Dead Man's Cruise

Chapter Two

Pelegosto: Part I

ESF's Author's Note: Just a word of caution, there are naughty words in this chapter. Also, sorry about how long this chapter is. It was originally twice as long, but I decided to cut it in half and make two chapters. You're welcome. Please forgive me if Jack is really OOC. He's so unpredictable that it's hard to write his character properly.

I'm probably going to get death threats for this chapter. Hopefully, this'll keep you from hating me completely: there are no romantic pairings whatsoever with Melody in this series. Sorry, but it's true.

I love when Jack tells the crew not to turn back for his hat, then they all look at Gibbs like, "Jack's finally completely lost it. Now what?" Hehehe. Always makes me giggle!

Sorry if this chapter sucks. It's really not my favorite.

wendystwin's Author's Note: Jell-O is good, ya'll should eat it. Yup. That's all.

Disclaimer: The only Jell-O that belongs to me are the boxes in the kitchen drawer. We don't own any llamas, either. Darn. There's more disclaimer at the end, to save you from spoilers.


Two nights later, Wendy was having a rather pleasant dream about llamas and Jell-O.

"On deck all hands!" said one of the llamas, with Jack voice.

"Why?" Wendy moaned, waving the llama away with one hand. "I want to finish my Jell-O. It's orange."

"Make fast the bunt gasket!"

"What the fuck does that mean? Leave me alone!"

"Wendy! Get UP!" came Melody's voice, and Wendy suddenly found herself on the floor of the crew's quarters. Melody had untied her hammock.

"I want movement!" Jack was yelling. "Lift the skin up! Keep your loof!"

"What's going on?" Wendy asked, picking herself up and taking in all the commotion.

"I don't know," said Melody, shoving her hat on her head, "but it sounds urgent."

Seconds later, they were on deck, and there was pandemonium. It was still dark, maybe three in the morning, and there was a thick fog. The crew, most of them half-dressed, were getting the Pearl ready to move, and they spotted Jack and Gibbs standing by the main mast (Jack looked more like he was hiding), and hurried over.

"Jack!" exclaimed Melody. "Gibbs! What's going on?"

"We're running," said Jack. He ducked down. The girls shared a worried look. Could it be the kraken?

"Our heading?" Gibbs asked.

"Land!" He ducked down below the base of the mast. He rose again to see Melody, Wendy, and Gibbs looking at him questioningly. He jumped. "Oh! Euh!"

"Which port?" asked Gibbs.

"Didn't say port. Said land. Any land."

The monkey suddenly dropped down and swiped Jack's hat. "Argh!" The monkey snarled at him, and Jack hissed back. Melody drew hew pistol, but she was too late; the monkey threw Jack's hat overboard.

"Jack's hat!" exclaimed Gibbs, running to the rail. "Bring 'er about!"

"No no!" said Jack. "Leave it! Run!"

The entire crew, including the girls, stared at Jack in shocked disbelief. They all looked at Gibbs, wondering what to do, now that Jack had apparently completely lost what little sanity he had in the first place.

"Back to your stations!" ordered Gibbs finally. "The lot o' ya!"

The girls followed Gibbs under the stairs to the helm, where Jack was standing rather stiffly. "Jack?" said Gibbs quietly.

"Shh!" shushed Jack.

"For the love of mother and child, Jack, what's coming after us?"

Jack didn't look at any of them. "Nothing." He spotted the girls behind Gibbs. "You two. Up to the nest. Any hint of land or sails, yell. Loud."

Wendy was confused, and she could tell Melody was too, but they didn't dare question him. Not when he was acting like this. "Aye, sir," they said together, and immediately headed up the rigging. Melody pulled out her spyglass and began searching the horizon.

"Mel?" said Wendy, extremely nervous. "Do you think it's the kraken?" That was one of the two things they remembered from the movie. Davy Jones was after Jack with the kraken, and that Jack's compass showed what you wanted most in this world.

Melody sighed. "It's possible." She looked slightly to the south, and then put away the spyglass. "Stay up here and keep an eye out for ships. JACK!" she yelled, and began climbing down the rigging. "I see an island directly off the stern!" She found Jack still under the stairs, and Gibbs was up at the helm.

