010

Tanya

Yawning, I pulled myself out of my hammock and stretched. I wished we were at some place where I could take a moment to freshen up, unfortunately, we were sailing hard for Cuba, which meant I could only really do one thing as I tightened the vest around my chest, noting it wasn't fitting as right as it used to. I got dressed, put myself together, and started heading up the stairs to the top deck.

I needed to stop by a tailor when we finally got to civilization. I haven't had my clothing screwed around with since I was under Fine's tutelage, which resulted in it being tailored to things she liked. Thankfully, she didn't outfit me in anything too outrageous. A skirt over some pants, a shirt that showed off a bit more cleavage than I would normally have preferred, and a vest that was not fitting right anymore. Not to mention a big hat, though I didn't tend to wear that often.

I had to guess I'd say I put on a few pounds on the upper chest, which was either a sign that I was eating well or a sign that I was eating too much. Hard to tell considering my experiences.

Finally, I moved towards the front of the ship, pulling out a case from under the banister that I had tied to that position so it wouldn't fly away in a storm. Carefully, I pulled out the coffee grinder and got to work grinding myself a portion of beans for a coffee. Then, with the use of a proper spell and a device for boiling water, I got to work making myself something to drink and wake myself up.

About 20 minutes later, I was happily sipping away at coffee as I packed away the kit again, tying it to the storage area so it wouldn't fly away, and looking out at the sea, wondering if today was the day that Jack's hunter caught up to him.

It looked like we had clear seas and nothing too far away from us. Though using a little bit of magnification, I did spot a Dutch vessel not too far away that looked to be limping, probably had been through a storm that damaged many of the sails. If we were a normal pirate ship, we would be all over that. Thankfully, Jack was more of an adventurer than a pirate, and there was no adventure in just taking an injured ship, especially when they had plenty of profits stored away for the crew.

I watched the Dutch ship for a bit, wondering what it was up to, what money was it going to make, and how I could acquire myself a ship for a bit, before something reached out of the water, grabbed the vessel, and pulled it under with many tentacle arms.

I had a bit of coffee in my mouth at that moment, and I ended up spitting it into the Atlantic Ocean in shock. Turning, I carefully walked down the deck, acting not panicked, not scared, heading directly for the vessel's steering wheel where Gibbs was half asleep. He apparently had been on night's watch on the corset. Carefully, I pushed him aside and turned the vessel towards shallow water, heading towards an island at some speed.

It had only been a minute since the vessel turned before I saw Jack pushing his way out of the captain's quarters, a container of alcohol in his right hand, as he carefully made his way up next to me, sipping his drink and asked, "Why, why have we gone off course?" He was stuttering badly, obviously having drunk a little too much to calm his nerves.

"I just saw a Dutch ship in front of us being pulled under the waves by something," I replied.

Gibbs, who was half asleep, shut up and said, "What?"

Jack apparently sobered up immediately, putting his alcohol down, and said, "Now, when you say pulled under the waves, do you mean a large wave that we were going towards hit it, or pulled under the waves under its own weight?"

I cleared my throat and said, "I don't want to panic the crew, but I thought I saw tentacles. I've seen too much Japanese literature to want to see where this is going, so we're turning away from the direction of those tentacles."

Jack gave me a raised eyebrow before saying, "Never been to Japan. Does their literature have a lot of tentacles in it?"

"You don't want to know," I said, realizing that our eras probably didn't match up. There were probably a few monsters in this time that had that, but it wasn't the 2000s yet.

Gibbs had pulled out a telescope and was watching the horizon, asking, "Kraken!, If there is a monster out there under the waves, how long do you think we have till it reaches where we were?"

Looking out in the direction he was, I said, "It was at least two to three miles out, thanks to my good magnifying spell. I get to see all kinds of things. If I had to estimate, I guess we probably would have sailed over it eventually if I hadn't turned the vessel."

"So, it was waiting in ambush for us," Jack mused. "But how did it know where we wanted to go?"

Gibbs nodded before saying, "Could it be that it knows what you're after or suspects that you would go to someone for aid in particular?"

