Pirates of the Caribbean Nemo liber est qui corpori servit

'What on EARTH have you got us into this time, Jack.' Elizabeth growled as the crowd of foreign faces inched closer, forming a tight circle around the pair.

From behind her, Jack grabbed her wrist sharply and drew her towards him. Despite the fear and adrenaline she could feel tightening in her chest and coursing through her arms, Elizabeth was sure the shudder she felt as Jack's upper lip brushed her cheek was for an entirely different reason.

'I think what you want to be asking yourself, Lizzie darling, is how I plan to get us out of this.' he whispered harshly into her ear. Stepping forward suddenly with his characteristic swagger, Jack approached an almost excessively large individual with what looked like half a goat tied around his waist. Clearing his throat, he began to address the man confidently in a strange tongue, which seemed to Elizabeth to be made up of a lot of clicking noises and not much else. A second man, smaller in height that the first but just as large and muscular in width, had sidled in close to Jack, and was staring with seemingly intense interest as the Captain illustrated his conversation with sporadic hand gestures and obscure signals.

Elizabeth founded herself snorting slightly at the comedic scenario in front of her. Of all the interesting events she had found herself caught up in over the past six years with the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow, she was sure this was one of the oddest.

It wasn't that unusual to see Jack trying to talk his way out of trouble. It was, however strange to witness such an event whilst stranded in the middle of some dense green forest, in a country she didn't know, encircled by numerous ferocious looking individuals yielding spears.

She couldn't help musing on how out of place Jack looked, a least a head smaller than the two gruesome counterparts and certainly less exposed. Elizabeth prided herself that an interview with a naked tribe some years ago would have caused her some intense discomfort. Now it just caused her intense annoyance.

The larger of the two foreign gentlemen had begun yelling at Jack, throwing terrifying gestures at his face and pointing wildly to the coast and back to the forest. Elizabeth instinctively clutched for her sword; better to be safe than sorry after all. The tribe around her seemed to be getting restless, whispering angrily to their neighbours and letting their eyes rove up and down her body.

Elizabeth felt herself exhibited and impatient. Enough was enough.

'Jack.' she said exasperatedly through her teeth. Turning slightly, Jack raised an eyebrow at her.

'Lizzie?'

Elizabeth felt an angry heat rising. She yanked her head sharply to the side, hoping it was enough of a gesture to propel the Captain over.

'One second, gents.' Jack smiled at the giants, patting the smaller of the two on the arm and recoiling gingerly as the man roared at him. He side-stepped over to Elizabeth quickly, rolling his eyes at her.

'Entirely friendly lot.' he conceeded loftily.

'Did they say what they're going to do to us?' Elizabeth inquired worriedly, though the panic in her settled slightly at the calm demeanor of her partner. She let her hand drop to the side. 'Are they really friendly?'

Jack, who seemed to have become distracted with searching for something in his coat, looked up perplexed.

'Yes to the first, and bloody hell Lizzie, of course no to the second! Did they look friendly to you?'

Elizabeth spoke up indignantly. 'I thought you said-'

'Listen, Lizzie,' said Jack casually, pulling from his coat lining a peanut and crushing it between his teeth. 'These gentlemen - ' he gestured to the gapless circle - 'intend, as so many we meet do, to roast us alive and enjoy us - no doubt with some fine garnishing and a little decoration - for dinner.'

'WHAT!' Elizabeth screeched as quietly as she could muster. 'THEY'RE GOING TO EAT US?'

'Well, that's what I got out of it.'

Elizabeth stared at him incredulously. 'So what do you propose we DO, Mr Sparrow? Stand here and eat PEANUTS?'

Jack snorted. 'Of course not! I've eaten all the peanuts.' He brushed himself off, and smiling to himself, grabbed her hand. 'What I propose we do, Mrs Turner, is RUN.'

In the instant of the last screamed word, Elizabeth felt herself jerked forward, dragged along by a strong arm through streams of shouting faces, in which direction she had no idea, but certainly away from her potential captors. Eventually all she could hear was her own gasping breath, her blooding pounding in her ears, the splitting of twigs and - although she dreaded to imagine it, she conceeded it to be true - animals underfoot.

