On the Island: Ceremony and Escape

[bringmethatnpc]

The sound of thunder rumbles through the air, heralding an approaching storm--

--no, wait.

That's not thunder; that's the beating of drums.

It's a beautiful clear day on the island, just perfect for a ceremony and celebration, as the tribe prepares to send their chief to the gods.

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[pirate_jack]

The occasional impersonation of a member of the clergy aside, he's never been all that much for regular observation of religious services.

Of course, Jack muses, it's strangely fitting that his habit -- so to speak -- should have landed him here in this role. The question is how to get out of it.

Meanwhile, the natives continue building up their fire and their energy together. Two of them bring over the ceremonial necklace, placing it around Jack's throat with the gravity due the situation.

As they withdraw, he lifts one of the toes and eyes it thoughtfully.

"Maybe it won't be so bad," Jack mutters, and with a shrug, bites off a piece of the nail.

A second later he's spat it out.

"Not to my taste."

[bringmethatnpc]

The drums beat a steady, hypnotic cadence, under the chanting of the natives preparing for the day's ritual. Most of the men are at work laying wood for the fire. It's piled high, as befits this day of celebration; the fire will be more than large enough for the purpose.

As the last sticks are laid in place, the group turns to face their chief.

[pirate_jack]

"No no! Wait! Oy! No no!"

Jack leaps to his feet from his seat upon the throne, waving his hands in violent protest.

"More wood! Big fire! Big fire!" He suits his gestures to his words, indicating the height of the blaze that he prefers as he demands, "I am chief-- want big fire!"

He turns, gesturing imperatively for the honor guard behind his throne to go and help.

"A-boogie snickle-snickle. Tout suite, come on! More wood!"

[bringmethatnpc]

The warriors exchange eloquent looks. The chief is weird.

However, he's also the chief, and divine, and it is his ceremony to return to the home of the gods. Shrugging, they turn back to the fire, tossing on more armfuls of wood.

[pirate_jack]

One sideways step, then a second, and a third.

When they turn around, they'll find that Jack is gone.

The wooden slat bridge shakes under his feet as he runs across it, arms gyrating wildly for balance-- and even more wildly as he skids to a stop at the edge of a cliff.

"Not good..."

Jack looks around and spots a nearby cottage. Hurrying inside, he paws through odds and ends salvaged from previous "guests" and shipwrecks, finally snatching up a large coil of rope.

As he heads for the door, his eye is caught by a shining silver gleam. He pauses long enough to pick up a paprika tin with the stamp of the East India Company upon it.

"Now that's interesting."

Still carrying the paprika, Jack hurries out the cottage door, where he comes abruptly to a halt.

"Oh bugger."

[bringmethatnpc]

Cold feet are understandable, on the eve of a ceremony this life-changing.

Understandable, however, does not mean honorable, and it does not mean excusable. When the chief is a god, he will remember them with gratitude, and favor their hunts and their voyages -- and, with the white men's huge ships coming ever more frequently, the blessings of a new god are greatly to be desired.

Right now, however, he doesn't have the powers or the perspective of the god. Until the ritual is done, he's still only the chief. And when the chief forgets his duty, it's up to the shaman and the warriors of the tribe to remind him of it.

This is why very nearly the entire tribe is now clustered around this cottage.

With spears.

[pirate_jack]

He shrugs the rope off his shoulder to the ground and smiles winningly as he takes the lid from the paprika.

Jack dusts lightly under both arms as he explains,

"A little seasoning, aye?"

A wave of his hand invites them to smell the delectable scent of spiced Jack, which floats strongly on the air given the amount of paprika he's used.

Among other things.

[turned_captain]

Will's lucky not to have been eaten, all things considered. He just doesn'[t feel that lucky. His captors carried him off to a deep ravine between two almost sheer cliffs, and forced him into a large round cage - one of two suspended by an elaborate arrangement of ropes at the half-way point between the cliffs. For fifty or so feet in all directions is nothig but empty air.

And pirates. His immediate vicinity is very much piratey, as he's sharing his cage with members of the Black Pearl's crew. The second cage is similarly packed.

