Silver Spirits

"Percy, do you think I'm too careless?"

Scarlett leaned against the railing of the ship, watching the gray clouds forming in the sky as she slowly sharpened her dagger and shined the jewel encrusted hilt. She'd won that beauty off a slave trader in a tavern, who had bet Scarlett was too physically small to succeed in a fight against a man. He swallowed his words that night. And a rusty knife. Percy watched as she sharpened the blade, glancing from the clouds to the concerned crew as they prepared for the worst. The wind was growing stronger every minute.

"I think... things always go your way, whether you plan it or not," he told her.

"I think so too," she nodded. "Do you think I'm wasting my time with this map and the God-awful people that came with it?"

"Yes, I do, ma'am," Percy admitted. "But when we get to the end, it won't matter. We'll have all the time in the world to waste."

Scarlett laughed softly, which was rare of her. A genuine laugh, at least. She was a different, somewhat more approachable person when she laughed and smiled genuinely. Perhaps that was why she didn't do it. It made her far too human.

"This is why I always liked you and your brother the most," she said. "You both tell it to me straight. No sugarcoating, and no heavy attempts at getting on my good side, because you know that no one is ever on that side. Colton was always the same. You grow more like him every day."

"And you're well aware of how his life went to hell," Percy said, looking her directly in the eye.

Scarlett opened her mouth to respond, but quickly snapped it shut again, just glaring at him. For a moment, it felt for both of them that maybe they could have been friends. However, Scarlett should have known better than to expect Percy would ever let go of what had happened three years prior, and Percy should have known better than to expect Scarlett would ever soften in the slightest. Maybe they tolerated each other, perhaps even enjoyed each other's company over a drink and a laugh, but they would never be friends. She turned away and tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear.

"Just go make sure that no one accidentally gets thrown overboard," she mumbled, dismissing Percy.

Percy lingered for a moment, but left to help the crew for the storm that was surely coming. And it did. Less than a half hour later, The Silver Spirit was being thrown around by winds and rain like a toy in the hands of a child. Every now and then a wave would splash over the deck, pulling two crew members away with it. Scarlett stayed up with her crew rather than hide in the safety of her personal quarters, using all of her little weight to make sure the wheel remained steady. Her hair stuck plastered to her face from the rain that soaked her clothing and boots, making things even more difficult than they already were.

"Tie down the heavy objects!" she yelled over the wind.

Some of her crew nodded in understanding and ran off to do as she had ordered. Percy stumbled down the stairs and tried to organize the crew below the deck, passing on the order to tie down the cannons and barrels with their supplies in it. He heard a voice call out and turned to see the navy officers in the brig trying to get his attention, holding on tight to the cells so they wouldn't get knocked around.

"We can help, you know," Ben told him, holding on to a bar so he wouldn't get thrown into the wall as the ship rocked. "Believe it or not, we're formally trained for situations like this!"

"You must think I'm stupid to let you free," Percy argued.

"We'd be stupid not to fight for our lives in this damn storm!" another officer added.

His head snapped over to the girl's cell, who didn't look like she was doing so well at the moment, and his eyes widened. He suddenly lunged over and reached through the bar to grab her wrist, roughly yanking her towards him. Her shoulder and face hit the bars, making her squeal in pain softly, but just moments later the wooden planks of the deck above her head caved in, right where it would have crushed her had she not been pulled aside. Everyone went into silent shock for a moment as they tried to process what had happened, but Percy didn't linger. He grabbed the keys off the hook and unlocked her cell, pulling her out and shoving her into Ben's cell. It was a little cramped for two people, but at least the roof wasn't caving in. Besides, Percy knew that Ben wouldn't try to assault or eat his sister.

"Not another peep out of you lot," Percy grumbled, locking the cells before going back up on deck.

He walked into madness. While he'd been down there, Scarlett had taken control up on deck. With everything secured, everyone was now desperately trying to secure themselves. About half the crew was unlucky. They finally made it out of the storm to safe waters after an hour, which cost far more than any of them had imagined. Scarlett sat on the deck wrapped in a blanket with her eyes closed as Percy told her what had happened, the burly man himself looking shaken up.

"The ship is floating, but I'm not sure how much longer she can last if we don't fix it soon," he told her, while the rest of the crew listened. "Anything that wasn't powered by man is down with no hope of coming back. We've lost a good quarter of our arms and cannons. And... well... we've also lost two-thirds of the crew."

It was this that made Scarlett's head snap up, eyes shooting open with concern.

"Two thirds?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Mr. Kent?"

"Overboard."

"Meyer?"

"Missing."

"Toad-boy?"

"Gone."

"That man with the hideous gap between his teeth?"

"I made it, cap'n!" a voice yelled excitedly as the gap-toothed man jumped up.

"Of course he survived...," Scarlett groaned, shaking her head.

She sighed and stood up, removing the blanket and handing it to the person nearest her before turning to Percy again.

"Your suggestion?" she asked.

"We need to go to port," he told her firmly. "You're not going to survive longer than three days out there without repairs to the ship and replacements within your crew. I can promise you that."

"Fine," she said reluctantly. "How far to the Ghost Cay?"

"We should make it there," Percy nodded.

"Set sail for the Cay then," Scarlett said, walking back to her quarters. "If we need men and supplies, so be it."

"Yes, ma'am," Percy said.

Halfway over, Scarlett stopped in her tracks and looked back at what remained of her crew. How the lot of them stayed loyal to her for so long? She would never understand. Perhaps it was the promise of something wonderful in the end. Perhaps they would rather be on her side than as her enemy.

"It'll all be worth it in the end," she promised them simply, before shrugging lightly and disappearing in her room, where she quietly remained for the two days it took to get to the port.