After what seemed like an age Jack stopped dead. Elizabeth, dizzied, stooped low to catch her breath, but once again felt Jack's hot, rough hands grabbing at her shoulders. She shrugged him off irritably.

'JACK, surely we've outrrun - '

Hands pushed her into a pool of cold, wet mud. Gasping for air, and spluttering with dirt and indignation, Elizabeth reached out to push her comrade in, only to notice that he was already basking in brown next to her.

She wiped her eyes angrily and slapped Jack hard on the back, only to be greeted with an armful of mud to the chest.

'JACK SPARROW!' she yelped irately, smacking her arms down furiously into the mudbath and sending lumps flying into her hair. 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!'

Jack had decided it best to roll himself completely in the slimy mulch before answering. He sat up bemusedly and patted his encrusted cheeks.

'Camouflaging!' he replied joyously, winking at her before grabbing a handful of filth and stroking it tenderly across her forhead. 'And darling, may I say this new look suits you entirely. You should consider it more often!'

Trying not to smile, Elizabeth grabbed a handful of muck and lobbed it at the Captain, chuckling at his outraged protest as the clump hit him squarely in the eye. After rolling together in an obscenely childish manner for several minutes, the pair lay spread-eagled, wheezing and content.

'So why did we do this, Jack?' Elizabeth inquired lightly, watching absently as her friend formed a mud spike on the top of his head. It dried quickly in the surrounding humidity and crumpled into his mouth, causing him to splutter with surprise.

'Like I said love, camouflage.'

Elizabeth attempted to knot her brows, but found it difficult under the organic mask she was wearing. 'But there's noone here...' she began, her eyes roving the treetops above them. 'We outtran them, didn't we?'

As the words formed on her lips, Elizabeth heard the distant trampling of running footsteps and the murmer of foreign yells. She groaned inwardly.

'Darling, has anyone ever mentioned to you your intuitive knack for speaking too soon?' Jack asked casually, standing quickly and dragging Elizabeth to her feet again. 'Come on.'

Once again they were running, vegetation flashing past them like some putrid whirlpool, frenzied cries drawing ever closer.

'HIDE!' bellowed Jack into her ear, before abandoning her hand and sprinting into the undergrowth.

Panicked, Elizabeth span around, looking for somewhere, anywhere ...

She cursed furiously to herself and ran blindly in the same direction as Jack, spearing herself inwardly for her sudden lack of intelligence and definate lack of inspiration. Giving up, she threw herself roughly against a tree, standing as still as possible and closing her eyes.

The pounding in her ears subsided slowly as she caught her breath. All at once she could hear the waves gushing melodically along the shore, animals scurrying through the thicket of plants and unnamed, irritating insects lopping lazily around her head. In the midst of this tranquil orchestra she allowed herself to relax enough to open a slit of one eye, but slammed it shut immediately when two high, clicking voices whispered suddenly behind her. She tensed, shaking in spite of herself, as if the concentration of being still had invoked a sudden, extreme burst of movement. The voices floated nearby for several minutes, talking quietly at first and then moving away rapidly in what Elizabeth judged to be a frustrated argument. Even when the voices had disappeared did Elizabeth not trust herself to move. She continued resolutely her tree trunk vigil, concentrating all her remaining energy on the acute determination not to whack whatever was pattering across her face.

A loud rustle to her side resumed the pounding in her ears. Whatever it was approached stealthily, and Elizabeth reached once again for her sword.

'See love, camouflage!' said an amicable english voice in front of her. Elizabeth's eyes flew open.

Caked head to toe in dry mud, Jack grinned at her, patting his hat back onto his head in what appeared to her to be the most humourous and ineffective gesture of normality she had ever witnessed.

After Elizabeth had managed once again to reach a happy state of composure (upon Jack's insistance that her mockery of him was only a disguise for her true admiration) the two set off again - this time at a slightly more reasonable pace - in the direction of the shore, which was becoming thankfully more visible through the trees.

Reaching the smooth, white sand, Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief and made haste towards the dinghy, surprised, to say the least, that Jack was pulling his boots off halfway up the beach.

