Chapter 8: Introducing the Mutineers; All Good Pirates Need Enemies
Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to PotC nor HP as they remain the properties of their respective owners. I own any additional characters I add. Also, the familiar dialogue is from the PotC films which belong to Disney and the director Gore Verbinski.
oOoOo
It was not long before they set sail with Jack at the wheel as normal. He ordered the crew to man the ship, getting everything in order. As they pulled out of Tortuga, the sky darkened, and it started to rain. They had been out at sea for only an hour when the wind picked up. Lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a loud crack of thunder. The canvas of every sail stretched taut in the wind, and the ship rocked as it dropped into the valley of huge swells, climbing up the other side. On board, the new crew members scurried about with their tasks, pulling lines and trimming sails. They were excellent sailors, taking everything they had to keep the ship afloat. Anamaria was at the helm, while Gibbs staggered along the deck, sometimes grabbing onto ropes or the sides to steady himself.
Hermione managed to find some more suitable clothing. A tunic and some loose trousers, rather than the dress she was wearing. She was finding it more comfortable to help with the crew in their tasks now. Her dress would have been weighing down horribly in the rain.
Gibbs eyed Jack from his position near the side of the ship, the roaring wind blowing back his hair, his eyes intent on their course. 'That fool will have us lose the canvas, and the masts besides!' he growled, moving to climb the tilted deck toward him. 'We'd best drop canvas, sir!' he shouted over the howling wind.
'She can hold a bit longer,' Jack yelled back, spinning the wheel to the left a bit more just as the wind picked up some more. Jack smiled.
Gibbs paused next to Jack, observing the smiling Captain. 'What's in your head that's put you in such a fine mood, Captain?' he asked curiously.
Jack smiled. 'We're catching up,' he answered, spinning the wheel back to the right. He turned back to the sea, visibly relishing in this. Gibbs gaped at him like he was a crazy man. The Interceptor, on open waters, looked glorious as she sailed through the severe weather. Her white sails set wing-to-wing.
oOoOo
Hermione sat on the step leading up to the bridge, and she was glad the storm was over. The clouds gave way to blue skies overhead. Her eyes found Jack who was standing next to Anamaria, his compass cradled in both hands. He leaned over to study it closer, almost as if he was praying. Jack smiled when the quivering indicator above an old-fashioned rose petal style direction marker settled on the south-east. 'Bear three points starboard,' he ordered Anamaria. She turned the wheel obediently, adjusting the course of the ship. It leaned into the new direction. Jack glanced back down at his compass, and the indicator then reversed, settling on north-east. 'Six points port!' Jack ordered. Anamaria frowned but followed the orders. She turned the wheel back, and the ship responded.
Hermione, shaking her head, stood from her position on the step. She moved over to where Will was working on the deck, coiling a rope, but his eyes fixed on Jack and Anamaria. He was annoyed. She helped him loop the line, and he flashed her a smile as Gibbs staggered up to them. 'Left-handed ropes are coiled against the sun, or it's bad luck!' he said, twirling a finger in the air. 'Anti-clockwise,' he advised, taking over the task just as the ship shifted course again.
Will let out an irritated sigh, he'd had enough. 'How can we sail to an island nobody can find with a compass that doesn't work?' Will asked Gibbs, pulling on the rope to tighten it further.
Gibbs smiled. 'Aye, the compass doesn't point north, but we're not trying to find north, are we?' he told him. 'That compass gives bearings to the Isla de Muerta, wherever it may lay,' he added thoughtfully, glancing up at Jack.
They continued with their tasks, and the air steadily became heavier. In place of the clear air, they sailed into a thick fog surrounding a lagoon Anamaria was steering the boat through. The air seemed to drop significantly. The crew ceased what they were doing to gaze out at the wrecked ships strewn everywhere in the water. Some paid silent homage to the fallen pirates and sailors, while others went back to their work. Will, Hermione, and Gibbs continued to look out. 'Puts a chill in the bones how this passage has claimed many honest sailors,' Gibbs told them.
