Chapter the Eighth: Blood Ties

The first day passed slowly for Captain Jack Sparrow and his constant companion Urenna. They went to the beach in the morning and lit another signal, and Jack stood on the shore staring out at the sea with little hope that the Pearl would turn up. It was unlikely enough that they would appear in a fortnight, let alone two days. And he only had two days.

Two days to live. Of course, Urenna had told him that when the time came, she would insist on taking part in the ceremony. She would tie him to the bamboo pole that was to be erected on the bonfire, in the centre of the village, and would make sure his bonds were loose. After that, it was up to Jack to navigate his way through the jungle chased by a bunch of heathen natives.

He was to head for the "Water-Cave", as Urenna and her people called it. She'd told him of several underwater tunnels that led to a network of caves in the mountain. Jack now knew where exactly on the island the Cave was - there was a large collection of cliffs to the west peninsula, around a bend in the coast from where Jack had first arrived on the island.

Urenna had told him the plan in jilted English after arriving back in the village the previous night, and did so without meeting his eye.

She knows that I know that she know a great deal more than she's letting on that she know, and... Jack's thoughts, as he crouched in the sand, came to an incoherent halt. She's prob'ly more fluent in the Queen's English than I am, he concluded carefully.

Earlier this morning he had been given something like wine that apparently came from the fermented remains of one of the island fruits, and he felt quite tipsy. It was certainly a tad stronger than rum, considering he could drink...well, quite a lot of rum without appearing to be drunk - but then again, that might have been because Jack was drunk *all the time*.

Jack was unsure how long he had waited on the beach, but the sun had climbed higher on the horizon since their arrival on the coast. The hot sun and the wine made Jack's head spin more than usual, and he collapsed into the sand when his legs began to cramp up in the crouching position.

Urenna stood in-between him and the signal, leaning on her spear. Her eyes were half-lidded and she had not spoken a word to him since waking him in the early hours. Jack wondered if she was cross with him.

"'Renna," he slurred. "Yoo-RENN-arr!" He repeated loudly after a moment of silence on her part. She looked around, her gaze considerably cooler than the sunlight.

"Why're you pretending to be stupid?" Jack continued from his prone position in the sand. Urenna looked offended.
"I not stupid," she said.

"I know you can speak the English good," said Captain Sparrow. "Hell, ye can prob'ly speak it better 'n I. Definiter...defitine...def..."

"Definitely?" suggested Urenna. Jack nodded.

"Aye. DEFINITELY yer a bit more coherent than yours truly...bloody hell, that wine musta been *strong* to get me in such a state..."

Urenna was silent for awhile. "Well," she said eventually, and Jack looked askance at her. Her face was upside-down from his perspective, and he giggled, letting out a hiccup. Urenna looked at him steadily before continuing. "I can speak English *well*. Not good. Well."

"Well! Aye," said Jack, pleased. He was silent for a moment, and closed his eyes. Bright patterns danced across the inside of his eyelids, and he watched them for a while before remembering to speak. "Why the charade, then? Eh?" He opened his eyes and rolled onto his side, propping himself up with some difficulty on an elbow.

"I learned a little more from the British man that visited here than my father knows," she said gravely. "I try to keep him alive for as long as I could. He was a good man. A merchant from some place called Liverpool. He got sick. My father wanted to sacrifice him before he die of illness." Urenna looked down. "There wasn't nothing I could do."
Jack gazed at her thoughtfully, sensing there was more to her story. She continued after a moment, confirming his suspicions.
"He left behind some books," she said, "And I hid them. I read a bit each night. The little English I learned helped. Many moons ago - before you arrived - merchants came to the Island: my father sent me to trade. I got more books, and learnt more." She looked at him, smiling faintly. "I like books."
"Never had much use for 'em meself," said Jack. "'Course I need to read for maps and such, but I'm not a literarararerry...Literary man." He nodded and put his hands to his head to make sure it didn't fall off.

Urenna laughed. It was, perhaps, the first time Jack had heard her do so. Her laugh was mellow and soft, not the tinkly giggle of most women (wenches, really) that Jack Sparrow had known.

"Our wine is stronger than rum," she said. "You are not going to feel good tomorrow, Jack Savvy."
"I wish you'd stop calling me that, woman," muttered Jack. "You know me name as well as I do."

