Barbossa did edge around Will's terms. Elizabeth was held by the pirates separate to the rest of us as they prepared the plank for her to walk. A tiny island sat not too far off from them, consisting of white sand a green trees, it looked big enough to walk around within an hour.
Elizabeth and I were being kicked onto this island. Great what a fantastic way to end our lives.
"Go on, Poppet, go! Walk the plank!" Pintel instructed as swords were pointed at Elizabeth, stopping her from returning to the ship. She walked to the edge of the plank and looked down at the water, holding her dress up as to not trip over the ends. Will shoved himself forwards despite the irons on his wrists and the crew holding him back
"Barbossa, you lying bastard!" Elizabeth turned to look at him "You swore they'd go free!" Barbossa turned towards him
"Don't dare impugn me honour, boy. I agreed they'd go free, but it was you who failed to specify when or where." Will was gaged by the crew members who laughed as Jack rolled his eyes. I glared at Barbossa for finding a loophole. "Though it does seem a shame to lose something so fine, don't it lads?" Barbossa thought
"Aye." his crew agreed. Barbossa turned to Elizabeth
"So I'll be having that dress back before you go." the crew laughed. I struggled against my captors next to Jack and ground my teeth angrily. Jack turned to Koehler next to him
"I always liked you." he said. Koehler growled at him and Jack flinched backwards.
Elizabeth removed the dress, receiving a few whistles from the crew as she shoved it into Barbossa's hands
"Goes with your black heart." she hissed. Barbossa pressed it to his face
"Ooh, it's still warm." the crew laughed as Barbossa threw it to them and walked away from the plank.
"Off you go! Come on!" Elizabeth turned to look at Will as she stood on the end of the plank before Bo'sun got impatient
"Too long!" he stomped on the other end of the plank and it shook, causing Elizabeth to loose her footing and fall into the ocean below.
"Lizzie!" I muttered. The crew laughed and Jack smiled, half heartedly joining in before he and I were dragged to the plank next.
I was pushed towards it first and stumbled only slightly. I walked a few steps looking at the waters, well at least there weren't any sharks. I looked back at the pirates to see several swords pointed at me. I rolled my eyes.
"You're all such predictable pirates." I said before I turned around and got it over with. I leapt from the plank and dove into the water.
I swam away from the ship as Jack was supposed to come down next. Further on I saw Elizabeth swimming towards the island. A few seconds later, Jack jumped in and the three of us reached the shore together. Jack shook the ropes from his wrists before pulling his sword and cutting mine from me.
He turned to the Pearl as it disappeared into the distance.
"That's the second time I've had to watch that man sail away with my ship." he muttered. Elizabeth turned and looked around the island, she began to walk away along the sand. Jack stabbed his sword into the ground before walking to the edge of the trees and finding a stick. He stuck that into the sand also and pulled off his boots, sticking them on the stick and sword upside down. He removed his vest and belt also, his hat and jacket having been left behind on the Pearl.
Jack removed his pistol and began to take it apart, setting the powder aside to dry. He cleaned the rest of it as I looked around. It really was tiny.
"Do you have any plan?" I wondered not looking at Jack "Or has your luck ran out?" he glanced up at me
"Love, just keep your eyes open for sails." he said, not wanting to admit defeat
"Out of luck it is." I sighed. I sat down next to him and pulled my boots off also. I felt the warm sand on my feet and laid down, not caring if the sand stuck to my wet clothes.
"The stories say you were here for four days?" I said not really caring if I got an answer as I closed my eyes and just felt the sun "That true?"
No answer.
"Typical silence." I sighed
Jack just kept fiddling with his pistol and I laid on the sand before footsteps sounded.
"It's really not all that big, is it?" Jack said, more of a statement then a question. I guessed Elizabeth was back. Really must be small.
"If you're going to shoot me, please do so without delay." Elizabeth said
"Don't sound so negative." I said before sitting up and leaning my arms on my knees.
"Is there a problem between us Miss Swann?" Jack asked leaning slightly forward as he stopped fiddling with the pistol.
"You were going to tell Barbossa about Will in exchange for a ship." Elizabeth accused through clenched teeth. I raised an eyebrow and turned to Jack who gave me the same look.
