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

Chapter 17: The Pirate Princess

This is Janette again. As Hong Lee wrote, I managed to kill that disgusting beast and got the treasure of Calypso – the magic ship, Shark Tooth – the legendary masculine vessel of the oceans.

I stood at the prow, fallen into my thoughts.

I had finally met my father, but he turned out to be different than I expected – a filthy common thief at first glance, but a whole mystery inside, a mystery deep like the sea itself.

A loud stomp of boots awoke me – someone had just jumped onto the deck of the Shark Tooth.

"All thoughtful like yer mother, ay?"

I heard my father's rusty voice, which sounded disgusting to me before, but now, after getting to know him better, soothed my heart.

He held a bottle of rum. I chuckled and shook my head:

"Rum again?"

Father grinned, showing his golden teeth:

"A pirate's life, lass."

I smiled and looked back at the horizon.

"Well then, what's with the sad face?" he asked.

"So much has happened..." I shrugged, "You are my father, whom my mom said to be a glorious man with all the virtues that one can possess, and yet... Here you are, roaming the seas, and she's waiting for you out there, gazing at the horizon every time she's on the beach... I can't understand."

He sighed and posed the rum bottle onto the bulwark.

"Your mother isn't waiting for me, love. She... Vivienne was a lively woman, with all the beauty and charm a true nymph of the land can have. When I first met her and saved her, she gave me such a look with her captivating black eyes... I could feel she had devoted herself to me from that very moment. I was bound by those eyes of hers, and for a moment I even thought of settling down on land, just to gaze into those eyes forever... But then, I heard the sea calling me, singing to me to return to her, again..." his eyes sparkled with the love he had felt long ago. "I could not resist. I told Vivienne never to wait for me, because to a land nymph as attractive as her, I would never dare to return, for she might have taken away my freedom from me."

"But she still waited for you!"

My eyes filled with tears. I couldn't approve of that excuse – if he loved my mother, he should have been devoted to her too, like she was to him.

"No, love. When I told her about my intentions and explained that if I stayed, I would definitely lose my freedom because of her charm, ye know how she answered?"

"No..." I wiped my tears off.

Father softly patted my cheek.

"She said: 'Go, Jackie. Chase the horizon. I shall never bind you to the land because I love you for the free man you are'. Your mother was a devoted woman, Janette, and your father was a free man. Bear that legacy – be devoted, but a free woman, savvy?"

I bitterly smiled, wiped my last tear off, and chuckled:

"Savvy, father. Oh, by the way," I brightened, "Mom has sent you a message," I slapped him on a cheek.

"Ouch!" he rubbed it, "What for?" But in reality, he seemed to know what the reason was for my mother's 'message'.

"And also," I kissed him on the same cheek, "this other message for giving her such an awesome daughter."

My father let out a laugh.

"Send this message back when you get home."

He grabbed me and pressed me to his chest in a tight hug. I too embraced him back.

"I shall when I visit her."

He raised an eyebrow:

"Visit her?"

"Well, I should bear the legacy of my parents, as you've told me, so I'm going to be a free woman. On land, it's not possible - I am the daughter of a black woman and a pirate, so I can never be free. At sea, on the other hand, I can be whatever I want, even a princess - a pirate princess."

"Aye! After yer father's footsteps, ay?"

Finally, after so many years, I felt truly happy within - I had found myself. I was a pirate. A pirate princess...

The daughter of Captain Jack Sparrow.