The Captain

twenty-six

I plummeted a good twenty feet before splashing into the warm lagoon below. I surfaced quickly, coughing a little. A large splash sent me back under, water up my nose. 

Maverick's concerned face appeared beside me, dripping wet.

"Are you okay?"

"Just peachy. Did you seriously jump in here after me?"

He looked a bit sheepish. 

"Just... you don't have a super good track record with falling into water."

I snorted.

"Neither do you, sir."

We made our way to the shore beside the waterfall, hauling ourselves out. 

I pulled off my boots to dump the excess water out. Maverick stood beside me, taking in our surroundings carefully. 

I stood up, shaking as much excess water off my clothes as possible. 

"See anything?"

He shook his head, dark eyes still searching the area. 

I glanced around, eyes falling on a curious mark in the rock formation behind the waterfall. 

"Look," I said quietly, pointing to the area.

"What?"

"Don't you see it?"

He looked at me, nonplussed. 

Undeterred, I walked carefully over to the area, gazing at the rushing water. I'd have to walk through it to get to the rock face...

"Florence, I don't know what you think you see, but I'm really not interested in rescuing you when you inevitably fall down the waterfall. Could you step back, please?"

Ignoring him, I took a few careful steps, minding the slippery algae and water as it sprayed me in the face.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped through the water, trying my best to keep my balance on the precarious precipice. 

"Florence!"

Once safely behind the water, I went to examine the rocks. There wasn't a big hole or a red X or anything, but I couldn't help but feel like this was the right space. Crouching down, I ran my hands across the rough surface, water thundering behind my head. 

There had to be something here, I could feel it. 

Moving upwards, I caught my finger in a small crevice at about eye level. Examining it closely, I noticed it was distinctly oval shaped, too smooth around the edges to be naturally occuring. 

Eyes narrowing, I got a bit closer, looking at the intricacies on the inside of the indent. They looked like carvings, vaguely familiar.

I stepped back, only to run into a solid chest.

Maverick stared at me. 

"Did you find something, or are you just enjoying causing me trouble?"

I waved him away.

"Look at this. It doesn't look natural, does it?"

He got up close to the indent, poking and prodding at it as I had. 

"No it doesn't..."

I looked at the hole, absentmindedly playing with my locket chain. It caught on my index finger and the pendant fell out from the front of my shirt. 

Grasping it between two fingers, my heart dropped. 

"Impossible..." I mumbled. 

Maverick looked at me in askance, but I ignored him, slowly unclasping the locket and approaching the rock wall. Gingerly, barely daring to breathe, I pressed the pendant into the hole, carvings lining up perfectly.