Disclaimer: I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean or any characters involved. Nor do I own the song Swallowed in the Sea by Coldplay.

Swallowed in the Sea: A Path of Freedom

Chapter 4 – The Dark Side of Ambition

"Cast off!" Gibb's distant cries from the deck of the Black Pearl could be heard from upon one of the hills overlooking the sea just outside the port. Elizabeth stared on from the knoll, watching as the ship with black sails readied to head out to the open waters with its crew to help her along. Will's arm slunk around her waist and pulled her closer to his side as if coaxing some sort of reaction to the affectionate gesture. He received none though considering she was too engaged in watching the ship to pay any attention.

If her fiancée hadn't restrained her in such an adoring way, she would have surely summoned up the courage to race down to the docks and join Jack upon his ship before it was too late. She fanned herself uneasily; that blasted heart of hers was sending her mixed signals again, as usual.

"I must say it's a relief to see Jack alive and well again," Will cooed, a slight scratch to his voice that she recognized all too well. This certain falter of his always signifying his dishonesty. He had always been a terrible liar. Consolation or not, she despised when he lied to her. It had always made her feel as if he were treating her like a child.

"Step to, you scalawags!" Jack's rough voice rang clear as the ship neared the hill. A shiver flew down her spine and Elizabeth felt the grip around her waist tighten.

"Will, there's no need to worry. As I've reminded you in the past, there is nothing between me and Jack Sparrow, I assure you." She figured he had hinted the agitation in her voice given that he said nothing more after. Suspecting she had additional feelings for Jack hadn't mattered so much to him anymore. The pleasure he took in knowing she had chosen to stay by his side and not the pirate's was enough to keep him quiet.

"Mister Turner." The couple turned back to face Norrington dressed in his Commodore attire as if he had never once fallen from grace. Elizabeth ignored the disappointed look that creased his features in the moment his eyes met hers that Will remained oblivious to. Aboard the Pearl, James acting as a bystander had made it quite clear that he recognized that the suitable choice for her was indeed William. Justifying, however, that he wasn't necessarily the correct choice for her. Naturally though, Elizabeth had resisted the idea and insisted she did not hold Jack at all in the favor of love.

"I wondered if I might have a word with you," he requested politely, his usual stone-cold expression far from inviting. Will exchanged looks with his fiancée before he reluctantly freed her of his hold then hiked down the hill to speak with Norrington.

Elizabeth turned back to the sea to find the Pearl in perfect view. The ship was close enough that she could distinguish all the faces of the crew members bustling about and even marvel at the striking feathers of Mister Cotton's parrot as it circled the masts. Jack was at the stern, his back faced to her from where she could see, studying the horizon ahead. She sighed, certain there was nothing that could take Jack Sparrow away from his love of the sea. That horizon would lure his eyes till his days were up.

Upon feeling incredibly miserable, she decided it would be best to head home. Before she could look away though, she caught sight of the captain suddenly turned and staring back to her from his stead. The expression that played across his face was too much to comprehend for his eyes held a sorrow she could not match with anything she'd ever seen before. The despair clouding his kohl rimmed eyes seemed enough to send her into sobs. Why was he looking back?

"Jack! Come back!" she cried as his gaze fell and he turned and faced the horizon once more. When her shouts were deafened by the roar of the waves, she began to run for the cliff's edge, desperately seeking his attention. By the time she had a chance to think clearly, she had lost her footing and found herself plummeting through the air. She screamed as the rocks below came closer into view as she fell faster, terror turning her white.

"No!" Elizabeth shot up from her sleep, panting and sweating. It took only but a moment for her to realize it had only been a dream. Well, her freefall had been a dream; her desperate cry for Jack, as well. Everything else had once come about but was since just remembered in a recurring dream that she couldn't quite shake. When the events had taken place, Elizabeth had only the chance for her mouth to gape before Will's grasp had returned around her, leaving her to ponder. Why had he looked back at her? This question had kept her wide awake for what seemed like endless nights but she could never decipher his reasoning. He was the one who had assured her on the way back to Port Royal that he simply lusted for her and that was it. Being somewhat saddened by the explanation he'd given, she had considered the idea that maybe she was fretting over nothing. Maybe she had just wanted it to mean something.

