AN: My Muse is back! I picked up the Visual Guide and the junior novelization to Dead Man's Chest. Definitely worth a read for all you diehards out there. Three more weeks!

I'm in the process of revamping this a bit. I'm only changing a few minor details, ie. How Jack and Evelyn get the Pearl, etc. to fit in better with Dead Man's Chest. I've also done some editing.

This story contains SPOILERS! If you don't want to be spoiled, then wait until you've seen the movie, and then read it, okay? Okay!

Every Rose Has It's Thorns

Chapter Ten: Stranded and Escaping

Jack sat on the shore of the little scrap of land his mutinous crew had left him on. A million thoughts raced through his head as he watched Barbossa sail away with The Pearl. What was he to do now? He had no food or drinkable water. To his knowledge, that gave him about three days before he died of starvation or dehydration, whichever took him sooner. All he could really do was hope for some merchant vessel to come along or let death arrive.

The stout pirate that had grabbed Evelyn earlier, Pintel, she had found out his name was, had led her into the captian's cabin. Normally, she would have been contented upon entering the room but now she felt nauseated. She had just witnessed her best friend and lover forced off of the ship that he had called his own. Right now she was fearing for the worse. She wanted to flee The Pearl as soon as she could. She knew she couldn't stay there any longer. She didn't want to see what Barbossa had in store for her next.

When the sun began to peak over the distant horizon, Jack had already sang every sea shanty he knew, attempted to build a fire, and tried to shake coconuts from the palm trees, which he realized were not even coconut bearing. He was extremely frustrated and bored out of his mind. He sat down against the trunk of one of the trees and began to fidget. Suddenly, he stood up and began pace back and forth, wearing a path in the sand, and yelling a few vulgarities. Upon deciding that this was getting him nowhere, and realizing how foolish he must look, he sat back down in the shade and tried to drift to sleep.

He awoke with the late afternoon sun pelting into him and an uncomfortable and very annoying sharp tapping feeling on his arm. It took him a few seconds to realize that a seagull was pecking at him.

"Geroff me ye bloody li'l scavenger!" He screamed at the bird as he shook it off of him. The gull flew off down the shoreline. He stood, stretching his legs and arms. For a moment, he thought he was still on The Pearl and had merely fallen asleep on deck. Then, all in one instant, the events of the previous night came flooding back to him. A look of pure hatred came across his face.

He began to thrash about, running and stomping his feet and jumping up and down. After one particularly rough jump, the ground gave way under him. With a clash that sounded like broken glass, he landed on his backside in a hole. With a groan, he began to sit up. He suddenly smelled a familiar strong, sweet smell. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "Rum!" He shouted joyfully.

The Black Pearl was moored to the docks of Tortuga. The past day had been a blur. Evelyn was having trouble in separating the events. They all merged together in a montage every time she allowed herself to think about it. She sat in the hold, trying to clear her thoughts.

"Evelyn," Bootstrap said as he opened the hatch and peered in from the square shaped opening. Moonlight shone in from behind him, making his face hard to see clearly.

"What do ye want?" Evelyn asked, thinking he was just another one of the crew members coming to take advantage of her. She spoke as if she didn't care to hear the answer at all.

"Ye have ter get out o' here," Bill said, now climbing down the ladder. "Ye can't jes' let Barbossa have his way."

"It's no use," she said, looking down to the floor. "I'll never escape. There's too many o' his men ter oppose."

"What happened ter the li'l spitfire I knew on the Proteus? The one that wouldn't let Jack push her around?" He asked, smiling.

She smiled lightly remembering the peace that had been on that ship. "Her hope went o'er the edge o' this ship with her Cap'n."

"'Ey now," Bootstrap said, "What would your father say if he heard ye say that?"

In all her years at sea she had begun to miss Porthos dearly. When ever something would go wrong, she would ask herself what he would do in the situation. She had started to think of him as not only her father, but as her hero. Since she was young, he had always told her to follow her heart and do what made her feel happiest. Bootstrap must have known that because he was giving her an all-knowing smile.

"Yer right," She said, a look of determination brushing her features, "I can't give up. I've got to live. For Papa and for Jack." Her voice cracked a little as she said Jack's name. She knew the chances of surviving a marooning were slim enough, and under the conditions Barbossa had chosen for Jack, there was not a chance for him to survive.

"Come on then," Bill said, grapping her had, "No time ter loose. Barbossa an' the crew lef' me on watch. They'll be back soon." He climbed up the ladder and out on to the deck. Evelyn followed close behind. "When ye get ter the streets," he said, sliding a plank over the side for her to cross to the dock, "Head into the old part of town. Barbossa an' his men will most likely be near the docks."

"Aye," She said as she strode down the plank and onto the dock, "I will. Thank ye Bill."

"Smartly, now," Bill said, shooing her with his hands, "Before someone comes back."

Bootstrap watched as she headed off into the night, keeping an eye out for his devilish crewmates. I can only hope me son turns out as good as her and Jack did, he thought to himself.

Jack lay sprawled out on the shore out cold. Over the past two days he had spent most of his time unconscious or talking to the trees and empty rum bottles. A tall, burly man poked at him with a stick repetitively.

"Look what we've got 'ere," the man said to one of his comrades. "An' it looks like he drank half o' our supply."

At that, Jack shot up awake. "'Ello gentleman," Jack said, "I'm terribly sorry, 'bout yer rum, but it was me only way ter survive," He flashed them a toothy grin.

AN: Please tell me what you think whether you're a first time reader, or just rereading for the changes!