Chapter 8 – Cannabis
Disclaimer: You know the drill .
Will grunted as he fell to the ground, spitting out some blood. Sora cursed as the pirate they had been talking to spat on Will. 'Give my regards to Sparrow!' The pirate growled before walking off, grumbling about doubloons. Will held his jaw as Sora came over and helped him up.
'Well…that didn't go how I had hoped…' Will muttered, spitting out some more blood while Sora healed him. 'What do you expect?' the Keyblader asked, looking around, 'I didn't know Jack was this…infamous until now…' He frowned, examining the street around them.
'Well…off to the next pirate…' Will said, walking off toward the docks. Sora followed him, keeping his eyes open for people in black robes.
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Sora held his cheek as a woman walked away from him, obviously in a huff. He grunted as his face turned red from the slap. 'Jeez…sorry…' He muttered, brushing himself off. He looked at Will, who was deep in conversation with a man on the docks.
Sora walked up to the two as Will smiled. 'So you've seen the Pearl?' Will asked. The man shook his head. 'I don't know about Jack or the Pearl…but I saw a ship ashore on an Island that I do business on…a ship…with black sails…'
'Can you get us there?' Sora asked, frowning. '…I can't…but my brother works for a shipping company…I'm sure he can give you a lift…' The man replied, waving his hand toward a ship on the opposite end on the docks.
They nodded their thanks and started off toward the ship. 'Well about time we got a lead…' Will gasped; exasperated by the amount of time it took them to find this lead.
Sora just shrugged. 'As long as we find him…' Sora thought, looking up at the sky.
A figure in a black robe followed them discreetly, hiding behind objects as it made its way forward. It made no sound as it walked, watching Sora and Will barter their way onto a ship heading in the direction of the Pearl. The figure, upon seeing that they were leaving, disappeared into a corridor of darkness, tendrils of darkness licking the hem of the cloak as they walked through the threshold.
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Riku sighed in his box as he tapped his finger on the side of the box, his finger sticking out of the hole that they used to serve him food. Elizabeth sat on the far side of her cell so that the men in the cell next to her didn't touch her. They heard shouting coming from the stairwell, followed by a man's voice saying 'Enough! I am still a man of station!'
The Governor quickly descended the stairs and walked over to Elizabeth's cell. He unlocked it and opened it, frowning. 'Come…we don't have much time…' He murmured.
Riku banged on his box. 'Uh, hello? Can I get some help, too?' He shouted, his box jostling so much that it fell to its side.
The Governor frowned indignantly, but he got the guards attention.
XXX
Elizabeth was in a bad mood after discovering that her father wasn't putting his faith in Will and Jack. He was sending her to England, where she would be safe. Riku sat on the other side of the carriage, frowning. The carriage came to an abrupt stop.
Governor Swan got off his carriage and walked onto the dock toward a man at the end. 'Captain?' He asked before the man fell over. Mercer stood there, wiping blood off the knife he had used.
'Hello there…' He greeted the man of the state. He gestured to the Captain. 'Shame that…' He pulled out an envelope. 'He had these in his jacket…they're from you…'
Governor Swan couldn't believe what he was seeing, taking steps back before going to the carriage. But he was too late. Soldiers had come and surrounded the carriage, a couple coming to restrain him. 'What are you doing?!' He yelled as Mercer came and opened the door to the small cab.
'…Where are they?!' Mercer asked the governor.
XXX
'I didn't think you would be one to…sneak off…' Riku mumbled as he followed Elizabeth.
She only nodded before looking up at the docks. She didn't know what to do. She knew she was going to Tortuga, but she didn't know what ship she should take. She muttered to herself as Riku came to a crouch next to her. '…So…what's the plan?' He asked.
'…We have to get to Tortuga…' She answered, frowning. Riku's hand came over her shoulder as he pointed.
'Then we should just pick a ship…' He replied, his finger pointing at a merchant ship.
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A hooded figure stepped out of a Corridor of Darkness, walking down the docks of Tortuga. They stopped in front of a man, who looked up from what he was doing. The figure grabbed his throat, lifting him up. 'A boy with spiky brown hair came to you, asking something…where did he go?' asked a female voice.
The man gasped as he tried to breath before replying. 'He…went to…find…Jack…Sparrow…' He answered through gasps.
The woman dropped him to the docks, his voice coming up to her in coughs as she smiled under her hood. '…Jack Sparrow…now I know who to find…' She muttered before walking off the docks. She disappeared into a Corridor of Darkness.
Only one person saw her. It was another figure in a black robe, which also disappeared into a Corridor of Darkness after she left.
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'Now, as I was saying…' said a shadowed figure five seats down from where Kyle used to sit, who was explaining something to the number V.
