Disclaimer: I own Morgan..and possible the other character in this chapter but not Jack. He's all Disney's.
A/N: Pity me, pity me. I haven't seen PotC Part II yet. I don't know when I will so until then, whatever I have that doesn't match up to the second movie in this story will just have to stay until I see the movie and can go back and fix it. So that's my note. Kthxbye.
Chapter 22
The two captains slowly made their way around the rocks and out of the thinning water towards the lighted cavern. Inside small nooks of the wall were candles that seemed to be burning to their wick's end. Adding to the lightening were fires that seemed to glow from an unknown source. There was nothing that could have been considered furniture in the well lit cavern and still a gray haired figured rested on a strangely carved black rock.
The man sat with his back facing them and by his gray hair and dark clock, they knew he was not Jonathan. Upon the head of the old man was a tricorned hat, battered with age. Beneath it, his long salt and pepper hair lay down his back filled with different sized braids.
As they approached, the man's had shot up and quickly turned to face them. A short beard of gray covered the lower part of the man's face with wrinkles of various sizes on his face. His mouth was set in a thin line and his eyes of gray were set upon them in wonder.
The three stared at each other before the oldest pirate finally broke the silence. "Welcome," he said with a slow smile.
His voice was low and seemed to crack from unuse. Although his words were heard by both Jack and Morgan, it seemed as if his mouth had hardly moved to say them.
"Who are you?" Morgan asked, her hand still resting on the pistol in her belt.
The old man smiled. "I am the only pirate that was given the job of guarding this wonderful cavern that you see before you," he said sarcastically with a sweep of his hand towards the candlelit room.
"Why? Why you?" Jack asked, not understanding what this pirate had to do with the island.
"I was one of the last pirates who made it through the last few weeks in this cave. The others were lost or were swept away with the strong wave that had come to destroy those that remained. Those that were left made a pact and a curse was put upon us for our greed. Until there would be one who would break our curse, the last would remain. When that time came, we would help those who would free us. You must those that they spoke of."
"They?" the female pirate asked in confusion.
"Yes. A pirate with us had envisioned just before he died that there would be two that would come," the old man explained.
"My father was Henry White," Morgan told him plainly, wondering if that would change his mind about helping them.
The old pirate straightened. "That I know as well. It was known that the lineage of Captain White would free us from the curse that was set upon his crew. I had though he had a son."
"His son is a louse with a backbone like a snake. Jonathan's courage fails him in such a dilemma as this," she stated truthfully.
The pirate nodded. "One would be weak, while the other strong. It was envisioned of Captain White that this would be so."
Jack cocked his head curiously at the old man. "You seem to know an awful lot about the future."
"It was given to me as the guardian of this cave. My duty was to know about those that would come and prepare for them," the pirate replied gravely.
"Your knowledge.."
"I can only tell you what you already know," the old pirate said interrupting Jack.
"What now?" Morgan asked, hoping that was one piece of information that he could tell him.
The old man beckoned them to follow him as he moved towards a corner of the cave that was covered in milky white spider webs and dust that clung upon it. Behind the web, they could only make out the shapes of dark and light. Aside from shapes, no real objects could be seen. "You must go through there," the old pirate told them calmly.
"Will you lead us?" Jack asked, unsure of what lay ahead of them.
"It is my duty not to lead but to follow. Success is up to you," the gray haired man replied as his voice began to return to him. He knew what fate would meet them here but it was not his place to speak. Soon they would learn of it themselves.
"I am allowed to warn you that there will be challenges to face. You must overcome each one together. These challenges were created by the crew to be positive that those who would come were strong enough to do what must be accomplished," he added.
"What are they?" Jack asked the man curiously. He was already too deep into this situation to back out even if he wanted to.
"I cannot say," the old man replied as he cracked a smile. "What must be done was never told to me. One of you would know," he said before glancing between the two with his nose lifted in the air.
Morgan regarded the two pirates with disinterest, feeling that they were wasting time with all those questions. Taking control of the situation, she pushed away the cobwebs to reveal a stone tablet etched into the wall. The words were scratched in at varying sizes, probably done by a dagger by the looks of the crooked and sharp letters.
"To the left of the gold of the cursed island, past the arm who was first broken, black is the color of my treasure and gold," Jack read slowly from the etched wall.
"What the bloody hell does that mean?" the girl muttered angrily.
"It's your clues," the old pirate explained as if he was talking to a child.
"I know that," Morgan replied sourly as she studied the wall.
He shrugged. "I don't know what they mean," the old man told them honestly.
White rolled her eyes as she grabbed a pistol from her belt and pointed it towards him. "A lot of help you'll be."
The pirate looked at it with disinterest. "Shoot me if you like. You'll only be wasting your ammunition. Until the curse is broken, I will stay alive to help you."
Jack Sparrow looked back at him curiously. "Seems to me, mate, that they didn't give you much to pass on."
The old man smiled. "There is much I know. I shall relay it to you in due time my friends," the pirate nodded with a chuckle as he walked past them into the cave. "You shall see."
The two captains gave each other a look of disbelief. From what they had learned from the old man so far was that he was crazy. Neither of them knew how long he had sat on that blackened rock but his sanity must have left him with his mortality.
"Come follow me, my pirate kings," he said cheerfully as he turned back to look at them. "You must follow the pat that was laid for you. The path your father took, Morgan. Follow the path your father took," he chanted as he disappeared around a turn in the cave.
"Daft," Morgan muttered under her breath as she tucked her gun back into her belt before she began to follow the man from her father's crew.
Captain Jack Sparrow watched them with raised eyebrows as they disappeared into the cavern. There was something slightly unnerving about the whole business and yet he couldn't figure out what it could be. Something just didn't seem to be right. It was a feeling he couldn't shake and somehow he knew he couldn't be wrong.
A/N: I think my muse has returned to me this month. It's crazy. I've been working on nearly every story I have on this site that isn't finished yet. I know, this doesn't have anything to do with this story since I've actually finished writing it and only have to type it up but if any of you are interested in my other stories, then it's good news for you! Besides that, I think I may just have this story completely up on this site by the end of the month. I hope you're excited because I am. It's really going to get fun now. I just want to say that it's possible that your reviews (or lack of them) may change the way I'm going to finish this since the way you feel might change my mind about what I'm going to do next. And what's going to happen might surprise you..
