𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃𝐒 ━ 𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐨𝐛 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝

vi. heat of the moment

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗

━

"the ship can't take it!"

▬▬▬▬▬𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐐𝐔𝐄 𝐋𝐄 ushered Maisie inside her quarters, before leaning down to speak to her.

"Stay here," Angelique instructed, hand on her shoulder. "And keep away from the windows."

To her surprise, Maisie didn't protest. For all of her bravado in the front of Captain Crow and anyone else on the crew, it all seemed to fade into fear in the face of real danger. She was, but after all, still a small child.

Maisie nodded once, shakily.

Angelique kept her hand there for a bit more, before she let out a small sigh, leaning back up and closing the door. The girl would be safe, as long as they put an end to the threat that was the Red Bluster.

Everything her, Jacob, Sarah, and Crow had planned would work to bring it down. It had to.

"Hurry," she heard Sarah snap out loud sharply.

Angelique's head swiveled to her right. In the distance, she could spot the crimson dorsal fin on the Bluster's head, cutting through the sea toward the ship. The crew heeded the second-in-command's words, working faster to jam the carcass shots into the guns.

"Ready!" Crow commanded as the last of the guns were loaded. The crew waited for his signal, while the sea beast neared even closer.

Anticipation swallowed everyone, including Angelique.

She felt herself hold her breath without thinking, just as its head rose from the water, towering over the Inevitable menacingly even as it was still a couple hundred feet away. A colossal beast with slitted green eyes and the intent to attack.

A mistake on its part, because the softer pink skin of its belly was now exposed.

"Fire! "

Gunfire filled the air, bringing along sudden blasts of heat and an almost ear-splitting wave of booms. Angeliques eyebrows furrowed, wincing slightly, but her eyes kept on the Red Bluster, watching how it was taking on the onslaught of ammunition.

It groaned loudly, still pushing forward as it tried to attack the ship again with possibly another ram. Even as carcass shots exploded on its belly hide and head. Jacob was right when he mentioned that its skin was impossibly thick.

While the gunfire did no visible damage, it still thwarted the creature's assault. As its upper body came back down, the Inevitable's long range attack made it swerve slightly to the right. That was enough to make it miss the ship...

Right?

For a moment, Angelique really leaned toward the thought that the Red Bluster would miss the ship. But as her gaze kept following it, and she observed its trajectory further, she unfortunately realized that that wasn't true.

Quickly, Angelique grabbed the rigging to keep herself rooted, just seconds before it rammed headfirst into the bow, jerking the ship violently.

The rest of the crew stumbled, catching themselves to regain their footing just as Crow shouted another command.