A Rebel's Treasure

Chapter Four

On the dock where Jack's boat was anchored, all the rascally and shabby men Gibbs had recruited to help the Interceptor sail stood looking towards their new captain. Eleanor, wishing to set assail immediately from Tortuga, stood to Jack's side, her arms crossed as she surveyed the new crew. Will was beside her, slightly bemused at the sight of some of the men. Strutting around like a peacock, was Jack himself, all too content to show off to his new crew.
"Feast your eyes, Captain," Gibbs grinned, motioning to the crew. "All of them, faithful hands before the mast, every man worth his salt. And crazy to boot."
Will did not look convinced, "So this is your able-bodied crew?"
Jack glanced at each man as he walked slowly in front of them. He stopped at an older man with white hair, shouldering a parrot. "You, sailor!"
"Cotton, sir," Gibbs added.
Jack nodded before speaking rather fast, "Mr Cotton...do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death?" Cotton stayed silent, staring mutely at his new captain. "Mr Cotton! Answer, man!"
Gibbs stepped forwards, He's a mute, sir." Jack looked back at Cotton with a frown. "Poor devil had his tongue cut out," Cotton opened his mouth so Jack could see his missing tongue. Eleanor cringed, "so he trained the parrot to talk for him. No one's yet figured how."
"Mr. Cotton's... parrot," Jack said, slightly uncomfortable. "Same question."
To Eleanor's surprise, the parrot actually responded. "Wind in the sails! Wind in the sails!" it squawked.
"Mostly, we figure, that means 'yes.'"
Jack made a face, "O'course it does." He turned towards Eleanor and Will,"Satisfied?"
"Well, you've proved they're mad," Eleanor admitted. "However, if they can sail..."she shrugged as an answer.
Suddenly, one of the crew – one with a very high voice – spoke up, "And what's the benefit for us?"
Jack walked over to the voice, whipping off the sailor's purposely lowered hat, to reveal a woman. He cringed away from her, "Anamaria." Eleanor did not see the slap coming until too late. Anamaria's slap was hard and made a horrible cracking noise as it hit Jack's face. Eleanor tried to hide her grin.
"I suppose you didn't deserve that one either," Will stated.
Jack shook his head, "No, that one I deserved."
"You stole my boat!" the woman yelled.
"Actually – " she slapped Jack again, "borrowed. Borrowed without permission," he said quickly. This conversation was really quite entertaining to Eleanor. "But with every intention of bringing it back to you."
"But you didn't!" Anamaria argued.
"You'll get another one," Jack promised.
Anamaria did not seem convinced, instead she pointed her forefinger at Jack's face, "I will."
"A better one," Will added, trying to help the situation.
"A better one!" Jack agreed.
Eleanor, however only wished to make Jack squirm. "That one," she said, pointing towards the stolen Interceptor.
Jack spun around to stare at Eleanor with wide eyes, "What one?" he looked over at the Interceptor. "That one?!" Eleanor elbowed him in the side and he stared at her for a few seconds more before looking back at Anamaria. "Aye, that one. What say you?"
Anamaria seemed pacified with that bargain and cheered, 'Aye!', alone with the rest of the crew. With Cotton's parrot squawking, "Anchors aweigh."
Gibbs stepped in front of Jack to stop him, looking at Eleanor and Anamaria with disdain. "No, no, no, no, no, it's frightful bad luck to bring a woman aboard, sir."
Eleanor raised an eyebrow, "Still haven't lost your superstitions then."
Gibbs sent her a guilty look. Jack shook his head, "It'd be far worse not to have either of them."
Soon the wind was in the sails once again, and the Interceptor was crashing through the waves on the sea. Jack stood, compass in hand, at the wheel of the ship. Will and Gibbs were helping the crew below, as it looked like a storm was brewing.
"I used to dream about joining a bunch of cutthroat pirates," Eleanor said, appearing beside Jack at the wheel.
He looked at her from the corner of his eyes, "And has that dream been fulfilled?"
