Thank you all for such lovely reviews! Here's a new chapter, but I'm sure it's mostly just talking and quips. Hope it's not too bad!
The days stretched on, endless hours of turquoise sea and blue sky. The crew became used to the toils assigned by Captain Barbossa, and eventually didn't even notice the pirate's colorful threats and harsh actions. Elizabeth wasn't given any real labor; she navigated for Gibbs with the compass, and aided him somewhat with their supper. For her, the days were exceptionally long as Will had yet to speak with her since their awkward conversation on the first evening.
After a morning of standing with Gibbs on the aft deck, he let Elizabeth go about her business, promising that he would keep a straight course. Elizabeth found herself walking down to the bowsprit, nestling herself in the angle where the two railings met at a point. She let her head loll back, allowing the warmth of the sun seep down into her bones. Her eyelids grew heavy, and Elizabeth slipped into slumber.
"Pirate," he murmured, smilingly in that drunken way of his as she fought back a shuddering sob-
"Did I give allowance for any sort o' leisure, Miss Swann?"
Elizabeth started awake, blinking up at the silhouette of Barbossa standing over her. She staggered to her feet and glared at the pirate.
"Mr. Gibbs does not require my assistance for an entire day's navigation, Captain Barbossa," she snapped. "He gave me my leave."
"Mr. Gibbs has no such power t' do so," he snarled. "I gave ye that job, not t' keep ye busy, but to keep our headin'!"
"I am of no use at the helm!" Elizabeth cried, attracting the attention of Mr. Cotton and the midget who were coiling rope not too far away. "All I do is hold the compass; Gibbs does the coordinates."
"Ye're not there t' read coordinates, Miss," Barbossa said coldly.
"Then what use am I?" Elizabeth demanded.
Barbossa opened his mouth, but promptly snapped it shut. He narrowed his eyes at her, looking her up and down in that calculating manner he used to use on her when she was his prisoner. Elizabeth backed up against the railing, but Barbossa caught her arm, pulling her toward him.
"Shall we finish this discussion in private, Miss Swann?" he asked, tilting his head mockingly in her direction.
"We most certainly will not!" Elizabeth gaped, shaking her arm from his grip. "Captain Barbossa, I am a lady about to be wed! Such insinuations are insulting and inappropriate! You-"
"If I was t' take advantage of ye, pretty, I wouldn't ask for yer permission," Barbossa hissed, grabbing her waist and hauling her across the deck to his cabin. "However, as tempting as that might be, I must be speakin' with ye about yer place on my ship!"
"Barbossa!"
Elizabeth gasped as Will barreled in front of them, his sword half drawn. The man was absolutely livid, which was certainly a change from his recent melancholy. Will leveled the blade at the pirate, who's lip curled with disdain.
"Master Turner, this is none o' yer concern," he sneered.
"It is my concern if you are threatening Elizabeth," Will snapped. "Now unhand her or I shall-"
"You'll wot?" Barbossa inquired. "Ye'll kill th' only hope ye'll have at bringing back Jack? Now, mate, that truly is not shrewd of ye. As I shall save th' ravagin' of Miss Swann for yer weddin' night, ye have nothin' t' fret over. So move, ye swab!"
Barbossa pulled Elizabeth past Will and, yanking his cabin door open, shoved her inside. He followed suit, barring the entrance. He fixed his hat, straightening the brim just so, before turning back to the seething young woman.
"Now, firstly, may I say that ye are absolutely dense not t' realize wot role ye have by givin' th' headin'," he spat. "Don't play dumb, pretty! Ye desire t' see Sparrow again, so th' compass shows ye where he is. Thus our headin'. Ye don't need t' read coordinates, and ye don't have t' say directions; ye just have t' hold th' compass!"
"I do not desire Jack Sparrow!" Elizabeth shouted, stomping her boot-clad feet in a manner that was most humiliating to her in hind-sight. "I am marrying Will as soon as we are free of our charges, and-"
"I said ye desired Jack, not that ye wanted t' marry him," scoffed Barbossa, crossing over to the rickety table where a bottle of rum waited. "The two d' not always have t' go together, ye know. Will can give ye a stable life and would love ye forever and all that bloody bullocks they feed ye stupid women so ye'll go willin'ly t' th' chapel. But it doesn't mean ye can't want someone else."
