Weapons and a Leaf

Chap 3: Havoc

by Mali

Absolute havoc wrecked on and below deck. Screaming filled Aura's head. Swiftly the pirates approached causing the already frenzied people to go into over drive. Soon the pirates where boarding quiet happy to find little resistance among these idiotic people. *oh no* Aura thoughts turned to wild imagines. Standing still crazy thoughts going through her head she suddenly became very frightened. As the last horrible idea floated pass her head Aura snapped to attention. Spinning around she headed for the least noticeable place on the ship, she soon broke into a run as more of the filthy, shouting pirates boarded the ship. After some quick decisions Aura finally ended up in the anchor room, taking great care not to let anyone see her Aura relaxed sure no one would find her for a least a little while. The stench of something she did not want to know about filled her nose, causing her to sneeze. Aura sat there for at least a few hours, un- aware of the time because her watch had disappeared with the other stuff. Footsteps echoed from up-above *don't let them find me* Aura wished to whoever was listening. Something tugged at her mind trying to convince her to pray to the great mother goddess. *Oh great* Aura thought sadly *I'm about to become a slave and I'm turning into a maniac.* The luck that had allowed her to escape was not still with her. A single ray of light feel across her face as someone up above opened the hatch. She quickly squished herself against the wall, trying to disappear into the shadows. A boot clad foot appeared as its owner carefully stepped down onto the ladder.It hit Aura suddenly that maybe she should be doing something to defend herself, after this thought she started frantically looking around for some sort of weapon. The person {looked like man according to his breeches} was halfway through the the hole, his head and torso still above deck. Finally her eyes came across a strange metal tool. *It'll do* Aura thought grimly as she quietly sprinted across the dim anchor room and gingerly picked it up. Suddenly calm she examined her target. The man was on the regular side, normal height, slightly muscular, with dull blond hair. Slyly she slipped into a little notch that put her directly behind the intruder. When he finally reached the bottom he turned to pear into the murky darkness. Slowly Aura raised her make-do weapon over her head ready to strike. The man slowly started to explore muttering to himself, drawing farther and farther away from Aura's striking distance. Making up her mind to at least knock the pirate out Aura started to follow. Walking on the sides of her feet she was sure he hadn't herd her. Suddenly the man twisted around and lunged for her. Clumsily she brought up the metal thing, panic ran though her as she saw the mans scarred face. Soon she lost control of her movements as the ugly man lunged for her again and again. Soon he had her trapped into a corner. Grinning the man easy knocked her only defense out of her hand. It was if the loss of the cool metal in her hand was the only thing in the world she felt an overwhelming desire to just give up. As a last attempt Aura dodged and lunged for the barely noticeable strip of iron. This evidently surprised the man, the exit being the other way. The attacker though was faster than she had first thought, like lighting he was there, grabbing her and smoothly throwing her over his shoulder. Kicking and squirming Aura tried to escape. Undaunted the man briskly walked over to the hatch and yelled for help, as he had found the last passenger. Someone appeared above, bending down to pick up the resistant Aura.

The Pirates had lined up the remaining crew, having killed the others. Aura wasn't able to look at the others after she had been set down without drawing attention to her. Soon they where all lined up again from tallest to smallest on deck, one line being male (very few males where left from the original crew) and another female. Briskly a tall man who had the look of a captain boarded the torn apart Zodiac. That second Aura laid eyes on him she new he was bad. He had the look of a once-upon-a-time noble. In fact he didn't look at all like a pirate. No eye patch, hook or wooden leg. Almost like an army commander he inspected the lines of the pitiful crew. Mumbling to himself as moved on to each person. It seemed like the healthy people got a positive mumble while the elderly less able people got a negative mumble. It might have been Aura's imagination that was going at the moment, but it seemed to her that this whole lot of pirates where not indeed pirates but slavers. *'Course that what pirates are* she thought panic rises in her throat. Standing on the deck seemed like an entirety. Finally what she assumed was the captain moved and swiftly stepped up onto a box that was conveniently near by. Silence settled upon everything, even the waves seemed to be dimmed. "Wimpy lot we have her today, eh crew?" The captain said his words reaching everyone on the boat. Nobody said anything. "Well here's the deal: either we drown the ship with the passengers or we let the ones in best shape off than then drown them all." Every word help power and Aura knew he wasn't joking. "What do you say crew?" The captain boomed. His shout was replied by every pirate on the deck shouting with all their might "KILL EM' ALL!."