CHAPTER THREE
A Captain's Fate

"Yo' will be needin' a ship," explained Tia Dalma as she gestured flamboyantly with her arms at the table of pirates sat before her. They were seated around Tia's round wooden table, some still recovering from a bad night's sleep. "Obviously dere is only one place to go."

"Tortuga," murmured Barbossa coarsely, absenting stroking the head of his monkey. He leant forward upon the scrubbed wooden table, the monkey leaping off his shoulder to land in front of him. It peered around at the group inquisitively, tilting its head as it chattered to himself excitedly.

Tia slowly walked around the table, past Will who regarded her closely as her fingertips danced across the top of his shoulders. Neither of them appeared to notice Elizabeth's frown at this behaviour. "Yo' will need another boat," she continued, stopping in-between the shoulders of Pintel and Ragetti, the latter whom was snoozing as his knuckle propped up his stubbly chin. "I will give yo' one," exclaimed Tia, putting a loud emphasis on the word 'I' and startling Ragetti awake. His wooden eye swirled madly before both looked up at Tia nervously. "However.." continued Tia slowly with a smile curling across her painted lips. "I will only give yo' an extra boat should yo' promise me dat when yo' find ol' Jack, he comes to see me instantly."

There was a curious expression upon Elizabeth's face as she looked up at Tia. "Why?" she asked quietly.

"I would like d'return of my ring," said Tia with a mysterious air, "De one he stole, yes?"

"Why are you so confident that we'll find him? Even if he is alive." asked Will as he leant forward on the table top. His question summoned him surprised looks from the rest of the crew, and a smirk from Barbossa.

Tia settled her dark, bloodshot eyes upon Will, a crooked smile working across her lips. She spoke in a low, quiet tone, "Because, dear William, he is Captain Jack Sparrow!"

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It was a daft act of heroism; one that Jack knew was futile. But if he was going to go down, he was going to go down fighting. That was his only concern as he reached for his cutlass and drew it out to face the growling Kraken. He advanced forward, the rotting smell of the monster's breath suffocating out his last scent of the salty sea air. "Hello beastie!" he cried as he swung his sword into the Kraken's open jaws. The loins closed around him, the circular gums drawing long pointed teeth together to swallow him inside. Jack silenced his screams as some of the teeth tore into his calf. He pushed on valiantly with the blade, plunging it into the back of the monster's throat.

A deafening shriek blasted into his face at he struck, the Kraken rearing back to collapse into the choppy ocean, backing away from the sinking Pearl. Jack held on tightly to his cutlass handle as he was thrown around the pungent mouth of the beast, which continued to plummet back down into the dark depths of the sea, still shrieking in it's pain, roaring into Jack's face.

Jack cursed incessantly as he swung around the monster's mouth, still holding onto the cutlass hilt, literally for dear life. His hat toppled off his head in the motions, about to be lost into the vast chasm that made the Kraken's throat. "No!" gasped Jack as a hand let go of the handle to grab the rim of his beloved hat. He wasn't losing that again!

Then all of a sudden, everything fell relatively calm, and it appeared the Kraken had reached the ocean floor. Jack popped his hat back onto his head, cautiously peering round the blackness. He had been flipped over, the monster's teeth now below him as opposed to above his flailing torso. Jack knew he had to get out of the Kraken's mouth, even if it meant he was on the bottom of the ocean floor. Maybe his Black Pearl would be here too. Of course, he needed to get the sea monster to open its tightly closed mouth in order to escape. But Jack had a plan. He wrenched his bloodied blade out from the monster's flesh, jamming it fiercely into another part of the creature's mouth. It had the desired effect, the Kraken let out another unearthly roar, it's teeth parting as it spit Jack out angrily. Water rushed into the monster's mouth, catching Jack's flying form as he collapsed into the dark realms of the ocean's floor. Jack desperately held his breath as he hit the sandy floor, looking over his shoulder to see the Kraken swimming away; it's tentacles propelling it swiftly. Silence descended upon Jack as he continued to keep his lips firmly closed against the invading seawater.

However, the silence didn't last long, there was a low rumble that shook the seabed. Jack looked around hurriedly, but the blackness around him was too difficult to see through. Then out of nowhere, the huge black ship that was the Flying Dutchman groaned into place upon the ocean floor. Jack pushed himself backwards from the mysterious vessel, swimming upwards to see the crew staring down at him in disbelief. Jack landed lightly on the wooden side rail, still brandishing his bloodied cutlass. His right leg bled heavily from its contact with the Kraken's teeth, sending soft clouds of scarlet into the dark waters.

Jack wobbled uncertainly in his position, feeling the vision begin to fade from his eyes as suffocation began to drain away his life. He could vaguely make out Davy Jones limping towards him on his wooden leg. The tentacles around his jaw quivered with interest as he studied Jack's form, but a glint of fiery anger remained in his eyes. "Bring us to the surface."

"Capt'n?" questioned one of the crew in surprise as he turned his hammerhead face towards Davy Jones.

"Get us up, now!" he commanded loudly, swaying his lobster clawed hand fiercely. Jack had lost his footing and collapsed onto the deck of the Flying Dutchman, his cutlass floating away from him pitifully. Then all of a sudden, the ship lurched upward, racing skyward towards the shore. Davy Jones pinned Jack's body down with his wooden leg as the ship moved at high speeds. The helm of the ship broke the surface with a loud crash, the sunlight spilling over the ship as water drained from it's cannon ports. Davy Jones leaned over Jack's unmoving form, casually pulling his pipe from his lips. His nostrils shuddered softly as he exhaled. "So, is this what's become of the legendary Jack Sparrow?" he chuckled darkly, using his wooden peg to kick over Jack form so he landed heavily on his back.

Jack let out a hoarse cough, spluttering up the salty sea water he had swallowed. He panted as he moved awkwardly onto his side, gazing around blearily in the bright sunlight. Slowly, his gaze met Davy Jones unmistakable feet, his head lifting slowly to see the silhouetted torso staring down at him. "Oh, bugger.. "

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Captain Jack is back! Yup yup. Please review!