[quote=t2wave]Scrambling out he slammed the hatch once all were clear. "They're all gone. There's nothing we can do for them."[/quote]

As soon as Suichiro was out, the hatch banged shut with a slam and a splash; the waves breathed outside, the ship creaked and groaned and rocked. Rain and seafoam hammered on the deck above them. Wind howled across the grate, and the small grove of plantlife growing in the middle of the floor trembled and bent under a torrent of water. The ankle-deep slosh of saltwater removed the stench of vinegar from the floor, at least.

[quote]Listing himself up he became away of a small object he was sitting on. Fishing it out it was a pocket watch. Not the most useful trinket in the world but keeping track of time was generally a good thing. In a flash of lightning he could see that the hands were stopped. He pressed the button to its side to see if it would function. The thing could very well be broken.[/quote]

The brass tarnished watch spilled a splash of saltwater upon opening. Behind the scuffed glass -- behind the still silver hands of the clock -- instead of a display of numbers, its face was black: a deep, hollow black, like the sky on a starless night.

Opposite the face, etched carefully into the inside of the lid: [i]526 418 749 1131[/i]

The button was pressed, and the gears began to turn and click. The minute-hand ticked: 6:17.

[hr]

Below deck, a shrill scream was suddenly cut off.

A vine snapped.

A metallic click, click, click echoed in the room under their feet. Rustling. Moving. The clatter of what sounded like rocks being poured into a copper bucket.

[i]R-r-r-r-r-ke-ke-ke-ke[/i] the beast hissed, skittering in the engine room below.

[hr]

Lightning cracked.

The drenched fox stared at those who remained, shaking and dripping. Aside from the hatch, there were two ways out of the Mess: up the stairs toward the deck and the galley, or back toward the stern of the ship, where beyond the pole of the mainmast was a dry, dim room that smelled like wood dust and metal. It was the ship's workshop, where repairs and inventions were made -- and where someone of some eccentricity apparently had lived.

At the back of the workshop was a metal staircase that led up into an open space in the ceiling.

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