"That's within the realm of possibility," Jack said, looking out at the water before adding, "but there's not much we can do about this. We would need to stay close to the coast to avoid it, which would prevent us from getting to our target location."

"Maybe it'll get bored. It had to eat that one Dutch ship, right? So, it must need to eat and then wander off to do something else," Gibbs suggested. Jack nodded before saying, "I recognize that island," looking out at the approaching piece of landmass.

Gibbs looked over at it before asking, "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Hard to say. Technically, I'm king of that island, but also technically, there are cannibals there, so not the best people to be king of. We could definitely lay up there for a few days, though. We don't see any sign that the big beastie is out there waiting for us. Maybe we can make a run for Cuba. They're only a couple of hundred miles from that island. I just have to follow the coast all the way to Havana."

"Well, that sounds like a plan," I said, looking out in the direction of the supposed Kraken before continuing, "But if they're cannibals, how are we going to make sure that they don't, you know, cannibalize us?"

"As long as we stay on the ship, we should be safe. Though we are coming up on high tide, we need to be careful not to park too far inland. The beaches of this island are quite gentle and useful for cleaning the bottom of the ship at a normal time of year," Gibbs replied.

"We could have some of the men stand guard and work on the ship while we are marooned there for a bit," Gibbs suggested. "Also, we could use some fresh water and some supplies. Maybe we can negotiate with these cannibals. If you are their King, we might be able to gain something out of it."

"It's a dangerous play. Normally, I would only consider it if we had no other options, such as if they were surrounding our ship and we had to get off. But there might be another option," Jack said, looking at me.

"What are you thinking, Jack?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ever heard of the gods being locked in human form and having their powers curtailed?" Jack asked. "Well, within that human form, they're not that big of a problem. As long as you're not around during the time of year when the stars and planets align in such a way that a human form can be removed from a god."

"Okay, one of the reasons they're a cannibal lot, and one of the reasons I don't stay on this island even though I'm considered a god-king here," Jack explained. "But with your magic, you could probably..."

"Okay, okay, I get it. You want me to scare them with my magic so they think I'm a goddess and do what we want," I interrupted.

"Exactly. Even better, with your magic, you can actually defend yourself against any attempts to prevent us from doing what we want. Last time I was here, they were quite annoyed with me when I was leaving the island just before the time of the year when the stars aligned," Jack elaborated.

"When is that?" I asked.

Jack looked out at the island and thought for a bit before shrugging, saying, "I have no idea. I swear they have several times of the year when they do it, I've just managed to escape every time I've been here."

"Ahh, wonderful. Guess I'll be on extra duty tonight," I said as the ship sailed towards the island. Stepping away, I continued, "Well, Jack, it's your kingdom. You should probably be the one to greet them I'll just get ready to play my part as a goddess."

"Shouldn't be too hard. Just act all divine, so they think you know a thing or two about being an ancient goddess in human form," Jack said, which got a proper laugh out of me as I moved down the stairs, my hand on the railing to keep myself steady.

Sipping my coffee, I watched the island get closer, trying to remember everything Fine had told me in her years of education. Things I'd rather not think about, considering her considerations on how love works through mutual suffering. I think the fact that her so-called God boyfriend leaving her had a detrimental effect on her mental capabilities, but I wouldn't say that to her face. That would get me back on the electrocution rack.

Experiencing that electrical shiver down my spine one too many times, I let out a sigh and got to work quickly. I rounded up several pistols and put some magical indications on the ammunition before loading them and putting them on my belt. I also prepared a few blades in case things got dicey.

Everything was set just as the island was coming fully into view. Walking out on deck, beyond it, the ship made a bumping noise as we beached the ship, resting there for a moment.

The coastline of the island appeared to have no inhabitants at the moment. Gibbs got to work issuing out orders, with men going over the side to clean off barnacles that had started to grow. Other men were preparing expeditions into the island. Notably, Gibbs did not mention that we were avoiding the Kraken and just said we were stopping here to prepare supplies. Probably the wisest move; we didn't want to scare everyone with the possibility of being dragged under the ocean by a monster the size of three houses.