The corner of Eleanor's lips quirked up, "Not until we've stolen some treasure, it won't be."
He grinned at her, "Aye, but what about the true pirating life?"
Eleanor furrowed her brows, turning her body so it was angled towards him. "What do you mean?"
Jack smirked, snapping the compass shut. "The key to being a true pirate," he leant in towards her so she could feel his breath on her cheek, "is acting like one."
Eleanor looked sharply up at him, "What are you implying?"
"Pillaging, looting, lying, manipulating, drinking, and," his voice turned husky, "lovemaking."
"Oh, I see," Eleanor raised her eyebrows. "And where would you propose I start?"
"We do have some very nice rum," Jack said. Eleanor tilted her head and looked into Jack's eyes more clearly. "Or..."
"Or what, Jack Sparrow?" Eleanor whispered sultrily.
Jack leant down close to Eleanor so that their faces were only inches apart. "There is certainly another action we can partake in," his eyes flickered to Eleanor's lips before meeting her eyes once more. Thunder cracked overhead, and rain started to pour down on them. The storm was here.
Eleanor began to laugh, which seemed to startle Jack. She put a hand on his chest, "But Captain, we've only just begun to be acquainted," and she gently shoved him away. "Besides," she lowered her voice, her eyes hard, "I don't want to risk mothering your children."
Jack's surprise soon turned into amusement, watching Eleanor walk towards the stairs, "In no time, love, I'll get through to you."
"You're forgetting one thing, Captain Sparrow," Eleanor called through the rain. "I don't trust you."
Jack grinned at her, "A wise thing, too." He watched her walk through the rain and descend into the hull of the ship. He continued to think over the curious and thoroughly unpredictable woman who had intrigued him somehow.
"How can we sail to an island that nobody can find with a compass that doesn't work?" Will asked Gibbs.
Gibbs gave Will a knowing glance, "Aye, the compass doesn't point north but we're not trying to find north, are we?" He called over to Jack, pulling tight on the sail rope. "We should drop canvas, sir."
Jack looked towards him, his compass was out in his hand again, "She can hold a bit longer."
Gibbs frowned slightly, "What's in your head that's put you in such a fine mood, Captain?"
Jack glanced quickly towards Eleanor, who had just resurfaced from below deck with a Navy jacket she had obviously sourced from below, before answering Gibbs. "We're catching up."

Sometime later the ship had arrived at Isla de Muerta, and the weather continued to look stormy but had since stopped raining. The whole crew looked out over the side of the ship at all the wrecks that were strewn throughout the water. Eleanor's heart race increased from both a twinge a fear that gnawed at her gut and the likelihood of seeing her sister again. She felt someone lean on the railing beside her and looked over at Jack. He glanced at her once before turning his head deliberately to look at his compass. Eleanor couldn't hide the smirk that pulled at her lips.
"Puts a chill in the bones," Gibbs said, eerily, "how many honest sailors have been claimed by this passage."
Will watched Jack as he closed his compass, looked at Eleanor with a frown, before noticing the Cotton was staring. "How is it that Jack came by that compass?"
"Not a lot's known about Jack Sparrow," Gibbs started to explain. Will was sure that Jack would have been able to hear what they were talking if he wasn't so immersed in watching Eleanor walk around the ship, "before he showed up in Tortuga with a mind to go after the treasure of the Isla de Muerta. That was before I met him, back when he was Captain of the Black Pearl."
"What? He failed to mention that," Will said, frowning. He motioned for Eleanor to join them. "You're going to want to hear this."
She didn't question him as she took a seat beside Will, pulling her newly found Navy jacket tighter around her. "Go on."
"Well, he plays things closer to the vest now, Jack does," Gibbs continued. "And a hard-learned lesson it was. See three days out on the venture the first mate comes to him and says everything's an equal share. That should mean the location of the treasure, too, so Jack gives up the bearings." Gibbs tone darkened, "That night there was a mutiny." Eleanor leaned in closer. "They marooned Jack on an island and left him to die but not before he'd gone mad with the heat."
