Sailing the Seven Seas *Starting/Not Accepting**

Quinn

No one seemed to have any questions so far...mostly, everyone just seemed to be in shock. What about Jex, when the Cap'n's brother is alive again? Will he be hurt? This can't...this can't happen... You wanted more drama, didn't you? Shut up. Oh wow, now my multiple personalities are arguing. How ridiculous is this?

I check the supply closet and find Tess in there. "Were you going to leave me here forever?" she growls.

"Sorry, forgot you were here." I lead her down to Turtle's room and open the door.

"This had better not be you Je - Quinn who's that?" Turtle mumbles groggily.

"This is Tess, remember? You said you'd take care of her? Clare probably won't mind finding out about her, just say I saved her from the ship we fought, but didn't want to tell her 'cause you two were having a moment!" I say with a smirk.

"Whatever," he mumbles. "Just leave her." I shrug and trot back to my room, where I find Jex lying down on my bed.

"What are you doing here?"

He grins up at me. "Turtle's not tying me back and I don't have a room," he explains. Oh. Okay. I take the pillow from under his head, and walk over to the bathtub.

Captain Clare Davies:

The Calypso's famed Captain did not sleep that night. At all.

Nor did she lie down - no, Clare Davies merely sat on the edge of her bed and stared out the porthole that was in her cabin. Through the grimy, circular window Clare watched the various shades of the sky. First was the brilliant orange and purple's of the sunset, and after that the fading blue hue of dusk. Then night fell, the marvelous navy blue blanket shining with patches of sparkling glitter - stars.

Dawn came not much later - and still, the Captain sat, deep in thought. Waiting for a revelation.

Her thoughts were tainted with confusion, a bit of self-loathing, and hope. A strange mix - but what do you expect from a woman in love with a man who may not love her as much, a woman who had just ordered her brother's death and was now ordering his life to be brought back?

Her gray eyes were filled with tears, but they hadn't yet spilled over, for every few seconds, she'd stop staring out the porthole and blink away her tears.

Is this what love gets you? She wondered. And for the first time in all her years, Clare Davies did not greet the sunrise out on the decks. She greeted it from her small cabin, whilst wondering if Turt would notice she wasn't out there.

Doubt filled her mind.

Mela

"I don't like this." I announced to Ryker. The sun had barely risen, and we hadn't slept. At all.

"I know, I'm tired too, but-"

"I didn't mean not sleeping."

"Oh."

"I mean, a stowaway kills the Captain's brother, Turt and Cap'n kiss, we start smelling weird stuff from below deck, and now, Captain's not on deck, and we're sailing towards the Bermuda Triangle to bring said brother back to life? Something's weird here."

"Aye." Ryker agreed, looping his rope around mine. For the moment, the sails were good, so we could stay still.

Not that we necessarily wanted to.

Ryker smiled innocently before throwing himself, and therefore me, sideways. I hissed and unlooped my rope before swinging around and kicking him squarely in the chest, sending him flying. A few seconds later, I was hurtling away from mast, Ryker blowing a raspberry behind me. I swatted behind me, managing to thwack his arm once or twice, before I spun around, and Ryker fled.

The King Ryker and Queen Mela were once again ruling the ropes.

[Ninja, she TELLS people what's going on]

Turtle stood on the deck near the railing, hands behind his back. He was waiting for the Captain to come up from her room... The more spectacular colours of the sunrise had faded, and still she wasn't up. This made him uneasy.

That girl, Tess, had enjoyed the night in his hammock while he slept next to the wall. Pirate he may be, but he was still a gentleman. To some extent. If some woman pushed in front of him at the food line, he would throw her across the room.

That thought made him smile, because it would have made Clare smile. But it soon faded. He dare not go to her room... what if she wasn't decent? There was always knocking, but, well... Turtle blushed.

He stood, uneasy, on the deck until his muscles began to cramp. Then he sighed, stretched, and gave the cannons an extra-thorough cleaning. These babies had never known such good treatment. But that's what you got from having an uneasy Turtle scrubbing you and replenishing you; absent-minded cleanliness. When all the cannons were shining and drying, Turtle lay on the deck, listening to the slosh of water, hands covering the sun in the sky and watching Mela and Ryker fly over his head.

"What's up, Turt?" called Mela, pausing for a moment.

"Just watcin' the world go by," he said. Mela obviously took a minute to look around, out at the endless sea.

"Yeah... interesting."

Turtle grinned at her.

[200th post. WHOO!]

Captain Clare Davies:

So he hadn't noticed - or he hadn't come to her.

Clare sighed. What had she expected, really? She knew Turtle would have never come to find her just because she wasn't greeting the sunrise. There was a part of hurt that was hurt from this realization, a large part, actually. The other part was bitter, but she pushed those thoughts away.

She stood and chose a gray colored variation of her usual outfit, and checked to see the condition of her boots. They were in need of cleaning, which meant Quinn would have to stop kissing Jex for just one moment to actually do her blasted job.

