Bittersweet | Cutler Beckett

Five

The Heart

It had been years ago Jade last had stood on the Black Pearl. Her black, thorn sails danced violently in the wind above them. The first rays of sun started wakening up by the horizon. It cast its first light over the dark sea. Which shone up in bright blue when the sun reached the waves. She kept her hands on the railing when she heard heavy steps behind her.

"It's a miracle you're still alive, Jack Sparrow" she broke the peaceful quiet of the morning. Some other members of the crew slept still. The night had gone late before any of them had made their way back to the ship.

"I can say the same thing to you, mate" he began from behind her. It was clear in his voice that the captain was still drunk.

She turned her head around to face him. "Have you found more people you can trade trade to Davy Jones for your own poor life?"

"No, just you", Jack sneered at her. "You should be flattered, I don't just trade anyone to Jones. Only the best." He went one when he saw that Jade was not amused. Although, she had not come to small talk.

"What's your plan? Beckett has twice as large  fleet as we do, and that is if we would manage to make all the pirates fight on the same side. If we don't start collecting our names now, there won't be any pirates left in the Caribbean. Beckett is not a man to underestimate-"

"Well, you're alive" Sparrow broke her of before she had time to finish her sentence.

"What?" Jade burst out as she watched the man with knitted eyebrows.

"I have heard that you been a captive in Royal Port. And here you are! Looking perfectly fine and alive." He spoke nonchalantly as he played with one of his locks of dark hair.

"Because I escaped, Jack. And I don't reckon I will be able to do that again" she insisted. Sparrow turned his head to the ocean, ran his eyes over the horizon.

"I'm going to kill the Kraken" He murmured after some time in silence.

"Only Davy Jones can kill the Kraken"Jade told him, while she felt frustration grow in her chest. If Jack Sparrow had gone completely mad, who would she turn to?

Sparrow's eyebrows fell together, with a concerned expression he seemed to be considering her words. "But first, we're going to find the chest" he continued as he walked around her.

"But how-", Sparrow put a finger on top of her lips before she could finish the sentence.

He held up the compass. "With this" he beamed so wildly Jade could see yellowed teeth behind his lips.

They had been sailing for days, following no map but the compass. Many of them, including both Mr Gibbs and Jade herself, had told the captain of the Black Pearl this course would only lead to more open waters. Yet, Sparrow refused to listen to them. He kept his glare on the compass and kept ordering them to sail ahead. When almost all food was gone, all other supplies and most importantly, the rum, and all had given up, except for Sparrow, a small dark spot could be seen were all they before had seen was endless ocean.

"Land ooh!"

"Is that it?" Elisabeth Swan asked as all the members of the crew hung over the deck to be able to see. What none of them realized, however, was just how far away the small island were from their ship. The hours after this, they spent watching how the tiny black spot slowly grew. It felt like watching a tree grow and soon most of the crew got tired and went back to doing whatever they had done before. Which in most cases were trying to find the last drops of rum from the dry bottles. Even though they all knew, the rum had been gone for days. They lived on the hope that in some mysterious way the bottle had managed refilled itself.