"How far?"

"Not sure, but it's the only one I can see."

"Any ships?"

"None."

"Tell Gibbs to head there. Fast."

She relayed the message to Gibbs. "I don't see any land, lass."

"It's way out there," said Melody, handing him her spyglass.

Once he saw it, he sighed. "Lord Almighty." He gave the spyglass back to her. "Hard to starboard!" he shouted to the crew, and the message echoed up and down the ship. As the ship straightened out, Melody heard her sister yelling.

"JACK!" Wendy jumped down from the rigging. "There's sails on the horizon, behind – er – dead ahead!"

Jack finally left his hiding place under the stairs and ran up to the navigation deck. Directly ahead of them and to the left, they could see another ship heading towards them. Jack seemed to relax, but only slightly. "Oh, good," he said. "It's just a Navy ship."

Gibbs, Wendy, and Melody all looked at him in surprise. "'Just a Navy ship'?" Wendy repeated incredulously. "Jack, what could be worse than a Navy ship?"

"You have no idea," he said, and returned to his hiding place. Melody and Wendy shared a worried look.

They reached the island quickly, and tied the Pearl down on the sandy beach. Jack seemed more relaxed now that they were on land, and he sent four or five men into the dense jungle on the island to scope out where they were.

It had been almost an hour after sending them in, when Melody and Wendy saw a group of people exit the jungle, running straight for the Pearl. But none of them were the crewmen Jack had sent in. They all had very dark skin, and were wearing loincloths and the like. They didn't look too friendly, as most of them were carrying spears. The girls looked around, panicking slightly. Jack and the rest of the crew had not yet noticed.

"Jack!" Wendy shouted, as she and her sister ran for him.

"What?" Jack responded. Both girls pointed frantically at the approaching mob of natives. He saw them, and his expression quickly turned horrified. "Oh bugger. I thought this place looked familiar." He turned back to the rest crew. "HIDE!" he shouted, waving his arms about frantically. "Below deck!"

Everyone quickly scrambled. "Who are they?" asked Melody. "Why are we hiding?"

"They are the Pelegostos," Jack told them. "Cannibals."

The girls looked at each other in horror. Cannibals?

They followed Jack down to the holds where they hid behind a stack of crates. The rest of the crew had hidden elsewhere, as no one else was there. For a few minutes, there was nothing but silence. Then, they heard dozens of pairs of feet above them, probably on the top deck. Then the footsteps began to descend into the ship. Suddenly, Jack looked like he had an idea.

"Whatever happens, stay on the ship and keep quiet," he told them, and he stepped out from behind the crates just a native entered the hold. The girls stayed silent and watched. The native got very excited when he saw Jack, and greeted him enthusiastically in a language Melody and Wendy didn't understand.

"My child!" he exclaimed, and began speaking to him in the same language the native had used. They conversed for about a minute, and then they headed off. Jack turned back to them when the native wasn't looking and mouthed, "Stay." Then they were gone.

In a few minutes, the footsteps above them silenced. Wendy went to stand up, but Melody pulled her back down. "Wait, make sure they're gone," she said quietly. They waited about five minutes more, and when they were sure the natives were gone, they headed above deck. They searched the ship as they went, checking for stray natives and remaining crew members, but they found no one. The ship was deserted.

"They're gone," said Wendy, stating the obvious. "What do we do now?"

"Follow Jack's orders," said Melody. "What else?"

"We can't stay here! We're low on food and rum!"

"You don't like rum."

Wendy glared, and then changed the subject. "How do you think Jack knew their language?"

"He's been here before, don't you remember? 'And then they made me their chief.'"

"Oh. So what should we do?"

Melody shrugged. "What else is there to do, except sit and wait for a ship to pass the island?"

And so they sat, and waited, until Melody spoke up about twenty minutes later.

"I have to go to the bathroom."

Her sister gave her a strange look. "Then go, you know where it is."

Melody wrinkled her nose, thinking about the ship's toilet. "I don't want to use that thing, it smells like it hasn't been cleaned since Jack first became captain! And that was, what? Twelve, thirteen years ago?"

Wendy rolled her eyes. "Then what do you expect to do, then?"

