DISCLAIMER: You know the business, the characters I use linked to Pirates of the Caribbean belong to Disney and not me. Life is cruel, I know. So that means that Jack, Bootstraps and any other pirate dude/dudette I use belongs to them and I'm just playing around with them for a while. :P

So the story continues....

He was rocking slowly.

Rocking from side to side.

He knew that rocking. That was…. the sea. Jack opened his eyes abruptly. He blinked as he looked at a wooden ceiling. What had happened? What was that pain in his chest?

Oh.

That.

Jack grudgingly decided to sit up. He hoisted himself up against the wooden wall behind him. The white sheets around him slipped down and he noticed the bandages around his chest, there were specks of blood on them.

"You're awake!" A singsong voice exclaimed. Jack knew that voice, it was his aunt's voice. He looked across the small cabin to her. She wore a maroon dress, it was her favourite one, with a low cleavage and white ruffles on the sleeves. Her blonde hair fell down where it pleased.

"Those gunshots made you lose quite a bit of blood, had her majesty's royal guards been better shots, they would have probably killed you. You really worried me." She said before turning back to sorting out the pile of clothes behind her.

With a grin at the poor shooting of the English guard, Jack looked back to the bandages around his chest. Then he frowned.

"What actually happened?" He asked, looking back at his aunt.

"What happened? You were shot." She looked up in confusion.

"No, after that."

"Oh. Ol' Bootstraps Bill found you. Said you gave him quite a start. He brought you back to the ship, I have to admit, you really did look ridiculous in those robes, I daresay they were the reason that you got shot, must have slowed you down an awful lot." Jack's aunt replied, he bit his lip to stop himself from answering back. After all, who wants to look like a fool?

Still, he had a trophy, his gorgeous golden statue. And that young nun was quite something, he chuckled slightly at the memory. His aunt gave him a frown, but thought better of asking, and returned to her business yet again.

Yes, such a beautiful statue, the way it caught the light like that and… Where the hell is it?

"Auntieeee." He said reproachfully, lengthening the word long beyond recognizable significance, just as a small child would.

"Yes." She sighed in reply, refusing to let her foolish nephew make her smirk.

"Where did you put the golden statue?" Jack asked bluntly, he didn't really feel up to asking with flair and trickery, he still felt weak from the lack of blood in his body.

"What golden statue? Bootstraps said he found you just in a monks robe, never said anything 'bout a golden statue." His aunt frowned. Jack raised his eyebrows. That thieving bloody pirate.

Abruptly he threw off the covers and leapt to his feet. Then discovered that was a very bad move.

He staggered several feet and fell right into his shocked aunt's arms. He gasped several times as pain coursed through his chest, choking as his lungs cried for air. Perhaps he shouldn't make any sudden movements until he was fully healed.

"Are you alright?" His aunt fussed.

"Yes. Yes. I'm fine." Jack stood up quickly.

Too quickly.

He fell backwards a little then balanced it out before he embarrassed himself further.

"Look at you. You look like the average drunken sailor." His aunt chuckled.

"Well, who's to say I'm not? I like my rum in horrendously vast amounts, you know me." Jack swaggered a little for effect, meaning it this time. "Now, I'm off to see a pirate about a little something that belongs to me. Savvy?" His aunt frowned at the word, but Jack had turned around with an effective drunken swagger and was almost at the door.

"Um, Jack? A shirt might be nice? And some trousers?" Aunt Aimee quipped.

Jack stopped hastily and looked down, his face rose up again with a flush of red.

He turned the top half of his body around to face Aunt Aimee.

"Maybe." He winced.

(The above can be left to your imagination as to how much he's wearing, I'm personally assuming he's wearing at least something. Depends how your mind works)

Jack smoothed down his hair to little effect. Trying to tame the wild black locks was literally impossible. He swayed a little in harmonic unison to the Pearl, and lifted a hand up to hover next to the wooden door in front of him. This would be a perfect display of wit, cunning, and all round Jack. He over-elegantly rapped his knuckles on the dark wood.

"Comein." The two words melded together in a mindless mumble. With a wide grin, Jack pushed on the door and swaggered into the living-quarters beyond. Hammocks strung from the ceiling like a spider's nest, with bedding on the floor too. Sitting and swinging in a hammock gently was ol' Bootstraps Bill. His brown hair was loose around his shoulders, as was his grubby shirt. He looked at Jack with confused and slightly intimidated soft brown eyes. "Alrigh' Jack?" He frowned.

"Yer, I jus'…" Jack swayed a little for effect, he liked the constantly drunk look he so easily donned. "Jus' wondering, when you came across me-"

"You want to know how I saved yer? Alrigh' then." Bootstraps grinned, Jack frowned, then decided against a protest and sat in a hammock next to Bootstraps. He leaned forward to listen intently. Bootstraps looked at him and suddenly flushed. "Erm, you know it wasn't really that spectacular. Jus' found yer 'n' all. Not much to speak of." He sat back. This was typical of Bootstraps, Jack had been dubious to the fact why he had offered his tale in the first place.

"Come on. I wanna hear, so yer're gonna tell me. Savvy?" Jack grinned and cocked his head.

"Savvy?" Bootstraps wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Yes. Savvy." Jack piped.

"Yer know, I don't really want to tell yer, so you can run along to your uncle and annoy someone else." Bootstraps growled, but winced slightly at his angry tone. The kid just wanted a story after all.

Jack drew back and stared at Bootstraps as if he was hurt.

"Alrigh'." He said eventually. "As long as I have my statue back." Bootstraps looked at him in shock. "I know ye have it."

"I…I…I was erm… just looking after it." Bootstraps stuttered, and then mumbled. "You know, for safe keeping 'n' all."

Jack raised an eyebrow.

Bootstraps turned around and began foraging in a nest of clothes, then turned, holding the statue out in front of him like it was cursed. With a full-tooth grin, Jack snatched the statue from him and began to inspect it. An occasional frown would surpass his face as he discovered a scratch or a dirt-mark, but otherwise he showed an expression of pure delight.

"The greatest of thanks and well-wishings to you." He grinned, and then turned with arms flailing like a madman and made his exit. Just as he came to the door, he halted. "Oh, 'n' Bootstraps, me ol' mate?" He turned as Bootstraps looked up at him, now undoubtedly petrified of the boy before him. "Don't ever steal anything from me again. Savvy?"

Note from the author: Savvy indeed. Hope you like this installment, if you did, don't remain anomynous and tell me. Next installment coming soon, which will hopefully be longer.