Breaking in New Habits

Focus – The Serkets

Mindfang enjoys the company of her descendants and starts training.

"Now make an Anchor's Bend."

Vriska examined the heavy rope and gave a sharp nod, "I can do this." Her small hands fumbled with the thick line while her ancestor examined her surroundings.

Mindfang had been on the sea long enough to know that anything could happen, especially when she was travelling on a boat as small as this. Her main ship had been stored away for a suspended amount of time considering the chaos she had caused not several perigees ago. She bided her time by making 'nice' with her descendants, showing Vriska and Aranea how to properly run a ship and the basics they should know about before shoving off. They would need a plan, a compass, they would need to be able to read the stars and use their crew to the best of their abilities. She decided this would be a small outing, no other trolls, just the three ceruleanbloods, the freshly fallen moon and the entire ocean to explore. (Or in her case, re-explore.) The ship she was standing on currently could easily hold five adult trolls, whereas it now seemed empty with only the three.

She narrowed her eyes and grasped the railing, leaning over the side to peer around the cabin and at the deck. "Aranea?" Her oldest descendant wasn't outside, which meant she was probably stored inside and busied herself with reading everything she could get her hands on. Aranea wasn't like Vriska, her mind was like a sponge, soaking up knowledge and holding onto it in case anyone needed to know the information. Vriska, on the other hand, was just as eager to learn, but only about things pertaining to her current situations and would refuse to listen to anything else. Little Vriska reminded Mindfang of herself when she was younger.

"Is this it, Mindfang?" She blinked at the rope being offered, the tires were a bit too loose and the ends were slightly off from one another. "Looks great. Now untie it and work on the Flutterbeast Knot." She ruffled the hair between the asymmetrical horns and left her side, heading toward the bow. In her opinion, neither of her descendants were old enough to fully comprehend the importance of instantaneous obedience if they were on her ship. When Mindfang said jump there had better be trolls already jumping. With her psychic powers honed to its best, if there weren't trolls hopping she would make them jump—jump right off the side of the ship. She had zero tolerance with any sort of rebellion, even if her violent reactions were ironic when she herself was a one-troll rebellion army.

On the bow, she glanced through the small window and found her oldest descendant sitting in her captains' chair. She gave the window eight musical taps and received a baffled look. "Get out here, Aranea." Mindfang left before she could see her hop down from the chair but knew she would do as told. "Vriska, are you done with that knot?"

"Um…" was her answer. Mindfang saw the knot hopelessly tangled together in a wad and snorted, "I messed up somewhere."

"Really?" She stretched out the word and placed her hands on her hips, arching a brow, "I wasn't able to tell." She nabbed the piece from between the tiny hands and quickly unfurled the rope, "Do it again." She flicked her ear as Aranea approached and handed Vriska the rope before confronting her, "What were you doing in there?"

"Memorizing your maps and charts. I was trying to guess where we were headed." Aranea noticed the unconvinced look and continued. "I've been able to recall four so far." She smirked and rocked back on her heels, glasses sliding down her face to the bridge of her nose. She giggled. "They're made very nicely. Your penmanship is neat and though the edges are a bit frayed it doesn't take away to any of the information. I was surprised because I would've thought—"

"You've been in there, what, twenty minutes, and you've got four of my maps in your thinkpan? Hah! I'll be testing you on that, kid."

"Mindfang?" Vriska grasped the hem of her ancestors cloak and gave it a sharp tug, "I did it this time."

The sea captain held the knot in expert hands and nodded, "Good." An idea popped into her mind and she grinned triumphantly at Aranea, "Let's test you now, actually. I'm going to show you both the Figure Eight knot. I'm only going to show it to you once—Vriska take a step back Aranea won't be able to see if your head is in the way. Honestly. Back it up. Thank you. Now, watch closely." Mindfang's eyes switched from her work to their curious faces, they both looked so similar and yet, their eyes proved their difference. Little Vriska's black eyes were fully dialated, basking and soaking in Mindfang's each and every word and action. She was eager to please and act as the captain she wanted to grow into, her eyes full of innocent wonder and imagination. Aranea, probably because she was older and more mature, watched with curiosity from the need to know more. She was focused, eyes catching the smaller details such as the way her fingers and hands were positioned and not just the twists and pulls her ancestor made. "This is what it should look like when it's done." She allowed the two to stare at the knot for another eight seconds and swiftly untied it, handing it to Aranea. "Now do what I just did."

