At World's Beginning

Pale Ice

Ona didn't know how Norrington explained the situation to Turner, but he was agreeable enough to the journey. Surprisingly, so was Captain Sparrow. He had seemed wary of her at first, muttering under his breath about "women of the sea bein' just as lethal as those on land."

But after a few hours of watching her stand next to the railing while she looked out at the sea, he stopped avoiding her like she had the plague.

Ona wasn't entirely sure of him, either. His smiles were too quick and his demeanor was carefree to the edge of negligence. But his coal black eyes saw much. Perhaps, too much.

Sparrow had only one condition for sailing for Whitecap Bay: to stop first at Shipwreck Cove to fully repair the damage to the ship, pick up supplies, and unload their prisoners. It turned out they had pulled up quite a few survivors from the Endeavor after it had been sunk to the bottom of the sea.

Ona wondered if anyone would take up residence in the ruined ship. Her kind often gravitated toward sunken vessels, using them as shelters along migration routes. She had once lived in a wrecked Japanese Atakebune warship a hundred years ago, give or take a few decades.

Ona hadn't seen Norrington since she had come aboard the Pearl. The Dutchman had turned and sail in a different direction soon after, and she assumed he was onboard, ferrying the souls of those who did not survive the battle. Jones was no longer the captain, but the ship still had a duty to fulfill, tasked by Calypso herself. In that way, her kind and the crew of the Dutchman were not so different. One ferried the souls of the dead, and the other gave the restless souls which didn't pass on a new life. They were both beholden to the Mother, and they could disobey her commands no more than the tides could resist the moon.

They reached Shipwreck Cove after the sun had set. The town itself was a sight to behold—a spire of stacked ships, reaching toward the heavens and sprinkled with a constellation of stars. The stars were, of course, no more than oil lamps, but their reflection across the dark water gave it a magical quality that left even Ona speechless.

Once they docked, Ona was invited along with the rest of the crew to eat supper at one of the taverns. Having lived on sailor's fare for the past few weeks, which had comprised of little more than hardtack and bumbo, she decided this was a fine idea.

The tavern was called the Mermaid. By Sparrow's amused expression as he looked between her and the stylized figurehead, which was more a caricature than an accurate representation of her people, she estimated he had chosen it with purpose. She wondered who else knew what she really was. There was James Norrington, of course. And William Turner. Apparently Sparrow was added to the list, as was the pirate Barbossa. He was the one she had been most wary of, as he seemed the sort to betray at the first sign such betrayal would be profitable.

The pirate in question stood up and raised a pint of rum when they were all seated and given their own mugs.

"Quiet down, quiet down ye deck apes!" he shouted at them, waiting for them to settle before he resumed. "Though the happy couple not be here at the present time, let us raise a toast in honor of William Turner and Elizabeth Turner." He raised his mug and smirked, gold teeth glittering in the light. "May their matrimony bring them less misery than company of each other surely will."

Laughter and cheers rose around the room as mugs clashed together and hands patted shoulders and backs. No one cheered or laughed or knocked mugs with Ona. Ever since she had come onboard, the crew of the Pearl had been respectful but distant. Ona didn't know if that was due to the fact she was a woman, and most men at sea were adverse to her, or if it was because of her bloodied dress. She was sure she looked alarming and frightful, but she had no change of clothing. All of her possessions had been lost along with the Mariner, and she had hoped she would be able to find new clothing in Shipwreck Cove before they began their journey.