"-her leg was propped up against the window sill and I barely had two inches to maneuver here. And the sea was feeling rude that day let me tell you, roiling and threatening to crack us in two if we weren't careful. So anyway, I'm reaching around and-"
A thunderous boom interrupted Lorelei's raunchy story as everyone lurched forward. Men and women slammed into walls and fell over chairs, trying to regain their footing as fear crossed the face of the lot of them. For Lorelei? Her head happened to be near a shallow roof beam which when the ship was sailing smoothly as it had been for the past couple of weeks would have been no problem. Right now it collided with her head and with a thunk she was out.
Lorelei's body rolled unhindered to the wall as the ship rocked back, righting itself within the water. Luck was certainly on her side today because just as her unconscious self came to a halt these sacks of grain spilled over. The burlap sacks covered just enough of her that in the dimly lit middle deck of the Flying Crane it was mighty easy to overlook her. Over the next five or ten minutes that fact was probably what kept her living.
With a grand effort Lorelei found herself coming to. She lifted her head off of the floor and with her tongue, pushed the spilled rice out of her mouth. One hand reached up to wipe the hair from her face.
Throbbing. Hot. Sticky.
"Oi, I didn't know she was your sister- Oh fuck me."
Pulling her hand away from whatever had landed on her head Lorelei held her fingers above her face and tried to focus. Her ears rang so loudly that with her other hand she tried to silence the sonorous bell, only to find rough wood beneath her nails. From her off-blue fingers fell something hot and viscous. It landed squarely on Lorelei's forehead, startling her. As her vision ceased displaying doubles of everything it finally dawned on her what this was.
"That's my blood?"
Her voice sounded far away, as if another Lorelei was saying that from across the room. Cautiously she propped herself up on an elbow and took in the surroundings. The table she had been sitting at was on its side, food that once had adorned it now spilled mercilessly onto the floor.
"But I wasn't done eating yet, pricks. Suckering me like that all because his damned sister couldn't keep her hands off me. C'mere, let me get my shot in you yellow-bellied rotten sack of fish guts."
It probably was due to the soured ale she had been downing pint after pint that Lorelei only suffered a concussion there instead of permanent damage. Propelled by a drunken rage she pushed herself upward and climbed to her feet. One eye went entirely dark before she found herself having to squeeze them tightly to see again. Lorelei took her first step forward and stumbled, catching herself on a chair that scraped against the floor with a squeal. The noise brought the ringing back and suddenly Lorelei felt the contents of her stomach rising rapidly.
The woman heaved and an unappetizing mess of half digested and now unrecognizable lumps poured out from her gullet. It splashed against the floor with a horrid squelch. After a moment to spit and wipe at her mouth Lorelei was feeling surprisingly lucid.
"Oi! You rat bastard."
Lorelei was speaking to a figure standing hunched over a dark pile on the ground just through a doorway. She clenched her fist and walked forward briskly albeit a bit unsteadily. Her hand clamped down on the figure's shoulder and she shoved it forward. The person fell forward a few steps before righting themselves with an unnatural twist. When it stood up Lorelei felt her stomach churn again, this time with fear rather than bile.
It's body was pale for even a human, if that was what it had even started as. She squinted her eyes through another wave of disorientation and felt the sudden instinct to turn tail and run. There was a brief moment where their gazes locked, a space where no breaths were taken. Pale and unclouded eyes stared directly at Lorelei, entirely engaged on every subtle movement. Then Lorelei inhaled and bolted backward.
The mutilated corpse lunged at her, missing her fleeing back by mere inches. Its claws sank into the frame of the door with little resistance, wrenching free and moving in for another attack. Lorelei reached for the first blunt object she could find and grasped the edges of a bowl. With a growl she planted her feet apart and pivoted hard and fast, swinging the bowl around and connecting with the ghoul's face. Lorelei couldn't help but notice the way it's jaw disconnected and it hardly reacted. The sudden weight of its body slamming in to her was more than she - in this state at least - could handle.