The girl stared at the limp rope and ran her fingers over the course felt, pursing her lips. Slowly, she began to fold the knot over, stringing it through the loops she had made and copying the steps again, the uneasy look in her eyes growing to excitement when she held up her finished work with pride. "I did it!"

Mindfang hid her grin, "Yup, now untie it and give it to Vriska, she's going to spend days trying to get it to look like that."

"No!" she scowled, "I'll do it perfectly, just like Aranea did." Which proved to go just as Mindfang thought when the first three loops ended in the young girl knotting the rope prematurely. "What! I—but!"

Aranea smiled and crouched slightly to match Vriska's height, "Can I help you?" With a grumble and a nod Vriska allowed her to help.

Mindfang watched the two with dormant interest. She never thought of raising grubs, if someone had suggested it to her last sweep she would've laughed. She wasn't a mammal. Caring for the younger ones wasn't in her blood. She pursed her cerulean lips and turned her attention to the ocean, forcing away the negative thoughts of her actions. She would teach these wrigglers what it meant to be a sea captain. She was Marquise Spinneret Mindfang! Pirate leader of the deadly Gamblignats! Bringing up two smaller trolls would be no small feat, but it wasn't like it was impossible! "I'll be great at this." She muttered as her eyes set on an approaching ship. "Hey, girls, would you like to see how a real pirate handles threats on the sea?"

"Yes!" came an eager squeak from Vriska. She dropped the rope and ran to the side of the ship, the broad smile on her face showing off her small, growing teeth. "What are you going to do with them?"

Aranea came to a stop at Mindfang's flank and hummed, "They're coming on us pretty fast. The ship is larger than ours, even."

The older troll waved her hand, "Don't underestimate me. I've got this under control. Vriska, bring me my telescope." The tiny troll let out another shriek and ran into the cabin. "I wasn't expecting visitors, so they probably won't make it out of here alive. We'll only have a problem if there are bluebloods or higher—thank you Vriska."

Mindfang gazed through the scope at the small ship, counting four midblooded trolls on deck, facing her position. She handed the scope the Vriska and watched her try to find them, a toothy smile never leaving her face. "Do you see that little greenblood?" she questioned. Vriska scowled and steadied her hands, then nodded fervently. "Try and use your powers on her, see if it works. It's all right if it doesn't. You're still young."

Aranea provided small talk until the ship arrived. Her oldest descendant had called it, the ship was slightly larger than theirs and apparently more trolls were hiding under the decks seeing as there were two more. The six rival trolls wore vile grins on their faces, mostly ranging from yellow to cerulean, she could handle this. She glanced at Vriska with a lazy look in her eyes, "Anything?"

Vriska was scowling, lips pulled tightly together, eyes crinkled at the edges. She shook her head and placed two fingers at her thinkpan, "I'm trying…"

She laughed at how silly the little troll looked and turned back to the six, "So what brings you out here?"

"Spinneret Mindfang you have a bounty on your head so large I'm guessing Her Imperial Condesce is paying it herself. It would be nice to be rich." One of the ceruleanbloods stepped forward, broken teeth glimmering in the moonlight. "Give yourself up or we'll just have to take your corpse in."

"Hey, she has wrigglers with her." One remarked quietly.

Mindfang glanced at Aranea and Vriska, "So I do! What of it?"

"Why do you have them?"

"Can't you tell? They're my descendants!"

"By the Condesce there are more of you?" the cerulean chuckled and placed himself on the ships ledge, "Maybe we'll get paid double for more of you?"

"Only double?" one of the crew piped up.

"One's about four sweeps old and the other looks two. I highly doubt we'd get more than that."

Mindfang grinned, showing off every tooth in her mouth. "Or maybe you won't get any?" Her mind surged into theirs, her dominance overlapping their lesser. Her manipulation became absolute when she felt what little struggle they fought with dissipate into nothing and five trolls slumped, eyes rolling back into their heads, their bodies now under her command. "I've got the others, do you have the greenblood?"

Vriska grunted and shook her head, "She's fighting me!"

The remaining troll dropped her weapon and ran below deck, Mindfang scoffed, "Come on Aranea, Vriska, stay here and guard the ship. We'll get her." She balanced herself on the edge of her boat and leapt to the higher railing, twisting around to catch Aranea when she surged forward after her. "Good girl." She praised softly, pushing Aranea in the direction of the wheel. "Go and see if they have anything important. I'll be down here." She smiled and shouted an additional, "Because Vriska doesn't know what she's doing!" so she would be able to hear.

"It's not my fault!" snapped a smaller voice.