Will nodded, picking up another rope, and coiled it like Gibbs showed him. Hermione's eyes found Cotton's Parrot who alighted on the railing of the bridge, and he was staring at the compass in Jack's hand. Jack peered up, closing his compass abruptly with a frown. Then put it back in his pocket, he shooed the Parrot away from the bridge. Hermione turned back to Gibbs. 'How is it that Jack came by that compass?' she asked curiously.
Gibbs leaned against the mast, happy to have a willing listener. 'Not a lot's known about Jack Sparrow before he showed up in Tortuga with a mind to go after the treasure of the Isla de Muerta. Now, Jack has an honest streak in him, and that's where the whole problem starts. That was before I met him, back when he was Captain of the Black Pearl,' he told them.
Will and Hermione's eyes widened at this revelation. 'What? He failed to mention that,' Will said, sharing a glance with Hermione.
Gibbs nodded in understanding. 'Ah, he's learned, then. Plays things closer to the vest, and a hard-learned lesson it was. See, Jack was a cartographer, back in Old England. Somehow, he came by the money to commission the Pearl. Hired himself a crew, promised each man an equal share,' he told them. His voice lowered as he continued, 'So, they're forty days out, and the First Mate says everything's an equal share. That should mean the location of the island, and the treasure, too. So, Jack gives up the bearings,' he paused, shaking his head and glancing up at the Captain in question for a moment before turning back to them. He continued in a whisper so Will and Hermione leaned in closer to hear him. 'That night, there was a mutiny. Jack gave himself up for the sake of his loyal crew. They marooned Jack on an island, and left him to die, but not before he'd gone mad with the heat,' he explained. Hermione understood now why Jack was the way he was.
'Ah. So that's the reason for all the…' Will didn't finish but acted like Jack.
Gibbs nodded glancing at both of them in turn. 'Reasons got nothing to do with it. Now, when a man is marooned, he is a 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,' he explained, motioning putting a gun to his head.
'And what is the story on his pistol?' Hermione asked as Will and Gibbs suddenly stood straight, peering behind her. Hermione frowned before turning, realising Jack was now standing with them, and she looked away from him.
Jack smiled at her before pulling out the pistol, raising it. 'I survived, and I still have that single shot. It's meant for one man. My mutinous first mate,' Jack revealed, staring at the pistol intently.
'Barbossa,' Will said in realisation. Hermione frowned at the thought of the pirate who captured Elizabeth.
'Aye,' Gibbs answered with a nod.
Hermione frowned. 'With only a pistol and the clothes on your back, how did you get off the island?' she asked Jack curiously.
'I didn't!' he shouted. Will and Gibbs jumped, and Hermione covered her ears reflexively. 'My body's still there, rotting away, and I am but a ghost!' he answered. His three companions stared at him, not entirely sure what to make of that as Jack chuckled.
'Seriously, how did you get off the island?' Hermione asked again.
Jack smirked slightly. 'Ah, that's a dark and unpleasant tale, best left untold,' he answered, touching her nose with his forefinger, and she pulled back.
Gibbs looked at Jack. 'Go on, Jack, it's not that unpleasant,' he said as Jack sighed, nodding for him to continue. 'I'll tell ye. Jack here waded out into the shallows. There he waited three days and three nights till all manner of sea creatures came and acclimated to his presence. On the fourth morning, he roped himself a couple of sea turtles, lashed 'em together and made a raft,' he explained with a smile as Jack nodded slowly.
Hermione glanced between Gibbs and Jack in scepticism before looking at Will who was mirroring her expression. 'You roped a couple of sea turtles?' Will asked Jack slowly with a frown.
'Aye, sea turtles,' Gibbs was the one to answer, nodding enthusiastically.
Hermione nodded slowly before looking back at him. 'What did you use for rope?' she asked curiously having already gathered there was no rope on the island.
Jack, his face an emotionless mask not betraying anything, gazed down at Hermione. 'Human hair… from my back,' he answered. Hermione lowered her head in disgust while Will watched Jack curiously.
They stood in silence for a moment as Cotton pulled a sail line, looking out and his eyes widened. Lifting the Parrot from his shoulder, he stroked it along the back. 'Land HO! Land HO! LAND ho! LAND ho!' the Parrot shouted. The four companions and the other members of the crew glanced to where Cotton was pointing. Indeed, the faint outline of the Isla de Muerta appeared in the distance on the port side. Will, excited, pulled himself onto the rigging to get a better look.
