S: 14 Ledgers and Birthdays

The candles moved in tandem with the rocking of the calm waves as they rocked the Blazing Chariot back and forth, the dim light they gave off made for a serene and comfortable atmosphere inside the room they resided. The captain's quarters were littered with these candles giving the space an almost secluded cabin feel, the "flames" danced with the flow of the ship. Morrigan wanted to have real candles and have the same feel as her childhood room, but Artemis had to step in and get ever burning candles that would not burn the ironically named Blazing Chariot. The large canine seated comfortably at the desk embracing the free time as his master trains on the upper deck. His muzzle formed a smile as he beheld the gift she kindly gave him, upon the desk is a large leather bound book and a large bright red feather with a sharp point on the tip. His nose nuzzled the edge of the book and opened it to an empty page, then focused his attention to the fiery quill. It begins to float toward the page and starts to mark the paper.
 
"Thus begins the record of Artemis the first mate of the Blazing Chariot." Artemis chuckles with joy at the pen writing his thoughts, and at his theatric first sentence. "My dear Orri has found this sweet gift so I may write my thoughts, and more importantly have a true ledger of our finances, something my sweet master has little to no interest in." The animated quill marks the paper without ink as if to relate the poor first mate's audible sigh. "Without my instruction and guidance she would most likely throw all our finances off board in hopes it might make the ship go faster, even though it was almost her idea to make this vessel a full merchant ship. I believe she had the idea for my sake, knowing how much I would enjoy it. The profit has been quite lovely, beyond speculations in fact, the kindred spirit I have found in the Admiral concerning such profit has been an unexpected boon. She is a marked improvement compared to that awful Captain Radish....that bastard. I know the family we have acquired here in the Merian islands see my sweet Orri as some simpleton. It is difficult to say she is, she has concrete loves and down to earth desires, but I believe that experience on that terrible ship sticks with her sometimes. These quirky people have made it easy for her to forget, the admiral showing her a leader can be kind and conscientious. When we first met, I could smell it on her...well it took some constitution to get past the aroma of the ship and it's occupants, but Captain Squeenifer had an aura that seemed to be good for Momm...Morrigan."
 
The large canine perused his progress as Orri entered the room holding a fresh brand new book, holding it close to her chest as she approached Artemis. Her hand reached out gently rubbing her sweet dog's ear and kissing him affectionatly between the eyes, "Hello, I'm just going to read my gift from Alceaus, I won't disturb you." She took a quick look at the desk, "Aww I'm so happy you like my gift." She kissed him again and hugged him tightly, then hopped onto her bed and started reading.
 
The scratch of quill on paper continued as the atmosphere of the cabin turned to a sweet feeling of home, "Yes, Momma does seem to be much happier with these people. I have come to see that they are all very good for her. Especially Lady Zephyria, she is quite clever and seems to be teaching Orri how the world actually works...well how Meria works more like, in her own little way. I do hope it truly begins to stick in her mind, as much as I have tried to do through the years to help and prepare momma for the world, this new family might be just the thing." The quill slows down and Artemis turns his head toward his long time companion, who is terribly engrossed in the book she is reading. Artemis grabs an old piece of charcoal on the desk with his tail and flings it toward her. In the blink of an eye Morrigan catches it centimeters from her eye between her middle and pointing finger. It rests there for half a second and suddenly imbeds itself in the wall in front of Artemis, "Love you too puppy...her heart raced as his eyes demanded hers to keep contact..." She swooned at the book not looking at Artemis.
 
