People shouted curses and swung at her as Liz pushed past them. She didn't care; all she wanted to do was get away. The first place she went was the hog pen, but that was already taken by another sorry sailor. She ran up the hill toward a cliff. The rum she had earlier blurred her vision and the rocks she climbed up sliced every exposed bit of skin. The angry sea crashed against the rocks and the salt bit at her sores. She kept on however; these hurts were meaningless compared to the intensifying pain inside of her. Once at the top of the crag, she faced the sea and screamed, letting her hair fly wildly around her. The tears sprang forth like never before.
"Why did you have to leave, Jack? Why did you leave us here to find our own way? Life isn't worth living anymore!"
Liz stepped towards the edge and looked down. The foamy waves crashed and sprayed once more. Poised to jump, she suddenly caught sight of their ship, The Raven's Wing. She thought of the soothsayer in the swamp, how she spoke of seeing Jack again.
"You know, dying isn't all it's cracked up to be," said a deep, raspy voice.
Liz turned around to see Barbossa slouched against a rock; swinging a jug lazily from two fingers. She was actually surprised to see him. He hadn't said much on the way to Tortuga, and had left them soon after putting ashore.
"Life after death." He laughed mockingly. "Most people don't believe it exists. You know there is an end of the world, right? I could tell you all about it." He laughed again and lifted the jug to his lips, then stopped. His face dropped, as if pulled by an invisible hand, and was suddenly overcome by sadness. "You know, after Jack fired that shot and your boyfriend…"
"He's not my boyfriend!" Liz interrupted.
"Alright, that Will Turner, EX-love interest of yours ended the curse, it was like I fell asleep and woke up there. Strange waking up there too, why, seeing the poor beasts you gutted and slit forty years before, still waving their fists at ye," he chuckled and stopped to take a drink. He lowered the rum and let it swing again, remaining silent as Liz still watched intently.
"It's dark there, you know? Well, I suppose you wouldn't. But it really is. Darker than those nights aboard the Pearl, when the sea would swirl around you; you hoped for death when it would never come. Before she found me and brought me back, and that was even a miracle…"
"The soothsayer, you mean?" Liz asked.
"Yes, her. We knew each other for many years before taking different paths. When she heard of my death, she came after me. A fighter she was, braving storms and cold, that unnerving darkness, not to mention the vicious sea creatures bred by Davy Jones himself to guard the entrance. She entranced them to get past, and still hardly got us out alive. I don't know why I agreed to this quest. The Ends is the last place I want to see again. I'd rather look down Jack's pistol again than live in that awful place. It's not really living; it's more like hanging between life and death. If you're ready to die, you just do. But if you're like me, who wants to hang on a little more, you go to the Ends."
"So you think Jack wasn't ready to die yet, and he may be there?"
"I'll never know what Jack is thinking. He may be there, and he may have decided to move on. I guess we'll find out if we make it there the unnatural way."
Barbossa winked and slouched lower.
"Best get some sleep. Hard day tomorrow."
Barbossa lowered his hat and quickly fell asleep. Liz took a spot enclosed by a few bushes and a tree and laid down. The last sound she heard was the 'clink' of Barbossa's jug hitting the ground, before she drifted into dreamland.
