52. Paperwork on the high seas

Written (in druidic as per normal): Papers filed. Finished hand off. Cargo switched and some returned.
 
She closed her journal and leaned back in the chair. Closing her eyes she thought back to scene that caused the above entry:
 
 
 
Scarlet looked out over the ocean horizon. They were so far out that she couldn't see the land or traces of land anymore. They were roughly a day and a half away from shore, far into international waters. The boat she was on was tethered to another boat, belonging to the subsidiary of hers. The sailors were milling about. as per the letter. Scarlet looked at the gangplank and was acutely aware of the swaying of the boat. She looked over at the captain and he took her hand and moved her to the gangplank and handed her off to one of the sailors who secured her and brought her aboard. Moving with them she made her way to the captains quarters. She spotted her Aunt and saw Sniffles who moved from the shadows to nod and then melted back. Scarlet looked about and saw the captain, tied to the chair.
 
"Ah, I assume he's the culprit?"
 
The sailor behind her said, "We haven't been paid!"
 
Clicking her tongue she sighed as she addressed the captain, "So you were also syphoning their pay as well?" Her Aunt plopped a folder in front of Scarlet and she recognized the handwriting. Specifically she noticed the multitudes of handwritings. She knew that if given enough time, Sniffles would pick up hand writings and would unconsciously write as them. She could see some of her writing ticks, certain punctuation had a certain 'pause' in it. Periods held a little too long and the ink blotted in a subtle way. Taking her time to read over it she didn't notice the captain get free or rush at her. She did recognize the movement but stayed still as she continued to read. It was like a play really. She was expected to act a certain way and to her credit she did play her part well. It didn't hurt that the handwriting with the juicy bits were written in some odd chicken scratch and it was taking all of her noodle power to figure out what the hell her Mother wrote.
 
She heard her growl at the captain when a fleshy thump ringed through the room. One of the sailors stood at an angle at her and looked her in the eye to which she answered, "They had it in hand. I don't need to move." They then look at her mentor and Aunt and nodded, taking a step back. She continued to read. Once done she brought out a folder and sighed, pulling out more papers. "Has anyone taken a survey at what my employees have been paid yet?" The sailor tried throwing out a number but her Aunt handed her a stack of receipts and signatures. She went through the numbers and lined everyone up. As she got their pay sorted and some of the cargo moved her family members went through the cargo. Several things were flagged. What things? She had no idea. But this ship would be turned around and would be heading back towards her countries port.
 
Another ship sailed and docked on the other side of this boat. She looked over at the person near the helm, not the captain but if she had to hazarded a guess, she was related to them. She gave them a friendly smile and nod but they ignored her and went straight to her mentor's side...who said something sharply, from the reaction of those standing around her. Mother then pointed at her directly. The young lad ducked his head and made his way over.
 
"I need you to do this," she handed him a piece of paper. He opened his mouth but saw her Aunt in the corner of his eye and her frown made him shut his mouth. As he moved away he purposely bumped into her shoulder, knocking her over. Her papers spilled and he smirked until Sniffles held him by his throat in the air. Scarlet knew then to make eye contact with either of them. He was dragged off and 'spoken to'. He did eventually do the job, and was much meeker when even her Aunt smacked the back of his head.
 
As the merchandise was getting moved about (and some dumped overboard) she watched some of the sailors bound in chains. The young man, a cousin she assumed, walked towards her with a menacing scowl on his face. She was sure no one was looking at either of them and she was sure he was going to push her into the water. This didn't bother her, but she wasn't sure if he was armed. His eyes went wide when something went sailing past his nose. Scarlet took a quick peek at Sniffles and she motioned 'I'm watching you' to him. He stopped short of her, unsure of what to do.
 
"Do you know why you're here? Why Kaðlín and Brana came out themselves?" He looked at her and as he was opening his mouth she pointed at the ship, a gaggle of young woman, emaciated, bound, and injured were brought out to the light. "Your fucking father not only lost family lands due to his incompetence but he also dealt with trafficking. The reason why your family lost so much money wasn't because someone stole it. Farkas your father was being blackmailed due to his 'business' getting found out. He's been paying shush money. Bribe money. Your dad's failed" Farkas swung at her and she shifted into an elk but a knife embedded itself into his arm. She also swung her horns at him but missed and got punched instead.
 
