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The sights and sounds of Tortuga were unchanging. Everything had stayed the same since last Catalina was there. The pub was as lively as ever, people drank and danced as the band struck up a new song. As far as nightlife in Tortuga went, things were mild.
Cata leaned against a pillar, watching men start to line up at Mr Gibbs' table. It wasn't right what they were doing but Jones was an ass and she didn't want him after her.
Sitting at the table beside her, Jack propped his legs up and shook his compass. It hadn't been working and the two had gotten dizzy from its endless spinning. "I know what I want. I know what I want," he muttered, closing his eyes. Hesitantly, he opened them back up and his face fell when the compass started to spin once more. "How we going?" he then asked Gibbs.
"Including those four? That gives us - four." A man came up to him and he turned, asking him: "And what's your story?"
"My story? It's exactly the same as your story, just one chapter behind. I chased a man across the Seven Seas. The pursuit cost me my crew, my commission, my life . . . and the woman I love." He grabbed Gibbs' open bottle of rum, taking a swig at it.
And the older man came to recognize who was standing before him. "Commodore?"
Catalina's heart raced and moved to sit on the table, in front of Jack, shielding him from the Commodore's sight.
"No, not anymore, weren't you listening? I nearly had you all, off Tripoli. I would have, if not for the hurricane."
"Lord, you didn't try to sail through it?"
"So, do I make your crew or not? You haven't said where you're going. Somewhere nice?" In a flash of anger, Norrington flipped the table over, making Gibbs fall back. It caught the attention of the whole pub, gasps sounding from the women and silence soon followed. "So, am I worthy to serve under Captain Jack Sparrow?" He questioned the crew and then pulled out his pistol, aiming it at a figure creeping about with part of a plant's stem. "Or should I just kill you now?
Cata glanced behind her. Jack was not there. How did he get past her? And more importantly, how had she not seen him creeping about?
Jack lowered the plant and smiled. "You're hired."
Norrington returned the smirk. "Sorry. Old habits and all that." But before he could pull the trigger two men jumped on him. The force of the two caused a chain reaction. The gun went off and shot at a chandelier before ricocheting off it and breaking a man's glass. The man then turned to the person on his left and punched him, causing a brawl to break out.
Jack threw away the branch and rushed over to Cata, grabbing her hand, and then motioned for Gibbs to follow. "Time to go!"
From the pub's entryway, two young women dressed as men, pushed their way through the crowd, trying to see what was happening. In the centre of the room, was a drunken man fighting anyone who dared go near him. Without thinking, Elizabeth unsheathed her sword and jumped into the fray. But Clara knew better. Shaking her head, she weaved her way around the mass of bodies. Taking her hat off, she untied her hair and hoped the barman would like her enough to allow her a free drink.
On the other side of the building, Jack calmly led the way up the steps. He bent over and picked up a hat, taking it as his own. A man came tumbling down towards them and he swiftly pulled Cata to him, pressing her against the wall. They carried on, Jack swapping out hats every so often trying to find one he liked.
As she had hoped, the barman had given her a bottle of rum. Taking a sip of it, she turned to find that the fight had turned almost one-sided. A man shouted and then the shattering of glass was heard before the crowd cheered and brought the half-conscious man outside. Finding no care in what just occurred, she faced the bar again, enjoying the quiet that had taken over the pub.
"Clara, we've got to go!" It was Elizabeth.
"Did you find what you were looking for-" The glass she held fell and shattered into a million pieces. The man she came to love and thought was to be long gone stood before her, messy and disgruntled. But behind the dirt and unshaven face was James. There were too many emotions that she felt but the one that surfaced was anger. He had been here in Tortuga all this time and not once had he thought of writing to her or sneaking aboard a vessel. "Well, that's a surprise, isn't it? Come on, I saw Jack going to port."
Out of the dock, someone shouted for Jack and the three pirates glanced behind them to find a young man, a woman, and James Norrington.
"Come to join me crew, lad? Welcome aboard."
"I'm here to find the man I love."
That made them stop, the look on Jack's face was priceless and Catalina had to fight off a fit of laughter.
"I'm deeply flattered, son, by my first and only love is the sea."
"Meaning William Turner, Captain Sparrow."
Jack peered closer. "Elizabeth . . ." He then took in the woman behind Norrington. "Clara? These clothes do not flatter you. It should be a dress of nothing-" Cata elbowed him in his side and he glanced at her, brow raised.
"Jack. I know Will came to find you. Where is he?"
"Darling, I am truly unhappy to have to tell you this, but through an unfortunate series of circumstances that have nothing whatsoever to do with me, poor Will has been press-ganged into Davy Jones' crew."
"Davy Jones?"
"Oh, please. The captain of the Flying Dutchman?" said James.
"You look awful. What are you doing here?"
"You hired me. I can't help it if your standards are lax."
"All I want is to find Will," said Elizabeth, trying to keep the pirate on course.
"Well . . . Are you certain? Is that what you really want most?"
"Of course."
"Because I would think you'd have want to find a way to save Will most."
"And you'd have a way of doing that?"
"There is a chest. A chest of unknown size and origin . . ."
"It contains the heart of Davy Jones," Cata finished, done with Jack talking the girl in circles. "Whoever possesses the chest possesses the leverage to command Jones to do whatever it is they want."
"Including saving brave William from his grim fate," Jack added.
"You don't actually believe him, do you?" asked Norrington.
"How do we find it?"
He pulled out his compass. "With this. My compass . . . is unique."
"'Unique' here having the meaning of 'broken'."
"True enough, this compass does not point north."
"Where does it point?"
"It points to the thing you want most in this world."
"Oh, Jack. Are you telling the truth?"
"Every word, love. And what you want most in this world is to find the chest of Davy Jones, is it not?"
"To save Will."
"By finding the chest of Davy Jones." He placed the compass in her hands and opened it. Grabbing Cata, he fled to the ship. "Mr Gibbs, we have our heading!"
