Disclaimer: I do not own POTC or any of its characters. I only claim the characters and story I create amongst these chapters.

A/N: There is one word here that is once again from the Timicuan language. It is translated directly after it is said.

Please read and review.

Thanks!

Tinkerbellxo

Chapter Eleven

The Aftermath

Jack's opponent leaned over the ailing captain's body, a cynical laugh slipping from his lips as he saw Jack writhe in pain beneath him. But it would be Jack that would have the last laugh. In a final attempt to rally his crew and save his ship, Jack invested all of his remaining energy and swung his sword, cutting the man's left arm off, then his right.

Ibini stood in shock when she saw Jack crumble to the deck, but when she witnessed his act of bravery, she knew she must continue what he had started. She quickly returned her attention to her opponent who now sneered in premature victory, confident that with the captain down, the rest of his crew would falter. She wiped the sly smile from his face when she brought up her sword and with ungodly speed, copied Jack's moves, chopping both of the man's arms off. He felt no pain but knew that he could no longer fight, nor could he swing back over to his ship or swim. Like a chicken with its head cut off, he flailed around the deck, unsure of what to do and where to go.

His antics alerted the crew to what both Jack and Ibini had done and they understood that maybe they couldn't kill their enemy, but they could disable them. Almost in unison, arms and heads of the opposing crew members fell to the deck and with that, the battle was won. The few that had been left back on the rival ship started to set sail, hoping to escape the Pearl's wrath. Gibbs decided not to pursue them and assigned several of his men to throw the body stubs over board. Ibini cringed as she heard their pleas for help right up until they hit the surface and sunk into the blue marble waters of the gulf.

Meanwhile, Gibbs, Cotton, Pintel and Ragetti brought their captain into his cabin and laid him out on his bed. They were upset and did not know if there was anything they could do to make their leader more comfortable. With such a deep wound, along with its perilous location, they knew Jack Sparrow was a goner. A man should have his privacy in his final moments of life, they all thought. Grief stronger than a ship caught in a fierce storm overpowered the men.

Ibini knew what had to be done. She stepped over severed body parts as she made her way to the cabin. As she entered, she was intercepted by Ragetti.

"Miss, I think it'd be best you stay out on deck," he said gently to her. She could see the tears welling in his eyes.

She put her hand on his shoulder soothingly and walked around him to Jack's bedside. He laid their half-conscious and moaning in agony.

"He's lost a lot of blood, Miss," Gibbs said in almost a whisper.

She didn't say anything; she only began to roll up her sleeve. It wasn't until then that Pintel noticed the knife sticking straight out of Ibini's stomach.

"You're bleeding!" he said pointing at her, his entire arm shaking in astonishment.

"Oh," she flushed red as she pulled the knife from her middle.

But to the crew's dismay, she did not appear to be in any pain. They began to question her but she ignored them and returned to her work. She finished rolling up her sleeve and took the knife in her right hand. She sliced the tender skin of her left wrist, just like she had done in her rituals every night, and brought the bleeding arm over Jack's mouth.

She leaned over to his ear and whispered, "Ucu, drink."

His heavy-lidded eyes looked at her suspiciously and she grew impatient, "Trust me."

When that didn't convince him she continued, "It will save your life."

Realizing there was nothing else that could be done, he finally obeyed her and latched onto the broken skin. Feeling his hot mouth on her arm, her eyes became a dark shade of red and those surrounding the two of them paled in fright.

As he drank her in, the color began to return to his face and he felt strength building in his soul. His eyes opened wide, full of life, and he released her arm. He licked his lips, the sweet metal taste of her life juice still lingering on them.

He sat up and opened his shirt. The ugly wound that had threatened his life moments earlier was completely healed, not even a scar to mark its place. He looked up at Ibini with a crazed expression on his face, now noticing the crimson hue of her usually ocean-blue orbs.

Ibini knew that everyone in the room was focused on her, and it wasn't because they were grateful to her for saving Jack's life.

Jack felt fear rip through his body. He should be dead. This wouldn't be the first time someone had brought him back from the edge, but none the less, he found himself in mortal fear of this mysterious woman.

A thousand questions flooded his mind.

Who is she?

How did she get to Cuba?

Where did she come from?

How did she survive a knife to the gut?

What happened to her eyes?

But the most important thought that crossed his mind: How did her blood save my life?

However, he did not ask any of these questions. He looked at Gibbs and announced what would be her fate for the night.

"Take her to the brig."

A/N: Special thanks to Sirenne Claire and laurentaylor14 for their reviews. I do hope there are others still reading this story although I've been told I can be a bit tough on my characters (and the readers). I just love creating a story where there is conflict. That's what the original POTC films have along with mystery, action and suspense. With this story, I'm not creating just another Jack/OC romance; I'm trying to add to the POTC adventures.

Also, I know what you all might be thinking at the end of this story: Ibini is a vampire and now Jack is too! The short answer to that would be NO and I'm answering it in the author notes because of the long answer which you can find below if you care to read on.

Sure, there were myths at the time of POTC about beings that would feed on human blood to restore beauty (Countess Bathory of the 1600s anyone? Although she mostly bathed in blood.) or even to improve their health. But while we have a fascination with vampires (Twilight, True Blood, Vampire Diaries and so on . . .), people did not have them so readily on the brain. It was at this time in history when hysteria was just breaking out in southeastern Europe as a way to explain mysterious deaths. The "craze" did not reach England (or its colonies) until later that century.

Therefore it would not even enter into the mind of these mostly English pirates that Ibini would be blood-sucking vampiress. And Ibini would not know what a vampire was either unless she had spent time in Serbia, Hungary or Prussia. And that's that.

Once again, thanks for reading and please review!

Tinkerbellxo