Silver Spirits

"How're you feeling?"

Percy sat on the railing of the ship and watched as Scarlett paced slightly, the color just beginning to return to her cheeks. She stopped at looked at him, shaking her head lightly.

"Me? How are you feeling?" she said, stepping over to push Percy's shaggy black hair back to show the bruise on the side of his head from getting whacked with an oar.

He swatted her hand away and ran his fingers through his hair to cover the bruise up again, like he was embarrassed that he was even hit in the first place. Scarlett stepped back and raised an eyebrow at him, rarely seeing him like this. She had noticed that behavior had changed in the last week. In a way, he acted a bit more like a quiet little boy than anything. At times, Scarlett forgot how young he was, despite his massive size. Other than the girl in the brig, he had to be the youngest one on the ship. Few other than Scarlett knew that, though. She was one of the few people who saw him before he grew into his hulking form, when he rarely did anything other than swab the deck and followed his older brother around like a puppy, just before Scarlett became captain. They were one of the few crew members she didn't get rid of when she gained control.

"I'll be alright," Percy shrugged. "It's not the first time I've eaten aether and been hit in the same ten minutes."

"It's not?"

"No," he smirked, shaking his head. "My father had a habit of leaving his weapons out when his children were around. I was seven years old and inspecting his pistol, and I tried tasting it. I accidentally fired it. Luckily, no one was hit, but that didn't stop the beating my father gave me that night. My mother thought the illness came from the beating. Have you ever been hit with the buckle end of a belt?"

"My father never hit me," Scarlett said. "I was always an angel."

"Somehow, I doubt that."

"At least, I never got caught," Scarlett admitted. "That's what matters in the end, you see."

"Well, I got enough black eyes for the both of us," Percy said, wrinkling his nose. "Almost died once or twice, but I suppose I can understand what my father may have been thinking."

Scarlett just shrugged, so Percy pushed on a little further.

"If a child isn't punished for causing trouble, they'll think they can get away with doing it again," he told her.

"What are you trying to say?" Scarlett sighed.

"Nothing. I'm just wondering if you're going to let them get off that easily," Percy shrugged, sliding off the railing and giving her a half smile before leaving.

Scarlett thought a few moments, then realized he was right. Just because Ben had her map didn't mean he was anywhere near equal to her, let alone above her. And she wasn't going to let him think that, either. Scarlett had done a lot of things to become one of the most feared names on the sea, and if one man thought he could play mind games, who was to say others won't too? He already had that second in command of his following him around and causing trouble.

The next morning, Scarlett was up before the sun. She didn't bother being quiet as she made her way down to the brig, waking up both crew and prisoners on the way. Percy was sitting against the wall snoring, so Scarlett gave him a good shove to wake him up, too.

"What...? What did I do?" he grumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"You gave me the idea," Scarlett smirked, turning her attention to the groggy looking people in the cells. "Rise and shine."

Ben lifted his head in surprise, careful not to move too much to wake his sister up, who was sound asleep with her head on his shoulder. When Scarlett gave him a look, he gently tapped the girl to wake her up too.

"Trouble with the coordinates, captain?" he asked.

"Oh, heavens no. We'll be alright for a little while," Scarlett told him as her crew began to gather around to see what was happening. "What, you thought this was an inn you could sleep in all day?"

"To be fair, captain, you haven't given us much else to do," Ben pointed out, only to receive a glare from Scarlett.

"Do you have an answer for everything?" she grumbled, unlocking the cell.

At that point, Ben knew the drill. He got up to his feet and brushed the dirt off himself before exiting the cell slowly, but to his surprise, Scarlett wasn't done. She looked to the girl, nodding to a spot next to Ben.

"You too, pigeon," she said.

"Emily doesn't have the same skills to offer as the rest of us," Ben said quickly, as Emily slipped behind him, putting a bit of space between her and the captain.

"What you three will be doing won't require skill," Scarlett informed him. "She's been doing little to nothing. I won't have anyone slacking off on this ship. Not even you rats."

"Three?" Ben frowned.

Scarlett smirked, looking over at Simon, who seemed like he was being quiet in hopes that Scarlett would forget he was Ben's main accomplice. She didn't need to say anything to get him back up on his feet, standing on the other side of Emily. The rest of the crew was handed buckets and brushes, so they'd have to get on their hands and knees to scrub the deck. It didn't need much scrubbing, and there were definitely easier ways to clean, but Scarlett wasn't exactly looking for convenience. She had the other three follow her up, turning her attention to the girl first.

