~~~~~
Will looked up from his seat on a barrel, "You left the Caribbean because my... father... was upset that you sunk his ship? What happened when you reached the Triangle?" Jack sighed, and leaned against the railing, "A hell of a lot."
~~~~~
Chapter 3: Into the Triangle
Jack didn't look up straight away; he watched a small bug crawl over a piece of rope more than twice the size of the bug itself. "You don't just reach the Triangle... there's no big sign saying 'this is the Triangle, enjoy your stay'. We sailed past Barbados, left and picked up some men, around past Cuba, an' we were heading towards Bermuda...."
~~~~~
"Cap'n, there's a rough swell ahead," called down Rat from the crow's nest. Jack, who stood at the helm, glanced up. He knew what Rat's 'rough swell's' were prone to be, "Aye, batten down the hatches! I've a feelin' it'll be a bit more than rough!" he yelled to the crew, who immediately stopped what they were doing and ran to fasten everything that could become a flying missile if the ship should be hit at once with a big gust of wind.
Anamaria ran out, Jamie still standing in the doorway. "What's going on? There was nothing an hour ago to say there'd be a storm!" Jack laughed, "I've seen stranger things – get a lifeline on Jamie, an' get one on yeself! If Rat's 'rough swell' is as he says it is, then we're in fer a bit o' a ride!" Anamaria paled, and ran to the doorway. Jamie didn't look too perplexed at being attached by a strong rope to the mast, indeed he merely glanced at Jack, who nodded, and he allowed himself to be tied.
Sure enough, just as the entire crew had fastened their lifelines, with the exception of Jack and Rat, the 'rough swell' hit, and hit hard. There were waves twice the size of the ship rising and breaking around them, once or twice it seemed there was so much water in the air that the Pearl was sailing along the sand at the bottom.
After the hell of the edge of the storm, Anamaria glanced at Jamie, who was calmly playing with the small penknife that Jack had given him on the first night of the journey when they'd been alone in the cabin. The small boy didn't even seem to notice the storm going on around him, and neither did his father, who was still standing at the helm. "He's a bloody Sparrow, that's for sure," she thought to herself as she reached over and tightened Jamie's lifeline, loosening her own in the process without realising it.
The second half of a storm is always the worst, once the eye has moved on, and this storm was no exception. The waves almost seemed to double in size, and it was all the crew could do to hold on even with the help of lifelines. Rat lost all his courage and attached a rope to his belt, oblivious to the fact that if he were washed overboard like that, the rope had a high chance of cutting him in half. Even Jack took a hold of a rope, but he didn't have an actual lifeline, considering that the rope was attached to the wheel instead of to the base of the main mast.
There was no point in yelling anything, as all sounds were swept away in the wind, and there was no way to control the ship. Jack used the rope to swing (in the wind, it was the only way to move) over to where Jamie was holding the penknife firmly between both hands, ignoring the winds and waves as they swirled. Jack grinned – there was no way a regular kid would be standing as straight as possible and not screaming. He looked half turned to look for Anamaria – no matter how good she was as a sailor and pirate, she was still a woman, and still a lot weaker than most of the men onboard – especially since she was insistent on holding onto the end of Jamie's rope.
A sudden momentary still amongst the waves caused Jack to worry. He looked up towards the starboard side of the ship, and saw what would make the stomach of the most hardened sailor turn. He could see the sand on the bottom of the ocean floor through the thin layer of water, barely deep enough to keep the Pearl floating, the sand was a sticky, wet grey colour, and the topmost point of an ancient wreck mere feet from the bow of the Pearl. He swallowed before looking up – the wall of water was so high above the ship that it seemed to stretch to the sky. Anamaria saw him look up, and slowly turned her own head. The water moved, started to plummet towards the ship, and Jack found himself caught in a perilous situation. He had no doubt that he could hold onto the ship, but he did doubt that Anamaria and Jamie could....
