004

James Norrington

Shaking my head, I said, "Well, well, look who we've got," as I looked at the pair of pirates who had been brought aboard the ship.

"Jack Sparrow explained to me what happened to the Interceptor. Last time we saw you, you had it and were sailing off into the distance with a fool," I remarked, as several Marines kept their bayoneted rifles ready to deal with the pirate and the unfamiliar woman.

Jack tapped his chin for a moment, thinking, before saying, "It's gone."

"It's gone?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Stolen by the pirate you're looking for, the one with the governor's daughter."

"Ah, so you've managed to steal the Royal Navy's fastest ship in the Caribbean and lost the quickest ship in the Caribbean to a pirate. You really are the worst pirate I've ever heard of."

"Royal Marines, I said take them below and put them in a cell. We have many more important matters to attend to than these scum," I ordered, giving the pair a look of disgust.

"That would be yet another foolish mistake," the woman said.

"Oh, I'm not familiar with you. Are you another failure of a pirate I should be aware of?" I sneered.

The girl smiled before saying, "I'm not a pirate, just happened to run with them recently."

I blinked before responding, "That's a bad crowd to be running with."

"Ain't that the truth?" she said, shaking her head before smiling again. "But the truth is, you're looking for the governor's daughter, and we know where she's going."

I blinked and looked at her, folding my arms in front of me. "Alright, then, where is she going?"

"The Island of the Dead," Jack noted. "A place that only I can navigate you to."

I turned to my navigator, who shrugged before saying, "He's not wrong. I've never heard of the Island of the Dead, and I don't think it's on any of our charts."

Turning back to Jack, I said, "Why should I believe that you're going to give me the true path to the Island of the Dead? You've made it quite clear that you're pirates, always ready to betray or steal from us."

Jack nodded before saying, "All true, well, true, except you hold all the cards and look at all the guns. I have a personal grudge against the captain you're after, and I think bringing the largest ship of the line in the Caribbean to his doorstep would be a rather amusing way to show him that I haven't forgiven him for stealing my ship."

"Says the man who stole my ship," I retorted.

He chuckled and replied, "That's true, but let's not dwell on the details. I can help you get your ship back, and you can give me mine, and we can go our separate ways."

"No," I said firmly. "Bring me to this Island of the Dead, help me retrieve the Interceptor and the governor's daughter, and I'll put in a good word with the governor. Maybe then you won't hang, but that's the most I'm offering, Jack."

Jack pondered for a moment before nodding and saying, "Fine. If that's all I can get from you, then that's all I can get. I suppose I'll just have to be satisfied watching Barbossa lose his fortune."

"Great! Anson, escort Sparrow to the bridge. He will tell us how to find the Island of the Dead," I commanded. Two Royal Marines stepped forward, grabbing Jack's arms and guiding him towards the bridge. Then, turning towards the girl, I asked, "And you, claiming you're not a pirate, care to explain why you're running with Jack Sparrow?"

She smiled before saying, "Not to take it lightly, but if he must know, it's just bad luck. I needed to ship off Tortuga, and the Interceptor rolled in. I thought it was good luck on my part, but it turned out not to be so."

"Hmm, if that's what you say, it's not exactly proof that you're not a pirate. Tortuga is currently a pirate city, as per my last briefing on the matter."

The girl nodded before saying, "Well, yes, it is a pirate city. That's why I wanted to leave. I'm not exactly a fan of what goes on there with all the vice, thievery, and killings. I'm trying to find a proper society, one that's not drowning in criminality."

"Hmm," I pondered for a moment before nodding and saying, "Fine, we'll take you along as well. We'll bring you back to Port Royal. If no records can be found indicating you're a pirate, you'll be released as an individual in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Thank you," the girl said. However, I wasn't done with her. As she looked around, I asked, "So, where do I assign you to stay?"

"Well, depending on the next question, I have to run it by the rest of the crew to see if they've ever heard of you as a pirate," I replied.

She smiled before saying, "Tanya Degurechaff."

"Hmmm," I looked at my first officer, who shook his head. It was a name I had never heard of, which didn't provide any concrete evidence about her story. It didn't mean she wasn't a pirate, but we had no proof either way. Nodding my head, I said, "Anyway, you can have the run of the top deck. I'll have someone find a place for you to sleep later tonight."

