbs gave a little bow to the captain before hurrying around to the stairs. Barbossa watched him leave and then plodded across the deck to a small room on the right side of the ship. He unlocked the door with a pair of keys that he kept locked in the pocket of his jacket and then kicked the door open. The room was rather nice for the most part. There was a large table in the center of the room with a large bowl of apples resting upon it. A candelabra casted dim light all over the room. A medium-sized bench was sitting at one end of the table. It was wooden but had soft cushy padding to sit on.

Barbossa set me gently down on the bench and went over to a cupboard on the opposite side of the room. The bench was rather cushy and I was grateful for something to sit down on. I wasn't quite over the shock of earlier. No man had ever grabbed me like that or had attempted to rape me before. His moves on me would mark my conscience forever.

Barbossa returned moments later with two bowls in his hand. He dumped one down in front of me and one in front of him. At first I thought he would sit on the chair on the opposite side of the table, but instead, he sat by me. I wasn't going to complain. After all, I was feeling rather weak and nobody would be around to save me if I fell and smacked my head on the floor.

Barbossa handed me a spoon and said, "There be oatmeal in the bowl. It don't taste all that great, but it's all we've got. Make sure ya eat. We have a long day ahead of us." I took the spoon from Barbossa and looked into the bowl with interest. Barbossa was right; the oatmeal didn't look great and most likely tasted pretty awful too.

The oatmeal looked like gray mush and there were red dots in it. I figured the red dots were some kind of fruit, but I had no idea what kind of fruit they were. For a moment, I wondered if Barbossa was trying to poison me. Then I realized that I was being paranoid yet again. After all, Barbossa had had several opportunities to kill me at this point. If he really wanted me dead, he would've done it a long time ago. Still though, there was just something about Barbossa that made shivers run up and down my spine.

Mashing the oatmeal around with my spoon, I asked in as steady of a voice as I could, "What are the red things?" Barbossa looked at me in confusion for a moment before realizing what I was talking about. Picking up a red dot from the oatmeal, Barbossa asked, "Ya mean these red things?" I nodded. Barbossa went on, "Why, they're just cranberries. Did ya think I was tryin' to poison ya?"

To prove that was not at all his purpose, Barbossa popped the cranberry into his mouth and chewed it thoughtfully. Taking a little bite of the oatmeal, I chewed and swallowed before answering Barbossa's question, "No, I didn't think you were trying to poison me exactly. There are easier ways to get me to die. I do have a few questions thought.

"Few" wasn't really the right word to use in this context. I had about fifty questions in my head for him, not three. It was hard to sort all my questions out as well after my assault from earlier. Barbossa didn't seem to mind questions though because he took a big spoonful of oatmeal and said, "Ask away then, little lassie, ask away."

The first few questions I would ask should probably have been things like about where we were going, when we would next reach land, and things like that. However, I was still scared stiff and so my first question ended up instead, "Barbossa, are all the men on this ship so..." I paused, unable to try to think of a word to describe the man who had tried to rape me.

"Ya mean immoral?" Barbossa asked as he turned to look at me and raised on eyebrow. I nodded. Immoral seemed like the right word to use in this kind of circumstance. Barbossa thought for a moment and then replied, "Well, all pirates are rather immoral. I mean, we are pirates after all and ya know how we make our living. But not most of the crew would hurt ya. At least not while yer under my watch anyways. Ye'll stick with me until we reach land next. That way, nothin' can happen to ya."

Barbossa's words reassured me a little bit, but I still felt rather nervous. You don't just forget an attempt at rape. It's something that sticks with you. I took another spoonful of the oatmeal and contemplated my next question. Barbossa, who was still looking in my direction, added, "Would that be all or is there more ya want to ask me?"

There was more. Definitely much more to be known. I chose the next most important question to ask next, "Why are you keeping me here? And why do you bother to keep me safe? You obviously want something from me. What is it? I'm not sure what it is. You already stole my engagement ring." I said that last bit in a rather distressed tone. I really should stop feeling grateful to Barbossa. Sure, he had saved me from my would-be rapist, but he had also stolen my ring.

"Ah, about the ring..." Barbossa stood up from the table and strode over to a small wooden shelf on the opposite side of the room. Resting on top of the shelf was a small velvety black box. Barbossa picked the box up and then returned to where I was sitting. Meanwhile, I forced myself to eat some more of the oatmeal. It was pretty gross. It was thick and heavy and had a hard time going down my throat. I didn't want to be rude to Barbossa and not eat though. God, why did I care so much about what Barbossa thought?

While I was contemplating all this, Barbossa sat back down and put the black box onto the table. I stared at it curiously, wondering what could possibly be inside. Raising an eyebrow at me, Barbossa said, "Well?" I looked at him blankly, not understanding at all what he was trying to ask me. Sighing, Barbossa went on as if it were obviously, "Well go on and open it!"

Hoping that there wasn't anything dangerous or deadly in the box, I leaned forward and carefully placed it in one palm. It was light and the item inside it very small. Really having no idea what might be in the box, I carefully pried the top off and dumped the contents into my hand. When I saw what the box held, I let out a little gasp and stared up at Barbossa with shock.

Inside the box was a different ring. Its band was silver and the stone embedded in it was onyx. Little, delicate diamonds framed the outside of it. I had no idea what this ring was for. It wasn't like a different engagement ring...was it? Suddenly, my head started to spin and whirl around. I felt like I was going to faint from what I had just realized. It took all my strength to stay sitting up.

I was pretty sure I knew what was going on here. Barbossa wanted me around, that much was obvious. But why would he want me around? Now, I thought I knew. He would want me to marry him and give him a son who would be the next captain of the Black Pearl. Everyone knew that ships were passed along from fathers to sons.

Panicking, I looked up at Barbossa with wide-eyes and shook my head frantically since I seemed unable to emit any words. Barbossa was puzzled by my response. He actually looked hurt for a moment when he said, "Ya don't like it?" I started shaking my head and then stopped. It wasn't that I didn't like the ring. To be honest, I loved the ring. It was beautiful. It was the things the ring symbolized that made me nervous. At the half shake of my head, Barbossa asked, "Somethin' wrong?"

Finally, I got my mouth to move. In a quiet yet alarmed voice, I protested, "I can't." Barbossa still had no idea what I was talking about. Well, at least he pretended not to know since he was giving me a blank look as he echoed my question right back to me, "Ya can't what? Ya won't accept a gift from a humble pirate such as meself?"

I shook my head and pushed the ring back at Barbossa, "No, I can't. I can't marry you. I just can't. You're probably like fifty years old and I'm only seventeen. And I know you have to have an heir for the ship, but I can't give you that either." I was babbling, but I couldn't help it. No way would I marry the captain.