'My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.'
- Clarence Budington Kelland
It had started out as a normal day on the Caribbean ocean. It had a sun rise like any other day, it had the usual searing heat and cerulean blue sky culminating in midday heat, and even a sun set - though beautiful, it had been seen a thousand times over. The night set in and the stars overhead shone like tiny beacons surrounding the lonely, silver moon.
It was a full moon. Many people considered full moons to be bad luck, they said it brought out the worst in people, that it brought out madness and attracted all sorts of mythical beasts which were granted passage to earth via the moon.
Captain Edward Teague of course knew that a full moon was merely that; it was not a mythical gateway or a cursèd talisman...But he was a man of the world and he knew better than to dismiss rumours of the otherworldly, since he had seen many things that could be counted as such in his lifetime.
Cursed treasure and cursed men, ships that seemed to breathe and sea that had a mind of its own. A sea goddess and the Kraken, swords of mystic origins and men returned from the dead. Oh, yes, captain Teague had seen a lot that shouldn't exist in his life.
...Like his son being brought back from the Locker for another. That was the one that had haunted him the most.
Despite his love of adventure he was now much more of a 'stay-at-home' pirate than he had been in his youth. He had retired to become Keeper of the Code many years ago thereby giving his son, Jack, a place as a Pirate Lord.
Despite what many people thought of him the man was proud of his son; the boy was a survivor, just as his father was. It ran in the family. Survival...it was a way of life. The boy just needed to understand that sooner or later he'd have to stop surviving...everything dies in the end. Even Teague's beloved wife, she had been a rare mix of beauty, brains, braun and occasionally...madness. But in the end even she had succumbed to the laws of nature.
From an early age Jack had shown signs of all of these traits, he was also good man, he understood than you could be both a pirate and a good man...the boy just didn't realise that he was both. Daft lad! Unfortunately he audit found the right balance and he had been victim to mutiny. But now, Teague believed that Jack was closer to finding a balance between the two...almost, anyway.
Teague smiled ruefully as he drank from a bottle of rum, he was sat alone in his home at Shipwreck Cove, holed up in his 'living room' with alcohol and his guitar. There were also numerous books and charts scattered about the dark old room that had large dirty widows overlooking the coast.
His mother, god only knew how he put up with her half the time, kept to her part of the house, wandering round like a black eyed shadow. Occasionally pausing to speak to him when she wanted to know where something was or to criticise him or his son again. But the solitude suited him just fine.
Teague had only to deal with the odd dispute between pirates here and there as the Keeper of the Code but he was mostly left to himself. And in the dark of another Caribbean night the man sighed in the silence as he once more played a gentle melody on his guitar.
He had worked his way through another three bottles of rum in one day alone, which didn't even come close to his 'personal best' as Jack used to call it. But the old captain had felt something stirring all day, call it a sixth sense or intuition honed by years of learning to predict the seas, but something felt wrong.
And unfortunately, Teague's suspicions somehow were proved correct as his door was suddenly burst open noisily. The old hinges groaned loudly and the door slammed back against the wall violently shaking the pictures and mirrors that hung nearby.
Teague jumped, expecting an attack, and he ran out into the foyer with his sword and pistol in hand, but was surprised when he saw Elizabeth Turner; king of the Brethren Court together with Joshamee Gibbs, Anamaria, young Will the third, and several other members of Jack's crew fretting and holding up his son, Captain Jack Sparrow himself.
The man was seemingly unconscious, bleeding heavily from his chest and was as pale as a rich noble man's starched white shirt collar. His usual tanned skin was a sickly pallor and his kohl lined eyes were closed in sleep. The blood was dripping from his clothes, down his clothes and onto the floor making a sticky puddle at his feet.
"Captain Teague...please...help him," young Will said on the verge of tears as he ran through the doorway.
Teague stared in shock, wondering whether he'd really drank too much and was hallucinating or whether his son really was bleeding to death on his door step. He figured that it'd be best to check first since he didn't want the boy dying on him, so he set aside his weapons and walked quickly over to his son.
Elizabeth and Gibbs had supported the unconscious captain by propping his arms over their shoulders and now Teague gently moved the pirate onto the floor to assess his wounds. It seemed as though his son had been stabbed in his left side and it looked as though it had been done in a close range fight. To Teague it appeared as though a short bladed knife had been stabbed into his son and then twisted harshly then pulled out, he was an expert in such wounds having had many himself.
"Wha' 'appened?" the old captain asked as he started to remove his son's weapons and belts.
"Navy ships," Elizabeth explained simply then Teague ordered Gibbs and Mr Cotton to carry the wounded pirate into the main sitting room and onto a small sofa in the living room. While Cotton's parrot squawked Anamaria dashed about lighting more candles and lanterns to cast away the shadows.
