InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Will I see you tonight?"

Lily Evans (emerald_eyes) wrote in indarkness_logs,
@ 2010-06-13 15:39:00

Entry tags:

!complete, 2032 06, james norrington, lily evans

RP: Day Four and Counting
Characters: Lily, Norrington
Time/Date: Evening June 13, 2032
Location: northern edge of the island, near the white line
Warnings/Rating: None
Summary: Lily goes through the motions of another day
Status: Complete

Lily woke with the usual sense of disorientation and borderline panic, though it wasn't as bad as it had been her first day. It wasn't the matter of an empty bed that was throwing her - she hadn't yet consented to share James' bed with him, determined that at least something should wait until after the wedding - but the fact that it wasn't her bed. It wasn't her room. The lighting was off, the smells were off, and she had the damnedest feeling that she was being watched constantly.

Only in the bathroom did she not feel it, but even then she wasn't completely sure there wasn't something observing her. The note had said as much, hadn't it? That she'd be observed? If people were going to steal people away from their homes, she doubted they much cared for modesty or privacy.

She went through her usual morning routine of showering to wake up, cleaning up and eating breakfast. She spent the day puttering around her room and reading before doing a late afternoon shopping trip. She baked some biscuits simply for something to do, and wished she had someone to give them to.

Wished she knew she wasn't alone. She thought she was hearing voices now, and she paused outside one room in the hallway ... thinking she'd heard someone moving behind it.

Either way, she let herself out and roamed to her favorite spot in this place. There was a place just on their side of the white line where she could see the ocean. It was a form of self-torture, she knew, because she stood just by that line and thought about crossing it. If she could get to the water, she could somehow find a way off the island ... but the warning always stopped her.

Maybe nothing would happen. Maybe the note had been a lie. Maybe they just said that to keep people in, just another form of caging them. She didn't see anything on the other side of the line, but she couldn't see wards or magical triggers, either. She'd tried to detect them, but her magic reacted oddly to the spells she tried to cast by the line - at least the ones set on detecting any dangers.

Tonight, she simply stood by the line and gazed across it, her eyes half-closed as she listened to the soft, strangely soothing sounds of the water and let her thoughts chase themselves in circles. Stay here, cross the line. Wait alone until she went mad from lack of company, in which case she'd probably cross the line because she wouldn't have anything else to do.

Lily's body relaxed slowly, her mind slightly detached as she simply stood and listened and thought.

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stiffupperlip
2010-06-14 05:20 am UTC (link)

James Norrington was feeling decidedly lost. Not literally lost since his sense of direction on land was as good as it was on the ocean but emotionally and metaphorically lost. He had woken up, not in his cabin aboard the Dauntless but in a very strange room full of some strangely familiar and some utterly outlandish objects. His uniforms, both day to day and dress, had been in the wardrobe as well as a selection of his more casual clothing. His sword, that magnificent sword made by Turner, had been resting in its scabbard on the table and some of his personal paraphernalia had also been present.

But too many other things in the room had been incomprehensible, including the strange black object on the nightstand next to the bed. The note had been comprehensible though decidedly odd. Only the key had raised no questions.

He had quickly dressed in one of his normal uniforms, feeling the need for the shield of cloth around him. He had then donned his wig and hat and feeling at least superficially in control, he had left his room.

The rest of the building he was in had left him baffled and confused and he'd quickly escaped into the streets to find that wherever he was, it was most definitely not Port Royal or any other town in the Caribbean, not even Tortuga. It seemed to be largely abandoned, indeed it looked as though no one had lived here for a very long time.

He wandered, not quite aimlessly though not with any specific goal in mind until the scent of the ocean came to him. His steps quickened involuntarily as he followed that so very familiar and welcome scent. He quickly left the town and in short order he saw three things. The first was the ocean, the second was a red-haired woman and the third was the white line referenced in the note he'd found in his room.

