ladyfirestarter | (no subject)

[From here.]

Out the back door, and she's running, and the grass under her feet is damp but that won't save it for long, and there's a large body of water around here somewhere, she can feel it --

Charlie pulls up, panting, at the edge of the lake; she drops to one knee, head bowed, hands clenched, fighting it.

(like having a)

The grass around her is smoldering.

(daughter)

A choked sound, half gasp and half sob, escapes her; her hands dig into the earth.

The surface of the lake near her begins to steam.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

destruction1_0

Such a lovely tableau.

And yet Destruction, over by the tree line, isn't smiling.

Arms (and my, what big arms he has, my dear) folded. Eyes a little narrowed in a calculating expression.

Unobtrusive, for now.

From:

it_has_teeth

"There is a limit to how far I can travel, just now."

His voice is still so dry, though coming from farther away than it had previously.

"And your distress is remarkably potent."

And oh, the hunger.

From:

ladyfirestarter

If there is a hunger anywhere in the multiverse to match that of the Master-Shark, it is that of the fire. And the fire knows nothing of distress, or calm, or duty; it is gleeful in its greed, and it will devour everything given the chance.

Charlie's gripping it with both hands, pouring it into the water, struggling to shove it down, to make it have done.

From:

pirate_jack

The superheated water boils outwards in a visibly widening ripple, racing away from its epicenter and spreading through the lake.

It's not all that long before it reaches the Black Pearl. Wood creaks and groans with sudden strain as the temperature rises abruptly.

In his cabin, Jack Sparrow's head jerks up at the sound. He drops the sextant that he'd been working with, and his chair goes clattering to the floor as he races out of his cabin, heading for the stairs that lead belowdecks.

He's arrested by the sight of the rising steam, however.

"Oh bugger." Jack goes to the rail, staring in alarm down at the rippling water.

"Stop boiling my ship!"

From:

ladyfirestarter

Her head jerks up as the shout carries across the surface of the lake.

Something of the startlement helps to break up the fire's cohesion; it's finally starting to dissipate.

From:

pirate_jack

His yell had been directed at the lake itself, as Jack hasn't yet noticed the woman kneeling on the shore.

He leans out, almost dangerously far, watching the water as it hisses against the side of the Pearl.

"Too hot--"

In the next moment, he's over the side and heading down the sea-ladder to where water meets wood.

From:

ladyfirestarter

"Wait, no --"

She's half-risen to her feet, one hand reaching out in warning.

"Stay where you are!"

From:

pirate_jack

He's about halfway down the ladder when her cry reaches him, and Jack's head snaps around as he loops an arm through the rope and turns toward shore.

"She's my ship!"

From:

ladyfirestarter

"Just -- stay clear of the water, it'll be hot for a while --"

The power's gone completely quiescent now.

"I'm sorry."

From:

pirate_jack

"I've no intention of boiling meself like a fish in a pot," he snaps back, starting down the ladder once more until he can brace himself just above the lake's surface.

Jack leans out, trying to get a close look at the wood, and reaches out to run his fingers over it with care-- almost as if he's reassuring the ship herself.

"You're behind this, then?"

From:

ladyfirestarter

"I didn't realize there was a ship out here."

It's hard to sound apologetic, even sincerely so, when calling across an expanse of lake.

"I had to get rid of the heat before it set fire to the bar."

From:

pirate_jack

"Don't use your eyes much, do you?"

His own are glittering with something wild as he jerks his head up to look at her.

"Set fire to the bar?"

From:

ladyfirestarter

"Yes, I --"

A frustrated sigh.

"Look, it's complicated."

From:

pirate_jack

"Then I'll give you my leave to explain it, luv. But you'll have to wait just a moment, savvy?"

The water's cooling, if only a little, and Jack touches his hand to it and jerks it back instantly with a hiss.

"Bugger."

He starts back up the ladder toward the deck, moving very quickly.

From:

ladyfirestarter

She sinks back down to sit on the grass as he disappears into the ship, drawing up her knees and wrapping her arms around them.

A moment. She can wait a moment. She owes the sailor some explanation, after all; and she can use the time to regain her composure.

From:

pirate_jack

He does return, eventually, although it's many moments more than one before the sound of booted footsteps striding across wooden planks can be heard again.

Jack drops a bucket (now empty of tar, as he'd used it all to patch over the spots where the heat had softened existing tar and allowed water to start leaking through) to the deck with a clatter, and braces both hands on the railing as he looks shoreward.

From:

destruction1_0

They're still being observed.

He hasn't moved.

From:

ladyfirestarter

Charlie hasn't moved much either; she's still sitting on the shore, watching the steam coalesce into mist and sink back down to wreathe over the surface of the lake.

Her fingers are idly combing through the heat-withered grass at her feet.

From:

pirate_jack

"Now."

His tone is a rough growl, but he seems a little calmer.

"Suppose you tell me just what sort of trick it is you have that gives you the idea that turning the lake into a soup-pot's a fine and pleasant thing."

From:

ladyfirestarter

"I am truly sorry." She gets to her feet, the better to speak across the distance -- though the night's quiet, and the air's still, and they really don't need to shout to be heard.

"It wasn't done on a whim. I've got a pyrokinetic talent that just came close to going out of control, and if I hadn't thrown it at the lake, it would've set fire to the whole place."