Chapter Six

Reality.

"Caitlyn." Westly murmured as water washed over his face. Caitlyn didn't notice the quiet tone Westly took as she continued kicking away at the water, barely making progress towards the exit of the cove.

"Caitlyn!" Westly spoke as loud as he could although it just ended up being at the same volume his voice usually displayed. This time Caitlyn heard him.

"You're awake!" Caitlyn shouted between breaths as she kept swimming. "I can swim by myself Caitlyn, let go of me." Westly slowly began gaining his strength back although Caitlyn's grip on him did not budge. "You're in no shape to swim without my help!" Caitlyn yelled as she kicked even more furiously, a bullet barely missing her head. "Besides moving your shoulder will only make the wound worse!"

Westly looked at his shoulder as pain shot up his arm again. She was right, he was in no shape to swim. Westly was about to open his mouth, but he kept it closed, letting Caitlyn carry him through the water.

"Glad you see it my w-" Caitlyn was interrupted as the gigantic mast of a ship nearby came down on them. Caitlyn pushed Westly away as she dove underwater. The flaming mast barely missing both of them. Westly moved his arms in a breast stroke motion before his vision blurred again. The pain was unbearable, but he managed to get his head above the water so he could float.

"Caitlyn!" Westly strained his voice to yell as a wave raced over his head, pushing him under water again. Although, this time even moving his shoulder an inch had made him feel as if he were about to blackout. Westly sank deeper into the water as, in all this chaos, he seemed peaceful. The last of the carbon dioxide bubbles escaped his mouth as a hand grabbed his arm and dragged him up to shore. Westly was barely awake as his vision could only depict a brunette girl with her hair down and soaking wet, pushing her hands into his chest. He almost passed out once again from the pain in his chest being brought out by the hands applying pressure to it, but he managed to spit out the water he had inhaled. Once again, Caitlyn had saved his life.

"Come on Westly-" Caitlyn grunted, taking his left arm as Westly cried out in pain.

"I'm sorry!" Caitlyn yelled as this time she was careful to pull on his right arm and put it around her shoulder. Somehow, Westly had managed to drift off towards Apple Island after the mast came down on both of them and Caitlyn found him. Caitlyn walked with Westly at first as they went up a hill. At the hills peak they saw the town they once lived in covered in flames, bodies scattered around it. Westly saw this realizing his house had not escaped such destruction as its roof was set ablaze.

"Pirates…" Caitlyn murmured as Westly fought out of her grasped, tumbling down the hill as adrenaline numbed his pain. He hit the bottom of the hill with a running start as he could hear Caitlyn running and yelling behind him. Caitlyn managed to speed past him as a huge flaming pole that held up a lantern fell directly in front of Westly as he rolled backwards onto the ground, getting back to his feet. He looked in front of him to see Caitlyn on the other side of the pole.

"Get to my house, I'll find another way!" Westly shouted across the distance as he looked about. Caitlyn nodded as she mouth the words be safe, racing off towards the house. Westly saw another house which was on fire, but it's backdoor led directly to a path that would lead to his house. Westly closed his eyes and shook his head, bum rushing the door. It broke open, as immediately heat burned off some of his left eyebrow. He moved throughout the house, dodging flames. He smelled something odd about the house, besides the burning wood. 'A gas leak..' Westly thought to himself as he sped up the process of finding the back door even further. He found the hallway which led to the back door as he made his way towards it. All of a sudden a whimpering could be heard under a pile of wood. Barking followed it as Westly stopped in his tracks. He turned back to see a dog's head poke out from the pile. Westly turned back to the door and then back to the dog before he looked back at the door and took a step forward.

"Fuck me…" he murmured as he did a complete 180, running to kneel beside the dog. He began frantically pulling the wood off the dog as sweat dripped down every portion of his body. He finally pulled the dog free and ran towards the backdoor. The roof over the back door collapsed on it as Westly pushed back holding onto the dog for dear life. He hit his back hard, hearing a crack. Whether it was the floor or something inside his body, Westly struggled to get back up to his feet. He looked about again, the smell of gas still lurking around the air as flames grew closer to what he thought to be the kitchen. 'The kitchen.' Westly thought to himself as he pushed himself forward, once again making his way through flame and collapsing wood as gas invaded his sense of smell. He had entered the kitchen and out of the corner of his right eye he saw a window. Westly made an explosive right turn as he almost fell, bracing his left shoulder for impact as his right arm was holding the dog. He jumped, flying through the window as the house behind him exploded, the flames had made it into the kitchen. Westly went face first into the ground as he lost his grip on the dog. His vision was blurry once again and ringing filled his ears as adrenaline still rushed through his vein. The dog ran off towards the boats leaving the island.

Westly willed himself to get up as he grumbled, "You're welcome," in the direction of the dog. He trudged off towards his house as his adrenaline high began wearing off. His vision caught black figures in the distance and to the side of him, dancing around his surroundings. Westly made it to his house falling into his door as he hit the ground with his hands and knees. Pain shot up his left arm once again as he coughed up blood. "Father! Pyxis! Sophie!" He yelled each of their names his face looking directly at the ground. He looked up to see a foot fly into his jaw and he hit the wall to his left. A man with a black cloth that covered his face and flowed into a cape behind him, backed up, with Caitlyn in his grasp.

A gun raised to her temple as he was saying something, but a ringing noise had replaced everything Westly could previously hear. Hot tears dripped down Westly's face, he was helpless. His family was nowhere to be seen and Caitlyn was about to be shot. That was before Caitlyn risked her own life, barely grabbing onto the pistol pointed at her head as it fired, narrowly missing it. Westly saw this, his hand shaking towards the flintlock that was still clipped onto his pants as he fumbled it into his hand. He prepped it to be shot while the pirate was struggling with Caitlyn before he fired it, a bullet blowing right through the pirate's torso. Westly's eyes widened.

He had just killed someone.

He felt his head become heavier than it was before as he started leaning to his right, the flintlock dropping to the ground. Caitlyn ran towards him catching his head in her hand as she picked up the flintlock Westly had dropped.

'Her hands are warm.' Westly thought to himself.

Everything went black again.

[Editors Note: Things are going to heat up immensely within the plot as we already have more idea so and more arcs planned ahead, please continue reading!]