Chapter 11: Jack's Proposition
Barbossa and I didn't talk during the boat ride. When we got to the river, I looked over the edge to see the gold. It was still there, as shiny as ever. I was about to reach in the water and grab a handful but thought better of it. It felt like everyone was watching me, seeing what I was about to do. I looked back and confirmed my assumption. Everyone in the boat was eyeing me coldly. Bo'sun looked like he was daring me to grab the gold. I grinned and turned away from the water.
As soon as we hit the shore the pirates tumbled out of the boats and into the caves. Barbossa wasn't running but he wasn't exactly walking slowly. Well somebody's excited.
Calmly, I followed behind Barbossa. I noticed that he had an apple in his hands. He was tossing it in the air, impatient for the first bite.
My ears picked up on a conversation that happened behind me. "No reason to fret. Just a prick of the finger, a few drops of blood." Pintel was explaining to Will. Twigg came up behind them.
"No mistakes this time. He's only 'alf Turner. We spill it all!" Twigg shoved Will ahead. As they passed me Will gave me a pleading look.
"Guess there is reason to fret." Pintel said and his nephew snorted. They both began laughing.
They're going to kill Will? Will was one of my first friends in Port Royal. He taught me everything about swords and always looked after me. I couldn't let them kill him.
I scanned the cave, looking for Barbossa. He was kind of hard to miss with his feathered hat at the top of a pile of gold. I quickly walked up the pile and stood next to him. "Barbossa," I started. "Why are killing Turner? It's unnecessary."
Barbossa gave me a confused look. "Is it now? I'm sorry you feel that way, Jason, but the whelp must die. If ye can't handle it you should go wait by the boats."
"But he is related to Bootstrap. According to everyone he looks exactly like him. All you need to do is cut his hand, not slit his throat." I protested.
"Better safe than sorry." Barbossa stated.
"That's a lame excuse. You've already killed hundreds of people trying to lift this curse. Why kill one more?"
"Because it's fun." I glared at Barbossa. How am I related to him? I was going to say more but Barbossa began his little speech. The medallion was hanging around Will's neck. A crazy thought was sinking into my mind. Should I? It seemed to be the only way to help Will. I knew it was suicide, but at least my conscience would be clear.
I pushed past Barbossa and snatched the medallion from around Will's neck. I held it up for everyone to see and then ran for it. Not one of my best ideas. Barbossa was cursing and yelling at his crew to go after me. They didn't need to be told twice. Soon I had the entire crew chasing me.
My plan was basic. Get the medallion, run to the boats and throw the medallion into the water among the gold. Well, I got the medallion. I was fast, but so was Ragetti. He was the first to catch up to me. "Come 'ere, you little brat!"
I turned around and quickly slugged the wooden eyed man in the face. He stumbled back and I kept running. The boats were near. Just a few more minutes, please!
Reaching the water, I ran up to my waist. The pirates were right behind me. I only had a few seconds. I dove into the water and swam for my life. I knew the pirates could stay underwater for as long as they wanted because of the curse. That also worked against me, plus they were probably faster swimmers than me.
The gold on the bottom was exactly what I needed. I swam to the bottom and hid the medallion among all the gold coins. Just as I finished I felt something grab the back of my shirt and I was pulled out of the water. Two pirates had a hold of me, Koehler and Ragetti.
"Where is it?" Koehler shouted in his raspy voice.
I didn't say anything. He nodded to Ragetti and they dumped me back in the water. They held my head down so I couldn't get back up for air. My lungs were about to fail when they pulled me back up. "Where is it?" Koehler asked gain. When I didn't say anything they dumped me back into the water.
I couldn't breath. My eyesight began to turn black. I gave up on struggling. I'm going to die. There was nothing but a burning sensation in my lungs. As I began to black out I grinned and closed my eyes.
I faintly heard someone come into the water and start yelling. I didn't pay attention though. My thoughts had become fuzzy and unclear. That's when I felt someone grab my shirt. I was pulled up out of the water. Gasping and sputtering, I started to breathe again. The man that pulled me up was Barbossa.
His hand still gripping my shirt, he pulled me back up to shore. Ragetti and Koehler were still in the water. The rest of the crew stood on shore. They all glared at me.
I was still coughing up water when Barbossa turned to me. "Where is it?" he asked. His pants were completely soaked and he looked angry, very angry.
"Where's what?" I asked innocently.
"I didn't save yer life for nothing! Where is it?" I said nothing. Barbossa was fuming. He shot out his fist and punched my nose. I stumbled back and felt warm blood drip onto my lip. Why is it always the nose?
"Where is it?" Barbossa asked, getting angrier by the second.
