Horizon: The Curse Of The Black Pearl (POTC Fanfiction - Jack Sparrow)

Chapter 8: Threatening a parrot

"Feast your eyes, Cap'n. All of 'em good sea-faring men, faithful hands before the mast, every one worth his salt, and crazy, to boot!"
"So this is you able-bodied crew?" Will asked doubtfully.
We all stared at the many men standing before us. Jack made his way down the line, inspecting each of the men from top to bottom with Gibbs tailing behind. Will and I followed the two in boredom before Jack suddenly paused at someone.
"You, sailor!" He shouted to an old man with a pretty parrot on his shoulder.
Gibbs cleared his throat and said, "Cotton, sir."
"Mr. Cotton, do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true to the face of danger and almost certain death? Mr."Cotton! Answer, man!" Jack shouted.
The old man flinched but remained silent.
"He's mute, sir. Poor devil had his tongue cut out, so he trained the parrot to talk for him. No one has yet figured out how." Gibbs explained.
Jack stared at the man, a thick and awkward science filling the air.
"Mr. Cotton's parrot. Same question." Jack said to the parrot. I snorted.
That was when the parrot screeched, "WIND THE SAILS! WIND THE SAILS!"
"We mainly figured that means yes." Gibbs said.
"O' course it does." Jack grinned and turned to Will, "Satisfied?"
"Well, you've proved they're mad." Will muttered.
I started to laugh like a madman.
"And right, you are!" I managed to choke out.
"And what's the benefit for us?" Suddenly asked a voice. It didn't sound manly at all.
Jack moved towards the voice and spotted a feminine figure standing in the line. He walked over to the pirate and slipped the hat off, revealing...
A woman? Well, she was dressed like a man. I assumed she had been trying to get into the crew and get revenge on Jack or something. Yes, revenge. Because Jack couldn't go a day with a woman without betraying her. Typical.
The woman was quite pretty, if I did say so myself, with dark skin and dangerous eyes. She was ferocious, a perfect pirate.
"Anamaria!" Jack greeted with open arms. And then-
SLAP!
I gaped. Then it turned to a smile. I laughed hysterically, holding my stomach. Hilarious! Absolute gold! I approved of this woman. At least she was one of the few women that Jack had actually chosen well!
Jack held his face for moment before looking up at Will who was smirking.
"Suppose you didn't deserve that one either?" I spat at his face.
Jack shrugged and said, "No, that one I deserved."
"To hell with you." I mumbled, turning back to the woman, Anamaria
"You stole my boat!" Anamaria spat at Jack's face who gulped and smiled nervously.
I stared between the two, furious at Jack and his rudeness towards women. He didn't have any speck of a gentleman in him!
"Actually-" He started only to get slapped again.
I sniggered at his priceless expression. I already liked this girl!
"Borrowed. Borrowed your boat!" Anamaria gave him a look, "Without permission."
I scoffed and decided to simply watch. This would work itself out if Jack managed to not be an idiot. Though I doubted that.
Jack cleared his throat and grinned. I gaped.
"Wait... So that wasn't that guy's boat we stole when we were heading towards Port Royal? It was hers? You jerk-off! And you made me help you steal it without knowing the full story!" I growled.
Jack stared at me for a moment before turning back to the woman. We'd go over that later.
"Borrowed... With every intention of giving it back." He went on.
Anamaria scoffed.
"But you didn't!" She snarled.
Jack chuckled anxiously.
"You'll get another one." He said.
Anamaria scowled and pointed her finger at him, "I will!"
"A better one!" Will suddenly joined, backing Jack up. I stared at him, betrayed.
"A better one!" Jack repeated enthusiastically.
Will pointed to our ship, the Interceptor.
"That one."
"What one?" Jack worriedly stared at the ship, his glance at Anamaria's fuming face shifty.
"That one? Uh, a-aye, that one! What say you?" He added.
Anamaria thought for a moment, curling her lips in thought, before she held up a fist.
"Aye!" She agreed.
The entire crew shouted with her. I stared at her. So, she'd been bribed into his plan, too? We'd be good friends.
"Anchors aweigh!" Cotton's parrot screeched.
Gibbs stood in front of us as the crew began making their way onto our ship and getting it ready.
"No, no! It's frightful bad luck to bring a woman aboard!" He warned, glancing at me, "I know it was to the plan to bring you, an' all, but..."
I glared. Me? Bad luck? They wouldn't last a day without me! Especially if I didn't take care of the scumbag standing next to me!
Jack grinned, exposing his teeth.
"It'll be far worse not to have them." He explained.
Gibbs thought for a moment, then doubtfully nodded. I grinned, pushing past them all to help set up the ship. I immediately went to introduce myself to Anamaria.
"Good day to you." I grinned at her and she glanced at me, her expression still fuming until she realised it was only me and smiled.
"Yes, good day."
I held out my hand for her, smirking.
"Annika. You?"
"Just call me Anamaria." She said.
I smiled, "A pretty name. So... Let me guess. Jack betrayed you, too? I don't even need to ask."
Anamaria scowled and crossed her arms, glaring at nothing in particular. She was furious once more.
"He stole my boat! He thinks he has the right to do that, does he? I'll show him what I'm made of!" She sneered.
