AN: Good news, I am back. Bad news, I got food poisoning.
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Dorry planted his feet, heels digging into the earth. Brogy did the same, both of them drawing back their weapons.
The air tightened.
Jack, standing far below near the shoreline, felt it in his bones before the sound came. His teeth clicked together from anticipation.
"This is probably the last one," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.
Above them, the volcano groaned again, deeper this time, like something enormous turning over in its sleep.
Dorry exhaled slowly."Brother."
Brogy grinned, eyes blazing."Brother."
They surged forward.
The force of their movement alone sent shockwaves rippling across the island. Trees bent. Stones leapt from the ground. A thunderous crack rolled outward as their weapons cut through the air.
And the island rumbled again.
Crocodile felt it instantly.
She had been running, sand carrying her forward in powerful surges as she half-supported, half-dragged Gibbs along the forest floor. Smoke was already pouring upward behind them, dark and thick, curling into the sky in angry spirals.
The rumbling intensified.
She skidded to a halt, sand reforming into flesh as she turned sharply.
"No," she hissed.
Augur nearly ran into her. "What?"
Gibbs bent over, hands on his knees, gasping. "We don't have time to—"
Crocodile's eyes were fixed on the jungle.
Birds exploded from the canopy in frantic waves. Smaller creatures—lizards, boars, things with too many legs—burst from undergrowth and tore past them without a glance. The ground vibrated not just from below, but from movement. Mass movement.
Augur felt it then. Something in the air which smelled wrong.
"…They're running," he said quietly.
Gibbs looked up, dread crawling into his expression. "What?"
"The beasts," Augur said. "All of them."
Crocodile's jaw tightened. "The volcano isn't the only problem."
The jungle split open.
A massive white shape burst through the trees with a deafening trumpet.
Gibbs' eyes went wide. "HOLY M-!"
It was enormous—far larger than any normal beast, tusks like spears, eyes wild with panic. And behind it—
More.
Dozens. Hundreds.
A herd, driven mad by terror, stampeding straight toward them.
"RUN!" Gibbs screamed.
Crocodile vanished into sand instantly, her form scattering and reforming farther ahead without hesitation.
Gibbs did not argue. He turned and ran with every ounce of strength he had, boots pounding the ground, lungs burning.
Augur stayed for half a second longer.
He raised Senriku.
The shot rang out.
The lead elephant screamed as the bullet tore into its hind leg. The massive creature stumbled, momentum finally betraying it as it crashed sideways, earth shaking from the impact.
For a heartbeat, it worked.
The herd hesitated.
But then, the lead elephant got back up and let out a cry.
The herd let out an unified, furious cry, and they charged faster.
Augur's eyes widened. "That was a mistake."
He turned and bolted.
In seconds, he overtook Gibbs.
Gibbs wheezed, "—HEY!"
Augur didn't slow. "Need to keep yourself fit."
Gibbs cursed him with words that would have earned a slap on any civilized ship, but adrenaline kept him moving.
Behind them, the island shook harder.
On the beach, Jack Sparrow was doing the exact opposite of panicking.
"Alright, you two," he said, waving lazily at Pintel and Ragetti. "Sails. Now. Preferably before the island decides to stop being an island."
Pintel blinked. "That's… oddly horrifying."
Ragetti squinted at the horizon. "Is it just me, or is the ground—"
Another rumble cut him off, stronger than before. Sand shifted beneath their feet.
Jack calmly took a sip from a bottle of wine.
Yes, wine. Rum was finished.
He stared inland, eyes narrowed.
Far away, he could still see the silhouettes of Dorry and Brogy, weapons raised, locked in impact. The sheer pressure of it made his skin prickle.
"Magnificent," Jack muttered. "Utterly terrifying, but magnificent."
A distant roar rose, which shouldn't have been made from the giants.
Trees shook violently as something massive moved through the jungle toward the shore.
Pintel swallowed. "Captain…?"
Jack lowered the bottle slowly. "Yes?"
"I don't think that noise is friendly."
Before Jack could respond, the sand in front of them exploded upward as Crocodile burst from it, reforming in a sharp, abrupt motion.
Pintel shrieked and jumped backward. "SWEET MERCY—!"
Crocodile grabbed Jack by the collar.
"DEPART," she snapped. "NOW."
Jack blinked at her. "That's hardly a polite greeting."
"All the animals on the island are stampeding," she said, voice razor-sharp. "Every single one. They're heading here."
As if summoned by her words, the jungle behind them erupted with movement.
Jack peered past her shoulder.
Saw it.
His smile vanished.
"…Ah."
That was not good.
Pintel followed his gaze and screamed something incoherent. Ragetti dropped his mop and stared, jaw slack.
A wall of motion surged toward the shore—elephants, horned beasts, things with claws and teeth and eyes full of blind terror.
Jack snapped into motion.
"SAILS!" he shouted. "CUT THE LINES! MOVE MOVE MOVE!"
Pintel and Ragetti scrambled, tripping over each other as they ran for the ship.
Jack spun toward Crocodile. "Where are the others?"
"Behind," she said shortly.
Almost on cue, Augur burst from the treeline, coat torn, followed by Gibbs who looked like he had aged ten years in ten seconds.
Augur didn't stop. "If we're not off this beach in thirty seconds, we die."
Jack nodded. "Excellent motivation."
The Black Pearl groaned as crew and captain alike threw themselves into preparation. Sails unfurled. Lines snapped free. The ship creaked impatiently against the tide.
The ground shook violently now.
From the interior of the island, a sound like a mountain breaking echoed outward.
AN: NEED SOME TIPS ON HOW TO STRENGTHEN THE SNIPER