Spying and Gossip

Sarah stepped back as her own men converged around her, the crew already knowing what to do and not needing her to give any orders as they prepared to fight in honor of their captain and her husband. Sarah withdrew her rapier and held it in front of her while Draven stood beside her with his own body tense and ready for the upcoming fight.
“Sister, I have a need for you to keep our new sibling below deck. The fighting will only cause her unneeded pain. Please keep her company while we deal with some ruffians.”
Sarah’s voice echoes in Violet’s mind and the younger sister walks out of her room and knocks gently on Rose’s door. When the door opened and she heard Rose’s muttered curse, she smiled warmly and pitched her voice in a friendly manner.
“Hello Rose, mind if I join you?”
Rose, having just finished getting dressed to prepare for going up to the dock, muttered under her breath before stepping away from the door. “Yeah, I guess. But we can’t stay long since the call for all hands on deck has just been issued and we have to go up there to see what’s going on.”
Violet entered the room and raised her eyebrows at the various corners of the room. Nearly every inch of space was taken up by small ecosystems that appeared to be self-sustaining. Tropical rainforests grew beside barren deserts, artic wastelands were placed between the other two, the only thing missing was the animal life that was usually found in each area represented in each corner, but the fairies seemed to flit and enjoy each climate. Their laughter ringing out when they succeeded in surprising a fellow fairy by pushing them in what appeared to be a small ocean or blind-folding another and leading them into the snow.
“I came here to tell you that Sarah says our presence above deck is not needed and I thought we should spend this time to get to know each other more.”
Rose sat down and propped her feet up on the table, leaning back in her chair until she was balanced on the back two legs of the chair. “So, what do you want to know?”
“Well… I guess the more pressing question is.… How did you come to have all these different types of fairies?”
Rose shrugged and then reached up to where Rosalyn rested on the top of her head. “They followed me here.”
“I have seen how curious they are, how do you keep them in here with you instead of roaming the ship?”
“I don’t.”
“Do you ever use them to spy on others?”
“No.”
“It would be amazing if you did. Can you imagine the vast source of information you can obtain if you used them to find out what is going on with everyone on the ship?”
The chair slammed down as Rose sat up, stomping her feet onto the floor and sending several fairies scurrying for cover. A stiff wind seemed to blow all around Rose, never touching her, as she stood to her feet and bent over until she was nearly nose-to-nose with Violet. “They are my children. They will NEVER be used in that manner or any manner. Do you understand me?”
Violet swallowed hard as she nodded her head emphatically. “Of … of course Rose… I … I meant no disrespect. Only wanted to mention… the possibilities… and how… a lesser person would have no qualms about … using them for their own … advantage.”
Rose frowned as she then sat back down, the tinkling of cups seems to come from deep within Violet’s scarves as she pulls out two cups and a canteen of liquid.
“Would you like some tea Rose?”
Rose sighs roughly as she then props her feet back up on the table. Reaching down, she picks up a bag and brings out several pinches of dried and crushed leaves. “If you have the water, then I have the tea leaves. I always drink this blend as it tastes better than that cook you have serves the ship.”
Violet nods thoughtfully as she sees a violet streak of light zoom towards the door and slips between the threshold and the door paneling. The two women sit and drink their tea silently, Violet trying to come up with a topic of conversation that wouldn’t anger Rose, and Rose trying to calm herself at Violet’s previous comments. They could hear swords clanging and feet running on the deck above their heads, the loud booms of cannons and the smaller explosion of guns seem to surround everything while the smell of gunpowder tickles their noses.
Finally the sounds above deck seem to ebb to an end and Violet stands to her feet, collecting the small tea cups. “Thank you for your time Rose; it helped ease the worry and stress for my sisters.”
Rose waved her comments away, muttering under her breath, “Any time, don’t mention it.” She waited until she heard the door open and close as Violet left the room before kicking off her boots and stripping down to her underclothes. She heard some grunting from the door and recognized the sound of VeVe trying to return to the room. She smirked as she continued laying there, and when he had finally entered fully she remarked, “You know, if you didn’t eat so much and exercised more, your stomach wouldn’t give you such an issue about coming back in here. Though leaving doesn’t seem to bother you that much.”
VeVe flies over towards her, making a quick detour to hide the object he had filched from one of the enemy pirates before flying up and landing on her knee. “I got curious so I went up to the deck to see what was going on.”
Rose frowned as she snatched VeVe into the palm of her hand, holding him gently but firmly. “You did what? It was dangerous up there! Why did you go up to where you could have been hurt?”
VeVe fought against her hold as he answered her questions with a mixture of grunts and heavy sighs. “I went up there because I was curious. And no one saw me so no one could catch me. And I can’t be hurt by those who can’t see me so it was safe. Don’t you want to know what I saw?”