Isla de Muerta

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Sparrow and the crew were sailing through a storm. Alexandra, Gibbs and Will pulled a rope. The entire crew were practiced but it still took everything for them to keep the ship afloat.

A wave pushed the three back as it washed over the deck. Alexandra pushed Will off of her and pulled herself up. Will stood and helped up Gibbs. 

"How can we sail to an island that nobody can find, with a compass that doesn't work?" Will asked, yelling over the sound of the storm. "The compass doesn't point north, but we're not trying to find north, are we?" Gibbs said. Alexandra helped Will pull the rope. 

"Does this mean you're no longer upset with me?" Will asked. Alexandra looked at him. She kicked his leg, causing him to fall. e looked up at her. She leaned down. "I'm still upset!" She said. 

☠☠

The ship slipped through the sound-deadening fog of a ship graveyard. Ships that never returned from Isla de Muerta. "Dead men tell no tales!" Cotton's parrot said. 

The crew watched as they sailed passed the ships. 

"Puts a chill in the bones, how many honest sailors been claimed by this passage." Gibbs said. Alexandra pursed her lips. There was a low scape. 

Gibbs walked to the other side of the ship. Will and Alexandra followed after giving Jack a speculating look. "How is it that Jack came by that compass?" Alexandra asked, pushing to stand in front of Will. "Not a lot's known about Jack Sparrow 'fore he came to Tortuga with a mind to go after the treasure of the Isla de Muerta. That was before I'd met him, when he was captain of the Black Pearl." Gibbs said. 

"What?" Will asked. He glanced, suspicious of Sparrow. Gibbs silently choked on his drink as the two looked at him. "He failed to mention that." Will said. 

"Well, he plays things close to the vest now." Gibbs said. The three watched Jack steer. "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." Gibbs shook his head. "That night, there was a mutiny. They marooned Jack on an island and left him to die. But not before he'd gone mad with the heat." He said. "Ahh." Alexandra said. She and Will looked at each other. "So that's the reason for all the..." They made moves to imitate Sparrow. 

"Reason's got nothing to do with it." Gibbs said, sitting down. "Now, Will, Alexandra, when a pirate's marooned, he's given a pistol with a single shot." Will sat beside him, Alexandra standing by his side. "One shot. Well, that won't do much good hunting, nor to be rescued. But after three weeks of a starving belly and thirst, that pistol starts to look real friendly." Gibbs mimed a gun to his head. "But Jack, he escaped the island, and still has that single shot. Oh, he won't use it, though, save on one man. His mutinous first mate." 
"Barbossa." The two said. "Aye." Gibbs said. 

"How did Jack get off the island?" Will asked. "Well, I'll tell ye. He waded out into the shallows, and he waited three days and three nights, till all manner of sea creatures became acclimated to his presence. Then on the fourth morning, he roped himself a couple of sea turtles, lashed them together and made a raft." 

Will looked at Alexandra, who shrugged. He looked back at Gibbs, who held a steady gaze. "He roped a couple of sea turtles." He said. "Aye, sea turtles." Gibbs said. Will didn't seem to believe the story. He settled on a question. "What did he use for rope?" Gibbs went to answer, only to realize he doesn't know. Now, Jack stood near them and gave the answer; "Human hair. From my back." 

Neither Alexandra nor Will believed that. Jack held his gaze with a poker face then looked to the crew. "Let go the anchor!" He ordered. "Lower the anchor line!" The crew announced. 

"Young Mr. Turner, Miss Swann, and I are to go ashore." Jack said. "Why me?" Alexandra asked. Jack walked away. Gibbs followed. Alexandra scowled. 

"Captain." Gibbs said, unaware Will and Alexandra were listening. "What if the worst should happen?" 
"Keep to the Code." Jack said. "Aye. The Code." Gibbs agreed. 

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