Mindfang grinned and jogged down the stairs, catching several smaller traps that would've been set off by anyone other than herself. She was glad she sent Aranea forward instead of below decks; she would have to teach them about traps later. "Sweetie?" she called mockingly, holding her cutlass out before her as she headed deeper into the bowels of the ship. "Where are you? Don't you want to join your friends?" a small whine caught her ears and she rounded the corner in two steps, cutting her blade through the air and hearing it slice through something solid. She stared at her work, the greenblood had been cowering in the floor and had she had actually been standing she would've only suffered a chest wound. Because of her cowardice her throat had been cut and she proceeded to bleed out on the floor, clutching her neck desperately as green life poured from the gash.

Mindfang simply left after that, heading back upstairs and through the wooden door. "Did you find any…" she saw her confused descendant held in the arms of a seadweller. His narrowed eyes tinted red, sharp teeth grinding together as he tried to keep himself from turning feral. "You found the captain. Super."

His arm was tightened just under her neck in a chokehold; she appeared to be unharmed by the rage induced adult but anxious nonetheless. "Mindfang. You will let my crew go. We will leave. And you get your wriggler back."

"Wow, a barter? That's almost new." She waved her hand, "Come on, let's fight this out like reasonable adults. Just me and you and our own blades."

"As if I'd believe you. While my crew is still under your control you could just have them ambush me." He sneered, nostrils flaring with his words. "Release them and leave, Spinneret."

Mindfang was slightly surprised, this troll wasn't as foolish as she took him for. She shrugged and pointed her cutlass between his eyes, words already forming in her mind to get her out of this situation. Usually when her psychic powers were useless she was able to talk herself out of these situations. However, the enemy never had a hostage she cared about. Aranea suddenly snarled and jerked her body, horns cutting into the corner of his eye. She thrashed for a moment and twisted herself around, shoulder into his chest and neck craned at an awkward angle. Several quick moves and the captain was gurgling, hand curled around his throat in a vain attempt to stop himself from bleeding out.

Aranea grimaced at the blood dripping down her horn. "I need to clean this off…"

Mindfang clasped her shoulder and gave her a short squeeze, "We can take care of that! But first I need to lock these morons down below and throw the dead into the ocean, they'll just be extra weight. Check on Vriska and make sure she hasn't fallen off the boat." She brought two members of the crew into the space and they lifted the corpse up and outside, "We'll take these guys back to the mainland and see if we can't sell them."

Aranea nodded grimy and slunk off of the ship, hopping down from the edge and onto their smaller vessel. Mindfang controlled the crew like puppets, forcing them to bring out their supplies so she could get a better look at their inventory while the occasional higher blooded trolls tried to fight against her. She dug her claws into their thinkpans a much sharper way and they were silenced.

Mindfang would teach her descendants everything she knew. She would continue with the small things, the knots that could be made with rope and their purpose. How to spot traps and how to disarm them. She would teach Aranea how to wield a blade since she was the oldest. She laughed to herself at the thought of Vriska throwing a fit as to why she wouldn't be trained along with Aranea. Once her descendants were nearing their first pupation she would allow them their own ships—still under her control of course—but it would be a nice experience for them to have vessels of their own to control. Her bloodpusher gave a squeeze at the thought and she sent the crew below decks, releasing her control and placing crates in front of the door so they would stay put. She returned to the side of the ship and saw Vriska and Aranea handling the rope and telescope, Aranea going on about what she knew about telescopes, like their origin and the way they were created. Mindfang arched over the railing, crossing her arms over the other. She was glad the Summoner found her descendants and forced them upon her, just as she did when she found Rufioh and manipulated him into stepping forward. Though it was slightly unfair that she had two descendants where he only had one, she was content with hers.

Aranea noticed her ancestors mellow look and cocked her head to the side, "What are we going to do now?"

She straightened herself and grinned, "We're heading back now! I'm going to drop you two off with your lusii and I'm going to handle these idiots."

Vriska's eyes grew large, "When will we see you again?"

"After I visit my matesprit for a bit." She tapped her claws against the wood. "So it'll be a bit—don't make that face you two—Serket's don't make pouty faces unless we really, really want something and only if they know it's worth it. Because if it's not worth it, it doesn't deserve our attention!" she cackled and glanced between the two boats, then paused and clapped her hands together, "So, who wants to guess how we're going to move both boats when I'm the only one that knows how to steer them?"

AN: Personally, I would've thought Mindfang would be great guardian over Vriska and Aranea because she would shape them to become just like her. But on the seas she's a complete heartless psycho who knows she's the boss and anyone that gets in her way will get brutally murdered...