Compass to Flint's Treasure

Chapter One: Tortuga

             Her head rested in the crevice of her arm while the other arm laid extended across a round, damp, wooden table clutching a metal tankard of ale. Her nose touching the dirty table as she breathed in the smell of old wood and sea salt. A strand of her black, salt grained hair tickled her chin. She raised her head and pushed her tri-corn hat back to take another swig of her drink that was now piss warm. The room was loud with harsh heavy English and Irish accents. Laughter and boasting came from every corner of the room. Her eyes grazed the room, and she watched as heavily made up women in ragged gowns threw themselves on the sailors laps; their breasts exposed and hair in disarray. This was Tortuga. A port where pirates came to relieve their stress before going after their next plunder.
             She took another swig of her ale and stood up. Her damp clothes clung to her skin. Her name was Brunhilda Laròn. She'd abandoned her captain, Captain Jack Sparrow and his crew, after stealing Jacks precious compass. A compass that now led to Flints treasure on Skeleton Island. 

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              One night while traveling on open water in the West Indies, the crew of the Black Pearl were alerted by the nest that a small boat was heading toward them. Sparrow immediately grabbed his glass and looked only to see a lantern in a deep fog. "Can you make it out?" He called up to the nest. "I can't make it out, captain!" He called back. Sparrows quarter master, Will Turner, made his way out of the cabin and immediately tried to make out what was coming toward them. They began to hear faint voices calling through the fog from the boat. Men's voices, frantic. "What are they saying?" Sparrow asked with his eyebrow cocked. Gibbs leaned further over the side, "it sounds like creole, Captain." Sparrow perked up and turned to Brunhilda, "Laròn, you're French, can you make it out?" She listened closely. "They were shipwrecked...they're looking for passage to Nassau...they have business there but were attacked by another ship...it was Blackbeard," she turned to Jack alarmed.
             Sparrows eyes bulged from his head. "I'd like to talk to them about where to avoid Blackbeard, let them aboard," Sparrow concluded. Will jumped in front of Sparrow, "how do you know you can trust them?!" Will said forcefully. Jack drunkenly looked in all directions, reasoning with himself internally and answered, "call it captains intuition." The men climbed aboard. There were only three left of their crew. The rest were lost to Davy Jones' locker. "Laròn, take these men down to the kitchen. Fetch them some food and drink...then have them tell you of their run in with Edward Teach," Jack almost seemed to dance away as he gave his orders.
              Laròn guided the men below and the three men sat across a table from her as she called to the cook, "give these men some roasted pig and potatoes." She grabbed four tankards and put them on the table and poured four drinks of ale. She took a seat across from them and began to speak to them in French, "what business do you have in Nassau?" The men sat back and looked at each other. In creole one responded, "that's OUR business." She just smiled at them. Now she knew it was worth it to pry. "I take it you're not from Nassau," she said as she took a sip of her drink. The man sitting center answered, "we're from Haiti." The cook dropped three plates of pork and potatoes in front of the men. The men dove into their meals without hesitation. "You must've been out there a long time... how did you come to be shipwrecked?" She asked. The third man dropped his food onto his plate and began, "we had a small crew on a small ship. We couldn't outrun Blackbeard."
"What would Blackbeard want from you?"
She stared at the three men. None of which wanted to answer the question. "You must've had something of value for him to go through the trouble of taking you down." She insisted. They still remained silent. "Must have been some treasure," she huffed.
"Not all treasure is gold," the man sitting center began. "Not all treasure can be possessed. What I have, no man can take," the man spoke in English with a heavy accent. Laròn leaned in, "so you do speak English...so what is this treasure to which you are referring?"
         The man stared daggers into her eyes as he spoke forcefully, "my treasure is a gift handed down to me by many generations before me. An ability. A power. A magic taught to me by my ancestors on the celestial plain." Laròn, unamused responded, "Magic? Your treasure is magic?" The man on the left began to laugh. The other two men looked over at him and began to laugh as well. Laròn had enough. She kicked her chair back and away from her. "Ah, you're fucking with me. Hilarious." She left the kitchen and headed back to the deck as the men continued to laugh with mouthfuls of food. When she stepped out the sun was just coming up on the horizon and Will was having a conversation with the captain. Will turned to Laròn, "well?" She scuffed and replied, "I couldn't get a real answer out of them. I did, however, find out that at least one of them speaks English" "well that's a start," Sparrow exclaimed. "Well I can see Nassau in the distance, so it won't be long now," Jack continued. Just as he said that, the three men walked out onto the deck. "Ah so you've heard," Jack began as he moved toward the men, "we'll be in Nassau shortly." Just then one of the men rushed the captain and held a knife to his throat while one of the other men grabbed the compass and began chanting while his hand hovered over it. His eyes rolled back white as he continued to chant. Sparrows crew didn't want to make any false move or their captains throat would be cut. "What's happening?? What's he saying??" Jack yelled. "It's voodoo, Captain. Haitian dark magic," Gibbs called out to him. "Shit," Laròn muttered as she realized they weren't just fucking with her. They came for the compass. They knew exactly what they were doing.
             Just then Will attacked the man holding Sparrow, and disarmed him. The crew immediately jumped in and began fighting the men. The man who put the spell on the compass clutched the trinket as one of his men began climbing over the side. "Brother!" The man with the compass called to him. Suddenly a sword was driven right through his stomach. He quickly threw the compass to his brother about to jump ship. The dying man spoke to his brother in creole, "Take the compass to Captain Jack Rackham...you get my cut, brother." Just then he died. Laròn ran to stop the man from jumping with the compass but she was too late he took off. The third and last man was laying on the ground bleeding out. He was muttering in creole about his cut of Flints treasure.  Laròn ran to the side of the ship and leaned over to see if she can spot the man with the compass. As fast as her eye caught him she jumped overboard. She swam to him as fast as she could and caught up to him just as they reached shore. She managed to slice open his heel so he couldn't run, and she wrestled him for the compass. Once she had it in her hand she jumped up and ran. At that point Sparrow had dropped anchor and was heading ashore with his crew. "How's that captains intuition?"         
           Will spoke over Sparrows shoulder. Jack responded by repeating what Will said in a mocking tone. A group on land was already pulling the man into a tent to give him medical attention. He just kept yelling about a thief woman who stole his property. Laròn ran along the shore line until she came to a huge rock formation with multiple caves. Some of those caves were occupied as opium dens. She found one that was empty and ducked into it. She knew she had to get out of Nassau. It was only a matter of time before Sparrow found out the compasses new power. The man in the tent was yelling enough for the whole island to hear. Soon Captain Jack Rackham would be after her too.