Before Wilhelm had even made it outside of his room, he found a dozen
bodies pouring in through the single staircase leading above deck. A
dozen, screaming, running bodies. The cabin below deck wasn't even that
spacious to begin with and Wilhelm's line of sight was completely broken
off by adults that towered over him, glancing backwards and shoving
rudely, some almost pushing themselves into his own room if his hadn't
been one of the closer ones to the staircase.
"Wha-what's going
on?" Wilhelm hadn't managed to get even a decent return look from the
passengers as they streamed past. He cursed to himself, scanning the
mass of moving bodies for an opening to let himself squeeze in and run
up to the deck to see what the hell was going on. He half wished he
hadn't spent those precious seconds before the crowd locking up his
things into his closet. His bodyguard was on the deck. And his client
too! What was he going to do if his client was killed before he could
get the second part of his payment?
Above the deck, however, was
still just as chaotic, if not more. The dozen passengers who were still
on the deck scurried around, screaming for their lost children or
relatives, or hiding behind boxes and crates. The captain had emerged
from the bridge, shouting something that was drowned out from the
screaming. Several of the sailors still on the deck scattered, some
heading to the massive foghorn on one end of the ship, but several more
figures form the adjacent ship already leapt on board.
The
pirates were quick, they flung themselves at the sailors, gleaming edged
weapons drawn. They knocked the sailors out cold before the sailors
could even find weapons of their own to wield. Two of the pirates ran
down below deck, where the screaming grew louder and more intense. Two
men emerged at the lip where the two ships were pressed up against each
other, one wearing a ridiculously tall hat. The hatted one jerked his
head to a scrawny child who popped up beside him, a grin spreading
across his face. "Light 'em up!"
Small round objects were
scattered across the deck, two into the bridge, two toward each end of
the ship, and exploded in a flash of light that rocked the entire ship.
The captain was thrown from the bridge and onto the floor. The hatted
man was on him in a wink, sword drawn and tip a hair away from the
captain's nose.
"Cap!" A gruff woman's voice caught the
attention of the hatted man, the woman pointing quickly at Mirrah who
was making her way toward the cabins.
"Stop her!" was the hatted man's single response before the nearest pirate cut off Mirrah's route, sword drawn.
Before
Mirrah could attack, one of the pirates leapt at her from behind,
throwing over her head a large potato-sack. One strong hand twisted her
gauntleted hand back while the other went for a solid blow behind her
head.