(Untitled)

[royal_commodore]

While many seafaring men hated the planning and logistics of a long journey by ship, it was the planning and charting of maps that Norrington liked best. As a boy, he'd spent hours in his father's study filling in the blank places on the map and imagining what sort of adventures he'd have in places like India, Madagascar, Australia and the like.

Comments

[stoicsidekick]

Before Bush recognized the man, he recognized the uniform. The deep blue of His Majesty's Navy stood out against the white of the snow, bright in the afternoon sun. It was only as he came closer that he realized he knew the man as well - or had once known him, twice over, first in those early days before the island had become home, and then as a fellow member of the Dawn Treader's crew, the sailor with the pretty wife. Now here the poor bastard was once again, fresh from the sea, most likely, and damned confused.

A rarely-felt pang of homesickness for all that uniform meant hit William's heart briefly as he raised a hand in greeting. "Can I be of assistance, sir?"

[royal_commodore]

Norrington turned at the sound of the other man's voice. He was unfamiliar with him, but something about the cadence of his voice and the bearing he had comforted Norrington somewhat and reminded him of men he'd worked with in the Navy. Perhaps this man wasn't part of the King's Navy, but he certainly carried himself well regardless.

"I need a bearing. I'm not sure where I am or how I got here, exactly, but I suspect I've taken a blow to the head and been shipwrecked somehow."

[stoicsidekick]

" 'fraid I can't help you there, sir. I've tried. Can't be done." Something in his stance had changed, straightened to the more military posture of his former life. "I fear there's no way to explain this without sounding a bit mad. You're on island, sir. A magic island. And-" he grimaced slightly for Norrington's sake- "there's no way to leave."

[royal_commodore]

While Norrington knew the sea held a touch of mystery, rumors of the Flying Dutchman and the like, he'd never been one of those to believe in the mystical and legendary powers of a ghost ship or a ship bought by a blood curse like the Pearl.

At least this man had a bearing he could trust and carried himself the way one of his crew might. That was a familiar comfort.

"No boats? We can row if the winds aren't favorable, can't we?"

[stoicsidekick]

William could only shake his head. "Tried that, too. The sea pushes you back or a dreadful storm comes up. Some have even said that they eventually hit an invisible wall. And even if we could, we don't know what's out there, and have no coordinates to go by." He wished he could offer some better news. "But there are good people here, sir, and wonders beyond your imagining."

[royal_commodore]

"I don't like the idea of being trapped."

A gilded cage was still a cage nonetheless and Norrington wasn't inclined to believe anything he couldn't see or touch. Heading out to sea with no map and no bearings was a recipe for disaster and as much as he hated to admit it, the other man was right.

"Might I have your name, sir?"

[stoicsidekick]

"Neither do I, sir. But there's no way 'round it. We are," Bush said simply. "Bush. Second Lieutenant, His Majesty's Navy - or I was once. And you, sir?" He knew the Commodore's name, of course, but saw no reason to startle him further with such a complication.

[royal_commodore]

"James Norrington, Commodore, His Majesty's Navy," Norrington said easily, glad for the familiar titles and descriptions of rank. Putting a name to a thing and putting that thing in its place had always been a comfort to him, especially in a trying time like this.

"Have you been stranded long, Bush?"

[stoicsidekick]

"About five years now," William answered. Where once the idea of such a figure might have made him wince, now he said it simply, as a fact of life. The island had long become his home. "Would you like to follow me, Commodore? I can show you our main camp, get us out of this cold." He gestured towards the path that led into the forest.

[royal_commodore]

"That would be amenable," Norrington agreed, nodding slightly. "I don't trust a place where the ocean isn't favorable to a ship and sails. It's unnatural. Worse than the doldrums, the way you described it."

[stoicsidekick]

"It's rather unnerving, sir," William had to agree. Hands clasped behind his back, he began to lead the way up the beach. "There is some opportunity for sailing, though. It is possible to go out a few miles, and there is another island within reasonable sailing distance that has not yet been thoroughly explored." Such things were cold comfort for a man used to the freedom of the entire sea, but it was something.

[royal_commodore]

"Hardly a voyage across the seas but I suppose I can be satisfied with that if it's all I'll have," Norrington said quietly, trying to imagine what a life without sailing would be like. He'd been at sea since he was a boy of eleven, first as a dogsbody who did anything the captain wanted and later as a proper midshipman.

"It's been a long time since I've been on land for a stretch. It will take some getting used to."

[stoicsidekick]

"It was the same for me," William admitted. He looked at the Commodore. "Where were you before you appeared here, if you don't mind me asking?"

[royal_commodore]

"My study," Norrington said, puzzling that out. "I was standing at the window in my study, drinking a glass of bourbon. Neither study nor drink is here, I'm afraid."

[stoicsidekick]

"In Port Royal, yes?" In that moment, William could not recall if this particular Norrington had told him where he was from, or if it had been a previous version, which was problematic, to say the least. Damned island and its damned magic.

[royal_commodore]

Norrington nodded once, short but getting the point across. "Port Royal, yes. I've been stationed there approximately eight years or so. It's a lovely place, aside from pirates and never-changing weather."