Back then...
A white, sulfurous fog hung low along the sea. Through the haze, one's eyesight couldn't glimpse more than a couple of yards in front of them. There was an eerie silence in the air, like a breath waiting to be exhaled from the lungs.
All at once, the silence was broken by the sound of fifty guns roaring to life with deafening power. The cannonballs ripped across the clouded sky, and struck hard against the splintered hull of a pirate ship.
"Captain!" one of the crewmembers shouted, "We've been hit! We're taking on water!"
The captain, in a state of panic, shouted "Abandon ship! Get to the lifeboats! Abandon ship!"
There was a great confusion as the sailors and officers scurried across the deck, making haste to reach the boats before the ship went down. The captain got in one of the lifeboats with about five other men, two of which had been wounded by cannon fire. As they began to paddle away with some of the other survivors, they could hear a voice calling up from the deck of the sinking ship.
"The powder magazine! It's about to-"
The explosion had left an even larger gap in the ship's hull, and a roaring fire blazed from the inside as the ship sank deeper. Screams of terror came from the inside as the ship began to sink into the depths. The captain made a silent prayer for all the souls still aboard his vessel.
"Captain, we have no other choice! We have to surrender!" one of the men had begged. The captain silently nodded.
They rowed over through the smoke, putting white sheets on the front of their muskets. As they ventured their way across the water, the smoke began to dissipate, revealing that the ocean water was littered in burning planks of wood and dozens of corpses. The men were terrified as they paddled their way across, until finally they saw a magnificent vessel right in front of them bearing the Spanish flag.
The ship looked to be a half-mile wide, with masts about half the length of the vessel itself. Fifty guns adorned the port side, smoke still emanating from the barrels from the previous barrage. The rumors were true; the Silent Mary was the deadliest ship in the Caribbean.
The men cried out for mercy, and they awaited the reply of the Spanish on board.
"Capitán!" a one-eyed lieutenant named Lezaro called out, "There appear to be survivors. They're begging for mercy."
Slowly but surely, the captain of the feared vessel, Armando Salazar, had begun to stroll his way over from the helm towards Lezaro. He stood tall, with broad shoulders and hair tied back neatly in a ponytail. He was garnered in an elegant, white naval uniform adorned with medals from His Majesty himself. He held an apple in his right hand, and his arms were behind his back as he calmly walked to his lieutenant.
"Mercy?" Salazar asked, "What mercy? Do you think that if we and the pirata scum switched roles, that they would show us any mercy? All they do is raid, pillage, and murder. They're nothing more than animals. So no, Teniente Lezaro, there is no mercy."
Salazar took a bite of his apple, then nudged his head toward the pirates as he threw the rest of the apple into the water.
"Yes, Capitán," Lezaro complied, and then he ordered his men to take positions along the port side, muskets at the ready.
The pirates in the lifeboats continued to scream for mercy, but the captain remained silent, knowing their fate was inevitable.
"Preparar... apuntar... disparar!" Lezaro shouted, and the Spaniards opened fire upon the pirates, killing them all in a single volley. They cried out in pain for a moment before their bodies became lifeless and fell into the sea down to Davy Jones' Locker.
The smoke had cleared for the most part, and around the Silent Mary were about a dozen or so pirate vessels, all with burning hulls and sinking down to the depths. The victorious Spanish let out a cry of victory, and the last ship to go down had it's Jolly Roger ablaze and falling to the water.
Salazar couldn't help but beam at the sight. At last, the pirates were no more.
Across the horizon, a ship with a blackened hull and sails began to draw closer to the bay. Despite it's shoddy, burnt state, the vessel was making incredible speed across the clear blue ocean, with the wind in the crew's favor. The ship was magnificent in it's own right, with it's unique and rugged appearance balanced out by the sheer power of both its sails and its guns. The back of the ship read the name of the Wicked Wench, but it had been a long time since it had been called that. It now sailed under a different name: the Black Pearl.
The first mate strolled over to one of the crew members tying one of the sails down and pulled him to the side, saying "This be a mad venture we're on. It be suicide."
