Disclaimer: "Magic 8 Ball, will I ever own POTC?" Ball: No, never! HA HA HA! "Wait a sec, you're an inanimate object, you can't talk! Stupid thing..."
A/N: Okay, keep me sane and review! I'm skipping a lot of space between this chapter and the last. Jack just woke up from his hit in the head by Will (that seems to happen to him alot) and he's ambling down to the bickering pirates in the cave.
A/N #2: I was watching the Ellen DeGeneres show today (quite funny actually), and I started thinking, What if Johnny Depp had a talk show? I mean, think about it, he'd already have TONS of fans, and from what I've read about him, he seems like a comical guy. Come on, can't you just see him as a talk show host? And there could be a "Jack Sparrow Day" where he acts like Jack and wears the costume the whole show... Ooh, I love this idea. What do you think? Of course, I doubt it will ever happen. :-(
A/N #3: The extension of the "parley" dialogue was an ad-lib between Johnny and Lee Arenberg, who plays Pintel. From the DVD deleted scenes.
And Astrid Tinuvial, please don't kill me! lol
~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter III: One True Love
"You! You're supposed to be dead!" exclaimed the pirate I knew as Pintel, as he spotted me. I can't say I was very worried, I was still dazed from my knock on the noggin, as it were.
"Am I not?" I said stupidly, looking down at myself. "Hmm." I decided that maybe this was not the time to, ah, reacquaint myself with my old crew, so I turned around, only to look down the barrel of a pistol. I faced Pintel again. What was that word, started with a "P"....?
"Puhluley..." I closed my eyes, trying to remember. "Puhlulevoos." C'mon, Jack, it's in the bloody Code! You know the Code! I thought frantically. "Parleli, parsmi, paisley, partner, partner…"
"Parley?" offered a pirate with a wooden eyeball. Forget his name, too. The eye was a new addition.
"Parley! That's the one!" I exclaimed. "Parley! Parley!"
"Parley? Damned to the depths whatever muttonhead thought of parley," grumbled Pintel.
"That would be the French," I pointed out. Another useful piece of information I had come across. "Latin based, of course. Inventors of mayonnaise." I was trying to distract them from shooting me. It worked.
"I like mayonnaise," agreed Pintel.
"Obsessed with raisins. Humiliated grapes, really. Think about it," I said, demonstrating with my hand. "Excellent singers, the French. Eunuchs, all of 'em."
"I dated a eunuch once," said Wooden Eye. Just then the crowd of pirates parted.
"How the blazes did you get off that island?" There he was. It had been ten years. Ten very long years, but here he was. Barbossa. I couldn't help the emotion that came into my voice when I spoke.
"When you marooned me on that godforsaken spit of land you forgot one very important thing, mate, " I said. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow." I was Captain. As in, me, not him!
"Ah, well, I won't be making that mistake again. Gents," he said, turning to the crew, "you all remember Captain Jack Sparrow? Kill him." I found about twenty pistols gladly raised to my face.
"The girl's blood didn't work, did it?" I asked smugly.
"Hold yer fire!" Barbossa shouted. He always had more curiosity than was good for him. "You know whose blood we need?"
"I know whose blood ye need." I wasn't really going to tell him where Will was, but I had to stall for time.
I was led back to the Black Pearl. I hadn't seen her in so long... I glanced around the deck as I walked on, and frowned. Barbossa sure didn't know how to take care of a ship. Poor beauty, I thought sadly, what's happened to you? I ran my hand along her rail, and my mind drifted. I remembered the day I first saw the Pearl, amazing in all her glory...
'Reef those sails, men! Let's move it!' Captain Emery shouted, eight years later. The Cassandra was being tossed about by the rocky waves, and the crew and I were desperately trying to keep her stable. My eighteen-year-old self was much taller and stronger than the ten-year-old who had run away from home. My dark brown hair hadn't seen a good wash in a long while (nor does it much now, except for the occasional swim), my hands were callused and dirty, a mustache was beginning to grow on my upper lip (which I'm quite fond of), and a gold ring was in my ear. A dark crimson bandanna flew around my face in the heavy wind, and I had a few gold and silver teeth to show. I was wearing new clothes: a white button-down cotton shirt open at the collar with sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and dark breeches tattered and spotted. Unfortunately, I still didn't have the hat. My hat...