Anamaria, who was at the helm steering the ship, stared at Cotton and his Parrot in disbelief. 'How does he do that?' she muttered as Jack came to stand next to her on the bridge.
He addressed the crew. 'They'll be anchored on the lee side. Haul your wind and keep to the weather of the island!' he shouted in order. They got into position, and Jack held up his hand to signal them to wait a moment before he curled his fingers into a fist. 'Let go of the anchor!' he shouted to the crew.
'Let go of the anchor, sir!' they all shouted back.
Jack glanced around at them all as he and Gibbs made their way towards the boat that some of the sailors were lowering into the water. Will and Hermione followed close behind. 'Young Mr Turner, Miss Swann, and I are to go ashore,' he told Gibbs, reaching the side and threw the ladder over so it landed in the boat.
'Captain! What if the worst should happen?' Gibbs asked him.
Jack turned to him. 'Keep to the code,' he answered, climbing over the side and making his way down the ladder.
'Aye, the code,' Gibbs answered with a smile.
Will and Hermione stared at him, a little confused. 'What's the code?' Hermione asked Will.
'I have no idea,' Will answered, following Jack over the side and down the ladder into the boat. He then helped Hermione down into the boat as well. Hermione sat in-between them, looking back at the Interceptor as it lay in anchor. She almost wished she were safely on board.
Jack and Will rowed away from the large vessel in a small longboat, toward the rocky shore where they could make out the enormous dark mouth of a cave, right at water level. Will glanced up then as the sound of rushing water reached his ears. 'What's that?' he asked, nodding towards where the rushing water was coming from.
'Depends,' Jack countered with a small sigh.
'On what?' Hermione asked, trying to look around Jack towards the island.
'On whether the stories are all true. If they are, that's a waterfall that spills over at high tide, with a short drop to an underground lagoon. If not…' he trailed off as the moving water tugged on the longboat, sucking them in. 'Well, too late,' Jack muttered as the boat rushed forward, plunging into darkness as it took a harrowing drop over a short waterfall. It landed safely in a gorgeous underwater lagoon, floating lazily towards a sandy shore. Hermione grabbed hold of the sides of the boat as it rocked from side to side. Jack continued rowing towards the dark abyss that was the mouth of the cave. 'Chalk one up for the stories,' Jack muttered, pausing in his rowing to try and steady the boat.
The Isle itself looked evil, and Hermione could have sworn if she tilted her head at the right angle it looked like it was in the shape of a skull. She shook it off thinking it was her over-active imagination playing tricks on her. 'That's disturbing,' she whispered saying her thoughts out loud. She again tilted her head to see again if it did indeed look like a skull. She frowned, realising that maybe her mind wasn't playing tricks on her and the island was in fact just a largely shaped skull. This thought disturbed her more.
'What is?' Will asked her as he, too, glanced around to see what was troubling her.
'Just this whole island. We are, but three people, two normal and one insane pirate, heading into a cave with god knows what waiting for us there. An army of pirates that don't seem to know how to die. It's just disturbing,' she told him. She averted her eyes from the rocks and cliff faces making up the island to the water, which seemed to be glowing with a light all its own.
'I see your point,' Will muttered, thinking about what she said. It made sense after all. What could they possibly accomplish from this except maybe a trip to an early grave? It seemed trouble was following them no matter where they went.
Will wondered what he would be doing now had this not happened. He would most likely be back in his beloved store making more swords and practicing with them as he used to. As he thought about it, the more it seemed like another life now. He was a completely different person now, out on a seemingly heroic quest to save a woman he cared about. Making swords seemed to him like a thing of the past after everything that happened.
'What should we do when we get in there, Jack?' Hermione asked the quiet Jack. He seemed to be staring at the island with a peculiar expression on his face, and a frown on his brow.
'Nothing stupid, I would imagine,' Jack replied before slipping back into silence.
Hermione frowned. 'Anything more specific?' she posed but received no answer. She shook her head, and gazed back down at the water, jumping when she saw a skull.