"We won't be alone, Hector," the crewman answered, "The Brethren Court's dispatched about a dozen ships for this."
"Aye, but this be the Silent Mary, William," Hector warned, "captained by Armando Salazar, El Matador Del Mar himself! We won't stand a chance! They be a bloody armada contained into one ship!"
"What are you suggesting, mate?" William asked.
"That we change our course and turn away from this while we still can!" Hector implored, "We must convince the captain to veer away before it's too late!"
"Are you talking about a mutiny, Hector?" William asked, shocked.
"No, not mutiny! We need only to convince the captain otherwise before we all end up at the bottom of the sea!" Hector nearly shouted.
"I have faith in his decisions," William sternly replied, "If you want to change his mind, take it up with him."
Hector let out a great sigh, and he began to stroll his way over to the helm. Pintel was at the wheel, and the good captain was at the edge of the stern holding that compass he cherished so much. He never let anyone else touch it for reasons no one knew why. He was dressed lightly, with little more than a shirt, vest, pants, and boots covering his body, in addition to the blue bandana wrapped around his head and the assortment of trinkets on his person. He wore a red sash around his waist which contained his cutlass and pistol, and his eyes were fixated upon the compass' direction. Despite being much more younger than Hector and some of the other pirates aboard, he was not a man to be questioned or crossed. He had had plenty of experience on the open sea, and he was renowned for his clever wit and his ability to make his words more dangerous than any cannon.
"Captain," Hector began, "I be needing to speak with ya."
The captain closed the cover of his compass, and then turned around to face his first mate.
"Yeah," the captain asked, sounding somewhat annoyed, "what's botherin' you, mate?"
"This just isn't sitting well with me, Jack. No ship has ever escaped the wrath of Captain Salazar," Hector begged, "I beseech you, we must turn back now!"
"Wish I could, but I can't, Mr. Barbossa," Jack replied.
"And why not?" Hector questioned.
"Let me put it to you in simple terms: Salazar hunts down every pirate he finds. If we leave now, he'll inevitably find us and destroy us by ourselves. If we stay now, we at least have the support of the Brethren Court. More ships means more targets for the Mary to hit, meaning its fire won't be fully concentrated on any one ship. With this, we can send Salazar to the depths and we can all celebrate with a nice bottle of rum in Tortuga, savvy?" Jack finished.
"And what happens if our ship is concentrated upon and we all sink to the depths, Captain?" Hector grudgingly asked.
"Then we swim for it," Jack replied nonchalantly, "and hope the sharks don't eat us."
Hector sighed, and made his way across the deck away from Jack. As soon as he was alone, Jack opened up his compass again, and he could see that the ship was heading in the right direction. At this rate they'd be at the bay in no time.
As he looked down at his compass, he could see the little pink P-mark on his right wrist out of the corner of his eye. When it registered to him that he'd seen it, he closed his eyes for a second and rolled down his sleeve, letting out a minor sigh.
Don't think about it, mate. Don't you dare think about it.
He was suddenly pulled from his thoughts when he heard Hector calling out, "Captain!"
Jack quickly made his way over to the bow where Hector was, and asked, "What's seems to be the fuss?"
Hector was holding a telescope in his hands as he stood with a dumbfounded expression on his face.
"I- I think you should see for yourself, Captain," he managed to say, handing the telescope to Jack. He took it, and saw what he could only describe as hell.
At least a dozen ships were burning in the bay area, with pirate flags adorning each one. The sea was cluttered with dead bodies and debris, the evidence of a major incursion right before the crew's eyes.
"Dear God," Jack gasped.
"I be beggin' ya, Jack! We must get out of here!" Hector pleaded.
"No," Jack answered coolly, "We're not leaving. The Silent Mary is still out there."
"All the more reason for us to flee before we're destroyed!" Hector shouted, "If a fleet of ships couldn't take down Salazar, what makes you think the Pearl can?"
"The answer's in the question, mate. This is the Pearl," Jack answered, and he looked upon his compass to see if it would give him what he wanted most. Suddenly, the needle turned and pointed towards a small, rocky island with a cave entrance, and Jack smiled as he realized what it was.