'Sparrow! Pull those cables tighter!' shouted the Captain. I had earned that nickname from the crew, because they always said I was quick as a sparrow, and as daft. Which I resent. Anyway, the nickname stuck, and I had a nice new tattoo put on my lower arm, of a sparrow in flight above the ocean waves. I encouraged the nickname; it helped me escape my past, in a way. My status had risen to first mate, which I was proud of. I also had a shiny new pistol and cutlass to show for it. Captain Emery had spent hours teaching me how to parry, which I'm thankful now for. I pulled the before-mentioned ropes taut and made my way up to the quarterdeck.
'I think we should reef the canvas, sir!' I shouted to the Cap'n. He shook his head.
'Always remember this, Jack, me lad: when there's a goal in mind ye need to reach, ye NEVER back down, savvy?' was Emery's reply.
'Savvy!' I said. I was turning to descend the stairs to the maindeck when another huge wave crashed into the Cassandra, causing her to almost topple over. I lost my balance and fell, clutching onto the taffrail for dear life. A hand came out of nowhere and pulled me back on.
'You alright, Jack?' It was Bill.
'Aye, mate. What's our status?' I asked him.
'We're takin' on water fast. Help us with the lifeboats!' he said. I looked for Emery and saw him battling with the helm still.
'Come on, Captain! We have to bail!' I told him.
'Another thing, Sparrow. A Captain fights for his ship until the very end, and if he can't right her, he goes down with her to Davy Jones'.' He beckoned me over once more, and pressed something into my hand. 'This can get ye real lucky, boy, if ye know how ta use it. Show no one.' I stuffed it in my shirt and followed Bill to the boats. We jumped in and found ourselves in ten-foot high waves. But in due time, we reached land. The first thing I did was puke into the sand.
'Where are we?' asked one of the men.
'This be Hispaniola, if I'm not mistaken,' Barbossa replied. He somewhat resembled a drowned dog. I imagined I must have looked just as bad. Miraculously, my bandanna was still in place. I remembered the thing that Emery had given me, and I pulled it out. It was a small, dark wooden box. I pulled it open. When the sea water had been all drained out, I got a better look. It was a compass. And it didn't point North.
'Bloody broken compass,' I murmured. How was that supposed to make me lucky? The storm stopped after a while and we found ourselves in a pleasant little village. We saw two uniformed officers walk past, Spanish by the looks of 'em. They didn't even give us a glance. But the residents took pity on us and gave us food and new clothing.
The next morning, Bill and I were walking along the coast.
'Tis a shame,' he said, 'about Cap'n Emery.' I nodded.
'He was a good man.'
'So what do ye think...' I didn't hear the end of his sentence, because I had just found my true love. It was love at first sight, I tell you. There she was, basking gloriously in the sun, her body aglow with light...
'Jack?' Bill stepped next to me and followed my gaze. 'Now there's a ship worth sailing.' I was speechless. Her black sheets were new and fluttering in the breeze, and she drifted on the waves, seeming to lie in wait for the opportune moment to sail off.
'She's mine,' I said.
'She belongs to the Spanish Fleet, I'll reckon. Not a smart thing to try, Jack,' Bill warned.
'Why not?'
'Well, commandeering a ship is tough business in even ordinary circumstances. But a...a ship like that, she'll be near impossible to steal. Ye'll be shot down before ye can even blink.'
'Don't tell me First Mate Sparrow is afraid to commandeer a little ship.' I groaned. Barbossa had joined us. Don't get me wrong, we became close to friends later on, but back then we didn't get along. It should have stayed that way too, otherwise things might have been much simpler.
'Barbossa, how nice of you to join us,' I said, my voice leaded with sarcasm. He chuckled and moved next to me to get a better view of the Pearl.
