Sailing the Seven Seas *Starting/Not Accepting**

Ryker

Mela swore loudly again. In Irish, of course. Sounded like see-elly more. Or something. She kicked the corpse at her feet and pointed at it accusingly, as if she were telling Miss Grace that the corpse had stolen her handkerchief.

"He won't move!"

I fought back several waves of hysterical laughter and hauled the body over my shoulder, hiding it for Mel. "You see if there's anything of worth. You're better at it anyway." I said, picking up the next body.

Grinning, she scooped up a bag of coins, and a small pendant I guess I had missed. As I closed the cupboard around two more bodies, she giggled. I raised an eyebrow.

"My father had a saying, when I was little."

"Which was?"

"A friend will save you in battle. A best friend will hide the bodies afterwards. Of course, this was all in Irish, but the theory holds."

"Aye, that it does."

"What's wrong?" he asked automatically. He picked her up and held her, sitting on the bed. They'd known each other for years, and he'd never, ever seen the Captain cry. She was stead-fast and sturdy. She didn't cry. But Turtle had held crying women before, and you needed to wait for them to cry it out, then tell you. He thought. He hoped. He rocked her back and forth, held her head against his shoulder and just waited for her.

He remembered the days when he'd been about seven. He'd run back to his cottage on the island where the Fountain of Youth was, and found his mother crying. He'd held her, made her a hot drink, and asked her why she was crying. And when she was ready, she had told him everything. She'd been alright after that.

His mother was a sea nymph. She'd been taking care of a large group of penguins, just taking care of their wounds, getting to know them, helping with births. In return, the animals trusted her and gave her fish. One day before Turtle was born she'd thought that she would dip the newborn babies in the Fountain, so they'd be immortal. It had worked so far, but after a few years, all of the other penguins around the penguins that had been dipped began to die, including the animals' spouses. The animals were smart because of the island and its magic. It was on that day that she had found one of the penguins trying to kill itself.

Turtle just held Clare and rocked her, with his chin on her head, waiting it out. Waiting until she told him what was wrong, so she could be okay again.

Captain Clare Davies:

She'd never been more comfortable.

Turtle held her, rocking back and forth ever so slowly. She rested her head against his broad shoulder once again, and closed her eyes willing the tears to stop. It was wrong for her to be crying. Selfish. Her crew needed a strong captain, not the woman she was becoming.

She didn't think it would be this hard to face her brother's death.

After all, he had betrayed her. But then again...they'd grown up together. There was a point in time where she would have done anything for him. Anything.

"I didn't think it would be this hard," Clare whispered, voicing her thoughts. "When he died. He betrayed me...but we did grow up together. It was hard to see him die, even though it had to be done. If it wasn't for Jex, I would have had to do it myself."

Vulnerable, she waited to see what he would say--or do.

"Then I guess we're lucky that Jex did it then," Turtle murmered. He put his cheek on her head. "You're still human. You're still so, so human."

"What's that mean?" she said back.

"It means you feel things. It means you're not ruthless, you're not crazy and being human is, personally, one of my favourite personality traits."

Clare laughed a little.

"It's only natural, luv. He betrayed you, and he was killed. That is also natural."

"So... are you human?"

Turtle thought about that.

"...Yes. I believe I am."

They sat in silence. Turtle looked around the dark room, and grabbed a bottle.

"Rum," he said, and held it up to her. "Runs in the family." He cringed at making a joke like that, and scolded himself. But he gave Clare the bottle and she drank. He, to drank, and they went back and forth.

"Let's search this room." Turtle wiped the Captain's eyes with a patch of shirt that wasn't blood-stained and stood, holding her around the waist.

Captain Clare Davies:

It was official. Clare Davies, Captain of the Calypso, was in love.

Sighing as Turtle's hand snaked around her waist, she leaned against him as her eyes scanned the room for anything of value. It took most of her willpower not to break down when she saw that, on top of his desk, lay a letter. To her. Except, if it was on his desk, it meant it would never have been delivered to her.

She picked it up and began to read.

Sister,
I know I have betrayed you. Believe me, I do it not out of greed. But we are both true Captains at heart, and I did what you would have done if you had been me. I know you well enough to know this. I do hope you are faring well and that this cold blood between us will soon end. I miss you, Clare.
I know I've wronged you, but is it too late for us to forgive? To forget?
Aye, I know it must be.
With love,
Jarom

Had she made the wrong choice by attacking?

Turtle eyed the letter suspiciously, gently taking it from her to read it.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and waited to hear what he would say. She needed him to tell her she hadn't made the wrong choice by killing her brother.

Turtle cursed. And cursed again.

"Captain, karma was going to catch up to him. He probably wasn't going to send that letter."

"Captain?" Clare said.

"That's me talking to you as a gunman. As a friend? I think I know... I think I know a way to... bring him back to life.

Clare stared at him, tear tracks shining.

"How?"

"The Fountain of Youth."

The Captain was still and wide-eyed for a while.

"Do you know where that is?" she whispered.

"I will be able to find it, don't worry."

"How will we preserve the body?"

