FINAL WARNING: MAJOR DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES SPOILERS
Five years later….
Captain Jack Sparrow may have had a little too much rum. Drinking far too much had become something of a habit for the infamous pirate, so a little too much was really an improvement. Besides, after witnessing his once enemy turn ally die saving his daughter, Jack Sparrow felt he deserved to get black-out drunk. If it could make him forget.
Then there were the strange dreams. Late at night, when the night was the darkest and quietest, Captain Jack Sparrow would dream of his cabin door slowly opening. An eerily familiar set of heavy boots would stomp their way to the edge of his bed. The room would suddenly fill with the smell of fish and saltwater.
But when he looked, Jack would see no one else but sometimes found tiny barnacles and seashells.
"Jackie."
He stopped, turning around. Jack heard his father's voice, he was sure of it, but the man was nowhere to be found. "Too much rum mate," he told himself as he turned. He kept an over over his shoulder as he took a step…
…right onto a cat's tail.
The sudden shriek startled the drunk pirate. He jumped, but then lost his balance and fell off the docks. To anyone watching, he simply vanished, furthering the myth of Captain Jack Sparrow.
Not to the person whose boat Jack had fallen into.
Abigail grabbed a musket and pointed straight at the intruder. "You. Up."
Jack Sparrow looked up at the young woman. She was dressed in the normal sailor clothes and may have been overlooked, if he didn't recognize the chest she stood in front of. "Where did you get that?"
"Oh it's you," Abigail sighed, lowering the musket. "Finally. I've been looking for you."
"Looking for me?" Jack asked, looking back at the young pirate. Then it was his turn to sigh. "He told you then?"
Abigail nodded, watching as the man she now knew was her father suddenly sat on the bench behind him. After a moment of watching in stunned silence, she carefully placed the musket on the already messy floor and took the few steps to the man, sitting on a small crate in front of him. "Captain?"
Captain Jack Sparrow lowered his head, looking down at the floor. "Was it quick?" he asked quietly. "His death?"
The young woman's eyes drifted down to the cluttered floor. "I think so. Shipwreck Cove was compromised since the battle," Abigail explained as calmly as she could. Truthfully, she hasn't talked about the infamous man's death to anyone, besides the cat. It was hard for her to deal with the memory of the explosion. It was much harder to see another person's reaction to it. Her fingers curled into shaky fists at her sides as she spoke. "It's all gone. Captain Edward Teague died to ensure the Code was protected."
They sat in silence, listening to the sounds of the sea and the nearby town. Jack's eyes followed from his boots to the tips of hers, then up to her face. It was strange to think it, but deep down he was grateful that she didn't look too much like him. Especially that she had her mother's light hair.
Her mother was beauty, though not very bright. When he was younger, Jack Sparrow enjoyed watching her, and fantasizing about her. Unfortunately, they couldn't carry an interesting conversation. It was too frustrating sometimes. Some nights Jack felt he spent more time explaining his stories than actually telling it, and she may still be lost. Eventually, they'd just drink and make love every so often before he left her at some inn far from Shipwreck Cove. Then Jack became a captain and, with so many engaging women interested in him, he stopped flirting with the pretty maid at Shipwreck Cove.
The last time he saw Martha Bakers was the night after the battle. It was late and he probably had too much to drink during all of the celebrating. The only thing he could remember after being lectured by Captain Teague (apparently, the older man did not allow him to flirt with women on his dinner table), was taking the woman in his childhood bedroom. "Lady Victory," was his name for her that night, which she did not understand but simply went along with.
It was about two years after this that Captain Jack Sparrow received a letter about Abigail from his father.
"Martha," Jack mumbled with sudden understanding as he looked toward the dock at the huge black fluff that was supposed to be a cat. "You named the cat after your mum."
"How do you know her name?"
Captain Sparrow's eyes slid to his daughter. "We met."