"I'll go behind a tree."

Her eyes widened. "You can't leave, Jack said to stay here!"

"I'll only be gone a minute," she said, standing up.

"But what if – " began Wendy, but Melody interrupted her.

"Keep to the Code. If something happens, like if the natives catch me, stay on the ship and don't let them see you."

Wendy bit her lip nervously. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather go on the ship?"

"Very sure. Have you smelled that thing lately?"

Melody only went two or three feet in to the jungle and relieved herself behind a tree. When finished, she pulled up her pants and turned around to head back to the ship. And screamed.

A native was standing behind her. Before she could do anything else, he held up a wooden tube of some sort and blew through it. She felt a sharp pain in her neck before everything went black.


With Wendy, a few minutes earlier

Wendy had a bad feeling as she watched her sister head into the jungle. A very, very bad feeling. She bounced on the balls of her feet nervously while she watched the edge of the jungle, praying that Melody would come out in one piece. However, her hopes were dashed when she heard Melody scream. For a moment, Wendy considered heading into the jungle to help her, but decided against it. She was a pirate, after all, and had to honor the Code and Melody's wish for her to stay with the Pearl.

She waited for nearly an hour more, hoping that she'd been hearing things and Melody would come out all right, but no luck.

"JACK!"

Wendy jumped, startled. That sounded like Will! Was she hearing things?

"JACK SPARROW!"

She ran to the railing and looked down. Sure enough, there was Will, looking around. She grinned, happy to see him. "Will! Will Turner!"

He looked up and saw her. He paused. "Melody Parks?"

"No, I'm Wendy."

"I'm looking for Jack, where is he?"

Wendy pointed at the jungle. "In there. But I don't think you should – " But Will was already hurrying away. She glared at his retreating back. "Fine!" she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Ignore the lady pirate!"


With Melody, twelve minutes after being captured

Melody had the distinct feeling she was hanging upside-down. She opened her eyes. She was tied to a bamboo pole by her wrists and ankles. Carrying the pole were two cannibals. She was horrified.

"Please don't eat me!" she told them, and they looked down at her. "Really, I don't taste all that great!" They looked at each other in confusion. Of course they didn't understand English. "Oh, God. How 'bout, uh..." she tried to think back to her high school Spanish classes. "¿Tú no comes me?" More confusion. She sighed, annoyed, and fell silent.

She looked around at the surroundings. She grimaced at the human skulls on sticks lining the path they were on, and hoped that her skull wouldn't end up a very unpopular state fair food. Finally, they entered a clearing and stopped. Melody turned her head rather painfully to see none other than her captain sitting on a throne decorated with more human skulls. He was wearing a feathery crown and there were eight eyes painted on his face, and two of them were on his eyelids, which were shut. He apparently had been made chief.

She tried not to laugh at his funny appearance. "Jack?"

His eyes snapped open. For a split second, he looked surprised to see her, but then his face turned emotionless as he stood up. He said something to the natives, and they responded.

"What are you saying, Jack?" asked Melody. "Please don't let them eat me!"

He glanced at her briefly, and then said something else to the natives. Melody bit her lip, wishing she knew what they were saying. Then he said something she understood: "Savvy?"

The cannibals nodded and repeated a word Jack had said. Then they let her down. Thoroughly confused, she looked at Jack questioningly, rubbing her wrists where they'd been bound. The majority of the natives left.

"What did you tell them?" she asked, following him over to his throne. He didn't answer, and sat down. Melody stood in front of him expectantly. Suddenly, Jack reach out and pulled her onto his lap. She gasped. "Jack! What are you – ?" She was cut off as her kissed her.

Instantly, her mind went into overdrive, a million thoughts racing through her mind. Oh my God, I'm kissing Johnny Depp! No, no, it's Jack Sparrow. Completely different. And he's kissing me, actually. Ha ha! God, I'm such a fan girl! Oh, I shouldn't be doing this, this is so Mary-Sue. But I'm kissing Jack Sparrow! Might as well enjoy it, shouldn't I? She then began kissing him back, and a few seconds later, Jack pulled away.

"I claimed you as my mate," he said quickly, looking as though he expected to get slapped.

