"You didn't even check if the boat had supplies before setting sail?" Puss looked helplessly at the unconcerned Jack Sparrow, who was casually peering around with a spyglass.
They had been sailing for a few hours. When Puss asked about supplies, he found out there was nearly nothing aboard.
Of course, he had a few things in Tornado's saddle, but it wouldn't last long. And without food or water at sea, it was certain death.
"Nope..." Jack replied, completely unconcerned.
"Don't you think... I don't know... that you're damn unprepared?" Puss said, irritated, massaging his forehead.
Clack!
Jack closed the spyglass and looked at Puss.
"What are you talking about? I'm the most prepared pirate there ever was. Have you ever seen a pirate so prepared that he keeps a backup bottle of rum?" Jack asked with a smile, one hand on his hip.
He then pulled a leather pouch from inside his coat. Smiling almost cross-eyed at the drink pouch, he opened it and raised it to his lips.
But then he pulled it away and looked at it suspiciously.
Shaking it in the air—no liquid came out.
Jack closed it up and tucked it back in his coat with a solemn look.
"We're in trouble… the rum is gone."
Puss rolled his eyes at Jack's seriousness about the rum.
"Well, now that we share similar concerns, what does our great captain plan to do?" Puss asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Uhmm..." Jack thought aloud and pulled out his compass.
Puss's eyes sparkled when he saw the compass.
'If that thing works like it does in the movies, it's quite something.' Puss thought.
He paid close attention to Jack's eyes, since he was too short to see the compass directly.
Puss noticed Jack's eyes moving slightly with the compass, and with his excellent vision, he could even see in the reflection of Jack's eyes the needle moving erratically, until it finally pointed in a direction.
'It's real!'
"We've got a heading, mate."
Both their eyes lit up, but for very different reasons.
Jack stood and took the helm.
"Mr. Boots, adjust the line to port!" Jack said seriously, eyes on the horizon.
But Puss didn't move and just scratched his head, looking around.
"Captain... apparently I know nothing about sailing." Eventually, unsure of what Jack meant, he shrugged and spoke.
Jack looked at him, puzzled.
"Nothing?" He asked.
"Nothing," Puss nodded.
"Isn't that common sense?" Jack stared at him like he was seeing an alien.
"Not where I come from?" Puss half-stated, half-asked. Not even he was sure if people back in San Ricardo knew how to sail—but he believed they didn't
Jack kept staring at him strangely for a moment, but finally just shrugged.
"This is the first time I've sailed with someone who knows nothing about sailing. Even kids know the basics. But I guess we can't expect normal things from a place that gives boots to cats." He said, and went off to do everything himself.
"Estoy sin palabras," Puss muttered helplessly.
"In English, please," Jack said while adjusting the sails.
"I said I can't argue with what you said," Puss shrugged and began analyzing what Jack was doing.
With his fast learning ability from being a mutant cat, he would soon become a decent sailor if he kept watching and learning.
Puss realized it was probably truly the first time Jack had met someone who knew absolutely nothing about sailing. After all, Jack lived at sea, and everyone he dealt with usually knew at least the basics.
As the boat kept moving, it didn't take more than a few hours before they spotted a ship in the distance, heading in their direction.
'Could this be the compass's target? Wouldn't be surprising—maybe Jack's biggest desire at the moment is the nearest rum.' Puss thought.
But to Puss, it didn't matter whether it was the compass's target or not. That ship was what he needed right now.
Yet, their small boat suddenly started veering off course.
"What are you doing?" Puss frowned at Jack, who had changed their heading.
"That, my little feline friend, is a pirate ship. So unless we want to be blown to bits by their cannons if they're in a bad mood, we better run." Jack shook his head at him and kept steering.
"Why are you making things complicated? It's even better if they're pirates. We just have to defeat them before they fire a single shot, and then the ship, the supplies, and the crew are ours." Puss said, grinning with excitement.
He had been worried about sailing all the way to Far Far Away in their tiny boat, but that pirate ship ahead wouldn't have those issues.
"Are you insane? How are we going to do that, just the two of us?" Jack looked at him, stunned.
"Did you forget who I am? Leave it to me, just trust me. Besides, they've already seen us and picked us as a target. We might as well go straight to them and follow my plan." Puss said confidently.
"You're strong, I admit. But this is sea combat, not land. A lot of things can go wrong, and pirates don't fight fair like those guards you fought," Jack said, not too confident in what Puss had just told him.
Still, he turned the boat back toward the oncoming ship. After all, with their tiny boat, it was only a matter of time before the pirate ship caught up. Retreating now would only put them at a worse disadvantage.
"I'm a cat. I'm known for my instincts and flexibility. The sea's no different from land for me." Puss said, smiling confidently.
The truth was that most cats didn't feel comfortable sailing, but Puss was a mutant cat—and for him, there was no problem.
Even Jack didn't know much about that.
