𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐖 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐋 hung over a gorge. they had been taken prisoner and locked in large cages. will, who had showed up at the island somehow, looked dismayed.

"why would he do this to us?" he asked. "if jack is the chief—"

"aye," gibbs cut him off. "the pelegostos have made jack their chief. but he only remains chief as long as he acts like a chief."

"so he had no choice," realized will. "he's a captive here as much as the rest of us."

"worse, as it turns out," bella informed him.

"you see, the pelegostos believe that jack is a god in human form," gibbs explained. "and they intend to do him the honor of releasing him from his fleshy prison." cotton snatched gibbs' hand and bit it. gibbs pulled his hand away, wincing in pain. "they'll roast him and eat him."

"where's the rest of the crew?" wondered will.

"these cages we're in . . . they weren't built until after we got here," bella replied.

"the feast is about to begin. jack's life will end . . . when the drums stop," gibbs said.

"well, we can't just sit here and wait then, can we?" will declared.

soon, both cages were swinging, trying to reach the side of the cliff. they tried and failed several times. eventually, they managed to latch onto some strong vines.

"put your legs through! start to climb!" shouted gibbs.

"come on, men, it'll take all of us to crew the black pearl!" will exclaimed.

"not necessarily," replied bella.

"she's right! you wouldn't need everyone," leech shouted back. "about six would do."

the two cages exchanged a tense look.

realizing what this meant, bella climbed faster. "hurry!!!!" she screamed.

"heave!" marty yelled. "is that all you've got?"

suddenly, a young native passed by on the bridge to their left. will spotted him and whispered forcefully to both cages. "stop, stop. stop!"

they held very still for a second, but the other cage wasn't full of the brightest bulbs. leech motioned for his crew to continue the climb.

"stop!" bella whispered angrily, but she was ignored.

in true karma fashion, leech suddenly grabbed a snake instead of a vine. "snake! aaaaaahh!"

everyone in the cage let go frightfully and they fell back. the rope holding the cage broke and they tumbled down, screaming all the way. clearly, the young native noticed.

"move!" screamed will as they hustled to get to the top.

finally, they rolled over onto the grass.

"cut it loose, find a rock!" commanded will.

marty sliced it loose, but the entire cannibal tribe was running toward them.

"roll the cage!" bella yelled. they rolled off, the cannibals chasing after them.

"lift it, lift the cage!" will said as they reached flat ground.

"hurry! lift it like a lady's skirt!" gibbs shouted.

"charming," responded bella as they sprinted away, cannibals still behind them.

after a heated chase, the crew fell into a crag and down into some water. the cage broke open by itself, to their relief.

"this way, lads!" gibbs exclaimed.

they swam frantically for cover, arrows and spears flying down on them and missing very narrowly.

the crew hid on the cavern wall, trying to keep silent. bella checked that her father's playing card was still safely tucked away.

but then, they heard a child from the village. "manka! ma estoto. ma estoto." quickly, the cannibal tribe all turned around and ran in a different direction.

when they were out of earshot, the crew sprung into action.

"to the pearl!" gibbs yelled as they hurried back to the ship.

they made it safely back to the pearl, but jack was still nowhere to be seen. instead, pintel and ragetti were making the ship ready to sail.

"haul loose the mooring line!" pintel screamed from the sand.

"excellent! our work's half done!" gibbs said to pintel as the crew boarded the ship.

"we done it for you!" pintel nodded. "knowing you'd be coming back!"

"make ready to sail, boys!" gibbs shouted to the few crew members left.

"what about jack?" bella said worriedly.

"where is he? i won't leave without him!" will exclaimed.

"come to your senses, have you? that's new," she remarked in confusion. since when did will care about jack?

"oi!" came a voice. will and bella turned to see jack rounding the corner and booking it towards the ship. but he wasn't alone.

the entire tribe of cannibals chased viciously after him.

"time to go," will said in fright, turning back to the pearl.

"wha— will?!?" bella followed him as the crew picked up their pace.

they boarded the ship just as jack got there safely. he clung to a net in the back.

