Hi! Sorry that took so long. but at least I updated! Now time for review praise:

Authoressinhiding: Yes, but you've already done so amy times since then. Hey, back off on the mooing. That's my thing, mate.

Little Miss Sparrow: Glad to know I can maketh thee laugh! Yes, writer's block is so painful! Glad you liked the virtual cookie, too. Lol.

Jess is a pirate: You wouldn't stop talking and let me update! Oh well, it's up now. Yeah, only three days off should be illegal.

obbits14: Mate, you'll just have to wait and see. XD -smirk-

marauder4ever: Thankee! Here's yer update.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. I'm just borrowing everything. I promise to return them each in at least three pieces...

Jim Hawkins: Pirate and Commodore of His Majesty's Fleet ...What's wrong with this picture?...

He'd looked through most everything he'd brought with him during the first day and night of the voyage. The only thing really left was his mother's precious diary, which had been left untouched for decades and decades. It felt to him like he would betray her privacy and her respect if he even so much as blindly lifted the cover. Indeed, it was as strange a book as he had ever seen. It was not bound or covered with leather, but seemed instead to be so of some light wood, or perhaps a heavy parchment, foreign to his eyes. But in the end, as he opened that forbidden book, he found he could not close it again. Reading of his mother's adventures, from her first memories of labs and scientists, to her escape from there and the memories she had of things that had never happened to her--most of which he believed were from the girl who dozed across the very same cabin from him--and all she had experienced before somehow appearing in another world: he for once felt like he really knew her as a person, rather than a cherished memory. However, when it came to those entries of her travels to another world, she had been very vague about how she got there. There were no hints nor inklings. Only that the 'secret was engraved in the heart.' And this perplexed him greatly, considering how exactly Amy was going to find her way, if they didn't know just what that 'way' was?

However, being cooped up in that cabin, even with his mother's diary to entertain himself, was not all it was cracked up to be. A spot of fresh air was what he needed. Just to be topside, with the sun high in the sky and the sea stretching out forever in all directions, the spray of the sea cooling against his skin, and the breath of the wind surrounding him. That was what drew him to the sea. "Sure, so long as you don't look for any signs of where we're headed," Amy replied when she heard this.

"Are you sure Jack won't mind? It is his ship after all."

"Glad to see you respect that, James. But I'm as much in charge as Jack is right now, myself currently being the one who commands this vessel as it were. Just...watch your back." When the Commodore glanced over his shoulder, she added, "It means be on your guard. Aiyaiai!" she groaned as she walked out, "Seventeenth century my foot!" before pausing and adding, "But it's not Jack I would be worried about—rather, the rest of the crew, savvy?" and finally departing.

James blinked. Lord was she a strange find! Gazing out the open passageway, he shook his head as if to clear it, marked the page he was currently on in his mum's diary, placing it under his pillow, and walked out behind her. Poking his head through the hatch, the sunlight nearly blinded him, and it took his eyes a moment to adjust before he could fully emerge on deck. The sun shone bright in a sky as clear as the water and just as blue. Gentle breezes rustled in the billowing black sails. The Pearl pitched and rolled gently, dipping her prow playfully through the waves every now and again. He had to admit it: he could see at least one reason now why Jack loved his ship so much. She certainly was beautiful. Ropes and boards creaked, sails flapped and whipped, waves crested and broke, or crashed against the hull. The crew worked almost silently, as if they were all listening to the sounds around them—as if listening to the sounds of the Pearl, like she was commanding them. Which, when really thought about, is true: the only thing on a ship that is in command and in complete control is the ship herself.

Norrington stepped across the softly creaking boards to the bulwarks, leaning on his elbows and watching the sea go past, watching the dolphins swimming playfully alongside the hull. They leapt higher and higher, and he stretched his arm out, hand hovering over the water. A dolphin exploded from the sea, nudging his hand with its snout. He smiled to himself and pulled his arm back. He hadn't done that since he was a child.

Enjoying yerself, mate? Jack nickered, coming up beside him and assuming a similar stance against the rail.

"Yes, I suppose I am," James replied, understanding the pirate's tone enough to have some vague idea of what he was saying. Jack chuckled quietly to himself and watched the finned mammals as well.

Always did enjoy their company. As it were, they stood side by side, watching and admiring the sea creatures and the sea herself, through two and a half bells (hour and a quarter, about), willing to just put aside their differences and their rivalries and find a common ground with one another. At least...for the moment, anyway...

Ames paused in her work—Gibbs had been trying to teach her how to tie knots efficiently—and looked up to see them. She smiled to herself. I knew they'd get along somehow or other...she thought before getting back to work.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Time flew past the Pearl as she sailed toward her destination. James had read through his mother's diary almost twice before they got there (judging by how fast a reader he was, though, that seems pretty slow for him).