Puss then smiled and said:
"Alright, here's the plan…"
…
"Captain, what's the situation? Should we just turn broadside to fire the cannons?" One of the sailors on the pirate ship asked.
But the captain was frozen, staring through his spyglass, giving no orders.
"Awww…" The captain murmured, making the sailor glance at him strangely.
Several pirates nearby noticed the odd reaction and rushed to the bow to see what the captain was looking at.
When they got there, they were stunned.
On the small boat heading toward them, a tiny kitten, holding a hat with both paws and wearing little boots, had the saddest, most pitiful eyes imaginable.
"Awww…" The whole crew echoed the captain, mesmerized by the kitten's cuteness.
What they didn't notice was the horse behind the kitten, with Jack clinging tightly to it.
This was Puss's plan.
He would distract the guards and board the ship. If something went wrong before he managed to get aboard and the ship aimed a cannon at them, Tornado would be able to flee before the cannon fired, carrying Jack with him.
Puss didn't need much time to deal with the pirates. If things got rough and he abandoned mercy, he could kill everyone on that ship before they had time to fire a second shot.
But he was confident that wouldn't be necessary.
With everyone distracted by him, their little boat got close enough for Puss to reach with his super jump.
Still wearing his pitiful expression, he began to crouch. His movement jolted the pirates slightly back to awareness—but it was already too late.
With a powerful leap, he shot several meters into the air, arms wide as he glided down toward the pirates at the bow.
He flipped midair and came down with one leg extended, striking a stunned pirate in the face and sending him flying, a bootprint clearly marked on his cheek.
With another flip, he landed squarely on his feet, his hat back on his head, sword already drawn and pointed at the stunned men around him.
"Fear me, if you dare!" He said with a grin.
Now fully alert, the pirates glared at Puss.
"Get him!" They shouted, drawing their swords and charging.
'Luckily, this bizarre world hasn't invented guns yet, or this could be dangerous,' Puss thought as he fought the pirates with ease.
There were nearly a hundred pirates aboard—a large crew for a pirate ship.
Puss was a one-cat war machine, and wherever he passed, pirates were knocked down and flung aside.
"Damn, that's the Puss in Boots who's been getting famous lately. I never thought he was actually that strong—I thought it was just rumors!" The pirate captain said nervously, looking at a few nearby crewmen.
"You there! Grab a cannon and shoot him!" The captain shouted anxiously.
"Shoot? Here? What about the others?" One of the selected pirates asked, stunned.
The captain nearly lost it.
"You flea-bitten rat, if you're worried about them, go fight instead!" He growled.
The man and the others glanced at each other and, without hesitation, ran to the cannons.
But despite the noise of combat—shouts, screams, clashing swords—Puss's sharp senses caught the entire conversation.
'Oh no, you don't!' He thought, narrowing his eyes.
Carving a path through his opponents, his tail stretched out to grab the hilt of a fallen sword. With a twist of his body and a flick of his tail, he hurled the sword at high speed.
The pirates had just begun releasing the chain to pull the cannon out when the sword flew past and struck the deck behind the cannon, jamming it in place and stopping it from being moved.
By the time they pulled the sword free and prepared the cannon, they turned it toward the bow—only to freeze in shock.
There were only unconscious men lying on the ground now. No cat in sight.
A voice came from behind them.
"Who are you looking for, mi amigos?"
"The cat. Have you seen him?" One of the pirates asked, scratching his head and turning around—only to freeze.
Puss was standing behind him, smiling.
"Oh yes, I saw him. He took down the whole crew and then the captain. He only came here now because he saw you guys were very focused on the cannon and didn't want to interrupt." Puss smiled mischievously.
One of the other pirates, who hadn't turned around and was still searching for Puss, was surprised by what he heard.
"Really? He's that polite?" He asked, turning—and nearly wet himself when he saw Puss smiling at him.
"That, he certainly is," Puss nodded cheerfully.
The first man finally reacted, trembling, and pointed a finger at Puss like he'd seen a ghost.
"C-C-Cat!"
The other pirates turned in alarm.
"It's rude to point. Now put that finger away before I cut it off," Puss said, his smile fading, eyes narrowing.
The man quickly lowered his finger, legs shaking.
"Good. Now, here's how this is going to work. You follow my orders, or I throw you into the sea. Understood?" He asked, his feline eyes cold and piercing.
Clink! Clink! Clink!
The men dropped their weapons and nodded frantically—as if their lives depended on it… and they did.
"Good. Drop the anchor and bring my horse and Señor Sparrow aboard," He commanded.
"No need, I'm already here!" Jack's voice rang out.
When Puss turned, he saw Jack casually posing on the railing near the helm.
'Oh, you're great at posing, but I didn't see you coming to help!' Puss rolled his eyes at him.
Clop! Clop!
The sound of hooves echoed on the deck, and Tornado's head appeared beside Jack.
Puss's mouth twitched at the sight.
'How the hell did you get up there?!'