'I'll warrant she can use a new Captain, eh? I'm willing to take up on the job -'
'I saw her first,' I warned. He held out his hands in mock defeat, sighing.
'Alright, Jack, I know ye aren't going to back down. But you are quite young, don't ye think?'
'I've spent eight years on a ship, mate, I can very well handle her!' I argued.
'Fine. You win. Tell me when we can get off this patch of land.' Bill turned to me when he had left.
'So, Jack? We gonna try it?'
'What d'you think?'
It was midnight by the time we had gathered the crew together.
'This is it, men,' I said. 'Today we are no longer sailors. We are pirates.' They yelled out in agreement and I smiled. 'From now on I shall be CAPTAIN Sparrow, savvy?'
'Aye!' they replied. I turned to Barbossa, who was looking envious.
'Oh, cheer up, mate. You can be my lesser-in-command!' I said enthusiastically. He grunted. The crew and I snuck out to the coastline and and followed it until we could see the Black Pearl. I squinted in the darkness, making out the glint from the brass buttons on the uniforms of the sentries.
'You have a plan, Cap'n?" one of the sailors asked. I held up my finger, thinking for a moment.
'Ya see, that's what makes plans interesting. Making them up as you go along,' I replied. I motioned for the lads to follow me and we climbed up the side of the ship. The two sentries were unprepared.
'Wait!' I ordered, as a man pointed his pistol at the sentries. 'We need their uniforms.' After we had relieved them of their coats and hats, and tied them up, I went around with Bill and cut the ropes.
'Raise the anchor!' I shouted. And then we set sail, leaving the coast of Hispaniola behind. I asked who knew how to navigate a ship, and only Bill and Barbossa did. I pointed at Bill and decided to explore more of the ship. There was no name recorded anywhere, but I decided to think about that later. She was quite a large ship, a galleon, with three masts and a brig, and quite a nice captain's cabin. When I went back to the deck, I found a few of the crew milling about in confusion.
'Does she have a name, sir?' asked one of the younger lads. I thought about it for a moment. Then an image came to my mind, unbidden: flowing dark hair and a bronze face, unmoving and silent... A little boy's sobs and a father in rage...
'The Black... Pearl.'
A/N: Okay, keep me sane and review! I'm skipping a lot of space between this chapter and the last. Jack just woke up from his hit in the head by Will (that seems to happen to him alot) and he's ambling down to the bickering pirates in the cave.
A/N #2: I was watching the Ellen DeGeneres show today (quite funny actually), and I started thinking, What if Johnny Depp had a talk show? I mean, think about it, he'd already have TONS of fans, and from what I've read about him, he seems like a comical guy. Come on, can't you just see him as a talk show host? And there could be a "Jack Sparrow Day" where he acts like Jack and wears the costume the whole show... Ooh, I love this idea. What do you think? Of course, I doubt it will ever happen. :-(
A/N #3: The extension of the "parley" dialogue was an ad-lib between Johnny and Lee Arenberg, who plays Pintel. From the DVD deleted scenes.
And Astrid Tinuvial, please don't kill me! lol
~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter III: One True Love
"You! You're supposed to be dead!" exclaimed the pirate I knew as Pintel, as he spotted me. I can't say I was very worried, I was still dazed from my knock on the noggin, as it were.
"Am I not?" I said stupidly, looking down at myself. "Hmm." I decided that maybe this was not the time to, ah, reacquaint myself with my old crew, so I turned around, only to look down the barrel of a pistol. I faced Pintel again. What was that word, started with a "P"....?
"Puhluley..." I closed my eyes, trying to remember. "Puhlulevoos." C'mon, Jack, it's in the bloody Code! You know the Code! I thought frantically. "Parleli, parsmi, paisley, partner, partner…"
"Parley?" offered a pirate with a wooden eyeball. Forget his name, too. The eye was a new addition.
"Parley! That's the one!" I exclaimed. "Parley! Parley!"
"Parley? Damned to the depths whatever muttonhead thought of parley," grumbled Pintel.
"That would be the French," I pointed out. Another useful piece of information I had come across. "Latin based, of course. Inventors of mayonnaise." I was trying to distract them from shooting me. It worked.