"Ah," Will nodded, "So that's the reason for all the..." he made some weird hand gestured that perfectly imitated Jack Sparrow. Eleanor chuckled.
"Reason's got nothing to do with it," Gibbs said. "Now, when a man is marooned he is a given a pistol with a single shot – one shot," Gibbs jabbed with his finger, as though to emphasise the point. "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." Eleanor sat up straighter, understanding what he was implying. For some reason it reminded her of the time Gibbs had mocked a hanging of a pirate on the day they found Will. "But Jack – he escaped the island, and he still has that one shot. Oh, but he won't use it, though, save for one man." There was a sudden chill in the air. "His mutinous first mate."
"Barbossa," Eleanor said, coldly.
"Aye."
"How did Jack get off the island?" Will asked.
"Well, I'll tell ye," Gibbs said, excited to continue the story. Eleanor thought he enjoyed having people who listened to his stories for once, and not those who had already heard them all. "He waded out into the shallows and there he waited three days and three nights till all manner of sea creature 'came and acclimated to his presence." He looked between them with delight. "And on the fourth morning, he roped himself a couple of sea turtles, lashed 'em together and made a raft."
"He roped a couple of sea turtles?" Eleanor frowned, unbelieving of the story.
"Aye, sea turtles."
"What did he use for rope?"
"Human hair," Jack said, appearing behind them, "...from my back." He looked towards them with one of his peculiar airs before turning around to yell at the crew, "Let go of the anchor!"
"Let go of the anchor, sir!" one of the crew yelled.
"Young Mr. Turner," Jack looked at Eleanor, "ever sweet Miss Swann, and I are to go ashore." Eleanor raised an eyebrow at him as she got to her feet.
"Captain!" Gibbs called, a frown on his face. "What if the worst should happen?"
Jack nodded his head, "Keep to the code."
"Aye, the code."
Jack felt someone sidle up beside him, and he looked over his shoulder at Eleanor. She had a small grin playing on her lips and there was a cunning air to her which intrigued Jack immensely. "The hair from your back, you say?" Eleanor smirked at him, enjoying the flash of confusion on his face. "How exactly did you rip it from your back all by yourself?"
Jack gazed at her, "I have my ways." He motioned for her to get into the longboat. "After you, Miss Swann."
She continued to look at him with a knowing smirk before taking his hand to help her climb down and into the waiting boat. Soon, Jack, Will and Eleanor were rowing their way into Isla De Meurta. Eleanor sat beside Will and was wringing her hands together in apprehension.
Once they were close to the small entrance they could sneak through, Will spoke. "What Code is Gibbs to keep to if the worst should happen?"
"It's the Pirate Code," Eleanor said, looking over at him. She saw Jack raise his eyebrows.
"Any man that falls behind," Jack filled in, "is left behind."
Will scoffed, "No heroes amongst thieves, eh?"
"You know, for having such a bleak outlook on pirates you're well on your way to becoming one, the two of you," Jack said, looking between the two. Will did not look at all impressed. "Sprung a man from jail, commandeered a ship of the Fleet, sailed with a buccaneer crew out of Tortuga," they all peered out the side of the boat into the water. It gleamed with spilt gold, "...and you're completely obsessed with treasure."
They hopped out of the boat and dragged it up onto the shore. Eleanor frowned, but didn't say anything as she followed Jack through the cavern and up to the small look-out. Will, however, was not intent to let Jack call him anything related to a pirate. "That's not true. I am not obsessed with treasure."
Jack looked out on the gathering of the Black Pearl's crew, "Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate."
As Eleanor looked out on the scruffy and cursed pirates. It was a wasteland of stolen treasure, with gold, silver, and jewels littering the cavern floor. On the top of a mound of particularly precious gems, stood Captain Barbossa. Beside him was a rather sinister looking chest, opened and exposing medallions similar to that Elizabeth had been keeping safe for eight years.
"Gentlemen, the time has come! Our salvation is nigh! Our torment is near at end," Captain Barbossa announced.