Taking a sudden gamble on everything, he jerked the rope he held as hard as he could, turning the wheel far enough to turn the ship away from the wall of water. The loose end of the rope he swung around Jamie, creating a second lifeline. He caught the other end of the rope, and grabbed Anamaria to the mast at the same time the water crashed onto the deck. Anamaria couldn't stop the scream that escaped from her lungs, and she held onto Jack as tightly as she could, though without taking her eyes off Jamie. Somehow, Jamie didn't seem to notice, though he grasped the knife a little tighter.
Jack watched as the wall of water closed in around them, covering the end of the ship, but at the same time propelling it so quickly forwards that it stayed just ahead of the danger zone. He felt the rope starting to slip from his hands, and tightened his hold on it, twisting it around his hands. The pressure of the air around them was so strong that he couldn't turn his head, and could hardly see where many of his crewmembers were. Some he saw were washed overboard, and others he saw clinging to the rigging and masts as though their lives depended on it, which they did when you thought about it logically.
The back mast suddenly snapped, and fell forwards, only to be propelled at high speed towards the bow of the ship. It landed with enough force to break through the main mast, but glanced to the right at the last moment, sending splinters as long as Jack's arm flying instead. He felt Anamaria twist underneath him, and knew instinctively that she'd been hit in the side.
He couldn't say anything, he couldn't do anything but hold on. Jamie was still tied on, that much he knew, and Anamaria was still alive, and as long as he knew that much about what was happening, he had the strength to keep going, to keep holding on.
A barrel that had broken it's ropes hurled down the deck, smashing against Jack's back at the same time the waves disappeared. He felt the change underneath the ship, and loosened his hold on Anamaria, at the same time that he realised that his back was starting to hurt. Jamie looked up, half- conscious, and wondered why his father's back was suddenly so red. Anamaria could hardly stand up, herself, and she barely managed to push Jack away from her. Rat, who'd changed his mind about the lifeline sometime before and had fastened it properly, was the one who half-carried, half-dragged Jack to the cabin before the Captain passed out completely, and carried Anamaria in moments later. Jamie, who had hold of his knife so tightly his fingers were cramped together, had to be cut from the mast because the rope was embedded into the wood on the other side. He fainted moments later.
Rat glanced at the rest of the crew, "Well, the Cap'n an' the firs' mate are out o' commission... what d'we do now?" he asked. Cotton emerged from the galley, a very ruffled parrot on his shoulder. Rat blinked at him, astonished. No one had even realised the old sea dog wasn't on the deck of the ship until now! The parrot shook it's feathers, glanced around, and chortled, "Avast ye landlubber!" angrily. The simple outburst was enough from the parrot was enough to break the heavy tension held by the crew, and they burst into laughter.
Picking the now-unconscious Jamie up gently, Rat carried him down to the Captain's cabin, where the ship's cook/surgeon was already fixing Jack's battered back. Thirty stitches, four needles, and half a bottle of rum later, Jack was well on his way to being completely recovered. Anamaria had fared worse, by catching a long splinter in her side, not only had her shirt been ripped, but the chances of removing all of the wood were slim.
Jack looked up from his bottle as Rat pushed open the door and carried Jamie through. The boy still held onto the penknife as though it were all that linked him to the living, and Jack, in his half-drunken stupor, grinned. "He's a bloody Sparrow!" he slurred, before letting his head fall onto the desktop with a loud thunk.
"Can ye tell where we are?" the cook asked Rat, who shook his head. "There's land where there's not meant to be land, an' there's a mist so thick above the top o' the water that ye can't see if there's any reefs around."
That didn't mean much to the cook, but it did mean that no one had any idea how far they'd been blown off course by the storm. Actually, none of them knew what the storm had come from, let alone where they'd ended up. Rat, the appointed leader until Jack was back on his feet, headed back up to the deck to see if anyone could tell him where the hell they could have possibly ended up.
~~~~~
"Some storm," stated Will under his breath when Jack stopped speaking, and looked towards the horizon. "Aye, that it was. But some good did come out of it – we all survived, even the men who'd been washed overboard... for the time being."
~~~~~
A/N: How was that?? We get into Isabelle's story in the next chapter, or the chapter after that, so please bear with me until then. Thanks for reading!
A note for Fanfiction.net readers: If you wish to receive updates for this story in your email, go to and sign up! Thanks again!