"We could use a ship." Jack admitted looking around slightly "And so was she." he pointed at me
"No I wasn't." I snapped back "I threatened you if you did it. But you never were right?" I knew
"What?" Elizabeth asked looking at me. I turned my gaze back to her
"We probably wouldn't be here if Jack didn't open his mouth about that." I confessed "Used his usual strategy of talking his way out of trouble." I said
"How do you know it's usual?" Jack questioned
"Because that's all I've really seen you do." I answered. He opened his mouth but didn't speak.
"He wasn't going to tell Barbossa?" Elizabeth asked, ignoring our slight bicker.
"No." I shook my head, Elizabeth looked from me to Jack who huffed.
"The fact is I was going to not tell Barbossa about Bloody Will in exchange for a ship, because as long as he didn't know about Bloody Will I had something to bargain with. Which now no one has, thanks to Bloody Stupid Will." Jack rambled, waving his pistol around in the air as he looked from Elizabeth to the ocean. He stood up as Elizabeth dropped her gaze
"Oh…" Elizabeth said awkwardly at getting the wrong assumptions.
"Oh." Jack repeated, placing his sword into his sash.
"Don't blame her, you're a pirate, hardly trust worthy." I said with a shrug. He looked at me annoyed "You don't trust us, or you would tell us your plan." I said simply "Especially as we're involved." I added
"Yeah well you opening your mouth about Bloody Will could have meant you ruined everything." Jack snapped at me
"If you had told me your plan, I wouldn't have come close. Plus I didn't say anything that ruined anything for you so stop complaining." I snapped back "Will's the only one you can blame for not getting a ship." I said, weighing Will and the ship against one another.
"That ship…" Jack began, but he stopped as he pointed at me, as if deciding against trusting me "Bloody Will." he muttered
"He still risked his life to save ours!" Elizabeth reminded him as I held out my hand. Jack pulled me too my feet before barking in Elizabeth's face
"Ha!" he turned and walked away from us as I dusted my back.
"So we have to do something to rescue him." Elizabeth thought
"Off you go then." Jack said shooing her "Let me know how that turns out." and he continued towards the trees
"Well any suggestions, Captain?" I said trying to get him to take charge of that as I followed, Elizabeth behind me.
"Don't you use that on me, love." he said glancing at me for a second. I rolled my eyes
"But you were marooned on this island before, weren't you? So we can escape in the same way you did then." Elizabeth said as stalked after the pirate.
"To what point and purpose, young missy?" Jack asked spinning around to face her "The Black Pearl is gone and unless you have a rudder and a lot of sails hidden in that bodice –" Jack looked down at her and held his hands up in defence "Unlikely. Young Mr. Turner will be dead long before you can reach him." he confessed.
"Well you're very negative for a pirate." I rolled my eyes
"But you're Captain Jack Sparrow." Elizabeth idolised as Jack knocked on a hollow tree trunk. "You vanished from under the eyes of seven agents of the East India Company." Jack took four big steps from the tree "You sacked Nassau Port without even firing a shot." Elizabeth ran to face Jack as he jumped up and down. I sighed and crossed my arms. A person becomes known by fake stories, as long as there's a little truth behind them. There mainly sounded as though someone exaggerated when telling them.
"Are you the pirate I've read about or not?" he sighed and looked at her "How did you escape last time?" Jack sighed, pushed Elizabeth back and took a few steps forwards
"Last time… I was here a grand total of three days, all right?" he turned away from her "Last time—" Jack leaned down and opened a trap door hidden under the sand, revealing a cellar "… the rumrunners used this island as a cache." Jack walked into the cellar and looked around "Came by, and I was able to barter a passage off. From the looks of things, they've long been out of business." Jack muttered as Elizabeth looked down at him with he mouth open. I stood beside her, yeah I knew sea turtles were silly. "Probably… have your bloody friend Norrington to thank for that." Jack walked out of the cellar with two bottles of rum in his hands and one under his arm.
"So that's it then?" Elizabeth asked disappointedly "That's the secret, grand adventure of the infamous Jack Sparrow?" Jack's eyes widened slightly at her tone "You spent three days lying on a beach, drinking rum?!"
