Guardian

Author: immortal_jedi aka jedipati

Disclaimer: I don't own Jack the Monkey. Nor do I own POTC.

Characters: Jack the Monkey, mentions of others

Rating: PG

Warnings: Mentions of the first movie's events

Summary: Where did that monkey come from, anyway?

Author's Notes: Yes, another series by me. This one, however, will only have a few chapters. I currently plan for one for each movie (if I can come up with something for AWE. Basically, I'm telling stories about Jack the Monkey. The might be related, they might not be.

I paused and pulled away from the shafts of sunlight shining down from the roof of the cave.

I heard voices.

I didn't recognize the language- it was not the language of the worshippers, nor did it sound like the language of the destroyer and his people. So I waited.

It was nothing to wait. I was used to it. I had waited for a long time. Long ago, when the gold was first cursed by the gods, they asked my people if one of us would be willing to stand guard over the gold.

I was young then, and had only just reached maturity. The males hadn't yet taken an interest in me, so I agreed to go.

The gods took me to the cave where the gold was hidden and bade me to take a piece of the gold so I could stay with it for as long as was needed.

Oh, they did not leave me without hope. They knew that the curse was meant to be a punishment, and they told me how to break it. They said that if I ever grew weary, they would pick a different guardian.

So I waited these long years, here in this cave. I no longer noticed the hunger that could not be satisfied, nor the way my form shifted under the moonlight.

I was lonely, though, and the voices were nice to hear, though they were not those of my own kind. Soon, the men the voices belonged to entered the main cave.

They were an interesting group- and it was clear they were here for the gold. I jumped out of my hiding place and onto the chest.

This startled the men and some of them drew their weapons- weapons that were a little bit like the destroyer and his men's weapons. But different, at the same time.

But their leader laughed and told them something I didn't understand. They put their weapons away. He reached out slowly. I bared my teeth at him, and he paused. Finally, he reached out and gently scratched my head.

It had been a long time since anyone had touched me, and even through the curse, it felt good. I chattered at him.

The man then ran his hand along the top of the chest. Well, I was the guardian, but I was really only here to make sure other animals didn't find it. The curse was designed to punish greedy men, and these men qualified, I could tell.

The men took the gold, all of it, and cursed themselves.

There was no reason for me to stay in the caves now, so I went back with them, perched on their leaders' shoulder. He seemed to like me. At the first stop, he found or had made a set of the clothes, one that would fit me, and dressed me in them. He shared his food with me, though I didn't need it. He didn't realize that, so I appreciated it. He provided a perch for me in his cabin. So, I spent the most time with him. Soon, I realized that the strange word he used when talking to me- Jack- was what he named me. I also learned that he was Captain Barbossa.

In time, however, the men discovered the curse. And, much later, they learned how to break it. Though they didn't learn how to break it until after they had sent one of the men overboard. It was during that time that I mastered my understanding of their language.

For a long time, the men searched for the gold. I helped them, for I was growing weary of the curse, and wished to be free of it, at least for a time. For a long time, we couldn't find the last one, but then the stupid ones (worse then most men, though they never hurt me) brought a girl on board. The girl had the last piece of gold.

Captain Barbossa thought that she also had the blood they needed to break the curse, but I could tell she didn't. I couldn't explain this to him, of course. Still, I had some fun on the journey back to the island, as the girl hadn't expected the curse.

But just as expected, the curse wasn't broken. However, the girl was rescued by a boy who did have what was needed.

I pointed their escape out to Captain Barbossa. The chase that followed was very interesting, but we caught them.

Then Captain Barbossa let the girl go, along with a man he called Jack. Apparently, he named me after Jack. Until that moment, I didn't realize Jack was a man's name.

Should I be insulted? I really wasn't sure. Perhaps it was some sort of insult to the man, who seemed to know Captain Barbossa. Neither of them liked each other, I could tell.

Finally, we returned to the island. I remained on the ship, for I felt that something would go wrong.

Yes, I know I should have been happy that the curse would be broken and I could resume my duties on the island, but I had come to care for Captain Barbossa. He treated me kindly and he liked me as well. He never hurt me, no matter how angry the curse made him. I would miss him, when I had to leave. Yet I didn't want him to be disappointed, for I could tell he suffered under the curse.

And I knew something would happen. The gods would see to it that breaking the curse would not be that easy.

So when the girl returned, I was unsurprised.

I was surprised, however, when after the first moment of fright, she knocked me overboard. Because I was a skeleton at the moment, I fell apart as I entered the water.

It took me some time to get back to normal, and I had just made it to the surface when the curse was broken.

For the first time in a long time- centuries, as Captain Barbossa called them- I felt the night air on my face and the water brushing against me.

I headed for the cave. The Black Pearl- our ship- was gone, though the men might return to collect some of the other treasures they had found. But the gold was all back in the chest, so I would have to resume my vigil over it.

I would miss Captain Barbossa and his crew. It had been nice to have companionship these past few years.

I reached the cave and swam for the chest. Once there, I jumped up on it and took a gold piece out again. I shuddered as the curse reclaimed me.

I thought I saw something moving behind me, so I jumped for it. But it turned out that there was nothing there.

But as I was calming myself down, I saw Captain Barbossa lying down near the water's edge.

I went over to him, only to find that he was gone. Dead, as humans call it.

I chattered softly to myself and settled in to wait.

I was sure that men would come again.

End Notes:

Yes, I made Jack the monkey a girl, just for the laughs. After all he(she) was played in part by two female monkeys.

So, I was inspired to write this because of a recent "secret" on fandomsecrets that mentioned the monkey. I became aware that there aren't really a lot of stories that focus on Jack the monkey. So… I've come up with a couple of ideas. So far- one from each of the first two movies.

Expect a second "monkey" chapter soon.