Once, Forever and Always
Chapter 9 – Pirate Lord
We finally arrived at Shipwreck Cove. I was sure we were late but that didn't matter now. I walked into the wooden shack. I had to admit that it did look pretty cool.
"Might I point out that we are still short one pirate lord and I'm as content as a cucumber to wait until Sao Feng joins us." I heard Jack shout. I came in and threw my sword into the globe and spoke.
"Sao Feng is dead. He fell to the Flying Dutchman."
"The flag ship!"
"And made you captain? They're just giving the bloody title away now." Jack spoke, I raised an eyebrow.
"Listen. Listen to me! Our location has been betrayed. Jones is under the command of Lord Beckett, they're on their way here." I told everyone. We needed to fight, we had no other choice.
"Who is this betrayer?"
"Not likely anyone among us." Barbossa told them hoping to calm their nerves.
"Where's Will and Lizze?" I asked leaning over to Jack.
"Not among us." Jack fidgeted. He was up to something, something not good.
"And it matters not how they found us, the question is what will we do now that they have?" Barbossa asked.
"We fight!" I shouted slamming my hand down on the table. All the pirates laughed.
"Shipwreck Cove is a fortress. A well supplied fortress. There is no need to fight if they cannot get to us." Mitress Chang said.
"There be a third course. In another age at this very spot, the first Brethren Court captured the sea goddess and bound her in her bones. That was a mistake. Oh, we tamed the seas for ourselves, aye, but opened the door to Beckett and his ilk! Better were the days when mastery of seas came not from bargains struck with eldritch creatures, but from the sweat of a man's brow and the strength of his back alone. Y'all know this to be true! Gentlemen, ladies, we must free Calypso." Barbossa said. He was crazy, I couldn't believe that he wanted to do that. Even if we did she would be no use to us.
"Shoot him!"
"Cut out his tongue!"
"Shoot him and cut out his tongue, and then shoot his tongue! And trim that scraggly beard." Jack shouted obviously liking the idea.
"Sao Feng would have agreed with Barbossa!" The first mate shouted.
"Aye."
"Calypso was our enemy then, she will be our enemy now!" Gentleman Jocard shouted.
"And it's unlikely her moods improve." Captain Chevalle agreed with Jocard.
"I would still agree with Sao Feng. We release Calypso!" Vellenueva said obviously agreeing with Barbossa and Sao Feng.
The pirate lords break into a riot shouting and throwing things. I couldn't believe my eyes. Over fighting and releasing Calypso none the less.
"This is madness." I mumble, Jack obviously heard me though.
"This is politics." I almost laughed at that.
"Meanwhile our enemies are bearing down upon us." I tell him.
"If they not be here already."
Barbossa fires his pistol into the air and the riot stops "It was the first court what imprisoned Calypso. We should be the ones to set her free, and in her gratitude she will see fit to grant us boons."
"Whose boons? Your boons? Utterly deceptive twoddlespeak says I." Jack shouts.
Barbossa raises an eyebrow at this "If you have a better alternative, please, share."
Jack starts walking around the table of pirate lords "Cuttlefish. Eh? Let us not, dear friends, forget our dear friends the cuttlefish, flipper penurious little sausages, hang em up together and they will devour each other without a second thought. Human nature isn't it? Or... fish nature. So yes, we could hold up here well provisioned and well-armed, and half of us would be dead within the month, which seems quite grim to me any way you slice it. Or, as my learned colleague so naively suggests, we can release Calypso, and we can pray that she will be merciful. I rather doubt it. Can we in fact pretend that she is anything other than a woman scorned like which fury hell hath no? We cannot. Res ipsa loquitur, tabula in naufragio... we are left with but one option. I agree with, and I cannot believe the words are coming out of my mouth, Captain Swann er - Baker. We must fight."
"You've always run away from a fight." Barbossa tells him.
"Have not!" Jack shouts.
"You have so!" Barbossa shouts back.
"Have not!"