Carefully, I levered myself over the side of the ship, using a little bit of magic to lighten the load and landed on the beach, careful not to sink too deep in the mucky sand that was slowly drying out.

Making my way up the beach, I prepared my weapons in case anything popped out at me.

As I let out a sigh, I wondered where the natives were and how much trouble I was going to have to deal with. At least I could blast them away with magical spells if anything got too dangerous.

Will Turner

Carefully, I maneuvered the boat towards the island, looking over my shoulder to ensure it was still there. Supposedly, Jack was on this island; his ship had been spotted here over the last month by someone reputable, an information broker of sorts, on Tortuga.

Oh, how I would rather be back at Port Royal, enjoying my marriage. Unfortunately, things had not gone the way I had hoped they would.

After successfully saving Elizabeth, I had returned to Port Royal with her, and well, things had progressed. She had agreed to marry me, and we were about to be wed. I faced some criticism about stealing the ship with Jack, but the governor had cleaned that up, or at least I thought he had.

You see, even though the governor had given me a pardon for stealing the ship (which belonged to the Royal Navy and fell under the crown), the East India Company decided to ask the crown to reissue an arrest warrant for me. Apparently, the crown had decided to comply. Now, my marriage had been prevented from happening, and I was now scheduled for execution. My only way out was to find Jack Sparrow and either get him to hand over his compass or take letters of Marque from Lord Beckett.

Thus began my quest to track Jack Sparrow down—first Tortuga, now here. Hopefully, there'd be some evidence of his passing, so I could get this situation dealt with and return to Port Royal. I had no desire to be involved with his piracy or his cursed magic shenanigans again.

Although I did have some concerns about what was going on in Port Royal. Elizabeth's father had been thrown in jail for unspecified crimes, and the East India Company had completely taken over the island. The Royal Navy seemed to have fallen in line with the merchants as well.

All in all, the world was changing back home, and it was changing rather rapidly. I didn't know what it was changing into, but it was concerning that my little life was being upended by Lord Beckett. If they could do this once, they could do it again. They might rip up the paperwork saying that I was arrested and issue it again in a few years to make me do something else. I probably needed to look into some sort of insurance policy or consider moving from Port Royal as soon as this was over.

Heaving a sigh, I finally reached the island's shore, having taken a little boat from the ship that dropped me off. I climbed out of it, taking a moment to get accustomed to not swaying and feeling the ground beneath my feet. Supposedly, the Black Pearl had been seen beached on the north side of the island, and I had been dropped off on the east. All I had to do was follow the coast. Hopefully, there was nothing too terribly wrong with the ship because I was sure I would not be able to get everyone back in that boat, and the ship that dropped me off was already on its way to who knows where— I think they said something about the Bahamas.

Stretching my back, I reached into the boat, pulled out my sword, slipped it on my belt, and grabbed a few other supplies I would need—guns and other things. Supposedly, this island was home to natives who weren't happy when people stepped on it, and I would rather not run into them. But if I did, I'd fight my way out if I could.

Lastly, I placed a little anchor down to keep the boat in place in case high tide came in. It should do the job, especially as I tied it tight, but who knows what would happen? A shark could come and just bite the darn rope holding it in place.

With that settled, I began to walk along the beach, looking for any signs of the Black Pearl. It was a good 20 minutes before I found a very good sign of it—literally, the Black Pearl pulled up on the beach, its lines tied to keep it there and secured at low tide.

The old ship looked to be in much better condition than it had been when I last saw her. It looked like much of the wood had been replaced, and her once completely black sails had become a normal white.

Approaching the ship, I looked for any sign of the crew but quickly noted that there didn't appear to be anyone nearby. Odd, but somewhere to start.

Carefully, I climbed over onto the side of the ship, using the embedded ladder there until I was on board. Where I finally saw the first signs of someone actually being here.

