I found myself both impressed and fascinated by the horde of valuables around me. The greedy little treasure seeker came out in me and I began to hunt for jewels; diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and amethysts. I also took time to look for pearls of all sizes of colours. A small, yet strong voice in my head told me to pay attention to what was happening. Events of the utmost significance were about to commence and I had to be alert. I disregarded the precious stones and pearls and looked at the men in the cave. Captain Jack was examining a gold statue. Barbossa was seated on the little island on which the cursed coin chest was housed. Three of his crew members had remained in the cave. One of them was guarding Will. The others were just hanging around. The nearest one to Jack and myself was skipping stones in the pool between the rocks.
"I must admit, Jack, I thought I had you figured," Barbossa said. "But it turns out you're a hard man to predict."
I let out a quiet snort of laughter. "No kidding," I mumbled.
"Me, I'm dishonest," Jack admitted. That was the cue I was waiting for. No more fooling around now. Things were going to get dicey. Jack began to walk towards Barbossa, tossing the statue he was holding into a pile of treasure near by. "And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly, it's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict…" By now, Jack was standing right behind the pirate who was skipping stones. "…when they're going to do something incredibly…" He made direct eye contact with Will. "…stupid."
Without any warning, Jack grabbed the sword of the pirate crouched beside him and kicked him into the water. Sparrow threw the weapon at Will, who caught it in his bond hands. The blacksmith shoved his guard just as he was drawing his own sword. By now, Barbossa realised what was happening and stood up. Jack lunged at him with his cutlass drawn and began clanging swords with the other captain. From then on, the battle between Jack and Barbossa absorbed all of my attention. I didn't worry about Will, and neither did Jack. We both knew that he was skilled enough to handle three pirates at once, and besides, Elizabeth would be here soon to help him out.
The two pirate captains parried and lunged, balancing on the stepping stones that connected the small island in the middle with the rest of the rocky interior. Jack swiped at Barbossa, who ducked and moved so that now they were facing the opposite way they had been. They clashed swords for a second before Jack took another swipe. He missed, and Barbossa ran onto the mainland. Jack was right on his heels. I followed the two, staying far enough away so I wouldn't get in the way. I had been wounded by a sword once already during this adventure, and I had no intention of being wounded again, thank you very much.
It wasn't long before Jack's cutlass found the feathers on Barbossa's hat. "Aha!" Jack cried triumphantly as the severed feathers floated free. All this did was fuel Barbossa's rage as he attacked Jack, forcing him to back up. Their swords crossed in the air above their heads, drawing the two men face to face. Barbossa grabbed Jack.
"You're off the edge of your map, mate. Here there be monsters!" Barbossa hissed. He shoved Jack away. Propelled by the push, my assignment ran up a small hill.
I began to receive flashes in my mind of the attack on the Dauntless and Elizabeth sneaking onto the Pearl. I blocked those images out and focused on the battle at hand. Barbossa was backing Jack up an incline at the back of the cave. I found myself struggling to keep up with them and I was forced to climb over the rocks to one side of the feuding pirates. On their other side was a sheer cave wall. Pools of moonlight shone on the path behind Jack as he struggled to keep his enemy's sword from making contact with his flesh. Barbossa was obviously the better swordsman. He swiped at Jack, who stumbled to the ground. I too stumbled, slipping down the rocks and scrambling to get back up to Jack's side.
The pirates' swords clanked and clashed until Barbossa kicked Jack in the face. I gasped and redoubled my efforts to climb the slippery rock.
"Oh, to hell with it!" I wispered in frustration. I jumped into the air, wiping my dirty hands on my clothes. "Jeez, why didn't I think of that before?" I mused.
Jack looked up at Barbossa in fear, but the other captain just tossed down his sword and spread his arms. "You can't beat me, Jack," Barbossa stated.
Jack didn't seem to care. He got to his feet and stabbed Barbossa in the stomach. The cursed pirate didn't even flinch. Instead he just sighed and rolled his eyes.
Even though I knew what was going to happen, and that everything would be okay, I still gasped in horror when Barbossa pulled Jack's sword out of his own body and plunged it through Jack's torso. The tip of the cutlass stuck out of Jack's back and the hilt was about a foot or so away from his body. Jack's face registered surprise and what some would consider at first glance to be pain. I knew better though. Jack probably felt some discomfort, sure, but I don't know if he actually felt any pain from the impalement.
I don't know why, but now I felt like Jack and I had some sort of odd connection now. We have both been impaled through the chest by swords and have lived to tell about it.