"You're the smallest one," she said, looking the girl over. "There's some wiring that needs to be fixed, and Leon is too big to fit in those small spaces. He'll tell you what to do, and you will do it."

The girl looked from Scarlett to the impatient man called Leon, but Ben was the one to speak for her.

"Captain Rose, if I may, she's not even dressed for such work," he said. "She could get hurt, which means you'll have more problems on your hands."

Scarlett gave Ben a look, then stepped towards the girl, looking her over. Before anyone could say anything, Scarlett ripped a portion of the hem off Emily's skirt, so it came just above her ankles, then lifted up one side of the skirt and used the ripped hem to tie that side to her waist. It left Emily with a good bit of leg showing, which Ben didn't seem too ecstatic about, but she was able to move with little to no restriction. Scarlett then turned Emily around and loosened the laces in the back of her dress, so it wasn't so clinched around the waist and she'd be able to breathe easy. Last, Scarlett pulled the ribbon out of the girl's strawberry blonde hair and quickly braided it over her shoulder, tying it off. By no means did the girl look like a proper lady, but her hair was out of her face and her arms and legs were free to move. Ben noticed a slight similarity in what Scarlett and Emily were wearing, though Scarlett was certainly much cleaner and significantly less shy when it came to how much leg and chest was showing. Emily seemed slightly relieved herself with her new mobility. Scarlett turned on her heel to poke Ben hard in the chest, leaning in and lowering her voice.

"Don't ever assume that any woman or girl is too dainty to do something," she said. "She can take as much heavy labor as you can. Maybe even more. Understood?"

"I never-"

"Understood?"

Ben glanced over her shoulder at Emily, who gave him a reassuring nod. He then turned back to Scarlett, realizing that the topic seemed to hit home a bit for her. She really did have to do a lot to get where she was.

"Understood," he said quietly.

Scarlett turned again and gestured for him and Simon to follow her, leaving Emily to work with Leon. Next, she went down to Cook, who had been unbelievably angry since the poisoning. Both Ben and Simon seemed a little bit uncomfortable going back there, but didn't say anything. Cook's eyes widened as soon as she saw them, not hesitating to scream her head off about them and how she didn't abide by liars. Both men ducked as a metal spoon was thrown at their heads, just barely missing, followed by a wooden rolling pin that got dangerously close to Ben's eye. Even he couldn't talk his way out of this one, mostly because Cook didn't give them a chance to open their mouths.

"Tully, you'll be working with Cook today," Scarlett said casually, smiling at him. "I'm sure you can handle peeling a few potatoes."

Simon seemed to go a little pale as he dodged another spoon, this time catching it out of the air and holding it in front of him like some sort of shield.

"Peelin' potatoes?" Cook growled, glaring at him. "He'll be lucky to get anywhere near my food! No, I have other plans for you!"

On that note, she grabbed Simon by the wrist and yanked him into the kitchen as Scarlett led Ben out of the room, just the sound of yelling coming from the galley now. Ben quietly followed Scarlett back up to the top deck, where he found that Scarlett had put a little extra thought into how she intended on making his day unpleasant. Nosebleed was waiting there with his wide, gap-toothed grin and a broom in each hand.

"We're chasing rats off the ship today!" he exclaimed.

Ben looked like he was trying very hard to smile as he took the broom, glancing over at Scarlett.

"Rats are getting into our supplies," she explained. "I'd rather drown them, but Nosebleed likes to keep them as pets. I tell him it's alright, as long as they're in a cage and out of my sight."

Ben looked from her to Nosebleed, who nodded excitedly.

"Of course," he said slowly, smiling to Scarlett. "It would be my pleasure to help him unite with his rodent friends."

Scarlett's smile fell upon seeing Ben's apparent enthusiasm, though she knew it wasn't real. That didn't matter, though. What mattered was that Ben knew how to get on Scarlett's nerves, and he wasn't going to let her break him. She plastered her smile back on, stepping up and lowering her voice to a whisper, pulling him down by the collar of his shirt to her eye level.

"Smile while you still can, Griffith," she said. "I can make you suffer in ways you didn't know you could."

She then kissed Ben on the cheek and let him go, gesturing for Nosebleed to get started on the chase. The man didn't hesitate to pull Ben away, leaving Scarlett feeling incredibly satisfied with herself as she looked around and watched her crew get some serious work out of those prisoners. And Scarlett stood above them all. As it should have been.