"Elizabeth..." Will breathed out. And there she was, wearing a maroon dress, with her hair down and looking around at the pirates with slight fear. She was alright...for now. It set Eleanor (and Will's) heart on fire.
"Eliza," Eleanor smiled.
"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!" the pirates cheered and shouted with glee. Barbossa looked down at his crew, "Punished, we were. The lot of us - disproportionate to our crimes! Here it is the cursed treasure of Cortés himself. Every last piece that went astray, we have returned...save for this." He shoved Elizabeth down and grabbed the medallion from around her neck.
"Jack!" Will hissed.
Jack shook his head, eyes glued to the scene in front of him, "Not yet. We wait for the opportune moment."
"Eight hundred and eighty-one we found but despaired of ever finding the rest," Barbossa continued.
"When's what?" Will snapped. He was visibly angry and Eleanor placed a calming hand on his arm. He shrugged her off, "When it's of greatest profit to you?"
"Jack – "
"May I ask you something?" Jack said, turning to her and Will. "Have I ever given you reason not to trust me? Do us a favor – I know it's difficult for you, but please stay here and try not to do anything stupid."
"And who among us has paid the blood sacrifice owed to the heathen gods?" Barbossa called.
"Us!" the Pirates shouted.
"And whose blood must yet be paid?"
"Hers!" they pointed at Elizabeth. Eleanor gasped, unable to rip her eyes away from them. She felt Jack take her hand in his and gently run his thumb on the back of it. Somehow, it calmed the horribly large butterflies that were flying around her stomach.
"You know the first thing I'm goin' to do after the curse is lifted?" Barbossa grinned towards Elizabeth. "Eat a whole bushel of apples." He took out a knife from his belt, causing Elizabeth to shrink back in fear. "Begun by blood...by blood undone."
Eleanor suddenly turned as there was a commotion from behind her. She only had enough time to gasp in surprise before Will clobbered Jack over the head with an oar. He fell to the ground with a thump.
"Sorry, Jack. I'm not going to be your leverage," Will said. He looked over at Eleanor, "Let's save Elizabeth."
Eleanor only felt a slight pang of guilt as she stepped over Jack's unconscious body, before following Will around the side of the lookout and down into the cavern below. I heard Elizabeth cry out and saw her drop the medallion into the chest. There was a silence from the pirates, as they waited for something to happen.
"Wait here," Will instructed. "Once I've grabbed Elizabeth, you'll need to be ready with the rowboat."
Eleanor nodded, taking the oar from Will's hand, "And what about Jack?"
Will paused, not connecting eyes with her, "We follow the code."
Eleanor gulped, before nodding. She rushed back towards the boat, still hearing the jeers from inside. A gun shot rang through the air and her blood went cold. Suddenly angry shouts arose from the cavern inside. Obviously, the ritual did not go to plan. Eleanor only hoped that Will and Elizabeth would be able to get out before something bad happened...
What felt like hours of agonising wait, Will ran around the corner with Elizabeth at his arm. Both were dripping wet, though Eleanor didn't care. The sight of her sister was enough to push anything else far from her mind.
"Eliza!" she whispered in delight.
They all clambered inside and Eleanor pushed the boat off the shore. "Oh, Ellie!" Elizabeth exclaimed, embracing her sister with affection.
Eleanor did not want to let her go, tightening the hug. "I was so worried about you. When I saw them taking you – I couldn't do anything to help. I just hope that you are alright and that nothing bad happened."
Elizabeth placed her hand on her sister's cheek, "I'm fine. A few bruises, and I guess a cut," she looked down at her bleeding hand, "but I'm fine. I was worried about you. I saw you, when they took me, and I didn't know if you were alive or dead." She pulled her sister in for another hug. "I can't believe you're here, though. Both of you," she turned to look at Will. There was a spark between them as Will gazed at Elizabeth.
"We couldn't just leave you," Will said.
"It was all Will's idea," Eleanor grinned, watching the two of them.
Will sent her a confused look, but Elizabeth only looked at Will with more affection. "Thank you, thank you both."