Rose was still in disbelief as she boarded the longboat and sailed out of the bayou. Gibbs and Marty sat the front, directing Pintel and Ragetti through the swamp, but Rose knew that they alone could not man the boat once out to the sea once more. She had made this trip to Shipwreck Island once before with Angelica upon leaving the bayou not long ago, so she knew what lay ahead for them. Now with three more passengers than she arrived with and a full crate of provisions, the boat was low to the water and slow moving, and could not possibly push back against the open ocean. As the daylight began to break through the thick foliage and Rose regained her eyesight, she looked at the floor of the boat and found two more oars. Will saw her see them and anticipated her actions, grabbing the other oar. Together they shifted so that they sat in front of Pintel and Ragetti and began to row in sync with them. Cotton meanwhile manned the rudder, where Barbossa, Tia Dalma, and Elizabeth sat.
Rose's eyes travelled over them all. Tia Dalma must not have been out of the bayou in years, for she had to shield her eyes from the sunlight as it hit them. Now on the sea, she reached her hand out of the boat, letting her fingertips brush against the blue ocean and breathing a sigh of relief. Rose seethed at her bliss; How dare she seem so carefree despite the pain that had just occurred. Elizabeth was still bereft, staring vacantly ahead. Upon regarding her, it finally occurred to Rose that this was Elizabeth, the long sought after love that Will had spoken so fondly of. She turned to look at him, who was rowing in stride with her, but from his expression, one would never know that he or Elizabeth had even met before, let alone were affianced. Something serious had clearly transpired between them both, but Rose was wise enough to keep her questions to herself for the time being.
Finally, Barbossa. His face was somber and unflinching as Jack the monkey chattered away on his shoulder, struggling for balance as the boat cut through the waves. He took a deep breath of the sea air and he seemed to sit up straighter, further invigorated by the adventure that awaited them.
This must have been why after asserting his leadership through his detailed plans the night before, he then began to show his true colors. He looked ahead and eyed up will, giving a slight smirk. "Besides ya killin' me, Master Turner," he growled, "I don't believe we've properly met."
Will said nothing, glaring at him as his continued to row.
Barbossa kept it up, however. "Was it worth it in the end, boy? For here I am, alive and breathing."
"…which I didn't know was possible," Will said under his breath, clearly directed at Rose.
Rose deflected his rage right back at Tia Dalma, however, quipping, "Neither did I." Tia pretended not to hear her.
Barbossa was only energized by Will's fury, and continued to feed off of it. "Is that spite I hear laced in yer voice, boy?"
Will snapped at this. "Aye," he spat.
"'Aye," what?"
"Aye, it was worth killing you, despite not for good. Do you know why?" Barbossa only raised an eyebrow, intrigued. Will continued, "Because you too killed a man, but not for good. My father lives a hellish existence on the Flying Dutchman because of you."
Rose looked over at him as he said this. So Will must have been aboard Jones's ship, then.
"Is he?" Barbossa said with a wry grin. "And to think; I could have killed you all along before reachin' that blasted island after all."
The boat fell quiet again, and the only sounds were of the smacking of the oars against the sea. After a time, though, Barbossa then turned to Elizabeth. "And you certainly be lookin' different, Miss Turner," he said pointedly. Ah yes. Rose had nearly forgotten that to protect her identity, Elizabeth had taken Will's last name upon being captured by the Pearl from Port Royal. It wasn't until discovering that Elizabeth's blood did not break the curse as she was not a Turner that she was able to make her escape.
Elizabeth was not in the mood to fight, and merely averted her eyes down to the floor of the boat. Barbossa moved on from antagonizing her, and looked over the people before him. "A sorry lot if I've ever seen one," he remarked, "A mute, a dwarf, Jack's loyal pup, my two former imbeciles, a Turner, a false Turner, an obeah woman, and a more irksome version of Sparrow. I s'pose you'll have to do."
