"Bugger," Jack muttered, eyes fixed to a large map he had spread over his cluttered desk. "Well this is unexpected, isn't it?"
"Tis out of season, sir," Gibbs concurred. "But it's a hurricane by my eyes, and there's no mistakin' it."
"So am I understanding correctly?" asked Rose. "We can't proceed forward, lest we die in the eye of a hurricane, and we can't turn backward, lest we die at the hands of the Royal Navy. So…where does that leave us?"
Jack gave an uncomfortable sneer. "Pretty dead, it would appear."
"What if we steer clear of Tripoli altogether?" Gibbs said, pointing to the map south of where Jack had placed a cork off a rum bottle to symbolize the rapidly approaching hurricane. "We explore the West coast of Africa, keep the Commodore on the run, wait a week or more until the storm has fully dissipated before we continue on to Tripoli?"
Jack and Rose exchanged a worried glance. They both knew that Jack didn't have a week of more to spare. They needed Jones's chest, and they couldn't get to that without the key. Jack had to be in Tripoli at once.
"Don't think that'll work, mate," Jack finally said. "There's got to be a way around it surely."
"Beggin' yer pardon, sir," Gibbs hesitantly interjected. "But what on God's green Earth is so important in Tripoli that we have to be there in such haste?"
Rose knew no one but her knew of the dangers Jack faced, so she chimed in with a lie. "Herbs," she said. "There's a…very specific kind of herb I need and I can only get it Tripoli."
Gibbs appeared unconvinced. "And this…herb, you say, is important enough to brave a hurricane?"
Rose's mind raced to find an explanation to satisfy him. "Scurvy," she finally came up with.
"Scurvy?"
"Aye. Unless you want all of the teeth to fall from your skulls, it is vitally important that we get to Tripoli at once."
Gibbs pursed his lips. "We've never had a problem with scurvy before…"
Rose feigned outrage. "Are you implying that I don't know of what I speak?" In truth, Rose knew barely anything about scurvy, so in fact, she didn't know of what she spoke. "Fine, take your chances if you wish, but I for one will be going to Tripoli and will therein keep all of my teeth, thank you."
"Oi," Jack piped up. "Shut it, both of you. Come over here."
Both Gibbs and Rose obeyed, peering over his shoulders at the chart. Jack moved his finger from a spot where the Pearl currently was floating and motioned above and around the cork. "How's about we head North, savvy?"
Gibbs made a low, guttural noise. "That's heavy East India Trading Company territory. We'd land right in the middle of it."
"Wouldn't that make Norrington's job easier, eh?" Rose snorted. Suddenly, she noticed a faint series of lines on the map she hadn't seen before. "Hold on…" she said, pointing to where they were drawn just south of the cork. "What about South? What do these lines mean?"
Jack and Gibbs exchanged an impressed glance. "That, my dear," Jack said, "Would be a current."
"Wouldn't that mean we'd get to Tripoli faster?"
"Aye," said Gibbs. "However, see these?" He pointed to a series of seemingly random specks lining the area around which the lines indicating the current were drawn. "Rocks. Dangerous waters for a ship as big as this."
Jack considered this for a moment. "If we move South, we avoid Company-littered waters, steer clear of the hurricane, could potentially get to our destination faster. However, we could hit a rock and all drown." He paused once again to think this through, then finally announced in a chipper fashion, "Splendid! I say we do it!"
"It means we need men on deck at all times," Gibbs reasoned. "We need to keep an open eye for these rocks, and because of the storm, we're sure to hit rough waters."
"Aye," Jack agreed. He turned his attention to Rose. "That means you're staying indoors, savvy? I don't want a repeat scenario from over a decade ago, eh?"
Rose smiled, remembering how as a young girl onboard the Pearl, she had tried proving her worth to Jack's crew by trying to help them with tasks in the middle of a storm, but instead had been pulled out to open sea. She nodded. "I won't argue with that!"
"Very good," Jack grinned. "Gibbs, make ready to steer Southish, then Eastish."
As Gibbs left, concern written all over his face at the large endeavor ahead of them, Rose couldn't help but feel a little bit of satisfaction at knowing Ben would have to be hard at work during the storm in his sickened condition. After what had just surpassed minutes ago, she felt no remorse whatsoever for him. Serves him right, she thought. Perhaps this was childish, but for the moment, she cared not.
"Shame we can't also lose the Dauntless in this storm," she then said to Jack with disappointment. "I suppose they'll simply follow our lead."
Jack nodded, grabbing his coat to follow Gibbs out to the deck to explain their new heading to the crew. "Eh, can't win 'em all. We sail on, make our way to Tripoli according to plan." Just as he rounded the corridor to leave the room, Rose heard him cry out, "This hurricane might be the best thing that ever happened to us!"
That, as they would come to find out, was a bit of an overstatement. While the hurricane did force the Pearl to redirect on a route that would actually get them to their destination quicker, the storm caused massive rains and rough waters that needed to be minded all times by all able-bodied men on deck. Rose, despite her immense wanting, was not able-bodied due to her night blindness, and so she waited out the treacherous journey alone in Jack's quarters. They endured three full days of this arduous trek, and finally when they escaped its wrath did the men have a chance to regroup and recover from the experience.
It was day. The first sunlight the Pearl had seen in days. Rose awoke to find Jack nearly comatose with exhaustion, clothes still damp from the rain, fast asleep in his chair. She didn't disturb him, and instead changed into her new attire made from the remnants of "The Redhead" facade and going out on deck to help.
Only a few haggard men were awake enough to begins repairs to the ship. Some were retying the sails, some were hammering deck planks back into place. Rose first looked back at the many miles of ocean that they had just traversed, and breathed an immense sigh of release. The Dauntless was nowhere to be found, but their looming threat still remained. Unless the Commodore had been foolish enough to try following them through the storm, the Royal Navy most likely had gone the long way around the hurricane and could possibly be not far behind them once they reached Tripoli.
