Chapter 6: The Mighty Crew of the Interceptor

Back at the ship Jack led me down to the crew's sleeping quarters. It's an area at the bow of the ship called the forecastle. Hammocks were hung up for sleeping. I sighed. Well what did you expect? A nice comfy bed? Will was already down there getting ready to sleep. He looked a bit stunned to see my head freshly soaked.

"What happened to you?" Will asked.

"The drunk spilled his drink on me again so I beat him up, along with his buddies." I replied, quite proud of myself. Luckily, my nose had stopped bleeding on the way to the Interceptor.

Will rolled his eyes and tossed me a cloth. I started drying my head with it. Jack bid us adieuand left. "Bonsoir." I said.

"What's that mean?" Will asked.

"Goodnight." I replied. "Quick question. How come Jack gets the captain's cabin while we're stuck down here?"

Will shrugged. "Probably because he's the certified captain." I rolled my eyes at him and finished drying my hair. Then, choosing a hammock, I slumped into it.

"Night, Will." I said, drifting off.

"Night, Jason." I was hoping for a good night of sleep but, sadly, my mind had other plans.

I was standing in the streets of Tortuga. It was dark and quiet with no one around. No lamps, no people, not even the stars were out. This isn't right. Jack said that Tortuga is never quiet, even at this time of night.

Then, behind me, I felt a great blast of heat. I turned around and saw a blazing fire! It gave off no light because it was black, as black as the starless sky above me. Even though it was black it gave off the heat of a thousand degrees.

For a few moments I was mesmerized by it. Fire can't be black. Then I saw it moving towards me. I turned and ran. The fire chased me through the streets. Strangely enough, nothing caught on fire, although as I kept running I felt the flames get hotter. I kept running and running. It felt like my lungs were about to burst. The flames were licking at my heels.

I turned a corner and came to a dead end. The black fire was at the opening of the alley blocking the way out. I was trapped.

A window opened up above me. As I looked up, hoping for help, a great splash of alcohol hit my face. I was drenched from head to toe in the flammable liquid. The fire started creeping forward. In a panic I tried to scale the walls. That didn't do me any good. The black fire got closer, and then it engulfed me.

I woke up in a cold sweat, again. Quickly, I check my body for burn marks. Two nights in a row. What the heck is wrong with my brain? My hair and clothes still smelled like rum from last night but that was it.

I slowly got out of my hammock. My hands were shaking a bit. Calm down, Jason. It was just a dream. Will was still sleeping peacefully in his hammock. Lucky man.

I walked up the steps onto the deck. It was a little bit after dawn. The brisk, morning air refreshed me. I breathed it in, grateful for the cold after a night of black fire. Never thought fire could be black. I sure dream up some crazy nightmares. I chuckled a bit. Then a brilliant idea came to my mind. I went back down into the forecastle.

Once there, I immediately found what I was looking for. Will's sword. I grabbed it and went back out on deck. Back in the morning air I unsheathed the sword.

It was a nicely crafted iron sword. I swung it around a few times to test it out. It felt good in my hand, much better than that dagger. Then I started to practice.

Will first taught me to use a sword about two years ago. We usually practiced for around three hours a day. I went through all the techniques with my imaginary partner. Stabbing, slicing and dodging my way to an imaginary victory. "You're good." came of voice from behind me. I spun around and found Jack watching me.

"Good form, you definitely know some technique. Who taught you?"

"Will." I answered.

"Did I hear my name?" Will asked coming up from the forecastle.

"I was just telling Jack that you taught me how to handle a sword."

"Ah, well Jack knows all about my skill with a sword so he should be terrified of you." I grinned at the complement. Will always said I was a natural at sword fighting. Jack, on the other hand, looked quite grim. "Can I have my sword back?" Will asked.

I was about to give it to him when Jack interrupted. "Hold on. I want to test out your skill." Jack drew his sword and pointed it at me. "Do you accept the challenge?"

"I accept." I said and pointed my sword at him. We circled around each other for a moment. What is he waiting for? Finally, I attacked.

Jack was fast and good at defense. But lucky for me, I was strong and good at offence. Every attack I threw at him Jack would block and try his own. I easily dodged those and continued offence. Although I was fairly good at blocking, Will once told me that defense wasn't my strong suit so I always tried to stay offence. If Jack figured that out I was doomed.

Luckily, he was oblivious to my weakness. I smirked and hit him with a final attack. I lunged at him and quickly came back to sidestep a slice. Jack was off balance for a few seconds. That's all I needed. I rammed into Jack's shoulder making him lose his footing. Quickly, I kicked him in the gut and ripped his sword out of his hands. Now with two swords I made an "X" with Jack's neck in the middle.

He stared wide eyed at me. "You beat me." was all he said.

I smirked. "Of course I beat you. I'm fantastic with swords. Will calls me a natural."

"How long have you been practicing?" Jack asked still stunned.

"About two years."

"Impressive. Now can you lower your swords, please?"

I lowered the swords and handed one to Jack. "Thanks." he said.

"Can I have my sword back now?" Will asked from the bow. I noticed that Jack and I were near the stern. We must have fought along the entire deck. Walking back to Will I sheathed the sword.

"How long was the fight?" I asked, holding out the sword. Will took it and strapped it around his waist.

"About ten or twenty minutes. Your quickest time." he answered.

"Well, I wasn't fighting you. Jack doesn't know my weakness."

