Cold
Summary: Barbossa one-shot on what it's like to be cursed. I noticed that, although Barbossa claims to feel nothing, he cries out in pain (and anger) when Jack slashes him across the back as they're swordfighting. Some of the other pirates (notably Bo'sun) also express pain. This is my take on why.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pirates or the characters or the plot or any of it. So there.
"I feel nothing. Not the wind on my face, nor the spray of the sea… nor the warmth of a woman's flesh." I reached towards her, watching the horror grow on her face as my own flesh disappeared before here eyes, leaving only my rings loosely hanging off my bare bones. Oh, yes, it was a terrifying sight. I remember well the first time I saw myself in the moonlight after we'd been cursed. I remember looking down and seeing only a dead, rotting body where once a living heart had beat, where once skin had warmed the tattered clothes. I remember the sinking feeling that settled in the bottom of my nonexistent gut. I remember the despair that gripped my heart. I remember feeling cold, then realizing that it was only a memory of a sensation I would never have again.
I lied to Elizabeth. I feel something. I feel eternal pain. Pain in my empty stomach, for no matter how much I consume I still starve. Pain in my parched throat, for no matter how much I drink I still thirst. Pain in my chest, for a natural panic consumes me every time I realize that my heart no longer beats. Pain every time I am stabbed, cut, slashed, or maimed in any way, for the curse could not be kind enough to relieve me of the agony of feeling a shaft of metal make a sheath of my body. Even slicing my hand to repay my blood and lift the curse was painful.
After ten years, I've learned to live with the pain. But I've never learned to ignore it.
Okay, I know that many of you will now be demanding, "What about when Jack stabbed Barbossa earlier in the fight and he just rolled his eyes?" And trust me, I've though about that long and hard. Here's what I decided: Barbossa saw it coming (he's a good enough swordsman for that, come on now) and he had time to steel himself for it. He needed to use that as a way to dishearten Jack and show him what a useless battle he was fighting--"You can't beat me, Jack." Yelling in pain would kind of defeat that purpose. So he restrained himself.
I don't know if that floats your boat or not, but that's the best I can do. Feedback is always welcome!