A Pirate's Life: Aftermath of a Maelstrom.
All nine pirate lords sat gathered in Shipwreck cove after the battle of the maelstrom with a seemingly disinterested Captain Teague, aged and respected Keeper of the Code sitting in the corner strumming his guitar quietly. The last issue to be called forth was that of the 'Pearl', which to Jack, of course was of paramount importance.
"I sailed 'er fer 10 year, she be mine by right!" Barbossa shouted across the gloomily room.
"You stole her from me, yer backstabbin' cretin!" Jack shouted back. All the other pirates and pirate lords turned from one captain to the other, like watching a tennis match. "She's mine by right!"
"'T be my ship, Jack..."
"Oh, aye?" Jack frowned and started to stalk the man that had betrayed him and stolen his beloved. "Wha've you ever done fer 'er? I died on 'er...twice!"
"Then ye be a fool to sail 'er again, who's to say t'won't 'appen again? Then I be without a ship!"
"You are wifout a ship!" Jack shouted at the mans' face waving his hands in the air in his usual flamboyant and airy manner.
"Betrayal and mutiny's against the Code," Gibbs spoke and many other pirates nodded and shouted 'Aye' in agreement.
"Aye, t'may be, but t'is a common practice among us," the older captain replied with a grin.
"Ye renounced any claim on the 'Pearl', which by the way you never 'ad, when you marooned me on that god forsaken spit o' land, and lef' me to die," Jack said with a frown.
"I paid me dues," Barbossa shot back angrily.
"When ye was dead, then it were paid, but since you're no longer of the...dead variety, said dues remain unpaid, and the 'Pearl' is still mine!" Jack replied and Barbossa's undead monkey hissed at him from the older mans' shoulder.
"The 'Pearl' is mine, Jack! You'll not be sailin' anywhere with my ship," the older man replied.
"You done nofin' to earn 'er! She wouldn't even be 'ere if it weren't for me! It's me who'll be her captain, and you can watch as I sail away, leavin' you ashore wifout a ship. Sound familiar?" Jack continued, not allowing anyone to speak in his anger, "Who cursed the 'Pearl' and marooned her captain? Who's plan to release Calypso failed?" he asked as he paced the length of the room, "And who's plan to send the royal fleet runnin' wif their flags between their legs succeeded?" here he gestured to himself and spread his grubby, bejewelled palms as though his point was well made.
"'Ow was I to know what the woman wanted?" Barbossa shouted, equally angry, "An' you never predicted wha' could'a 'appened, it's you an' your damn luck...an' it's run out, Jack."
"Ain't gonna 'appen, mate," Jack smirked and suddenly his head shot around the room as though an idea was brewing in his mind. "I call for a vote," he waved his arms out at the Court, "Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, who, per legem (*1) , is the rightful captain of the 'Black Pearl'? Bearing in mind, of course the history of said ship and the heinous, backstabbing, betraying, spineless, scraggly-bearded codfish-cretan wha's standin' over there," he gestured towards Barbossa who snorted inelegantly back at him.
"Gentleman Jocard votes in favour of Captain Sparrow," declared the tall, dark skinned ex-slave, turned pirate. He was a keen supporter of justice and saw that the rightful captain of the ship was Sparrow, despite the mans' irritating nature.
"Ammand the Corsair votes in favour of Barbossa," said the aged and turbaned Arab.
"Capitaine Chevalle declares the Pearl to be Captain Sparrow's," said the penniless Frenchman.
"Sri Sumbhajee votes in favour of Captain Sparrow," said the new speaker of the impressively bearded Indian man cursed with a high pitched voice.
"Captain Sparrow," declared the formidable Mistress Ching as she gestured towards the eccentric captain.
"It is the view of Eduardo Villanueva that Barbossa is the 'Pearl's' captain," said the Spaniard with a greying beard.
"She's mine," Barbossa declared his vote.
"No she ain't," Jack shot back.
"I say the 'Pearl's' yours, Jack," Elizabeth said, and now all nine votes were cast.
"Consensus facit legem," (*2) Jack smirked at Barbossa and he doffed his tri-cornered hat to the Court. "Much obliged, mates," he smirked as he heard his crew cheer from the other end of the room.
"This meeting of the Brethren Court rules in favour of Captain Sparrow," Mistress Ching said as she stood proud and gestured to said man.
"Now hold it 'ere..." Barbossa stood angrily and waved his pistol around.
"Barbossa will be granted the 'Neptune' for services rendered," Elizabeth interrupted him. She felt that she owed Jack for saving Will's life, he may not be alive with her all the time, but at least he was alive out there somewhere.
Jack was right, he had made the 'Pearl' was it was, it was his ship by right. And she had sent him to the Locker in the first place, this could hardly make them square...but it was a start.
She remembered seeing the 'Neptune' anchored off the coast near a cave, unused due to damage all it really needed was a little repair. And hopefully it would placate Barbossa. "We might have won this fight, but the law will clamp down even harder on piracy, we can't afford to be fighting amongst ourselves now," she told them, and again there was a mumbling of reluctant agreement. "You can find a crew here, Barbossa, and it won't take much effort to get her seaworthy, she's an impressive ship, captain."
Barbossa had to admit that she had a point, and there wasn't much he could do since the majority had voted in Jack's favour. And the 'Neptune' could be an impressive ship once he had her fixed up a little. But his pride was at stake, it would make his seem weak if he accepted without a fight.
So he took his pistol and advanced on Jack without thinking things through as he should...but he stopped when he heard a gun fired. The bullet had pierced another hole in the already cratered walls.
"We keep to the code, Barbossa, the court and the King ruled in favour of Sparrow, that's an end of it," Captain Teague declared and put aside his elaborate pistol.
