Don't Derail The Plot

10. Mission 1 - My Lady (5)

A/N: It took four drafts to publish this...le sigh

There's a liiiittle ship terminology in this chapter so I've underlined them and put notes either immediately after a word/term is used or at the end of the sentence/paragraph. I'll be doing this in the following chapters as well. If this style is to invasive and breaks your reading flow, let me know and I'll change it.

Chapter Title: Not Good

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As time ticked by, the ship groaned louder and teetered back and forth more noticeably. Tanzu couldn't tell if it was from the winds or the waves.

How long?

[2 minutes]

She pouted her lips while letting out a low breath. Her finger tapped slowly against the door she hadn't moved away from since leaving Mr. Busybody's company. She was relieved when he didn't come back and create more mischief. But to his credit, he seemed to have sent her words along, if the quiet Dining Cabin was any indication. She was curious as to why she never heard any steps patter by. Then again, the ship was incredibly noisy now. Tanzu turned her eyes away from the ground to look at the sleeping Emma. Her chest rose and fell slowly. She really hoped the ship didn't wake her up.

There was now a minute left to go, and Tanzu's mind strayed to thoughts of the storm. The Plotline merely said the ship tipped over, but after her educated tour of the Concorde, Tanzu didn't think it would stay afloat for long if that really happened. The mechanism used to pump water out of the ship had to be manually operated by several men in both the upper and lower level decks. It would be an impossible feat to keep doing when the vessel was on its side. Knowing this, Tanzu wasn't comfortable with remaining below deck where she could drown, even if she was currently at the topmost level. But if she went above deck, she could very well be thrown overboard and...still drown.

I drown either way, huh.

The loud clanging of a bell stirred Tanzu out of her dreary thoughts.

What's going on? Tanzu asked 909 after recognizing the sound to be the bell normally used to tell the time. She never heard it get shaken about so vigorously.

[It's the Captain. He's ordering the men to get to their proper stations.]

Like an 'all hands on deck' order? Tanzu knew that much from the movies. A clap of thunder rang out after 909's affirmation.

How dramatic, Tanzu couldn't help but think as she peeled her sweaty back from the door and walked towards the bed. Can I wake her up now? After her early mishap of waking Emma prematurely, she was too scared to even get dressed in case she somehow woke her up by accident.

[Yes.]

Got it.

She began to take quick and sharp breaths in an attempt to work herself up into an artificial panic. The lingering dread of not knowing how to survive the storm helped it further along. When she felt ready, Tanzu shook Emma's shoulders as vigorously as she could.

She was surprised when that did nothing. Thinking that some cool air would shock her awake Tanzu pulled the blankets off Emma. When that didn't work, she tickled her palms, then the underside of her feet.

"Emma!" Tanzu cried in frustration while rattling her shoulders.

How did I even wake her up before? She sleeps like the dead!

Had it not been for her soft snoring, Tanzu would have genuinely believed she was in a coma.

Tendrils of her red hair were fanned across the pillow all around Emma's delicate face. She looked like a sleeping beauty that could inspire awe and the desire to look on quietly in anyone who came across this scene, but the only desire Tanzu had in that moment was to smack her if she didn't wake up. She was too close to getting this objective completed. It wasn't until she plugged Emma's nose that she finally stirred.