I started to turn away but then thought to ask, "By the way, since you've had interactions with the pirates after my encounter, could you explain the details that we need to know?"

Tanya nodded before saying, "I can explain as much as you want. The Interceptor is still in good condition from what I saw, under the hands of pirates who seem to be more adventurous than violent. The Black Pearl, the ship you're after, is a Spanish galleon that appears to be unusually well-built for speed. It is crewed by the true violent types, and you should take as much time as you need to defeat them. From what I heard and saw, they have no reason to harm the governor's daughter or Will Turner, at least not yet."

I didn't care much for what happened to Will, but I respected his determination to save Elizabeth. I disapproved of the fact that he went above and beyond the law to do so. Nodding my head, I simply said, "So they are safe for now. Do you think they will be in danger once our ship arrives?"

"No more than they currently are, and if anything, they will probably be safer with your ship showing up. Right now, they have reasons to keep them alive: Elizabeth because she's a governor's daughter and could be easily held hostage for a tidy sum of money, and Will because his life expectancy is dwindling and his tendency for heroics will likely get him into trouble."

"If you put it like that, it almost sounds like I didn't need to go there to bring her home safely," I remarked.

Tanya shrugged and replied, "I don't know their overall goal, but if I were them and as smart as me, that's how I would handle the situation. But they are not me, they are lower on the societal ladder and less likely to be sensible. So it's probably better to rescue the governor's daughter as quickly as possible."

"Alright then, have the guards keep a watch on her for her safety," I instructed the nearby guards. Then, looking at Tanya intently, I asked, "Is there anything we need to know about their forces' dispositions on the Island of the Dead?"

"Hmm," Tanya pondered for a moment before saying, "They have stored all their riches inside a cave system on the island, which can be reached by water. The ship should be parked outside the cave system, so all you need to do is position yourselves in front of it, and they will have no escape."

"Trapped in a bucket, then. Excellent," I nodded approvingly. "Thank you, Tanya, for your information. We'll speak again when we are closer to the Island of the Dead. If you have anything else to share before then, please let me know."

"Will do," the girl replied, giving a mock salute that seemed a little too practiced. There was something odd about her, something I couldn't quite put my finger on. Her movements and speech were too formal for a military or noble background. I decided to keep an eye on her, just in case.

Tanya

So, what's the plan, Jack?" I asked, leaning against the railing of the ship named next to him as we approached the Island of the Dead. The night had fallen, and visibility had decreased to a short distance, but thankfully, the Interceptor and the Black Pearl were somewhat illuminated. They were blocking the entrance to the cove, though there didn't seem to be many guards on board the enemy vessels.

"Oh, I have a plan, though I'm not sure if the captain will like it. But I think I can pull it off," Jack replied.

"Hmm, and what is that plan?" I inquired.

"It's genius, really. Yes, I believe it is. The real question is, will you be interested in accompanying me aboard and ashore to get a little bit of vengeance against that monkey?" he explained.

I shook my head and said, "Why would I ever want to go up against the monkey and the rest of the undead pirates?" I lowered my voice during that part so that the nearby crew couldn't hear us.

"Well, I don't know if you've noticed, but the guards have been keeping an eye on you. I highly doubt they'll stay true to their word of taking you in as a non-combatant. They suspect you're a pirate, and they should be, so they'll probably run your name once they reach the port. Can you confidently say that your name has never been connected to any piracy?" Jack pointed out.

I made a noise of annoyance because he wasn't wrong. Although I tried to keep to myself and stay under the radar, Fine made a good pirate precisely because she didn't. And she may have mentioned my name once or twice during a raid on another place. Could I confidently claim that no one would recognize the name? No, I couldn't. It was another trap that Fine had set for me. There was also the possibility of artistic renditions of me out there with a proposed name, one that might be similar enough to be recognized when I arrived at Port Royal.

There was always the chance that I wouldn't be recognized, but I needed to be cautious. Going ashore with Jack and possibly escaping with him would be a good option to keep in mind. At the very least, keeping my name out of the news was crucial, as I didn't want Fine getting any ideas and coming after me.

Letting out a sigh, I said, "Alright, alright, but you're going to have to convince the captain to even let us off the boat, so you better have a good plan."

"The best plan," he replied, standing up as the captain approached us.

"Alright, Jack, you've been useful. Now we're going to escort you below deck while we handle this situation," the captain said firmly.

