With a long, steady breath, Red raised his gun. The steel felt cool in his hand as it glinted against the morning sunlight. Dew and mist whipped off the sea around him, but he paid them no mind. All his attention was on the targets in front of him.
Three targets.
Three remaining shots.
The ship buckled slightly against a wave, but Red held his shot. He had anticipated this… he should have anticipated far more, but he hadn't.
"Focus!" He growled, gritting his teeth.
There was no use focusing on the past. It was done, and nothing he could do would change it. All he could do was focus on the future and not make the same mistakes.
His finger tightened around the trigger.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Three shots fired in quick succession.
Two shots connected, but the third whisked past the last target and was swallowed up by the sea. Red sighed and lowered the weapon. He had been distracted and too tense. These were easy shots. Shots he had made plenty of times during his training with Zara. Shots he had made plenty of times during the Battle of Rim.
That's what they were calling it now. The Battle of Rim. The battle had taken place in three phases: the initial pirate invasion, the Gearborn's arrival on Rim and elsewhere in Valencia, and lastly, the Guardian's Blessing of both him and Ayjax.
Few truly understood what had transpired beneath the jungle on that shattered island. However, everyone seemed to view Red with some sort of reverence, as he had somehow earned the same respect as Zara or Ayjax simply by stepping up when no one else could.
He had stepped up, and how had that ended?
It had taken days to comb the island for any survivors. There had been a dozen or so pirates who survived in the catacombs. The pirate they had met, Calra, had survived. There would be plenty of questions that got asked of them. However, everyone had to deal with the losses of the day first.
It was better to say who survived than try to number those who were dead.
No one had made it.
The sailors' bodies were never discovered. It was as if they had simply vanished off the face of the earth. In reality, they had died nearly instantly to the first onslaught of the gearborn. Red had positioned them on a plateau that ended up being one of the first ones to be evaporated.
The knowledge of their deaths hurt.
But it didn't hurt as much as the knowledge of Silas's death.
The man had believed in him and his plan. They hadn't had any other options, sure. But he had trusted in Red, and in the end it had led to his death and the deaths of his men. No one was quite sure what had happened during Silas's fight with the Pirate King. Without the Pirate King, there was no way to know for sure.
Those smarter than him had been able to piece together somewhat of what happened. Silas had died in an explosion. An explosion that Red had prepared. It had been there to allow them time to escape. It clearly hadn't worked, or Silas had used it wrong.
Red had no idea. What he did know was that Silas and all his men were dead. Maybe they had been killed earlier, or maybe they died in the explosion. But they had died because of his plan. He had led them to their deaths.
It didn't matter, though, because they were dead when they were supposed to be alive. He had made everything to allow them to escape and live, but it hadn't been enough. It had even been his plan that killed them.
Sonja. Shaun. Kalin. Max. Brad.
Silas.
Their names rang through his head as he pushed mist back into his shockblaster. There were more names as well. The names of all of Silas's soldiers. Names that he had never bothered to learn. Never cared to learn. Instead, he had simply gotten them killed.
He raised his gun again and took a slow breath. Their shadows would always hang over him. It was foolish to remain stuck on their deaths forever. It was even more foolish to simply move on as if nothing had happened.
He closed his eyes and, in the moment, seemed to live through the last month of his life. The capture by the Gearborn, where he had met Derrin. The rescue by Ayjax. The arrival at the Fallen Isles. The trip to Rim, where he met Vizim. The sudden attack and rush through the island. The arrival at the fort where he met Zara. The rescuing of the captured men and women. The arrival of the Gearborn and sudden battle. The fight through the caverns and rescue of Zara. And lastly, the destruction of Rim and arrival of Ayjax.
The memories flew through his mind in a rush. He opened his eyes, and for the first time, his mind seemed to get a semblance of clarity. Using that clarity, Red fired his shockblaster.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Three Shots. Three Hits.
He let out a sigh of relief.
A sudden clapping behind him made him nearly jump over the deck. Zara leaned against the cabin door, watching him attentively. Red dropped his gun back into his coat and began to slowly make his way across the deck.
"You've definitely improved from where you were when we first met."
"Glad I improved at something at least."
Zara frowned, but for once didn't try to make him feel better. "We'll be arriving back at the Fallen Isles this afternoon. I'm sure Captain Finn will want to speak with all of us upon our arrival. But after that, have you thought any more about my proposal?"
Red sighed, "I have. It's… I don't know. I guess I never expected it to be so easy. Are you really sure that they will accept?"
"Of course," Zara said, smiling sincerely. "They'll buy it up as soon as they lay their eyes upon it."
"You know, when I first left home…well, when I first got kidnapped from home, I never thought I'd be able to finish him. But things happened, and somehow in the middle of that madhouse I managed to finish him."
"It is how all things go. I never thought I'd get the chance to become a successful sniper. I never told you this before, but shooting is very similar to engineering. It is incredibly useful, but it's looked down on for other occupations. Melee combat is constantly looked up to, while shooting isn't. You can find tournaments for dueling all over, but none for shooting."
"So what you're saying is, I managed to find two of the most overlooked interests and found them interesting."
"Pretty much, yup." She chuckled slightly.
"I feel like I'm always getting dragged along by something."
Zara turned towards the rising sun and fell silent for a long moment. Her eyes seemed to glaze over slightly, and her smile faded into a look of intense concentration. She shook herself and turned back to him.
"Life is like the sea, always changing, always shifting. Most are swept along by currents they never chose. But those who refuse to drift become something greater. They don't follow the tide... they become the force that changes it."
"Did you just look that up in a textbook or what?" Red asked with raised brows.
Zara scowled, "Of course not… I just asked Iris."
They both laughed.
Eventually, she said, "I am serious, though. The aftermath of Rim will ripple across all seven seas, and you are at the heart of that ripple. Besides, one of the benefits is that you have Aegis to take away with you."
"I guess."
The door swung open, and Vizim stumbled up onto the deck. "Oh, hey guys. Ayjax says we'll be arriving shortly and that we should get ready."
Red couldn't help but notice the way Vizim tripped over Ayjax's name. He still wasn't used to knowing someone so famous. Red wondered what would end up happening with Vizim now that he had lost his home.
Would Vizim end up drifting along with the shifting tide? He wasn't sure. Only time would tell.
Zara gave him a smile and a nod. "Try not to get flustered in the Captain's presence. I know you've met him before, but he tries to keep people off balance to get what he wants."
Red nodded and turned out to the distant sea. He could just make out the smudge on the horizon as the Fallen Isles appeared.