Vignette: The Road to Hell

[honorat]

By Honorat
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Any fanfic author that removes but a single piece of Disney’s profit from that stone chest shall be punished for eternity.

Summary: A conversation between Bootstrap Bill and Jack Sparrow concerning the Treasure of Cortez. This was supposed to be for the “Enchant” challenge at Black Pearl Sails, but I seem to have entirely lost the ability to write only one hundred words. This is 675 words.

Thank you geek_mama_2 for getting me ready to make way. I’d have had a hard time of it without you.

* * * * *


“I’m going after the Treasure of Cortez.”

The front legs of Bill’s chair dropped to the floor with a crash, and rum sloshed over the top of his flagon. His captain laughed delightedly at this reaction to his announcement.

“I know where the Island is, and I’m taking the Pearl there.”

“Jack, tell me this is another one of your tall tales,” Bill begged. “You know better than me the stories about that treasure.”

“Cursed by heathen gods, and buried on an Island that cannot be found except by those who already know where it is. Yeah, I’ve heard them all.” Jack shrugged dismissively. He frowned into his drink and fished at something floating there with one finger. “Blasted cheap rum,” he groused. “I’m sure they water it with horse piss.”

Refusing to be diverted, Bill leaned forward. “It’s an impossible passage, you damn fool. If you’re looking for a way to commit suicide, I can take you outside and shoot you in the head myself.”

Giving his angelic smile, Jack refused to rise to the bait.

Bill felt the familiar surge of futile anger that always accompanied his attempts to realign Jack Sparrow to prudence. “No ship has ever returned from an attempt to navigate to Isla de Muerta. What makes you think you’ll succeed where everyone else has failed?” he demanded.

Jack raised an eyebrow at the question. “Because I’ve got three things they didn’t have,” he answered.

“And what are they?”

Contemplating his fingernails for a long moment, Jack let Bill simmer. Finally he looked up and ticked off his assets on the scarred tabletop. “I’ve got the fastest ship in the Caribbean, the only chart of the passages to that island, and this.”

Bill caught the odd object Jack tossed to him. He turned the box in his hands until he figured out the latch on the domed lid. With a perplexed frown, he looked up.

“A compass that doesn’t point north?” he asked incredulously. “Jack, I know you’re daft. And somehow that’s always worked for you. But this is beyond your usual level of insanity.”

“Then it’ll be useless to argue with me, eh mate?” Jack grinned. The candle flames laughed like madness in his dark eyes.

Bill felt a chill. For once, he wasn’t sure if he’d been joking. It had always been useless to argue with Jack Sparrow once he’d set his corkscrew mind. However, that had never yet stopped Bill from trying.

“You’ll lose most of the crew, you know,” he persisted, the mountainous problems with Jack’s proposition looming in his brain.

“And why is that?”

“There’s the curse, you bloody idiot. There ain’t a more superstitious lot than sailors. They’ll never agree to this venture.”

Acknowledging the truth of this, Jack shrugged. “Then I’ll just have to pick up another crew, won’t I?”

“The only men who will sail with you will be the ones who are too desperate to care about the curse or too canny to believe it,” Bill snapped.

“And which are you, Bill Turner?” Jack asked, deliberately not looking at Bill. He took a swig of rum and grimaced. This swill was really almost not worth drinking.

Bill waited until he had his captain’s attention again. “Oh, I believe in a curse all right,” he informed Jack bitterly. “I believe that the Treasure of Cortez is cursed to lure stupid, greedy pirates into disastrous attempts to sail to a location that no ship will ever survive.”

The silence only possible in a noisy taproom stretched out.

Finally, Jack spoke. “This isn’t about greed, Bill.”

“Oh, really? Then why don’t you enlighten me, Jack Sparrow? What is it about?”

“You said it yourself. I intend to succeed where everyone else has failed.” And now the look in Jack’s eyes was even more disturbing than the madness.

Bill buried his head in his hands, knotting his fingers in his hair.

Then the Black Pearl and all who sailed her were surely doomed. Captain Jack Sparrow was enchanted by the lure of an Epic Adventure, and he, Bootstrap Bill Turner, was cursed to follow him to hell.

