I Am Puss In Boots

"How was your month, Jack?" Puss asked, as he placed his hat—still with its brim slightly drooping from being soaked—back onto his head.

"Eh, it wasn't bad. Plenty of rum, women, rum, sailing with the Pearl… Oh! And rum, did I mention the rum?" Jack said casually, joking as he pulled a bottle from inside his coat.

"Saying it like that, the Pearl might get jealous of the rum," Puss joked, shaking his fur to fling the water off.

Jack took a step back, rolling his eyes at the water Puss splashed on him.

"Nah, the Pearl isn't the jealous type. We just didn't have any grand adventures lately, so the rum ended up standing out more this month," Jack joked, as he approached the swords the fisherman and Gibbs had placed on the deck.

Meanwhile, the fisherman had a desolate look, still mourning his destroyed boat and regretting taking Will's coins to give them a ride.

Puss noticed it, and his mouth twitched—but with a sigh, he walked over, slipping his paw into his boot.

"Hey, fisherman, here." He pulled a coin from inside the boot, and with a flick of his thumb, he tossed it toward the fisherman.

Startled by the sudden move, the old man instinctively tried to catch it—but fumbled a bit before finally gripping it tightly.

When he opened his hand and saw it was a gold coin, he was first shocked, and then immediately overjoyed once he realized it was meant for him.

"That's for your boat. Jack will give you a dinghy so you can return to Port Royal," Puss said simply.

Luckily, the fisherman didn't seem emotionally attached to the boat, and he instantly thanked him, happy with the gold.

With a casual wave, Puss turned toward Jack.

"Give him a dinghy to head back, and let's leave. You're not gonna charge me for a dinghy, are you?" Puss said, raising an eyebrow in a playful tease.

"Men, drop a dinghy for the old man there." Jack just waved his hand and ordered his crew.

"Aye, aye!" the crew shouted and went to obey.

If it had been in the past, maybe Jack would've charged or even refused to give the dinghy—but now, Puss was his friend, and Jack had plenty of money himself. He didn't mind giving something so simple.

Jack then looked down at the sword cases lying on the deck. He crouched down and picked one up.

Turning it this way and that, he thought it was quite a fine sword.

Pulling out his own from his belt, he casually tossed it among the others and slid the new sword into his sheath.

His old sword wasn't in great shape. He had always kept it and never replaced it, as it was the only thing Barbossa had left for him on the island where he'd been marooned—to kill himself with it when he couldn't take it anymore. So, he had always carried it to one day take revenge using that same sword.

And since he had gotten his revenge and killed Barbossa with it, he no longer had any attachment to it.

"What are the swords for?" Jack asked, curious after shamelessly stealing one.

Puss's mouth twitched slightly.

"These swords were made by Will. Since he was leaving, he didn't want to leave them with his drunk master, and he brought them to equip you and your men—his future crewmates," Puss explained, remembering what Will had told him.

In truth, Will had still been kind enough to leave some gold for his master to live comfortably for quite a while. As for the swords, he brought them along, since they would only rust in the forge—or be stolen, given his drunk master's lack of vigilance.

"Oh! That's good. Gibbs, pick out the best swords for me and distribute the rest to the crew." Jack nodded, satisfied, and gave the order to Gibbs.

"Aye, Captain!" Gibbs grinned, also pleased with the swords, and quickly got to work.

Jack, seeing that Tornado was already back aboard and the old fisherman had his dinghy, realized it was time to leave.

He then walked toward the helm, with Puss following behind.

Once there, Puss jumped onto the railing and sat down, relaxed, gazing at the sea and imagining Far Far Away—filled with adventures and characters he was eager to meet.

Jack grabbed the wheel and opened his compass.

Its needle spun wildly for a few seconds before settling, pointing southward on the compass, slightly tilted to the west.

Jack traced the needle's direction with his finger—only for his finger to end up pointing at his coat pocket. He reached in, pulled out his rum bottle, took another swig, and then put it away again.

The compass needle then spun again and pointed in another direction.

'That should be the direction of Far Far Away, if I'm not mistaken. Time to set sail,' he thought.

"Men, lower the sails! We're setting off!"

