Elizabeth sat in the captain's cabin, looking over the sea, contemplating her fate. She brought a hand up to rub her eyes. The past few nights had been full of traumatic events, and she was thoroughly exhausted. Instinctively she ran a hand over her throat as the shadow of an island crept upon the horizon.

Barbossa needed her blood to break an awful curse, a curse that caused her to shiver every time she laid eyes on the crew, remembering the night she viewed them as living skeletons. Despite her trauma she smiled ruefully, her blood would not satisfy them, for she was not who she claimed to be. Barbossa knew her to be Elizabeth Turner, the name she had given him to protect her identity as governor's daughter when the pirates hauled her upon their ship.

As the island grew closer her thoughts shifted to a real Turner, wondering if Will was safe. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, realizing how quickly her mind came to rest on the boy lately. It was not proper that a lady of her status should find affection for a blacksmith, and Elizabeth knew that more people than her or her father would agree. Vaguely she wondered why the Commodore had not caught up with the Pearl by then, if the Interceptor was the fastest ship in the fleet as he claimed. If Norrington wished to marry her, why was he not putting up a better fight?

Will had to laugh to himself as he thought of the expression on Norrington's face when he and Jack stole the Interceptor from under his nose while the redcoat crew searched the Dauntless. The small ship swiftly outran the larger, older war vessel as the blacksmith and pirate sailed after the Black Pearl. Will did find his mood to be quite as lighthearted when Jack began talk of his father.

"My father was not a pirate!" He bellowed, brandishing his sword at Jack's nose. The wind was knocked out of him as the pirate swung the bar out, sweeping the boy to hang over the sea.

"There are two types of people, boy. Those who can accept things, and those who can't." He directed the bar to bring Will back to the deck. "For example, you can accept that your father was a pirate and a good man, or you can't." At that Jack Sparrow left the hotheaded youngster to his thoughts, helping him to his feet. "We sail to Tortuga."

In the darkness below deck, Will contemplated this new reality, palms balled into fists. At one time he had thought that Elizabeth would accept him as a blacksmith... But now? He examined his hands, rough from work with the metal. Now he knew of the blood that ran in his veins, blood at one time he had been proud of, blood now that he felt cursed him.

Tortuga was an utterly nasty place to Will, despite Jack's claims of it as a pleasure island where all sorts felt welcome. Will felt oddly satisfied when several seedy-looking women slapped the rogue. He glanced to his right, where men lay in pitiful heaps beneath open and flowing ale and rum barrels, some passed out from the alcohol. The stink was unbearable.

Will leaned casually against the wall as Jack and a portly man exchanged business offers. A brawl was going on in the tavern, a chubby woman making eyes at him until a burly man drew her away. The boy pricked his ears as he heard his father's name mentioned, along with 'the kid' and 'leverage'. He wrinkled his brow in confusion, then it smoothed in angry realization. He was alone, no one had Elizabeth's interests at heart except him, every person that had set eyes upon him only saw him as means to accomplish their own goals.

The crew Jack hired did not impress Will, but then, who could take a crew that consisted of drunks, a woman, a dwarf, a parrot, and a mute seriously? The captain himself was half-mad, Will discovered as he shared conversations with the first mate. One stormy night Jack looked as deranged as Will had ever seen him, standing like the devil himself at the helm, broken compass in hand, a manic grin on his face. He had to admit it was an astonishingly strange band of pirates.

Elizabeth shivered as the pirate crew rowed the boats further along the cave passageway, feeling as if she were Joan of Arc on the way to the stake. She tried to pray, but thoughts of knives and skeleton pirates always interrupted the attempted imploration. Her eyes widened when they led her from the boats into a treasure-filled chamber, heaps of spoils from ships and kings' tombs glinting in the patches of sunlight from holes in the cave roof.

Barbossa led her to an ancient chest filled with coins identical to the one she had taken from Will that day eight years ago. Barbossa began to explain the curse and rouse the crew as Elizabeth tensed with each sentence. Finally, he grabbed a knife from the chest. She closed her eyes and waited for the end.

Jack and Will rowed through the same caves Elizabeth had passed through moments earlier, Jack elaborating on the details of the pirate code. He mentioned one of the more grisly rules as they passed a skeleton with a saber through his heart.

" You know, for having such a bleak outlook on pirates, you're well on your way to becoming one. You freed a prisoner from the gallows, commandeered a ship, left Tortuga with a buccaneer crew, and... You're completely obsessed with treasure." Jack said, pulling the small boat ashore as Will gazed at the floor beneath, which was littered with doubloons.

"I am not obsessed with treasure." He said fiercely, climbing ashore.

"Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate."

The two crept up to a hole in the wall, where they observed Elizabeth standing before a great chest, bent slightly as Barbossa brandished a knife. "Elizabeth." Will murmured, wanting to go to her. Jack held him back in disgust. The boy could think of nothing else!

As they approached the boat, forming a plan, Will picked up the oar and bashed Jack on the head. "Sorry Jack, I will not be your leverage." He dove into the water and swam beneath to find an opening into the cavern. At last he surfaced, seeing Elizabeth lying unconscious near the pool. He pressed his hand to her mouth as she awoke, finding her lips to be cool and moist. Feeling slightly mesmerized by her beauty, he raised a finger to his lips to keep her quiet, helping her to escape. Elizabeth grabbed the medallion that had landed near her head before fleeing with her rescuer.