The End

Comments

[felaine.livejournal.com]

Jack and the others were enchanted by the lure, weren't they? Good description of Jack daft as usual and Bootstrap, like his son, trying to be the voice of reason.
This was one road to Hell that wasn't paved with good intentions, except perhaps Bootstrap's intention to save Jack from himself.
Felaine

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Yes, the gold was calling before any of it ever was taken from that chest. Jack's absolute denial of limits is one of the fun things about writing him. But this one would get away from him. And I think Will might have reminded Jack of Bill in more than just his looks. This road to hell was the one that began with a single step and was the wide path to destruction that was too easy to find. Jack doesn't necessarily have any bad intentions, but this decision will certainly be a Bad Thing. Thanks so much for commenting. I do appreciate it.

[classics-lover.livejournal.com]

Adventures seem to lure everyone, even the most timid, even if it's just to hear the story. Someone like Jack, who I'm sure hasn't even heard of timidity and caution would be drawn to the legendaty hoard like a moth to a flame. Nicely told.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Yes, somehow I couldn't imagine the gold being the most important thing for Jack. He doesn't just want to hear the stories; he wants to be them. I like your imagery of the moth--and like the moth, Jack will be burned by that flame. Because others only want the gold. Poor Bill, trying to keep his fearless captain in one piece. It isn't going to work out that way. Thank you so much for the feedback.

[thekestrel.livejournal.com]

Skip epic adventure - Jack's looking for the pirates - or is it, sailor's version of Mt. Everest. He's got to be first. No stupid bloody curse, is going to sway or mislead HIM. Oh no! He's going to bloody well conquer the supposedly unconquerable. Bill's sweet reason, is just more wind in his sails. The more Bill argues the more Jack, can't wait to begin. Bill should have known better.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, he's got to go after the treasure because it's there--following his own legend. Though climbing Everest had to be a bit of an epic adventure in itself. I like your idea that reason just fans his flames. Bill does know better; he just can't help trying. I do appreciate your comments. Thank you.

[sparky-darky.livejournal.com]

Absolutely LOVE how this mirrors Jack's movie conversation with Gibbs! A nice start, and an interesting comment on the cyclical nature of the movie's narrative, which seems to continue on into the non-canon scenes.

What I found interesting here was that Jack explicitly said that he this wasn't a venture borne of greed, especially as the curse is the embodiment of greed, and that Bill seems to be of this mind as well. Do you think, perhaps, that had Jack kept the co-ordinates to himself, that he would never truly have taken the gold? Was his claim that he 'would have a share in that curse, same as you' simply an attempt to rile Barbossa?

The writer's commented that Jack picked up the majority of his crew in Tortuga-- Barbossa and, along with him, the 'main' pirates of the crew, such as Pintel, Ragetti, Koehler et al. I know this isn't really a comment on your writing (you know I am head-over-heels in love with your descriptive and emotive prose), but this story really brought up a lot of questions in my mind. Did a lot of Jack's crew revolt against the idea of going after cursed treasure? Was he forced to pick up a new crew?

Love the interaction between Jack and Bill in this; they appear to be operating on the basis of two men who know each other almost too well, especially from Bill's perspective: he knows exactly what Jack can do and why, something that only comes from a long relationship. Sailors' relationships are always fascinating, and Jack and Bill's friendship is something that is only vaguely hinted at, and never seen, in the movie, and yet Jack's interactions with Will, and every reference to Bill's death is suggestive of a great friendship. I always like to see people expanding in this :)

I also like how Bill seems to embody so much of other characters; whilst there is undoubtedly a lot of Will in him, with his pragmatism and willingness to do what he feels is right, I also think that there is a lot of Gibbs in here-- emphaised by the mirrored setting. Fitting, as Gibbs appears to have almost filled Bill's role in a sense.

Nice work again, and I still owe you apologies and reviews. They will come, I swear.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

It's lovely to hear from you again. I wasn't sure about that echo of Gibbs in this piece. I almost rewrote it differently, but geek_mama_2 liked it so I left it in. Thanks for letting me know it's working. There does seem to be an intratextuality to this movie, and often lines seem like they could belong to several different characters.