No doubt the older captain would want further elaboration but right now his son was his first priority.
"The 'Pearl'?" he asked, fearing the worst for his son's pride and joy.
"Moored in the cave with the 'Troubadour', the rest of the crew are with her, we figured this was the safest place close," the pirate king replied, "We weren't far when..." she stopped, noticing that her son was watching the unconscious pirate with quivering eyes.
"I'll be needin' clean cloth, boy," Teague said to young Will, "Go upstairs an' find me some."
The boy nodded slowly and ran away, the four black family dogs came out of one of the many rooms and ran after the boy leaving them to tend to the unconscious pirate. "Be needin' water too, there's buckets out back, take 'em ter the river," he told Pintel and Ragetti who nodded and left quickly "How long's 'e been like this?" he addressed the remainders of his son's crew.
"Not long," Gibbs answered, "Navy bastard stabbed 'im a good few hours ago...but 'e weren't out cold since we docked."
"No' good," Teague answered pushing back the cloth of Jack's shirt from the wound, "But he's 'ad worse," he added with a frown.
"Aye," Gibbs nodded on agreement.
It was lucky that the boy was out cold, since Teague had only vodka that he could sterilise the wound with, and it would hurt like hell. He took up one of his best bottles of the liquid from his cabinet and with a gold, rusted key he unlocked a large, aged trunk in the corner of the room.
He took out a small box hidden at the bottom that he had always carried with him on his ships, it was medicine he'd been given by tribes from Madagascar. It had never once failed him in all the times he had been wounded himself, and the time she had been forced to help his son in his many fights as a boy.
Teague carried the objects over to the sofa and with Jack's weapons and belts already removed Elizabeth and Gibbs set about removing the Pirate's coat, waistcoat and shirt. It was difficult since the man was uncontested and it took a while but eventually they managed it, leaving the captain in only his breeches and boots.
Ignoring the old wounds and numerous tattoos that littered the man's chest they frowned in concern as they noted that some of the fabric had been embedded in the wound by the knife and carefully Elizabeth, with Anamaria's help tried to pry them out.
Throughout all of this Jack didn't so much as move a muscle to show discomfort or pain, his breathing though was erratic and laboured.
Will came running into the room minutes laterm his small arms filled with cotton shirts and scraps if fabric. He walked over to the old captain and left the fabric on one of the many chairs in the room, "This was the best I could find," he said out of breath. The dogs came running in behind him quietly and they came to sit around the unconscious captain and his crew.
Having been awake for hours, young Will concealed his tired yawns behind his hand as he watched the adults tear up the cleanest shirts and wipe up the blood and alcohol.
Elizabeth turned to her son and managed to persuade him to go upstairs and sleep, she took him to the room he had been given when they had visited the house previously and joined the others again. And once Pintel and Ragetti returned with buckets of water Teague had the crew boil it over the fire and soon they were able to wash out the worst of the wound.
Once they were done Teague decided that it would be of benefit to his son to make sure that he really was out cold before he poured alcohol into the open wound.
"Jack...Jackie.." he said confidently and put his free hand on the boy's shoulder but it was clear that Jack wasn't waking up anytime soon. So he sighed and began to clean the wound, he heard Jack hiss unconsciously but thankfully he didn't open his eyes.
Elizabeth pondered her son as she watched captain Teague causing his son pain in order to save him even more. How difficult would that be for her to do? She loved her son, and she had learned that Teague loved Jack. Her son thought that Jack was invincible and it wouldn't do him any good to see him as he was now. She dreaded the day when he learned that she had been the one to succeed in killing the man. But she forced her fear from her mind as she aided the others in bandaging Jack's wound.
Teague lost track of time, but it felt like hours since he had first seen the unconscious form of his son beging dragged though his door. Now though, they had finished bandaging the wound and were piling up the scraps of ruined, bloody fabric left over.
He debated whether to move the boy or not but decide that it would be best to wait until he began to recover. Jack would be fine on the sofa for the rest of the night, so he left the bedraggled crew to wash up in the river and then they most likely would go to sleep themselves. They were reluctant to leave their captain but Teague was adamant that he would look out for his son.
After they had gone and Teague was alone in the room with his sleeping son he heard quiet footsteps and recognised his mother walking through the shadows.
"Stupid kid," she muttered quietly as she regarded her sleeping grandson with something akin to pity in her old eyes.
"Aye," Teague nodded sadly. He knew his mother cared for her grandson despite everything she had done to him in the past. jack never believed him when he had informed the boy that when he left their home as a teenager the old woman had nearly died of a broken heart. He had often reproached his mother for her harsh treatment of his son but she had claimed that it was to make him strong.