Pushing aside her reverie, she began massaging her temple as the events that had taken place hours ago came back to her in a distorted flash. Jack had offered her wine and she'd accepted that much she was sure of. Then he'd gone on about something she hadn't quite paid attention to due to the effects of the contaminated alcohol. Following the aftereffects, she remembered being lain on his bed. Elizabeth's fingers flew to the buckles and buttons on her attire, reassuring herself that she had not been touched. 'I'm not sorry. Not sorry for dragging you into this. Back a year ago, when you told me you weren't sorry when you chained me to the Pearl, it was plain to see that you were pure pirate and would be able to go on.' Bits of conversation started to flow back to her on an easy wave. 'And being such, I'm positive you'll be able to pull through and take on this venturous task…even if it is all by your lonesome.' She grimaced; what conniving plan was he up to now?

Elizabeth hurried to her feet then advanced towards the doors, figuring she might as well try for some sort of explanation from Gibbs. But as she pushed against the doors, she came to find them locked. Rattling the doorknobs fiercely, she grunted and began banging at the wood with her fists.

"Stop that! You're gunna ruin the door and I'm sure Jack wouldn't be all too happy 'bout that when he gets back." Gibb's rough voice hollered from the opposite side of the doors as Elizabeth ceased her fit of rage.

"Why are these doors locked? Where's Jack?" she questioned feverishly. When she received no reply, she threw her body up against the wood like she had done with her fists.

"Alright, alright! Jack left in one of the longboats! He said he needed to go to some island. We're waiting for 'im to come back."

"You just let him leave? Why did he need to go to some island?"

"Not sure; wouldn't tell us." Gibbs voice lowered to a grumble.

"You're all mad! Mister Gibbs, unlock this door before I proceed to break my way through it."
"I'm sorry, Elizabeth, but the cap'n instructed me not to let anyone come in or out 'til he returned. Besides, even if I wanted to let ye out, I don't have the key."

Elizabeth pressed her back to the door and bit her lip in concentration, unaware as to how she would get herself out of this predicament. Surveying the room, a crafty idea came to mind as her gaze swept across the windows. Eyes then fixed onto the bed, devious thoughts centered on her escaped on the Dauntless. "Jack should know better than to lock me up," she muttered as she gathered his sheets into a chaotic pile, "If it's a game of treachery he wants, its one he shall receive."

Elizabeth dropped to her knees, her chest rising and falling as she rested against a tree. Her face took on a red shade and beads of sweat gathered on her neck from exhaustion. The canteen she'd brought was pressed up against her thigh, its contents having been emptied a while earlier when thirst seemed unbearable – she later regretted drinking so much in so little time.

What had hardly been but a few hours felt like days to Elizabeth as the warm Caribbean night progressed. She had hacked through the greenery of the forest while pestering insects nipped at her skin while she continued to hunt down the captain. Having little to go by for direction, she had been lucky enough to come across an empty rum bottle and was certain she was on the right path. The temptation of rowing back to the ship seemed particularly enticing at the moment, but she decided against it. Too much work had been put in to just finding a way to get to the island that it seemed useless to go back now.

Her escape from the Black Pearl had been far more complicated than it had been for the Dauntless. Not only had she needed to destroy one of the cabin windows to feed the knotted sheets down from, but climbing down into one of the suspended longboats had also been quite a task. There were also the throbbing muscles in her arms and newly formed blisters on her hands due to the grueling paddling she had done but not once had she given in to defeat. No, she was determined to find Jack and give him a piece of her mind.

The pirate's gaze wandered up to the skies where ominous, grey clouds darkened the heavens, threatening to pour at any given time. Closing her eyes for a moment to regain composure, she soaked in the sounds of the forest brush. The leaves brushing against one another created a harmonious sound while the wind howled lightly in her ear. For a moment it almost seemed as if it weren't the wind at all but a person bellowing from afar. Elizabeth's eyes widened before she hustled into an upright position.

Chopping at some of the foliage blocking her way, she ventured up the hill that followed prior to finding her suspicions true. There at the top of the mound, Jack appeared shouting like mad and darting towards her with his arms flailing about.

"Jack! How dare…" she began with a huff, expecting him to slow to a stop. Instead he grabbed her by the hand and continued running like an eccentric. The moment his hand clasped around hers, she turned crimson in the face. It was an act she'd never experienced with him before – excluding the time aboard the Interceptor – and admittedly was quite fond of. That is until she found herself shielding her face from the branches whipping against her skin as he dragged her through the jungle along with him. After cussing a fair amount of times, Elizabeth then demanded to know why they were in such a hurry while they bent back undergrowth and stepped around other obstacles standing in their way. When he cast a horrified glance behind him, her eyes followed to note the spears catapulting through the air towards them. She screamed as they dodged the weapons that fell near their heels and immediately picked up her pace. Before long, she became the one who was pulling him along through the darkness of the night.