Somehow, I can't see greed as Jack's ruling passion. This seemed to me to be more the grand adventure, the chance to go where no one had gone before. But the gold is Greed in almost an allegorical sense, and greed does triumph--without Jack you'll notice. I've got a little vignette percolating on the back burner where Jack muses on what would have happened if he'd led his crew to that treasure. I do think, since he didn't believe in curses, he would have acquired the curse, but I think Jack would have been a lot smarter than Barbossa in his quest to break it.

I do love PotC speculation, so speculate away. Gibbs says "Not a lot's known about Jack Sparrow before he showed up in Tortuga with a mind to go after the Treasure of the Isla de Muerta." So there can't be too many people around who knew him before or at least who are talking. That ship graveyard indicates that many men had gone after the gold before, so it must have had a bad reputation by now. As you can see, I didn't answer that question about what crew Jack took, but I think some of the crew would have been replacements. But I also think some would have come along, or perhaps he wouldn't have given them the option. Inform the crew after they were a day out to sea or something. The possibilities are endless. But I can't imagine that Barbossa and Jack don't have a "past". Barbossa just hates Jack too much, and his comment about Jack's unwillingness to kill indiscriminately seems to indicate they've participated in some skirmish where killing people was a choice Jack didn't take. It's hard to imagine how that attitude lost Jack the Pearl if there wasn't a "past" to alienate his crew. The only possibility I can imagine would be that Jack could have stopped the mutiny if he'd been willing to kill more people--and that seems pretty far-fetched.

The friendship between Jack and Bill is interesting to speculate on. When Will asks about his father, that long pause before Jack speaks to him; that rare serious look when he says, "I knew him"; the fact that few people knew Bill's real name, but Jack does; and the fact that, while Bill obviously survived the mutiny, so he couldn't have completely stood up for Jack, Jack still considers him a "good man", leaves so much room for speculation. And then we learn that Bill did stand up for Jack to the point of risking his life after the curse. So yes it's a fascinating relationship. I like to write them as good friends.

I've often wondered how much Gibbs knew about Bootstrap--if that comment in the Pearl's brig about Bill being a good man came just from Pintel's story or from any other stories Jack might have told. You're right that Gibbs does seem to be someone with whom Jack has a friendship, although he does keep leaving Jack on Isla de Muerta.

Thank you so much for your detailed feedback. A comment from you always makes my day.

[torn-eledhwen.livejournal.com]

Yes, you're right - Jack wasn't after the treasure, he was after creating a myth. He succeeded, didn't he? Very insightful little vignette.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Thank you for stopping by to comment. He certainly did succeed. "But you have heard of me" after all. :D He reminds me of the theme song to a very old TV program: "Fame: I'm going to live forever. Light up the sky like a flame." He really is the Immortal Captain Jack Sparrow, even if he did put the medallian back.

[hendercats.livejournal.com]

Will have to remember to thank geek_mama_2 for encouraging you to leave the echo in place. I love how there are so many opportunities for that type of thing in POTC - rather like a treasure map with its path clearly marked that is full of all sorts of switchback turnings and twisty re-crossings.

The candle flames laughed like madness in his dark eyes.
I love this line. Totally. Completely. And coupled with this one:
And now the look in Jack’s eyes was even more disturbing than the madness.
it is a perfect picture of Jack's determination.

Before I creep into total incoherence, let me just say I'm tucking this away in memories.

[honorat.livejournal.com]

Ah ha! You've escaped the draconian work net-nanny! Lovely to hear from you again. I'm glad you like the echo, too. I'll have to thank geek_mama_2 myself, for the good advice. Your treasure map simile is an excellent one.

Thank you so much for letting me know which lines you liked. Coming up with good descriptions for Jack is fun, but a bit of a stretch of the mind after all the good ones start to seem used. I did imagine that chasing after Daft Jack must have given a prudent man a bad case of nerves!

I'm honoured that you'd choose to remember this. Thank you.