The Birth of the Shark Tooth [Pirates of the Caribbean Fanfic]

Chapter 5: Janette and Blood Rain

I woke up when the sun was already bent to the west (at least so it looked from the windows beside my bed). I felt more energy in my body than before, but still, I was very weak.

I noticed how my bandages were changed - they had been tending to my wound. I glanced aside and noticed the same Chinese guy sitting at the table, measuring something on the map laid before him. So, he wasn't a mere sailor but the captain of the ship?! I had fought the captain?!

Truly, there was no other explanation - some low-rank pirates couldn't sit in captain's cabins and measure maps, and no one would permit a casual pirate to put their captive in the captain's cabin. 

While I was brooding over this matter, I spotted how the guy had already come up to me without my noticing. He watched me with his curious almond eye.

"You woke up?"

"Yes," now I managed to answer normally, for I felt more energy than before, during our first interaction.

He sat on the edge of my bed again.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better..."

He nodded and got silent. I began observing him. He had already interested me. Why was it that he took me alive? Was there anything he wanted from me? What could I possibly give him? Was it possible that he... pitied me? - I doubted it. His eye looked too merciless to even think of such a thing. He seemed to have undergone many hardships in his life, even though he was so young. So, why was it? Why did he not kill me back when he defeated me?

This question teasing my mind, I finally gathered the courage and murmured:

"Why..."

That was all I managed to say, so fearful I was now - if my assumption was right and this guy was indeed the captain, then I'd have immense problems if I didn't hold my tongue in check. Hearing my murmur, he awoke from his thoughts and gave me a questioning look.

"What is it?"

There was no way back anymore, so I braced myself and mumbled:

"Why did you not kill me?"

I laughed bitterly in my mind - so ironic... the guy had just left me alive and I was asking why he didn't kill me, as if I longed to die. So funny... if not scary. He stared at me silently for some minutes, and then answered:

"I thought you were a man. You turned out to be a woman. It was too surprising and unexpected, so I... couldn't bring myself to kill you anymore. Rarely a man can see a woman dressed in a man's clothes fighting like a beast." he chuckled. "We Chinese do have an ancient legend about such a woman, and back in my childhood when my master retold it to me I was quite fascinated. Hua Mulan was that legendary woman's name. I could never believe I'd meet a woman like that in my life."

Wow, so, that was the only reason? So weird...

"But don't you have that type of a woman commanding the Chinese pirate fleets? Mistress Ching was her name if I'm not mistaken..." I asked with sincere surprise - he should probably know the Pirate Lady of Chinese sea-robbers since he was a Chinese pirate. If so, then his excuse made no sense.

"Oh, so you know about her?" he nodded, a faint smile covering his face. "It's true. But she's the only one, and she was a special case - she had long married a notorious pirate of our waters back in old times. I doubt you are the same. You are too young to have had affairs with pirates. Or, am I perchance mistaken?"

"Well, it depends on what you mean by that. If we talk in a general sense, it could be said that I had affairs with pirates since I was born, for my father is a pirate." I shrugged, "But I've never seen him once in my life. I've only heard about him from my mother. So, finally, I decided to seek him out in the seas. That is why I ended up on that ship."

"So, it was truly your first time as I had assumed. There you have it, then - you're the only woman I've seen sailing in a man's clothes and fighting like a tiger." he laughed again, getting even more amused. "Added that you too are doing it for your father. Although for a slightly different reason, but that woman from our legend too disguised as a man and went to war for the sake of her father."

He chuckled, finding yet another similarity of mine to that Hua Mulan of his. I was truly surprised, to be honest - he seemed a ruthless pirate, yet he had left me alive just because I resembled the character of a book he loved so much. It seemed rather... childish. So I concluded that even though having lived through many hardships, he was still young enough to be having fun with simple things. It relieved me a little - people with young hearts, no matter how merciless they looked at one glance, were always mild deep inside. I regained the hope of getting out of this awful situation alive.

"So... I assume you're the captain?"

"Correct."

"Are you perchance... Blood Rain?"

I prayed in my heart this thought wouldn't prove true. 

"Yes."

Shivers ran down my spine - so, I was a captive of one of the most ruthless pirates marauding in the oceans?!

"Wh... What are you going to do with me?" 

Tears gathered in my eyes, so frightened I was. He blinked in stupefaction. Perhaps he couldn't quite grasp why my mood had changed from relieved to the terrified in a mere second.

"Is that name so frightful to you commoners? I knew people were frightened but I didn't expect them to be this much scared. I'm not going to do anything. It is all simple, really - you either join my crew or I get rid of you."

I widened my eyes in dread – get rid of me?! What did he mean?!

"G... Get rid of me?"

"What else do you expect from me, honestly? You are a commoner, so no one will pay a good ransom for you. I rarely take captives. The ones I take I expect to exchange in a large sum of money." he stood up, put his hands back and looked through the window. "If you as a captive are not worth as much as I need, then you are a burden. Burdens must be gotten rid of. I guess you are the only exception – I took you as a captive on a whim and not because I expect you to be a good ransom. As that's the case, the only thing left for you not to become a burden to me is to join my crew. I guess you wouldn't regard it as a brutal offer since, as you said, your father is a pirate and you are searching for him, so, becoming a pirate will be a faster way towards your goal. However, I'm not forcing you - if you deny the offer, I'll throw you off into the ocean as you shattered my last hope so I don't need you. That's nothing to be trembling about. It is logical."

I shuddered - such cold words! This man truly had no remorse.

"But... how can I become a pirate? I... I'm not even trained. I'm not ready... and I don't even know if I can make it!"

Tears gushed from my eyes as my feminine weaknesses had seized my heart. I was truly frightened and worried.

"I didn't say I'd leave you on your own if you accepted the offer. I will train you and help you. It is all up to you, really."

He had changed his tone so quickly... Now he seemed mild just like an instant ago. I wiped off my tears and sighed, reflecting upon his words. After all, he was right in one thing – becoming a pirate was the fastest way towards my father. So, finally, I clenched my fists and answered in a firm tone:

"I accept."

I saw a content smile run through his lips.