Will Turner stared down at the water below the ship, which was strewn with pieces from multiple ghastly shipwrecks. Masts and jagged wood planks alike floated beneath him, and he couldn't shake the eerie feeling the whole, misty scene brought upon him. All around him, the crew stared grimly down at the water, including the Captain himself, when he wasn't fiddling around with that awful compass.
In front of him, at the bow of the ship, Captain Charles leaned over the edge of the ship, separated from the rest of the crew. He didn't know what to make of this so-called Captain, but he hadn't seen Jack look even remotely as rattled as he did when he first laid eyes on her back at the dock.
"Puts a chill in the bones how many honest sailors have been claimed by this passage," came a voice from beside him, and he turned to see Gibbs standing next to him.
"Who is she?" Will asked, nodding over at Captain Charles.
"Ah, you want to know about Captain Coldblood," Gibbs said, nodding as he stared off at Charles.
"Coldblood?" Will asked, immediately intrigued.
"Aye. She got that nickname because she leaves no survivors. Very mysterious, she is. Last any of us heard, she had stolen one of the fastest ships off the British navy and renamed it the Assassin. Don't know what's become of it now, though," mused Gibbs, and Will shook his head incredulously.
"And how does she know Jack?" Will asked.
"That I don't know," replied Gibbs, his eyes out on the sea.
The girl looked like a pirate, wearing the same sort of flowy white top and trousers that Jack had, and a darker version of his hat on her head. Blonde curls tumbled down her shoulders, and her black boots ended just below her knees. The sword hung at her hips, too, looked equally menacing from its sheath. But it was her eyes that caught Will's gaze, blue-green and full of turmoil like the sea beneath them.
His heart clenched as he watched her, the expression on her face echoing the longing he had seen in Elizabeth's face so often. He wanted her back. He needed her back.
"She's much like Jack, now that I think of it," Gibbs said, and Will turned back to him.
"What do you mean?" he asked carefully, and Gibbs sighed.
"He used to be captain of the Black Pearl, you know," Gibbs said, and Will started in shock.
"What? He failed to mention that," muttered Will, and he shifted his gaze over to Jack, who was still staring at that cursed compass.
"Well, he plays things closer to the vest now. And a hard-learned lesson it was. See, three days out on the venture the first mate comes to him and says everything's an equal share. That should mean the location of the treasure, too, so Jack gives up the bearings. That night there was a mutiny. They marooned Jack on an island and left him to die but not before he'd gone mad with the heat," said Gibbs, his voice taking on a darker tone.
"Ah. So that's the reason for all the-" Will waved his arms and staggered in his best impression of Jack.
"Reason's got nothing to do with it. Now Will, when a man is marooned he is given a pistol with a single shot, one shot. Well it won't do much good hunting or to be rescued. But after three weeks of a starvin' belly and thirst, that pistol will start to look real friendly. But Jack? He escaped the island, and he still has that one shot. Oh, but he won't use it, though, save for one man. His mutinous first mate."
"Barbossa," concluded Will.
"Aye," Gibbs replied in an ominous tone.
"How did Jack get off the island?" Will asked, intrigued. There was much yet to learn about this Jack Sparrow.
"Well, I'll tell ye. He waded out into the shallows and there he waited three days and three nights till all manner of sea creature came and acclimated to his presence. And on the fourth morning, he roped himself a couple of sea turtles, lashed 'em together and made a raft," Gibbs said, a glint in his eye.
"He roped a couple of sea turtles?" Will asked, disbelieving. He wasn't as dumb as Jack and the crew often made him out to be.
"Aye, sea turtles," confirmed Gibbs.
"What did he use for rope?" Will said, pressing the matter further.
"Human hair. From my back," said a voice from behind him, and he jumped to see Jack Sparrow leering down at him. Will wrinkled his nose in disgust, although he wouldn't put it past the man to do something so disgusting.
"Let go of the anchor!" Jack crooned, and almost immediately Captain Coldblood was up and by his side.
Violet made her way over to Jack as the crew echoed his call:
"Let go of the anchor, sir!"
"Are we at the Pearl?" Violet asked, and Jack shook his head, coming over to Will.
"Young Mr. Turner and I are to go ashore," he said, and Will looked obviously uncomfortable at the notion.
"I'm coming with you," Violet said, craving adventure. She had spent too much time on this ship filled to the brim with idiots already.
"You most certainly are not," Jack said, strutting off in a random direction, as usual.
"I most certainly am," replied Violet, following him. "There's no way you can take on Barbossa and his whole crew, let alone while looking after the boy."
"I don't need to be looked after," whined Will, in the petulant way that meant to Violet that he very much did need to be looked after.
"That's right," said Jack. "And I don't think we need an unstable killer on our hands, so thanks so much, love, but your services will not be required."
"You can't stop me," said Violet, and put a hand on the cutlass that hung from a belt slung across her hips. "Has anyone ever been able to before?" Jack groaned loudly and put a hand on his forehead in exasperation.
"She's right," he said, finally, and waved a hand submissively. "Fine, come ashore, but don't mess up our plan."
"Right, I'm sure you've a great plan," she said sarcastically, walking over to join them as they prepared to leave the ship.