His steps slowed as he approached the woman and he wondered if she might be able to answer some of his question or whether she was as lost as he was. He cleared his throat gently. "Forgive me for intruding, ma'am, but I was hoping you might be able to assist me."

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emerald_eyes
2010-06-14 05:32 am UTC (link)

For a moment, Lily thought she'd finally slipped and was now hearing voices. Could one go mad in four days? Maybe a recluse would take longer, but she was social. She saw people every day. Loads of them. She talked to a lot of them.

Her eyes remained half closed for a moment as she waited for the imaginary voice to continue before the meaning of the words sank in. Emerald eyes snapped open, and she jerked slightly as she turned her head to peer toward the person who'd spoken.

She studied his strange attire for a moment as she struggled with the concept she wasn't alone anymore. She had no idea who he was, if he was one of the kidnappers or if he was another victim, but she wanted little more than to fling her arms around him and thank Merlin she wasn't alone.

Apparently, Lily could go mad in four days.

Shaking her head, she attempted to form an answer to his question that wasn't simply a babble of words just because there was someone here to hear them.

"I can try," she offered to him, one hand moving slightly toward the wand jutting out of her hip pocket. "But I'm likely just as helpless and hopeless as you are." She cut herself off there before she launched into an introduction which would bleed into a babble of the way she'd spent the past four days and just how badly she wanted to go home. A war with her friends was better than this lonely place.

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stiffupperlip
2010-06-14 05:42 am UTC (link)

James gave a small, tight, somewhat awkward smile. Elizabeth Swann would have recognised it as his 'social smile' in an instant. He'd never been overly comfortable in the social circles his title as Commodore took but he had little choice but to endure.

"Thank you," he said with a polite little bow. "I am afraid I am somewhat.. lost. My last recollection is of being in my cabin aboard my ship, the Dauntless. I woke up here and yet... I do not know where here is. I do not recognise this place at all. Am I still in the Caribbean?"

The alarming thought had come to him that perhaps he had been taken by some strange fever and had been shipped back to England. But if so, why was this place deserted? Surely he should be in a hospital of some description.

"I..." He paused and sighed. "Forgive me. I have been unspeakably rude. My name is Commodore James Norrington. Might I make your acquaintance, Miss...?"

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emerald_eyes
2010-06-14 05:49 am UTC (link)

Lily listened, and she wondered just how far these people could reach. She was only vaguely familiar with the Caribbean, and she shook her head slightly before lifting her shoulders in a shrug. "I don't know, exactly where we are. As far as I can tell from as close as I've been able to get without crossing the line ... it's an island of some sort. But I haven't any idea where. I don't even know the name of this place."

It was possibly a peninsula, but she hadn't gotten adventurous enough to cross the line in the places she couldn't quite see past the slight hills of the landscape. Nor did she think she would, without good reason.

Her lips twitched slightly into a smile as she stepped closer to extend a hand. "Lily Evans," she introduced herself. "I've been here for four days and you're the first person I've seen," she admitted as she gazed up at him. "So when I say it's a pleasure to meet you, I truly do mean that. I'm ... I'm really not much of a loner, and this ... being alone in this place was ... was starting to get to me."

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stiffupperlip
2010-06-20 07:08 am UTC (link)

Her answer was decidedly odd and for the first time, the thought that maybe Sparrow was responsible for this began to grow in his mind. He wasn't certain how Sparrow could be responsible but stranding him somewhere strange was just the sort of irritating thing the man would do.

He looked startled when she revealed she'd been here alone for four days. What sort of place was this? "Well, I am glad that my presence is of some benefit, Miss Evans." He hesitated and frowned for a moment before sighing and biting the bullet. "I was wondering if I might seek a little more of your assistance."

He pulled the strange black object out of his pocket and displayed it on his palm. "I do not know what this is and yet the note I found in my room leads me to believe I am supposed to use it for... something. Do you know what this is?"