"Aye, Cap'n," Barbossa uttered and left the room, pulling his sword among the other eight from the old globe as he went.
"This meeting is finished," Elizabeth said as King and soon the rest of the pirate lords and their crews departed as they went to the docks.
"Wot're you lot doin'?" Jack addressed the group of scruffy sea men that had been his crew since retrieving his precious Pearl. They were standing where they had during the meeting, around Jack's mostly unused ornate chair as pirate lord of the Caribbean.
"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather stay wif the 'Pearl', Cap'n," Gibbs replied.
"And the rest o' ye?" Jack asked them and was greeted with a flurry on nods and 'ayes' in agreement. He had to admit he was a little surprised. But this was a good crew and he had grown rather fond of them.
This was a crew that was as mad as he was when all was said and done. He had two dim witted ex-navy men, a mute man and his talking parrot, two daft men of whom one had an eye patch over his now empty eye socket, a sharp eyed midget, and a lot of drunkards and gamblers. in short; a mad pirate crew of mismatched misfits.
"Master Gibbs, make ready the 'Pearl'," Jack told his loyal first mate who nodded and left, taking the crew to the ship. Soon Jack was left alone with Elizabeth who sat at he head of the table, and his father who sat in the shadows playing the occasional note on his ever present guitar. "Much obliged," Jack said to his father and once more doffed his hat.
"Just don't lose 'er again, Jackie," Teague smiled slightly at his son, whom many believed mad. "Yer gettin' too old fer me to bail out."
"One would think so," his son replied and placed his hat on the table and took his chair for the first time during the meeting. For some reason he never sat down, he had walked up and down or stayed standing, but Jack was never one to sit still, or in one place for too long.
His father set down his guitar gently and walked over to take the seat beside his son. On the way he gracefully pulled a bottle of rum from a pile of miscellania on the floor and took a swig. He then handed it to Jack who did the same.
Elizabeth watched with a slight smile on her face and hoped that they would continue to ignore her presence. It was strange to see the stern Teague and erratic Sparrow talk like this and they did look so much alike which she found even more strange.
"What's yer next venture then?" Teague asked after a while.
"Never said I 'ad one, did I?" Jack replied and took another drink from the bottle before handing it to his father.
"Come of it, boy, I know 'at look, I ain't no backstabbin' first mate, " the older man said and Jack looked at him with a puzzled look.
"Wot look?" Jack asked with as good as an innocent look he could muster but his father matched his gaze with stern eyes. He finally turned his gaze from jos father and over to Elizabeth to tell her that they were aware of her presence and she was not forgotten. "The foun'ain...I'm gonna find it...or at least I will...eventually...soon...presently...or whichever comes first, or is in any case most convenient...I..." Jack took a deep breath suggesting that this could go on for a while.
"Jackie...it's not just about survin' forever," his father cut short his jumbled thoughts with a shadowed crease between his brow.
"I think it is," his son replied with a determined and confident look that Teague knew all too well.
"No, no yer don't," the older man shook his head at his son, "Yer may be mad, boy, but yer not a fool."
"Well that's comfortin'," Jack sad, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"You do wot yer want, Jackie, yer always 'ave, you just rember wot I told ya," his father finished with a deep sigh. He stared across at his son, his son who had been a respected merchant captain in the East India Trading Company and was now a half mad pirate captain of the fastest ship in the Caribbean. (*3)
No one but his long serving and loyal crew knew it of course, but he had grieved twice for his son...in his own way. He didn't want to grieve a third time. Pirating was a dangerous lifestyle but Jack had always been a survivor, as was proven by him still living and breathing before him. After another minute of silence the rum soon evaporated and Jack stood from the chair.
"My lady awaits," he said with a look of longing. His father smirked in the shadows and gestured at he door indicating that his son should leave.
"Till next time, boy," Teague said as Jack silently saluted his father and after taking back his sword he swept from the room.
"You care a great deal for Jack," Elizabeth said quietly.
"Is that a question, highness?" Captain Teague replied as he stood and sat back in his chair in the corner of the room and picked up his guitar.
"No," she said and walked over to the globe that still held her solitary sword, "I killed him you know, it's my fault that he..."
"Mmm," Teague muttered and strummed a short melody, he seemed oblivious to her and she was beginning to find it rather irritating. Like father like son, Elizabeth figured.
"You knew?" she blinked at the man incredulously.
"Pirates. Secrets travel fast, luv," he replied simply and she frowned sadly.
"Don't you blame me...aren't you angry..."
"Aye, but you done what's right by you, Jackie knows 'at; he ain't a kid wot needs ter be looked after," he said sounding indifferent.
"Then why did you defend him just now?" she asked him just before she left.
"When you 'ave kids o' your own...you'll know," Teague stared at the Pirate King with a strange look on his face. It was a look she had seen on her own father when he had said numerous times that he loved her and was proud of her. Edward Teague did love his son and he was proud of Jack, they just had different ways of showing it than Elizabeth and her father had.
The old captain then returned his attention back to his faithful guitar, ignoring the look of confusion on the woman's slightly tanned face as she turned for him and left him alone.
(*1) Per legem - By law.
(*2) Consensus facit legem - Consensus makes the law.
(*3) I'm working on the basis that Jack had been employed by Beckett and the East India Company but when asked to transport slaves he first agreed on the accord that he'd be allowed to by the ship the 'Wicked Wench' for a shilling once it was done. But then he changed his mind, let the slaves free and was branded a pirate, the 'Wicked Wench' was sunk and he makes his deal with Jones. Since I like the story.
A.N. Don't forget to review and let me know what you thought.