I laughed and nodded. With a sigh, I said, "I helped him steal that boat. Though, don't worry. I didn't know whose it was at the time. Jack didn't tell me a damn thing!"
"So you were in on this too?" Anamaria glared at me.
I shook my head and smiled, "Nope. I was clueless. I thought it was some man's at the docks. In fact, Jack betrayed me a day after you! Left me to die in the gallows in Port Royal, he did!"
Anamaria gaped, her face softening. She nodded in understanding.
"I'll kill him with my very own hands, if I have to!" She yelled, "Why'd you join someone like him for?"
I sighed, "I just wanted to get my hands on the medallion. See, Barbossa has it, those things are worth more than a thousand shillings! I could get good money for that."
"At least we get something out of this. Being the only woman on board isn't easy. Glad you're here, too." Anamaria said.
"Yes. I know."
***
A storm. Lovely, absolutely lovely. In fact, so lovely that the loveliness was a new definition of lovely. Especially when you were on a ship in the middle of the sea.
"Lovely." I mumbled.
"How can we sail to an island that no one can find with a compass that work?" Will asked, puzzled.
I sighed and leaned on the edge of the ship, staring at the dark and cloudy sky where the storm was rising overhead.
"Aye," I started, "the compass doesn't point North. But we're not trying to find North, are we, Jack?"
I grinned at Jack who was also staring up at the cloudy sky. He pulled out the compass for a moment, watching the arrow spin in different directions before sighing and closing it again.
"We should drop canvas, sir." Gibbs suggested, referring to the boat.
"She can hold a bit longer." Jack urged.
"Why are you so happy-go-lucky?" I asked, curious.
"We're catching up." Jack grinned at me.
It took me a second to realise he was referring to Barbossa and his crew... And The Black Pearl.
Very soon, the crew realised we were catching up to a our enemies. We soon entered the dark cave with Cotton's parrot singing obnoxiously, "Dead men tell no tales."
The stupid bird was starting to irritate me to the point where I actually grabbed him by the throat tightly and threatened him dangerously.
"You'll be dead and telling no tales in a second if you don't close that beak of yours!" I snarled.
The parrot seemed to glare. Strange.
"Man overboard! Man overboard!" He screeched.
I gaped. Did a parrot just threaten to throw me off a boat?
"Threatening me, are you? Watch me, I'm going to pick those little pretty feathers off of you... One by one." My fingers came closer to the parrot but Cotton snatched him gently out of my hands and placed him back onto his shoulder.
I gave him an apologetic look but when he turned his back, I glared at the parrot menacingly.
"I'm threatening a parrot. I think I'm going mad." I muttered to myself.
Looking around the boat, I noticed the entire crew seemed to be silent while staring into the water. I peered over edge and noticed the wrecks floating in the dark liquid.
"Puts a chill in the bones how many honest sailors have been claimed by this passage." Gibbs shivered.
Will and I both glanced at Jack as he stared at his compass and then to Cotton who was watching him suspiciously. He noticed Cotton seemed to be staring at what he was doing, so he closed his compass and turned away.
"How did Jack come by that compass?" Will asked.
Gibbs stared into the dark abyss of the cave's shadows as we made our way deeper into the thing.
"Not a lot's known about Jack Sparrow 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." Gibbs explained.
"What?" Will stared, surprised, "He failed to mention that!"
"Well, he plays things closer to the vest now. 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. That night there was a mutiny." Gibbs looked at Will sadly.
"Yes," I continued for Gibbs, "They marooned Jack on an island and left him to die but not before he'd gone mad with the heat."
Gibbs chuckled at that.
"Ah, so that's the reason for all the-" Will made a very terrible impersonation of Jack, leaning back and swaying.
I smirked and looked away with a big grin plastered to my face.
"Reason's got nothing to do with it." I said.
"Now, Will," Gibbs went on, "when a man is marooned he is a given a pistol with a single shot- one shot. 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. 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. His mutinous first mate."
I nodded. Will was lost in thought, thinking about what we'd told him.
"Barbossa." He whispered.
Gibbs nodded, "Aye."
Will looked at me, now.
"How did Jack get off the island?" He asked.
I shrugged.
"I'm learning some new things, too!" I told him, "Know everything else other than that and not once have I questioned it."
"Well, I'll tell ye!" Gibbs grinned, "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. And on the fourth morning, he roped himself a couple of sea turtles, lashed them together and made a raft."
I sniggered. Nice.
"He roped a couple of sea turtles?" Will asked doubtfully.
Gibbs proudly stated, "Aye, sea turtles."
"Well, what'd he use for rope?" I inquired.
And that was when a voice interrupted us. Jack appeared behind us.
"Human hair," He said proudly with hands on his hips, "from my back."
I scrunched up my nose in disgust. Now I really knew not to get stranded on an island with this idiot.
"Let go of the anchor!" Jack ordered the crew.
"Captain, what if the worst should happen?" Gibbs worriedly asked.
Jack merely glanced at him, "Keep to the code."
Gibbs nodded, "Aye the code."
I rolled my eyes and planted my hands on my hips.
"Since when does someone like you stick to Parley?" I snickered.
"Since I became Captain." Jack retorted and turned away, walking off.
I scoffed.
"Some captain you are!"
With that, I span around and made my way to help with the anchor and get the boats ready. I just had to hope no one would be left behind.