'Careful, you may topple us with all that jumping, Miss Swann,' Jack said with a smirk, turning to look at her. 'And we wouldn't be wanting that now, would we?' he asked hypothetically. Hermione only smiled back sardonically in answer.
Will looked down into the water as the left oar Jack was using hit one of the skulls. He gulped. 'That reminds me, what Code is Gibbs to keep to if the worst should happen?' he asked Jack curiously, scanning the water again. He saw another, more rotted and cracked skull on the ocean floor, and he gulped once more. In front of him, Hermione shifted uneasily upon noticing them as well.
'Pirate's Code. Any man that falls behind… is left behind,' Jack answered after a moment of observing his surroundings.
Will nodded. 'No heroes amongst thieves, eh?' he asked hypothetically, looking around again.
Jack turned to look back at him. 'You know, for having such a bleak outlook on pirates you're well on your way to becoming one,' he told him. Will frowned in return as if to question why that would be. 'Sprung a man from jail, commandeered a ship of the Fleet, sailed with a buccaneer crew out of Tortuga…' he counted off on his fingers. All three of them gazed down at the ocean floor then to see gold glinting back up at them. Jack smiled before turning to Will who was still staring. '…and you're completely obsessed with treasure,' he finished with a smirk at the Blacksmith.
Will frowned. 'That's not true,' he claimed before thinking about how true the first three were and added, 'I am not obsessed with treasure.'
They finally pulled up at a small beach area inside the cave. Jack and Will leapt out into the water, pulling the boat ashore, and Hermione then got out. More boats lined the shore, and Jack strolled around taking all the oars from them and hiding them. He turned back to them while they looked back in confusion. 'Just to be safe,' he told them.
'So you hide their oars?' Hermione asked slowly as though speaking to a child.
Jack sighed before gazing at her. 'There is a reason for the hiding of said oars so that when we spring free your bonny sister and make our getaway they will not be able to follow us thus giving us a head start to which they will be left here still looking around for said oars that I hid, savvy?' Jack answered. Hermione and Will both tried to make sense of what he said. Before they could though, Jack beckoned them to follow him.
They walked along a dark passage, reaching a part with an opening in the wall with treasure lining it that they could look through. 'Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate,' Jack whispered to Will.
Hermione scanned the clearing before them. Everywhere she looked there were piles of gold, jewels, doubloons, and Merlin knows what else. What intrigued her the most was atop the largest mound of gold, and other valuables, stood a chest made of solid gold. There was an inscription carved into the side, written in another language. Above the dedication was a carving of a smiling golden skull, which had her feeling strange. It was familiar to her somehow as if she had seen it in a surreal dream. Standing behind the chest was Elizabeth dressed in a gown the colour of blood, which did nothing to ease Hermione's sense of dread. Relief filled her though, knowing Elizabeth was alive.
Next to the chest, on Elizabeth's right stood a tall man with a monkey alighted on his shoulder holding an apple. It was using its free hand to grasp the pirate's hat. Hermione assumed this man must be Barbossa. Jack confirmed her suspicions, growling his name under his breath. Hermione glanced at him before peering back in on the gathering.
Barbossa addressed his crew, 'Gentlemen, the time has come! Our salvation is nigh! Our torment is near an end,' he shouted to the cheers of his crew.
'Elizabeth,' Will whispered upon noticing her. Hermione glanced at him to see a worried frown on his brow.
She tuned back into the speech happening in the clearing. '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 was shouting. Hermione strained her ears as one of the crew-members said something in answer, but she was too far away to hear it. 'Punished, we were. The lot of us – disproportionate to our crimes! Here it is…' Barbossa paused, turning and throwing off the lid revealing hundreds of identical golden medallions. '…the cursed treasure of Cortés himself. Every last piece that went astray, we have returned…. save for this,' he said, pointing to the matching medallion hanging around Elizabeth's neck.
Will scrambled to his feet then, upsetting some of the treasure they were hiding behind. Jack pulled him back down. 'Jack!' he barked out in annoyance, turning to the pirate.
Jack shook his head. 'Not yet. We wait for the opportune moment,' he told him. Will huffed in irritation and Hermione grasped his arm to try to calm him down a little.
'881 we found but despaired of ever finding the last,' Barbossa was saying in the background. Hermione was too busy trying to keep Will from rushing into the gathering, most likely getting himself killed.
