Disclaimer: don't own the characters, don't own any rights to Disney...do own the DVD though..

Chapter 2

Jack waded into the water, shivering involuntarily at its coldness. He was almost to the chest, almost...There. He was touching the cool stone with his fingertips. He gently traced the outline of the ancient engravings, his hand easing around to touch the bottom of the lid. Wedging his fingers as far under the lid as they would go, he pulled upward. The lid didn't move more than an half an inch. Jack stared at it in frustration, then tried again, with the same result.
His eyes narrowed as a thought struck him.

"With the proper leverage..."

Sloshing his way back to the rocky outcropping, he searched for a good tool, then stopped short as a shout reached his ears. He caught the sound of Gibbs's voice, frantic and desperate.

"Dang it, Jack, where are ye?"

Quickly hauling himself up onto the rocks, he picked his way back toward the entrance.

"I'm here, matey, what's happenin? Anamaria 'asn't set fire to the food now has she? Or 'as the bloody parrot gone and..." he stopped short at the sight of his ship, namely, the sight of his ship firing at a another ship.

"Gibbs!" he yelled. "Ye aren't allowed te start a bloody battle when the captain's not on board, ye fool!"

He almost collided with the man, who was pulling himself from the small boat and scrambling up the rocks. Jack gracefully jumped into the boat, almost tipping it over, and pulled Gibbs down with him. Grabbing an oar, he started rowing furiously toward his ship.

Gibbs, panting, tried explaining.

"Aye, captain, we weren't tryin' to start no battle, but the other ship started firing on us first! We had to defend ourselves. The rest of the crew be thinkin that it's a good idea if we run 'stead of fightin, since, well, the Pearl is the faster ship. Also we didn't think ye'd be wantin' any more holes in her than ye already got."

Jack Sparrow stared at the ship, anger evident in his eyes. "What right 'as they got to be attackin' my ship? My ship! Who are they, anyway?

"We don't rightly know, cap'n. They looks to be some sort of pirates."

Jack had calmed down a bit after the initial shock.

"Obviously they aren't the most congenial of pirates. In fact, I believe they look to be rather disagreeable, eh?"

Jack scratched at his beard, absently pulling on the beads as he rowed. Why were the bloody pirates attacking his ship? He hadn't made any enemies that he knew of... Of course, mutinous first mates didn't count, nor did British commodores, governors, etc. But blast it, those pirates were blowing holes in his already damaged ship! Why couldn't he just have some peace in his life...

Nearing his ship, Jack saw the frantic activity on the decks as the men rushed about. Looking for a good place to board, he rowed over to the far side, where a rope was draped over the edge. Cautiously standing up in the tottering boat, he lunged for the rope. Unfortunately, those pirates took it into their heads to loose a cannon ball just as he stood up. The boom, and resulting noise and confusion as wood splintered, caused Jack to miss his grip and fall head first into the frigid ocean.