Disclaimer: I still don't own Pirates (If I did, I'd get rid of "Close to Home" and "CSI: Miami", and make the bloody sequel). Now that I'm done with that, on with the show.
Chapter 4: Old Friends and New
"By God, it's cold here."
"Been a while, hasn't it, luv?"
"A little." After a pointed look, "Okay, more like 10."
Elizabeth Swann Turner and Captain Jack Sparrow stood at the helm of the Black Pearl, observing the unfamiliar phenomenon of ice floe.
"How long for you, Jack?"
"Since I've been here, 5. Since I set foot in England...must be close to twenty."
"But you're not that old..."
"Exactly. I've been exiled a long time." His departure from home was not his favorite talking point. Or a talking point at all, for Sparrow. "Gibbs, set course for that little town there." He indicated a spot of light in the distance.
"Aye, sir. Sir, might I ask what's there?"
"You might." Jack was thin-lipped.
"And would I get an answer, sir?"
"No. Go downstairs and check on young Master Turner." His words were terse and brief.
"Aye, captain." Gibbs was not about to argue with Jack in this mood. He descended the gangway to check on Will, who was still sick after the 4 month trip to Britain.
"Jack...what's so special about this town?" Elizabeth was far more daring than Gibbs.
"This town, luv? Not a thing. It's what's past it that's...special, as you put it. We're putting in here for supplies, and a guide."
"Who's the guide?"
"An old friend." Something in Jack's tone suggested other things.
Sparrow, Gibbs, AnaMaria, and Elizabeth walked through town to a large wall, with a door in it. "Jack, are you sure about this man?" Elizabeth had little faith in Jack's contacts this far north. Or his contacts at all.
"Well, 'man' is stretching the word a bit, but he's good at what he does."
"Think he'll remember us, Jack?" AnaMaria asked Jack as they reached the door.
The door opened, and a man walked out. He was not very tall. He had long, wavy brown hair, and a tanned face. It was this face that was very memorable. He had fairly prominent cheekbones, and a warm hazel eye. His nose had a sizable chunk missing from it, and his right eye was covered by a patch. He also bore several tattoos similar to Jack's. In fact, if he were given rum, a hat, beads in his hair, two black eyes, and a beard, he could've been Jack.
"Johnny!" Jack spread his arms in greeting.
Fear lit up in the other man's eye, and he turned right around and went back in the door. You could hear a lock being set on the door handle.
"What's all this about, mate?" Gibbs was confused.
"He definitely remembers you," Elizabeth remarked in a snarky voice.
"Ah, he's just a little shy." AnaMaria pulled out a pistol and blasted through the door lock. Jack then kicked the door in.
Johnny started backing up, muttering, "No, no, no."
"Hey, Johnny."
"Whatever you need, whatever you want...I don't care, Sparrow! Every time I get pulled into one of your schemes, I almost get killed! Last time I got my nose carved up by some nut named Barbossa. Remember that?"
"You had a run-in with Barbossa?" Elizabeth was curious.
"Run-in? Ha! 'Run-in' is too nice. This bloody pirate got it into his head to go after the Black Pearl. Next thing ya know, Barbossa himself comes in here, and carves a chunk of my nose out! The nut carved straight through the bone! But did I tell him what he wanted? Nooo. He wanted to know if Sparrow was alive. I said that I thought he was dead-true enough-and if he weren't, I'd kill him myself-also perfectly true! So, what do you want this time, Sparrow? My liver? Another round of lead in me?"
Jack was oblivious to this little rant, apparently. "We need a guide to take us past the Arctic Circle. I know the way past there, but not up to and through the Circle itself."
"Sparrow, are you mad? With those crazy Inuits up there, it's wonder we got out alive the first time!" Evidently, this wasn't something he denied Jack out of anger-he was scared of these Inuits.
"Inuits? Are those the natives?" Elizabeth knew very little of this place.
"Not exactly. The Inuits are a group of people who live above the Arctic Circle," Jack explained.
"And just what is this Arctic Circle?"
"I'll explain that," Johnny cut in. "The Arctic Circle is where the ice floe starts breaking off the Arctic Glacier. Now, the Inuits are very nice, peaceable people. Make good fish, too. But these guys...totally nuts. Whatever happened to them drove them totally mad. They still are. Some kind of disease or something. But we barely escaped with our lives."
"And the cure. That's what we went for, and that's what I'm here for," Jack added.
"The cure? Who has the disease? Anyone I know?" Now Johnny was curious.
"Will Turner." Seeing Johnny's face, Elizabeth confirmed it. "Yes, Bootstrap Bill's son."
"I thought he was dead."
"Which? Bootstrap or Will?"
"Well, both, actually."
"And both, actually, are alive and well," Gibbs informed Johnny. "Or at least, Bootstrap's well. He's in Tortuga now."
Turning to Jack, Johnny asked, "So the cure worked with Bootstrap?"
"It did. That's why I'm looking for it again."
"Where is this cure, Johnny?" Elizabeth asked.
"In a nasty part of the Arctic. Some Inuits built a building to house it so it'd never get out. Too bad they caught it. Alright, Sparrow, I'll take you there," Johnny said with some regret.
"Why you doin' it, John?" AnaMaria was curious.
"I owe Bootstrap one. When you see him again, tell him we're square, would you?" Turning to Elizabeth, he asked, "and you are?"
"Elizabeth Turner. Will's wife." She offered her hand for him to shake.
"Ah. Lucky bastard," he muttered under his breath. Instead of shaking it, he knelt and kissed it. "Mind if I call you Bess?"
"Not really." It seemed she didn't expect the court-like courtesy.
"I'm John Depp. I'll be your guide to the Arctic Circle."
