Jack shook his compass furiously and swore. I glanced at him and then went back to sharpening my sword.

He gave up and sat back, looking frustrated. "Jack, is it still pointing to me?" I asked teasingly.

He glared at me and said, "Sometimes. But right now--oh, yes, rum would be nice." He grabbed his bottle and brought it to his mouth, then frowned and tipped it upside down. A single drop fell out of the bottle.

"Why is the rum always gone?" He asked dramatically. I laughed.

He stood and almost fell over with the tossing of the ship; he was probably a bit more than tipsy. "Oh," He said. "That's why."

He walked out of the room, presumably to get more rum. I should've asked him to get me a drink.

I sang quietly as I waited for him to come back. Maybe he would share?

A sliver of silver

Gold is a goal

Running to rum

Hiding in holds

And tales being told

Switching to Jack's cutlass after a while, I continued to rub the stone down the shiny metal. Well, to be honest, Jack's was more of a dull gray. I was interrupted by Jack's sudden frantic yelling.

"All hands on deck!" He was yelling. "Movement! I want movement!"

I jumped and pricked my finger. Cursing, I sheathed my blade and then his, running out of our cabin and on deck. Jack charged up from below decks, then found Gibbs. "Port. Land." He said bluntly.

Gibbs's brow furrowed and I came up behind him, wondering what the bloody hell Jack was going on about this time. "Captain, what land?" Gibbs asked.

Jack flailed his arms. "Land. Any land."

Just then, there was a screech! and Jack the monkey swooped down. He stole Jack's hat and threw it over the side of the ship, then bounded away innocently.

"Jack's hat!" Gibbs shouted. We all knew how protective Jack was of his precious headgear. "Come about!"

"Nay! Belay that!" Jack yelled back, scrambling to us, gesturing frantically. "Leave it!"

We all stared. Jack gulped. "Run!" He squeaked, and did just that.

Gibbs and I exchanged a glance. I could tell by his face he was very worried about Jack's sanity, more than he was usually. He went for the helm.

Jack had sprinted for the helm as well. He didn't go up the stairs, though. He hid under them, clutching his left hand and trembling.

I cautiously padded up to him, creasing my brow with worry. "Jack, what--"

"Ah!" He started and stared, relaxing when he realized it was me. "Oh. Hi." He took his baldric from me and slung it around his shoulders.

I shook my head and took his hand, pulling it away from his left. He jerked away and glared at me. "Jack, are you hurt?" I asked.

"In more ways then one," He replied. He glanced behind himself and took a deep breath. "You know what I need? A drink. Preferably rum. Yet we don't have any rum. Why don't we have any rum..."

I took him by the shoulder and shook him. "Jack, what's following us?"

He jumped. "Nothing." Very short and to the point. Jack is never short and to the point.

I sighed and pulled him away from the wall. "Come on, Jackie."

He glared at me about the use of his hated nickname but followed as I led him to our cabin. I passed Gibbs on the way and paused to ask him, "Gibbs, I need you to find me some rum. Any rum." At his questioning stare I rolled my eyes. "Jack needs it."

He nodded and I opened our door, then ushered Jack inside. He collapsed into his chair, behind the desk, and I sat in the chair in front.

"Jack, let me see your hand. Now." He flinched at my tone but complied. I took his left hand and uncurled his tightly clenched fingers.

I gasped in horror.

In the center of his palm was a decaying, rotting, black spot.

Jack made a sort of miserable muffled noise and took his hand away. I stared at him and felt a sinking feeling in my chest. "What the hell," I asked, "Did you do to Davy Jones?"

He twisted a ring around his finger and rolled his eyes. "I am the victim, here."

I resisted the urge to punch him. "I know, but tell me anyway. Please," I added.

He sighed and his eyes sort of clouded over, like he was lost in memory. "Yes. Well, you've heard the stories of the Black Pearl?"

I rolled my eyes and smiled. "You bother me with them all the time, Jack."

He nodded, a faint smirk on his face. "True. But you know how the Pearl was previously the Wicked Wench?"

I nodded. "You re-christened her."

He agreed with a bob of his head, his dreadlocks swinging. "After she was sunk by Cutler Beckett and brought up from the ocean floor by Davy Jones."

My head shot up. "The Wench was sunk?"

Jack's face hardened. "Mm-hmm. He sunk his own ship, damn it. The Wench was under Beckett's name at the time. I was going to buy her and go back on the account, but he caught me before I could." (A.N. 'On the account' is pirate slang for being, well, a pirate.)

"Caught you at what?"

"He forced me to traffic slaves. I refuse to do that. So I dropped the slaves off at an island where they could be free, and Beckett and his men came in and caught us just before we had fully succeeded. The slaves were free, but the Wench was sunk."

I nodded slowly. "The island. What was it called?"

