chapter 25

"Jewel!" Snap!

"Ah!" Jewel said before Jack shushed her.

"What's wrong with you luv?" he asked

"Nothing." she replied

"Liar." he stated flatly

"It's that Silver woman. There's something about her. I don't trust her one bit." Jewel replied

"Interesting problem, but now, can we focus for a moment?" he said

"How odd, I'm the one who usually makes you focus." She said with a smirk. Jack elbowed her lightly, a smirk on his face as well. The two stood at a railing on the starboard side of the ship, looking at the deck, at the crew. Luckily, thanks to Jack, they all agreed to the idea of a more experienced captain sailing their ship.

Their current captain, an old man by the name of Mister Archibald Markovich, couldn't tell port from starboard. He only wanted the tempus because he had read about it, but overall had not a single bit of sailing experience. Rumor had it he did work in the royal guard, but he was always afraid of sailing because of monsters that might linger in the water. Once he heard news of a certain dead beast, he started sending out letters to get his affairs in order to find the magic time piece.

The Sparrow's watched him standing on the quarterdeck in front of the helm. His clothes looked all hand stitched, and brand new, as if they were made just for this journey just for him. Must be overcompensating for his lack of naval knowledge.

"When did you say the mutiny was going to happen?" Jewel whispered

"At nine bells, exactly." Jack said Jewel glanced at the crew. She noticed all of them were armed. Majority had their weapons in hand, ready for the mutiny. She couldn't spot Silver though. Somebody started ringing the ship's bell.

Dong!

The men started tensing up.

Dong!

They froze in their places, listening to the bell.

Dong!

Some were getting fidgety, jerking their heads to nervously glance around them.

Dong!

Only a few were getting ready.

Dong!

They stretched their arms and rolled their shoulders back.

Dong!

Jack pushed himself away from the railing and drew his sword.

Dong!

Jewel heard a whistle from above and saw Silver in the crow's nest.

Dong!

"That's nine bells and all's well! Right men?" Markovich called out.

"No sir." Jack said walking up to him. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but most of the crew are not fond of your sailing methods. And we would prefer if you step down honorably before things were to get messy." Markovich sneered at Jack with pure hatred radiating off of him.

"So... This is what you call a mutiny then, eh?" he asked. Men from below deck wandered up and pulled out their weapons, facing the crew of mutineers. They all took a few steps back, readying themselves.

"You really are new at this, aren't you?" Jack asked

"Granted, I did hire a bunch of ragamuffins from the scum island Tortuga, but I also bought the best crew money could buy. I believe it helps even things out quite nicely. It was a suggestion from one of my superiors to have both tough pirates and obedient soldiers on my crew, so the soldiers can keep the pirates in line, and convert them into being soldiers as well." Markovich said

"Mad as a hatter he is." Jewel said. Markovich whistled and his soldiers began their attack. Nobody was prepared for it. They couldn't have been. The soldiers were hiding amongst the crew, acting as more of a private guard, watching over them like hawks stalking their prey.

Jewel held her own against a man twice her size. Although that fact was short-lived. The man was skilled and light on his feet, swinging his sword with the skills of an expert fencer, doing his very best to remove Jewel's head from her shoulders. She ducked under a blow and climbed up the ratlines until she was in thescented of them. It was chaos on deck with every man fighting all of the soldiers, Jack included, but Markovich was just fine. Nobody was fighting against him. He just was watching everything below him, a smile on his face.

There was a sharp jerk on the ropes. Jewel yelped and hung on tighter, looking below her. The man she was fighting was coming up after her. Considering he had the best position in a fight on the ratlines, Jewel decided to go all the way up to the top, to the crow's nest.

... The crow's nest where Silver was hiding! With that realization in mind, she hurried all the faster and climbed into the nest. But it was empty.

"What? But... But how?" she asked, climbing back out, balancing herself on the yardarm. Then, she spotted Silver below her, fighting along with the crew.

"Get back here pirate!" the man yelled. Jewel backed away from the nest, with her arms held out to keep her balance, but she never expected what was going to happen once the man stood up on the yardarm. He raised his sword with one hand and threw it at Jewel. She gasped and leaned to the side to avoid it.

Everything began to happen as if time was slowed down. As she leaned away, Jewel's balance shifted and she started falling down to the deck. Jack spotted Jewel's descent and rushed through the crowd to try catching her.

Oh God oh God what do I do? I can't just die now! Safe on deck, on the deck, on the deck! Behind that bloody captain! Jewel thought with all her might, clenching her eyes shut.

"LUV!" Jack yelled, reaching out to her as she started to become closer to the deck. But then... She vanished.

"Ow!" Jewel said when she landed on her back. Her eyes opened as she sat up, touching her face, her chest, her arms, a smile appearing on her face.

"I'm alive!" she said happily, standing up. Her smile vanished when she noticed she was behind the captain, who was still distracted by the happening's below him. Specifically, he was shocked by the girl who disappeared before she hit the deck.

"Where did that girl go?" he asked. Jewel smirked and ran up behind him, wrapping one arm around him and holding her cutlass up against his chin with the other.

"Right behind you." she said, "Now listen. You seem like a reasonable man, so I will put this to you as easily as you can take it. And this goes to your guards as well!" she raised her voice so all could hear. "This crew would prefer a captain who has sailed these seas before. One mad enough to start this mutiny, but sane enough to know what was best for the whole crew. You Markovich are going to step down gracefully, with your guards stepping back and letting real men sail this ship, or else I'll do what they did to Blackbeard, and cut your head off and hang it off the bowsprit. Do we have an accord?"

"You are a sick an twisted scum of a pirate!" Markovich said, struggling. He stopped once Jewel pressed her blade against his throat, just beneath his adam's-apple.

"And you are an insane and greedy old man who has no idea what a real pirate is like! Now should I kill you, or will you let my father be a captain?" Jewel yelled. Markovich seethed. The young pirate could feel the anger he permeated towards her. She felt him untense.

"Very well." he growled. Jewel let go of him and quickly snatched his sword out of it's sheath.

"This ship is ours!" she yelled, holding up Markovich's sword. The crew cheered. Jack walked up the stairs. And Jewel gave him the sword.

"And this is your new captain. A pirate yes, but one of the best that ever sailed these seas, Captain Jack Sparrow." Jewel announced. Some crew gasped, some cheered.

"Get back to work all of you. Nine bells was almost another bell ago. I want this ship moving." he said. With that, the crew began their routines again. Markovich wandered down on the deck to join them, where he was met by two of his guards who joined him in their search for a job.

But as the crew dispersed, Silver had disappeared once again.