Rose tried to assuage her worries and began at once picking up loose pieces of broken wood, rope, or sea debris that had been washed on deck and tossing them overboard. Once she had cleared the deck the best that she could, she had a chance to look over the forecastle deck and found a weathered but unscathed Anamaria standing at the wheel, wearing Jack's hat. Rose ascended to the deck and leaned on a nearby railing.
"You look absolutely exhausted," Anamaria said with a sarcastic grin.
Rose rolled her eyes. "Ha ha. Don't think I relished being cooped up in a single room for three days."
She snorted in response. "Be grateful. It was hell out here."
"Any reason why you're wearing my brother's hat?" Rose asked with a wry grin. "You're not planning a mutiny anytime soon, I hope."
"Oh no," Anamaria remarked, taking it off and tossing it to Rose. "Lord knows I don't want to keep that filthy thing. It must have blown off in the storm. I found it once things had subsided, but he had already gone to rest. I was busy at the wheel, and I forgot about it until now."
"I'm sure he'll be missing it. Thank you," Rose replied. Just then, a figure plopped down onto the railing at her side, causing her to start.
No matter how long he'd been there, however long he'd been there…no one really knew when or how… Barbossa's monkey, Jack, who had later been revealed to still have the Aztec curse upon him, would never cease to startle Rose with his sudden appearances.
Rose grinned and patted the mischievous little creature on the head. Then, an idea occurred to her. "Jack, smell," she ordered, holding out the hat beneath his nose so that he could get Jack's scent and the leather of the hat. "Now fetch it!" she cried, tossing the hat across the deck and watching the monkey skitter off to grab it.
Anamaria snorted. "You know that thing is going to yank that hat right off Jack's head one day and send him off in a rage."
Rose grinned. "That's exactly my intent!"
They laughed at the prank until silence descended upon the two women. They stayed that way for awhile until Anamaria shifted. "Here," she said, moving her body to the left but maintaining her grip on the wheel. "Take it."
Rose gawked. "You want me to take the wheel?"
"You just gonna stand there, or will you actually prove your worth, Miss 'Cooped Up For Three Days?'" Anamaria jabbed playfully.
"I…I've never steered a ship before. Not even a dinghy, I'm afraid."
Anamaria was insistent. "No better time to learn!"
Hesitantly, Rose positioned her hands on the pegs Anamaria had been holding just as she let them go. Rose's entire body jolted leftward once the full force of the wheel was shifted from Anamaria's arms to her own, and the ship began to tilt dramatically.
"Careful now," warned Anamaria, who helped Rose regain her balance. "I had us turning starboard. We've passed the rough bits and now are heading Eastward."
"…Directly towards the sunrise," Rose finished, now steady. Her respect for Anamaria grew with every passing moment, as steering a vessel like the Pearl was no small feat.
Anamaria continued to coach Rose through the basics of navigation, and she was eager to soak up any new information. For the better part of an hour, Rose had succeeded in keeping the ship headed directly towards their destination, making easy conversation in the meantime. Something Anamaria said was quick to alarm Rose, however.
"It's best that you learn this now," she had said. "Jack will need someone to cover for me once I'm gone."
"Gone?" Rose asked. "Where are you going?"
Anamaria turned to her. "Jack stole my ship long ago. He promised me the Interceptor in exchange for helping him regain the Pearl. Seeing as how Barbossa ensured that the Interceptor became nothing more than a fiery pile of wood, I am still owed my own ship. I can't get that here. So? I will dock at Tripoli, pick up a ship and a crew, and go about my life."
"You're leaving us, now?" Rose gaped.
"Aye. If not now, never."
Rose scowled. "And you're leaving me the only woman onboard? How dare you!"
Anamaria smiled, then contributed a statement that made Rose grow unsettled: "You should go as well."
"What, aboard your ship?"
"No," Anamaria replied. "Anywhere. Anywhere but here."
Rose shook her head. "No, this is my dream. I always wanted to sail the seas with Jack and go on adventures to far off places. I'm here now doing just that."
Anamaria raised an eyebrow. "'Adventures.' More like 'errands.' Make your own adventures. What do you need Jack for? He certainly doesn't need you."
"I beg your pardon?" Rose asked, growing defensive.
"I mean to say, he's clearly found his way without you. What are you without Jack?"
Rose shifted uncomfortably, readjusting her grip on the wheel. "You wouldn't understand. He's not family to you. And besides, I couldn't just leave Ben here."
Anamaria groaned. "And don't you even let me comment on that matter…"
"I won't!" Rose quipped. "I don't want yet another lecture. I've gotten enough from Jack already."
Anamaria resentfully resigned herself from the matter, saying only, "Well regardless, Jack and I are going aboard. I want you with us. See at least some of the world you're missing by being on this boat, and then evaluate if this is all worth it."
"Jack ordered me to stay aboard, and you just taught me to steer," Rose protested. "Don't you want me on the wheel to ensure a quick escape if need be?"
"Cotton does just fine on the wheel, and I can persuade Jack to change his mind, I'm sure," Anamaria grinned. She then turned and began to descend the stairs to the main deck. "Are you coming?" she called back over her shoulder to Rose.
"Where?" she said in confusion, her hands still steady on the wheel.
"To Tripoli, you fool!" Anamaria replied. "We've arrived."
Rose looked ahead, and sure enough saw the faint outline of a metropolitan area nestled in between the shore and a mountainside. They had made it to Tripoli.
"Would you care to do the honors?" Anamaria asked.
Rose nodded with a smile. "Land, ho!" she cried.