Will looked up from his seat on a barrel, "You left the Caribbean because my... father... was upset that you sunk his ship? What happened when you reached the Triangle?" Jack sighed, and leaned against the railing, "A hell of a lot."
~~~~~
Chapter 3: Into the Triangle
Jack didn't look up straight away; he watched a small bug crawl over a piece of rope more than twice the size of the bug itself. "You don't just reach the Triangle... there's no big sign saying 'this is the Triangle, enjoy your stay'. We sailed past Barbados, left and picked up some men, around past Cuba, an' we were heading towards Bermuda...."
~~~~~
"Cap'n, there's a rough swell ahead," called down Rat from the crow's nest. Jack, who stood at the helm, glanced up. He knew what Rat's 'rough swell's' were prone to be, "Aye, batten down the hatches! I've a feelin' it'll be a bit more than rough!" he yelled to the crew, who immediately stopped what they were doing and ran to fasten everything that could become a flying missile if the ship should be hit at once with a big gust of wind.
Anamaria ran out, Jamie still standing in the doorway. "What's going on? There was nothing an hour ago to say there'd be a storm!" Jack laughed, "I've seen stranger things – get a lifeline on Jamie, an' get one on yeself! If Rat's 'rough swell' is as he says it is, then we're in fer a bit o' a ride!" Anamaria paled, and ran to the doorway. Jamie didn't look too perplexed at being attached by a strong rope to the mast, indeed he merely glanced at Jack, who nodded, and he allowed himself to be tied.
Sure enough, just as the entire crew had fastened their lifelines, with the exception of Jack and Rat, the 'rough swell' hit, and hit hard. There were waves twice the size of the ship rising and breaking around them, once or twice it seemed there was so much water in the air that the Pearl was sailing along the sand at the bottom.
After the hell of the edge of the storm, Anamaria glanced at Jamie, who was calmly playing with the small penknife that Jack had given him on the first night of the journey when they'd been alone in the cabin. The small boy didn't even seem to notice the storm going on around him, and neither did his father, who was still standing at the helm. "He's a bloody Sparrow, that's for sure," she thought to herself as she reached over and tightened Jamie's lifeline, loosening her own in the process without realising it.
The second half of a storm is always the worst, once the eye has moved on, and this storm was no exception. The waves almost seemed to double in size, and it was all the crew could do to hold on even with the help of lifelines. Rat lost all his courage and attached a rope to his belt, oblivious to the fact that if he were washed overboard like that, the rope had a high chance of cutting him in half. Even Jack took a hold of a rope, but he didn't have an actual lifeline, considering that the rope was attached to the wheel instead of to the base of the main mast.
There was no point in yelling anything, as all sounds were swept away in the wind, and there was no way to control the ship. Jack used the rope to swing (in the wind, it was the only way to move) over to where Jamie was holding the penknife firmly between both hands, ignoring the winds and waves as they swirled. Jack grinned – there was no way a regular kid would be standing as straight as possible and not screaming. He looked half turned to look for Anamaria – no matter how good she was as a sailor and pirate, she was still a woman, and still a lot weaker than most of the men onboard – especially since she was insistent on holding onto the end of Jamie's rope.
A sudden momentary still amongst the waves caused Jack to worry. He looked up towards the starboard side of the ship, and saw what would make the stomach of the most hardened sailor turn. He could see the sand on the bottom of the ocean floor through the thin layer of water, barely deep enough to keep the Pearl floating, the sand was a sticky, wet grey colour, and the topmost point of an ancient wreck mere feet from the bow of the Pearl. He swallowed before looking up – the wall of water was so high above the ship that it seemed to stretch to the sky. Anamaria saw him look up, and slowly turned her own head. The water moved, started to plummet towards the ship, and Jack found himself caught in a perilous situation. He had no doubt that he could hold onto the ship, but he did doubt that Anamaria and Jamie could....