"The Devil's Triangle," he smiled, formulating his plan, "Yeah, that'll do nicely. Keep going inland, gentlemen!"
Before anyone could object, Jack began to climb up the rigging without hesitation, reaching it's limit upward before grabbing onto the beams and climbing into the crow's nest. As he got in, he called out as loud as he could, shouting, "Oi, Spaniards!"
"What's Jack doin'?" Hector remarked out loud to no one in particular.
"I don't know, but he's doing something, I reckon," William answered.
"Oi, over here!" Jack called again.
Back on the Silent Mary, some of the Spaniards began to turn their heads towards the commotion. They saw the ship in the distance, but they were certain they had destroyed every ship in the area. And now this one appeared out of nowhere.
"Capitán," Lezaro said, watching Jack flail his arms from the top of the Pearl with his telescope, "You need to see this!"
Salazar walked over towards his lieutenant and took the telescope from his hands, looking through towards the direction of the ship. What he saw astounded him; there was this strange, pirate boy calling out from the top of the crow's nest. Just a boy. And he was up there high and mighty, almost like some little bird flapping it's wings.
Like a sparrow.
"Hey, Salazar! The name's Jack! Listen here! If you surrender to me now, I will let you live!" Jack called out, "Hear that? I will let you live!"
Salazar quickly closed his telescope, his brow becoming furrowed and his demeanor tense as he shouted back "You dare to mock me, boy? Sitting up there and flapping your arms around like a sparrow?" His crew then gave a hearty laugh as their captain belittled the pirate.
Jack, chuckling as he heard the Spaniard's remarks towards him, replied, "The thing about sparrows, mate, is that they can fly very fast! And if you're not careful, they're likely to pluck your eyes right out from your sockets!"
"You know, I don't take pleasure in killing," Salazar began, "but in your case, I'll be willing to make an exception!"
"I'd like to see you try!" Jack taunted, "Don't say I didn't warn you!"
"Kill that pirate!" Salazar barked to his crew, having lost his patience as he paced towards the helm, and his men made haste to sail the ship towards the Pearl.
Jack quickly descended from the crow's nest via one of the rigging lines, and ordered, "Mr. Barbossa, hard to port and head inland!"
"But Jack, we'll be trapped and torn to pieces!" Hector begged.
"Hector, do as I say," Jack ordered again, and then said "Bootstrap, loosen some sail and catch that wind!"
"Aye, sir!" William complied, and he began to loosen the sails to increase their speed.
Salazar watched as the pirates were picking up speed, and he shouted "Follow him in!"
The Mary began to pick up speed as it followed close on the heels of the Pearl. Salazar was going to eliminate these pirates once and for all, and he would take great satisfaction from running his blade along that boy's throat. He wouldn't let his status be mocked by some lowlife murderer.
Jack seized the wheel from Pintel, who he then ordered to get the cargo loaded onto the port side with Ragetti below decks. He took the helm and began to steer the ship towards what looked like a cave. He knew that if he went in he was a dead man, but Jack was clever. He knew what he had to do.
"The ship's too fast, we can't hit it with our guns!" Lezaro commented, "What do we do?"
"He's heading for the caves," Salazar informed him, "He thinks he can lose us in there, but he has no idea. Full speed ahead!"
"Get ready, men!" Jack ordered, "Barbossa, get the hooks out! Bootstrap, get all the cannons tied to the port side!"
He was venturing very fast towards the cave, but the opportune moment hadn't come yet. He had to wait just a little bit longer.
"Captain, we're getting awfully close!" Bootstrap called out, "What are your orders?"
"Not yet..." Jack said, "Wait for it... wait for it..."
Salazar shouted "Kill that pirate bastardo!" and the Mary was dangerously close to firing distance.
"Now! Bootleg turn!" Jack shouted, and the crew threw grappling hooks onto some jagged rocks near the mouth of the cave. Jack turned the wheel hard, using the weight of the cargo and cannons to his advantage as they curved sharply around the rocks and back the other way again.
Salazar stood atop of his deck dumbfounded. That boy had just outmaneuvered him. Armando Salazar, the scourge of all pirates, was bested by a mere boy.