Several members of the crew appeared to be relaxing, with weapons at their sides, but seeming to be not paying as good attention as they should be—sleeping. Climbing a few rings down, I called, "Hey, is anyone up there!" Not wanting to inspire them to wake in a panic and shoot in my general direction, which apparently was a good call, as a bullet went whizzing over where I had shouted from.

"I'll take that as a yes. I'm Will Turner. I'm looking for Jack Sparrow."

I heard some mumblings before one of the crew called, "He ain't here."

"Where is he?" I asked. "Negotiating with the natives for the return of the majority of the crew, who are currently being held captive after our attempts to, well, gather supplies on this island."

Huh, interesting, but I would like to ask more questions once I got up on the ship. "Can I come up there and talk? Frankly, hanging off the side of the ship isn't exactly fun."

There was a pause, then a comment of "Sure, sure, come on up."

Carefully, I hauled myself up onto the ship, brushing myself off before saying, "Hello, I need to speak with Jack Sparrow. Can you point me in the right direction, and I can help with these negotiations?"

"Ba," one of the crew said before adding, "Jack is supposedly their god-king, and his girlfriend just got declared the goddess walking amongst the people, and they're still being a piece of junk to us about returning our crew."

A lot to take in there, so I just tried to focus on the main issues. "I'm going to assume that this girlfriend is Tanya. Doesn't she have magical powers? Couldn't she just blast them away and rescue the currently held hostage crew?"

"Yeah, probably could, except she's technically a hostage too."

I blinked, putting my hand on my head, saying, "How does someone with the ability to blast the side of a building open become the hostage of natives?"

"Cannibals, actually," another pirate said. "Slight distinction, but it really shapes how you need to treat these people. Anyways, the first day we got here, they treated her like a goddess. She scared them off at first—something about a Cosby problem, and you get the boomstick things like that. The second day, they gave us supplies, it was all fine and dandy. The third day, they gave us more supplies, and she kind of let her guard down."

"Fourth day, they offered her a drink, and from what we can tell, the drink was made from some sort of mushroom alcohol. I'm not really sure myself; I refuse to drink it 'cause I don't trust cannibals as far as I can throw them. Anyways, she ended up high out of her mind, and I think they've been keeping her high out of her mind this entire time, which means Jack has been trying to negotiate her return as well as the rest of the crew."

"So the one person who gave you a substantial advantage over the natives is currently high. Okay, all right, I guess I'll wander around in the jungle and see if I can find them." I said, shaking my head, turning to look at the ladder back down.

"Oh, it gets worse than that," the pirate said, causing me to turn and look at him.

"Apparently, it may be getting close to the time of year that they free their gods from their bodies, AKA eat their gods alive, which means they're probably planning to kill and eat everyone. So, you know, we don't have a lot of time."

I blinked before saying, "Why are you people not more concerned about all this? Shouldn't you be trying to help with the rescue operation or something?"

The three pirates looked at each other before saying, "I mean, we could, or we could wait here and see if any survivors make it and then just flee as soon as we can. It doesn't take that many people to sail this thing away. Plus, with what's after Jack, it would probably be a lot easier to get away from the island if he gets eaten."

"How would you know he's been eaten?" I asked, trying to clarify how their minds worked.

"I mean, if they mount an attack on the ship, that's probably a sign they're running low on food, so that probably means their current stock has been eaten," one of the pirates said with a shrug.

"Jesus Christ, no honor among thieves, I see."

"Hey, we're just sticking to the code. They fell behind, but we're giving them a little opportunity to make it back. If they don't manage it, that's their own fault. We're just going to do our job, which is to make sure this ship is not invaded by the natives and burnt to the ground or pulled to the sea by less happy creatures."

"What does that mean?" I asked, looking at them. Their leader shrunk before saying, "Yeah, you would not believe us if we told you. What Jack has let on might be after him is a dangerous opponent that would make Barbossa look tame or Captain Stubb was also pretty fierce."

"Who?" I asked.

"Well, it's got a drug thing. Alright, you weren't there for the whole skeleton army, so I'll go, don't worry about it. It's handled. There shouldn't be any more undead hordes trying to take over the Caribbean for who knows what—riches, fame, and glory, probably more than that."