She took a seat beside the sofa and with a tenderness she never showed when he was awake, she moved his hair and beaded ornaments from his face. Jack looked far younger without his usual outfit, layers of weapons and smudged kohl round his eyes. He had never been bulky but he was well built, and the old wounds showed in the dimming candle light. The old bullet wounds, the vein-like scar on his left arm, the pirate brand, numerous bruises in various stages of healing, and marks from old floggings as a boy...many of them from his grandmother herself.
"Wha' was it this time?" the old woman asked curiosity.
"Crew said it were t'navy," Teague replied, but he couldn't say more as he didn't know anymore. He'd ask said crew in the morning, since Jack wouldn't be going anywhere for at least a week and they'd be here too. They wouldn't be able to leave without the 'Pearl' and Teague would make sure that no one made of with Jack's ship again. The boy had wasted enough of his life chasing after his ship...now he preferred to waste time chasing after immortality instead.
No more words were exchanged between mother and son that night, she left the two in favour of her own bed but Teague stayed with his son all night. He alternated between drinking, smoking, reading and playing his guitar. He watched his child sleeping soundly; no matter how old the boy got he would always be his child, even if Jack didn't realise or acknowledge it himself.
When the boy was young Teague or his wife used to have to sit with him all night because he never could sit still for long. He was always wanting to be on the move, mentally or physically Jack had always been active. Like the bird from which he took his surname he was always in flight. They used to have to run the boy ragged for days to get him to sleep and Teague smiles to himself and he recalled some of the more difficult times. He remembered the boy's stubbornness and stamina, and the frustration he and his wife had experienced merely due to Jack's hyperactive nature as a boy.
As the night surrendered to the sun rise Teague began playing one of his wife's favourite songs when Jack started to stir.
The first thing that Jack noticed was pain...a lot of pain. In the past he had been beaten within an inch of his life, nearly lost a hand, been branded, almost blown to smithereens by cannon fire, shot more times than he could count and now this...whatever this was.
What had happened? He searched his foggy memory in an attempt to remember...he could recall the 'Pearl' being broadsided by the navy...a fight...someone had fallen overboard and he had jumped in the stormy waters after them.
...It had been young Will! He remembered now...the 'Pearl' had been hit by the bowsprit of a navy ship in an attempt to sink her...the ship almost tipped upside down...and the kid had fallen into the sea. Jack had jumped in after the boy and had made sure that he was safe...then there had been a fight...his crew and the navy officers...
...In the fight he had been trying to protect the kid as everyone was busy...and he'd been to preoccupied with the opponent in front of him that he'd missed one coming up beside him...Will had warned him...he'd turned to face the new man...and he'd been...he'd been stabbed!
Jack's eyes snapped open and he clutched the wound in his side with his right hand. But he heard a peaceful melody and it helped to bring him from the depths of agony and into wakefulness. He thought that he recognised the song, it was slow and beautifully played on a guitar.
"'Ello, Jackie," he heard a deep voice say as the music stopped.
Jack turned towards the owner of the voice and was surprised to see that it was his father. Where was he? Jack then looked around the room which was beginning to brighten with the first light of the morning and he blinked at the familiar room. "Yer crew brrought yer 'ere," the man explained as he watched his so examine the room.
The younger captain sighed in relief as he confirmed the family surroundings and leaned back into the sofa. "So...the navy, hmm?" he inquired slowly.
"A...aye..." Jack tried to speak in a confident tone of voice but found that he couldn't. He hated showing weakness, especially in front of his father, but it really couldn't be helped this time.
"Wha' yer do ter 'em this time?" the man asked, holding back a smile.
"...Didn't...do...do nofin..." he answered, and he was actually telling the truth, "...Sneaked on us..." he added and hissed as he felt a wave of pain overtake him for a brief moment but he pushed it aside.
"Yer let the Navy get the better of yer?" Teague asked, it was a sad day when his son was caught in a sneak attack by the navy.
"No!" Jack cried in anger. It hadn't been his fault. They had been shot at with no warning and despite the 'Pearl's speed the blockade that the navy had formed had required them to club-hall the ship. Jack had been so concerned with getting the ship away that he hadn't noticed that the young Will hadn't listened to him and was wandering the deck.
If Elizabeth had just locked the boy in his cabin like he had ordered as captain then the kid wouldn't have fallen overboard. But apparently locking a kid in a cabin was cruel. She'd been too concerned about a navy officer who had fallen on his deck to notice the boy creeping around. Apparently she had known the fallen man and had tried to help him but the other navy officers had manipulated this.
She had been surrounded and had almost been dragged off the 'Pearl' after the bowsprit of a navy vessel collided with the hull of his ship. He had tried to avoid it but the opposing captain had been so adamant about hitting him and it was either that or risk toppling the 'Pearl' force of the collision had made the ships quake with fear and the pirates had been boarded.