"Welcome to the Caribbean, love." Jack said not at all offended as he handed Elizabeth a bottle. He passed the other to me and walked past us both. I sighed and shrugged to Lizzie before following.
"So, what is the truth behind the stories?" I wondered, Jack gave me a look "Don't look at me like that, all myths and legends have some truth behind them, they're just sometimes a little stretched. What's your truth?" I asked
"You already saw them." he answered. I furrowed my eyebrows before remembering all the scars on his body.
"Ouch." I said again. He nodded and sat down. Elizabeth came and looked between us.
"Alright well, if we're not getting off, what are we doing?" I wondered
"We still have a month maybe more." Jack said looking at the waters "Keep a weather open eye out for passing ships and our chances increase." he muttered before taking a drink.
"And what about Will?" Elizabeth asked "We have to do something."
"You're absolutely right." Jack raised his rum to the ocean "Here's luck to you Will Turner." and he took another drink.
I sighed and sat down next to Jack. I hadn't had rum before but I guess there was a first for everything. Jack took another swig and I did the same.
The liquid burned my throat and warmed my insides. I swallowed the whole thing, trying not to choke on it. Elizabeth took a swing and just swallowed it. Now where did she learn to do that?
"Drink up me hearties, yo ho." she muttered taking another drink. Jack turned to look at her
"We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot. Drink up me 'earties yo ho." I added and took another swig, the rum was a little easier this time.
"What was that?" Jack asked us
"Nothing." Elizabeth answered "Just a song I learnt as a child when I actually thought it would be exciting to meet a pirate." she confessed
"Back when I demanded sword lessons from my father." I nodded "Lizzie was all up for pirates back then." I nudged her
"Let's hear it." Jack ordered
"No." Elizabeth disagreed
"Come on, we've got the time." Jack said a little forcefully "Let's have it."
"No." she said again "I'd have to have a lot more to drink." she said taking another sip
"How much more?" Jack asked after a minute and I raised an eyebrow to him. He grinned and took another sip.
I sighed and took a mouthful
"We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot. Drink up me 'earties yo ho!" I said looking to the water "We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot. Drink up me 'earties yo ho! Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me. We extort, we pilfer, we filch and sack. Drink up me hearties yo ho." Jack watched me and Elizabeth mumbled a little bit, trying not to get caught "We're devils and black sheep and really bad eggs. Drink up me 'earties yo ho! Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me." I took another drink. Jack hummed it and then nudged me.
"Now you have to sing it." he said, I hadn't put much tune to it.
"Yeah, for that I agree with Elizabeth." and I took another drink. I then stood up "First of all how about a fire."
Darkness fell, the fire was built and blazing and Jack, Elizabeth and I were running the fire singing at the top of our lungs. My bottle was almost empty, same with the other two and I kicked the sand around happily.
"We're devils and black sheep and really bad eggs. Drink up me 'earties yo ho! Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me." Elizabeth held her dress as I spun around, Jack suddenly grabbing my waist and spinning with me. I laughed before I turned to Lizzie
"I love this song!" Jack claimed happily as I hooked arms with my cousin and spun around. Jack came and placed an arm around us both.
"Really bad eggs! Ooh." He wobbled forwards before falling onto the sand, the liquor getting to him. I giggled at him and held out my arm to help him to his feet but instead he pulled me into his shoulder, holding me close.
"When I get the Pearl back," he pulled Elizabeth down next to him on his other side "I'm gonna teach it to the whole crew, and we'll sing it all the time!"
"And you'll be positively the most fearsome pirates in the Spanish Main." Elizabeth said fiercely. Jack's eyes widened and he leaned back slightly.
"Spanish Main?" I wondered
"Not just the Spanish Main, love. The entire ocean. The entire wo'ld." he gazed out to the dark ocean "Wherever we want to go, we'll go. That's what a ship is, you know. It's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails that's what a ship needs but what a ship is… what the Black Pearl really is… is freedom." he dreamed. Elizabeth leaned against him with a sigh
"Jack… it must be really terrible for you to be trapped on this island." she pitied. Jack looked down at her a little surprised. He looked at me and I grinned, winking slightly.