"Bootleg turn!" he yelled, making his way over to the helm and taking the wheel himself. He tried to steer the ship away from the mouth of the cave, but it was too late. He looked over his shoulder to see Jack strutting across the deck, swinging his compass on a small rope in a circular motion. The boy gave a mere smirk at the Spaniard, and Salazar became filled with hatred at the mere sight of him. From that moment, this one name would haunt him for all eternity:
Jack Sparrow.
Just as soon as the ship entered the cave, it came up hard against sharp rocks on the surface of the water. The Silent Mary came to a halt, sending some of the Spanish flying forward. The rocks had torn through the hull of the ship, and they struck the powder magazine below deck. There was a great explosion from below deck, going up through the top of the deck and burning the sailors in the bow area. The fire and explosions continued, spreading throughout the whole of the ship. One by one, more of the Spanish became nothing but burnt corpses along the deck of the ship. Salazar backed up in horror, watching his crew and his ship be destroyed before his very eyes. He attempted to escape from the crumbling vessel, but the beam of the falling mast struck the back of his head, taking out a decent chunk of his skull and killing him instantly.
Salazar's lifeless body fell into the water, his neat ponytail undone, his clean, white uniform now blackened and charred, and his beautiful vessel destroyed. The Silent Mary was nothing more than a fiery wreck, and its crew lie down in the depths.
Jack stood on the deck of the Pearl, bowing as the crew began to cheer him on. No one had ever been able to defeat Salazar before, and the crew was indebted to him for saving their necks.
"Please, it's nothing really," Jack said, trying (and failing) to be modest, "Just get me a bottle of rum and we'll be square, savvy?"
"I got to hand it to ya Jack," Hector said, strolling over to his captain, "I never believed that you'd be able to do it. Outwitting El Matador Del Mar? Ne'er in a thousand years would I have thought it possible, and yet here we are with air still in our chests!"
"Thanks, mate," Jack said, "Now, let us make way for Tortuga gentlemen! Drinks are on me!"
The crew gave another loud cheer, and then William walked up to the captain and removed his hat.
"A proper captain needs a hat, sir. You be deserving this one as homage," he said, placing his leather tricorn hat in Jack's hand, "We can't thank you enough, Jack."
"Nay, not just Jack!" Hector said, silencing the crew, "You be best deserving of a better name, one that makes you stand out amongst our lot. Gentlemen, let's give three cheers for Captain Jack Sparrow!"
Jack Sparrow? It was an odd choice of name to be sure, but something about it sounded right to him. Better than his last one, anyway. This might help him forget it.
The crew began to chant, "Captain Jack Sparrow! Hip-hip-hoorah! Hip-hip-hoorah! Hip-hip-hoorah!"
Jack smiled at his crew, and then gave the order to set sail for Tortuga. He took the wheel and began to steer towards the direction of the pirate haven, and then he had put Bootstrap Bill's tricorn upon his head. It was quite comfortable, actually.
He looked down upon the branding upon his wrist again, and then he chuckled. He wasn't going to let this ruin his victory, so he was just going to bask in it. Pirate's life, right?
Jack Sparrow. Captain of the Black Pearl, defeater of the Silent Mary. I like the sound of that.
"Gentlemen!" Jack called out, "A shanty!"
"Fifteen men on a dead man's chest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
Drink and the devil had done for the rest
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
The mate was fixed by the bosun's pike
The bosun brained with a marlinspike
And cookey's throat was marked belike
It had been gripped by fingers ten;
And there they lay, all good dead men
Like break o'day in a boozing ken.
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!"
Salazar's corpse continued to drift down towards the ocean floor, the mighty Spanish captain having fallen at last. But fate was not done with him yet; he still had a purpose to fulfill. From the rocks inside the Triangle emanated a strange, red energy than darted it's way through the water into the wrecked warship and into the bodies of the Spanish. When it directed it's way towards Salazar, it entered in throughout his body, and his eyes suddenly snapped open. Salazar had returned from the land of the dead, and only one emotion clouded his mind:
Rage.