"I like mayonnaise," agreed Pintel.
"Obsessed with raisins. Humiliated grapes, really. Think about it," I said, demonstrating with my hand. "Excellent singers, the French. Eunuchs, all of 'em."
"I dated a eunuch once," said Wooden Eye. Just then the crowd of pirates parted.
"How the blazes did you get off that island?" There he was. It had been ten years. Ten very long years, but here he was. Barbossa. I couldn't help the emotion that came into my voice when I spoke.
"When you marooned me on that godforsaken spit of land you forgot one very important thing, mate, " I said. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow." I was Captain. As in, me, not him!
"Ah, well, I won't be making that mistake again. Gents," he said, turning to the crew, "you all remember Captain Jack Sparrow? Kill him." I found about twenty pistols gladly raised to my face.
"The girl's blood didn't work, did it?" I asked smugly.
"Hold yer fire!" Barbossa shouted. He always had more curiosity than was good for him. "You know whose blood we need?"
"I know whose blood ye need." I wasn't really going to tell him where Will was, but I had to stall for time.
I was led back to the Black Pearl. I hadn't seen her in so long... I glanced around the deck as I walked on, and frowned. Barbossa sure didn't know how to take care of a ship. Poor beauty, I thought sadly, what's happened to you? I ran my hand along her rail, and my mind drifted. I remembered the day I first saw the Pearl, amazing in all her glory...
'Reef those sails, men! Let's move it!' Captain Emery shouted, eight years later. The Cassandra was being tossed about by the rocky waves, and the crew and I were desperately trying to keep her stable. My eighteen-year-old self was much taller and stronger than the ten-year-old who had run away from home. My dark brown hair hadn't seen a good wash in a long while (nor does it much now, except for the occasional swim), my hands were callused and dirty, a mustache was beginning to grow on my upper lip (which I'm quite fond of), and a gold ring was in my ear. A dark crimson bandanna flew around my face in the heavy wind, and I had a few gold and silver teeth to show. I was wearing new clothes: a white button-down cotton shirt open at the collar with sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and dark breeches tattered and spotted. Unfortunately, I still didn't have the hat. My hat...
'Sparrow! Pull those cables tighter!' shouted the Captain. I had earned that nickname from the crew, because they always said I was quick as a sparrow, and as daft. Which I resent. Anyway, the nickname stuck, and I had a nice new tattoo put on my lower arm, of a sparrow in flight above the ocean waves. I encouraged the nickname; it helped me escape my past, in a way. My status had risen to first mate, which I was proud of. I also had a shiny new pistol and cutlass to show for it. Captain Emery had spent hours teaching me how to parry, which I'm thankful now for. I pulled the before-mentioned ropes taut and made my way up to the quarterdeck.
'I think we should reef the canvas, sir!' I shouted to the Cap'n. He shook his head.
'Always remember this, Jack, me lad: when there's a goal in mind ye need to reach, ye NEVER back down, savvy?' was Emery's reply.
'Savvy!' I said. I was turning to descend the stairs to the maindeck when another huge wave crashed into the Cassandra, causing her to almost topple over. I lost my balance and fell, clutching onto the taffrail for dear life. A hand came out of nowhere and pulled me back on.
'You alright, Jack?' It was Bill.
'Aye, mate. What's our status?' I asked him.
'We're takin' on water fast. Help us with the lifeboats!' he said. I looked for Emery and saw him battling with the helm still.
'Come on, Captain! We have to bail!' I told him.
'Another thing, Sparrow. A Captain fights for his ship until the very end, and if he can't right her, he goes down with her to Davy Jones'.' He beckoned me over once more, and pressed something into my hand. 'This can get ye real lucky, boy, if ye know how ta use it. Show no one.' I stuffed it in my shirt and followed Bill to the boats. We jumped in and found ourselves in ten-foot high waves. But in due time, we reached land. The first thing I did was puke into the sand.
'Where are we?' asked one of the men.