"Right, you're still involved in strange magical shenanigans. Good to know. Anything I should be worried about before I try and find the others?"

The three pirates looked at each other before one of them said, "Stash a weapon somewhere you don't think will be found easily. The natives got half the crew that way."

"And I guess they got the rest of the crew through alcohol. Just trying to gather as much information as possible."

The collective nod told me yes. With that sign, I said, "No, they don't drink anything offered by the natives." With that settled, I got to work climbing back down the side of the ship, jumping down the last foot or so, brushing myself off before turning to head into the woods. I made it about a foot away from the boat before a machete fell down next to me.

"Take this, it will help clear a path in the jungle," the pirate called, to which I gave him a nod and picked it up. I wasn't a fan of their pirate code, but at least they were offering me something. It would probably be easier to cut through the jungle with this machete, and at least it would allow me to keep my own sword sharp in case I ran into the natives.

Taking a breath, I started to move, cutting my way into the vines and leaf cover as I searched for Jack and whatever misbegotten adventure he'd gotten himself wrapped up in this time.

Jack sparrow

"You know Jack, maybe you've talked yourself into a situation you shouldn't have this time," Gibbs said as he commented from his prison ball, along with many of the other pirates as they hung over a gaping chasm.

"I refuse to believe that," I said from my own prison ball with a few other pirates, also hanging over a gaping chasm which could swallow us whole at any moment.

"I mean, we're trapped inside spheres of death. The natives are probably going to roast us over an open fire within the next few days, and our one trump card is currently out of her mind on narcotics thanks to her trusting the female villagers a little bit more than she should have."

"Yes, it was a mistake. I should have told her that they are all in on their little belief that gods need to be eaten, and they could be a bit tricky. But I believe that she'll come around."

"I believe you're a damn idiot, and you're going to get us all killed," the pirate who was sitting across from me said, continuing to sharpen the stick he had somehow got his hands on against the wooden structure that we were hanging from. I was 98% sure he would stab me if I gave him a reason, so I simply noted, "That's your belief. Hopefully, I can prove myself capable of showing your belief is wrong."

"Yeah, yeah, keep talking. You know if you just went to the mainland and became a land lover, we wouldn't be here in the first place. But no, no, no, you had to make a deal with Davy Jones and get us trapped on an island where we're all going to die," the pirate said, continuing to sharpen the makeshift knife.

"Do not worry, I have a plan. Always have a plan. I'm just waiting for it to proceed as expected, Jack." came a voice to my right, a familiar voice I did not expect to hear. Turning, I looked over at Will Turner, who apparently snuck his way through the jungle rather reasonably. "Well, I don't believe it. Have you come to finally join me on my pirating adventures, see what your father was so fond of?"

"Not on your life, Jack." Will said, stepping out of the bushes, looking left and right before continuing, "You're lucky that some of your crew was on that ship. Otherwise, I think I would have run into one or two ambushes on the way over here."

I nodded and looked to Gibbs, "Remind me to thank Tanya for instituting an active guard who would remain on the ship at all times. Just saved us some trouble."

"I'll do that, Jack," Gibbs said as well, getting to work pulling a rope that slowly brought the spheres towards his side of the chasm. It was slow going, but it was faster than not going at all, and soon I was no longer hanging over the chasm, only half hanging.

I didn't even have to say anything, as the morose pirate who was likely to stab me if I had pushed him, had already got to work cutting the ropes that held the thing's door closed and pushing it open, so we could pile out of it. Me, him, and a few other pirates got to work doing the same to the other sphere, pulling it over to our position.

Once Gibbs and his part of the crew were free, I turned to William and said, "Well, if you're not here to join me, why are you here? Though I do thank you for showing up at a most opportune moment. I have a feeling that there's going to be a 'but' involved in why you're freeing me."

"Well, I'm not insane." Will replied, "I have a problem with the British East Indies Company, one that revolves around you. Help me with that, and I'll help you with... I'll help you with this situation and getting Tanya free."

"Cutler Beckett." Will said, "Seems to know you."

