Chapter 2: Jack



Jack stood at the bow of the Black Pearl, looking out over the water. "Gibbs!" he yelled to his first mate.

"Yes Captain?" Gibbs said, jogging over to him.

"I need to find out on which of these little islands I can find someone, savvy?"

"That might take a while, sir," Anamaria, a member of Jack's crew, said as she walked by them.

Jack gave her a sarcastic smile. "Yes, thank you Anamaria, I didn't know that." She rolled her eyes and continued on with her business. Jack turned back to Gibbs. "I heard tell from someone that my sister is on an island called something like shaman, or shallow, or-"

"Shadow Island, Captain?" Gibbs suggested.

"Yes, that's it, Shadow Island. Do you know which island it is?"

"Aye sir, I do. It's the one straight ahead."

With a nod, Jack made his way to the ship's wheel and made for the island. When they were close enough to it, he ordered his crew to drop anchor and go to shore. He followed them shortly thereafter. Years ago, he had lost his sister, who was 12 years younger than him, because his original crew had mutinied against him. He got wind, after being rescued from the island he was stranded on, that his sister, Jewel, had received a similar fate shortly after him. He had every intention of finding her.

When he finally reached the island, he stood on the shore. Looking around at the havoc being raised by his crew, he took out a small bottle of rum, which he always kept with him and took a swig of it. He walked up the beach a bit, looking around to spot the 12 year old girl that he remembered from ten years ago. After minutes of scanning the area, he was about to give up. Giving one look towards a small path, he began to look away, but his eyes doubled back to the path as he saw a young woman running towards the shore. Closer inspection showed that the woman had a bag on her back, a small monkey on her shoulder, and an outfit unlike most on the woman running scared. He also noticed that the expression on her face was not fear, but confidence mixed with a bit of anxiety.

No, that can't be - Jewel? He thought as he stood up straight, his rum still hand. The woman stopped for a minute and looked at him, and he knew it was her. Raising his bottle nonchalantly at her, he took another sip, hoping she would get the hint. Apparently she had, because a few minutes later, she started to walk towards him.

When she finally reached him, Jewel raised an eyebrow. "Jesus, Jack. You look like hell."

"Thankies, Jewel. You look wonderful yourself." He took another sip. "I see you have all of your things. Good. Get in the boat and get yourself onto the Pearl before we leave without ya."

"Aw, ya wouldn't leave without me. You still have to round up your crew." she made her way towards the boat.

Jack watched her for a second, before Anamaria came up to him.

"Captain, what exactly are we doing here? Running around like idiots for no apparent reason, or did you actually have a reason for coming to this small island?" she asked, seeming frustrated, as usual.

"I had a reason, yes. But you'll find that out when you rounded up the crew and gotten back to the Pearl." He turned around and went to the boat where Jewel had been standing. "Ready to go, love?" he asked her.

"Yea. But I could use some rum." she said, eyeing his bottle.

He looked at her for a second, trying to decide whether it would be worth wasting some rum for his sister. "One sip, love. That's it." He said, handing her the bottle. He didn't take his eyes off it for a second until she finally gave it back.

Minutes later, they were back on the Black Pearl. Jewel was asking him how it was on the island all by himself.

"It wasn't easy bein' on my onesies, for all three days that I was. See, A group of people came after that. They were shipping all the rum they could carry across trade routes and whatnot. I hitched a ride with them and have been chasin' the Pearl ever since. Until three moths ago, that it, when I finally tracked her down and got her back. Got a whole new crew and everything." He stopped for a second, looking back towards the way he had come.

"Somethin' the matter, Jack?" Jewel asked.

"We left one behind, in America. Good kid, he was. About your age, if I remember right."

"What's his name?"

"Will. Will Turner."

"Not the son of -"

"Yep. Bootstrap Bill Turner. He's the one who helped me get the Pearl back. Lifted the curse on Barbossa and his crew so's I could kill the bastard."

"Barbossa's dead? And his crew? About bloody time! Kept me locked up in a blasted hole for three days, he did!" she said.

Moments later, the rest of the crew climbed on board. "Where to, Captain?" Gibbs asked.

"Port Royal, Gibbs."

"For Turner, sir?"

"Yes. Now get on with it."

About an hour later, they had fully turned around and were headed back to Port Royal.

"Here's the deal, love. I need you to go into Port Royal and find Will, savvy? You'll recognize him, looks exactly like his dad., he does. He's a blacksmith. That should help you some in findin' him." Jack said to Jewel, leaving her before she could object.

He took out his rum and went to take a sip, realizing shortly thereafter that Jewel had taken the last one. He threw the bottle over the port side of the ship then went in search of another. When he finally found one, it was near nightfall. He walked around the ship, not looking for anything in particular. What he found was his sister, sitting on the starboard side of the ship, looking up at the stars.

"Whatcha thinkin' 'bout, love?"

She shook her head, meaning either nothing or she didn't want to tell him. He didn't push her for an answer. Seconds later, Maika made her way over to Jewel, perching herself on Jewel's shoulder.

"How long have you had the monkey?" he asked, trying to make conversation.

"Three years, about." was her response. Her eyes never left the sky.

"Alright, then." he said, nodding to her, and walking away. Not quite the little chatterbox she used to be, eh? He thought as he went up to the ship's wheel. Every once in a while, he'd look down at her. What's she thinkin' about? He thought. "Okay, hands, drop anchor for the night, finish your duties, then off to bed with ya." he called, retiring to the Captains room. Looking at his maps, he realized they'd be in Port Royal by this time tomorrow. We made almost a complete circle looking for her. He heard a knock at the door. "Come in." he looked up as Jewel walked in. "What is it, love?"

"When are we going to be in Port Royal?"

"By this time tomorrow. You'll have to row in, love, cuz the Pearl can't be seen by those people. They'll arrest the lot of us, savvy."

"Yeah. Okay. And his name's Will. Anything I should know about him before I go get him?"

"He's got a girl as far as I know. She'll want to come too. Let her. Name's Elizabeth Swann." To this Jewel nodded. "Tell him your name, but nobody else, except for Elizabeth. He'll come easy enough, but the people of Port Royal know the name Sparrow as a pirates name, and they'll arrest ya for sure. Get some sleep, love."

As Jewel left, he smiled. Well, she's definitely changed. I can fix that. Get her back to her talkative self in no time. He thought as he put the maps away and went to bed.