Pearl's Beginning

Skeleton Crew

Barbosa hauled me onto my feet, dragging me by my shirt. I struggled against his pace as we weaved through the fight before us, stumbling everywhere. I had no idea where he was taking me or why he wasn't fighting me.

"What are you doing!? GET OFF OF ME!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

I heard him laugh as a response.

He opened a door and shoved me inside first before slamming it shut behind him. As I turned around I came face to face with the end of a gun. It clicked, meaning the safety was off.

"Keep moving." He ordered as he poked my back with the weapon.

He would shout at me if I took a wrong turn or if I was going too slow. Images of what he could do to me were running through my mind but they were all such horrible thoughts. Finally, we stopped in front of a door, which had loud smashing noise coming from inside of it. Barbosa shoved me a little, indicating that I open the door. Doing it slowly, I caught a glimpse of Jack shoving something down his trousers which wasn't a promising sight of a rescue.

He spun around in time to grab his own gun and sword, his coat twirling with him. Barbosa pushed me to the side, causing me to collide with a table. The men ignored my squeal as I toppled onto the floor.

"Well, well, well, Captain Sparrow, seems like we be able to pick up where we last were." Barbosa grinned, holding his gun in one hand and the gun in the other, whereas Jack only had one weapon.

"We both know that your crew will not be able to withstand the strength of mine. Just give up." Barbosa said, nearing Jack.

Jack started to walk away, causing them to circle the room."Now you know that I'm full of surprises."

As they kept bickering, I grabbed a knife off of the table and crept underneath the table. All I could see were the men's feet but I was listening intently to the conversation at hand. They kept trash talking each other, just throwing insults left and right instead of fighting. Jack was stuck in front of a large window, not being able to move without the risk of being stabbed. Barbosa chuckled, thinking he had won. I gripped the knife tightly in my hand, peeking out from under the table and up at Barbosa. He hadn't seen me but Jack had.

"Ye need to stop getting ye'self into situations such as these Jack, they'll soon kill you." Barbosa carried on, not expecting what was to come next.

"I'm sure old age will you get first."

Swiftly, I brought the knife into the air before stabbing it deeply into Barbosa's lower leg. He let out a cry of pain, stumbling backwards, with the knife still in his leg. I crawled out from underneath the table, punching Barbosa in the face. I was able to snatch his sword and gun off of him as he was unable to gain coordination. Standing beside Jack, we held onto our weapons tightly, pointing them towards the enemy.

"Actually, it might be us who kill you." Jack smirked, glancing over at me.

"Or us." another voice called out.

Our attention was diverted towards the door, where the men who were once skeletons had turned back into regular humans. We were outnumbered, there was no point even trying.

"I told you," Barbosa groaned as he pulled the knife out of his leg,"I'd be the one to kill you. I'm sorry you had to be dragged into this lass."

The men cheered and chanted as a wooden board was taken out. I knew this tradition all too well; it was time for Jack and I to walk the plank. The rest of the crew were tied up, no doubt being used for extra members of Barbosa's own crew. Jack and I were pushed about until we came to the plank itself. We turned to face Barbosa, knowing that he was going to say something he thought was smart.

"So, Jack, I'm sure ye know this routine by now. This be mutiny but this time you'll have a friend with ye. Now, lass, you probably don't know what-"

"I know what mutiny is." I interrupted, not wanting to look stupid.

"Well then, ye knows that those mutinied upon receive a gun. However, I'm sure that ye will survive with one between yar'selves."

The crew laughed at his cruelty before hoisting Jack onto the wooden board. He waddled towards the end, bouncing the board as he did so. He turned back to face me.

"See you in a jiffy luv." he said before diving off of the board.

"Now lass," Barbosa started as I too was lifted onto the plank,"I be giving ye an option. Either join me crew, or die with Jack Sparrow."

I made up my mind in less than a second."I'd rather die than work for you."

"Suit yourself." he stomped on the plank making it wobble before I fell off of it, falling into the water.

I was a great swimmer. I could hold my breath for long periods of time and I knew all of the styles of swimming, though it was a bit harder with my hands tied up. However, I soon made it to the deserted island that Jack and I were now stranded on.

We both sprawled ourselves out on the sand, watching as the ship filed away quickly alongside Barbosa's own ship. I groaned, regretting even thinking about exploring. I had gotten myself into a big mess and know I was going to die with the strangest man I had eve met.

Jack got onto his feet, seeming as if everything was normal. I scurried after him, angry at everything. I could see how it was my fault as well as his but I need to realease my anger in someone.

"Great! This is just fantastic!" I said, throwing my arms up in the air as I followed him."I'm stuck on this island until I die."

"Look on the bright side luv, you're stuck with me." he said as he knocked on trees. Oh God, he had already gone mad.

"Exactly, I'm stuck, with you, of all people." he ignored me and kept knocking on different trees."Would you stop that!?"

He then stomped on the ground. A hollow sound came after it, which surprised me. Clearing away some of the sand, he found a book and lifted it. A creaking sound came after it, revealing a trap door of some sort. Jack jumped down, popping up a free seconds later with two bottles in his hands.

"Rum, luv?"