Chapter 5: Rum, Blades, and Blood Oaths
The Wraith groaned into harbor like a drunk stumbling into church.
Jack Sparrow, boots muddy and hat slightly askew, stepped onto the dock with a flourish. "Ah, Tortuga," he breathed. "Home of loose tongues, looser morals, and the finest rum in the Caribbean."
Elias followed, eyes wide at the chaos around them. The harbor was a mess of shouting sailors, drunkards pissing off the edge of docks, women cackling with gold teeth, and brawls breaking out every few paces.
"This place smells like bad decisions and broken dreams," Elias muttered, brushing past a man vomiting into a barrel.
Jack spun, grinning. "Exactly! A pirate's paradise."
They made their way through the cobbled streets toward the loudest building on the block—The Broken Fang Tavern. The sign above the door was crooked, featuring a wolf skull nailed to a plank and dripping with what looked suspiciously like blood.
Elias glanced sideways. "That's comforting."
Inside, the tavern roared with life. Pirates shouted over dice games, sailors danced with girls swinging daggers from their hips, and tankards of ale crashed together in toasts to gods long forgotten.
Jack wove through the chaos like a shadow in a storm, humming a little sea shanty under his breath.
"Rule number one," he said to Elias, grabbing two mugs from a passing tray, "never pay for your own drink. Rule number two, don't sit near the door—easier to run. Rule number three, never gamble with a man who has both eyes and no scars."
Elias took a sip. "What about women?"
Jack looked thoughtful. "Oh, they'll rob you blind and leave you smiling about it."
They found a half-broken table in the corner. Elias leaned back, boots on the wood, watching the madness unfold with growing delight.
"I feel like I belong here," he said.
"You're starting to sound like me," Jack replied, raising his mug.
A sudden crash interrupted them—a chair shattered against the wall near the fireplace. A fight had broken out between a man with a massive hook for a hand and a shorter woman with a bandolier of knives across her chest.
Elias leaned forward. "That's not a fair fight."
"She's got a knife in her boot," Jack said casually. "Give it a second."
Sure enough, the woman dodged the hook swing, spun, and drove a boot dagger straight into the man's thigh.
He howled and dropped like a tree.
She kicked him once for good measure.
The tavern cheered.
Elias stared. "I love her."
Jack grinned. "You're young, that'll pass."
The woman dusted herself off, took a swig of rum from someone else's cup, and headed straight for their table.
Jack raised his brows. "Oh dear. She's coming this way."
She stopped in front of them, eyeing Elias. "You're the one who smiled when I stabbed that bastard."
Elias blinked. "Uh—yes?"
She tilted her head. "You a sailor?"
Jack answered for him. "He's a pirate. One of mine."
She looked at Jack. "You got a ship?"
"Had," Jack said with a shrug. "Then lost. Then stole. So yes, I suppose I do."
She sat down without asking.
"I'm Reyna Flint," she said. "Wanted in five colonies, cutthroat in two. I've sailed under a dozen captains and buried most of them."
Elias grinned. "What happened to the rest?"
She smirked. "Still breathing. For now."
Jack looked her over. "Why us?"
She leaned forward. "Because I saw the compass. That little black thing spinning in your coat. I know what it is. And I know what it finds."
Elias looked to Jack, confused. "What does it find?"
Jack took a long, slow sip of rum. " i already told you but you didn't believe me.Whatever the heart desires most."
Elias blinked. "That's not ominous at all."
Reyna continued, "There are rumors. Old ships, cursed gold, treasures buried in oceans no map dares chart. You're chasing something, Captain. And I want in."
Jack tapped his fingers on the table. "And if I say no?"
She grinned, flicked a knife between her fingers, and stabbed it down into the wood—right between his fingers.
"Then I'll follow you anyway."
Jack didn't flinch. "I like her," he said to Elias.
Elias nodded. "She reminds me of me."
"Worse," Jack said. "She reminds me of me."
Reyna reached into her coat and dropped a small pouch on the table. It jingled with coin.
"For repairs. Paint the ship. Stock the rum. Just give me a cabin and a blade."
Jack raised a brow. "You want two things? You're ambitious."
"I'm a pirate," she said.
He looked at Elias.
Elias smirked. "Let's take her."
Reyna extended a hand to Jack. "Do we have a deal, Captain?"
Jack looked at the compass in his coat pocket, then at the firelight in Reyna's eyes.
He shook her hand.
"We set sail at dawn."
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