[b]Engine Room/Mess[/b]

Connor sat, slumped against the unused boiler beside Risa, his heading hanging low as he contemplated his current situation. Just yesterday, the greatest worry in his life was whether or not there would be a surprise mobilization, or whether war would suddenly break out between the British Empire and the Kalmar Union, thus requiring him to actually prepare for a real, blood-and-steel fight. Now, that all seemed like such minor worries. Not only was he stuck somewhere that could possibly be another world, he had to deal with the fact that he could have actually maimed or even killed the few people he had been trapped with.

The wounds did not match up, yes, but that did little to silence the nagging voice in his head. According to it, the creature had been nothing more than the product of stress, panic and his over-active imagination. "Quiet," Connor murmured and buried his face in his hands. This was not a situation he had prepared for, and aside from murderers, who could prepare for a situation where one had the blood of possibly three lives on their hands?

Suddenly, a creaking sound from above alerted him, and Connor sprung to his feet, but not before snatching up the bayonet he had earlier dropped. Looking up, he saw the trap door opening and the silhouette of a girl looking down at him.

[quote]“Hey, hey, come on out!! Come on out!! Wait! But I swear, if you're some kinda' creepy monster, I'mma...” she paused to consider her threat as she stared at the cannonball. Baby blues sparkled with an idea! “I'mma shoot you! Didja' hear that 'whump!' noise down there? That's right! TamTam has a cannon and TamTam soooo not afraid to use it again! Boom-Boom! Yeah-Yeah, I'mma shoot you!”

Dark thin eyebrows arched high as she shrugged, staring at FoxyLady as if to tell her: 'Hey at least I tried, right?' Baby blues popped wide and sparkled once more. 

“Oh! And did I mention I have an attack wolf here too! That's right! Huuuuuuge teeth. Snarling too! I say the word and she'll eat you! You dead, son!”

A single calming breath she took as she waited with bubbling nervousness at the gaping hole in the floor. Thunder rolled over the ship once more.

“Uhhh... Helloooo..?” [/quote]

The girl sounded very lively, that much Connor could tell, but in his dazed state, he still was not sure whether or not this was just another product of his mind. Still, deciding that he had very little to lose, he walked over to the ladder and slowly climbed up. Only then did he fully realize just how much he had exerted himself during the fight. His legs, and especially his arms, ached from the sudden exertion after such a long period of disuse. Mobilizations on the Shetlands were painless and rather boring affairs; he would show up with his rifle, stand in the firing line and fire off a few rounds into the ocean, march around for a bit and that was it.

Once he climbed through the trapdoor, and dropped to the floor, overly-glad that he was finally out of the accursed room. He took in a deep breath, then looked at the girl who had spoken to him through the trap door. She looked almost as pale as those who claimed Viking descent in the Shetlands, though he found it hard to tell her age, or where exactly she came from. "Others," He said numbly, pointing down to the engine room through the trap door. "There were others with me, but I don't know if they're still alive. The girl by the boiler...She was barely living when I climbed up."

He got to his feet. "I'm sorry for asking you this, lass, but I need help to bring them up. I cannot in good faith leave them down there."