Banyon trees surround the exhausted crew of Blackbeard's ship as they make their way through the jungle, all following closely behind Blackbeard who leads them ever further, his right arm extended in front of him as he uses Jack's compass to navigate.
Jack suddenly stumbles from seemingly out of nowhere, slipping through a thick shrub as he takes stock of the landing party, quickly noticing that the coffin has long since been forgotten and the clergyman is now carrying the mermaid who has sprung legs.
Blackbeard steps forward threateningly, "you brought them?" He glances over at Jack, not seeing the chalices on his person, forcing an unpleasant frown to bloom over his face in annoyance.
Jack steps aside with a mumbled 'aye', allowing the men to see a man nearly twenty feet away from them wrangling a wild boar which squeals and struggles against the man's hold. Tied to the boar are the two chalices.
"You've found an accomplice, and by no doubt the one legged man. I take it he is near, aye?" Blackbeard asks, though his question is rather rhetorical as he already knows the answers. He sees the new man is not one of his own and is hardly a native to the island, solidifying his guess.
"Aye. Now, before I go just handing them over, I've one or two conditions," Jack says, stepping forward and narrowly avoiding the question.
"Name your terms," Blackbeard states defensively.
"Firstly, I'll be having my Compass back. No, that's secondly. Firstly, upon your word, you will bring no harm to me self or Mr Gibbs here," Jack waffles, his arms waving flamboyantly as he speaks.
"I'll make no vow to the likes of you," Blackbeard counters, his frown remaining unchanged. Jack doesn't seem fazed by this news, expecting as such given the conversation he had overheard aboard the revenge, plotting his demise.
"Secondly, then, priorly firstly. I'll be having my Compass back," he counter offers, extending his hand towards Blackbeard who simply stares at it for a few beats before looking back up to Jack, his resolve never softening.
"You have no idea how hard it was to catch that pig," Jack adds for effect, nodding towards Gibbs and the boar that are both struggling against each other.
Blackbeard simply nods, tossing the compass back to Jack who seems momentarily surprised that his notion of the pig was enough to gain favour to return his compass.
"Thirdly," Jack adds and Blackbeard's brow shoots up in surprise, bewildered at Jack's misplaced bravery, deigning to ask for more. "Mister Teach, more famously known as Blackbeard, you are not the only man in possession of a tattered soul. As I reflect on my misdeeds, chief among them, I note how poorly I have treated my loyal First Mate there, Mister Gibbs," Jack spouts, walking circles around Blackbeard, using his thumbs to point towards Gibbs.
"Aye, now that you bring it up!" Gibbs adds from his place beside the boar, ready to stake his claim to freedom as he pipes up in his own defence. Jack shushes him with a comical wave of his hands and Gibbs shuts his mouth in defeat.
"Left him to rot in jail, I did, without a second thought or remorseful tingle. Point being, I'll not subject him to the horrors to come. You'll let him go free," Jack surmises, pausing for effect at the end as he waits for Blackbeard's ruling.
"That be all?" Blackbeard jokes humourlessly.
"Aye," Jock nods, "quick, or the pig runs. And good
luck getting those Chalices,"
"Jack, if it's all the same to you, I'm just as happy to," Gibbs interjects, feeling his thread of destiny being sliced before his eyes.
"Done." Blackbeard's ruling is enough to silence both Jack and Gibbs, momentarily stunning them as they had not believed he would agree to such terms.
"P'raps, for the moment, I could tag along with you folk for a bit..." Gibbs offers, snagging the chalices from the boar and handing them to Jack who passes them directly to Blackbeard.
Jack then turns and slings his compass to Gibbs.
"That'll lead you to freedom, 'mate."
The pair exchange a knowing look before Gibbs regards the Compass, frowning as he plans his next move. When he looks back up, he sees that Blackbeard, Jack and the rest of the group had long since disappeared, leaving him alone in the clearing.
"Much obliged," he mutters, huffing as he opens the compass to fix his new heading.
YOU ARE READING
Fathoms Below: Captain Jack Sparrow
Fanfiction"Jack was like a Chinese finger trap most of the time, you had to carry on playing, delve a little further and accept your fate before you were able to pry yourself away." Jack/ OC reader pairing, following the course of the movies with mini-inserts...
