Author's Notes: Thanks to all who've reviewed; I appreciate it a lot more than I let on! ^_^;;;
Chapter 4's past again. Good times… I hope…
Chapter 4: A Change of Plans
Marin woke with a start, and almost screamed. 'Where am I…?' he wondered, frantically looking around at his surroundings. It was dark – obviously nighttime – but he could just make out the shapes of the crates and barrels around him, and immediately, everything that had transpired came rushing back. His village was gone, and he was hiding away in the hold of a cargo ship.
He sat for a moment more before his stomach rumbled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since that morning... in Aurel... with his mother...
He shut his eyes tightly and clenched his fists. He could not think about that, now. He had to focus on escaping. He had to focus on SURVIVING...
His stomach rumbled again, and he winced, wondering how long he had been sleeping in the hold. Or, for that matter, how much longer he would be there. 'Wait a minute...' Marin nearly laughed aloud; he was in the hold of a CARGO ship! Surely one of these containers stored food? He jumped to his feet, preparing to find himself the makings of a decent meal, when the ship gave a sudden lurch, sending him toppling to the floor. As he rubbed his arm where he had landed on it, he could hear what sounded like a cannon firing. 'What's going on...?' The ship lurched again, and he could hear feet pounding the deck above his head.
He stood again, more cautiously this time, and made his way over to what was, in his mind, a promising-looking barrel, when he heard voices approaching, and footfalls on the stairs.
"Take as much as ye can carry! We'll be needing the lot if we can get it..." one of the voices said.
Marin's eyes widened as the door banged open, and he ducked quickly to avoid being seen. From his hiding spot, he peeked out and saw four men; four very angry-looking men, each of which was carrying a sword.
'Pirates!' Marin realized with a start. 'The ship is being looted by pirates!' The men began hefting the crates closest to the door, hauling them up the stairs, presumably to their ship. When the door was open, Marin could hear the clashing of metal-on-metal that indicated a brawl on the main deck. 'I've no manner of luck at all...' he thought bitterly, pressing his thin form as far into his hiding place as he could. The pirates - he was certain that they were pirates - were drawing closer to him with every passing moment, and he held his breath as one lifted the barrel he had been about to break into, praying he wouldn't be seen.
It was not to be so.
The man caught sight of Marin and grinned a terrible, yellow-toothed grin. "What do we 'ave here? Morrison, come 'ere and get a look at this, eh?" A second man, which Marin assumed must be Morrison, approached. He, too, grinned devilishly.
"A kid," he stated gruffly. "Y'think he belongs to the cap'n o' this ship?"
"Aye, I don't doubt it. They prob'ly tossed him down here when the fightin' started up--"
"And what do the two of you think ye're doin' o'er here?" came a third voice. The two men spun around.
"Cap'n Harundo!" they cried in unison.
"I din't bring ye along so ye could stand around and chit-chat, ye lazy dogs!"
"But Cap'n! Harbridge here found a kid hiding behind this barrel," the one called Morrison said.
"Did he, now?" Captain Harundo raised an eyebrow at them, and motioned them aside. Spying Marin, who was still sitting motionless in the corner, he let out a deep-throated laugh. "Well, well, well..." he smirked at the boy. Before Marin could blink, the cold steel of the pirate captain's sword was pressed against his throat. He was alarmed to see that the sword was covered in blood.
"And who might ye be, boy? Son of the captain, or," he gave the boy a once-over and raised an eyebrow skeptically, "a stowaway, I'd wager, consid'rin' your manner of dress." Marin remained stubbornly silent, glaring up at the man. The man chuckled.
"Don't want to speak, eh? Well, we can remedy that, can't we, men?" at this, he glanced over his shoulder at the first two. "Take the boy; lock him in the brig. We'll see how long he decides to stay quiet."
And with that, Morrison and Harbridge grabbed Marin roughly by the arms and hauled him out onto the dock. The sight that met the boy's eyes made him want to retch.
There were bloodied bodies strewn everywhere; it was obvious that the pirates hadn't thought twice about what they were doing - it was a clean sweep. All of the sailors that Marin had seen board the ship were dead, lying upon the deck, drenched in blood, their eyes staring lifelessly after him as he was dragged aboard the pirates' ship. Once there, they wasted no time in bringing Marin to the bowels of the ship.
"Here ye go, runt. A nice room all to ye're self!" Harbridge laughed heartily at him, shoving him none-too-gently into the barred room.
"Rest up, kid. The Cap'n's going to want a word with ye, to be certain." He could hear their guffaws all the way up to the top deck.
Sighing deeply and cursing his misfortune, Marin wandered over to sit beneath the window. The sea breeze was cool on his face, and he closed his eyes, wishing that this was some terrible nightmare and that he would wake up soon, safe and warm in his home in Aurel. But he knew it was no use.
"There IS no Aurel." he told himself firmly. "My mother is dead, and the village was burned to the ground. I am... the only survivor..." he felt his eyes start to burn, and he rubbed at them furiously. Saying the words outloud somehow made it too final. He felt his heart ache as he took the emerald ring his mother had given him and clutched it to his chest. It was all he had left. It was all there WAS left...
As he curled up against the wall of the cell, he could no longer contain his grief. And so, for the first time since as far back as he could remember, Marin wept.
End Notes: Aaaaangst. My favorite ^_~. Please, as always, R&R! Constructive criticism is welcomed; flames will be used to burn my summer reading homework. I go back to school in 3 days; that's incentive for me to write like mad *because I'll be putting off my homework*. *grins* Till next chapter, then!