Slightly dazed from the kiss, she blinked, and forced herself to snap out of it. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I claimed you as my mate," he repeated.

She frowned. "And you meant it in a completely platonic way, right?"

"If you mean platonic in the same way that kiss was meant to look, then yes."

It took a moment for this to register in her still cloudy mind. "WHAT?!" she shrieked, causing a few natives to look their way.

"Now, love, you're the one who said you didn't want to get eaten."

"So you told them I'm your mate?!"

Jack sighed. "Yes, I did. Would you rather be hanging in a cage made of the bones of your former crew mates, thousands of feet above the ground?"

She blinked. "Former?"

He nodded. "They ate some of the crew to make cages for the rest." Melody was shocked. "So I thought you'd prefer posing as my lover to the cage..." he waved a hand around, searching for a proper term, "...thing."

She frowned. She was posing as Jack Sparrow's lover. This was just about the craziest thing that had ever happened to her, including actually being in the 18th century Caribbean. She sighed. "That's true," she said, leaning back against his shoulder. "Captain Sparrow, you are the most unpredictable man I've ever met."

"Why thank ye, love," he said, putting an arm around her. "As are you." She glanced at him, confused. "I expected you to stay on the ship like I told you."

Melody winced. "I had to go to the bathroom."

"There's a – "

"I know! But that thing smells terrible, and I don't use it if I don't have to. So I went in the jungle. I was about to head back when I ran into a cannibal."

He nodded, considering her story. "So if we get off this island alive, you'll be the one to clean out the toilet for disobeying my orders?"

She opened her mouth to protest, but then shut it when she saw the stern look on Jack's face. "Wait, what do you mean 'if'? Don't you have an escape plan?"

"'Course I do! I'm just waiting for the opportune moment."

Melody rolled her eyes. "What is it, run like hell when they turn their backs?"

He stared at her. "Of course," he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Melody scoffed and looked away. "Figures."

Jack watched her for a moment. "You enjoyed that kiss, didn't you?"

She turned back to see him smirking. She stared at him, trying as best she could to keep from blushing. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't, Jack," she said honestly.

He smirked slightly. "So would I, love." He leaned towards her.

A throat cleared. The two of them turned around quickly and saw another mob of natives with someone else tied to a bamboo pole, unconscious. This time it was Will Turner. Melody's mouth fell open, completely speechless. This was the last place she expected to meet Will again.

One of the natives said something, which was repeated by the rest. Jack looked down at Will, who then woke up. He quickly focused in on Jack.

"Jack?" he asked. He didn't answer. "Jack Sparrow!" Will laughed a bit. "I can honestly say I'm glad to see you!" Will then seemed to realize that Melody was sitting on Jack's lap. He looked incredibly confused, but didn't comment on it.

Jack motioned for Melody to get up and she did. He stood up and walked over to Will. He poked his shoulder as if testing how much meat he had. Melody noticed. "Don't you dare, Jack!" He ignored her and walked to the first native.

"Jack, it's me. Will Turner!"

He ignored Will as well, and spoke to the native, who replied, bowing his head.

"Tell them to let me down!"

Jack said something that was definitely about Will. He then kneeled by Will's rear. "Lam say-say...eunuchy. Snip-snip." Melody rolled her eyes, actually understanding the slur on Will's manhood. Jack began to walk away as the natives repeated the word 'eunuchy.'

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

Melody gasped, but didn't say anything. Jack stopped and turned back. He said some more stuff. "Savvy? Ball licky-licky."

The mob cheered and began chanting. He whispered something to Will as they carried him off.

"Jack, what did you tell them?" Jack walked back to his throne. "No! What about Elizabeth? Jack! Melody!"

Once he was gone, Melody resumed her place on Jack's lap. "Where are they taking him?"

"To the cage I told you about earlier." She gave him a look. "What? I'm not about to claim him as my mate too!"


Disclaimer, Part 2: I have to say this, otherwise I'll feel really bad. I got the idea of Jack claiming Melody as his "mate" from another fan fiction, but unfortunately, I can't remember the author or the title of the story. If it was yours, let me know, and I'll disclaim it properly. Thanks!