Once reaching the beach, they collapsed in the sand, struggling for breath. Elizabeth felt particularly uncomfortable seeing as she'd just ran as fast as her legs could very well carry her and was parched of thirst. "What have you done now, Jack?"

He ignored her raspy voice at first before she swatted tiredly at his shoulder from where she lay next to him.

"I haven't done anything," he lied. He tensed up as her two fingers jabbed into his side; he was surprised she had enough energy to do so. "Unless of course you're referring to the natives I may have inadvertently sent into a bit of a tiff when they caught me with their virgin princess." The charms braided into his hair jingled as he twisted his head to face her with a comforting smile. She clenched her jaw and his cheerful expression faded into the creases of a frown. Rising to her feet, she dusted off the sand sprinkled on her pants.

"So you're saying the reason you wasted valuable time that we could have used to bring us closer to finding the head of Blackbeard was all so you could lay with some virgin?" Bringing himself to her level, he raised a finger to his chin in thought.

"Pretty much," he agreed. Elizabeth winced as he finished with another pleasant smile, "She was quite easy on the eyes." She was mostly frustrated with the idea that Jack could actually be so incompetent. To top off said rage, upon noticing the absence of their longboats, she'd realized they had arrived at the wrong side of the island.

"Well, that's just wonderful! Not only have you endangered our lives, as usual, but you've now lead us to the wrong side of the island!" Elizabeth kicked at the sand and threw her fists about her, hoping to hit something – or someone in particular. Jack examined the stretched shoreline.

"My mistake, love," he apologized as he rubbed his palms together in a dismissive manner. The endearment fueled her wrath to the point where she thought her headache could split her mind in two.

"Don't call me that," she snapped. Jack merely scratched his beard to fill an empty comment.

He stumbled forward into the moonlight to catch sight of what lay down the beach side, eyes narrowed sternly. "We'll just have to stay to the shore 'till we reach the longboats, then. Climbing over those rocks won't be all too difficult, either. Simple even," he explained while gesturing to the grotto interrupting the path they'd need to take. Elizabeth pursed her lips, fairly different ideas etched in her mind.

"Why should we go through all that trouble when we can just go back through the forest and cut to the other side?" Jack spun and made a face at her.

"I'm sorry, but did you not happen to spot the enraged mob trailing us who so pleasantly greeted you with sharpened spears or is your eyesight not all that well this evening, Miss Swann?" he questioned with mock-concern. A distasteful expression tightened her features to his sarcasm.

"If necessary we could fight them off. Both of us have the ability." Elizabeth released the sword from her scabbard and held it before her as if it would help to convince him. Jack's black eyes fell over her before he snorted and turned away, clearly irked far more than he had passed off a few moments earlier.

"So I'm sure. Now, let's get a move on; the tide is starting to rise." As he began down the beach side, she trailed behind with her weapon in hand, the fire blazing in her eyes.

"I can handle a sword much better than you give me credit for, Jack." The pitiful once-over he'd given her had accounted for an insult all in itself and she was determined to prove him wrong.

"Is that so?" he remarked without even sparing her a mere glance. Elizabeth scowled and before she realized it, she'd run off with her thoughts and put them to practice. Taking a swipe at him with her cutlass, she watched in horror as he tensed up and slowed to a stop. She'd wondered if she'd actually hurt him when no words escaped him. That is until a small patch of his breeches flopped down, revealing a portion of his taut rear-end.

Elizabeth exploded into a silly laugh as Jack struggled for composure, spinning his backside from view while tugging at his vest to cover the exposed skin. After a few more uncontrollable giggles, she noticed he'd unsheathed his own cutlass, his left hand still awkwardly pulling his clothing overtop. "Yes, yes; let's all have a laugh at ole Jack's expense!" he remarked flatly as he disregarded the way she'd flicked away tears from laughing so hard. Snorting softly, Elizabeth tossed her head to the side and her hair flew over her shoulder as she readied herself to fight. Jack's posture loosened. "If it's a swordfight you so desire, then—bloody 'ell, woman!" She spared him his own narcissistic rambling by rushing forward, her blade against his own.