'When's that? When it's of greatest profit to you?' Will asked Jack heatedly.
Jack grinned faintly before becoming serious once more. 'May I ask you something? Have I ever given you reason not to trust me?' he asked him. Will glared back and slumped his shoulders.
Hermione rubbed his back soothingly. 'Maybe we should just listen to him. He hasn't led us astray... yet,' Hermione said to Will but gazed at Jack intently on the last word.
'Exactly. You should listen to her more, mate. You may learn something,' Jack said with a small smile before surveying the gathering again. He glanced back at them thoughtfully. 'Do us a favour – I know it's difficult for you, but please stay here and try not to do anything stupid,' Jack told them. Hermione rolled her eyes as Jack scampered off along the passage.
'Bloody pirate!' Will seethed.
'Would you calm down!' Hermione said to him furiously. He turned to look at her in shock. 'We will get Elizabeth back safely, but we won't be able to if you just rush in there waving your sword and hoping to make it out alive! We need to plan something like this and do it in such a way they won't notice us. As Jack said, we should wait for the right opportunity to arise and then save her,' she told him. They both pulled themselves back into kneeling positions, looking back over at the gathering.
They tuned back into what Barbossa was saying now. 'And who among us has paid the blood sacrifice owed to the heathen gods?' he roared.
'Us!' the crew bellowed back.
'And whose blood must yet be paid?' Barbossa barked to them.
'Hers!' they shouted back.
Will shook his head, tuning out as he made to follow the passage Jack vanished down. He turned back to Hermione. 'Come on,' he told her.
She looked back, a little torn, before sighing and following him down the passage. 'Where are we going?' she asked him but received no answer. 'Will? Did you listen to a word I said?' she asked him.
Will turned back to her. 'Of course, I did. I have always listened to you in any situation, but did you not hear Barbossa? They are going to use Elizabeth as the blood sacrifice. I cannot stand here and let that happen. I think I am safe to assume as she is your sister, you would not want any harm to come to her either, am I right?' he asked her.
'Yes, but-' she tried to argue but Will cut her off. He took her hand, practically dragging her down the passage.
'Good,' he muttered, scanning around the ground for something.
'What are you looking for?' Hermione asked curiously. Will walked away for a moment, picking up an oar lying on the ground. He made his way back over to her, retaking her hand. 'What do you need that for?' she asked him, eyeing the oar in confusion. He didn't answer, continuing along the passage, and pulling her along behind him. Hermione got angry once more. 'Where are we going? What are you hoping to accomplish, Will! Let go of-'
He cut her off. 'Shhh,' he whispered as they rounded a corner. Jack was staring through another gap in the wall.
'What are you going to-' she stopped talking as Will brought the oar down hard on Jack's head, knocking the pirate unconscious. She stared at him in disbelief.
Will stared down at Jack. 'Sorry, Jack. I'm not going to be your leverage,' he said before grabbing Hermione's hand, dragging her along the passage again.
'Why did you do that?' she asked him, glancing behind her to see Jack still lying on the ground.
'I refuse to take orders from pirates,' Will answered. They reached an opening behind the mound of gold the chest was on. They watched as Barbossa became angry about something, but they didn't know what seeing as they hadn't listened. Hermione glanced at Will who breathed in relief that Elizabeth was okay, and they hadn't killed her.
Will and Hermione flinched as Barbossa turned on Elizabeth angrily. 'You, maid! Your father, what was his name? Was your father William Turner?' he asked furiously.
'No,' Elizabeth answered.
Barbossa grabbed her arm painfully, picking up the medallion which was dripping with her blood. 'Where's his child? The child that sailed from England eight years ago. The child in whose veins flows the blood of William Turner. Where?' he asked her. When he received no answer, he raised his hand, backhanding her. She fell down the mound of gold to land at the bottom next to the medallion that flew out of Barbossa's hand. An argument began amongst the pirates, and Will took that opportunity to wade into the water towards Elizabeth. Hermione waited at the side with bated breath. Will swam over, clasping his hand over Elizabeth's mouth so she wouldn't scream and motioned for her to follow him into the water. Elizabeth turned, grabbing the medallion that was lying next to her before sliding into the water. She followed Will to the other side where Hermione hugged her, and they made their way out.