"Spices. I bet the doctor or the cook knows something, or one of the crew."

"Okay... okay. We'll give it a shot."

"Okay?"

"Okay."

"Good. Now... let's tell the crew."

The Captain quickly wiped her face, grabbed the letter and set on her face a determined near-scowl. When she turned, Turtle had to lower his head and grin. He sure loved the Captain.

The Fountain might bring her brother back to life. But the real reason was to get the crew to drink from it. Then they would all be immortal. The immortal crew. And they could be together, roaming the seas, for years...

Captain Clare Davies:

Ever since she was a child, Clare had been taught to keep her expectations low, so that way she would never be disappointed. But she had high expectations as they grabbed her brother's body and brought it aboard the Calypso. He could be saved.

She gave one last look at her brother's ship, and then they set sail to the North, just as Turtle said to do.

Her brother was being coated in spices by the cook, with the doctor standing nearby. She didn't want to watch. Seeing his dead body made her feel like a monster. He'd been ready to forgive and forget. She'd told her crew to kill him.

Sighing, Clare retreated to the bow of the ship. The sun was setting low upon the water, and it cast a gold light towards the Calypso. She closed her eyes.

It had been a long day.

Quickly and with purpose she strode away from the bow and went over to where Turtle was, at the back of the ship. She was going to say this once, and only once.

"Turtle."

He turned. "Yes'm?"

"I love you," she said.

Now, that had been harder to say then killing a whole crew of pirates.

What was it with that woman calling all the shots today? She'd kissed him, and she'd trusted him, and now she loved him.

God love her.

Turtle picked her up and kissed her again. The spices for her brother's body were wafting over; they clogged his nose, not at all pleasant. It was probably the same for her, so the kiss was quick.

"I like you a lot too," he said, hesitating. He looked at her uneasy face, and heard what he'd just said. Should he say he loved her? He didn't know... achingly, he turned his face into a smile. He picked her up, kissed her again and said, "I love you."

That was hard. He'd picked up girls before, but never loved him. He'd only ever told his mother that he loved him, and that fleetingly. But he loved the Captain. He was sure of it.

"Captain," he said. He saluted her, and stepped away. He grinned, and trotted down to his room.

He pulled a map from the turtle around his neck. He'd never shown it to anyone, and maybe he wouldn't ever. He laid it out and looked at it.

"About a five day sail west, through the southern point of the Bermuda Triangle..." he murmured, tracing it on the map.

"Fountain of Youth, here we come."

JEX

I looked between Quinn and Tess. They were both staring at eachother, saying nothing. Sizing each other up. Scaring the chiz out of me for some odd reason.

"You killed him?" Tess asked at last, breaking the awkward silence. "You killed him?"

I sighed. "Yes Tess, I killed him. What was I supposed to do? Let him take Quinn and me?"

"I know... it's just... hard to stomach is all," she murmered, staring at her feet and rocking slowly. "What do you think they'll do to me?"

I looked at Quinn and bit my lip. "Hopefully nothing like they were doing to me... speaking of which, I'm not back on that rail yet. Wonder when they'll get around to it?" With any luck I'd have a bit more time.

"We should probably bring her in before things get bad. Turt said he'd take care of her," Quinn murmered.

I nodded and kissed Quinn on the cheek. "Let's go then."

Turtle, albino, immortal... I had a few questions for him. Something that I really wanted to know was what happened if he was sawed in half or decapitated. Would he reassemble himself? Or would he be two people? So confusing... so very, very confusing...

Quinn

"We should probably bring her in before things get bad. Turt said he'd take care of her," I murmur.

Jex nods and kisses my cheek. "Let's go then." He has a far off look in his eyes, sort of curious.

I turn back to Tess. "The albino guy who had me pull that sword out the stomach of, that's Turtle," I whisper.

"How the hell did he not die?" she asks.

I shrug. "We're an odd band of pirates. We had two stowaways and four couples in the past weeks, and discovered we had an immortal aboard. Aye, we are an odd band of pirates." When we find Turtle, he's with the Cap'n pointing to a place on some map from who knows where? They're...very close, to be looking at a map. My nose scrunches up from the smell of something, and I motion for Tess to hide behind the door.

"This a bad time?" I ask.

"No, not at all," says Cap'n, or rather, Clare. "Come in, come in." She didn't even seem fazed by Jex that much.

"What's that God awful smell?" I ask, nose scrunching a little more.

"We're preserving my brother's body." Ermm...what?!

Turtle lifted his eyebrows until they almost joined with his hair. Although almost invisible, the shadows changed on his face as he did this motion.

"Should we tell the crew?" he said.

"They'll be sailing there," the Captain replied.

"Should I tell the crew?"

The Captain was obviously weighing the options. She knew as Turtle did that there would be bad feelings about the attack now that it was against someone who wanted to kiss and make up. Finally she sighed.

"I'll do it," she said. "Bring the map. Bring the letter. We might as well show all of them."

Turtle scooped up the things from the table and pulled the letter from one of Clare's pockets. She looked surprised, obviously having forgotten the letter was there. Quinn wriggled her brows at their closeness.