"Especially alone. Three days of just drinking out of pity…" I muttered frowning at him "How terrible." I placed my hand on his cheek and he gazed at me, pulling me closer before looking at Elizabeth and I.
"Oh, yes." he said holding me, his arm moving down to my waist and closing any space between us. "But the company is infinitely better than last time, I think." he looked at me and I smiled at him "The scenery has definitely improved." Elizabeth looked at Jack's arm around me before sitting up
"Mr. Sparrow…" I removed my hand for his face to look at her
"Mmm?" he asked awkwardly, thinking she was about to call him out
"I'm not entirely sure that I've had enough rum to allow that kind of talk." she said. Jack pointed at her and nodded.
"I know exactly what you mean, love." he released me and curled his moustache. Elizabeth raised her bottle of rum
"To freedom." she toasted. I held up mine
"To adventure." I smirked. Jack looked at our bottles and I nudged him, he looked at me and I grinned before touching the bottles with his own.
"To the Black Pearl." he turned the bottle upside down and skulled the rest of it's contents, lying backwards and falling unconscious. Elizabeth went to take a swing but stopped, the liquid not even reaching her lips.
I watched Jack as he just skulled and then he laid flat on his back. I sighed and took another swig.
"Alright," I began looking at Elizabeth. She looked at me "What are you up to?" I asked
"He was all over you." she hissed
"I noticed, not the first time, what of it?" I wondered, I think my words came out rather slurred, but Elizabeth seemed fine.
"And you're okay with that?"
"Very." I nodded
"He's a pirate." she snapped
"And you judge him for wanting the freedom or adventure." I said back, my face flushing slightly from the liquor. "He can't do that with rules."
"You're okay with that?" she demanded
"Did you know Will's father was a pirate?" I asked
"Yes."
"Jack knew him." I pointed to the unconscious man "Said he was a good man and that Will had pirate blood in him and by breaking Jack out of jail and commandeering a ship I'd say he's well on his way to abiding by the assumption that he could be too." I explained
"Something I've learnt on this voyage; just because they're a pirate doesn't mean they're not good people either." I said seriously "All those people on the Interceptor were pirates and yet look how they treated us, risking their lives to help save you." I said strongly. I put down the bottle and brushed my hands "Stop judging a person just because a few are terrible."
She looked at me slightly surprised but I could see the guilt in her eyes.
"Now, I know you have a plan cause I saw you pour the majority of that bottle away. I'd say you haven't even drunk a quarter of it yourself." I pointed at it "So, what you up to?" I repeated as she'd steered away from the original question.
"The entire Royal navy is out looking for us—"
"For you." I corrected
"Us?" She thought but I shook my head
"I left with Sparrow," I nodded my head to him "Willingly. James watched me."
"They'll still be looking for you." Elizabeth thought. I raised my hands in defence but still doubted it.
"So, we make a signal." Elizabeth continued
"How?"
"We burn the rum." I gapped
"And if they don't see us?" I questioned
"They will." she said determined before standing up and moving towards the storage. I glanced at Jack, he was going to kill us. I guess that's why Elizabeth got him passed out.
I stood up, wobbling a lot as I did before gradually making my way to the cellar, leaning against any tree I could to keep my balance. Okay maybe I'd drunk a little too much. Jack was a bad influence.
"Okay, but we're not burning all of it." I said into the dark hole.
"What?" Elizabeth asked "Don't tell me you like it?" she demanded
"Elizabeth, if your signal doesn't work we need something to keep us going, something in our bellies, and what's down there is all we've got." I reminded her "Just keep a little bit, you wont need all of it to burn your signal, as soon as the leaves catch fire they'll dispatch a lot of smoke by themselves. The rum is just to get the fire going." I said logically.
She sighed but nodded to me.
"Good. Now I don't know if I can make it down those stairs so could you roll three barrels up to me." I said with a slight grin. Elizabeth rolled her eyes with a smile but did so.
Half way through Elizabeth's mission, I passed out. I told her I was just getting drowsier and she told me to sleep, she'd do the rest. I warned her not to burn what we'd set aside before making my way over to Jack. I just laid down on his shoulder again and crashed almost instantly.