Shifting water
No one joined him. The joke fell flat, swallowed by the quiet that wrapped the deck. Instead, the men stood stiff and braced, muscles tensing in preparation for something unseen. Their instincts, sharper than words, told them to be ready. Then, without warning, the sea answered their unspoken dread. The water around them shifted violently, and trouble surged forward. What they had feared all along came crashing against them, with force.
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