Ch. 9

The man shouted something in a strange language, and the crew was instantly surrounded by fierce natives. "Whatever he just said, I don't think it was too friendly," Jack muttered to Blackbird as their weapons were removed. Some of the men resisted at first, but at a glance from Jack they yielded. Their captors led them wordlessly along the winding path, spears held ready at all times. Finally they came to a seemingly impassable tangle of vines. The group's leader reached out to the side and pulled on a stray vine, revealing a mechanism that worked much like a curtain. The vines separated, opening up to a large clearing overshadowed by thick branches and countless layers of foliage. All of the buildings were at least ten feet in the air, built around the large tree trunks at the edge of the clearing and connected by narrow rope bridges. As they were led through numerous buildings, Blackbird took in their surroundings. The village was decorated as fiercely as its in habitants. Most of the rooms were lit dimly by torches and ornamented with a large variety of bones and skulls, some of which she uncomfortably noted were human.

They were taken into a large, relatively bare room with a large throne at the other end. In it sat a wizened old man wearing scarlet robes with various ornaments woven into his long gray hair. Their captor approached the throne and whispered something in his ear, then nodded and stepped back.

"I am Chief Maloni of the Wehutti," the old man said in halting but fluent English. "You are British, yes?"

"Well, some of us may have-"

"Yes or no will do," the chief interrupted.

Jack cleared his throat uncomfortably, which led to a fit of coughing. After almost a minute, he was able to choke out, "Yes, I suppose, but-"

"We are familiar with the British," Maloni said slowly. "They came in large boats, bringing weapons and disease. They told us that they wished to 'coexist in peace', but still my people kept dying. We were once a great people that populated much of this island. Now we are but a few, concentrated in one central village." He grinned fiercely, revealing a mouth full of golden teeth that contrasted brightly with his dark skin. "So we taught the British a lesson. Now it seems we shall have to teach it again."

"No, no, you have it all wrong," Jack said hastily. "We're humble pirates, hated by most self-respecting British folk, in fact. We were caught in a storm and suffered some damages to our ship. If we had known this island was at all populated, we would have continued on our way and tried our luck elsewhere."

"You lie. If we let you go, you will just go to the British and tell them of our weakness. Then they will come again and wipe out my people. I will not take that risk."

Jack almost groaned out loud in exasperation. "I assure you, we have very little interest in helping them. If they possessed this island, they would doubtless turn it into another naval port, which is the last thing we need right now. I swear to you upon pain of death, if you let us go, it will be as if we never found this island."

"Perhaps you are honest, and perhaps you are not," the old man said hesitantly. "We will hold council on this matter immediately, and tell you our verdict later. Until then, you are to be imprisoned and under guard." Before Jack could say anything else, their captors stepped forward again and surrounded them, leading them out of the building.

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The "prison" turned out to be no more than a two-roomed building with guards posted at the sole entrance. The men were allowed to wander about as they pleased, as long as no escape attempts were made.

"This is ridiculous," Marie muttered as she and Juan sat against a wall. "They assume that just because we're white, we intended to do them harm."

"Yes, it is a truly despicable man that discriminates against someone for a background they cannot help having," Juan said, staring evenly at Jack, who was half-listening to their conversation.

Jack turned around slowly and put a hand on Juan's arm. "A word?" he asked mildly, leading him into the adjacent room. Several men had gathered in there, but at a challenging glare from Jack, they quickly left. Juan sat down apprehensively in one of the wooden chairs, but Jack remained standing and began pacing the small room. "Perhaps…perhaps I was a little harsh on you the other day," he said hesitantly.

"All I wanted-"

"Let me finish," Jack interrupted quietly. "First of all, I want you to understand this: I loved your mother very much. It never crossed my mind to leave her; not even for a second. Granted, I was just a little surprised by the news, but I was willing to even given up piracy, if it meant supporting you and your mother. I did run at first, but after I thought it through, I realized I was stupid and went to apologize. When I tried to find her, though, she was gone. I didn't get a chance to say I was sorry."

"Why did you even run in the first place? From what I hear told, Captain Jack Sparrow isn't normally one to run away from his problems."

"I was scared, Juan!" Jack exclaimed, gesticulating wildly. "I panicked! Yes, the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow panicked for once in his life! I didn't know how to be a father! The one example I had was never there! And when he was there, he reminded me daily of how I had ruined his life, then ran off when I was ten! I was afraid I'd end up like him one day, and I panicked. I didn't want your life to be like that."

"So you prevented it by disappearing before I was born? That's brilliant," Juan said sarcastically.

Jack paused and grinned ruefully. "I see you inherited your mother's wit," he said quietly. "She was always up in my face about something stupid I'd done. Then she'd realize how wrong she was to get mad at me and we'd…make up…Guess that's how we ended up with you, aye? Just be glad you got my looks. They'll do you a world of good one day." Juan made a face at the thought and then laughed slightly. "Ah, see, now we're smiling!" Jack said. "Maybe you don't hate me as much as you thought?"

Juan hesitated. "I still don't like you, but maybe I don't hate you quite so much."

Will stuck his head in hesitantly. "Jack, Chief Maloni wishes to have a word with us immediately." Jack nodded and rested his hand briefly on Juan's shoulder before following Will out.

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The old chief stood just outside the building, watching as Jack, Blackbird, and Will stepped out. They waited patiently for him to speak, but he continued to stare impassively at them. Finally, Jack ventured, "You…wanted to speak with us?"

"You do business in the presence of your women?" Maloni asked in confusion. Blackbird bristled at the question, but continued to stand there wordlessly.

Jack looked over at her and cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Ah, well…first of all, Blackbird's not anyone's woman…and secondly, she's my second-in-command. Anything that can be said to me can be said in front of her."

"You do have strange ways for an Englishman," the old man said, shaking his head. "As for my business, we have discussed you case and determined that you are trustworthy, at least for the time being. You and your men will be released in the morning, but may the gods deal ever so harshly with the man that breaks your oath."

Jack nodded and bowed respectfully. "I understand," he said solemnly. "I…do not wish to impose, but…my men haven't eaten since early this morning…"

Chief Maloni grinned. "Perhaps there is something we can do about that."

A/N: Thanksgiving break: good for y'all, bad for me. With all this spare time on my hands, I've been writing pretty much incessantly. Just be glad I'm nice and didn't just hold onto this chapter until a little more suspence had built up.