Chancing Fate - Jack Sparrow x OC

Part 3 - Chapter 6

Lena's brown eyes stared up towards the sky, trying to spot any tell above them that proved the difference between the real world and the locker. She knew there wasn't much, but it was something to do. Left drifting on the water, what else was there to do? The weather didn't change despite the daylight changing, so little help was needed with the ship. And with little direction, it hardly mattered if they went off course. They didn't have one.

That just topped off everything else they no longer had, such as food and fresh water. All this way just to die of hunger. What a way to go.

As her stomach protested its current state, Lena placed a hand over it, as if it would quiet it, before she shifted her attention to Jack, sitting across from her, focus completely on the map in front of him. With how long he had been studying it, she had to wonder if he even knew she was there. Either way, all he did was turn the map and mutter to himself, which honestly was no different than when he was aware of her presence.

Curious if he was getting anywhere, Lena listened to his words, though they were very familiar, as she had heard the same thing multiple times from just about every person that looked at it.

"Up is down," Jack repeated for the millionth time as Lena rolled her eyes and continued looking up. "Well, that's just maddeningly unhelpful. Why are these things never clear?"

Ignoring his words, Lena turned her attention towards the crew working and standing around the deck.

"Come again?" Jack asked.

Confused by his sudden question, Lena looked at him, though his attention was focused elsewhere.

"Well that's more than less than unhelpful," Jack continued as he glanced between his shoulder and the map.

"Jack?" Lena called quietly, though his focus never wavered, completely ignoring her.

"I love the sea."

His conversation had her puzzled as she watched it continue. She had seen Jack talk to himself plenty of times while working out his thoughts, but this just seemed different. It felt like half a conversation and she suddenly wondered if he was as alright as she originally thought. Thinking back to when they first found him, she knew he thought they were a hallucination, and certainly not the first he had.

"I prefer rum. Rum's good," Jack said, followed by a pause. "Once every ten years... Even longer given the deficit of rum... Oh, I like that."

Perhaps it was time she sat down with him and tried to get him to share more about his time in the locker. She couldn't ignore the concern she felt as she watched everything happening. Eccentric personality or not, it seemed worse than usual. Concerningly worse.

"Not sunset, sundown and rise," he said in realization, turning the center ship on the map upside down before he grinned and looked at Lena, locking eyes for the first time. She could see it immediately, some sort of plan behind those eyes as he stood up and pulled her towards him, harder than needed in his excitement. "Up," he said, as if that was all the explanation she needed, though she was loath to admit she had no idea what was going through his head at the moment. And then he was off, pulling her along as he raced towards the side of the ship. "Oh! What's what?" he asked out loud, peering over the edge.

"What?" Lena muttered to herself, staring at him in confusion before she glanced towards the sea in front of them. She knew for a fact that nothing out there had caught his attention, so clearly this tied into the plan she wasn't privy to. It was moments like this that she truly wished he shared his thoughts more, or more clearly. But in the end, it didn't matter. No matter how crazy his plan may be, she would always go along with it. With that in mind, she played along even without knowing how the game would end.