The two tumbled end over end and landed in a heap. Lorelei thrashed with all her might to slide out from under it, kicking fiercely and repeatedly bringing the bowl down on its face. Its knife-like nails tore into Lorelei's waist as the ghoul attempted to bite at her through the bowl she had shoved into its mouth. Fangs punctured the bowl and with a mighty shove Lorelei freed herself.
Scrambling, her boots pounded down the deck as she rounded a corner and shouldered a door open. It banged against the wall roughly before being thrown back into place. Lorelei ran the short distance to the hammock strung up across two beams and reached underneath. Her fingers scraped against a handle and grasped. With a half roll that landed her on her side Lorelei whipped her crossbow around and took aim at the door. She fought the dizziness and focused through the thumping of her heart currently hammering away in her chest.
The few seconds that passed by felt to be hours long. One, two, three. The door burst open and from behind it came a toothy maw, slick with saliva that flew from its tongue. The dislocated jaw still straining to snap, it's eyes filled with a burning hunger for flesh. Lorelei squeezed the trigger and did not close her eyes. She knew better than to flinch in a moment like this, knew that taking her eyes from her target could mean the difference between a well placed bolt that could save her and one that would mean the end of her life. With a zip her iron-tipped projectile was flung forth. The wet thud of the bolt head piercing a quarter inch of bone before finding its home between two halves of brain matter sounded off and, just as quickly as it started, it was over.
Finally a second to rest, Lorelei leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. She took steadying breaths and waited until that agitating ringing subsided. In the sudden peace Lorelei realized that there was more yet to come. The sounds of battle raged from the deck above her, voices shouting incoherently to one another mixed in with a cacophony of cries.
There was a strange comfort in knowing how things like this went. Cannon fire across the bow to get the ship to drop anchor, raise the black flag and give them an opportunity to surrender. Count one minute before either firing again - this time a shot meant to crash into the deck - or advancing upon them. That initial boom and subsequent explosion that sent the ship whirling meant there had been no warning. This was a raid and more than likely meant for there to be no survivors.
Lorelei reloaded, placing another bolt into the track and pulling back the string. It clicked in place. Keeping it trained on the freshly killed undead she skirted the room to get a better look at what this was. Druskai. She felt a solemn wave wash over her then. With the tip of her boot Lorelei gently rolled the man onto his back. It had been hard to tell initially, especially with the way the room had been swaying. His face was so smooth, covered in a smattering of scales that rippled across his nose and cheekbones. A ring of coral crowned his head, now colorless and appearing as dead as the rest of him was. He had slight fins protruding from his forearms, and webs linking each finger together.
This wasn't the first time she had ever seen something like this before. He was Vethcairn, or had been until they ended his life and reanimated him with the sole purpose of carrying out orders. Obviously his order had been to tear the throats out of everyone on board this ship. Lorelei reached down and closed the man's eyes
"Sorry this happened to you, I hope you're finding some kind of peace."
It was time to move on, the fight was ongoing and Lorelei had to do her part. Everything was coming into focus now and her mind began to clear. That innate purpose of creation inside her was beginning to wake up now. It was pumping adrenaline through her body and shaking off the rust. Lorelei fumbled through lacing what little armor she had together and tossing her coat over it. The hat might get in the way so she left it behind. With that, she headed out the door.
Going topside right now when she wasn't at her best was a needless risk. There had been enough armed guards on the Flying Crane to at least respond to an attack, Vethcairn or not. She needed to find a way to damage the ship that had attacked and get the hell out. First thing was the need to see what they were up against. On this level there were a few port windows to peer out of. Heading back to the messhall Lorelei peered out one of the holes. They were right alongside them, most likely anchored with grappling hooks and latched with iron planks.
"C'mon Lorelei, clear the barnacles out of your head and start using it!"
This was a tricky situation. Why didn't it smell like gunpowder all through these halls yet? They should have fired the cannons at the first sight of a warship approaching. It had to be that they managed to sneak up on the cargo vessel. But how? It had been a clear calm night when Lorelei headed down below deck. This close to Blackwater Bay and the crew should have been on high alter. First sign of fog and she would have had all hands on deck pulling towards shore as fast as possible.
