Three Strikes [✓]

A Light at Sea

Chapter Fifty-Nine: A Light at Sea

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Spring Sea, Off the Coast of Usea.
October 29th, 2019.
0630hrs.

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Avril leaned her back against the ship's railing, fighting off a yawn. The ship was cramped and what little space there was wasn't the most comfortable. She ended up dozing off here and there, sitting upright on the deck and leaning against whatever support she'd been able to find. It was better than whatever sorry excuse for a bed they'd had. Although the weather was milder back on land, it was chillier out on the water, and she was lucky she had the jacket part of her fatigues to wear or else she'd have been SOL.

It was early in the morning, but the sky was only just starting to turn from black to a deep, dark blue. They were making good time, from the look of things, and before long they'd be on solid ground. After that the challenge was just finding their supposed allies and not getting anyone killed. Seemed easy enough. But the closer they got to Selatapura, the more uneasy everyone became. No one was enjoying the perfectly quiet morning on the water. In their defense, it wasn't exactly easy.

More and more people started to stir, if anyone had managed to rest at all, and Avril watched as some of their ragtag group emerged from below decks. Usually anyone that hadn't spent the night on the deck just came up to check on things and immediately duck back inside. Not everyone, though.

Georg sat on the ground with his back to the exterior of the bridge, having spent hours staring down at the stuffed animal that his three-year-old, Fiona, had given him before he left. Trigger's father paced the length of the deck up and down, apparently restless, while the journalist that Avril had barely even remembered was up near the ship's bow. She knew of him, and she remembered seeing him before, but aside from him being friends with Kathryn and Mage and Golem and at the very least friendly acquaintances with Trigger and the LRSSG she wasn't all that buddy-buddy with him. What she did know was he'd been the guy behind a good chunk of the articles written back during the last war. He hadn't bothered them much, though. Bandog and Sarge kept the guy company, talking about something or the other.

The Princess had gone almost completely unnoticed by Avril, though, having sat herself down on a bench not far from where Avril was standing. She stayed quiet, though, keeping her head down and her hands in her lap. Standing several feet away from either Avril or the Princess, staring out at the water, Henri was leaning over the railing. He hardly looked like any kind of formal bodyguard anymore, much like how the Princess didn't even look like regular royalty anymore.

The only other one that was usually by her side, her dog, Leo, was missing from the trip. She didn't really have a good excuse for bringing a pet out to a war zone, and from the exchange Avril had witnessed at the port while she and Georg both said their goodbyes to Tabloid, she left the dog in the care of Georg's family. The girls loved the dog, most of the refugees did, and this way he'd be out of harm's way and more importantly out of the way of any of the soldiers. If he was an MWD like Sarge then it wouldn't be an issue, but as obedient as he seemed he lacked any kind of training.

Avril hoped everyone back at Tyler Island was going to be alright. Things had been quiet, but the last thing they needed was an attack coming out of nowhere before they had a chance to make their move. Assuming this whole thing wasn't a trap. Avril was trying to stay optimistic, though, for everyone else's sake. Given the mood over the last few days, she didn't want to make things worse and add to everyone's worries, so she'd just kept her mouth shut. She trusted Trigger and Tabloid and the others to do whatever they needed to.