Rose sneered. "We will have to do, as we're all you have!" All eyes in the boat turned to her. "Although I don't see how there is any chance of us being successful. What—the ten of us are going to shanghai a ship singlehandedly strong enough to sail below the southern continent, one of the most treacherous places on earth, and on to Singapore to seek out some magical map that will lead us to Davy Jones's Locker?" She looked around at everyone aboard, ceasing her rowing. "You do hear how absurd this all sounds, don't you?" No one said anything, perhaps silently agreeing with her. Their odds were not good, but still they were risking their own lives for a cause Rose thought impossible to recover. "My brother is dead," she said, her lip quivering. "Jones killed him. I don't care what strength Will has, what commands Barbossa has, or what…prophecies she keeps," she said, gesturing to Tia, "We cannot change that much ourselves. He's gone." Then, quieter, she mumbled, "Like so much else. Gone."
Barbossa broke the silence that followed by clapping his hands slowly together, as though sarcastically applauding a performance. He then leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he stared with his yellowed eyes at her. "Whereas many of ye be unfamiliar to me, this one," he said, pointing a blackened fingernail toward her, "I know all too well. Let me be perfectly clear," he announced to the boat, which had at that time stopped its motion forward once all four rowers had ceased their synchronous movement. "I am not Jack Sparrow. And while most anyone with a thinking brain would think that ta be a good thing, there are those aboard who would cross me." He stared directly at Rose as he said this. "And to those people, I would recommend that they turn back now."
Would that it were that simple. Rose would leap off the side of the boat and swim for shore that moment, but where would she go? She was furious at her night blindness, the only thing keeping her from being entirely independent from anyone else. With no one to turn to, she was stuck here, on whatever voyage was in store. So she only sat straighter, her jaw set in defiance.
"No takers?" Barbossa jeered. "Fine. Then we row on. With me as your captain, understood?"
"Aye, Captain," his nine crewman said listlessly in reply.
"The King and his men stole the Queen from her bed…"
Tia Dalma had been singing the same song over and over again into the palm of her right hand for the past half hour.
"And bound her in her bones…"
"D'ya reckon ye can stop 'er?" Pintel whispered to Rose by leaning forward as they continued rowing. "She's been goin' on like that for ages!"
Rose pursed her lips. "Doubt it," she replied in monotone. "Learn to let her be. She's full of all sorts of secrets that have no explanation whatsoever."
Tia looked up at Rose and stared at her as she sang, "The seas be ours and by the powers…"
"Land ho, Cap'n!" Gibbs cried out.
The rowers stopped briefly to turn around and see the looming Shipwreck Island stand majestically in the distance.
Tia grinned through her blackened teeth. "Where we will, we'll roam."
"Is that Shipwreck?" Elizabeth asked.
"Aye," replied Barbossa.
"…any particular reason why?" she tentatively asked. A valid question, seeing as the crew had just fled a shipwreck of their own not but a day previous.
"Reefs. And there's a pretty treacherous cove on the inside."
"Aye," concurred Gibbs from the front bow of the boat. "Tis a pirate island, and has been for the better part of a century. Legend tells that the wrecks got to be so bad, incoming ships were blocked from gettin' anywhere near the docks. So, the townsfolk dug up the wreckage and tossed it aside in the middle of the cove this island protects. That's where Shipwreck Cove sits."
"Yo Ho, haul together…" Tia croaked.
"Shipwreck Cove?" Elizabeth asked quizzically. "The uncharted pirate fortress? I only heard of it in storybooks."
Barbossa and Tia Dalma shared a glance. "Nay," he carefully replied. "Much more than stories. True it be that the island remains uncharted, and the Cove remains a meeting place for the Brethren Court."
"But," asked Elizabeth, "The Brethren Court only convenes for important matters. What is the Cove used for when the Court is not in session?"
"Hoist the colours high…"
"Ask Rose. Her father be the Keeper of the Pirate Code there," Barbossa quipped.
