C is for… Compass
"Do we have a heading cap'n?" asked Gibbs.
The pair had managed to free the Pearl from the bottle. It seemed that all that was needed was to break the glass bottle in the water. Unfortunately the dreaded monkey had also been freed, but Jack and Gibbs had eventually managed to catch him and put him in a cage ready to be returned to Barbossa if or when they came across him and the Queen Anne's Revenge. For now, though, the monkey proved good stress relief for Jack. Its surprising how therapeutic it can be to shoot a creature that doesn't die!
Jack looked up from the helm at his first mate. Well, his only crew mate right now. "Tortuga." He said, simply. They needed a crew, and that was just the place to recruit.
"Aye cap'n, but in what direction do we need to set sail in order to reach Tortuga?" Gibbs persisted.
Jack sighed. He had been hoping Gibbs wouldn't ask. The truth of the matter was that his compass was not pointing to Tortuga, but to the small island where he had left the Spanish beauty. Evidently, the compass pointed to what your heart wanted most, not your head.
"Cap'n?" Gibbs asked again, bringing Jack's attention back to him.
"It would seem that my compass is disinclined to acquiesce to my request."
"You mean you don't want to go to Tortuga?" Gibbs asked, confused.
"No, I do want to go to Tortuga but the compass wishes to lead me elsewhere, savvy?"
Gibbs stared for a moment, and then it clicked. "Ahh, Tortuga is not what you want most!"
"Bravo Gibbs, I had already managed to figure that one out for me self."
"So, where is the compass pointing cap'n?" Jack gazed out to sea, pointedly ignoring the question and Gibbs' eyes widened, understanding crossing his face. He nodded. "Ahh, the island. You do have feelings for Miss Angelica do you not?"
"I told you already Mr Gibbs, they are stirrings, not "feelings"."
"Aye, so you did cap'n. But if the compass be pointing to her…"
"Gibbs?"
"Aye cap'n?"
"Shut it!" Jack snapped.
"But cap'n…"
"I said shut it!"
Gibbs fell silent and watched as the captain turned his attention to the helm and the sea once more. He shook his head and took a deep breath before speaking again.
"Cap'n, if you don't mind me saying, I think it be wisest to go and pick up Miss Angelica."
"I do mind you saying, Gibbs." Jack said sharply.
"Aye, me apologies cap'n. But it seems that we have been going round in circles, and we would have a better idea of our heading should Miss Angelica be on the ship with us."
Jack sighed. He had been considering going back to the island, but he would never admit to it. Besides, it was probably best to let Angelica cool off first. She had been positively fuming, and as the saying goes, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned", a saying which, in Jack's somewhat vast experience, was entirely true. Besides, whenever they argued she had an annoying habit of yelling in her native language which Jack was unable to understand and therefore made it nigh impossible to continue arguing.
Then again, he couldn't deny that she was incredibly attractive when she was angry…
"Cap'n?"
Jack shook his head, Gibbs having brought him from his reveries. He looked at Gibbs, a stubborn expression upon his face. "We shall find our way to Tortuga to find a crew and if my bloody compass does not fix itself by the time we have recruited said crew…" He paused both his speech and his hand gestures.
"Then… what cap'n?" Gibbs prompted.
The captain sighed.
"I'm still working on that."