There wasn't much Jack could do at first besides block himself as Elizabeth jerked her sword against his, the blades humming at every strike she took. She found herself edging him further down the beach with every blow she delivered, coaxing him to give up his dim-witted charade and fight back.

He watched her carefully in what little moonlight there was. The fire in her eyes, the laughter on her lips. Jack's mouth curled into a smirk. Finally he pushed her sword aside with some great force drawn from within, lightly snickering at the face she made when he caught her off by the sudden movement. Her feet slipped over the sand and she fell to her side with a thud.

The wind knocked out from her body, keeping her down on her back for a moment. When she felt the darkness of his shadow as he loomed over her, she instinctively angled the blade above her body to block the sudden strike he delivered against it. Neither one had any intention of deliberately hurting the other since it was more like one of the games they played than anything. Still though, it was rather tricky not to get too engrossed in excitement. Kicking his feet out from beneath him, Elizabeth then struggled to her feet to find him in sync with her movements.

"I see you've taken a page out of Captain Jack's book eh, love?" he noted in regards to her unfair play or 'cheating' as Will might refer to it as. When he'd first drawn his sword on her, he hadn't known what to expect. Her ex-fiancé had been the one to teach her to handle a weapon so it'd been difficult to tell whether she'd follow the rules of engagement in a fair fight or not. He should have already known, though. She was a pirate after all.

A playful smile tweaked the corners of her lips that she tried to hide as she pivoted to the side in an attempt to slip in a surprise hit. He blocked it easily though leaving her slightly dumbstruck; he was far quicker than she'd imagined, no matter how clumsy or lucky he'd seemed. "So, is this as compelling a fight as the time you fought Will on the day we met?" she questioned as they ended up with their swords leaning against each other, their faces inches apart. The spicy scent of rum on his breath mixed with the smell of the sea catching her between emotions.

"Ah, well unfortunately my clash with Turner wasn't as invigorating." He chuckled, a low sort of purring quality to his voice that distracted her for a moment before she twirled to her side to knock his sword out from her way. Anger stirred inside of her that she didn't know the cause of.

"Oh? And why would that be?" While she sank into regret for setting herself up for a thwarting response from him, he dexterously stepped out from the wrath she channeled into her sword. He stumbled slightly over the waves that scattered on shore that aimed to keep him off balance. They exchanged strikes, both faltering backwards due to the violent waves that dragged past their legs.

Jack smirked as she stared waiting for a response while trying to keep her stance in the water. "I didn't have the opportunity to cross blades with the beautiful Elizabeth Swann then, now did I?"

Elizabeth's mouth gaped, he'd rendered her speechless. The resentment within her had changed to emptiness at the pit of her stomach as his cheerful expression altered to a disheartened one. He sheathed his cutlass and resisted the great strength of the waves. His gaze passed over her and she recognized that same melancholic look in his eyes from the day they parted. The game was over.

"Why did you look back that day, Jack?!" she cried over the roar of the water while she kept a steady stance and put away her sword. Their eyes met and Elizabeth could see he knew very well what day she spoke of. Before he could speak though, they were both taken down by the sudden rush of the waves and dragged beneath.

Elizabeth flew her head up from the water, coughing and sputtering. She crawled onto the beach, wincing from the salt that stung her eyes. Jack came beside her just as drenched as she was. "You alright?" he asked her while he swung his soaking dreadlocks out from his face. She nodded, turning onto her back to face the heavens. She squinted as she felt rain drops beginning to drum against her face. Jack also came to notice the sudden change in weather and proceeded to haul her to her feet. "Let's get a move on, love!" he shouted, his hand clutched around her slender arm while they rushed towards the cave that lay down the beach.

They began to climb up the jagged rocks that acted as stepping stools to the safety of the cave. Elizabeth followed behind the captain who looked more like a monkey than anything as he clambered up, his hands shifting from one rock to another. Glancing over her shoulder, she noted the tumbling waves that knocked against the boulders below. The tragic ending she'd faced in her dream seemed all too real for any comfort at the moment. Her eyelids flickered as she faced forward again; the droplets of rain blurring her vision. When she'd shaken them off, Elizabeth detected only the bottoms of Jack's boots as he hoisted himself up into the opening. Reaching for another rock, her hand glided over the slippery surface. She let out a yelp in fright, sure she was about to meet her fate. But before she had a chance to drop, she felt a familiar hold around her wrist. She smiled and without a word, she grasped his other outstretched hand and he dragged her up into the cave. They then edged further inside the cove to shield themselves from the downpour.