Will and Elizabeth spun to face Rose expectantly. Her face flushed with anger. "You know as well as I, Captain, that I know not my father's doings. As far as I've heard, the Cove remains empty until the Court is convened."
"Heave Ho, thieves and beggars…"
"And how do nine Pirate Lords from all over the world know to convene at once?" Will asked.
Barbossa glanced over his shoulder at Tia Dalma. She grinned, singing for the last time, "Never say we die." She then opened her hand to reveal two silver pieces of eight. She handed one to Barbossa wordlessly and kept the other one.
"We be ready," she said.
They soon came upon the docks to the town of Shipwreck, secured the boat and made their way into town. Rose had only seen the town very briefly the last time she was here, and she and Angelica had docked after sunset when her vision began to recede. She notes the dozen buildings that encircled the town square, and the people coming and going between them. It occurred to her that this place was a slightly tamer equivalent to Tortuga, but she quickly shook that thought from her mind as it reminded her of happier times she could never get back.
There stood market vendors selling their wares, a few drunkards milling about here and there, and a few residents conversing here. One could have even mistaken this place for Port Royal had it not been for the fact that no one here paid the ragtag pirate crew just arriving from the bayou any mind whatsoever.
A group of children ran past them, engaged in some sort of game. As one of the older boys passed, Tia Dalma reached her arm out. The boy stopped instantly as though in some sort of trance, looking over at her. She grinned at him and tossed the other piece of eight in his direction, which he caught and touched gingerly. He then held the piece up to one ear. Rose then watched him pocket the piece and run away to rejoin his friends as though nothing had transpired, and she was in a complete bewilderment. Barbossa was looking expectantly at Tia, who nodded to him, saying, "Id be ready ta begin."
"When?" Barbossa asked in response.
"Soon."
Satisfied with this cryptic response, the group continued their stroll through town. "Where are we going?" Rose called up to Barbossa from the back of the group. Please don't say the tavern, she silently prayed.
As though reading her mind, he called back in response, "The tavern!"
Rose felt her heart drop. It had been less than two weeks since Ben's death, and even though he had used her again and again for his own gains and never had returned the affection she had for him, the pain was still fresh, especially in the wake of Jack's death.
"Master Turner," Barbossa commanded, "I want ya with me as we market ourselves to any passin' captains who might be in need of a crew." Will nodded at this and fell in step behind him. Barbossa then turned and addressed the remainder of the crew. "The rest of ye, stay out of sight and don't cause no trouble."
They let Will and Barbossa walk ahead, then followed shortly thereafter. Rose's eyes immediately went to the barstool where Ben had sat, and she froze in place. The barstool that Angelica had tossed her into. The barstool where Rose's love for her childhood friend blossomed anew…only for it to die within a year.
Gibbs noticed that Rose was visibly distraught, and asked quietly, "Rose? Ya alright?"
Tia began to answer for her. "Dis be da place—"
"Don't," spat Rose. She turned an icy gaze upon Tia. "You don't get to say a word." She looked back at Gibbs. "I'm fine," she lied, then walked on to join the rest of the crew at a nearby table. She sat removed from them, brooding in her own tumultuous feelings of despair, grief, and fury.
Before she knew it, Will and Barbossa had returned, the latter with a triumphant grin. "Gentlemen, ladies, we depart with the dawn."
"RAW! Ready to make sail!" Cotton's parrot chirped.
"Wait, how?" Elizabeth asked, rising from her seat.
"With a bit o' persuasion from yers truly," he smugly replied. "We'll be serving as deckhands aboard the ship of Captain Frees aboard the Siren Song."
Rose furrowed her brow. "Wait, all of us?"
"Yes," he quipped. "Unless ye have decided to do us all a favor and not come along."
Rose rolled her eyes. "No, I just am shocked that you of all people to be less than a captain. You? A deckhand?"
Barbossa walked a few paces towards her and grinned. "Not for long," he growled.