She turned, hands on hips, and stared at him bemusedly. 'Serving yourself as an starter, Captain Sparrow?' she inquired with a haughty tone, watching at he threw his hat onto the floor and shrugged his filthy coat off onto it. He made no reply, and continued to remove his layers of clothing until only his ripped sailor's breeches reamained. Sauntering in her direction, he stopped only to divulge that he was having a swim.

Elizabeth was incredulous. 'But there are people waiting to EAT US in the forest!' She cried, pointing back to the now silent shrubbery.

Jack turned to her with a raised eyebrow. 'I'm sure they've got bored by now, darling. I doubt food of the running kind makes for wanting.' Turning back to the sea, he unbuckled his belt and slipped his trousers off soundly and without an ounce of hesitation, invoking a sharp intake of breath from Elizabeth, who turned away instantly.

She stood with her back to him feeling her skin tauten and a heat rise up her neck and into her cheeks.

''What are you DOING?' she squealed, her eyes plastered to the sand infront of her in what she knew was a mark against her own will and curiousity.

'Swimming!' came the airy reply. 'You should join me love, you aren't exactly looking your best...'

'I know THAT.' Elizabeth retorted angrily. 'But... but you haven't got any CLOTHES ON.'

A silence passed between the pair for a moment. Elizabeth bit her lip and braced herself akwardly, drawing circles in the sand with her feet and listening intently to the soft splashing in the waves behind her. She bitterly regretted her last utterance; she was quite convinced she had never sounded so rediculous in her life.

'So, in your infinite wisdom, your highness...' came a questioning voice from behind, 'you perceive that the proper way for a person to swim is... fully clothed.'

Elizabeth snorted her annoyance. 'No... I mean yes, I mean... well in ... in company.'

Jack seemed to consider this for a moment. 'Love, you've been stuck with me - or dare I say, I with you - for near on six years, is that correct?'

Elizabeth grumbled her positive response.

'Well then I'd venture to say we're more than just casual aquaintances. My naked form does not offend the lady so?'

'Of course not!' Elizabeth began hurridly, before catching herself and biting her tongue. 'I mean, well... I'm a married woman.'

'Terribly sorry, your highness... I didn't realise a ban on swimming was included in those oh so quintessential of promises.'

Elizabeth pondered her response carefully. She couldn't decide whether Jack was baiting her or if he was genuinely shocked at her subliminal assertations. His voice was defiant, mocking, intelligent, normal Jack - but without seeing his face she couldn't quite guess his full intentions.

'Its just embarassing, I suppose.' Elizabeth mumbled finally, in shame, peeling a fleck of mud off of her arm and cursing her own pathetic nature.

'Darling, incase you hadn't realised, I've not invited you to strip off and frolic with me in the surf - yet. If you want to take your effects in with you, please, be my very well-deserved guest, just don't complain to me later on when you're lying in a pool of ice. Savvy?'

Building a supply of dutch courage, Elizabeth turned and pulled off her boots and coat, before striding purposefully into the icy waves. Jack had submerged himself some distance out, and Elizabeth found herself horrifically disappointed with that particular development. Shaking the incriminating sentiment from her thoughts, she concentrated on rubbing the mud out of her hair, and enjoying the feeling of lightness that being in water always gave her. Something like flying, she often considered would be a fair comparison. Stretching back she allowed herself to float on the surface, distracted contentedly by the contrast of the cold, wet sea below her and the throbbing sun that was drying her front instantaneously.

A light splash to her right told her that Jack had returned from his distant jaunt. She jolted and tensed, begging herself not to look downwards, across, or anywhere towards the figure close by. He floated silently next to her for a while before standing up and striding his way back towards the beach. Elizabeth squeezed her eyelids shut resolutely, arguing with the muscles that seemed to be willing her eyes open, just a little.

'Nemo liber est qui corpori servit.' he called back to her as she lay defiantly atop the water.

She had no idea what he had just told her, but she was sure she agreed. Her eyes still firmly pressed shut, she enticed herself to think of Will, and keep her roaming eyes away from her pirating partner.


End file.
