~28~

                                    

                                          
Shortly after their return to the land of the living, the crew of the Black Pearl discovered a nearby island that could be used to replenish their supplies.
                          
After some arguing, William elected to stay behind and mind the ship while the rest of the gang went ashore. 
                          
"Sweet Mary, save us all." Sera murmured under her breath. There, on the beach, was a massive carcass of a sea creature, one that she immediately recognized as the Kraken. The only way the brute could be killed is if Davy Jones did it himself and there was absolutely no way he would do it, not of his own free will...
                          
"Damn Beckett to the fiery pits of Hell!" She exclaimed loudly, tears pricking her eyes as she reached out and touched the beast's dry cracked hide. Jack watched her with a distasteful frown. "Why so sentimental towards the beastie, love?"
                          
"She was ancient. She had--"
                          
"She?"
                          
"Yes." Sera stepped away from the enormous corpse. "She had been in the seas since the Creation. Now," She blinked back tears. "The Leviathan is all that remains."
                          
"Still thinkin' about runnin', Jack?"
                          
Flaring his nostrils, Jack turned to face Barbossa, who sauntered up to him with his hands on his hips. He nodded to the deceased Kraken. "Think ye can outrun Beckett an' the East India Trading Company? Think ye can outrun the world?"  He crossed his arms and looked at Jack through narrowed eyes. "Ye see, the problem with bein' the last o' anything is that eventually, there will be nothin' left." 
                          
"And what are we goin' to do about it, eh?" Questioned Jack. "Summon the Brethren Court?" He snorted. "That'll do as much good as summonin' me big toe." 
                          
"It's our only hope." Sera retorted sharply. "As it stands now, there are pirates and then there's the East India Trading Company. There is no in between. We are all that stands in the way of Beckett's tyranny and it would be a slap in the face of our fathers and grandfathers if we sat on our laurels and let him take over the seas."
                          
Jack set his mouth in a thin line and stole a sidelong glance at her. 
                          
"The world's gettin' smaller, Jack." 
                          
Shaking his head, Jack stared into the Kraken's giant lifeless eye. "No, Hector. The world's still the same. There's just less in it..."
                          
[] [] [] 
                          
The crew trekked around the island to a freshwater spring hoping to replenish their water stores but when they arrived, they quickly discovered the spring had been polluted by a poisoned man's body. 
                          
"That's unsettling." Jack mumbled when Barbossa turned over the body, revealing his impaled head. Sera took a step closer. "He looks familiar."
                          
"Yeah, I think we saw 'im in Singapore." Pintel commented. Jack whipped his head around. "Singapore? What were you doing in Singapore?"
                          
"We was--"
                          
"Um...guys?" Ragetti climbed up on a tree's tangled root mass and pointed to a ship nearing the Pearl. "W-We've got comp'ny."
                          
º º º
                          
Back on the Pearl...
                          
"Jack Sparrow." Sao Feng purred, approaching the restrained pirate with a ghost of a smile on his face. "You once paid me great insult. You waltzed into my city, took advantage of my hospitable nature, stole an ancient jewel from my uncle's sacred temple, and defiled the twins." 
                          
Jack smiled wickedly. "All in a day's work."
                          
Scowling, Sao Feng socked him in the face. Beside him, Sera strained against her captors. "What are you doing here you fat, pig-headed--"