Andy

I had hardly slept at all in the gloom of night. Jack and Will still lay sprawled and sleeping on the dock a few feet away. The silence was broken only by the loudness of Jack's abhorrent snoring.

He seemed to be having a nightmare as he tossed and turned, flinging his arms through the air and fighting off invisible enemies. In his struggles, Jack rolled himself off the berth and plunged into the cool water.

Jack

With a resounding splash, I plummeted to the water's depths, still running mindlessly from the British soldiers, until I realized I was underwater and drownin' meself. I struggled underwater for a moment to turn around from my upside-down position and swim to the surface.

I burst through, to the rising sunlight and looked up at the berth, only to see Will and my sister, Andy, laughin' at me. I shook a wet strand of hair from my face only to have it swing around and smack me directly in the nose.

"Ouch! Bloody thing!" I flailed a little and caused myself to sink below the water again.

Once again, I swam upwards and hauled my wet self onto the pier, tryin' to keep my balance, despite the fact that my boots were slick with water. After learning how to balance on wet boots, I stood to face my smiling sister.

"'Morning sunshine…" Andy mocked.

"Oh, cut tha' out! I was havin' a perfectly nice mornin' before you said that!" I said as I stumbled backwards and landed on top of Will.

"Careful, Jack. You don't want to end up in the water again." She laughed.

"I'll have you know," I clambered off Will as he wrung out his newly soaked shirt, "I was out for a mornin' swim, and tha's all."

Will complained "Next time you go out for a swim, please try not to use me to dry yourself."

I turned to look at him and grinned sheepishly, "Sorry, mate."

Andy suggested that we 'borrow without permission', as I put it, a ship to commandeer to find the 'Captain' of The Black Pearl. Will and I agreed and without further delay we were off, down the beach to find a ship to 'borrow'. I had suggested The Dauntless, since it had been so easy to Captain the last time I 'borrowed' it. Maybe Commodore Norrington would be kind enough to 'loan' it to us, for say, a year?

"The Dauntless? Here?" Will asked.

"Yes, here!" It seems as though a few British officers wanted a bit of a drink." I said. "They have the right idea." I added, after taking a quick look around.

Will looked around. "Well, we may have a ship, but what's happened to the crew? Where are Anna-Maria, Mr. Gibbs, and Mr. Cotton? I mean, where is everyone? Do you honestly plan to sail without them?" He inquired. It was obvious he wasn't too taken by the idea.

The massive form of The Dauntless rose and fell on the swells of the bay, tied to the dock like a tethered wild animal struggling to free itself. I turned from Will to its great height and, in reply, said, "Will, you and I are not quitters. We made it from Port Royal to Tortugas easily enough on our lonesome. Now we have Andy here with us as well. C'mon, if the two of us (meaning him and me) could go a certain distance alone, the three of us (meaning him, me, and me sister Andrea) can…well…we can make it!

With an agreement made, the three of us crouched low and darted behind boxes and barrels, making our way towards the ship. As we stared at the dock, no British soldiers in red uniforms guarded its gangplank. We flew swiftly from our momentary cover and dashed to The Dauntless.

Suddenly, two guards, coincidentally the same two who I had run into three years earlier, barred our way.

"No civilians." The fat one informed us.

"Hey! You're that Jack Sparrow fella!" The other realized.

Captain. I thought harshly. Captain Jack Sparrow.

"Ah…well…Commodore Norrington has given me permission to borrow, uh, this ship." I narrowed my eyes and pointed stiffly at The Dauntless.

"Do you have any papers?"

"I have my bill from the tavern; that's paper if you really want it."

The guards shook their heads in unison "That's not good enough."

Then the smaller one stepped forward, "You know, we have orders to arrest you on sight?"

"Really?"

They nodded again.

"Hmm…" Lovely.

In a flash, Andy, who had been standing silent, knocked the two guards out using the butt of her pistol and pushed them into the waves. She promptly proceeded to untie the ship as Will sped up the gangplank.

"Did I miss something?" I asked as I looked from the downed guards to the ship and finally to Andy while taking a step onto the gangplank.

She simply shrugged and replied, "Yes. That was your cue to run."

"Oh, right mate." I replied, nodding as if I understood, Andy and Will responding with staring glances.

"What?"

Each of them was on board and holding a corner of the gangplank, ready to tip it into the water. The only problem was, I was in the middle of the plank, and the boat—ship—was moving farther from the dock.

I turned to see that there was barely a fraction of an inch of the plank on the dock still, and Will and my sister were the only things keeping the plank from falling away from the ship.

Taking a careful step, I looked down. The water was passing by more swiftly, which meant the ship was gaining speed I guessed we were going say two, three knots. Even still, it was time for me to board The Dauntless. Nearly at a jog, I moved toward the deck…one more step—it was too slow. What was left of the plank on the dock gave way and took me with it, the only way we had left to go: down.

As I fell, I managed to catch myself and hold tightly onto the deck, my feet flailing under me. "Not good!" My grip began to loosen, and I was slipping closer and closer to the deep blue, licking waters beneath me.

"Help! A little help would be useful." I couldn't pull myself up. Whenever I tried to drag myself up, I slipped and found myself hangin' from The Dauntless' side again.

"Come on, Jack." It was Andy who spoke, and as doing so, she reached out and grasped my hand, then began to gradually pull me up.

Will took my other hand and they heaved me up so that the deck and my waist were level. Then I swung my legs up onto deck and found myself sitting.

I looked from one companion to another. They'd both backed up to give me room to move. "What took you so long?" I questioned, throwing my arms in the air…and for no apparent reason.

They only smiled, not talking and not making any noticeable movements. That was it then; we were finally on our way. We were going to reclaim my Pearl. After all, what is a captain without his ship? Ha! That is like asking what a bird is without wings, what a fish is without scales, or what a ship is without its sails. And the answer is simple: a foundation. And a foundation alone.