"Kerma," Jack smiled at the name and brought the end of his magenta striped sash up, waving it at me before dropping it back in his lap. "The Shining City. I acquired this there, from the princess. Wonderful woman. I would show you the island, but it's one of those places that can't be found. Quite like Isle de Muerta, but once you get arrive at the island you can't see it. It's cleverly hidden."

"Ok. But Davy Jones brought her up."

He stiffened. "I almost died, in fact. I tried to save her but there was too much smoke. I blacked out, I think, and I saw the locker. Nothing there, actually. It's a dessert, stretching on forever. That's how it looked to me, anyway. I made a deal with Jones." Jack took a deep breath. "Our deal was that I would have thirteen years to command the Wench. Then, my soul was his."

I nodded slowly, and a feeling of horror crashed over me. "And he's coming to collect it."

Jack nodded miserably. "Yep."

I was quiet. "Who did he send?"

Jack let out a bitter laugh. "You won't believe me." I raised my eyebrow and he leaned forward, smirking slightly. "Bootstrap Bill Turner."

I gasped. "Will's dad? He's a part of the Flying Dutchman's crew?"

Jack nodded, and there was a knock at the door. I got up to answer. It was Gibbs.

"Here," He said, and handed me a bottle of rum. He narrowed his eyes. "What's got Jack fixed?"

"He's fine. Thanks." I said, and dismissed him. I shut the door after he left and turned to Jack, who was sitting erect in his chair, looking at the rum eagerly. I chuckled and tossed it to him; he caught it and saluted me with a grin.

"So what now?" I asked after he had had a few gulps.

He shook his head and set the bottle down. "Land, like I said. The kraken can't get you on land."

I rolled my eyes. "But after we find land. Then what?"

Jack grinned and took another sip. I snatched the bottle from him so I could take a drink. "I have absolutely no idea, love."

I groaned theatrically. "You never do." He stole the bottle back.

Later that night, the sailor in the crow's nest called out that he had spotted land. When Jack ran out on deck to see, he seemed alarmed, but as all he wanted was land he didn't fuss. Gibbs, too, seemed on edge at the sight, but I didn't ask.

The island we had stumbled across was the typical Caribbean island: white sandy beach, jungle, and a jagged mountain sort of thing that reached high into the air. Nothing to be afraid of, from what I could see so far.

"We're going to beach her," Jack told me, and then bellowed it to the crew. I raised my eyebrow but said nothing. The kraken wasn't after the ship, was it?

After the grueling task of pulling the Pearl onto the white sand, Jack and I helped tie her down. I'm sorry, that's a lie. Jack sort of ran around, telling people how to tie the knots.

"Jack, there is literally no one here," I whispered to him. We were standing at the water's edge, watching the ocean, a bit later. "No animals, no humans, no nothing. It's too quiet!"

He shook his head, brushing it off. "An island can be deserted, love." He didn't meet my eyes.

I rolled my eyes. "You are excellent at coming up with excuses, you know that? But what happens when we run out of supplies?"

He considered my point. "Oh. I hadn't thought of that."

"Obviously!" I bumped him with my hip, glaring at him. "I wonder why I stick around you sometimes, Jack."

He smirked. "I can see a lot of reasons."

I reddened and hit him. He grinned and pulled me into his side, brushing a kiss across my lips.

"Cap'n!" Gibbs walked up to us, a little wobbly from being on the ocean for so long. And, he was probably half drunk. "We can't find Anamaria, Jack."

Jack turned reluctantly from me and squinted up the beach. "You've looked everywhere?"

I felt a pang of concern. Anamaria and I had become good friends over the months I had been sailing on the Pearl. That woman had one cutlass of a tongue, and she wielded it well.

Gibbs shook his head. "She left the Pearl with everyone else, and then into the jungle to look around with most of the other sailors. They've went missing as well."

I hit Jack again. "Let's go look for them!"

He hesitated, and I thwacked him again.

He ducked away. "Alright, fine!"

We gathered up the remaining crew members, consisting of Cotton, Gibbs, Charlie, a slight and skinny eighteen year old who was amazing with a sword, about ten other typical pirates I didn't know by name, and Leech.

We tromped through the jungle, making about as much noise as a bull in a china shop would, and I clutched Jack's hand. I was incredibly nervous. I couldn't get the bad feeling out of my gut. "Jack..." I whispered.

He squeezed my hand but didn't look at me. "You'll be fine, love--whoa!"

Jack yelled as he was jerked up into the air. I whirled around and stared at him, then screamed a curse as something wrapped around my ankle and I was thrown upward.

I dangled from a tree, upside down, screaming, swinging my sword at everything. Someone yelled at me to shut up, but I ignored them. I couldn't see Jack, or Gibbs, or anyone.

"Ahh! Don't eat me!" Someone yelled. Eat him? What?

My last thought before everything went black was, I'm so glad I don't wear dresses...