"Where do you think it is? I couldn't exactly throw it out into the ocean, now could I?" I shouted. Barbossa glared at me and nodded toward the crew.
"Check the water. No one's coming out until you find that medallion!" the captain ordered. The crew scrambled into the water. I ran my hand across my nose. It was still bleeding.
Barbossa and I stood in silence. I didn't look at him but I could feel the intensity of his glare. It felt like knives were digging into my skull, extremely cold knives. The crew kept searching until Ragetti yelled: "I got it! I got it!" he ran out of the water and held out the medallion to Barbossa. The captain snatched it from the pirate and examined the gold.
"Aye, this is it." Barbossa smirked at me. "That was a foolish move, boy. It only delayed your friend's death and probably sped up the process at the same time."
I shrugged and look him in the eyes. "Well then it's a good thing I'm a fool. At least I didn't just stand back and watch him die."
Barbossa glared at "Ye know what this means?" he asked.
"That you're going to have to keep me under lock and chains?"
"Exactly. Grab him." one of the crew, Clubba I believe his name was, grabbed my arm, roughly. Barbossa led the way into the main cavern. The rest of the crew followed.
Barbossa took his position on the big pile of gold near the stone chest. Unfortunately, Will was still standing on the pile, two pirates were holding him. My plan had failed.
I was led to the base of the pile. Clubba had a death grip on my arm. "Could you maybe ease up a bit? You're cutting off the blood circulation to my hand." he ignored me and, if anything, held on tighter. My hand started to go a little numb.
I looked up to the pile and met Will's gaze. His eyes looked grateful and he nodded in understanding. I nodded back and mouthed the word Sorry. Barbossa began his little speech.
"Begun the blood. The blood undone." Barbossa stopped. He was looking down at the pirates. "That's not possible." I looked to my left and saw what everyone was staring at.
"Jack!" Will exclaimed. The man spoke true. Standing a few feet next to me was Jack Sparrow.
"Not probable." the witty pirate corrected. He looked over at me. "Hello, Jason." Bo'sun put a hand on Jack's shoulder, trying to restrain him.
"Shut up! You're next!" Barbossa snapped. He held up a knife to Will's throat, ready to spill the blood.
"You don't want to be doing that, mate." Jack said.
Barbossa glared at him. "No, I really think I do."
"You're funeral." Jack sighed and clasped his hands together.
I could see Barbossa roll his eyes. "Why don't I want to be doing it?" he asked. I snorted. Bloody immature mind.
"Because," Jack stopped to slap Bo'sun's hand off his shoulder. "The HMS Dauntless, pride of the royal navy, is floating just off shore, waiting for you."
There were a lot of gasps and murmurs throughout the cave. Jack walked up the pile to face Barbossa. The pirate captain had straightened up to face his enemy.
"Just here me out, mate." Jack started. "You order your men to row out to the Dauntless, they do what they do best." the pirates laughed. "Robert's your uncle, Fanny's your aunt, and there you are with two ships. The making of your very own fleet. Of course you'll take the grandest as your flagship and who's to argue, but what of the Pearl? Name me captain, I'll sail under your colors, give you ten percent of me plunder and you get to introduce yourself as Commodore Barbossa. Savvy?"
"I suppose in exchange you want me not to kill the whelp?" Barbossa asked.
"No, no, by all means kill the whelp. Just not yet. Wait to lift the curse at the opportune moment." Jack glanced at Will. He took a big handful of gold from the chest. "For instance, after you've killed Norrington's men. Every last one." Jack dropped a piece of gold with every word.
Will looked quizzical. "You've been planning this from the beginning, haven't you? Ever since you learned my name."
"Yeah." Jack said like it was obvious.
I eyed Jack skeptically. Even I knew Barbossa wouldn't be stupid enough to give up the Black Pearl.
"I want fifty percent of yer plunder." Barbossa said. Guess I was wrong, my father's an idiot.
"Fifteen." Jack said.
"Go for forty!" I yelled at Barbossa. Clubba punched my gut.
"Shut up!" he hissed.
Barbossa glared at me. "Forty." he said reluctantly.
"Twenty-five!" Jack countered. "I'll buy you a hat, a really big one, Commodore."
Barbossa thought for a moment. "We have an accord." he said, shaking Jack's hand. Did he just give up the Black Pearl for a hat?
"All hands to the boats!" Jack ordered. Barbossa glared at him. "My apologies, you give the orders."
"Gents, take a walk!" Barbossa ordered. He had an evil grin on his face.
"Not to the boats?" Jack asked.
All the pirates, except for a select few, walked off. Only Jacoby, Clubba and a few others stayed. I knew the pirates didn't need boats. They could walk underwater. Plus, it's sneakier that way.