Thinking they were safe they continued, but they heard a screeching sound. Hermione glanced around to see the monkey pointing in their direction. 'The medallion! She's taken it! Get after her! You feckless pack of ingrates!' Barbossa shouted, and the three sped up their pace to the boats were.
They climbed up a dark crevasse leading to the sandy shore where the boats were lined up. Will grabbed Elizabeth's hand, helping her up before helping Hermione. Will turned to Elizabeth as Hermione went to look for the oars Jack hid. 'I'm glad we got here in time,' he said, hugging her.
Elizabeth pulled back, giving him a small smile. 'Truthfully, you were a bit late,' she corrected him, as he turned to look away from her in shame.
Hermione appeared next to them, giving the oars to Will. 'The trick isn't getting here, it's getting away,' Hermione said, ushering them towards the boat. As if on cue, the yells of the pirates drew closer, and Will pushed the longboat into the water. They jumped in, and Will rowed it as quickly as he could out of the lagoon towards where he hoped the Interceptor was.
They reached it after a time, as they had to try to get around the waterfall. Will boarded the Interceptor before helping Hermione, and then Elizabeth up onto the deck. Elizabeth scanned around the deck and groaned. 'Not more pirates,' she said, glancing at Hermione and Will.
Gibbs smiled at her. 'Welcome aboard, Miss Elizabeth,' he said with a slight bow of his head.
'Mr Gibbs?' Elizabeth asked in disbelief before turning to Hermione.
'The very same,' Hermione muttered.
Elizabeth turned back to Gibbs to say something, but he seemed to notice Jack hadn't followed them aboard. He looked at Will. 'Hey, boy, where be Jack?' he asked him, surveying over the side in case Jack was still climbing up.
'Jack?' Elizabeth questioned before turning to Will and Hermione. 'Jack Sparrow?' she asked them.
Hermione smiled, suddenly feeling amused at the situation she found herself in. 'The very same,' she answered with a shrug.
Elizabeth frowned at her. 'Calli, why were you collaborating with pirates? Why are you here? Father must be going spare wondering where you are!' she said, but Hermione only shrugged again, leaning against the railing of the ship.
'He fell behind,' Will said to Gibbs who was waiting for an answer. He then took Elizabeth's arm, leading her away.
Hermione watched with a frown as they disappeared into the cabin. She turned back to Gibbs who looked disheartened at the loss of Jack. 'Keep to the code,' he said as the crew nodded, going about their duties.
'Weigh anchor! Hoist the sails! Make quickly, divvies,' Anamaria cried, moving to the helm of the ship and taking the wheel.
oOoOo
Back in the cave, Jack stumbled towards where he remembered the boats were while eyeing an oar interestedly. He questioned how it hit him in the first place. He was also wondering where Will and Hermione were. Jack stopped when he heard a voice ahead. 'No oars here. Where're the oars?' came the voice.
'The oars have gone missing. Find them!' Another voice echoed through the caves. Jack smiled at his genius plan at hiding the oars before making his way out.
Ragetti turned then, seeing Jack holding the oar. 'You,' he said in disbelief.
Pintel stared at him as though he'd seen a ghost. 'You're supposed to be dead!' he barked.
Jack raised his eyebrows. 'Am I not?' Jack asked, examining himself. 'Oh,' he said cheerfully before realising a pistol was pointing right at him. 'Palulay...palu-li-la-la-lulu, parlili… parsnip, parsley, par – partner, partner…' he muttered, trying to think of the right word.
'Parley?' Ragetti asked him.
'Parley! That's the one. Parley! Parley!' Jack yelled to the crew with a smile.
'Parley?' Pintel asked Ragetti indignantly before turning back to Jack. 'Down to the depths whatever man that thought up "parley!"' he barked.
Jack smiled. 'That would be the French. Also, would you know they are also the inventors of mayonnaise? I heard that somewhere,' Jack told them thoughtfully. They all glared back in irritation, while some rolled their eyes.
They led Jack back to the clearing with the chest and Barbossa regarded him with irritation and scepticism. 'How the blazes did you get off that island?' he asked him curiously.
