Deep Blue Sea ｡ Will Turner

PROLOGUE

　
The Caribbean Sea
July 8th, 1720
　

　　A smile spread across the face of Edith Vain as she watched her daughter and young Will Turner chase each other from one end of the ship to the other. The children had grown bored, their journey from England to Port Royal, Jamaica proving to be long and tiresome with very little entertainment. But the children had busied themselves with racing one another, testing to see which one of them was faster. Edith can remember playing such games with her brother, Weatherby Swann, growing up.

　　As she watched them play, Edith couldn't help but pray that they would get to Port Royal soon. It was important they get there immediately, for she knew these waters were infested with pirates and that any one of them could be Captain Hector Barbossa and the cursed crew of The Black Pearl. Her husband, Arthur, had written to her in secret not long ago, telling her that she and Ravenna needed to remain in hiding so that Barbossa couldn't find them. So, they had settled in England.

　　It was in England that Edith had found Amelia Turner and her son, Will. As her husband had instructed, Edith gave Bootstrap Bill's son the medallion, telling the boy that it was a gift from his father and that she was a friend of the family. She never mentioned that any of them were pirates though, knowing Bootstrap didn't want Will to know such things about his life.

　　Not long after ensuring the safety of the medallion to Will, both he and Ravenna became friends. The two would play for hours upon hours, while Edith and Amelia made sure that they were never found by Barbossa and his cursed crew. By the time the two women had planned to seek passage on a ship that would take them to the colony of Georgia, Amelia got sick, and eventually passed away in her sleep.

　　Her death had devastated young Will, as the boy had no one else left in his life. Rather than going to the colony of Georgia like they had originally planned, Edith decided that the three of them would set sail for Port Royal, Jamaica. There, she planned to ask her elder brother to watch over Will and Ravenna while she found them someplace far away and safe to hide out with the medallion.

　　"I won!" Will shouted as he gripped the side of the ship. A grin spread across his freckled face as he stared at his friend.

　　Edith watched as Ravenna ran up beside him, a pout on her face. "No fair," she breathed, panting slightly. "You cheated! I told you I had to tie my bootlace."

　　Will leaned back, folding his arms over his chest and staring at her with a playful expression. "Or, maybe I'm just faster than you," he teased.

　　Ravenna's ocean eyes narrowed. "Again," she stubbornly insisted. "Four laps this time."

　　The woman cracked a smile, knowing her daughter wasn't very fond of losing. Ravenna would play all day until she won, if she had to. She was just as stubborn as her father.

　　Will grinned at the challenge. "Fine. Prepare to lose again, Venna!"

　　The laughter that tumbled from their lips was enough to warm Edith's heart. Although she missed her husband dearly and wished they could be together again, she knew that it was a good thing that he had sent them away into hiding with Bootstrap Bill's family. Without young Will Turner, Edith wasn't sure that her daughter ever would have learned what true friendship felt like, for Ravenna never made a friend before they settled in England.

　　Ravenna had been born on The Ravager, raised on The Ravager, and learned everything she knew today on The Ravager. The only people the fourteen-year-old girl interacted with was the crew, all of whom were adults. Though they were family to the young girl, as they loved and cared for Ravenna as if she were their own kin, they weren't her age.