"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me."
"We pillage plunder, we rifle and loot."
"Drink up me hearties, yo ho…"
Jack staggered his way to the helm, singing to himself with uneven steps.
A yellowish bottle of rum dangled from his hand, the liquor inside sloshing back and forth with his movement.
Leaning on the wheel, he looked out ahead, where a vast moonlight lit up the ship—and with it, his eyes.
It was while Jack was in a good mood that he heard a voice coming from the side.
"Happy to be captaining a real ship again?"
Jack turned his head and saw Puss sitting on the ship's railing.
The wind gently ruffled his fur and the feather of his hat. But he didn't smile—he just stared calmly with those indifferent feline eyes.
Jack didn't seem to mind the company, or the cat's emotionless gaze.
He simply raised the bottle, took a large gulp, and looked back ahead.
"It's not about captaining. It's about freedom," Jack said, admiring the sea before him.
Puss's ears twitched under his hat at the word "freedom," but his expression stayed the same.
"Freedom… weren't you already free?" Puss asked, pretending not to care.
But Jack shook his head.
"Never said I wasn't." Jack shrugged and said nothing more, continuing to enjoy his rum.
Puss's mouth twisted slightly in irritation at the lack of follow-up.
"Then what did you mean by what you said earlier?" he asked, helplessly.
He was a cat. Curiosity was in his blood.
Jack raised an eyebrow without looking at him.
"Freedom is never too much. The less of it you have, the less free you are," Jack said something deep in his simple words.
Puss narrowed his eyes at the horizon.
"What is freedom to you, Jack?" Puss asked softly.
He was a bit lost in thought as he asked the question, even skipping his usual "Señor" and calling him by name.
"Freedom?" Jack took another sip, his eyes growing a little hazy with the alcohol, his already few inhibitions slipping away.
"The sea is freedom. There's no property here, no taxes, no owners or kings. Just go wherever you want, and let the wind and the waves carry you. Adventures and things you can't even dream of are lost in this vast ocean… just waiting for you to find them."
Jack spoke, and for a moment, he no longer seemed to be answering a question—he was simply pouring out his thoughts.
Puss was a bit moved by the longing and love Jack had for the sea, and he couldn't help but dream of his own adventures and discoveries.
While he reflected, a question returned to Puss's mind.
"And why do you feel that having a bigger ship and a crew gives you more freedom?" he asked curiously.
"Why?" Jack repeated, and this time his eyes were a bit clearer, more serious.
"This sea is full of possibilities, but only those who are capable can reach them. Without a good ship, and of course, a crew to sail her—where can you go with just a leaky little boat?"
Then, his eyes clouded with memories as he went on.
"And I once had the best of the best—black as night, fast as the wind, and like no other ship could compare. She was the symbol of my freedom… and I was her captain… wherever I wanted to go… she could take me… my Black... Pearl… hrrrrk…"
Puss had been listening seriously, but at the end Jack began to mumble, and then he heard something strange.
Looking over, he saw Jack snoring—standing up—and gently swaying with the rocking of the ship. The bottle of rum still in his hand, gripped tightly even in sleep.
Puss just shook his head at the drunken Jack, who had passed out standing from drinking too much.
Then he turned his gaze back to the dark sea and the shining moon above.
"Freedom…" Puss murmured thoughtfully.
He then took off his boots and tossed them to the deck, laid his body along the ship's railing, rested his chin on his paws, and his eyes slowly closed as he quietly admired the scene of the open sea.
…
Jack, kneeling on the floor, slowly began to crawl toward a small pair of boots.
He kept stealing glances at the cat with each movement, checking if he was still asleep.
As he got close to the boots, he opened his mouth and widened his eyes in concentration.
His hand reached out slowly. His target? A pouch of coins he'd seen peeking out from inside the boot.
He had spotted it when he woke up, lying on the floor with a clear view in that direction.
His hand was just about to touch the boot when an orange tail swayed in front of his eyes.
Jack's gaze slowly followed the tail upward… until it met a pair of amused green eyes staring at him.
"Lose something here?" Puss asked, clearly entertained.
"Uh? Me?" Jack pointed at himself, confused. "I just had a cramp in my leg, and I was waiting for it to pass while walking. But it's fine now."
He said shamelessly, then stood up, stretched, and casually walked to the helm to check the ship's direction.
Puss rolled his eyes at him, leapt down from the railing, and landed softly on the deck.
After slipping his boots back on, he walked over to Jack.
"How long until Far Far Away?" Puss asked.
"Just like the name suggests, Far Far Away really is quite far. With this ship, one to two months should be enough," Jack replied indifferently as he went about his business.
"One to two months? Do we have supplies for that long a trip?" Puss asked, furrowing his brows.
One to two months—with hundreds of men to feed—he doubted there was enough food stocked on the pirate ship. Pirates weren't exactly known for being well-prepared.
"Probably not. We'll make a stop along the way." Jack shrugged, as if it weren't a big deal.
'Stop?' Puss narrowed his eyes in thought, his gaze falling on Jack's compass.
Taking his eyes off the compass, Puss grew thoughtful, pondering how much Jack's story in this world might resemble the ones he remembered from the movies in his past life.
"Señor Sparrow—"
"You can just call me Captain..." Jack interrupted him, noticing the formal tone—and in Spanish, no less.
Puss rolled his eyes. The only time he'd ever call Jack "Captain" was to make fun of him.
"Jack, did you ever meet a Spanish captain named Capitán Salazar?" Puss asked the question he'd meant to before, this time using Jack's name directly.
Jack froze the moment he heard the name, then turned his head to look at Puss.
"Why do you ask that name? Is he a friend of yours?" Jack asked, feigning disinterest.
Puss could tell from his reaction that Jack definitely recognized the name. So, Puss got serious.
"He was my father. But one day, he never came home. Since then, I've been on a quest for vengeance. I've even thought of 195 different torture methods I'll use when I find the culprit," Puss said with hatred.
Glup!
Jack gulped and quickly shook his head.
"Never heard of him!" he said with a straight face.
Puss, seeing the solemn and slightly sweaty expression on Jack's face, was highly amused.
"Pfff! Hahaha!" He couldn't hold it in and laughed heartily.
"Jack, I'm a damn cat. How could I be his son? Are you stupid?!" Puss wiped a tear of laughter from his eye.
Jack froze and looked at Puss.
"Fair point!" he murmured, putting a hand on his chin. "But it wouldn't be the strangest thing I've heard."
Puss chuckled, but he agreed—this world truly was insane, and common sense didn't always apply.
"I was just joking, Jack. You defeated Salazar, didn't you? I called you Jack Sparrow because I thought he gave you that name," Puss asked curiously.
But Jack gave him a confused look.
"It's true that I, well, defeated Salazar. It was a fierce battle…" Jack began to boast seriously, but was quickly cut off by Puss.
"You tricked him into sailing into the Devil's Triangle, known for being a graveyard of ships," Puss said plainly.
"Ah!" Jack raised a finger as if to say something, then slowly lowered it.
"Well, if you already know… yeah, it was more or less that. So no, I never actually spoke to Salazar before he died. There was no way he could've given me any name. My original name, Sparkle, is for another reason…" Jack shrugged, seeing that Puss already knew most of the story and didn't feel like elaborating.
'Makes sense…' Puss thought.
He was also a little curious now about the name Sparkle.