"Captain! Er- Captains! What if the worst should happen?" asked Gibbs, and Jack shot Violet a glance. She nodded, and Jack echoed the movement.
"Keep to the code," he said, and Gibbs nodded solemnly.
"Aye. Keep to the code," he confirmed.
Violet looked around as they entered the dark cave, the damp, musty air pressing down on her as they made their way to the main cavern. She sat on the far end of the rowboat by Turner, who looked like he was about to throw up as they drifted past a skeleton with a sword through it.
"Scared, Turner?" she taunted, and he shook himself a little as he turned to her.
"Of course not," he said, trying to look as defiant as possible. "So, what code is Gibbs to keep to if the worst should happen?" he added in a weak attempt to change the subject.
"Pirate's-"
"Pirate's Code," Violet said, flashing Jack a smile as she interrupted him. "Any man that falls behind is left behind." Jack turned over his shoulder to glare at her from where he was rowing the boat, and she smiled again.
"No heroes amongst thieves, eh?" Will said cynically, and Violet rolled her eyes. This boy was going to be eaten alive once they found Barbossa.
"You know, for having such a bleak outlook on pirates, you're well on your way to becoming one," Jack added, and Will turned around, furious. "Sprung a man from jail, commandeered a ship of the Fleet, sailed with a buccaneer crew out of Tortuga…"
Jack stopped as glinting golden light caught their eyes, and the three looked down at the water below them. Underneath them, thousands of coins shone their sparkling lights all over the caves, and Violet could see them reflecting in Will's eyes as he stared hungrily down at the water.
"And you're completely obsessed with treasure," Jack finished, and Will jerked up again as they neared land. Violet leaned over and helped Will pull the boat ashore, and Jack jumped out, surveying the area around them.
"That's not true. I am not obsessed with treasure," Will whined as they started to walk up a small incline, and Violet tried to stifle a laugh. The two of them argued like schoolboys.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but did I hear correctly? Did Captain Jack Sparrow find himself in jail?" she laughed, and Jack's shoulders stiffened.
"If it wasn't for William here, I wouldn't 'ave," he complained, and Will smiled.
"It's not my fault he's a dirty cheater," Will said, and she laughed, the sound ringing through the cave.
"Ah, William, Jack is the worst cheater you'll find on these seas," she said, winking, and Will grinned at her.
"Quiet," Jack said suddenly, and Violet folded her arms across her chest.
"Don't be like that, Jack, I was only telling the truth," she said with fake sweetness, but Jack held up a hand, urgently this time, and she walked forward to see a large cave opening.
She almost fell over in shock, for there he was- Captain Barbossa and his crew, surrounded by one of the largest hauls of treasure she'd seen in a long time. Barbossa stood by a huge stone chest upon a mound of treasure, and there, behind him, Violet saw a young woman being dragged to the top, wearing a red dress that looked very pirate-like.
"Does she happen to be said bonny lass?" Violet whispered, and Will stared out at the scene in front of him, panting raggedly.
"Elizabeth," he breathed.
"For ten years we've been tested and tried, and each man jack of you here has proved his mettle a hundred times over and a hundred times again!" Barbossa called, silencing Violet from further comment, and his crew cheered. Barbossa looked more haggard than Violet remembered him being, although that could have just come with being a pirate on these seas.
"Punished, we were. The lot of us- disproportionate to our crimes! Here it is-" Barbossa said as he kicked the lid off of the chest, and Violet sucked in a breath as it revealed thousands of golden coins and a stone knife. "-the cursed treasure of Cortes himself. Every last piece that went astray, we have returned, save for this!"
The girl - Elizabeth - was next to Barbossa now, and he jabbed a finger at the medallion that hung around her neck.
"Jack!" Will said, scrambling for the opening, but Jack quickly restrained him, pulling him back down.
"Not yet. We wait for the opportune moment," he said, and Violet watched as he began to walk back to where their boat was tied up.
"When's that? When it's of greatest profit to you?" demanded Will as he ran after Jack, finally catching up to him back by the boat.
"May I ask you something? Have I ever given you reason not to trust me? Do us a favor, I know it's difficult for you, but please, stay here, and try not to do anything… stupid," Jack said, exasperated. "Violet, stay with the boy, won't you, love?"
"Not a chance," Violet scoffed, and she sauntered off after Jack, shooting Will an apologetic glance as they made their way into the cavern.
She followed Jack down a twisting passage, listening intently to Barbossa as he babbled about blood and sacrifice and something or other.
"Are they going to kill her?" Violet asked, and when Jack didn't reply, added: "The boy won't like that at all."
"A right genius, you are," Jack quipped as they came around a cave wall. He held up a hand and waited, waited, until-
"Jack, look out!" Violet shouted as scuffling feet behind her alerted an intruder's presence, but it was too late: Will Turner stood behind them, armed with an oar, and proceeded to clock Jack over the head with it.
"Sorry, Jack," he said, and then turned to Violet. She was pulling her cutlass out when the boy hit her, too, and the last thing she saw was the cold, wet cavern floor of the Isla de Muerta, William Turner's voice ringing above her.