Taking a sudden gamble on everything, he jerked the rope he held as hard as he could, turning the wheel far enough to turn the ship away from the wall of water. The loose end of the rope he swung around Jamie, creating a second lifeline. He caught the other end of the rope, and grabbed Anamaria to the mast at the same time the water crashed onto the deck. Anamaria couldn't stop the scream that escaped from her lungs, and she held onto Jack as tightly as she could, though without taking her eyes off Jamie. Somehow, Jamie didn't seem to notice, though he grasped the knife a little tighter.
Jack watched as the wall of water closed in around them, covering the end of the ship, but at the same time propelling it so quickly forwards that it stayed just ahead of the danger zone. He felt the rope starting to slip from his hands, and tightened his hold on it, twisting it around his hands. The pressure of the air around them was so strong that he couldn't turn his head, and could hardly see where many of his crewmembers were. Some he saw were washed overboard, and others he saw clinging to the rigging and masts as though their lives depended on it, which they did when you thought about it logically.
The back mast suddenly snapped, and fell forwards, only to be propelled at high speed towards the bow of the ship. It landed with enough force to break through the main mast, but glanced to the right at the last moment, sending splinters as long as Jack's arm flying instead. He felt Anamaria twist underneath him, and knew instinctively that she'd been hit in the side.
He couldn't say anything, he couldn't do anything but hold on. Jamie was still tied on, that much he knew, and Anamaria was still alive, and as long as he knew that much about what was happening, he had the strength to keep going, to keep holding on.
A barrel that had broken it's ropes hurled down the deck, smashing against Jack's back at the same time the waves disappeared. He felt the change underneath the ship, and loosened his hold on Anamaria, at the same time that he realised that his back was starting to hurt. Jamie looked up, half- conscious, and wondered why his father's back was suddenly so red. Anamaria could hardly stand up, herself, and she barely managed to push Jack away from her. Rat, who'd changed his mind about the lifeline sometime before and had fastened it properly, was the one who half-carried, half-dragged Jack to the cabin before the Captain passed out completely, and carried Anamaria in moments later. Jamie, who had hold of his knife so tightly his fingers were cramped together, had to be cut from the mast because the rope was embedded into the wood on the other side. He fainted moments later.
Rat glanced at the rest of the crew, "Well, the Cap'n an' the firs' mate are out o' commission... what d'we do now?" he asked. Cotton emerged from the galley, a very ruffled parrot on his shoulder. Rat blinked at him, astonished. No one had even realised the old sea dog wasn't on the deck of the ship until now! The parrot shook it's feathers, glanced around, and chortled, "Avast ye landlubber!" angrily. The simple outburst was enough from the parrot was enough to break the heavy tension held by the crew, and they burst into laughter.
Picking the now-unconscious Jamie up gently, Rat carried him down to the Captain's cabin, where the ship's cook/surgeon was already fixing Jack's battered back. Thirty stitches, four needles, and half a bottle of rum later, Jack was well on his way to being completely recovered. Anamaria had fared worse, by catching a long splinter in her side, not only had her shirt been ripped, but the chances of removing all of the wood were slim.
Jack looked up from his bottle as Rat pushed open the door and carried Jamie through. The boy still held onto the penknife as though it were all that linked him to the living, and Jack, in his half-drunken stupor, grinned. "He's a bloody Sparrow!" he slurred, before letting his head fall onto the desktop with a loud thunk.
"Can ye tell where we are?" the cook asked Rat, who shook his head. "There's land where there's not meant to be land, an' there's a mist so thick above the top o' the water that ye can't see if there's any reefs around."
That didn't mean much to the cook, but it did mean that no one had any idea how far they'd been blown off course by the storm. Actually, none of them knew what the storm had come from, let alone where they'd ended up. Rat, the appointed leader until Jack was back on his feet, headed back up to the deck to see if anyone could tell him where the hell they could have possibly ended up.
~~~~~
"Some storm," stated Will under his breath when Jack stopped speaking, and looked towards the horizon. "Aye, that it was. But some good did come out of it – we all survived, even the men who'd been washed overboard... for the time being."
~~~~~
A/N: How was that?? We get into Isabelle's story in the next chapter, or the chapter after that, so please bear with me until then. Thanks for reading!
A note for Fanfiction.net readers: If you wish to receive updates for this story in your email, go to and sign up! Thanks again!