The brilliant colors of sunrise had faded, and Clare felt guilty for not greeting it as always. She shook the thoughts away - no need to be more depressed than she was already starting to feel. Life as a Captain was easy. Life as a Captain with an immortal.... what was Turtle to her? She loved him, yes, but he honestly had no title in her life at the moment besides gunman.

"Morning, Cap'n," Turtle said.

She smiled up at the man who she loved so much, yet who was so confusing it just might one day kill her.

**Ach! Something went very wrong with my topic notifications! I'm going to try to get Jack back in here.... I've read what I missed, and hopefully I understood everything correctly.

Jack

Jack was watching the sea again. He allowed his thoughts to wander. The crew was going mad. And now they were on a wild goose chase to find the legendary Fountain of Youth. Which apparently existed, because one of the crew members was immortal.

Immortality. The inability to die.

Something shifted in the back of Jack's mind. Ad if it was awakening from a deep slumber. Jack pulled out his sword and stared at it. A sword. There was something to do with a sword.

Jack glared at the sword. This sword was not Jack's. Jack's sword had a jewel encrusted hilt. It shone like the moon. This piece of rubbish he held was nothing compared to - compared to - Jack stopped. Someone had his sword. Another captain. The boy's face blazed in Jack's memory. And now - a name.

Benjamen Mackley. But it wasn't the boy's name... It was Jack's. Jack froze. Slowly, but measuredly, Jack walked up the deck toward the wheel of the ship. Shaking, Jack set his hands on the wheel, feeling the smooth grain of the wood.

Memories surged through Jack. The Bradley, the war, the Truth, Jack's treacherous crew. Jack had been a captain. Jack was a captain. He had stayed in slumber as a pirate, waiting. But that time was over now. It was time for revenge.

Immortality. The inability to die.

Jack had a guide to lead him to the Fountain of Youth. Jack would wait, patiently. When the Calypso arrived at the Fountain, Jack would strike. He would drink from the Fountain. And then he would destroy it. Jack would rise up and commandeer the Calypso and its crew. And then he would sail for more familiar waters.

**To anyone who is confused - Jack has unlocked his memories of his former life (see the Spoiler in his bio for more details). He is still a madman, but now a madman with a purpose. Let me know if there are any issues.

[It's okay Phantom. I've occasionally been dragging Jack around...just so he wasn't toatally forgotten! ]

I noticed that - Thanks!

[No problem! And totally*]

[Let's get back on topic, you two]

Sorry Mizzle fo Shizzle! Just wondering... Am I the first person to call you tha? Off topic, sorry. *no idea what to post*

JEX

I stared at the ceiling for a moment after waking up. Quinn was still sleeping. In the tub. That was extremely gentle-man-like of me, making her sleep in the tub. I flung my legs over the side and crept over, resting my hands on either side of the tub and grinning stupidly. Pleasant good-morning picture for her this would be.

She wasn't waking up, and the edges of the tub were hurting my hands. I blew on her forehead and she stirred, eyes fluttering open.

"Why good-morning Quinn," I announced, maybe a little too cheerfully. But hey, I was happy. Excstatic. Immortality... ha. Could you imagine? With Quinn forever. Of course I was going to be all uppity!

Quinn

The first thing I see when I wake is Jex's face grinning stupidly down at me. The kind of stupid grin that is absolutely adorable. "Why, good morning Quinn!" he says cheerfully, as though good morning is an understatement.

"Why so happy?" I ask, laughing. Right now his face is the only thing in my view, save the walls of the tub. Which really isn't a bad thing.

He shrugs. "Can't I be happy just to wake up with you here?" he asks, though he looks slightly guarded. Oh well, if he doesn't want to tell me so be it.

"We should go get breakfast. It feels really weird not having to sneak it!" The moment I open the door, Jall walks past with a smirk.

What goes on in there?" he asks.

"Shut up."

Mela

"Melanie Haturia McClinty!"

I froze. That was my full name. Whenever my older sister was mad at me, she would loudly call, "MELA HATTIE!" and I would freeze. Like I was now.

"Yes?" I squeaked.

"You. Are. Getting. Breakfast. With. Me. Now." Ryker said, snaking his arms around my waist. I reached around and thwacked his head, then dragged him by the wrist to the kitchen. After grabbing a muffin (endless thanks to Miss Grace) and tossing one to me, Ry pulled me over to the wall, where he determinedly sat. Giggling at his small-child behavior, I sat next to him, biting into my muffin.

Bliss.

In that moment, I wanted to tackle Miss Grace, but figuring she'd scold me for not being ladylike, I decided against it. Not much room to tackle her in, anyway, and Jall'd want to kill me, no doubt.

I felt someone tug a strand of hair behind my ear. I knew that hand- callused, strong, but not rough. Ryker. I ignored the blush creeping up my face and leaned into him.

The Calypso was Cupid's favorite ship. It was official.