Chapter Two: Cannibal Island

"Jack Sparrow? Captain Jack Sparrow? Owes me four doubloons. Heard he was dead." A sunburned sailor had said.

"Ran off with a creole woman to Madagascar… half his age and twice his height!" A Bartender had retold.

"... Tried, found guilty and ready to hang… but then he fought off a hundred soldiers at Port Royal and escaped, God' honest truth, by grabbing two parrots and flying off a cliff. My cousin was there!" An Officer explained.

"Singapore is what I heard. Drunk more'n likely. Drunk, with a smile on his face. Sure as the tide, Jack Sparrow will turn up in Singapore." A half-blind fisherman answered.

"I haven't seen him in a month. When you find him, give him a message…" Giselle slapped both Will and mine's faces.

"Can't say 'bout Jack Sparrow." A shrimper had said as he casted out his nets."But there's an island just south of the straits where I trade spice for mmm, delicious long pork. Can't say for Jack, but you'll find a ship there… a ship with black sails."

The sea was choppy and the sky was clear and azure. Finally, after going all around the Caribbean Will and I had found a kind shrimper who had offered to take us to the island where the Black Pearl was last sighted. We had arrived at an island covered in jungle and which had the Pearl tied up on the beach.

"My brother, Tom, he will row you to shore." The shrimper named Aaron said.

"You have my gratitude." I thanked him before boarding the longboat. Aaron's brother rowed us halfway to the shore before suddenly stopping.

"What's wrong? The beach is right there." Will asked. Tom just stared at us, scared and talked very quickly in French. I stood up in the boat, trying to keep my balance and dived into the icy water. Luckily, Will had taught me how to swim so I was able to swim to the shore easily. Once I was ashore I wait till Will appeared at my side just as soaked as I was. We walked across the sand until we reached the ship.

"Jack! Jack Sparrow! Mr. Gibbs! Anyone…" Will shouted. But there was no answer. The ship was silent… deserted. I studied the ship carefully, nothing seemed to be wrong. Will headed to the dense jungle. I hesitated, there was something unnerving about this place. It was almost too quiet. But it would be worse to be trapped here alone so I followed Will. Suddenly, I jumped when I heard a flutter of wings. It was Mr. Cotton's Parrot. The Parrot had landed on a thin tree branch and tilted its head at us.

"Good to see a familiar face." Will greeted.

"Don't eat me!" The bird squawked. I was clueless.

"We're not going to eat you." I replied. But the Parrot took no notice.

"Don't eat me!"

"Look." I said, getting annoyed. "You're nothing but feathers and bones and you probably taste like pigeon." The Parrot went quiet, clearly hurt by my words.

"Sorry." I murmured before Will interrupted. "Listen. If anyone should ask, tell them Will Turner, against his better judgement went into the jungle in search of Jack Sparrow, accompanied with Rosabelle Swann. Understand?" The Parrot cocked his head to one side. I rolled my eyes. We're talking to a Parrot. Will, by the look on his face, seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Understand?" I repeated.

"Aye, aye, miss." He squawked and flew away. Will pulled out two swords, one which he kept and the other he gave to me.

"Come on." He murmured to me and we began hacking our way through the jungle.

It had been hours since we had began trudging through this place and my body was washed with sweat and my arms and legs were cut by the sharp sticks and branches that roamed here. I was about to ask Will if it wouldn't be better for us just to turn back, when I saw a leather flask hanging on a branch. Gibbs' flask.

"Will, look. This belongs to Gibbs." Will came over to me and saw the flask, he crouched down and picked it up but then saw a hidden snare of twisted vines. He brushed away the leaves and found a trip wire string attached to the flask.

"Over here, Rosabelle. I think I have found something." I walked over to him as he followed the string towards a gnarled tree. Suddenly a pair of eyes appeared in the tree. A cannibal stepped out of the shadows and grinned. I shrieked in fright. My heart sped up as more cannibals surrounded us, coming out from their hiding places. They were ruthless and savage looking, with filed teeth, bodies painted and pierced and wore remnants of their previous victims. I gulped. The Cannibal yanked at the tripwire. The snare exploded upwards dragging Will and I off our feet until we were dangling in midair. I was relieved that I had thought to change out of my dress in Port Royal and into some comfortable pants and long-sleeved shirt or I wouldn't of been in the most pleasant situation at the moment. Not that I was now anyway. As the Cannibals edged towards us, spears raised ready to strike, Will waved his sword around and deflected a cannibals spear, making it fall to the ground.

"Come on! Who's next? I can do this all day!" He yelled. I kept quiet, knowing it wouldn't be clever to speak. A cannibal warrior with a chewed off ear and bite marks that covered his body raised his blowgun at Will and puffed.

"I'm ready! Come on! I'm right here ―" Will said before the dart pierced his neck and his body went limp. I whimpered at the sight of him.

