Chapter Three: Life's Made up of Circles

"There's been rumors runnin' 'round Tortuga," Jack explained, "tha' a small boat 'as been comin' from a small island carryin' naught but one man."

"And this is the island?" Will asked, peering as far through the foggy morning as he could.

"Best anyone could tell me. No place to dock though.... Someone tried to follow 'im in somethin' jus' a li'll bigger than 'e was in and sunk it. Washed up on shore the next day."

"Terrible."

"Very. We'll take a longboat to the island."

"And the Pearl?"

"She'll 'ead into Tortuga an' re-supply wha' she needs," Jack said as he put his compass away and stepped towards Will.

"You'll be careful, won' you?" Ana Maria asked from behind.

"She's upset with me for not lettin' 'er come," Jack explained to Will. "'Course, luv, always. You know 'm only leavin' ye 'cause ye'll get things done in me place, eh?"

"I know..."

"Don' pout, luv. It don' suit you."

"Only you?" she asked with a sly smirk.

Jack grinned and placed a kiss on her lips. "Keep 'er well for me, luv. Yer the only one I trust fully to do so."

"I know. Of with ya, ya mangy sea dog! An' don' get yerself into trouble. We'll be too far away."

"Aye."

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The knocking on the door came so loudly that Jack was sure that whoever might be on the other side would bash it in. "I'sopen!" he hollered, pulling himself from his bed, grabbing for his shirt as he went.

Barbossa flung open the door, a frightening look on his face.

"Wha'samatter yer 'ere so early?" Jack mumbled sleepily.

"The crew's got some talkin' they'd like to do with ya, Cap'n."

"Couldn' 'ey 'ave waited?"

"No such luck."

Jack nodded as he grabbed his bandana and tied it onto his head, his unruly hair subdued if not entirely tamed. He followed his first mate out of his quarters and to the deck. The entire crew was standing there. Jack made eye contact with William and felt uneasy. His old friend avoided his eyes immediately after looking into them.

"Now, we've a question for ye, Jack," Barbossa was saying. "According to the Code everythin's in equal share, wouldn' ye say?"

"Tha's 'ow it is," Jack responded slowly.

"Well, ye see, Jack, we be three days into this trip an' none of us know 'ow to get there. Wouldn' ye say the coordinates are part o' tha' equal share?"

Jack stared at him a moment. Something was wrong here.

"It IS the Code, Jack."

Jack nodded slowly as Barbossa handed him a map. Jack carefully drew out where they would be heading and where the island was, making small notes here and there to beware of this and that. "Tha's it," he said finally. He stood. "If tha' be all, mates, I've a ship to captain."

"Tha's not it," Barbossa answered. "We've been talkin' amongst ourselves, Jack. Yer awful young, Cap'n, a little too green for our liking."

Jack tensed as Barbossa wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him in. Something was certainly wrong with this. The pirate captain looked over to William. Bootstrap was avoiding eye contact still.

"Yer outa 'ere, Cap'n, an' I'll be takin' yer ship."

"A mutiny," Jack breathed, horrified at the thought. "Ye wouldn' take me Pearl, Barbossa, would ye? 'm sure we could strike a deal...."

"No deals, Jack. No miraculous escapes like with the East India Company. Ye see tha' island over there yonder? We're makin' ya governor of it. Lovely li'll thing it is. Ye get a gun with one shot, of course, but tha's it. Off ye go." Barbossa had been steadily maneuvering Jack towards the plank and gave him one final shove off. The gun fell in after him.

The swim to the shore wasn't difficult, but it was tiring. Jack lay on the beach with the gun in hand as he watched his Pearl sail away. Without him.

"Jack? You all right?"

The pirate captain jumped slightly and turned to Will. He'd been watching as the Pearl sailed off towards Tortuga with Ana Maria in charge. It brought back too many memories. It frightened him, even though he knew it was foolish. Ana Maria was trustworthy. She loved him. She wouldn't betray him. None of the men would rise up against her. Most of them feared her.

"Aye, lad, jus' fine. Why?"

"You were just staring..."

"She's a beautiful ship."

Will laughed. "Aye, that she is, Jack. Now, which way do we go? This island looked fairly big from a ways off, so do we have a starting spot?"

Jack nodded upwards a ways toward some footprints in the sand. "I'd say it's as good of a spot as any, eh?"

"Sounds good."

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"We're walking around in circles!" Will said finally, sitting down on a log that he had sat on two rounds before.

"Life's made up of circles," said Jack as he frowned, fishing through his coat to find his compass.

"What are you looking for?" the blacksmith asked, slightly annoyed sounding.

"Me compass."

"Is it in there?"

"I put it in 'ere last night."

"So it's there somewhere."

"Ah!" Jack exclaimed as he pulled his compass out. "Found it!"

"But how is that going to help us? It doesn't point north."

"But we're not trying to find north, are we?"

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"Ana Maria?"

She turned to see Gibbs approaching her slowly, carefully, as one might approach a wounded animal. "Wha'?" she snapped.

"Sorry to disturb yer thoughts, missy, but the crew was wantin' to know if we are gonna sail strait into Tortuga or wait until tomorrow."

"We can make it before evening, Gibbs."

"I know.... Jus' didn' wanna jump the gun, ye know."

"Just do it how it's supposed to be done!"

"Is somethin' wrong, lass? You've been jumpin' everyone for the past week or so. Even Jack's noticed it."

"'m not jumpin' anyone," she grumbled.

Gibbs raised his hands as if surrendering. "All right then, lass. If ye say so."

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"At least we're not traveling in circles now," Will said as he moved ahead of Jack, who was engrossed in checking his compass. "Are we just going to wonder around aimlessly? Jack?"

"Somethin'll show iself soon enough, lad." As soon as the words left his mouth he and Will felt something shift under their feet. Jack looked down, his eyes widening when he realized what was happening.

A net wrapped firmly around them and pulled upward to the tree above. Both men thrashed around as they tried to free themselves but only seemed to entangle everything worse.

"So who is it that's come to me island, eh?" a voice asked from the brush.

Will was the only one with a good look at the man. "Let us down! We mean you no harm."

The net swung and Jack got a look at the man's face. "My word...."

"What, do you know him?"

Jack swallowed hard. "I swear you look jus' 'im," he said quietly, knowing that his comment would reveal exactly what needed to be revealed.

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A/N: I've gone flashback-happy in this story! HAha! oh well... hope that's okay with everyone ::grins::

JackFan2: I am indeed making this up as I go along. The one thing that started this was that last line that Jack said. I NEEDED it to be in here, and there it is! Didn't come out exactly how I wanted it, but well enough for it to stay that way. I never tend to know how things are going to end. I mean, yeah, I know that the good guys will save the day and so on and so on that every author knows, but other than that I don't usually know exactly what's going to happen. I tend to get a general idea stuck in my head and have a dozen ways that I might go about it (this is what I do while trying to fall asleep, maybe this is why I'm so tired) and then I do something that was never in any of the ideas.... Like the net.... Oh well.... It works out, so no worries. ::grins:: Oh! I watched that music video from Terri Clark! That was GREAT!! I loved it! ::goes off to watch it again::

Kungfuchick: Good to see ye back, mate, as always! I do think this is a record for me! Three chapters in one day AND a short story! Haha! There goes all possible creativity for the night, but that's all good. Now I just need to get working on my painting. ::sobs:: I'm never going to finish it in time if I don't start! And I'm rambling, sorry.... Anyway, see ya later! Thanks muchly!