***notice: Bulkhead= wall in a ship ****
"Huuuuu" the sound of Kruxe taking in a quick deep breath as he opened his eyes filled the passageway.
One second he thought it was all over, he could no longer resist his heavy mind and had let the darkness take over, and then the next he found his eyes snapping open with his body suddenly pumped up with energy and his mind clear like he had never taken the seeing pills.
Kruxe felt like he had taken some serious energy drink and had to breathe for several seconds to calm his now-raging heart.
His mind now clear, Kruxe quickly looked around, observing his surroundings once again and noting that only dead bodies of soldiers dressed in yellow trousers and coats, the uniform of Darhara occupied the floor.
Kruxe worriedly filed this information and observed a little more, this time hearing the sounds of fighting and shouts coming from above, the sound of cannon fire dying out.
With his surroundings in mind, Kruxe pushed himself to his feet as silently as possible, and then straining his eyes with the poor lighting that filtered from the gaps in the ceiling, he searched around and eventually found what he was looking for.
This time careful not to make a sound and checking for any straggling enemy, he moved two steps forward and silently picked up a thin long blood-soaked sword.
Kruxe had no idea of its owner, but he needed a weapon and it was the most accessible one he had immediately found, so he went for it.
With the sword in hand, Kruxe stealthily moved back to Blaun's body, and then squatted before the man,
"Blaun" Kruxe softly whispered, as he gently tried to shake the man from the constant mutterings he had been doing since he poured that powdery stuff on his face.
Kruxe had no idea what the powder was, but the fact that it helped neutralize the sleeping drug Cletina had fed him was enough for him, he didn't have time to go asking unnecessary questions.
"Blaun" Kruxe had to call two more times before the man finally raised his head to Kruxe, his blood-red eyes slowly blinking as he took in Kruxe's image.
"Pirates, Dive into the sea and hide," he said.
Pirates, this word shocked Kruxe and had memories of their infamy, ruthlessness, and power pouring into his head and threatening to shock and scare him, but he had important things to worry about at the moment so he easily pushed away this incoming fear.
"Where is my mother, where is Rita" Kruxe whispered with urgency.
"Just run," the man said his eyes dropping and opening.
"Ruahhhh, ha, ha, ha" a particularly thunderous laugh came from above scaring Kruxe who jolted but thankfully kept himself in place.
"Come on, we can't stay here, let's go to my room," Kruxe said as he moved to put his hand under Blaun's shoulder and lift him up, but then the man pushed his hand away.
He gave Kruxe a firm stare and then dug his right hand into a sack hanging from his waist, and the next time it came out, he seemed to be holding something in his hand.
"Leave I'm already dead," Blaun said as he smacked his face with his right hand, blanketing his face with what Kruxe now recognized to be powder, one that should be the very same power he had been hit with earlier.
With surprising vigor, Blaun took in a deep sniff and then blinked his eyes more rigorously, a smile on his face.
"Unless you want to die, run now," he said putting his hand into the slash on his stomach and to Kruxe's horror pulling out one of his intestines.
"See dead," he said and then dropped his head, going back to his mumblings, this time naming several fishes.
What Blaun had just done had Chills going through Kruxe, but realizing that Blaun was truly lost and that he was wasting time, he pushed himself to his feet and began heading for the end of the passageway.
"Though Blaun had told him to run, there was no way that was happening without Kruxe having an idea what had happened to his mother and most especially Rita.
With Cletina by his mother's side, Kruxe only actively worried about her so strongly out of habit, instead as he moved, serveral images of what could have happened to Rita popped into his head.
Four steps and Kruxe was already at the end of the passageway, he leaned against the bulkhead to blend in with the darkness and then leaned out to inspect the wide semi-cargo area that stood directly below the main deck.
Blood, dead bodies, and barrels were what greeted Kruxe's eyes, but then the fact that other than two, all of the dozens of dead bodies were Darhara, another wave of worry resurfaced in his heart.
"Sure pirates were strong and ruthless, but there was no way they had killed their way through the ship right "Kruxe tried to convince himself as the first waves of panic settled in.
With a deep breath, Kruxe calmed his heart and peered into the semi-cargo area once more, he narrowed his eyes as much as possible to get through the poor lighting, scrutinizing the dead bodies and unmanned cannons, and when he was sure there was nobody, he dashed out of his spot by the bulkhead.
Moving silently, Kruxe moved behind the slanted ladder that led from the 1st-floor deck of the ship which he was currently on to the hatch of the main deck.
He scurried behind it with gusto, planning to first stay there and then try to observe the situation happening above him on the main deck.
With the hatch, Kruxe hoped to be able to read the situation from the clear sound he would be getting, but just as he moved behind the ladder, he suddenly felt like there was something behind him.
In his haste to quickly get behind the ladder and out of hiding, he had forgotten to check behind, it, so now with his swords tightly held in his hand, he quickly turned around to face whatever was behind him.
First to come into Kruxe's sight was a man dressed in a blue coat, blue trousers, and a blue bowtie, pinned to the bulkhead behind him by a dagger that went directly through his right eye through his brain, and into the bulkhead behind.
Without delay, Kruxe easily identified this man as the servant who had come to call him for dinner the previous day when he was practising on deck, but before Kruxe could even feel any sadness for him, the image of a second person besides the familiar servant entered his eyes.
Kruxe's eyes had initially moved with determination, but the moment, his eyes landed on the second figure, he dropped his swords as chaos settled into his mind while deep anguish filled his heart.