Port and starboard; this wasn’t good at all. The words ready guns port and starboard were already on his lips before Alfred remembered that he didn’t have guns port and starboard, because this was a rescue mission, not an anti-piracy defense. They’d offloaded most of their artillery in order to lighten the Voyager’s draft and increase her speed before they sailed from England, and what was left belowdecks was certainly empty of ammunition. Wands were their only recourse, then, though against something so big that it could grip both sides of his ship at once they seemed a rather paltry defense.
The noise ripped through the air as the auror injured it, and Alfred flinched at the deafening sound. This was something, though, that they’d been able to hurt it — it gave them a potential avenue of escape.
“Make ready to haul out on the starboard side,” he called up to his watch standers. “On my word — you,” he said, directly this last to the debutante who was starting towards the door to the interior. He’d told her to do that several minutes ago, of course, but now it hardly seemed like it would do anyone much good; he’d meant to get her out of the way and she was already in the way. “When I give the word, repeat it, loud as you can. You can manage that, yeah?”
He didn’t wait for her response before making his way across the deck towards the auror and Dionisia. He was more sure-footed than any of them, having the experience to navigate the ship while she was bucking from heavy winds and seas, but the motion inflicted on them by the creature had a different rhythm than a storm and he found himself needing to grab on to a line at one point as he crossed to keep from falling. “Anyone who has a wand, ready it on the starboard side. I need an opening to get her clear,” he called. “Ready? And —”
Before he could give the word, the injured arm that the auror had hit a moment ago flailed upwards and caught the nearest sail, tearing through wood and fabric and bringing debris raining down on the space between them and the monster.
MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER
The noise ripped through the air as the auror injured it, and Alfred flinched at the deafening sound. This was something, though, that they’d been able to hurt it — it gave them a potential avenue of escape.
“Make ready to haul out on the starboard side,” he called up to his watch standers. “On my word — you,” he said, directly this last to the debutante who was starting towards the door to the interior. He’d told her to do that several minutes ago, of course, but now it hardly seemed like it would do anyone much good; he’d meant to get her out of the way and she was already in the way. “When I give the word, repeat it, loud as you can. You can manage that, yeah?”
He didn’t wait for her response before making his way across the deck towards the auror and Dionisia. He was more sure-footed than any of them, having the experience to navigate the ship while she was bucking from heavy winds and seas, but the motion inflicted on them by the creature had a different rhythm than a storm and he found himself needing to grab on to a line at one point as he crossed to keep from falling. “Anyone who has a wand, ready it on the starboard side. I need an opening to get her clear,” he called. “Ready? And —”
Before he could give the word, the injured arm that the auror had hit a moment ago flailed upwards and caught the nearest sail, tearing through wood and fabric and bringing debris raining down on the space between them and the monster.
MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER