Chancing Fate - Jack Sparrow x OC

Part 1 - Chapter 10

The blinding light was almost unbearable as Caroline slowly awoke. Even through closed eyes the sunlight felt sharp enough to stab straight through her skull, and when she groaned and turned her face away from it, the movement only made the pounding behind her temples worsen. Warm sand shifted beneath her while she clung tighter to whatever she had curled against during the night, trying desperately to sink back beneath the exhaustion and forget the ache crawling through every part of her body.

For one blissful moment she nearly managed it.

Then she was shoved upright so suddenly the world tilted violently around her.

Caroline blinked hard against the brightness, barely managing to steady herself before she found herself staring directly into Jack Sparrow's face from only inches away. His beads hung crookedly through tangled hair while sunlight caught harshly across one side of his face, and for several disoriented seconds she could not understand why she was looking at him or why he seemed equally confused to find her practically tangled against him in the sand.

Before either of them could speak, Jack's attention snapped over her shoulder.

Caroline followed the movement automatically.

A massive plume of smoke billowed high above the trees inland, thick black clouds rolling upward while orange flames tore visibly through the brush beneath it. The fire spread fast enough she could actually hear branches cracking faintly under the roar of it even from the beach.

As she looked back toward Jack, panic flashed openly across his face. "Oh, that's bad," he announced, already scrambling to his feet.

He sprang upright immediately, and Caroline barely had time to untangle herself before his sudden movement dumped her sideways into the sand. By the time she pushed herself upright again, Jack was already sprinting barefoot across the beach toward the smoke.

Groaning under her breath, Caroline pressed one hand hard against her forehead while the world lurched unpleasantly around her. Every movement felt delayed and heavy after the rum from the night before, and even standing upright required far more concentration than it should have.

How was it possible Jack had drunk even more than she had and still managed to run like that?

Settling for a far slower pace, Caroline eventually reached the fire just in time to watch Elizabeth shove another barrel directly into the flames.

The resulting explosion cracked through the air loud enough to make her physically flinch.

"Oh, for goodness sake," she groaned.

Dropping immediately into the sand again, Caroline buried her face against her hands while another wave of pain pulsed through her skull. The smell alone was unbearable now. Burning wood mixed with smoke and rum thickened the air until breathing itself felt unpleasant.

Somewhere nearby Jack waved frantically at the inferno, sounding genuinely horrified. "No! Not good! Stop! Not good!"

Caroline cracked one eye open just enough to see him waving his arms wildly at the fire while Elizabeth stood planted beside it with all the determination of someone entirely convinced she was right.

Throwing both arms toward the flames, Jack rounded on Elizabeth in disbelief. "What are you doing? You've burned all the food, the shade, the bloody rum!"

Turning sharply toward him, Elizabeth crossed her arms with obvious satisfaction. "Yes, the rum is gone."

As though summoned by the accusation itself, another barrel exploded violently inside the flames.

Another burst of sparks shot skyward, and Jack looked genuinely devastated. Throwing his hands toward heaven, he cried, "Why's the rum gone?"

"One," Elizabeth snapped, pointing accusingly toward him, "because it is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into complete scoundrels. Two..." Gesturing triumphantly toward the enormous column of smoke towering above them, she continued, "that signal is over a thousand feet high. The entire Royal Navy is searching for me and Caroline. Do you honestly think there is even the slightest chance they will not see it?"