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emerald_eyes
2010-06-20 07:15 am UTC (link)

"I don't know, exactly. I've never seen one in my time, but as far as I've been able to work out ... you're meant to type messages with it. I assume to communicate with the others on the ... the island. I didn't have any others, so there wasn't much of a point of me really trying to work it out."

She supposed that if they were currently the only two here, there'd be just as little a point, since they were currently standing in the same area and conversing. But if there'd be more people, it was bound to come in handy then.

"My best advice is ... to just play with it a bit and see what happens." She'd left hers up in her room, though she patted her pockets just to make sure she hadn't slipped it in one. Pockets, however, were empty, and she offered an apologetic shrug to him. "I left mine upstairs, otherwise I'd try to help you figure it out along with mine."

Tipping her chin slightly, she gazed up at him and really did wonder if it was simply the two of them, or if there were more inside. If there had been more inside all this time who simply hadn't come out yet. Or who had, but had missed her since she was ... not inside. Lily lifted a hand to rub at her temple before deciding not to try to analyze this situation any further.

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stiffupperlip
2010-06-20 07:32 am UTC (link)

"How strange," James murmured, looking at the strange object a little more closely. Yes, there was a sort of tiny set of letters making up the alphabet on it though it was in a bit of a mess rather than being in a neat and logical order. "Then again, many of the objects in my room were decidedly odd. I suspect I shall have to experiment with some of them as well to discover their purpose."

He looked down at the white line on the ground. "I shall presume that crossing this line is as dangerous as was implied in the note. Does it allow any access to the ocean?" A flicker of uneasiness crossed his face before his usual polite expression returned. "I should not like to think that I am landlocked."

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emerald_eyes
2010-06-20 07:47 am UTC (link)

Lily offered him a slightly awkward smile. "I can help you with some of them, perhaps," she murmured. "But I think some of the electronics are ... far more modern than my time and while I can figure out the basic functions, I haven't exactly worked out the more advanced bits." She paused thoughtfully. "Perhaps someone will arrive who has a better grasp on these things and they can help us work everything out." Emerald eyes glittered with a slightly impish light as a smile tugged at her lips.

She really was just pleased to see someone - anyone - and the idea of more people showing up was as heartening as it was distressing. No one should be forced to endure this, but she did like the idea of having more company.

"I haven't yet," she murmured with a gesture to the line. "I'm not certain what would happen, nor do I really wish to find out. This ... this is the closest we can get to the water ... I've walked the perimeter of the line and it sounds and smells strongest here."

Lily dropped her eyes slightly. "I was ... I think a few more days of solitude, and I would have tried to cross the line, regardless of ... whatever consequences would have come of it."

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stiffupperlip
2010-06-20 08:43 am UTC (link)

James chuckled. "I would appreciate that, both your help and someone who could perhaps help us both." He hoped it wouldn't be too difficult to master them. He'd never had much difficulty mastering things such as the use of a sextant but he had no idea whether these were even comparable. "Electronics." He rolled the word around his mouth. It was strange word indeed.

He nodded and stared down at the line with a frown. "While I am not averse to taking a risk, I much prefer calculated risks with outcomes I can at least partially determine or even control. No, I think I shall leave the line alone for now." He looked up at the ocean almost longingly. "Though I confess to a distinct unease at not being able to access the ocean. I am a sailor at heart."

He looked over at her with concern then smiled slightly. "Than I have one reason to be glad I am here."

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emerald_eyes
2010-06-20 08:53 am UTC (link)

Truthfully, she was more interested in someone who could get them home, but someone who could make life here less confusing was a close second ... so she simply nodded to his statement. Yes, she would like help. Lots and lots of it.

"We'll have to keep an ear out and ... see if anyone else ..." Lily trailed off. "Is there anyone else, do you know? Or am I the first person you've seen here?" She supposed she shouldn't put the cart before the horse and simply assume others would be showing up. It was a sound theory, but what about this place so far implied that there was any logic in play?

