Silver Spirits

Did Scarlett ever think her crew would be dancing? Absolutely not. But there they were, laughing and jumping around with Emily, who seemed to be using dance as an excuse to cling to Percy without anyone questioning it. Percy was about as good a dancer as he looked. He could wring a throat in each hand, but when it came to spinning and twirling in a dance, it didn't take much for him to get dizzy and wobble clumsily. While they always did celebrate when the time called for celebration, Scarlett rarely saw the crew like this. In a way, it hurt. Why couldn't she be just as happy as they were, and why wasn't anyone blaming her for the death of half the crew?

Her heart fell heavy once again, so she waited until no one paid her any attention before slipping away, back to her quarters. As she walked past, she caught her reflection in the mirror, seeing her unevenly chopped hair. Scarlett had been the one to give Abram the scar on his face, telling him that she wanted him to think of her every time he looked in a mirror. Surely, this was his way of doing the same. Every time she looked in the mirror, she was reminded that somewhere out there, he had a fistful of her hair, and was probably waving it around like a trophy.

Scarlett jumped when there was a knock on her door, looking through the mirror to see that she'd left the door open a crack behind her, and now Ben was standing there, slowly opening it to peek in. She sighed and didn't answer him, but she didn't tell him to leave, either.

"Why are you always the one who follows me?" she asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"You had an odd look on your face," he shrugged, sitting down on the other end of her bed.

"Did I give you permission to sit?" Scarlett asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you haven't hit me yet. Or yelled at me," he said.

"That's true."

Ben paused for a moment, looking at the way Scarlett kept touching the ends of her hair, then bumped her lightly.

"It looks fine," he reassured her. "Like Emily said, you can barely tell."

"Hair grows back," Scarlett sighed. "It's how it went that's been bothering me."

Ben fidgeted, then decided to make another bold move. "Well... Maybe... You would listen to me now? Hear what I have to say, at the very least."

"Fine."

"I know the map, among other things," he said slowly. "I'm not asking to captain your ship. In fact, I will scrape as many barnacles off the side of the Spirit as you want. Tell me to jump, and I will ask you how high. I'll be the quiet little prisoner you've wanted from the start. But all I ask is that you'll believe me when I say I'm trying to help you get there. My crew is in the same position as yours. I'd never do anything to hurt them."

Scarlett went silent, picking at the hem of her skirt, then shrugged. "This isn't a partnership of any sort. And don't go telling anyone, either. I'm still better than you."

Ben smiled and nodded, tracing his finger over his chest and crossing his heart.

"I wasn't always like this," Scarlett blurted, though she surprised herself with the sudden need to explain herself to Ben.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean, I wasn't always like this," she sighed. "Bitter, angry, stubborn... I was made into it. Some say it was Phineas who changed me, but it started long before that."

"Phineas?"

"The last captain of The Silver Spirit," she explained. "I was young when he decided to take me in. Everything I learned, I learned from him. I used to look up to him like a god, but as I grew older, I realized what was happening. He had taught me to do whatever it took to get what I wanted. It didn't matter if I had to slit a throat or sell my body. I had to do whatever it took. And I listened to him. And for the longest time, I felt no shame in any of it. It earned me the title of the most ruthless pirate out there. Later, I blamed Phineas for it all, but I quickly realized that it wasn't his doing. I turned myself into this."

"How so?" Ben asked.

"I always have a need to prove myself to others," she smirked. "When I was a child, a boy told me I wasn't allowed to hold a slingshot, because I was a girl. So I snatched the slingshot out of his hand and started chasing him. He had red pellet marks all over his body."

"What's so bad about that?" Ben laughed, though he had a strange look on his face, like he'd heard the story before.

"My father locked me in my room for five days, so he could clear the nasty things in the air about our family, and how I was a 'devil child'. It took ages for them to forget what I did."

Ben nodded slowly, lost in thought for a moment. "Why would your father have to clear your family's name? I thought you were always on the sea."

"I was," Scarlett said a little too quickly.

"Really?" Ben inquired, raising an eyebrow. "Because that sounds like the kind of annoyance only the nobility would have to endure."

"Is anything about me noble, Benjamin?" Scarlett scoffed , shaking her head.

"Several weeks ago, I would have said no," he said. "Now, I'm not so sure. You do surprise me. Many times, actually."

Scarlett rolled her eyes, but he pushed on.

"Really, you have," he insisted. "When Abram boarded the ship, I realized how horrible my situation would be if I was trapped there instead of here. Let's just say I wouldn't be sitting on his bed beside him, like I am now."

"Someone important to me once said to 'worry about one person at a time, and always put that person first. If that person is you, don't you worry about what anyone else is up to'. In this case, do whatever you want. Someone else can deal with it."

When Scarlett looked back at Ben, his expression had changed. She wasn't sure what she had said, but whatever it was, it put a rather stupid look on his face. Not so much shocked by anything, but more like everything in the world suddenly made sense to him.

"How did you end up here?" he said softly.

"I ask myself the same thing every day," Scarlett muttered.

She glanced up and suddenly realized how close to him she had gotten, quickly scooting away. Ben didn't move, just staring at her for a few moments. He then stood and cleared his throat, giving her a tiny salute.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, Captain," he said. "I'm sure you don't want anyone catching me in here."

Scarlett just gave him a absent minded "Mhmm" as he left, looking back forward at the mirror. Somehow, her heart felt less heavy. When was the last time she had opened up about her feelings? She'd bottled it up ever since Colton passed away. And now she was spilling her heart to a man, a prisoner of her ship, who was just too close to everyone for his own good. It sounded bad out loud, but she still didn't regret anything. She took a ribbon and pushed her hair up to pile the curls on top of her head, tying it off with the blue silk. Now when she looked in the mirror, she didn't have anything to worry about.