Jack shouted, and with cries of "Aye, aye!" the Pearl lowered its sails, catching the wind and gaining speed, cutting through the waters.

Puss, sitting on the railing, felt the wind on his face, and a calm smile curled his lips.

Pulling out a letter with a broken seal from his boot, he opened it and read it again, his heart finally at ease.

[Dear Puss,

I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing to inform you about the current status of San Ricardo and to ease the concerns I believe you must be having.

Although I don't agree with my cousin's decision, I understand his worries, and I believe you do too—after all, you have always been one of the most sensible people I've ever known.

Puss, know that San Ricardo has never forgotten its hero—not San Ventura, Solana de Oro, La Esperanza, Villamaría, or Cielo Nuevo. None of them have forgotten the one who helped them so much. Everyone is doing their best to spread the truth about who you really are, not the lies being told.

The schemes against you were carried out by someone very powerful and influential, and your name suddenly appeared as that of an outlaw throughout almost all of Spain overnight. But then, the powerful hand that had been fanning the flames seemed to vanish after your departure, and your name as a criminal has quickly begun to fade and be forgotten. Even though it won't be easy to fully restore your lost reputation, know that none of us will ever give up.

Though I don't fully agree with my cousin, I must admit that in the end, your departure helped stabilize things and made it easier to restore your reputation—or at least prevent it from worsening. It breaks my heart to write this, but I hope you can remain out there a little longer, for your own sake, just so we can establish a stronger foundation to fight back against any future rumors.

It won't take long. I hope that in a year, you'll already be able to return to us—shining brightly and being the beacon of hope you have always been.

But remember, if things get too difficult out there, don't hesitate to come back. San Ricardo is your home, and we'll face everything together. Decisions like the one my cousin made will never happen again. We'll stand with you—through both good times and bad—because we are your family, and that is our responsibility.

Lastly, there is one piece of news that might concern you.

Humpty, ever since he heard about my cousin's decision, became furious with him and everyone in town, calling them ungrateful cowards, and isolated himself. And in the past few days, when I was writing this letter—almost a month after your departure—he suddenly left without telling anyone, leaving only a simple letter for Señora Imelda, telling her not to worry and that he would be fine.

I am very worried about him and hope that boy doesn't get himself into trouble. I've already sent people to search for him, but I haven't found any leads so far.

I won't give up the search, but Humpty can sometimes be too clever for his own good.

That said, if you run into any trouble or need anything at all, don't hesitate to write to me. I'll do everything in my power—and beyond—to try to help you.

Take care, Puss. All of us keep you in our prayers.

With all affection and hope,

Comandante's Cousin.]

Smiling in satisfaction, he folded the letter and tucked it back into his boot.

Though he was still a bit worried about the news of Humpty leaving, he knew that egg was clever enough to manage out there.

'That foolish egg might pull some kind of stunt, but it won't be so soon. I still have time to enjoy a few adventures and prepare myself before going back,' Puss pondered, gazing absentmindedly at the horizon.

Before leaving Spain, he had already sent a letter saying where he was going and asking the Comandante's cousin to keep him updated and to watch over San Ricardo. That was why the letter had been able to find him so easily in such a vast world.

The Comandante's cousin, after so many years of friendship, was now a great friend and loyal subordinate, and Puss trusted the man completely.

But receiving such good news—that everything was well in San Ricardo—finally put his heart at ease.

It didn't matter if he still held some resentment toward San Ricardo for expelling him when things got tough, or if he told himself that even if everything went wrong, he had plenty of ways to fix things, like the Wish Star. That was just self-comfort.

A physical, real letter from someone trustworthy was all he truly needed to calm his heart and soothe his worries.

"An adventure without worries…"

Puss's eyes gleamed as the wind blew through his fur.

He stood up on the railing and looked down, seeing a pirate scrubbing the deck.

"Hey, you!" Puss pointed at the man, who instinctively looked up and found himself being pointed at by a cat.

"Me?" He stupidly pointed to himself.

"Sí! Go fetch the ship's goat. I want leche, so today, I shall truly live up to my nickname…"

His eyes narrowed, a cold gleam flashing in them.

"... Chupacabra."