Liam laid on his side, cushioning his hands in-between the lumpy flat pillow and his head, carefully trying not to wake Killian as he tried another position. The bad feeling in the pit of his stomach only intensified and in the silence of the cabin his thoughts had taken over his mind, making sleep a near impossibility. All sorts of scenarios ran through out his mind. Tomorrow morning I'll go into port and question about their whereabouts, the calm sensible voice in his mind said whilst the other was wailing They're all dead! You're going back to life on the streets! A thought that made his insides churn. Here they had a chance for redemption, for a life worth living.They would not go back to starving cold nights on the streets begging.
"Liam!" a hoarse whisper called out. At first Liam wasn't sure he heard anything at all. It was barely above a murmur and perhaps his mind was playing tricks on him. Sometimes after long nights at sea sailors went stir crazy and saw all sorts of strange things. "LIAM!" The second was an urgent desperate shout that was most certainly real. Killian who'd been curled into a tiny ball stirred.
"Wha…What's going on?" his voice was still laced with sleep and his eyes were barely open as he propped himself up on his elbows.
"Not sure. Stay here."
Liam tossed the blankets to his side hastily as he scurried towards the upper decks. The metal of the letter was ice cold to the touch and his bare toes curled in reaction when he began his ascendant. The sight before him was appalling. Matthias with only a few members of the crew lay scattered upon the deck, covered in crimson and snow. Some of them moaned out in agony clutching to different limbs, the others were silent. Their minds consumed by whatever terrible events had unfolded before them and left them in this state.
He tried his very best not to stare but found himself unable to avert his eyes. Matthias had a nasty looking gash extending from underneath his hairline to his left ear. Blood trickled down the side of his face. "We were ambushed." Matthias explained hastily. "we need to get the hell out of here." He placed his knobby hand onto Liam's shoulder and gripped tightly, forcefully tugging him along the deck towards the helm of the ship. "I can't see out of my eye boy. You're going to get us out. Where the bloody hell is your brother?"
"Below deck," Liam stated as his hands gripped at the stirring wheel. He'd navigated before, he'd sailed before, but this time felt different. He felt anxious and scared but terribly important and also prideful.
His little brother looked like a terrified animal creature as he walked on deck. His hair dishelmed and his clothes un-tucked and wrinkled, he wide eyed gazed at everyone wincing and gasping at the sight of the bloodied sailors. Matthias was having no patience for it, barking out at Killian to hurry up, he was going to help raise anchor.
The seas for the most part where calm. The ship hardly rocked back and forth as it left the Northern Port bay towards the open waters. The winds were at a steady pace propelling them in the direction they wanted to go and the clouds that had brought the snow fell had drifted away leaving a clear view of the bright stars. It was the precise sailing conditions and for that Liam was eternally grateful and sure some other force of nature was out there and taking pity on them.
Makeshift wraps had been placed upon nasty looking gashes and wounds. The sailors were limping along the deck towards the beds, supported by a twelve year old boy who for his part gritted his teeth and said nothing. Most of the men easily outweighed his ninety pounds by two fold but there was no halting his various trips back and forth, and whenever Killian's eyes traveled up to him at the helm Liam spared a prideful glance hoping to silently encourage him.
Matthias paced along the deck with furious movements uttering incoherent and not understandable words. The blood around his eyes had dried onto his face and he refused any sort of medical attention. Their crew was without their Captain, their lieutenant was partially blinded and many of the men were too gravely injured to properly do their jobs, they had no real course of destination aside from getting away from the port.
After the last man had been aided into his bed below deck, his little brother ambled towards them out of breathe and sweaty. His raven hair was plastered to his face and his clothing was stained with the blood of the others. There was a new level of maturity inside of Killian, instead of badgering them with thousands of questions he sensed the somberness and stayed quiet, positing himself on the Seaboard side of the wheel, standing stiffly and as tall as possible he ever so often used the tiny hand held telescope to scan for any sort of imminent danger. He was most certainly not the child he'd been a year ago, certainly not a man in any physical form or mentally but he was growing up. Liam reached his arm out and playfully ruffled his hair, and despite Killian's protests he kept doing it.
"Good form, brother. Good form."
A sheepish smile drew across Killian's face as he ducked his head in embarrassment. Praise and endearment had been all too rare in his life. Their mother wasn't around to kiss his bloody knees, or to tuck him in, or to shower him in maternal love. He wasn't praised for learning to count to ten or for learning how to spell his own name. Davy had grown into a person unable to be compassionate in Killian's childhood.
Liam had never been inside of the Captain's quarters before and standing inside of it, in front of the dusty mirror seemed slightly wrong. His hands shook as they attempted to button up the navy jacket, it all just seemed too be unreal.
"You're really in the navy now!" Killian chirped unable to contain his enthusiasm form where he sat upon the bed. He was captivated by the tiny white washed room and his hands grazed over the tiny trinkets and objects along the shelves and walls.
"I suppose." Liam agreed hesitantly as he finished the last button. "Would you please stop touching Everett's stuff? It's disrespectful." Immediately Killian's arm retracted to his side and a crestfallen expression became him.
Matthias adorned in his best Lieutenant's uniform peeks his head in. His left eye had a rather large bandage upon it giving him a look slightly like a pirate. His right eye zoomed in upon Liam. "Ready Jones?"
"As I'll ever be."
"That's hardly a winning spirit boy. You're going to meet our King and you saved us." Matthias declared giving Liam a hard pat to the back before turning to regard Killian, "don't get into any trouble whilst we're gone alright? And for the love of god don't fall in again."
Killian's face turned a bright crimson color as he hotly cried, "That was one time! One time!"