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Chapter 57 - Tortuga
🕑 Added 2025-06-07 14:08:33 +0000 UTCSailing calmly across the open sea, a completely black ship with torn sails and an imposing presence cut through the waves with majesty.
Against the dark night sky, it looked even more sinister and mysterious.
That was the Black Pearl, a ship feared across the seas for its infamous immortal crew, and for the captain said to be so evil that hell itself spat him back out.
Well... one could say that was the former Pearl.
The current cursed ship had a much more interesting scene.
"Lower the front sails!" Jack—the new, or more precisely, the original captain of the ship—was the one giving the orders.
Will, Puss, and Elizabeth ran to the ropes. The Pearl was a large ship, and it wasn't easy to handle it efficiently with just five people—well, three people and two animals. So they had to work a little hard to make everything function.
"Tornado, what are you doing? Don't just stand there, go help!" Jack, at the helm, shouted at Tornado, who was standing still, watching everyone else work.
"Snort!" The black horse turned to him and raised his hoof, showing it to Jack with a look that seemed to ask if he was stupid.
But Captain Sparrow just rolled his eyes.
"If I had a gold coin for every time I heard the old excuse about having hooves instead of hands and not being able to do anything, I'd have two gold coins by now," he complained, his face full of disdain.
"Whinny!" Tornado looked at him in disbelief and stomped his hoof on the deck, irritated.
"What do you mean you do plenty? You just stand there while everyone else works!" Jack pointed at him angrily.
"Snort!" Tornado pointed right back at him and snorted, rolling his eyes.
"You grumpy horse! What do you mean I just lazily stay at the helm, bossing others around while secretly being lazy?! This position is very important. Where would we go without me in command? You're the one who does nothing!" Jack defended himself and accused the black horse again, who looked at him in disbelief.
It was at that moment that a low mumble came from beside Tornado.
"Ugh... where are we?" one of the tied-up pirates asked, trying to open his eyes, still dazed.
Bang!
Before he could even get his bearings, a black hoof struck his forehead, leaving a "U" shaped horseshoe mark and sending him back to dreamland.
"Whinny!" Tornado turned his gaze back to Jack after knocking the man out, then used his hoof to point smugly at the various unconscious pirates, all with U-marks on their foreheads.
Jack's eye twitched.
"Okay, maybe not completely useless. But I still want to see more effort in learning how to untie and tie knots with those hooves," Jack admitted helplessly, though he still refused to drop the argument.
"Snort!" Tornado turned his head to the side arrogantly.
Meanwhile, a little farther off, adjusting the sails, Puss, Will, and Elizabeth watched the scene, slightly dazed.
"Tornado really said that?" Will looked at Puss and asked, impressed by Jack's newfound fluency in horse language.
"Well, Jack got the meaning right, but that's not what Tornado actually said." Puss looked over seriously and shook his head.
"Huh? Then what did he say?" Will looked at him, confused and curious.
"He said: 'Snort,' then 'Whinny,' and finished with 'Snort'," Puss imitated a horse with a serious face, then smiled at Will.
"Pfff... Haha!" Elizabeth, who had been listening intently, was caught off guard and burst into laughter.
Puss looked at her, amused, and winked charmingly.
The beautiful woman's smile only grew at that, and she went back to tying the ropes, trying to hide her grin.
Puss also smiled and returned his focus to the task at hand.
As for Will, he was still stunned by the response.
While the cursed ship seemed to be shedding its malice under the command of the good souls now aboard, not far from them, on the horizon, an island began to appear.
Jack looked through his golden spyglass, taken from the pile of treasures, and grinned upon seeing the island in the distance.
"Land ho!" he shouted with a roguish smile. "And not just any land."
His shout and words drew everyone's attention.
Jack looked down at them and declared with a clever glint in his eye:
"My friends... welcome to Tortuga."
…
At the port of Tortuga, the menacing black ship slowly came to a stop at the dock.
But even that fearsome and infamous ship didn't stir much tension on the island that never slept.
Either the people there were too drunk to care, or they were simply far too used to chaos and death.
The ramp dropped from the ship and hit the dock.
Leading the way was Jack, walking with his usual free-spirited manner and a slight smile on his face. His mood couldn't have been better.
Followed by everyone, they stepped into the port, which already gave a taste of the chaos the city held.
Pirates lay in their own vomit, or fought and shot at each other everywhere. Prostitutes laughed, played, and teased all around.
Jack took a deep breath and let it out.
"Haah... the foul and putrid air of Tortuga. What a wonderful place." He smiled, satisfied, and turned to the others.
"Ahem!" Puss coughed into his fist, drawing everyone's attention as he elegantly rested his other arm on the hilt of his sword. "Jack, someone needs to watch over the Pearl. You go, take Will and Tornado, and find a trustworthy crew. I'll stay on the ship and keep watch." He began assigning tasks.
"Fine by me." Jack shrugged, finding it reasonable.
Will nodded in agreement as well.
"Snort!" Tornado snorted, looking at the city with curiosity. He wanted to explore and trot around, so he was happy with the plan.
Though Puss had volunteered to stay, that didn't mean he didn't plan on exploring the chaotic and fun city. He simply intended to be patient and wait until a trustworthy crew was on the ship, keeping watch over Barbossa's former crew, before going out to enjoy the city.
"And what about me?" Elizabeth suddenly asked, her brows furrowed.
"You? You can choose. If you want to explore the city, go with Jack, but be careful—this place is pure chaos. Otherwise, you can stay and keep watch with me." He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, giving her options without deciding for her.
Elizabeth looked at Puss, then at Jack and Will who looked back at her, and finally at the chaotic city.
"... Well, I think I'll stay." She decided after considering.
"Good choice." Jack joked.
Tortuga wasn't a very pleasant place for a lady like Elizabeth, so it was indeed a wise choice to stay under Puss's protection on the ship.
Jack, in this reality, didn't know Elizabeth very well, and didn't realize how fierce or fearless she could be, so he treated her like the noble young lady she appeared to be.
All the ferocity she had shown during the battle with the pirates—which he barely saw, being busy with Barbossa—he attributed to the temporary immortality of that moment. But he also knew she wasn't entirely a spoiled noble lady, since she had helped sail the Pearl without complaint, running around with Puss and Will.
Still, Tortuga wasn't a place for a proper young lady.
"Then let's go." Jack, still in high spirits and smiling, started walking toward the city.
"I... Ah!" Will looked at Elizabeth with regret and began to speak, but suddenly a horse's head bumped into his back, urging him forward—eager to head into the city.
And so, the three left, leaving only Puss and Elizabeth on the ship.
Puss looked at Elizabeth and smiled charmingly.
"Shall we go up?" he asked.
She smiled at him and nodded.
Then, walking side by side, the two climbed back onto the ship.
After confirming all the pirates were unconscious, they headed to the ship's railing.
Puss leapt and stood atop it with grace, while Elizabeth arrived and leaned her arms and body against it.
Both looked out toward the city, which, even at that late hour, was brightly lit and full of noise.
