One of the thankful things with ships was that other than in special circumstances, the ladders and hatches leading to lower decks were always placed in the same vertical line.
Staying vigilant, Kruxe went down the ladder and his feet soon touched the 1st deck.
Down here, there were bright lanterns lit up, fully illuminating the place, but luckily for Kruxe, there was no one in sight.
Kruxe could hear several voices to his right and behind a load of barrels and crates filled this floor, probably from the groups that were being called upon to fire, but he had nothing to do with them or their direction, so he quickly went down the next hatch which was just a step behind the ladder he had descended from.
Unlike the hatch on the main deck, the next hatch was wide open, and so without delay Kruxe moved, quickly going down the ladder.
Going down the ladder, Kruxe felt a little jumpy as this section of the ship was where its crew most likely stayed.
As his feet touched the floor, Kruxe had a look around, confusion on his face.
For a ship as big as this one, especially considering it was bigger than the breezing Ania, Kruxe expect to have already been engaged in combat by now.
From the moment he accepted to come aboard this ship, he had already considered himself dead, not even having faith that he would see his mother, but things were different.
In summary, the ship was severely understaffed.
Back on the main deck, Kruxe had heard the voice only keep calling on groups 1,2, and 3."
Kruxe had thought that there were other groups on standby, but it seemed he was wrong and there was truly only just those groups on board.
Though he was confused and had a lot of questions in mind, that didn't stop Kruxe from looking around for the next hatch, the one that would take him to the bottom of the ship, the place where the ship stored its weapons and utilities and most important it's prisoners.
Kruxe searched around the position he had just descended, looking around the ladder, for a hatch, but didn't see one.
Realizing that this ship might be a special case, Kruxe took a gulp and began moving forward,
Behind him was a corridor that had rooms on both sides, this more than enough to tell Kruxe it was the crew's cabin while in front of him were littered mattresses and clothes to the sides, several loose ropes hanging from the ceiling.
"Kruxe was still looking for the next hatch when a voice rang out
"There you are."
At first, Kruxe was petrified, but then he remembered that if were to be discovered by anyone, his future would most notably scream death and if it wasn't that, then painful torture was on the list.
Quickly Kruxe turned around and looked at the man behind him, all the while muttering in his head.
"Please don't be a dream"
"Please don't be a dream," and then with his right hand behind him, just as he made the thought, the familiar object appeared in his hand, a bit of relief washing over him.
Though he now held a gun that could hopefully fire, Kruxe was more tense than ever as his limbs threatened to tremble as he faced the man before him.
With the lit-up lanterns, Kruxe could make out the man's bushy beards, his squinted eyes, and near round head, all this resting on a fairly muscular body, one clothed by a pair of brown shorts that stooped way above the ankles and white shirt that had a bit of his chest showing.
Without much stress, Kruxe quickly placed the man as the person who had run out of the hatch of the main deck when he was about to open it.
On the left of the man's waits hung a sword and on his right a gun, yet the man took out none of these instead looking at Kruxe with his arms folded.
"That's a tough look for someone whose legs look like they are about to shatter.
With the man's words, Kruxe's eyes widened as his attention moved to his legs and he could actually feel them already trembling.
"Traitors" Kruxe cried from within as he tried to stabilize himself.
"So what is a little runt like you doing here?"
"Ship Maintenance, your captain sent me to inspect your ship for leakages and other faults."
It took Kruxe summing all the courage in him to say this, this little action of his bringing calm to his legs and snort from the man,
"Is silently sneaking onto the ship and leaving wet footprints also ship also part of maintenance, talk kid or I'll get nasty quick."
Even as Kruxe with hit with a realization of how he had most likely been found, he was still hit with a shiver when the mad made his threat.
Several emotions began going through Kruxe, but then the man's eyes suddenly narrowed with an angry growl and that was all it took for Kruxe to lose his cool.
As fast as he could, he pulled his right hand from behind, him, quickly lifting the gun and immediately shooting at the man,
"Bam" the shot sounded and to Seth's terror, he saw the man move left, dodging his shot which hit a nearby pole with ease, and then quickly begin running towards him.
Panic filled Kruxe and he quickly began backpedaling while also moving his gun as tried to lock on to the man.
Kruxe had his hands around the trigger, ready to pull and initiate fire from the second barrel, but the man was a blur before his eyes and the next time Kruxe finally had a clear look at him, the man was to his side, a step from him, his hand outstretched and his palms open to grab Kruxe's face.
With his gun still pointing forward, Kruxe knew he was done for, he already began feeling death or hell a second away, but before the man could finally grab him, he was forced to come to a pause as there was a loud "boom" one which did not originate from any of the ship's cannon.