Artemis smirked with his long muzzle and turned back to his journal, "Her body will be safe at least, and with me so will her drachma! Her body...yes I think her innocents will be safe, surprisingly. Just a few weeks ago she honoured me by acquiring a ticket to these symposium things. It seemed Calliope's noble upbringing lead her to getting quite a few tickets and Orri thought to bring me as her plus one. She just wanted me there to have someone to understand her and how boring she believed it was going to be. Once she heard it was happening, she immediately declared she had no interest but was more than happy to make the crew some nice clothing." Artemis chuckled a little as she was nearly badgered into going as Calliope handed her the tickets and said Orri was going. "Surprisingly the event was a magnificent opportunity to network and find new buyers! Even dear Orri was enjoying herself with the crew, considering we got stuck in the room with Lord Kester himself. I was also amazed that Orri was not affected in the least by his magical presence and spoke easily to him, then again she may have just not cared in the least. The officers all watched over her through the night, it was quite heart warming to see how much they do care for her. I hope they also know how much this unique wonderful woman is. At least the Admiral and Zephyria do, my companion's naive ideal of romance and "saving herself" for the right one are understood by those two. The admiral spoke outwardly about it at the symposium, and Zephyria agreed. The enormous one, however, did not...her lack of understanding of actual love leads her to the idea of throwing momma's innocents at every male within a thousand league radius. Thank my "grandparents" that the others are willing to fight for Orri on this regard. It really makes me happy that we found these people, they have grown on me. They also seem to make her a little smarter?....think more logically?.....umm at least help her think mildly twice about certain things." The quill stops and slowly lands next to the journal, Artemis uses his nose to close the book and jumps off the chair. Orri sat upon the bed engrossed in the tale of romance and intrigue in the "Safe Harbor", she felt a sudden bounce as Artemis crawled on the bed and positioned himself lengthways against his momma. He nuzzled with his entire body and made himself comfortable against her, Orri held her book with one hand and began to scratch his back, "Hey buddy, done with your journal?" Her smile could light up the room as she put the book down and wrapped an arm around him and the two fell asleep. A small rumble upstairs of restless footsteps as they waited for their captain, Francois stood beside Sir Lionel, "So are we supposed to keep waiting? She went down to get some training equipment and told us to wait here right?" They gave each other a look and sighed, "Ve shall give it ze one more minute..." Francois said to Lionel as their shoulders slumped.
 
 
The light of the morning shone through the small window of the captain's quarters, the scratch of the quill being drowned out by the morning activities on deck and the docks, "..plus 1,000 drachma for incidentals for last month, plus materials sold to Amarabi." A few lines of purchases and sales for the last few weeks, along the margins are a few scratched out notes here and there, "..Prepared funds for Captain's impulses and mistakes, increase dollar amount as the season progresses." Artemis toils over the Blazing Chariot's finances and is abruptly interrupted by an excited Morrigan, "ARTEMIS!!" A large blot of ink pools on the page as Orri slams the door open with a flash, "What a great idea sweety! They said it was your idea! Is it for Anaxa's birthday?" Morrigan stood in the door frame awaiting an answer. Artemis recomposed himself with numbers swimming around his brain, "Woof growl(Umm yes of course)" He purred noncommittally. She smiled and ran back up to the deck to the huddled crew, who turned with surprise as their captain swiftly appeared before them, "Wonderful! I am so proud and impressed that you guys are improving!" Orri walked the deck admiring her crews work, "Now we still can work on light and shadow! WE CAN HAVE PAINTING NIGHTS!!" She jumped with excitement, her recent days have been lacking in drawing and painting, "Might I be the one who surprises her with it all?!" She looked to her crew like a child asking to stay up just that one more hour before bed. They all looked on her with confusion and then affection, as chaotic as she was, it seemed her simple heart was always in the right place. They all nodded in unison at her, within a blink of their eyes she was gone.
 
Upon the Serpent's Scale Anaxa walked the decks giggling to herself at a certain art project, her stride interrupted by her victim. A gust of wind sailed past her as Orri appeared before the large Hoplite. Anaxa expected a swift retaliation and nearly took a stance when she noticed the ridiculous smile on Orri's face, "Um hello Orri?" She said with caution, "HI ANAXA!" Orri produces a fine strip of fabric, "I have a surprise for you!" Morrigan stood their waiting for an answer with that large grin on her face, not an ounce of malice or trickery. Anaxa stood confused for a moment, but relented for the simple fact that it might be entertaining, "Fine big sis, show me this surprise." With reluctance Anaxa let the naive saytr to blindfold the hoplite and guide her to the Blazing Chariot, "Apparently it was Artemis' idea, I think you're going to love it.." Morrigan continued to ramble as she lead Anaxa onto the deck, where she jumped onto a crate and removed the blindfold with a flashy movement, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM THE BLAZING CHARIOT!" Morrigan stood there arms stretched out looking to Anaxa for a reaction. The massive display of graffiti filled Anaxa's eyes and she couldn't hold anything back and fell to the deck hard in a fit of loud laughter."..huh?" Orri looked down at her friend, "It's haha great hahah I LOVE IT HAHAHAHAHA!" The hoplite could barely get the words out as her laughter resounded into the air above them. Leaving Morrigan scratching her head.