'This be Hispaniola, if I'm not mistaken,' Barbossa replied. He somewhat resembled a drowned dog. I imagined I must have looked just as bad. Miraculously, my bandanna was still in place. I remembered the thing that Emery had given me, and I pulled it out. It was a small, dark wooden box. I pulled it open. When the sea water had been all drained out, I got a better look. It was a compass. And it didn't point North.
'Bloody broken compass,' I murmured. How was that supposed to make me lucky? The storm stopped after a while and we found ourselves in a pleasant little village. We saw two uniformed officers walk past, Spanish by the looks of 'em. They didn't even give us a glance. But the residents took pity on us and gave us food and new clothing.
The next morning, Bill and I were walking along the coast.
'Tis a shame,' he said, 'about Cap'n Emery.' I nodded.
'He was a good man.'
'So what do ye think...' I didn't hear the end of his sentence, because I had just found my true love. It was love at first sight, I tell you. There she was, basking gloriously in the sun, her body aglow with light...
'Jack?' Bill stepped next to me and followed my gaze. 'Now there's a ship worth sailing.' I was speechless. Her black sheets were new and fluttering in the breeze, and she drifted on the waves, seeming to lie in wait for the opportune moment to sail off.
'She's mine,' I said.
'She belongs to the Spanish Fleet, I'll reckon. Not a smart thing to try, Jack,' Bill warned.
'Why not?'
'Well, commandeering a ship is tough business in even ordinary circumstances. But a...a ship like that, she'll be near impossible to steal. Ye'll be shot down before ye can even blink.'
'Don't tell me First Mate Sparrow is afraid to commandeer a little ship.' I groaned. Barbossa had joined us. Don't get me wrong, we became close to friends later on, but back then we didn't get along. It should have stayed that way too, otherwise things might have been much simpler.
'Barbossa, how nice of you to join us,' I said, my voice leaded with sarcasm. He chuckled and moved next to me to get a better view of the Pearl.
'I'll warrant she can use a new Captain, eh? I'm willing to take up on the job -'
'I saw her first,' I warned. He held out his hands in mock defeat, sighing.
'Alright, Jack, I know ye aren't going to back down. But you are quite young, don't ye think?'
'I've spent eight years on a ship, mate, I can very well handle her!' I argued.
'Fine. You win. Tell me when we can get off this patch of land.' Bill turned to me when he had left.
'So, Jack? We gonna try it?'
'What d'you think?'
It was midnight by the time we had gathered the crew together.
'This is it, men,' I said. 'Today we are no longer sailors. We are pirates.' They yelled out in agreement and I smiled. 'From now on I shall be CAPTAIN Sparrow, savvy?'
'Aye!' they replied. I turned to Barbossa, who was looking envious.
'Oh, cheer up, mate. You can be my lesser-in-command!' I said enthusiastically. He grunted. The crew and I snuck out to the coastline and and followed it until we could see the Black Pearl. I squinted in the darkness, making out the glint from the brass buttons on the uniforms of the sentries.
'You have a plan, Cap'n?" one of the sailors asked. I held up my finger, thinking for a moment.
'Ya see, that's what makes plans interesting. Making them up as you go along,' I replied. I motioned for the lads to follow me and we climbed up the side of the ship. The two sentries were unprepared.
'Wait!' I ordered, as a man pointed his pistol at the sentries. 'We need their uniforms.' After we had relieved them of their coats and hats, and tied them up, I went around with Bill and cut the ropes.
'Raise the anchor!' I shouted. And then we set sail, leaving the coast of Hispaniola behind. I asked who knew how to navigate a ship, and only Bill and Barbossa did. I pointed at Bill and decided to explore more of the ship. There was no name recorded anywhere, but I decided to think about that later. She was quite a large ship, a galleon, with three masts and a brig, and quite a nice captain's cabin. When I went back to the deck, I found a few of the crew milling about in confusion.
'Does she have a name, sir?' asked one of the younger lads. I thought about it for a moment. Then an image came to my mind, unbidden: flowing dark hair and a bronze face, unmoving and silent... A little boy's sobs and a father in rage...
'The Black... Pearl.'