When the pirates left Barbossa gave Jack permission to look through the gold. The pirate grinned and began sifting through the treasures. Will was dragged down off the pile and was forced to stand near me. "Thanks." he whispered.
"For what? Getting caught? Didn't help you that much." I said grimly.
"Yeah, but you delayed them. That gave Jack enough time to get here and prevent my death. You were very brave, Jason."
"Oh, well you're welcome then." I said a little confused. I looked at Clubba, who still had a death grip on my arm. "You know you can let me go now? I'm not going to do anything." he just grunted. I sighed and kicked his shin. He loosened his grip and I slipped out.
"Thank you." I said. Clubba made a dive for me but I nimbly dodged it. I glanced at Barbossa. He was sitting on the pile of gold and he looked amused.
"Let him be. He won't try anything, again. Will ye, lad?" the captain asked.
"No, sir." I said politely. "Although, I do have one question." Barbossa looked interested. He motioned for me to go on. "Did you just give away the Black Pearl for a hat?" my voice sounded annoyed.
"Of course not. I gave Sparrow the Pearl so that we could have the Dauntless." Barbossa said.
I was stunned. "Did you say 'we'?"
"Aye, I'm giving ye one more chance, but just one. If ye betray my trust again, it will be the last time you do so. Agreed?"
"Agreed." I stuck out my hand. Barbossa grasped it. I knew that if I did anything like my stunt earlier it would be the island for me.
"Anyway, as I was saying," I continued. "The Pearl is probably worth ten Dauntlesses!
"Have you ever seen it?" Barbossa asked.
"Yes."
"And…?" I suspected he wanted a description.
"And the Black Pearl is way faster! Although the Dauntless has more fire power. It could probably take out a ship in about ten minutes if you had enough crew." this didn't exactly help my argument, but it was true.
Barbossa nodded. "See? Much more useful. I don't need a ship that's built for running away."
"But still, you gave up the Black Pearl for a hat!" I almost yelled.
"Trust me, lad. It'll be worth it. We'll be the most feared pirates in the Caribbean. Count on it." Barbossa promised.
"I still think it was a bad trade." I mumbled. Barbossa probably heard me but he chose to ignore it. I went over to stand by Will again. Clubba stood nearby and was glaring at me. If looks could kill.
"I must admit, Jack, I thought I had ye figured out." Barbossa said. "Turns out yer a hard man to predict."
Jack turned away from the pile of gold he was sifting through. At the moment he had a golden statue in his hand. "Me, I'm dishonest. And a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest." Jack threw the statue behind him and began walking. "Honestly, it's the honest ones you have to look out for because you never know when they're going to do something incredibly stupid." with that Jack pulled a sword from a pirate's belt and tossed it to Will. He caught it expertly in his bound hands and somehow started fighting.
Barbossa got up and drew his own sword. Jack grabbed his sword and faced Barbossa. It turned out that I was the only one that wasn't armed. Bugger!
Clubba drew his weapon and faced me. "You! I knew you were nothin' but trouble! You were in on this, weren't ya?"
"I…um." I looked at Barbossa but he was occupied with fighting Jack.
"You little rat!" the pirate slashed his sword at me. This guy is crazy! He tried to stab me, followed by another slash.
"Oi!" I cried. "Stop…trying…to kill me!" between every word he would swing his sword. I gave up reasoning and turned and ran.
Unfortunately, I had no idea where I was going. I could outrun the pirate easily enough, but he knew these caves better than I did.
Clubba didn't seem to be following me. I relaxed and stopped to catch my breath. Big mistake.
"There you are!" Clubba appeared in front of me. The bloody git cut me off! I turned to run again and ran smack into the wall. "Oh." I said. The pirate had me cornered. I turned around just in time to avoid getting my head chopped off.
With every swing he took I tried to get around him and with every swing he made sure I didn't. Try as I might, I couldn't get around. I also couldn't dodge forever. Clubba made a swing for my neck. I ducted and grabbed his arm.
Clubba looked down and grinned. I grinned back, unaware what he was planning. With his free arm, the pirate tried to punch me. I just barely managed to dodge and stood up behind him. With all my force, I pushed Clubba into the wall and banged his head against the stone. He crumpled to the ground.
I grabbed the pirate's sword and examined it in my hand. Not the best craftsmanship and it felt too heavy, but it'll have to do. I would have preferred the swords I left on the Black Pearl. Shaking the thought from my head, I ran back to the main cavern. Hopefully Will, Jack and Barbossa weren't dead, yet.
Clubba is not an OC. He is actually in the first Pirates movie. Thanks to everyone reading and please review. I hope to get another chapter done by this weekend.