However, time did not seem to pass by quickly enough for said Commodore. Hanging around pirate scallywags for three days and counting had made him slightly irritable, and extremely impatient to reach their destination, asking himself repeatedly why he ever agreed to coming along. Anamaria, being the perceptive woman she was, picked up immediately that there was something suspiciously familiar about the Pearl's newest passenger. By the second day, she had taken to discreetly following him and trying to listen in on conversations and go through his stuff. Jack, however, picked up on this, and gave Ames the heads-up to keep things on the down-lo, and to take extra precautions, like only ever calling Norrington James, or by his pseudonym of Jim Hawkins, or locking their door whenever out of the room or asleep.

Now, as it were, Ana was beginning to think that maybe her suspicions had been wrong, and started to lay off on her snooping and digging, at least for a while. "You think she's still listening?" Ames whispered softly in the safety of their cabin—whispering was about all she could do when not giving orders. She was beginning to lose her voice, and she knew she had to work on projecting a bit better, so she had to save her voice for when it was needed.

James shook his head. "You told me Jack told you he hasn't seen her up to anything of the sort since yesterday afternoon."

"Aye," she bobbed her head. "Good point."

"Tell me...what's it like, in comparison to this?"

"Huh?"

"Your world."

"Oh. For a spell, I could've said it was cleaner. But now, I fear it is as filthy as or worse than a place like Tortuga in most cities and large towns. The air around the cities is filled with smog and smoke, and the water is constantly polluted with sewage and litter, and the ground—everywhere you go where there're human inhabitants, there's litter, trash, waste. A lot of animals have gone extinct, and some are on the verge of becoming so as it is. The world is vastly overpopulated, and the people are destroying it, bit by bit, despite all the conservation efforts to make things better. In some ways, it's horrible. There's still murder and rape and crime. Heck, prolly more than now, even with our charming pirates all over. But in other ways... there are forests and woodlands that still stand, if only for now, as well as numerous other habitats and environments. And the wildlife and plantlife that you can see is beautiful. There are peaceful places, and places untouched by man, however rare they may be." She continued on, trying to give a basic picture based on what she knew, though leaving out all the scientific stuff, knowing most of it wouldn't make any sense to him. He sat and listened, a hard, contemplating look on his face. No wonder his mother had chosen another world over her own. Even with everything positive that was there—all these inventions and conveniences—what they were used for, and what was happening because of them overshadowed all good points to the extremities. Not cool, Boo-boo.

Just then, there were a knock at the door. Ames hastily ended their conversation and took up her usual disguised accent which she had to use since Jack hadn't told any of the crew the truth about her. "Come in, the door's open, mate!" she called. The door to the cabin creaked open and Anamaria stepped in. "What can I do fer ye, Ana?"

"I have a question."

"'I have an answer,'" the lass quoted her ninth grade Biology teacher.

"I thought ye might. What's been goin' on with Jack?"

"...How do ye mean?" Ames asked uneasily. She didn't want the crew to start thinking Jack was meddling with witchcraft.

"I mean the sounds he's been making. He'll make those noises, but he won't speak to any of us. Only to you and apparently Mista Jim," she gestured to Norrington.

"No, he talks to everyone. I'm just the only person who can understand anything he's sayin'. And Jim here is extremely perceptive, and has the ability to pick out meanin' from what he understands...for instance tone, or facial expressions. In't that right Jim ol' buddy ol' pal?"

James blinked before nodding. "An old trick I learnt from me mum wey back when I were a boy. Comes in handy ev'ry n'w and ag'in."

Ames nodded, turning back to Ana. "Why d'ye ask?"

"Well he's been starting to act a bit strangely as of late—even for him. He's makin' those sounds an' noises and the like even more than before. He was so quiet a few days ago, and now it's like he's talking to himself."

Ames and James exchanged concerned expressions before rushing topside. They found Jack pacing along the bulwarks, pausing in his stride every few steps to look out anxiously at the horizon, as if looking for something. Watching. Upon closer approach, the lass caught some of what he was murmuring. Two legs...four...no, no...paws?...Itch...something there...out...

"Jack? What's wrong?"

He didn't look up. Out there...something out there...not good...four legs...something coming...

"What is it? What's he saying?" asked an actually concerned James.

"I don't know...I think there's something he's sensing that's not a good thing...but I can't make heads or tails of what he's really saying—it's just my guess."

"Would he be able to communicate whatever it is to you if he were," he lowered his voice so that only she could hear, "a horse?"

