(Untitled)

[bushel_o_apples]

Barbossa sits at what has quickly become his usual spot by the lake, on a large flat rock from which he gets a good view of the Pearl. This time, though, he's busy with something entirely different, as he has occasionally been for the last few days. He holds a small, palm-sized leather-bound book in one hand and seems to be reading backwards

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[pirate_gibbs]

Gibbs is navigating his way along the shore when he spots Barbossa. for the moment, he makes himself less than visible (figuratively speaking) as to avoid offering any hint of where the Pearl. But after covering his tracks, he once again emerges. Even if he's not sure he wants to talk to Jack's betrayer.

[pirate_gibbs]

Gibbs has to wonder if he should have told Barbossa this last piece of information, since Barbossa was clearly left in the dark by Tia Dalma. But clearly, everyone involved needs to know what the stakes are.

"You still aren't being fully clear. Do you have a plan, man?"

[bushel_o_apples]

He nods, watching Gibbs in what seems like an even way for a moment.

"I do. But I can't exactly tell you the whole extent of it, Gibbs. I need to know just how bad things are before I know how far my plan will take us. If they are really bad -and believe me, I'm quite sure they are- then we should have no problem getting Sao Feng to negotiate with us."

He sighs and leans back slightly. Gibbs might realize this is the first time he sees Barbossa look tired. After all, dead men don't need sleep, but the living do. And come to think of it, has Barbossa slept since he arrived in Millways?

[pirate_gibbs]

Gibbs does see that Barbossa is showing his age and his mortality again. It's something he can relate to, having seen his own gray and white creep forward, having seen Jack in denial about the passage of time but losing just a bit of his vigor even before dying.

"Then when we get back, our first stop might have to be Tortuga. If Beckett and his fleet are making trouble, we can easily confirm both the reality of it and the scope in a matter of hours, if not minutes."

[bushel_o_apples]

He nods, and leans forwards again, closer to Gibbs, shrugging the weariness off by sheer force of will. They are closer in age, these two, than any of the others except possibly for Cotton. Old enough to know, both of them, that willpower and adrenaline and catnaps can only substitute for actual rest for so long.

"That ties in with something I wanted to ask from you, mr Gibbs. Tortuga sounds like a very dangerous place for men of our ilk, whether Cutler Beckett has got what he wanted or not. Surely the East India Company won't leave such a pirate haven alone. But in case we can still get there safely... How many men do you think we would need, in excess of those we already have, to comandeer and man a ship able to take us across the Pacific?"

[pirate_gibbs]

Gibbs gives it some thought. His face is not quite one where a man from later times would say "you can see the wheels turning." But he's doing calculations and finding old knowledge and older intuition.

"It depends on where we find a ship. If we stay in Tortuga, or risk any other port of call in Caribbean, we might need an additional dozen. And some would be cannon fodder.

"But if we make our way across the Ismuth to Panama City, we might be able to get by with a handful of locals, and might even be able to pay them only to help us take the ship, after which they would stay behind.

"Anyway, Panama has the advantage of being much closer to our goal. I think we would both prefer to avoid going around the horn."

[bushel_o_apples]

This is the kind of knowledge that he wanted Gibbs for. He has been away from -real- sailing for too long, and Gibbs can help with that. Barbossa nods and ponders silently for a moment or two.

"But we can still get news from Tortuga and the area around Port Royal from Panama? Just to check on how far our enemies feel they can go, how confident they are... Or how devastating."

[pirate_gibbs]

"We'll still need to book passage to the Spanish Main, and for that we would need to send someone to Tortuga. Someone with just a bit of coin to make it worthwhile. And that someone could see what news he can find, and surely any captain who'd let the likes of us hire him would have news as well." Gibbs thinks for a moment longer. "I know a few hearty souls who might be persuaded that they owe me a few favors."

[bushel_o_apples]

"Sounds reasonable. Do you think two men could do that trip, mr Gibbs? I need to know as much information as posible first-hand if we are to be able to play with all the possible advantage against -and I use this word figuratively- Sao Feng."

Which sounds so much better than 'I know you aren't going to tell me everything you learn at Tortuga unless I go there and hear it myself'.

[pirate_gibbs]

"Two men could with not much more risk. But d' you think that you wouldn't be recognized as easily as I would, if not more so? Even if Beckett's people haven't arrived in Tortuga, you made a lot of enemies in your maraudings. And if word gets ut that you are mortal again..." And from Gibbs' tone, it's clear that he doesn't mind Barbossa's company so much as his infamy.

"That said...the only other person I think I could trust to help me and serve as a second set of ears is Marty."

[bushel_o_apples]

"Oh, I may be infamous, but the last people who saw me and lived" remember the tales about how the Black Pearl left no survivors in its wake? "did so ten years ago or are with us in our little enterprise. Or hanged for piracy by that outstanding pillar of His Majesty's government in these areas, the Commodore Norrington. I'm quite sure we could manage to pass unrecognized if we wanted to."

And of course, what most people would remember about Barbossa would be the hat and the monkey, right? Both highly visible and easily detachable.

[pirate_gibbs]

"Yes," Gibbs says grimly. "I had forgetten that for a moment." Though how anyone could forget those tales of horror is beyond even Gibbs' imagination.

"But yes, you are right. And Tortuga is a place where one can get lost if he truly wishes to."

[bushel_o_apples]

"Good, then. I'm glad we seem to be settling our plans into a more precise form now. That may mean the day is drawing near when that door will open for us."

He leans back again, regarding Gibbs not with suspicion, but with a keen curiosity.

"Are you ready to leave Jack behind, mister Gibbs? To go and try to save him, of course, but still."

He pointedly made no further mention of his time as captain of the Black Pearl. They need to focus on working together. There'll be time enough to bicker and possibly even attempt on each other's lives later, once things are settles with Cutler BEckett. If they all survive, that is, of which Barbossa has his share of doubts.

[pirate_gibbs]

"I'll do what's needed. The captain knows that, and would do the same, I'm sure. And I am more than ready to leave this place and its curses." He doesn't put much empahasis in "the captain" this time, but the subtext is cleat.

[bushel_o_apples]

"Fine. It's good to know where one's men stand, mr Gibbs. And I understand your displeasure about the place, too. Magic seems to be afoot all of the time around here."

His displeasure, once more, is plain to see.

[pirate_gibbs]

Gibbs pauses for a moment and gets his thoughts into words. "You hate magic, don't you? After all you've been through, you truly hate it."