𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐔𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐌𝐀𝐍'𝐒 𝐃𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐑 ▸ W. TURNER

𝟻. 𝑎 𝑣𝑜𝑦𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑠

𝐂 𝐇 𝐀 𝐏 𝐓 𝐄 𝐑 𝐅 𝐈 𝐕 𝐄

[ 𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑔𝑎 ]

"𝐹𝐸𝐴𝑆𝑇 𝑌𝑂𝑈𝑅 𝐸𝑌𝐸𝑆, 𝐶𝐴𝑃'𝑁." Proclaimed Gibbs. "All of 'em faithful hands before the mast! Every man worth his salt, and crazy to boot."

As Will cast his gaze up and down the line of sailors his new companion must have gathered over night, he couldn't help but agree. With the crazy part, that was.

Half of them still looked drunk from the night before, the one on the end leaning against his friend for support, and he was pretty sure the man two thirds of the way along barely reached his hips in height. Will couldn't even begin to guess what Gibbs must have told them for them to agree to such a wild plan, but something told him they weren't going to be much use either way.

"So this is your able bodied crew?" Incredulity leaked into his voice despite his every effort to conceal it, but the pirate beside him seemed unfazed. Will followed closely at Sparrow's heels as he began to pace the length of the docks, eyeing each potential crew member in turn. The two of them stopped before an elderly man weighed down on one side by a large parrot perched atop his shoulder.

"You, sailor!" Began the Captain.

Gibbs interrupted. "Cotton, sir."

"Mr Cotton, do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death." Sparrow continued dramatically. Will resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but Mr Cotton refrained from speaking. Will instantly thought that an unwise decision – he'd spent less than twenty four hours in the company of Captain Jack Sparrow and had already been engaged in combat twice and almost drowned due to the pirate's unpredictable actions. For all his oddities, the man was clearly much more than he appeared at first sight.

"Mr Cotton!" Barked Sparrow, leaning closer to the elderly man. "An answer, if you'd be so kind-"

"Uh, he's a mute sir." Interjected Gibbs with a sigh. "Poor devil had his tongue cut out, so he trained the parrot to talk for him." The man's mouth opened in confirmation, displaying his ghastly wound. Will recoiled in disgust, an unpleasant shiver running down his spine at the sight, as Gibbs continued. "No one's yet figured out how."

Sparrow seemed to consider this, before he turned back to the mute. "Mr Cotton's...parrot. Same Question." For a moment the Captain looked as if he might be questioning his own sanity, and Will had to bite back a grin. But the parrot's beak opened in answer, his loud squawk followed by the repeated phrase.

"Wind your sails, wind in your sails."

"Mostly we figure that means yes." Conceded Gibbs.

The Captain clapped his hands together before turning to Will." Of course it does, satisfied?"

Will couldn't even begin to form a reply. If anything, all the exercise had proved was that Gibbs has been right – they were stark raving mad, the lot of them. Any hope of rescuing Elizabeth from the Pearl was completely lost. It was extremely unlikely that they'd be able to complete their mission, and even if they, by some miracle, managed to make it to the Isla de Muerta, who knows whether they'd reach Elizabeth in time.

Perhaps if the person he'd hoped would make an appearance had done so, he wouldn't be feeling so dejected. But it was fast approaching the hour Sparrow had supposedly given her, and she'd yet to show. Which meant it was probably unlikely she ever would.