"alas, my children, this is the day you shall always remember as the day that you almost—" a wave splashed him from head to toe. " . . . captain jack sparrow," he finished half-heartedly.

the cannibals all whined and shouted in protest, lamenting the loss of their meal.

jack climbed aboard, still catching his breath. bella hurried over to him. she hugged him with relief.

"stop getting us into disasters," she sighed.

jack chuckled. "no promises."

after they pulled away, pintel and ragetti placed jack's coat on his shoulders. bella glanced at them questioningly. they both saluted with big smiles. she nodded in their direction, and the two let out a sigh of relief. the pearl could use more crew members now that the majority of them had been killed anyway.

"let's put some distance between us and this island and head out for open sea," gibbs suggested, walking up to the captain.

"yes to the first, yes to the second, but only insofar as we keep to the shallows as much as possible," jack answered.

"that seems a bit contradictory, captain," gibbs said in confusion.

"i have every faith in your reconciliatory navigational skills, mr. gibbs," he replied. "now where is that monkey? i want to shoot something."

jack turned, but came face-to-face with will. jack shoved past him with bella on his arm, and they walked up the stairs to the quarterdeck.

"jack!" will exclaimed.

"huh?"

"elizabeth is in danger," he began.

"have you considered keeping a more watchful eye on her? maybe just lock her up somewhere?" jack asked, not bothering to turn around.

"she is locked up, in a prison, bound to hang for helping you!" will said, losing his temper and starting to yell.

"there comes a time when one must take responsibility for one's mistakes," jack shrugged. bella met his eyes and raised a brow.

suddenly, will snatched a sword from a nearby crew member and pointed the blade to jack's neck.

"i need that compass of yours, jack. i must trade it for her freedom," he declared.

this came as a shock to bella. jack, however, didn't seem surprised.

"so. you get the compass, you rescue your bonny lass . . . again," he replied. "where's my profit?"

will looked confident. "i will deliver to both you and bella the letters of marque. you will be granted a full pardon, and commissioned as privateers in service to england."

jack and bella met eyes for a moment. then, jack turned back to will, flipping the sword to the other side of his neck.

"accepting those things is what you want bella and i to do for you. agreed. but what will you do for me?"

will narrowed his eyes. "anything," he finally gave in.

a smile spread across jack's face.

"mister gibbs!" he walked over to the wheel.

"captain?"

"we have a need to travel upriver," jack said, a bit quieter.

"by need, do you mean a trifling need, fleeting, as in, say, a passing fancy?" gibbs questioned, looking scared and reluctant.

"no, a resolute and unyielding need," jack responded.

bella grimaced as gibbs spun the wheel. she grabbed jack's arm. "her?!" she whispered.

jack stared down at her, about to reply.

however, will hurried back over to them. "what we need to do is make sail to port royal with all haste!" he exclaimed.

"i have to ask, will," bella said, looking at will complacently. "do you know where jack got his compass?"

will shook his head, questioning why that mattered.

"my father gave it to him in his dying breaths," she declared. "so you won't be getting that compass unless you help us first."

"fine, if it's of such sentimental value to you," will commented, annoyed.

"william," jack spoke. "i will trade to you the compass, if you will help me find this." he pulled out the small piece of cloth with the imprint of the key. bella glanced up at jack's face; he was serious.

"you want me to find this," will said incredulously, gesturing to the drawing.

"no. you want you to find this. because the finding of this finds you incapacitorially finding and/or locating in your discovering the detecting of a way to save your dolly belle, ol' what's-her-face," jack answered, confusing will. "savvy?"

"this is going to save elizabeth?" will took the cloth and looked at it in bewilderment.

bella turned to him. "how much do you know about davy jones?" she muttered so that only the three of them could hear.

"not much," will replied honestly.

bella glanced at jack with understanding.

"yeah, it's going to save elizabeth," jack nodded, pointing to the cloth.

a/n

hi lovely readers! 

i wanted to thank everyone for the support on this book, it means so much :) also!! although i recently started e-learning again, all the chapter updates will stay the same. i'm actually finished writing, and i'm just editing each chapter as it goes up.

thank you for reading <3 vote n comment!

— sarah