"But, Captain, my usefulness is not over," Jack protested, wearing a sly smile. "After all, I can help you secure a solid victory rather quickly."

The captain looked unimpressed and asked, "And how would you do that, Jack?"

"Well, now the pirates are all barricaded with only one entrance. If you try to enter there, they'll just shoot you down as you enter the tunnel, killing more than it's worth. And you can't negotiate away a proper victory, as the governor's daughter is most likely on the island. So the only way I see you winning in this situation is by allowing the pirates to leave the island, take their boats, and run away. Hopefully, they'll play by the rules and leave the governor's daughter behind in a small rowboat."

"Of course, if they don't comply, well, then you'll be on a chase again, and who knows what will happen to the governor's daughter," I explained.

The captain shook his head, and I could see the annoyance on his face. What I was saying was not wrong. In fact, I agreed that it was the most likely outcome. This fight, with the pirates in a defensive position, was not favorable.

He asked, "So, what do you suggest we do with Captain Jack?" The way he said "Captain" made it clear that he found it distasteful.

"Well, position your boats between the island and the Black Pearl. Have your Marines ready to unleash hell on anything that comes out of the tunnel. Meanwhile, let me go in there and tell them that the Royal Navy has arrived and is preparing to storm the island. They won't know that I've escaped and come to inform you about the situation," I proposed.

Jack smiled and added, "They'll think that you're not prepared for a fight and come rushing out of that entrance right into the barrels and cannons of your men. You'll eliminate the majority of the pirates, making the attack into the cave ten times easier, don't you think, Tanya?"

I nodded and said, "There's some merit there. At the very least, it will make operating both ships impossible for them, so they won't be able to steal them. They'll have to choose one or the other. I would suggest putting a few men on the ships if you can, to ensure that they can't just sail away without a fight. Or perhaps free the crew of adventurous pirates being held on one of those ships."

Jack looked annoyed at my suggestion but eventually agreed, "Yes, yes, a few men on the ship. At the very least, you'll have more guns at your disposal than with the cannons aboard the Interceptor and the Pearl. Although there's a risk that they've left some crew aboard the Pearl and the Interceptor. If they make any noise that could alert the pirates to what's going on, it might be best to have men ready to board the Pearl when the fighting starts, rather than being on the Pearl before then."

The captain looked out over the horizon before saying, "Alright, that's not a bad idea. You're allowed to proceed with this plan. We'll gather our men together. You can row the boat over there yourself, I assume."

Jack replied, "Of course, though I think I won't be alone. Tanya would probably want to come along, don't you? After all, my escape will seem more plausible if she's with me."

The captain asked, "Hmm, why is that?" I smiled and responded, "I'm a bit of an engineer. If I were to claim that we used the island's palm trees to build ourselves a raft, don't believe it."

"Hmm, fine. We'll go along with it then," he said, turning and leaving me and Jack alone.

As soon as he was gone, I asked, "Do you think he believes it?"

"I think he's under the assumption that he is in control of the situation, so he doesn't care what you're up to," Jack said with a smirk. "Now, let's get to work."

Barbarossa

Oh, here we were again, the Island of the Dead. In one corner, the young lass who had deceived us the first time was being held by two of the most harmless pirates I had. I, of course, was perched on top of the pile of gold coins, the treasure we had gathered over the last decade in search of these cursed coins. Next to me was young Will Turner, with a couple of other pirates holding him to prevent any escape attempts.

He had already proven himself to be rather untrustworthy, so better safe than sorry. Although some were suggesting that we should just spill all his blood on the coins, I intended to keep my word on this matter. At least cutting his hand first was an option on the table, and if it didn't work, well, killing Turner before they killed me was a possibility to consider.

I was really getting into the theatrics of it, how we would all be free from the curse and experience all the wonders, when my eye caught something moving and pushing its way through the crowd, leaving me momentarily speechless.

"That's not possible," I said as the individual made his way to the center of the chamber, and the pirates around him started to realize he was there.

"Not probable," Jack said with a nod, looking around. Then he said, "I see you've all had a wonderful trip back. Hey, how are you doing?"

"Jack, you're alive?" Will asked, sounding as confused by this turn of events as I was.

Jack smiled and said, "What can I say? Sea turtles and a lot of luck."

"Alright, someone kill him outright this time," I said as some of the pirates began drawing their weapons, and I moved to cut Will's hand.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Jack said.