"Yet!" Jack called from the stern. I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever you say, Sparrow! Whatever you say!" I called back. The sun was up higher now. Gibbs would probably meet us soon. Jack must've had the same idea because he was getting a longboat ready. Will and I walked up to him to help. Actually, Will helped and I sat on a barrel.

Soon we were at the docks. Gibbs hadn't quite arrived yet but I saw shapes on the horizon. The sun was bright and slightly blinding but the shapes were clear enough. Men, about twenty maybe less, were walking towards us. I only recognized the man leading the troupe and that was Gibbs. As the men got closer I could distinguish their features. Some were old, and some were young. One man was as short as a child but had the face of an experienced sailor. Another had a parrot on his shoulder. I chuckled. Classic pirate.

The men lined up so Jack could examine them. "Feast your eyes, Cap'n." Gibbs said. "All of them faithful hands before the mast. Every man worth his salt, and crazy to boot." I admit the crew did not look faithful at all. Well, can't judge a book by its cover. Jack walked past them, looking at every one of them. Will and I followed behind.

"So this is your able-bodied crew?" Will asked skeptically. Jack ignored him and kept walking. He stopped before the man with the parrot.

"You, sailor." Jack said.

"Cotton, sir." Gibbs told him.

"Mr. Cotton," Jack began. "Do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death?"

"English, Jack! Speak English!" I complained. The man with the parrot said nothing, he just looked at Gibbs.

"Mr. Cotton, answer man!" Jack said, ignoring me.

"He can't answer you if he can't understand you." I said.

Jack turned around and looked at me. "Why don't you shut up or go away for awhile, okay?" I glared at him but said nothing. When he turned around I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Mr. Cotton's a mute, sir." Gibbs said. "The poor devil had his tongue cut out so he trained the parrot to talk for him. No one's yet figured out how." Mr. Cotton showed his tongue. It was cut off in the back. I grimaced moved my own tongue around my mouth to make sure it was still there. Jack turned to keep walking but then thought better of it.

"Mr. Cotton's parrot. Same question." Jack said.

"Awk! Wind in the sails, wind in the sails. Awk!" the parrot replied.

"Mostly we figured that means yes." Gibbs said.

"Of course it does." Jack said, turning to Will. "Satisfied?"

"Well you've proved they're mad." Will said. I gave a small laugh.

"And what's the benefit for us?" A voice called from down the line. Jack walked over to look at the sailor. He had a hat covering his face. Jack took the hat off, revealing a young woman. She had tan skin, long brown hair and brown eyes. Tied around her head was a bandana.

"Anamaria." Jack said.

"Is there a woman in this town that you don't know?" I asked. Jack didn't get to answer my question because Anamaria slapped him across the face.

"I suppose you didn't deserve that one either?" Will asked.

"No that one I deserved." Jack said. Anamaria nodded behind him.

"You stole my boat." she accused.

"Actually…" Jack started but got slapped again. "Borrowed! Borrowed with out permission, but with every intention of bringing it back."

"But you didn't!" Anamaria shouted.

"You'll get another one." Jack said.

"I will." she pointed at Jack.

"A better one." Will said.

"A better one." Jack agreed.

"That one." Will pointed to the Interceptor.

"What one?" Jack asked. Will nodded at the ship. Jack turned. "That one?" he growled. Will gave Jack a challenging look. "Aye, that one. What say you?"

Anamaria thought it over. "Aye!" she shouted.

"Aye!" the rest of the crew repeated. They all went to put the supplies on the ship. Anamaria snatched her hat from Jack and went to join the.

"No, no, no. It's frightful bad luck to have a woman aboard, sir." Gibbs said. Jack looked up into the distance.

"It would be far worse without her." he said and then walked away. Will, Gibbs and I looked where Jack was looking, trying to see what he saw. I gave up and followed the crew.

Despite their weird appearances the crew was actually quite fun to hang out with. The short one, Marty, became my instant friend. He and another sailor, Tearlach, taught me everything about a ship. By evening I felt like a pro and good thing too.

As night fell a terrible storm came upon us. The wind whipped at my hair and the heavy rain stung me eyes. Huge waves kept rocking the ship and crashed onto the deck. It was incredibly fun. Thunder rolled and lightning flashed, everyone was probably pretty scared, but not me. I just held onto the rigging and enjoyed the show.

I saw Will shouting at Gibbs but I couldn't hear them. Jack was at the helm, grinning, with his compass in his hand. Wait, isn't the compass broken? A wave crashed down on me, pulling me out of my thoughts and onto the deck. I got up sputtering and grinning like a madman. Running back up to the rigging I taunted the storm. "Is that all you got?" I shouted. Laughing like a maniac, I held onto the ropes and was whooping, yelling and basically having the best time of my life.

Another wave crashed over me but I kept my grip and continued taunting the sea. I had a feeling that the crew was giving me weird looks. They must think I'm crazy. Finally, I got off the rigging and rushed around the deck helping everyone that needed it. The storm died down after a while, reducing to a light rain. Will made me go to the forecastle to get some sleep. I was reluctant, but I did go down.

Slumping into a hammock, I fell asleep. On deck, in the middle of a storm, you don't realize how exhausted you are. Luckily, my dream were peaceful and absent of nightmares.

Thank you to all my loyal readers! Any suggestion, comments, or questions go in the review section. Until next time!