A corridor of darkness opened, revealing a shadowed woman. 'Sorry I'm late, Number I…I was collecting Intel…' She said as she took her seat.
'That is quite alright, Tesla…' A deep male's voice sounded from the seat next to Matt's.
The blond appeared in a flurry of dark tendrils, bowed to his superior next to him, and then took his seat. One by one, each member of the Darkness appeared and took their seats, each so immensely darkness, but all of them sharing one bond.
'Now…down to business…' Number I murmured as the table started reflecting light, creating an image.
Kairi appeared on the table for all the members to look at. 'We must finalize our plan in capturing the Princess of Heart…' Number I's head turned to Matt. '…Did you convince him, Matt?'
'No…in fact, he was so opposed by the idea, he almost had my head carved off by his first mate…' Matt replied, receiving a chuckle from a couple of members.
Number I's head tilted downward. '…That's…too bad…' He muttered, looking to the Number IV. '…He would've been a valuable ally...Number IV!'
Tesla stood. 'Sadly, the only Intel I could gather is that Sora searches for a man named Jack Sparrow…who is, in fact, an enemy of…' After a look from Matt, Tesla changed what she was going to say. 'Our friend…'
'And that's all the Intel we need…we already know that Kairi is not in the company of the Chosen One…' A young girl's voice replied from next to the empty seat of Number VII. 'We should take her now!'
'Patience, my child…' Said a seductive female's voice from Number I's other side. 'She is in the company of Kyle Stridehart…as long as she is with someone, be they man, beast or Halfling…We are at risk of playing our cards too early…'
'According to my calculations…' A young man's voice put in from next to woman. 'If we try to take her now, one of us will surely die, although the higher the number, the less of a chance we are of fading into the darkness…'
Number I's head leaned back, as if thinking. '…We will put capturing Kairi on hold, for now…however…our 'friend' rejecting us is a setback…' He looked up. '…If he will not join us…then we must kill him…The Flying Dutchman will be mine…'
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The Black Pearl sat moored on an island. Sora's sea blue eyes watched it from the ship that was passing by, a determined look on his face. 'I'll get back to you, Kairi…I promise…' He thought as a group of men started lowering a rowboat.
Will started descending the ladder until he saw that Sora wasn't moving. 'Sora! Are you coming?'
The Keyblader blinked and shook himself from his thoughts before walking over to the ladder and flying down it, coming into a sitting position on the boat. Will nodded and sat down as well, the man that was coming with them rowing the boat away from the ship. He yelled at the ship hands in a different language, who all shouted back and dropped anchor.
ZZZ
As they were coming up to the beach, the man stopped rowing and said something to Sora in a different language. Will frowned and looked at the beach. '…Can't you take us all the way?' He asked.
The man shook his head and replied in his native tongue, pointing at the two of them, then the island, then back at his ship. Will nodded, rolling up his sleeves. 'Thank you…'
'Good luck…' The man replied in perfect English.
Sora fingered his hair before sighing and standing up, rolling up his sleeves as well. He and Will then dived into the water, making a break for the island. The man in the boat started rowing back to the ship, but not before something large and dark-colored swam beneath his rowboat. He yelped, looking down, only to see the ocean floor. He shrugged and continued rowing as the large creature kept swimming toward the island.
XXX
Will and Sora stumbled onto the beach, gasping for breath as they looked up at the massive Pearl. Will cupped his hands around his mouth. '…JACK!' He yelled, making Sora yelp and start, who had been squeezing the water out of his hair.
'Jeez…no need to y-' Sora started to say before Will shouted again, trying to get the crew's attention.
Sora started to say something else before hearing a parrot caw. He looked behind him at the tree line to see a parrot. '…Mr. Cotton's Parrot…?' Sora asked as he walked up to the parrot
Will looked over to see Sora examining the parrot. He quickly came over, smiling and greeting the bird. 'Well, Cotton's Parrot…I suppose not all is lost then…'
'Rah! Don't eat me…' Replied the parrot, stretching its wings out in an attempt to scare them, or so they thought.
Sora raised an eyebrow before saying, '…We're…not gonna eat you…' 'Rah! Don't eat me…Don't eat me, rah!'
Sora and Will looked at each other before walking further into the forest, Cotton's Parrot crowing pleas to not eat him. Sora kept his eyes open, frowning as he examined his surroundings. 'Sora!'
He turned around so fast, he almost fell over. Will was beckoning the Keyblader over to him, so he swiftly complied. Will held up a small leather flask. 'Mr. Gibbs…' Sora murmured, and Will nodded.
Sora took the flask out of Will's hands and examined it before finding a string tied to it. '…What the…?' He muttered before slowly following the trail of string. Will slowly drew his sword, being wary as Sora followed the lead.
It stopped at a bush, the string draped over a leaf. Sora frowned, plucking the end of the string from the plant. Will was looking around before frowning. He didn't have a good feeling, so he took a step back. He looked down and saw an 'x' on the ground. '…Damn!' He yelled before something caught his leg and dragged him into the air. He almost dropped his sword, but managed to keep a hold on it.
Sora turned to see Will dangling from a tree and started running over to help, but then fell over, knocked out. A dart stuck out of his neck at an angle that told Will that the person who shot it fired from behind. Will looked behind Sora to see a man in a loin cloth, who yelled. Dozens of them flooded from the forest, all of them wielding spears. Will waved his sword around to keep them back, trying to seem courageous. The natives just looked at each other before one of them shot him in the neck with a dart. Will went limp, blacking out.
ZZZ
Sora's eyes opened a minute after he fell unconscious, but his eyes were yellow and his hair appeared to have been dyed black. He slowly got up, to the natives surprise. He held out his hand, light coalescing in his palm before 3 darts in quick succession hit him square in the back. Sora's now stark yellow eyes rolled into the back of his head and he dropped like a sack of potatoes, his arms and legs twitching every so often. The Natives tied them each to a separate bamboo beam and started carrying them deeper into the forest.
ZZZ
Will opened his eyes to find himself being carried. He looked around him, seeing natives everywhere, before seeing Sora tied up like him on a separate beam, only his hair was dyed black. 'What is going on?' He thought as they carried him into a…what can only be described as a 'Town Square'.
And on throne, perched close to a cliff, was none other than Captain Jack Sparrow. Will raised an eyebrow as his eyes widened. 'Jack!' He exclaimed as Jack stepped from his throne toward his two companions.
He poked Will in the ribs as Will said, 'I'm so glad to see you! Elizabeth is in jail, and I'm condemned, only because we helped you escape!'
Jack blinked only once before turning to the man who had led the other natives. He spoke in a gnarly language, and the man responded. Jack looked back down at Will and started to walk away. 'Jack, you're the only one who can help us! All I want is your compass, or Elizabeth dies!' Jack stopped and looked back at Will. 'She faces the Gallows!'
Jack seemed to ponder it for a moment before turning to the man and saying something to him, slowly walking so he was standing next to Will. The man repeated what Jack said, much to the other native's pleasure.
Then Jack did the one thing that Will wasn't expecting. He leaned down, looked Will in the eye and whispered, 'Save me!' before standing straight and walking over to his throne to take a seat.
ZZZ
Will banged against the wooden bars of his spherical prison, which hung a good half a mile in the middle of a crevice. Mr. Gibbs sighed, leaning against the sphere. 'How tough are these things?!' Sora asked, who was now awake and his hair back to normal.
'Take a guess…but know that these weren't built until AFTER we got here…' Mr. Gibbs replied.
Will frowned and looked at Mr. Gibbs. 'Who are these people and how come Jack seems to be in charge?'
Mr. Gibbs took in a breath sharply and nodded, smiling. '…These are a group of people I can only describe as a tribe named Cannabis, and they believe that Jack is their patron god in human form…'
Sora frowned. '…Looks like they were celebrating…' He mumbled, drums starting to beat in the background.
'Ah, but they are doing anything but…' Mr. Gibbs replied. '…They intend to release Jack from his fleshy prison…when those drums stop, then Jack ceases to be…'
Will frowned and then smiled, getting an idea. 'Alright, c'mon…we're getting out of here…' He stated as if it was a fact and started leaning back and forth in the prison.
Everyone in the prison looked at each other, then shrugged and started copying him. Soon their prison started swinging back and forth in the canyon, slowly getting closer to the wall. Pirates in a prison much like their own started copying them until both groups had gotten a hand hold on the wall. 'Climb you fools, climb!' Yelled Mr. Gibbs before everyone started climbing the vines.
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Kyle kept a protective hold on Kairi as they walked slowly through the bustling pirate town of Tortuga. It was difficult to keep an eye on every single pirate that walked past. Some sneaked up behind them, only to be swatted away by Kairi. Kyle scared off the rest with his jet-black sword. Kyle watched Kairi's back as she asked the women they come across if they had seen a spiky, brown haired boy. Sora stood out, so of course he was seen. The directions they got from the women, including one that was in a bad mood for some reason, led them BACK to the docks.
'So…we just went around in a circle?!' Kairi asked, slumping when they had got out of the slum filled town and onto the relatively clean docks.
Kyle shrugged, looking around. He saw a man tying up some fish nets and walked up to him. 'Hey…have you seen a kid with spiky brown hair, about this tall and wearing weird clothes?' He asked the man, who looked up at the boy.
He seemed to think about it and nodded. 'Yes…I do believe I've seen him…he's looking for the Pearl, no?'
Kairi looked up, smiling. The man nodded again. 'I see…well, he has probably found it by now, but I would recommend waiting here for him…'
Kyle raised an eyebrow. '…Why wait, when we can go get him…?'
'Because I don't think the young lass here would appreciate being eaten…' the fisherman replied calmly, trussing up his fish net. 'Cannabis Island is its name…and it's filled to the brim with a tribe called…the Cannabis…'
Kairi raised an eyebrow, not understanding, but Kyle nodded, frowning deeply. 'Well…that can't be good…' He muttered before nodding to the man, flipping a coin into his hand and walking over to Kairi. 'He'll end up here sooner or later…but if he's not here within the next two days, I'll go get him…'
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After figuring out that the Pearl only needed a crew of 5 or 6, the two groups raced each other to the top. The group in the sphere closest to the bridge, filled with men in dark robes and turbans, were faster than the ragtag crew of the Pearl. Will looked up and paled, telling everyone to stop. 'Guard…'
A native was walking across the bridge, spear in hand. This was the third patrol to cross the bridge, and all the bustling movement of the ceremony was making everyone nervous. The other group started climbing again, although slowly. Will started waving at them to stop, and they just laughed and waved. Then the leader of the group grabbed a snake. The entire prison started freaking, and only a couple had the nerve to keep their handholds. But a couple wasn't enough. The vines ripped from the rock and started to fall. The native walking across the bridge, away from the village, noticed the screams and saw the falling prison. It snapped as it reached the end of its line, the line breaking, sending them down into the abyss. Mr. Gibbs looked away.
The native noticed that there was only one cage and looked around until it found them on the wall. '…Uh oh…' Sora mumbled as the native started running toward the village.
'START CLIMBING!' Will shouted, and everyone resumed their climb, having no more reasons to dawdle.
ZZZ
Jack sat on his throne, nibbling on the toes on his necklace as the natives built the fire he was to be cooked on. Then a native, the same one that saw Will and the crew climbing the wall, came in, shouting something in their language. Everyone froze then looked to Jack. Jack looked flustered then said, 'Well, what are you waiting for? Go get them!'
The village roared with approval as everyone gathered their weapons to go get the prisoners. Jack waited until their voices faded away before nodding. He took this chance to start getting away.
ZZZ
The crew, having reached the top, picked the cage up and ran with it as the natives started chasing them, throwing spears and shooting arrows and darts. Surprisingly, no one was hit. Then they hit a slope. Everyone tripped up and the cage started rolling down the hill, the natives close behind. Sora had enough sense to whip out his Keyblade and point it in the general direction of the natives. Waiting until the opportune moment, when he knew his keyblade was pointed in their direction, he casted his spell.
'Stopga!'
The entire group of natives froze in place, a tiny clock above the group, counting down the time they stood, frozen. The crew's victory was short lived as they rolled into a ravine with a river at the bottom. Their prison broke as they hit the water, and they started swimming. The natives had un-froze by now and chased them to the ravine, throwing their spears and shooting arrows. Everyone swam away, finding their way to the coast using the river.
Everyone dashed to the Pearl, which Ragetti and Pintel had already tried to steal. 'Ah, we knew you were going to come! We got it ready-' Pintel started.
'Good, our work is half done!' Mr. Gibbs said before ordering the crew to cast off.
'Wait, what about Jack?' Will asked, getting Gibbs' attention. 'I can't leave without him.'
'Will!' Hearing his name, Will turned to Sora, who was pointing. '…Look!'
Everyone looked to see Jack running around the corner of the forest, sprinting as fast as he could toward them. 'Ah, there he i-' Will started before the group of natives came around the corner as well, chasing their 'god'. 'Never mind, let's go!' Will said, jumping onto the rope ladder that hung off the side.
The Pearl was almost too far outbefore Jack reached it, and he hopped on before it did. The natives shouted at him, some crying, waving for him to come back.
'Give praise, my children, for this is the day that you almost-' Jack started, but he was interrupted by a wave smacking him in the face. '…Captain Jack Sparrow…'
A/N – I apologize for the long wait on the chapter…due to personal problems, writer's block, time restrictions and the other odd things that occur in my life, I just never had time for this…
But…that's all over, now that the chapter is finished! *does a dance*
This chapter is actually longer than most, due to all the stuff that happened between Sora and Will leaving Port Royal and Jack escaping from Cannibal Island…
Reviews are appreciated. Compliments already accepted in advance. And thanks are not needed, as you will probably be addicted by now. ^^
This is…by far…my longest chapter…EVER But, I suppose that'll make up for the (almost) year wait…at least… . I think it's a year…
REVIEWS!
DaniPotterLovesGod – Yes…Ed was a spy for Maleficent. It was said in chapter 6 or 7…can't remember right now.
Bearybeary – Yea…isn't it fun to ALMOST get eaten?