"At any rate ... we'll have to see, if other people show up, if they cross it and find out what happens." She did offer a sympathetic smile. "Perhaps ... they'll change the line some day and let us get to the water." Emerald eyes shifted back toward it, one hand reaching out to gently press her fingertips against his arm before she let her hand fall away.

She simply had to know he was real, and ... that had seemed the easiest way.

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stiffupperlip
2010-06-20 09:52 am UTC (link)

"You are the first person I have seen though I confess I did not linger within the building," James admitted. "I was uncertain where I was and I hoped that something in the street or by the sea would give me some clue." He frowned slightly as he cast his mind back to his descent through the building. "I do believe that I did hear the sounds of other people behind the doors that I passed though I did not see them and therefore cannot be certain."

He smiled slightly at the touch of her hand on his arm. It reminded him of the occasional gestures of kindness Miss Swann had made towards him. He, fool that he was, had read far too much into them.

"I can but hope," he said with a sigh. He turned and offered her his arm. "Well... since that day does not seem to be today, shall we remove ourselves from the scene of temptation and take a stroll around this strange place? Perhaps you may tell me what you know of it? Between the two of us, we may come somewhat closer to an answer as to why we are here and how we may leave."

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emerald_eyes
2010-06-20 05:09 pm UTC (link)

A faint smirk played over her lips. "Probably didn't run about like a panicked chicken when you thought you were alone though, did you?" Not that she'd been quite that bad, but there had definitely been an element of panic to things when she woke up alone here. She nodded though; she thought she might've heard things earlier as well, but she disbelieved the idea she wasn't alone.

Lily glanced curiously to the offered arm, but she smiled softly and took it gently. And why not? Someone was offering her physical contact; she'd be foolish not to accept it, starved for it as she was. "I have kept my wanderings mostly to the perimeter, around the line," she admitted. "I haven't really ventured into the interior much, save to explore the stores. There are ... there's a little ... grocery sort of store not very far from the hotel, and a hardware store next to it, though it's mostly empty.

"Aside from that, I really ... haven't looked around much." So she was perfectly content to spend some time in company and not simply staring over the line and dreaming of home. They could attempt to figure out the layout of the place, and if there was anything useful about it. If there was perhaps a way home that they'd missed.

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stiffupperlip
2010-06-20 11:22 pm UTC (link)

James chuckled. "No, I didn't but I have been trained to react calmly under the stress of storms on the oceans and attacks by pirates and other such miscreants. I would not have been promoted to Commodore at my age if I were prone to panic." Not that he hadn't considered panic the first time he'd been confronted with those undead sailors but he'd refused to give in to it. Not only was it undignified considering his rank but if he had panicked then so to would have his men. They had taken strength from his calm.

"It seemed fairly sensibly laid out though I suspect we may not find some of the buildings I would be expecting, such as the Governor's mansion and the various buildings required by the navy and the royal marines." James mused on that for the moment then shook his head as they walked back towards the small town. "I confess I shall not miss some of the inhabitants of Port Royal. It likely does not speak well of me but being without the constant attentions of the society matrons and their unwed daughters will be something akin to a holiday."

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emerald_eyes
2010-06-20 11:41 pm UTC (link)

"Is that impressive then?" she murmured. "I really don't know much about the navy. Even our own." Granted, she had more pressing matters to worry about ... like her friends dying, and her fiance's wild ways, wondering if he'd ever settle down and stop listening to Sirius and his half-baked ideas. Lily closed her eyes at the rush of sorrow that always accompanied thoughts of James, of home.

"No, the place is ... it's fairly run down, aside from the hotel and a few ... shops. It's so barren," she murmured. "Like some sort of plague ran through here, destroyed everything that might grow here."

She did smile a little to his comments. "Most sought after bachelor are you?" she quipped, a hint of playfulness to her tone. She squeezed his arm lightly, and she almost pointed out that it likely wouldn't seem like a holiday for very long, but she was certain he'd grasp onto that fact soon enough.

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