"He does. We had a disagreement about some things many years ago, such as the nature of cargo and where it should go, but it's a long, drawn-out story. For now, let's worry about saving Tanya."

Pointing to half the crew, I said, "Make your way back to the ship and get it ready to sail. The rest, come with me. We shall lay siege to the cannibals' camp, and, well, they're cannibals. If they come for you, fight back. It's the best option."

"There are like a thousand of them and only 10 of us," the wooden knife-wielding pirate said, to which I ignored, saying, "Which is why we have to be silent and fast. After all, we only need to free Tanya and get running; Shouldn't be that hard to outrun the cannibals. We even have to run downhill. It'll be fine."

Several of the pirates made a look at each other, obviously thinking it would not be fine, but some stepped forward, obviously volunteering for the job, I said, "All right, let's get to work."

Jack

Getting to work meant sneaking through the camp, trying to avoid being seen and staying low. Thankfully, the natives were quite joyful about the upcoming murder of Tanya, or at least, I think that's what they were celebrating. It was really hard sometimes to understand what they were saying, especially when they were apparently very drunk.

It looked like some rum runners had left a cache on the island, and the natives had found it, as many of the bottles appeared to be manufactured in Europe.

Quietly, Will, a few other pirates, and I moved around the edge of the village, staying behind a few bushes. Soon, I came to see where Tanya was.

Tanya was sitting on a throne made of bones, a bottle of rum in one hand, and casting magic tricks with the other to keep the natives entertained. The slurring of her words and the seemingly lack of care for the dress the natives had given her was a good sign that she had no idea what was going on. Also, the painted face paint was another sign; I don't think she'd allow that normally, as she had made quite a few opinions about tattooing mean unprofessional.

"So, Jack, what's the plan?" Will asked. I smiled and said it was quite simple. "Follow me." Leading the way, I moved around the camp until I found the tent that most likely belonged to Tanya, mainly because I saw some of her clothing hanging off a wire, being dried. Carefully, I snuck up to a container that looked rather familiar and poked around inside, finding an explosive charge that she had been carrying ever since she'd seen the Kraken a few miles away from us.

Carefully, I pulled out the charge and tried to figure out how to light it. Will came in handy there, taking out a hatchet. He sparked it on a stone he was carrying, lit the charge, and I tossed it into the middle of the camp.

With a wallop, chaos was unleashed within the camp as people ran and screamed. I did not miss a moment, running into the mist to find Tanya. She was still drinking and shouldering her over my shoulder with little care for her opinions on the matter.

"What's going on?" Tanya asked, slurring her words as I charged back towards where Will was waiting with several other men, gathering up her effects and some weapons that had been taken from us when we first arrived.

"Rescue mission," Gibbs said, jumping over the bush line into the group, and we ran down the hill with the others quickly following behind.

"Rescue mission? Why am I being rescued? I was having fun."

"They were planning to eat you tonight, I think."

"That's insane! They were going to bring out the best alcohol tonight," Tanya said, still heavily drinking from the bottle in her hands, I imagined.

"Well, believe what you will, all that matters is we'll be on the ship soon enough, and you can sober up. You are a terrible drunk."

"I don't know about that. I think I'm fine drunk, and I'm not sure you're going to make it to the ship. There are about 200 to 300 cannibals chasing you now."

I did not look over my shoulder; that seems like a bad idea. Instead, I just continued to run, soon breaking through the jungle onto the beach not too far from the Pearl, which was already starting to sail back from the island as we went.

Will charged out behind me, and one or two other pirates were with us. The other eight, I don't know where they had gone, but I did not think they would be joining us for the rest of this mission. I hope they find safety on this island; otherwise, we keep to the code.

At full force, I charged down the beach and into the water, throwing Tanya into a rowboat the men had lowered, as well as the remaining pirates, who survived, and Will jumped into the boat. Soon, we were climbing up the ladder as the other men, who were not pulling Tanya up via the boat, brought out their muskets and fired into the oncoming native horde, driving them back as we set sail for Cuba and whatever other mission Will had in mind.