Fathoms Below: Captain Jack Sparrow

Chapter 34: The fourth Brethren Court.

"Look alive, and keep a weather eye!" Mr Gibbs shouted to the men on deck, "not for naught it's called Shipwreck Island, where lies Shipwreck Cove an' the town of Shipwreck!"
He joined myself and Jack a moment later across the deck as Pintel called out to the crew to relay the order.

I had to let out a laugh at the ridiculous names, "very subtle."

"For all that pirates are clever clogs, we are an unimaginative lot when it comes to naming things," Jack muttered, walking ahead of myself and Mr Gibbs across the deck.

"Aye," Mr Gibbs agreed, hardly fazed by the irony. I raised my eyebrows in amusement, hardly expecting anything less than ridiculous.

"I once sailed with a geezer lost both of his arms and part of his eye," Jack said matter-of-factly.

"What did you call him?" Mr Gibbs asked.

"Larry," Jack said bluntly, as if it was obvious.
I couldn't help the laugh that burst out of me, unsure if it was the comical delivery by Jack or just the ridiculousness of the tale. Jack grinned at me, throwing his arm over my shoulder whilst Mr Gibbs looked confused as ever at Jack's partial tale. He looked over at me with a look of disbelief and we both partially rolled out eyes at Jack's actions.

Jack then pulled me along, stepping up into the top deck as he removed his arm from my shoulders and took hold of the helm. I could tell Jack was nervous about travelling to Shipwreck Cove, that much was evident by his ramblings. I knew that if there happened to be rum aboard, Jack would have sniffed it out long ago to ease his nerves.
I rubbed his shoulder gently as he held the helm, offering him a little bit of comfort. I'd tried to distract him from our approach to Shipwreck Cove but there were only so many times I could distract him with my mouth and other things.
He'd told me a few stories of his childhood there and I could definitely see why he wouldn't want to return.

I turned to look around at the men, ensuring they were following orders when I spotted Pintel and Ragetti escorting Tia Dalma who had been shackled below deck, Hector watching them intensely.

"Jack," I gasped, reaching out to grab a handful of his jacket, touching his arm so that he could turn to watch the scene before us. He said nothing, only following with his eyes as Tia went below deck. I saw his eyes flicker and squint at Hector who looked on at Tia's descent, clearly he was the one who had ordered her to the brig.

I knew what needed to be done, but I still felt conflicted regardless.
"How long before we reach Shipwreck Cove?" I asked, my hands reaching out to stroke the smooth wooden spindles of the wheel. Jack slung his arm over my shoulders again, pulling me closer to him, almost out of instinct.

"By nightfall love."

—-
We sailed through a dark cave, the topmasts and sails barely fitting under the mountain of rock around us. We had lit torches to guide the ship with Jack at the helm as he steered us steadily through the rock maze. He held me to him nearly the whole way through the cove, showing again just how nervous he was about being here.

As we began to exit the dark cave I could see a magnificent rock formation reaching high above us, lights illuminating it all the way up and around it, millions of them. The island was a mass of buildings on top of each other, positioned perfectly. I could see dozens of ships all anchored around the island, all lit up like ours with with torches and lamps. The whole thing looked magical, like stars in the dark sky and I couldn't help but stare at the beaut around me.
"Look at them all!" Pintel shouted, clearly as amazed by the sight as I was.
"There's not been a gatherin' like this in our lifetime," Hector explained, gazing out at the view.