Urenna merely smirked at him. A few moments passed in silence, and then Jack became aware of a sound - running footsteps on the sand. Urenna whirled, gripping her spear, shading her eyes against the sun as she gazed towards the sound. Someone was emerging from the forest - a small, brown someone.

The someone nearly ran into Urenna, but stopped at the last moment and doubled over, panting. It was a girl, probably little more than twelve years old, and she bore a remarkable resemblance to the warrior-woman Urenna. Said warrior-woman had lowered her spear when the girl had reached them, and stood looking sternly down at her.

Jack, from his stretched-out position in the sand, watched them. The girl seemed excited, and kept glancing at Jack, babbling excitedly to Urenna, who frowned. From the tone of her voice Jack judged Urenna was giving the girl a sound admonition.

"This is my sister, Saada," said Urenna after a particular string of words left the girl looking abashed. "She...followed us. She is curious," the woman finished, looking sourly at her sister.

"Curious? 'Bout what?" Jack asked, eyeing the little girl through slitted panda eyes. Saada grinned nervously at him.

"She has never seen a foreigner," elaborated Urenna. She was still looking sternly at Saada, who didn't seem to notice. The little girl was looking at Jack with a mixture of fascination and caution.

Captain Sparrow roused himself and stood up, brushing himself off. Saada staggered back a few steps, looking up at him. He was a good deal taller than the little girl, which wasn't saying much - she was a very small girl. But she had the same sort of strength about her that Urenna had, despite her nervousness.

Saada spoke quickly to her sister in their native language. Then she turned to Jack and said in uncertain, heavily-accented English, "You a pirate?"

"So I'm told," replied Jack mildly. He felt rather dizzy and light-headed from the combination of the sun and the wine, and wasn't sure whether his head was still attached to his shoulders or not. This raised a worry in his mind and he raised his hands quickly, relieved to find his hat still whole and on his floating-off head.

Saada was looking at him in a manner reminiscent of a bird, tilting her head. "Father gonna kill you," she said. It was half a statement, half a question.

"Not if I have anything to do with it, 'e's not," Jack said, a bit more emphatically than before. He wobbled a bit, and quickly righted himself, staring blearily at Urenna and her sister. "Bloody 'ell," he remarked, "Is it just me, or is a midget standin' beside you, 'Renna?"

Urenna frowned. "Saada is my sister," she replied. Saada frowned as well, her expression quite similar to her sister's. She puffed herself up as tall as possible, seemingly ignoring - or not understanding - Jack's comment about her being a midget.

"I not want you to die," she announced, a determination reminiscent of her sister's in her murky brown eyes.

"You and about...hm, maybe three other people I can think of right now, midget," replied Jack. He wondered how long he would be able to stay on his feet, for he felt very dizzy now. "Lotsa people, 'owever, want me to. Die, that is." He swayed from side to side.

Urenna said, "You are not well?" just before Jack fell over and hit the sand with a soft 'thud'. She looked to her little sister, who cautiously tiptoed over to the prone Pirate's body and prodded him with her bare foot.
"Is he dead?" she asked her older sister in their language. Urenna knelt beside the fallen Captain and felt his forehead.

"No," she replied, "But he's going to have an awful hangover when he wakes up." She smiled faintly. "Help me carry him back to the village. Who let you come after me, anyway? You are not allowed out of the village alone."

Saada gave her a defiant look as she picked up Jack's legs, and Urenna his arms. Together they hauled him up and half-carried, half-almost-dragged him towards the jungle. Urenna kicked some sand on the fire signal to put it out, and tucked her spear under her arm, heaving Jack along. Saada wasn't much help as she wasn't very strong.

"No-one noticed me," the little girl grunted, straining under the small portion of Jack Sparrow's weight she was carrying, "I slipped out a few minutes after you left with the Pirate."

"The Pirate," said Urenna thoughtfully, looking down at said Pirate. They had entered the jungle and were some ways into it, but Saada had to rest. They propped Jack's prone form against a tree and sat down in the soft foliage. "I have agreed to help him escape, if his ship does not come," she said eventually. Saada looked sharply at her.

"Father will kill you if he finds out!"

Urenna looked grave. "He will find out," she said. "And after he does, after Captain Jack Sparrow is gone...*I* will be the one to be sacrificed to the Gods."