Jack smiled. 'When you marooned me on that godforsaken spit of land, you forgot one very important thing, mate,' Jack paused while they glanced back at him deliberating on what it was their Captain could have forgotten.
'And what is it that I was forgetting?' Barbossa asked in morbid curiosity.
Jack smiled. 'I'm Captain Jack Sparrow,' he retorted as if this should have been apparent.
'Ah, well, I won't be making that mistake again,' Barbossa told him before peering around at his crew. 'Gents, you all remember Captain Jack Sparrow?' he asked them to an answer of assertions griped from them. He peered back at Jack who was gazing at them all with a wide smile on his face. Having armed pirates surrounding him didn't faze him in the least. Barbossa was not impressed by this. 'I'm inclined to kill you now, Jack Sparrow, without so much as a word, if you don't lose that grin from your face,' he cautioned him, but that only made Jack smile wider, if possible. Barbossa snarled at this. 'Kill him,' he commanded the pirates while turning around to walk away.
They raised their weapons at Jack with smiles as though they were anticipating when they would be able to kill him finally. Jack just shrugged, grinning like the cat who got the cream. 'The girl's blood didn't work, did it?' he asked Barbossa confidently.
Barbossa growled, turning back. 'Hold your fire!' he barked to his crew. They all lowered their weapons in disappointment. 'You know whose blood we need,' Barbossa stated rather than asked.
Jack grinned with a glint in his eyes. 'I know whose blood ye need,' he answered as the crew members glanced at each other.
oOoOo
Jack found himself on the Black Pearl, peering around like a child Christmas had come early to. He ran his hand along the railing almost lovingly. Barbossa beckoned him to follow him to the Captain's cabin. Jack entered, gazing around. 'Love what you've done with the place. Very evil and morbidly pretty. Not how I would have decorated it, but I am not you, am I?' Jack said with a grin, taking a seat. Barbossa followed suit.
'So what name is it that we be needing?' Barbossa asked him.
'Ah, cutting right to the chase, are we? Well, it is not that simple. Give me a reason why I should bestow you with said name, and I shall, for my part, perhaps give it,' Jack answered, eyeing the bowl of apples in the middle of the table.
'Name yer terms, Jack,' Barbossa said, watching Jack eyeing the fruit with raised eyebrows.
Jack leaned forward, inspecting the apples before settling on a particularly nice one near the bottom. He sat back down before glancing at Barbossa. 'How about the deal for the name would be for you to live out the mutiny you cast upon me?' Jack asked him with a smile.
'And then what?' Barbossa asked in amusement.
'And then I would have me ship back, and everyone would be happy,' Jack answered.
'So, you expect to leave me standing on some beach with nothing but a name and your word it's the one I need and watch you sail away on my ship?' Barbossa asked him, sitting back in his seat, and clasping his hands together.
Jack eyed the apple before leaning forward and glancing back up at Barbossa. 'No. I expect to leave you standing on some beach with absolutely no name at all, watching me sail away on my ship, and then I'll shout the name back to you. Savvy?' he answered with a smile.
Barbossa frowned. 'But that still leaves us with the problem of me standing on some beach with naught but a name and your word it's the one I need,' he stated, eyeing the apple in Jack's hand before glancing back up.
Jack leaned back in his chair again. 'Of the two of us, I am the only one who hasn't committed mutiny, therefore… my word is the one we'll be trusting,' he said, putting his feet up on the table, and making himself comfortable. 'Although… I suppose I should be thanking you because, in fact, if you hadn't betrayed me and left me to die, I would have an equal share in that curse, same as you,' he said with a smile, biting into his apple. 'Funny ol' world, innit?' he asked as Barbossa nodded back sullenly. Jack offered him the apple.
Barbossa eyed the apple with raised eyebrows before Jack shrugged and retracted it, taking a bite as Barbossa eyed him amusedly. 'I'm supposed to… trust you?' Barbossa asked as the pirates in the room laughed at this.
Jack glared at them before looking back at Barbossa. 'I'm a man of my word,' he said to which he received laughter from the pirates again. Jack snarled under his breath before glaring at Barbossa. 'You see, I've got this honest streak in me which, in its own way, is a sort of curse. Oh, and there's the fact you have no choice,' Jack told him, smirking at his reasoning.