It was late at night, years ago. Captain Jack Sparrow stumbled into Shipwreck Cove from the storm with a sack tossed over his shoulder. He knew damned well that Captain Edward Teague didn't take too well to surprises, especially at this time, but he hoped some tobacco might help.
The infamous Pirate Captain didn't hear it coming, but could feel that he was being watched. That something, somewhere, in the damp dark cavern he was raised in was preparing to pounce.
Earlier that day, he heard stories of a great monster that stalks in the dark on the island. A monster with glowing eyes and silent paws that are stained with human blood. This wasn't the first time that story had gone around; Jack Sparrow grew up hearing stories like that circulate. However, this was the first time that it seemed the rumor could have some truth to it.
Jack was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he didn't notice the puddle under the leaky roof. It only took one step for him to slip and fall on the floor. Then, it happened.
The monster appeared.
Captain Jack Sparrow froze as the thing climbed onto his chest and laid there, staring at him with glowing gold eyes. It was huge and heavy, with lots of black fur that blended with the darkness around them. It was nearly impossible to tell where all of that fur ended, until a light came around the corner.
Captain Edward Teague chuckled at the sight. "You can pet her, Jackie. She doesn't bite."
"Pet it?" Jack asked in disbelief, still staring at the huge face before him. Then he noticed the details. The tiny nose, long whiskers, pointed ears on top of the head hidden before fur. The paws tucked under it's chest.
"Martha likes being pet," Captain Edward Teague replied, kneeling on the next to them to pet the Great Monster of Shipwreck Cove. In response, she turned and leaned into his hand, purring loudly.
Laying on top of Captain Jack Sparrow was the largest cat he'd never seen.
Jack looked up at the sail. "I know that sail."
Abigail stared at her father in amazement as he stood. "You do?"
Touching the sail, Captain Jack Sparrow smiled. "I once sailed on a ship with sails like this."
"Was the Fleur as grand a ship as they say?" Abigail asked as she stood. "I only saw her as a wreck scattered across the beach. Only the sails could be saved." She decided as she watched her father affectionately stroke the light blue sail to not say that she had repurposed the plank with part of the ship's name…as a cutting board. She also decided not to mention how much of the rest of the shipwreck was burned for Captain Teague's birthday celebration that year.
That was one of her favorite memories of home. The celebration of the Keeper of the Code's birthday was always an big event, and surviving the serious of storms that wrecked dozens of ships that year apparently intensified it. Everyone seemed to have turned out for the huge bonfire on the nearby beach. Abigail could remember walking with Captain Teague as they walked around, greeting people. "No better escort than a pretty woman!" Edward Teague proclaimed with a chuckle as he threw his arm over the teenager's shoulders.
Suddenly, Abigail felt a familiar weight on her shoulders.
Captain Jack Sparrow used his arm around his daughter to slowly turn her. "That, my dear Abigail, is a grand ship," he stated proudly. He couldn't help smirking when he saw Abigail's jaw drop from the corner of his eye. The Black Pearl sat just diagonal from them at the next dock over. She sparkled in the moonlight, rocking gently in the calm harbor. "Mind walking with me?"
Later that night, Mr. Gibbs noticed that there were lights in the Captain's Cabin. His chest heaved as he sighed. Captain Hector Barbossa's death had been a shock to many onboard the Black Pearl, especially to Captain Jack Sparrow. Despite how hard he tried to hide it, Mr. Gibbs knew that Jack was struggling with the loss of something like a good friend. Some nights, he would walk in and find the captain pacing, other nights he would sit there in total silence with Jack the Monkey on his shoulder. One particularly memorable night, Mr. Gibbs walked in to find Jack reading to the monkey.
As much as he hated to admit it, Mr. Gibbs wished that it was as easy for Jack to cope as it was after Isla de Muerta.