She shrugged. "Maybe." She stepped closer and put a hand on Jack's arm as he paused near her. "Jack?" He whirled to face her, eyes widening. An apprehensive snort escaped his nose. "Are you alright?" He looked back to the horizon, a stressed, confused expression on his face. He needed to be a horse right now. Why, she had no idea, she just knew. But he wasn't thinking 'horse' at the moment. He was too absorbed in whatever it was that had him tense. He had entered her thoughts plenty of times, she remembered. She could probably do the same. Reaching out for some sort of connection, she firmly grasped the confusion in his mind and placed in its midst a picture of himself as a horse. Moments later, and strong breeze swept over the Pearl, and she doubled her speed for a while. Ames blinked away the dust that had been blown in her eyes and saw Jack-the-horse standing in front of her.

He shook his matted mane and looked at her confusedly. ...Ames?

"Jack...what's going on?"

...I ...I don't know...I can't explain it. There's something out there...something big, luv. Huge. There's...this tingling sensation in me ears. And I just feel anxious, like a huge storm is about to break–

"That's it! There must be a storm approaching." Jack flicked an ear curiously. "Well many animals can pick up on weather phenomena and such. Ana," she called. The female pirate strode over. "Have there been any signs of a storm lately?"

Ana shook her head. "No, none," she replied, regarding the stallion who was listening in on their conversation.

"What color was the sunrise?"

"A bright orange. Nothing too special. An orange sunrise is nothing to worry about."

"Well sometimes the sunrise is wrong. Jack, in what direction do you think it is?" Jack pointed with his snout toward the horizon, about six points off the port bow. "Is it big?"

I don't know, darling, I'm still new at this.

"Good point. Feels big?" Jack bobbed his head and pawed once at the deck. "We'll have to chart a course around it," she notified a very confused-looking Anamaria.

"'T isn't too much in th' wey," James added, looking off a compass. He had noted their general direction of travel by sun's position each day, and now knew where they were sailing...just not how to get back. Yet. "Shouldn't take too lon' t' goo ar'und it."

Ana, recognizing the compass as her own, swiped it from his hands and threatened to slap him across the face for stealing it. He only ducked his head and hid a grin. "Bloody men...ye'd make a pretty good pirate, you know."

"So I've been told." Ames raised an eyebrow at him and he made an 'I'll-tell-you-later' face.

"But we don't even know it's really out there. I mean it's just an animal, how can it tell there's a storm out there?"

"Well, for one, animals are highly perceptive and can pick up on a lot of things we can't, and two he's Captain Jack Sparrow! Just an animal? Just? Now what a horrible candle-snuffingword; Just..."

Jack had a feeling, though, that he needed to get a point across with dear Anamaria. He stamped his hoof and whinnied heartily. Ames looked at him askance, then to James. "Mr. Hawkins, would you be so kind as to guide our dear ship through this peril that has come upon us?"

James started, and gaped at Jack before regaining his composure. He held out a hand like one would to wave half-heartedly at someone. "D'ye trust me with 'er, Jack?" With a warm, low nicker, Jack nudged his nose into the Commodore's palm. Taking it as a form of acceptance, which it was, a ghost of a smile dusted his features. "All reight...let us be prop'rly on our wey then." And with that, he strode to the helm and took it into his grasp, immediately setting a new course in his head on how to journey around this storm and still reach a destination that was invisible to him. Hours later, the crew soon understood why their guest was steering Jack's belovéd ship. They felt the crackling in the air and the tension that was often there when a storm is about to break. With dark clouds on the horizon and still a good distance away, now about two points off the port stern, they had passed it by. Problem avoided. At least that one. Then Ana stormed onto the deck, straight up to the bridge, and punched James so hard in the jaw he was sent reeling backward, seeking a hold on the bulwarks for balance.

"What the bloody hell was that for!" Ames raged, rushing up the steps to join them.

Ana glared at her. "I'll tell ye what." She turned to the crew—who had gathered once again at the commotion—and answered: "We have aboard this ship an imposter! This man," she mointed accusingly at James, "is no 'Jim Hawkins'." She held up a book and James' eyes widened, recognizing it as his mother's. "This, men, is the pirate scourge of the Caribbean. Commodore Norrington is among us!"

o.0;; That can't be good...well, leave a review and I'll update, kupos! I was gonna say something else here, but now I've gone and forgotten. Oh well. Just leave a review. Oh wait, I remember now! Go to this site (but replace the word 'dot' with a period cuz ffdotnet messes up urls): http/wwwdotohjohnnydotnet/potc2/potc2208dotjpg Tell me: Who is that? Any guesses? You'll never guess. Care to prove me wrong? Tell me in your reviews, savvy? See yeh next chapter!