Chancing Fate - Jack Sparrow x OC

Part 1 - Chapter 8

The Black Pearl was everything and nothing like she had expected. After a few quick words from Jack, he had managed to guarantee she would be kept alive until Barbossa got the name he needed. Caroline did not care much about the details of the bargain, only that it seemed to be the single thing standing between her and a shallow grave somewhere on that cursed island. After some agreement she had not been included in, she and Jack were separated, shoved into separate boats, and brought back toward the Pearl through dark water that rocked uneasily beneath them.

As the ship loomed larger overhead, Caroline found herself staring upward despite herself. The Black Pearl cut through the water like some enormous shadow, her black sails hanging heavy above the deck while lanternlight flickered dimly across dark wood. Even before stepping aboard, the ship carried a feeling she could not quite explain. Not merely dangerous, but hollow somehow, like something abandoned and still moving anyway.

The moment her boots touched the deck, the feeling only worsened. Crewmen moved around her with restless purpose while the ship creaked beneath every shifting wave, and despite the number of bodies surrounding her, the Pearl somehow felt colder than the Interceptor ever had. Caroline's eyes moved quickly over the deck, catching pieces where she could: black rigging overhead, damp lanternlight glinting against cannon barrels, weathered wood darkened further by seawater. Nothing about it felt welcoming, and she could not understand why Jack would want to captain a ship like this. Then again, perhaps it would seem less dreary when it was not crewed by cursed pirates out for blood.

Either way, she was given little opportunity to look longer. Hands shoved her forward almost immediately, guiding her below deck while Jack disappeared elsewhere beside Barbossa.

The brig left far more to be desired than she had hoped. Water sloshed across the bottom of the cell high enough that sitting meant soaking herself entirely, leaving her little choice but to remain standing with one shoulder against the wall. Damp wood surrounded her on all sides, carrying the heavy scent of saltwater, mildew, and rot, while somewhere overhead boots crossed the deck in uneven bursts. Every so often the ship creaked sharply enough to make her head snap upward before she remembered where she was, alone aboard the Black Pearl with no real idea what happened next.

At first she tried keeping track of time by counting footsteps overhead or listening for changes in movement above deck, but eventually even that blurred together. The Pearl felt alive around her in all the wrong ways. Water dripped steadily somewhere nearby while the lantern outside her cell swung faintly with the motion of the ship, throwing uneven shadows through the bars whenever the vessel rolled. Caroline folded her arms tightly against herself, more out of discomfort than true cold as her soaked sleeves clung damply against her skin, though the lingering chill of seawater still sat unpleasantly against her clothes.

What exactly happened now?

That question pressed harder the longer she stood there. Barbossa needed Will's name. That much she understood. But afterward? Once they got what they wanted, there was very little reason for pirates like these to keep anyone alive. She had seen enough already to know mercy was not something this crew relied upon. Her eyes shifted instinctively toward the bars again, listening for approaching footsteps or voices, but nothing came. No sign of Jack returning. No indication anyone even remembered she was down there.

The silence between sounds became the worst part.

Unable to remain still any longer, Caroline finally pushed herself off the wall and paced the small length of the cell instead, water splashing softly beneath her boots. Every few moments she caught herself listening harder whenever voices drifted faintly through the ceiling overhead, trying unsuccessfully to make out words. Tracing absent patterns along the wall as she passed, her thoughts turned unwillingly back toward the cave.