His words caused me to give him a look of disturbed annoyance before saying, "And why should we not kill you and cut his hand? It would rid us of you and get rid of the curse. It makes no sense not to do it."

"Oh, yes, you could kill me, but then you wouldn't know what's waiting for you outside," Jack said, irritating me even more.

"Oh, and what's waiting for us, Jack?"

"The Royal Navy ship Dauntless. You know, that big ship of the line with enough guns to sink both of our ships in a single salvo."

There was a murmur of annoyance through the crowd, and I sighed, shaking my head. "I'm going to guess the sea turtles brought you straight to the one people who could help you in this situation."

"As you said, I have a lot of luck."

I shook my head before saying, "Okay, well, it looks like we won't be cutting your hand, young Will." The two pirates pulled him away and pushed him down the steep gold pile before placing him next to Elizabeth.

"So, Jack, why did you bring me this information? Let me guess, you want the Black Pearl."

"Well, of course, I want the Black Pearl, but I also know that neither one of us wants to go to jail, so perhaps we can come to some sort of understanding. After all, you could always take the Interceptor and perhaps go into retirement. I mean, look at all this gold," Jack said, indicating the wealth all around us. "You can set yourself up as a rather impressive island owner somewhere, and I could take the Pearl and continue being a pirate. There's no reason for you to continue this work with such wealth at hand."

I gave him a look because as much as I wanted to counter that, I have to say it's not wrong. There was another thought poking at my mind as well, getting my hands on the ship of the line currently holding us hostage. If it really was there, it could be beneficial in multiple ways. A good flagship to organize pirate raids, or if I decided to retire as Jack was suggesting, I could sell it to the Dutch, the French, maybe even the Spanish. One of them would probably pay a good sum to take an English ship off the board. Shaking my head, I noticed that Jack had continued to move up and was now climbing the gold mountain so we could talk closer. He came to stand next to me and said, "We've been at this for 10 years, Barbarossa. 10 long years of a hide-and-seek game, but none of us really want to play anymore."

"Technically, I didn't even know you were alive for the last 10 years," I pointed out, which got a chuckle from him.

"That's true, but we could work together on this, could we not? We don't both want to go to jail, and you want to live. So why not go out there and take that ship? Just take your boats and sail over to their ship. I'm sure your crew can take it on, even if the odds are 1 to 5. Your crew can't die, after all, as long as they're cursed, so you just have to whittle them down."

"Hmm," I looked away from Jack, who was resting his hand on the edge of the gold chest, deep in thought before nodding and saying, "Crew, go take a walk."

There was laughter from the crew as they all turned, some of them dropping their torches on the gold as they left. Before long, it was just me, Jack, and a half dozen of my loyalists.

Jack turned to me and asked, "Take a walk? What does that mean?"

I pointed up towards the holes in the rock above and said, "With the moon out and darkness in full, the crew don't exactly have much flesh on them, now do they? So they could walk across the bottom of the sea without even being seen."

Jack's eyes widened before nodding his head and saying, "That's pretty useful."

I smiled and said, "There are benefits to being cursed. That's why we're considering the possibilities of keeping the gold here on the island and occasionally cursing ourselves. As long as we don't lose any crew, it's possible, or if only a small core of individuals takes on the curse once in a while."

Jack nodded his head and said, "Well, I wish them luck."

Gibbs

"So how long are you going to hold us prisoner?" I asked one of the pirates watching over our jail cell aboard the Black Pearl.

"Until the captain says otherwise," the pirate said, sounding annoyed.

"That's fine and all, but do you think we could get some alcohol or something to pass the time? It's kind of boring just standing in a cell for several hours."

"No, you don't get meat until after the celebration of being able to eat, which is what we're waiting for," he called while eyeing the food on the table before him hungrily.

The two remaining guards had apparently decided that they were waiting for the exact moment of their humanity's return, and they were going to eat the freshly made things they had prepared. As a result, they were just hoarding this rather delectable-looking food on a table across from us, which was annoying since we hadn't eaten in about, oh, 12 hours.

My stomach made a noise. The cursed pirates felt the field with hunger before annoyance of something hitting the side of the ship got their attention, and they looked up in confusion.

"What was that?" the first pirate said.

"I don't know, you check."

"Why should I go check?"

"Seniority."

"We joined the ship at the same time."