"Will." I whispered slowly. No answer. Then I felt a sharp prick at the side of my neck and everything went black.

Everything was blurry at first but then as my vision slid into place, I saw a man with a painted face and matted dreadlocks who sat on a throne made of bones. The weird thing though was that he was upside down. I stared upwards and saw that my hands and feet were tied together to a bamboo pole which the cannibals were carrying. Just great. I glanced at Will who was in the same position as I was and was staring at the man in the throne. Then I recognised who it was. It was Jack. I couldn't believe my eyes, I had found him! Well, sort of anyway. All of a sudden I felt embarrassed. Maybe it was the fact that I was hanging upside down from a pole or that I was covered in dirt and cuts, I didn't know.

"Jack? Jack Sparrow. I can honestly say I am glad to see you." Will said. Jack stood up from his throne and started towards us but then stopped. He stared at us blankly. It was if a wave of ice flooded through me. He didn't remember us. "Jack, it's me. Will Turner." Jack ignored Will and spoke to a cannibal.

"Ba se co."

"Ji'in daga, izipi." What in the world were they saying?

"Tell them to let me down." Will cried.

"Ke'le lam. Lam peeky-peeky. Lam eensy-weensy. Lam se'se eunuchy. Snip, snip." Jack replied to the natives.

"Aahh… eunuchy." The crowd repeated.

"Jack, the compass. That's all I need. Elizabeth is in danger. We were arrested for trying to help you. She faces the gallows!"

"Se'se lam shup shup sha, shmani lami shuku." Jack said. "Savvy? Ba liki liki."

"Ba liki liki!" The cannibals shouted. Jack bent down next to Will and I and whispered.

"Save me." The cannibals carried us away.

"Jack, what did you tell them?! No! What about Elizabeth! Jack!" Will yelled but was muted by the drumming and the cheering of the crowd.

"Why would he do this to us? If Jack is the chief…" Will asked. We had been forced into bone cages and were hanging over a deep ravine along with half of the Black Pearl's crew. The other half were in another cage beside us. I looked below us and I couldn't see the ground, it was so deep. I wasn't a fan of heights.

"Aye, the Pelegostos made Jack their chief, but he only remains chief as long as he acts like a chief." Gibbs explained.

"So he has no choice." I said. "He's a captive as much as the rest of us."

"Worse, as it turns out." Gibbs answered, grimly. "See the Pelegostos believe that Jack is a God in human form, and they intend to do him the honor of releasing him from his fleshy prison. They'll roast him and eat him. It's a deeply held religious belief. Or, we figure, maybe they just get awful hungry." My mouth went dry. The thought of Jack dying and these monsters eating him was just awful.

"Where's the rest of the crew?" Will asked. I looked around and noticed that there was, indeed, a small number of crew members.

"These cages we're in, weren't built till after we got here." Gibbs responded as I shivered in understandment. "The feast is about to begin. Jack's life will end, when the drums stop." I felt a sudden outburst of energy. No, I will not let Jack die. We will save him.

"Well, we can't just here and wait then, can we?" I said, an idea forming in my head.

"Okay, so does everyone understand?" I asked. I had just told the rest of the crew my plan. Everyone nodded their heads.

"Then push!" I called as everyone pushed forward then leaned back. Soon we had both of the cage swinging across the ravine. We grabbed hold of a few plants growing out of the dirt wall but they were easily pulled from their roots and we fell back, shaking our fists.

"Come on, men, again!" I yelled. This time it worked. Everyone caught hold of a strong vine.

"Put your legs through! Start to climb!" Gibbs instructed. It was hard work but we were doing it. I was in the front so I had to keep a sturdy grip of things so we wouldn't fall.

"Come on, men! It will take all of us to crew the Black Pearl!" Will shouted.

"Actually, you wouldn't need everyone. About six would do." Leech called back from the other cage. Everyone stopped. The look on Leech's face said that he had said too much. "Oh, dear." He murmured. We all started to scramble to the top. The first group there would stay, the other would be left behind.

"Hurry." Will shouted.

"Come on." I urged.

"Come on! Is that all you've got?!" Someone yelled. Suddenly Will stopped.

"Wait! Stop!" Will whispered, urgently. A Pelagosta sentry walked above us on a dodgy bridge. Our cage stopped, completely and we motioned for the other cage to do so too. They did for a moment, but then continued despite our warnings. The other cage's crew smirked at us before Leech caught hold of a snake instead of a vine.

"Ah! Snake!" He cried. They all panicked and let go of their vines, making them fall down the ravine. We winced as the rope snapped and they continued to fall. The sentry noticed the screaming and gazed down directly at us.

"Move!" Will shouted and we didn't hesitate, we resumed to climb up the wall. And fast.