I landed beside Jack just as he stumbled back into the moonlight, exposing his cursed, skeletal self. I couldn't hide a smile as Barbossa's expression changed from satisfaction to surprise, confusion, and finally anger. Jack held up one bony hand and turned it over several times, examining it curiously.
"That's interesting," he commented casually. My smile widened into a grin.
"That's a bit of an understatement," I said with a shake in my voice. I won't lie to you, I found it very disturbing seeing Captain Jack, my assignment, like this; a walking, talking skeleton with hair and eyes and ragged clothing. Jack made brief eye contact with me, and somehow I felt comforted. He was still Jack Sparrow on the inside, and everything was going to turn out all right.
With his other hand, Jack removed the Aztec coin from its hiding place and began rolling it over and under his fingers, backwards and forwards in a smooth motion. The medallion clicked on his bare finger bones. It made me smile faintly in amusement. Jack looked at Barbossa and if he still had lips I swear he would have grinned at him. He grinned anyway.
"Couldn't resist, mate" he said, and caught the coin. I remembered what Barbossa had said to Jack only five minutes ago: "You're a hard man to predict." Those words couldn't have rung more true.
Barbossa huffed in rage and reached down. At the same time Jack pulled the sword out of his ribs and was surprised when Barbossa threw a fist-full of coins in his face. I cried out and dropped out of the way. Suddenly, the battle was back in full throttle. Jack and Barbossa fought their way further up the path, but Jack seemed to be moving with a new energy. He gave Barbossa a mighty shove in the chest with his elbow.
Jack's blow sent his opponent rolling all the way back down the incline, and I gave a small cheer. Jack leaped down and clashed swords with Barbossa. The tide had turned and now Barbossa was the one fighting from the ground. Captain Jack was more confident and it showed in his attack.
Barbossa was on the defence as the two scampered around the cave. One would chase the other, they would stop and clash swords, and then someone would run again. At one point, Jack came charging down right my direction. I jumped aside, eyes wide and a small squeal escaped my mouth.
"Sorry!" Jack called. I knew he was talking right at me, but it didn't matter right now so I let it slide.
Barbossa ran down the hill to a more open area. Jack was waiting for him and lunged aggressively with his sword. The captains clanged weapons and Barbossa stumbled back. He came to rest on a large rock in the middle of a huge shaft of moonlight. The skeletal Barbossa sighed and looked up at his opponent. I could tell now that he was getting tired, but he knew a fight between two men who couldn't die could last forever.
"So what now, Jack Sparrow?" Barbossa inquired. "Are we to be two immortals, locked in an epic battle until Judgement day and the trumpets sound, hmmm?"
"Or you could surrender," Jack suggested.
That was the last thing Captain Barbossa wanted to do. Jack swiped at him, but Barbossa dodged and leapt up. Jack was carried by momentum onto the rock, where he jumped to avoid Barbossa's sword. Jack sprung off the rock and the two men clashed steel once more.
Barbossa spun around and punched Jack in the face. I gasped and took off as Jack sprinted under an archway. Barbossa laughed and followed him.
I caught up with the pirate captains as their battle took them into the shallow water. Suddenly, an explosion alerted us to the pirates Mr Turner had been engaged with. One of them, Jacoby, had thrown a grenade at Will. He had managed to leap and roll clear asthe explosion launched bits of treasure into the air. Jack had been standing in moonlight.He turned to look in Will's direction, but not for long. It was only a momentary pause before Barbossa struck at him again.
I heard a clang that didn't come from a sword. I looked up and saw Elizabeth holding a long, golden pole. She had knocked out Jacoby, saving Will's life and expressing the torture corsets can bring in the process. It provoked a smile from me before I turned my attention back to Jack and Barbossa.
The two were now battling as skeletons in the same large pool of moonlight. Jack managed to shove Barbossa around exposing his back. He slashed at it and Barbossa yelled in pain. Then they went at it again, their movements becoming almost too swift to register. They made their way up onto land again, and when I looked around I realised we were right back where we had started. I let a sigh escape from my chest. It wouldn't be long now.
I glanced quickly over at Will and Elizabeth's progress with the pirate trio. Then I said aloud to Jack, "Wait for the second explosion."
Said explosion happened only five seconds later. Barbossa had his back to the stone chest. The captains saw the aftermath of the blast and Will and Elizabeth running towards us. Will scaled the treasure and rock mound to the chest.
