She was a pirate. A bloody, pirate. Never been so proud of the lass. Albeit her entrance into a life of piracy was a tad inconvenient for me. I'd felt cold steel wrap my wrists a fair number of times in my past, but somehow this time, the steel was the coldest it had ever been.
Curiosity. That is what we had told each other. And we were right. I'll never admit to being curious of what it felt to be good, but gods, the woman knew her charms and how to use them. I was indeed curious.
She had looked me in the eyes and lied to me, behavior unbecoming to the Governor's daughter. Her lips said she wasn't sorry, but her voice and those eyes betrayed her. She would mourn Captain Jack Sparrow when he was gone, a snack for the Kraken.
I knew my present situation was just as much my fault as her. Damnable compass. But even as I rowed back to the Pearl, I didn't know why. Was it the Pearl I wanted? Elizabeth? Or was it that I truly did wish to be a good man? I could almost hear Tia Dalma's voice. 'Jack Sparrow dunno what he wants.'
Now, her taste still upon my lips, I felt a peculiar calm. Fear had guided my every action since old Bill Turner delivered Jones' message. But now, I wasn't afraid. As she left my ship for the last time, I could only chuckle to myself. It was quite amusing, actually. Captain Jack Sparrow, the man who'd escaped death so many times, whether it be in the form of undead pirates, the royal navy, and even the cannibalistic Penestogal tribes, had been killed by a single woman, with a single kiss.
Even though death was already ensured, I was not going to die chained to a mast. Dousing my wrist and hand in lamp oil, I forced it through a hole several times too small, leaving much flesh and blood behind. Where was a skeletal curse when one actually needed it?
As I pulled my hand loose, I had become painfully aware of the rather large tendrils crawling over my deck. Turning around, I came eye to… er… teeth… with the one thing that had scared me more than even Davy Jones.
My eyes went wide as that maw opened wide, and a roar louder than anything I had ever heard. Phlegm, goo, and saliva mingled into a green paste that coated me from head to foot. The wave of stench washed over me.
"Not bad." I muttered, which really couldn't have been further from the truth. It seemed to me like a few more than just a thousand corpses were rotting within that maw.
The stench remained, but I've been aboard a ship for most of my life, and foul smells were no stranger. The smell was ignored completely, however, when something caught my eye.
Stooping, I scooped up my old hat, looking it over and cleaning it off like an old friend and companion. I set the hat upon my head and looked into the mouth of the Kraken.
Drawing my blade, I smirked, knowing I was looking death in the teeth. "'Ello, Beastie."
Someone may ask me why I kissed Elizabeth, knowing full well she'd never give in to me that simply, especially after spurning my every advance. In that final charge into the mouth of the Kraken, into Death itself, I had all the time I would need to understand it.
Curiosity.