Barbossa's eyes narrowed. 'I'll torture it out of you.'
Jack chuckled. 'You left me on a desert island, what worse can you do?' he asked him, taking another bite of his apple. Jack's grin widened, deliberately smug now.
Barbossa could see his options dwindling, and he stood from his seat, pacing in front of the table. 'Blast you! I'll throw you in prison,' he growled, scowling at Jack.
Jack smiled, faking a yawn. 'Wait as long as you like.'
Barbossa eyed him, enraged now. 'You're setting me up for a double cross, you with the ship, and me with nothing more than your word!' he barked, gazing out the window.
Jack made a show of thinking about it, before speaking, 'Let's say I tell you the wrong person. What would you do?' he asked curiously.
'Track you down and-' Barbossa began but stopped himself upon grasping where Jack was heading with this.
Jack regarded him pensively. 'And if I tell you the truth, you become human again, and you won't come near me because you know I'd kill you,' he told him, his smirk appearing again.
Jack's smirk widened, realising Barbossa was hesitating now. The pirates in the room looked on in amazement at how the tides turned. It sounded as though Barbossa had gone past considering the idea and might even do it. Barbossa gazed out the window, a frown on his brow, before he shook his head, turning back to Jack. 'Jack, I don't trust you, and that's a fact. Never trust a smiling man, you can lay to that,' he answered. There was still that underlying uncertainty in his tone, which Jack picked up on.
Jack leaned forward as if he was predicting this answer. 'See, that's where we're different. I trust you… to do what it takes to get what you want,' he explained with a small smile.
Barbossa stared at him interestedly. 'You're playing this as close to the edge as any man; I'll give you that,' he said, smiling, and came to a decision. 'We might just have to sign articles, you and I. Jack, you're a pirate at heart, that's certain,' he told him, and Jack shrugged with a smile.
Bo'sun entered then. 'Captain, we're coming up on the Interceptor,' he reported, and Barbossa walked out with him, followed by Jack, and they went topside.
Barbossa began firing off orders. 'Pintel… set sail. If this fool plan is to work, we'll need the medallion, and that means catching the ship which brought 'em here.'
Jack turned to look at him, caught completely off guard, and for the first time, his smile faded. 'What? You don't have the medallion?' he asked, sounding a tad panicked.
Barbossa shook his head, growling. 'That fool woman took it. You be careful around her, Jack. She's pretty enough, she'll steal your heart, but pure evil inside,' he warned him, sounding almost genuine about wanting Jack to be careful.
Jack smiled at this. 'My only true love is the sea, but I will watch my back,' he replied to which Barbossa nodded. Barbossa took out his spyglass to observe the Interceptor, but Jack stood in front of it, blocking the view. 'I'm having a thought here, Barbossa,' he said as Barbossa lowered the spyglass slowly, staring at Jack somewhat agitatedly. 'What say we run up a flag of truce? I scurry over to the Interceptor, and I negotiate the return of your medallion, eh? What say you to that?' Jack asked him.
Barbossa smiled slightly. 'Now you see, Jack, that's exactly the attitude that lost you the Pearl. People are easy to search when they're dead,' he countered, turning to Bo'sun. 'Bo'sun! Set up Mr Sparrow's quarters, nice and fine… in the brig,' he ordered him, smiling at Jack before adding. 'Meaning no disrespect, of course,' and Jack nodded at this. Bo'sun grabbed Jack, and as they passed him, Barbossa snatched the apple from him, not hiding his mistrust in him. He examined it for a moment before heatedly throwing it overboard.
Bo'sun dragged Jack down to the brig, pushing him into one of the cells. Jack glanced around, sloshing about in the water before peering back at the stiff pirate. 'Apparently, there's a leak,' Jack said to him, but it fell on deaf ears as Bo'sun walked back up topside.
Jack continued to examine the brig as Barbossa's shouts from above reached him. 'Haul on the main brace! Make ready the guns! And run out the sweeps,' he ordered his crew. Jack sighed, leaning against the wall, his mind in overdrive as he tried to figure out how to escape.