Brana in her elemental form had him in her arms and then inside her. The water swallowed him and when he stopped struggling she dropped him. Elk-Scarlet stomped her hoof and he threw up all the water he swallowed. She dropped out of her form and waved back the sailors. Her Aunts arms were on his shoulder. Leaning in she whispered, "You're dad's a failure. You're rage is misplaced. The reason why you're so debit bound is due to him. And this," she points to the ship in the middle with the poor women, "Is how you either fix his mess and redeem the rest of your family or if you continue to fail this will be the reason why everything will be stripped from you. Mark my word, everything he has done will come to light. That light will also cast as shadow on you. I'm the one that brought you here to Fix. His. Mistake. But so help me, if you swing at me again I will bury you and will see you thrown on your ass myself."
 
"You can't do shit! You're nothing!" he yelled at her.
 
Brana didn't move, her arms on his shoulder kept him still. Kaðlín during this exchange had made her way over to their side, "Oh, that's where you're wrong. You realize that the reason why the harbor got rebuilt is because of her? With money she raised herself. The reason why the businesses in the county your Father was administrating over had a renaissance are due to her. She's the one pulling the strings and has over 3/4 of the council's approval."
 
Scarlet looked surprised and blurted out, "Already? I didn't think my movement were detected yet."
 
He looked at her and scoffed muttering something about her being a useless woman, but Kaðlín chided him, "We let them know. The others know how you've helped the family and since you've bought the debit bond we were all under and placed those that harmed us under debit bond themselves... well I'm certain when your exploits come to light the rest will fall rank and file under you." She bowed but Scarlet felt it was sarcastic and didn't know how to feel.
 
That comment made her frown. And dawning realization expressed in his eyes. Scarlet sighed and muttered, "I was hoping I'd have another year. Thank you for letting me know. I'll move some things up on the docket."
 
Farkas looked up between the two and asked, "Who are you?"
 
Scarlet looked down at him but didn't answer. Sniffles answered instead, "My kid. She's my kid. And before you ask, she is of the blood and as you can see, has the markers."
 
Farkas snorted and tried to get out of the hold but was unsuccessful and stopped when he realized that Brana was about to entomb him again. "Blood isn't important."
 
Scarlet looked down at him and told him, "Magic is important. You need magic to get the family heirloom to attune to you. If you can't get it to attune you can't unlock, if you can't unlock you won't be supported." She pulled out the heirloom and handed it off to Sniffles.
 
Looked at her daughter she asked, "What's the progress?"
 
"I can turn myself into a bird now," she answered.
 
Kaðlín muttered, "Not bad. Progress is steady."
 
Brana muttered in Primordial, "It's too bad your education was stunted, you'd be well on your way by now."
 
Scarlet looked over at Sniffles who was half listening but was making hand motions at the crew who was moving along in the background. Anyone who looked like they were lottering to overhear they were shot a withering glare and quickly went on their way. Nodding to Brana she answered, "I'm sorry. I am trying."
 
Kaðlín smacked Brana but her hand went through the watery arm. In Druidic she comforted Scarlet, "It's okay Sc-Starlight. You're progress is really fast. Don't take Brana's words to heart." Scarlet nodded and turned back to the task at hand.
 
The captain and some of the crew was taken in. They would be returned home and tried. Healers looked over the women and they were split and rearranged among the three ships. A new captain and crew was assigned and Scarlet had finished figuring out how the pay was skewed. She had written up a formal draft so when they got back to their home country the men would be paid. The rest heading to Novandria would get paid and were told to make their way to the temple and she'd see them one at a time to get the pay sorted. Many were upset but they did agree.
 
Once back on shore there was no issue with the cargo, tariffs were paid and she marched the men to her office. Many had to stay in the common area and were ushed back towards her office as she checked them in. After their pay was done a few expressed wanting to sign back up with her. She referred them to the new captain. All of them signed back on and as soon as she ship was loaded they were back on the high seas.
 
 
Opening her eyes she staired at the ceiling and sighed. Stumbling out of her office she locked it behind, it was rote at this point. After checking and testing to ensure everything was closed she dropped to see her liaison and let him know that she won't be in the office for the next few days so he can route mail to her home. She also made them aware that she's not expecting any meetings so they'd know who to filter and how to handle if someone dropped by for an impromptu to visit.
 
She was bundled off into one of the temple's carriages and dropped off at home where she promptly fell asleep. Only to wake up later with a heavy weight on her chest as she found 2-3 imps 'piled' on her.