"Everything alright, Captain?" Mr. Gibbs asked as he walked in. He stopped when his eyes fell on the object laying open on the table. "Mother's love, Jack! Is that-"
"The Piratea Codex," Captain Sparrow confirmed, not looking away from the open page. He stared down at the list of names on the fairly clean paper. This was one of the few pages that wasn't looked at too often, as the information on it was very obvious. It was a brief list of all of the Keepers of the Code, with nearly every paragraph crossed out in a dark color. The paragraph held Captain Jack Sparrow's attention like a hypnotic snake. This was the only one not crossed out.
Edward Teague
Captain of the Misty Lady Troubadour
Pirate Lord of Madagascar
Lord of Shipwreck Island
"How did you…?"
"My daughter was kind enough to rescue it from the Navy," Jack stated casually, petting Jack the Monkey, who just jumped onto his shoulder. Everybody noticed that the monkey was much more clingy with Captain Sparrow, though no one mentioned it.
"Your daughter? Of course it was your daughter!" Mr. Gibbs threw his hands up in exasperation. "Everybody's got kids now."
"I hear it tends to happen," Abigail stated as she walked in past Mr. Gibbs. She carried a basket holding two cutlasses and a loaf of bread. "To be frank, you adopting Captain Sparrow's what's strange here."
"You don't have to call me Captain, Abby." Jack stated.
Abigail mouthed the word 'dad', and cringed a little. "No. Sorry sir. Can't yet."
Mr. Gibbs smiled. Of course the one person who Jack didn't want calling him by his title insisted on using it. It was likely by the look on her face that it will take some time to transition out of it, if she ever did. This was going to make life onboard the Black Pearl that much more interesting.
"I'd watch your next step, if I were you," Jack said to Mr. Gibbs, gesturing toward the floor.
Mr. Gibbs looked down and saw Martha. This was the biggest cat he'd never seen. The older sailor never cared for cats as they were supposed to be very bad luck, and he quickly decided that he especially did not trust the one currently staring at him with huge glowing eyes. "Captain, mind if I point out that cats are…."
Both Jack and Abigail narrowed their matching eyes at Mr. Gibbs. Sometimes, if he came in at a bad time-which seemed to be happening more often as the Captain aged, this was the look Jack shot at him. It was startling to see such a similar look on two different faces, especially when it resembled a third so much. It was at this moment Mr. Gibbs decided that this expression, along with the increasing irritability, must be passed down through the blood from Teague's family.
Which brought up another important point.
"Captain, is there any particular reason why Captain Teague's not here with the Code?"
Jack Sparrow froze for a moment, seeming to suddenly lose the ability to speak. It was too soon for him to say the words. The pirate captain knew that he would eventually be asked, but was hoping to be a little more drunk so the words might slip out easier.
Abigail looked down at the basket as he quietly set it on the table. The candlelight's flickering reflections danced on the trim of the twin cutlasses' scabbards. These were no ordinary cutlasses. They were known to have been passed down through the Teague family, along with the title Keeper of the Code, for generations. Decades ago, when he was a much more active pirate, Captain Edward Teague used those blades and was almost always seen with them. Mr. Gibbs remembered overhearing the older man promising to eventually pass them down to Jack, "when you're ready or I'm dead, whichever comes first. Savvy?"
Mr. Gibbs hoped he was also ready.
After a quiet moment, Captain Jack Sparrow pulled a cutlass just a little out of the scabbard, enough to expose part of the blade. He hesitated before pressing a finger against the edge. Then he used the blood from that finger to cross out the paragraph he'd been staring out. His father's paragraph.
"Now comes the hard part," Abigail mumbled, tearing off a piece of bread. The young woman then ripped a small piece of her portion and gave it to Jack the Monkey. "Captain Sparrow, I've done you a favor. Now I need your help."
Somehow, Jack knew this was coming. "Depends. What is it?"
"I'm looking for the Flying Dutchman."
The cat memory was actually going to be a short story for Fun Times of the Caribbean, but then Martha somehow wandered into here. Trust me: Martha the cat is a very important character later on. Probably much later on.
Next chapter coming next week.