The Nemesis of the Seas (PotC: The Curse of the Black Pearl)

Chapter 8

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Smoke, the unpleasant and breathtaking smell of a fire along with the nose hair burning smell of alcohol... a lot of it. That was all that filled the nose of Crimson along with the body odor coming from Jack who laid, sprawled out beside her.

"Great, has the Interceptor sailed straight into a cross fire?" thought Crimson who still kept her eyes closed due to her being absolutely exhausted. "No, No, the Interceptor was destroyed! Perfect that means we're still on that damned island... Wait a second, did we leave the fire burning?! It would have destroyed all the flammable vegetation if that's so!"

Crimson shot up from the sand and shook her head to release it from her curls. Looking down she noticed Jack restlessly stirring in his sleep. She assumed he probably smelt the smoke too. After standing up and dusting her once white dress, ridding it from the caked-on yellow sand that had found its way to every corner of her body, she saw the smoke... billowing from the tops of the few trees that were left on the island, was a fire, and not some run of the mill bon-fire. No, a signal fire, sending thick black and gray smoke floating kilometers into the clear blue sky of the new day.

"Oh... my... god! Who started this?"

That was when she remembered the night before. They all three got black-out drunk... or so she thought. Elizabeth was not there when she woke up and if there weren't any other people on this island... then it must have been Elizabeth. Crimson watched Elizabeth in shock, as she emerged from the small bunker holding three bottles, filled to the brim with good cold rum, before chucking them, angrily, into the fire. Crimson was astonished. Elizabeth had just wasted several bottles of perfectly good rum, and she inferred that Elizabeth had probably thrown even more in. Hence the overwhelming smell of alcohol that filled the salty beach air.

"I'm glad Jack didn't observe that."

"NO! NOT GOOD! STOP!"

Crimson cringed. He had noticed. She watched as Jack ran past her, frantically waving his arms in the air to grab the attention of Elizabeth who didn't give any reason to believe that she was going to stop.

"NOT GOOD! What are you doing!!? You've burned all the food, the shade, the RUM!"

Elizabeth turned around and walked towards him, giving him a scowl like Crimson had never seen before.

"What happened last night!?"

"Yes, the rum is gone!" said Elizabeth, walking past him to look out to the horizon of the ocean, making Crimson do the same but go right back to staring at the fire when realizing that nothing was out there... unfortunately.

"WHY IS THE RUM GONE!" Jack yelled. Crimson never remembered him getting this angry but her own shock prevented her from acknowledging this.

"ONE," yelled back Elizabeth, turning on her heel until her whole body came face to face with Jack, giving him the full anger that burned from her body. "because it is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into complete scoundrels. TWO! That signal is over a thousand feet high. The entire Royal Navy is out looking for me. Do you really think there is even the slightest chance they won't see it!!?"

Silence passed. Crimson always wanted to be aboard the famous ship, The Dauntless, pride and joy of the British Royal Navy, fighting toe to toe with the very men responsible for deaths of people she'd learned to care about. She did not, however, want to be its prisoner, and that's just what Elizabeth had brought onto them. Yes, she may get her wish and leave the island alive, but there is a huge chance that once she steps onto that ship, her charges of the past will be laid out in front of her like a buffet.

"But why is the rum gone?" asked Jack, obviously still not past that minor inconvenience.

Crimson joined Jack who stood behind Elizabeth as she turned around once more towards the ocean, leaving the fire smoldering in the background along with Jack trying his hardest not to kill Elizabeth on the spot.