All this time, Jack had clutched his medallion in his left fist. Now he drew his sword across his palm, covering the cursed coin in his blood. I winced and gritted my teeth. To distract Barbossa, Jack thrust his sword. His opponent was knocked off balance and Jack threw his coin towards Will at the top of the mound. I saw Will make the catch. Captain Barbossa recovered and took out his pistol. He pointed it at Elizabeth, who stopped short at the water's edge.
As Barbossa looked towards the young woman to make sure his aim was true, Jack whipped out his own pistol and pointed it at his enemy's chest. Sparrow's eyes darted to me and I nodded once. Jack pulled the trigger. The gunshot echoed through the cave. Barbossa looked at Jack, who stood there unmoving. His pistol was still raised and smoking, his face was expressionless. He didn't even blink.
"Ten years you carry that pistol and now you waste your shot," Barbossa said. He knew that bullet was meant for him, and now he was clearly amused that it had seemingly all been for nothing.
"He didn't waste it," Will announced from the chest. All eyes turned to him and saw the bloody bone knife in one hand and the other hand in a fist which opened to reveal a deep slash across his palm. He let the two bloodstained coins fall. They clinked into the chest, and that was it.
Suddenly, I felt life spring back into Jack, Barbossa, and off on the Dauntless, all the remaining members of Barbossa's crew. Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief and so did I.
Alarmed, Barbossa dropped his pistol and cutlass and ripped open his coat. We watched as his blood gushed out of his heart and washed through his shirt. The stain seemed to keep growing and growing. I forced my eyes away from the gruesome sight. Barbossa looked up into Jack's face. Jack showed no emotion, none at all. He just simply lowered his pistol, satisfied that his revenge had finally been carried out.
"I feel…" Barbossa whispered. He seemed unable to think of how to finish that sentence. I knew he'd been waiting for so long to feel something, anything, but not this. It was a cruel irony, that he should feel again only to feel his own death. Jack and I watched silently as Barbossa's eyes crossed slightly. At last he found his word. "Cold."
"Famous last words," I thought. As soon as I had felt Barbossa's life return to him, I felt it drift away once more. Barbossa's body fell backwards, and he was dead before he hit the ground. An apple rolled out of his sleeve. I guessed he had been planning on relishing his first bite of food in a decade this night. His lifeless eyes stared upwards into nothingness.
I swallowed and turned to Jack. "Come on," I said quietly. "I'll help you bandage that hand." Without a word, Jack followed me deeper into the cave. When we were out of sight of Will and Elizabeth, I tied a strip of cloth around Jack's left palm. He winced in pain but didn't cry out or anything. We both felt sort of drained inside, but I knew a temporary cure for that.
"Now we get to pilfer the treasure," I said with a grin. Jack smiled back and turned, digging into a nearby pile of gold. The pirate was quite happy to laden himself down with valuables. I even found a jewel encrusted crown which Jack wore at a skewed angle on his head. Try as I might, I just couldn't keep the smile on my face though. I knew that Captain Jack's hard-fought and finally won Black Pearl was long gone, under the command of Gibbs. (And Anamariea too no doubt.) It broke my heart, but there was nothing I could do. When Jack was ready, he marched up to Will. Elizabeth had just turned away and was heading for the boats. Jack paused at Will's side, and he easily guessed what had just transpired between the two would-be lovebirds. "If you were waiting for the opportune moment… that was it." Jack informed the lovesick blacksmith. Jack and I began to follow in Elizabeth's footsteps. "Now if you'd be so kind, I'd be much obliged if you'd drop me off at my ship."
The row back out of the cave was not a pleasant one for me. I glided above the boat feeling grim and unbearably sad. I felt almost like I had let Jack down. I had promised I would make sure that he would get his ship back, and now it looked like I had gone back on that promise. I could see Jack visibly deflate when it was revealed to him that his Pearl was gone. He realised what had happened without being told.
"I'm sorry, Jack," Elizabeth said. She sounded genuine.
"They done what's right by them," Jack responded solemnly. "Can't expect more than that."
AN/ An epic battle requires and epic chapter, and that's what this is. It's nearly 3000 words long. Wow.
Extra special thanks to Kyrie for typing most of this chapter up for me and for doing some editing on it. Thanks Kizz!
P.S. You know something I've noticed, whenever there's a fic where someone comes along with Jack on his adventures through the movie and they get to the sword fighting part near the end when he runs through the cave and shouts "Sorry!" it's always directed to the new person he brought along. Even I've done it here. It's just a little interesting thing I've noticed.