"Why would he do this to us?" He complains to Gibbs. "If Jack is the chief..."

[bringmethatnpc]

This isn't the time to wonder what on Earth Will Turner is doing here. So Gibbs stops himself from asking. For now.

"Aye, the Pelegostas made Jack their chief, but he only remains chief as long as he acts like a chief."

[turned_captain]

"So he had no choice," Will reflects, eager to see the best in Jack.

"He is a captive then, as much as the rest of us."

[bringmethatnpc]

"Worse, as it turns out." Gibbs pauses to heighten dramatic tension, without realizing he's doing so.

"See, the Pelegostas believe that Jack is a god in human form, and they intend to do him the honor of releasing him from his fleshly prison." Oddly this doesn't seem to freak Gibbs out.

[bringmethatnpc]

In the pause, Cotton illustrates helpfully by miming biting and chewing on Gibbs' finger. Possibly a little more sharply then is strictly necessary, but everyone's under a lot of stress just now.

Marty nods matter-of-factly.

[bringmethatnpc]

Parrots are supposed to be good luck. But maybe Gibbs needs to rethink that opinion. If they survive.

He shakes off the pain and looks again at Will.

"They’ll roast him and eat him." Maybe now he's a bit more unnerved by the concept.

[cleverparasol.livejournal.com]

"--Haul loose the mooring line! The mooring line!"

Getting the Pearl ready to sail is not, it seems, going smoothly.

[bringmethatnpc]

No, that tall skinny one-time-immortal no-longer-undead ex-crewmate illiterate one-eyed thinks-he's-such-a-reformed-pirate isn't getting this gem back! I wonder how it tastes? Probably way better from up here high on the mast!

The monkey swings just out of reach, as always, chattering and taunting, holding the wooden eye up to his mouth.

[gotmy-eye.livejournal.com]

Ragetti never liked the stupid monkey.

He's on his hands and knees, trying to snatch the eye back - "Thief! You little hairy thief, give it back!" -As the monkey sinks its teeth in - "Don't bite it!"

He looks up when he hears Pintel's call. Whining, "He's got me eye! He won't give it back!"

[cleverparasol.livejournal.com]

"Well, how'd you get it back last time?--"

[bringmethatnpc]

The fascinating discussion is halted when Gibbs, ahead of the others, arrives on the scene.

"Excellent, our work’s half-done!" He has no idea why on earth these two miserable excuses for pirates are there. And right now, he doesn't care.

[cleverparasol.livejournal.com]

--Ummm.

Change in plans, then.

"We done it for you!" he calls after Gibbs. "Knowing you’d be coming back for her!"

[pirate_jack]

He's drenched with seawater when he finally climbs aboard, which at least has the benefit of having washed away the sweat from his frantic flight, the paprika from his earlier spicing, and much of the paint on his face.

Restored to the deck of the Pearl, Jack looks to the approaching Gibbs, while two pirates -- Pintel and Ragetti, although he's not noticed -- start draping the captain's coat around his shoulders.

[bringmethatnpc]

"Let’s put some distance between us and this island and head out to open sea." The sooner all forget this place, the sooner they get back to piracy, the better.

[pirate_jack]

He listens to this gravely and then counters,

"Yes to the first, yes to the second, but only insofar as we keep to the shallows as much as possible."

As he feels his coat settle into place, Jack turns to nod thanks to his helper-- and looks at his new crewmembers with visible surprise. Pintel and Ragetti both hastily salute.

After a second, Jack shrugs acceptance. There are more important things to worry about at the moment.

[bringmethatnpc]

Gibbs blinks at his captain. "That seems a bit contradictory, Cap’n."

[pirate_jack]

Without a second's hesitation, Jack tells him,

"I have every faith in your reconciliatory navigational skills, Master Gibbs--"

A look of intense frustration comes over his face as he continues, "--now where is that monkey, I want to shoot something."

[bringmethatnpc]

Eeeek, not more shooting! Bugger this for a game of soldiers.

The monkey drops the eye it had been in the middle of tasting, and scurries even higher into the rigging.