It had clearly been a premeditated attack. Using the 'Pearl's speed he had been able to lose them around the treacherous waters sound the cove since they hadn't been far from the rocky shallows. But not before the captain himself had been badly wounded during the boarding, he hadn't let that stop him from staying at the helm of his ship for hours, navigating the sea to get to the safety of the cave.
Teague could see his son struggling in remembrance and wondered, not for the first time what had happened. But his son was not fit enough to tell him and he didn't want to distress the boy. So he handed a glass filled with water to his son who took it gratefully.
But when he drank from it and discovered that it was not rum he frowned and muttered, "Where's 'e rum at?" but his father didn't answer him. Jack drank the water despite its non-alcoholic nature though, his throat felt parched and dry but the cool water definitely helped.
After a companionable silence Teague asked, "Yer think it were lord N..." but Jack, anticipating what the man was going to say nodded quickly to cut the sentence short.
"Didn't seem like 'e were after me this time...tried ter get 'Lizabeth on their ship...could be they was after 'er..." Jack theorised but his body ached too much and his end throbbed. Now was definitely not the time for hard thinking. "Bloody women..." he muttered, content to simply blame 'women' for the moment, or at least until he started to heal properly.
"Yer thinkin' too 'ard, boy, could be 'e was just out fer revenge o' their lost enterprise 'cause o' a pirate captain," Teague added and poured himself a drink.
"Aye...could be..." Jack muttered and said no more about it. He'd give his father more details when everything wasn't spinning so much.
"Wha' yer gonna do 'bout i'?" his father asked but Jack only sighed and set aside the now empty cup. He didn't want to think about stupid, stuck up, supercilious lords right now. So he didn't answer his father and Teague could clearly see that his son was exhausted. "Yer welcome 'ere y'know," Teague said.
As always he was leaving the decision up to Jack, he never forced the boy to stay but it was the wisest decision in retrospect. Teague was relieved when he saw Jack merely nod a minute later after settling further into the couch. Father and son said little else, both were comfortable with the silence broken only by the poignant notes of the guitar.
The quiet atmosphere was later broken by young Will who ran into the room, "Captain!" he cried. He ran over to Jack and hugged the captain with enthusiasm. "I knew that you would be fine, mother didn't believe me but I told her so," he said happily, ignorant of Jack wincing over his shoulder as the boy aagrivated his wound.
Jack forced Will away by the shoulders and off his wound and he stared across at the smiling young child. "'S tha' right?" Jack said as the boy stared back at him and nodded them ran outside with the black dogs that were chasing Cotton's parrot. It was squawking loudly and repeating; 'walk the plank' as it flew away from the barking dogs.
As the morning progressed Jack alternated between sleeping, eating, drinking and cursing the royal navy. His father had left him with his guitar and he was currently attempting to remember a tune that the old man had taught him in his youth. He'd never tried to keep up any musical skill he may have had but when one was convalescing it was always welcome to have a distraction.
The days passed slowly and by the end of the week Jack was able to move himself around the house and down to the 'Pearl' in the cave. Throughout his stay in the cove he couldn't help but reply the attack over and over again in his mind. It had been orchestrated like clockwork, it had been perfect...too perfect. As his father had suggested, he too suspected that their old 'friend' lord Nicholas and his loyal pet captain Atkinson.
Had it merely been a plan for revenge? If so why had they waited so long? Was it for something other than revenge, by someone else other than Nicholas? Whoever it was had planned the attack perfectly. Not just anyone could execute an attack like that. Jack decided that he would need to be fully recovered, and his ship at 100% before he set out in open waters again.
"Y'ought ter be careful, Jackie," Teague said to him after a week had passed, "Yer go now an' he migh' still be out there."
"I can deal wif him," Jack replied, sounding more confident than he felt, he knew his father knew that. He would 'deal with' the navy and captain Atkinson once he saw the bastard again. If he was out there still looking for the trident again then perhaps the man was better of dead.
Jack would never be able to search for the Fountain of Youth with a creeping navy man on his tail. So it was important that their attackers be found and sunk. Teague glanced across at his son but said nothing, he was hardly qualified to tell the boy to stay away from danger. Jack loved for danger as he had as a young man, maybe as Jack grew older he would settle a little as Teague had. But the older captain wasn't holding his breath. As he had said many times before; Jack was as wild as the typhoon he had been born in and always would be.
It rooks several weeks for Jack's wound to have healed enough to allow him to spar with Elizabeth and continue to teach her son to shot. But he decided that he had had enough of being on land and he longed for the sea again. Teague watched as the 'Black Pearl' finally sailed from the cove and with a look of trepidation and exasperation he stayed on the beach until the great masts had vanished beyond the horizon.