"You are overstepping your bounds, Captain Barbossa," Elizabeth warned through clenched teeth. "I am loyal to Will and Will alone."
"Elizabeth, ye keep forgetin' that I know wot ye did!" Barbossa cackled, drinking deeply from the bottle. "Ye seduced Jack Sparrow, ye kissed him senseless, and then ye chained him t' th' mast o' his own ship. And that could have been written off as necessity, but then ye're all on deck for a rescue mission, and the compass gives ye readin's for Sparrow! Sounds like ye've got feelin's for a certain captain, eh?"
"Well... even- even if that is so, which it is not..." Elizabeth stammered, a furious blush racing across her face. "I- I can't keep giving the heading with the compass! Will knows it shows what a person wants! I watch his face and... he must suspect something! Whether you believe it or not, I care dearly for Will! I can't let him find out!"
"Find out about that little tête-à-tête on th' deck o' th' Pearl," Barbossa asked hoarsely, crossing toward Elizabeth, "or about what ye might be feelin' for Jack?"
The rum was already thick on Barbossa's breath as he leaned over her; he must have been drinking before he found her on deck. It didn't smell the same as... well, Jack. Jack always reeked of alcohol, but it was more of a compliment to the sea and sand and musty leather that perfumed his person. Elizabeth turned her face away, nose wrinkling at his stench.
"I love William Turner with all of my heart," she whispered. "If he knew his friend... that we... kissed... it would kill him."
"And wot a bloody pity that would be," Barbossa scoffed, turning on his heel from her. "At least th' lad isn't so thick as t' not begin t' suspect ye and Jack. Honestly, after Sparrow shoved him off onto the Flying Dutchman with Davy Jones, ye'd think th' lad would run th' pirate through."
"You know about Jack sending Will to Davy Jones?" Elizabeth asked, frowning.
"Oh sweet devil, how many times must I say it? I know everythin' that happened! Everythin'!"
"But how is it that you know everything?" demanded Elizabeth.
Barbossa froze, bottle half tilted to his lips. He met her eyes over the cloudy glass, and he set the bottle down somberly.
"Tia Dalma told me everythin'," he said gruffly.
"So everything you've been spouting about sailing and the compass and me and Jack and the Kraken... it's all from Tia Dalma?"
"Everythin' about th' compass and sailin' and the Kraken I knew, Miss, so ye'd best not be doubtin' my worth as a pirate," Barbossa snapped. "But how else was I t' know ye prefer the taste o' pirate t' civilian, eh? Dalma told me wot I needed t' know."
"Needed to know to do what?" It was Elizabeth's turn to cross over to Barbossa. "You told us when we left the swamp that we were to repay Tia Dalma, not you, because you owed Dalma. If this is how you're repaying Dalma, then what is to her gain? What use are you to her by helping us rescue Jack?"
"Ye should be more worried in wot Tia Dalma will be wantin' from ye instead of what she's gettin' from me," he growled, baring his teeth.
"Dalma was the one who suggested we rescue Jack," Elizabeth breathed, gazing up into the eyes of the captain.
"Aye, she was," he nodded.
"Then we'retruly not doing this at our own accord. You're here to make sure we follow through with the plan and so that we feel obligated to pay her back. And she's having us retrieve Jack so she can recieve some sort of payment from him?"
"It's about time ye started seein' things as a pirate, pretty," Barbossa grinned.
"Captain Barbossa, what is it that Tia Dalma wants from us?" Elizabeth asked hesitantly, tilting her face up to the pirate.
Barbossa scowled, brows knitting over his watery eyes. His breath was ragged, as if his renewed lungs were still not used to much exertion, and the scent of rum washed over her again. He grudgingly began to speak, grabbing her wrist in the process, when Gibbs voice rang out from the helm, making the pair freeze.
"Land ho!"