The wind picked up and twirled their hair as they came onto deck. It was windy; that was good, very good. The quicker they get to the Triangle's corner, the better. But docking for more supplies would be a good idea. Note to tell the Captain.

"Assemble, crew!" the Captain yelled. The crew looked up from their various jobs and gathered. "Can you all read?"

Some of the crew shook their heads.

"How can you read?" she murmured to Turtle.

"My mother taught me," he replied.

"She was one good mother."

Turtle barked a laugh.

The Captain took a big breath, and began to read. Behind her back, Turtle held her hand.

Captain Clare Davies:

As she read the letter, the Captain tried to keep her voice from cracking. This letter was causing her so much pain - to read it again was even worse. Each word caused her to grimace, because her brother was going to be the better man by sending this to her.

And she'd killed him - or ordered the attack on him, at least. Jex had been the one to kill him in the end.

Though, it wasn't really the end for her brother, she reminded herself. Turt was doing everything he could to help - by directing them to the Fountain of Youth, and by, more importantly, holding her hand right now. It was what kept her from breaking down in front of her crew - that, and her pride.

She finished reading the letter and looked at their somber faces.

"I made a mistake, ladies and gentlemen," Clare eyed them all, "And I plan to fix it. Anyone who is prepared to doubt me about this - or does not want to be with us any longer, can safely leave ship at the next port. We'll be stopping for supplies, anyways."

No one made any move to leave.

She nodded in satisfaction. "We'll be sailing towards the Fountain of Youth after we stop at the next port to gather supplies. Ryker, Mela - set us in motion towards Waldin Port. We'll stop there."

"Everyone else can continue what you were doing. Any questions can be directed towards Quinn, who will relay them to me. I will be in my cabin. Good night," she finished.

Turning on her heel, she headed down to her cabin, stopping in the hallway.

"Turt," she said, smiling at her love.

"Turt," said the Captain.

"You're welcome," he said softly, knowing what she was thinking. She grinned. Turtle picked her up and hugged her, kissing her on the lips quickly.

"I'm going to sleep," he said. He put her down and moved to his room. He climbed into the hammock, locked his fingers over his ribs.

How much his entire world had changed in the past few days. Hopefully for the best, in the long run. As he lay there, closing his eyes, he pondered. He was immortal, and he might never die. He was leading the Calypso and her crew towards the Fountain of Youth, where he would make his love, the Captain, Mela and Ryker, who were like offspring to him, Quinn, who was growing on him, and of course the rest of the crew, even the stow-aways into immortals so they could sail the world forever and never die...

He fell asleep with these thoughts in his head, and was woken hours later being shaken by the shoulder, and a figure in the dark wanted answers...

JEX

Turtle's eyes opened and I jumped back. I was stupid, but stupid seemed to be getting me far lately. Stupid landed me here, which was where Quinn was, hadn't it? Stupid was good with me for now. Being smart would come later.

"Turtle?" The whisper came out raspy. The sound of a paranoid mad-man.

Turtle propped himself up on his elbows. "Jex? What the-"

"Listen," I said quickly, cutting him off. "I have questions...and a few confessions." Truthfully, I had a ton of confessions, but I had narrowed it down to two or three of the most important ones.

Turtle sighed. "Which are?"

I returned the sigh. "Number one. Cap'n Clare's brother, he's my old captain." I paused for a second, Turtle didn't answer so I continued. "Number two. One of his crew, also his best friend, killed the girl I loved in cold blood. And Number three. I avenged her death and my ex-captain officially wants to kill me."

I could tell the whole story, how I had walked into the room just as the bastard was pulling his sword from Rosa. That I watched her die. But if I admited that I would start crying, which would be stupid. Stupid mostly because I loved Quinn, and crying over Rosa seemed almost dirty to me now.

Turtle's eyebrows shot up. "He wants you - ? Oh, that's not good," he sighed. He rubbed his eyes. "What are we going to do about it if the Fountain works... Well, and eye for an eye, so he has no right to kill you. But you killed him, so..."

Turtle swore. He looked at Jex warily, wondering if he could trust him. Then, in a whisper, he said, "Can I tell you a secret, Jex?"

Jex nodded.

"Why we're going to the Fountain? Not just for the Captain's brother. No," he sighed. "I don't even know whether that will work. But it is an excuse to get you all there and... well, an excuse so I can get the whole crew to drink.

Jex stood still in the darkness.

"I don't want to live forever without the crew. Without the Captain," he added. "It will kill me, Jex. So I need you all to drink. Well, I won't make you all, but you can... imagine forever on the sea, with the ones you love, immortal," he sighed blissfully. He looked at Jex tiredly. "Don't tell a soul. Okay?"

Jex agreed.

"Good. Now, let me go back to sleep before I put you back on that rail."

"Would you do that?" said Jex, quite nervously.

"Don't be stupid. You fought for this boat, we're not going to stick you onto a part of it."

Jex nodded, relieved.

"Get out of here," Turtle ordered. As the door closed behind Jex, Turtle turned and attempted to go back to sleep.