"Well, I think I joined the evening before you."

"My man, ahh," he seemed too annoyed with his comrade. He went up the stairs, which was followed by the sound of someone getting hit over the head.

Charlie, the first pirate, said, getting up and rushing up the stairs, drawing his blade, only to get hit with a powder barrel in the face. He toppled down the stairs, and if you weren't undead, the direction his head was facing would indicate that he was dead.

Confused, I looked up, wondering what was going on, only to see a face I did not expect to see again.

"Miss Tanya," I said as the young woman stepped down the stairs, a plank of wood in her hands.

"Mr. Gibbs, I see you're alive," she said matter-of-factly, walking over to the unconscious pirate and then smashing his head a couple of times until there was a sickening crunch.

"That should take a bit to fix until they bring the body out or not," she said matter-of-factly as she stepped over to the cell door.

"I thought you were dead," I asked, and she got to work on the lock.

"Rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated. The monkey got one lucky grab on me, but I was able to get the shield up before the cannon hit."

"So you still have your magic powers?" someone asked, which got a nod from Tanya as she whispered something to the lock. A moment later, it sprung free.

"Hey, Bob, something just hit my head. Are you okay down here?" said a voice coming back down the stairs, somewhat skeletal, stumbling down the stairs before turning back to flesh, stunned by seeing Bob.

"Bob, no! We've got to get you back to the surface before they undo the curse," he said, taking a few more steps at a quick pace, only for the plank of wood Tanya had been holding to go sailing through the air and catch between his legs, causing him to fall face first with a neck-snapping angle on the Bob.

"Effective," I said.

She shook her head, saying, "No, no, they'll be back alive soon enough. We'll throw them overboard. Right now," I signaled some of the pirates to get to work doing that before I asked, "What's the plan?"

"Well, currently Jack is negotiating an alliance with Barbossa to attack the ship of the line that is holding us in our position. I don't know how that's going to go, but the plan is once we start hearing fighting, we take the Black Pearl and run. Well, you take the Black Pearl and run."

"If Jack survives, of course," I nodded my head before asking, "But what about Jack? How is he getting out of this situation?"

"The Interceptor can be operated by two people. Me and him will steal that on our way out and meet up with you once everything is cleared up at Tortuga."

I noted that before asking, "What exactly is the plan, though? What's Jack doing?"

Tanya shrugged before saying, "I think he's still after revenge against Barbossa, now that he's going to tell us. But he should be able to handle it," she said, moving up the steps now that they've been cleared by the other crew. I followed behind her, saying, "How are you going to do that? You don't exactly have your powers at full tilt, right?" She nodded, pushing her way to the back of the ship and opening up the doors there, stepping further into the main cabin and looking around the chart room for a bit.

"Now, if I were a monkey, where would I hide something important?"

I shrugged before saying, "The chandelier."

She looked up at the chandelier before jumping onto the table and standing up, poking around up there for a while. She came down with a clockwork mechanism and a smile on her face.

"Oh, this will be rather neat, I think."

She jumped down from the table, seeming to float a bit as she did.

Her eyes seemed to glow blue in the dark of the room. "The device that allows you to channel your powers," I inquired, which got a nod from her.

She smiled, saying, "What can you do to defeat undead pirates? Overpower them with enough force," pocketing the device.

I nodded as she looked around, saying, "Where's that damn monkey?"

"I think it was on the captain when he left," I offered.

"Good, I'll make sure to blast it to pieces when I see it," she said as she moved over to a nearby wall and ripped a rifle off of it. "Wish there was more, but this will have to do," she muttered before giving me a nod. She stepped outside and said, "Get this ship moving as fast as you can. With any luck, we'll be out of here quickly." She said it in a very militaristic way, as if she had time in some sort of military branch and was a former officer. It was just very confusing as it triggered something I hadn't felt in years.

"Aye aye, Captain," I said, feeling as if I should act in my position in the Royal Navy.

She nodded and stepped out, looking towards the island, before saying, "Well, good luck to you boys. We'll be meeting up at Tortuga," and kicked off the boat, floating there for a few seconds before flying away towards the island at a rather brisk speed, leaving us alone with the ship.

"So, ah... how long do we wait for our escape?" someone asked, and they were answered by the sound of a shot from across the water, towards the general direction of the ship.

"I would think that's our cue, boys," I said to the men, getting to work right away.