"You have so!"
"Have not!"
"You have so and you know it."
"Have not, slander and calumny. I have only ever embraced that oldest and noblest of pirate traditions. I submit that here now that is what we all must do. We must fight... to run away!"
"Aye!" Gibbs shouts and the Pirate Lords join in.
"As per the code an act of war, and this be exactly that, can only be declared by the pirate king." Barbossa says smugly.
"You made that up!" Jack shouts not believing it one second.
"Did I now? I call on Captain Teague, keeper of the code!" Barbossa shouts. I see Jack start to fidget even more. I lean over towards Jack.
"What did you do to this man, Jack that's making you so nervous?" I ask myself as I watch Jack freeze in place.
"Sri Sumbhajee proclaims this all to be folly! Hang the code! Who cares a -"Sir Sumbhajee's assistant is shot in the back.
The tall dark man who looks a lot like Jack blows spoke out from his pistols "The code is the law." Tha man walks over to where Jack is "You're in my way boy." Jack moves out of the way for the man. Two elderly pirates carry a large book to the table.
"The code." Pintel says star struck.
"As set forth by Morgan and Bartholomew." Ragetti informs. Captain Teague whistles and the dog with the keys appears.
"Wait... that cant... how did- ?" Ragetti asks not quite sure how that dog survived.
"Sea turtles, mate." Captain Teague tells them taking the keys from the dog.
Captain Teague looks at the code and flips a few pages. "Ah, Barbossa is right".
"Hang on a minute." Jack says skimming his finger over the text and reads it out loud "It shall be the duties of the king to declare war, parle with shared adversaries... Fancy that."
"There has not been a king since the first court, and that's not likely to change." Captain Chevalle says.
"Not likely." Captain Teague suggests.
"Why not?" I ask, wondering why
"See, the pirate king is elected by popular vote." Gibbs starts.
"And each pirate only ever votes for hisself." Barbossa finishes.
"I call for a vote!" Jack shouts. Captain Teague starts to play his guitar. While each member of the Lords votes for themselves.
"I vote for Ammand, the corsair" Ammand says.
"Captain Chevalle, the penniless frenchman." Chaptain Chevalle announces.
"Sri Sumbhajee votes for Sri Sumbhajee." Sri Sumbhajee's second assistant shouts.
"Mistress Ching."
"Gentleman Jocard."
"Abigail Baker." I announce.
"Barbossa."
"Vallenueva."
"Abigail Baker." Jack says.
"What?" I shout. I was shocked. Jack actually voted for me.
"I know, curious isn't it?" Jack says. An angry outburst comes from the pirates around the table.
"Am I to understand that you lot will not be keeping to the code then?" Jack asks. Captain Teague snaps one of the strings on his guitar.
"Very well. What say you Captain Baker, king of the Brethren Court?" Mistress Chang asks.
"Prepare every vessel that floats. At dawn, we're at war." I announce and all the pirates get up to leave to go to their ships.
"And so, we shall go to war!" I walk over to where Jack is talking to Captain Teague. Jack, Captain Teague and I are the last ones in the room.
"What? You've seen it all, done it all, you survived. That's the trick isn't it? To survive?" Jack asks the ageing man.
"It's not just about living forever Jackie. The trick is living with yourself forever." He tells him wise words from an old man.
"How's mum?" Jack asks and Teague pulls out a black shrunken head. "...she looks great!" Jack says making a face.
"There's someone I want you to meet." Jack says and turns to me.
"Abigail this is my dad, dad this is Abigail Baker." I nod politely and he smiles.
"Finally found yourself a girl mate?" Captain Teague says Jack smiles and nods he hand on my waist.
"Did you say Baker?" He asks and I nod. "I knew your father."
A/N:
Haha so i'm leaving it there because well i wanted to toture you and it made a great cliffhanger. I was so suprised that i got this is up today but i'm glad i did. I hope you enjoyed it!
Please review! It makes updating this story go faster i promise!(: