The air rung as blacksmiths hammered blades, shields and spear tips for the next morning's contention. Syrup pulled at her tattered cape, wandered the different campfires and watched her men's faces as they recovered from the day. "Awabo, I trust that scratch hasn't made you useless?" she asked. Awabo was crouched near the firelight, binding a crude bandage across his face and head.
"Hardly, my captain," he said. "It's just an eye. Rudy saw fit to grace me with a spare."
"The Wolfenboss?"
Awabo rose and pointed to a sole campfire raging atop the ridgeline. "He curses Rudy and mourns alone," answered Awabo and Syrup nodded quietly. Just then, Cractus sailed in to the pirates' encampment, fear and rage mixed on his face.
"Syrup, we are undone!" he despaired. "Undone I tell you!" His eyes darted beyond the blackness beyond the firelight searching nervously the high cliff face. "Destroyed."
"Calm yourself!" barked out Awabo and so, Cractus breathed deep before resolving to return to his frightened rant.
"A hunchback traitor has led the Kamens to the hidden Inamazu path behind us!" cried Cractus and the pirates of Kitchen Island straightened to the news as if ice had been run through their veins. "The men you posted there were scattered without a fight. "This battle is over, Syrup."
"This battle is over when I say it is over, Cractus," enforced Syrup.
"By morning, the Kamens will surround us," said Cractus. "Dinohattan will fall."
"Pirates!" cried Awabo in place of the Wolfenboss. "Prepare for glory!" The pirates of Kitchen Island had already begun preparing their weapons, armour and bodies for their shared fate.
"Glory? Have you gone mad?" decried Cractus. "There is no glory to be had now! Only retreat or surrender or… death!"
"That's an easy choice for us, pirate from the Emerald Passage," said Syrup. "The pirates of Kitchen Island never retreat! The pirates of Kitchen Island never surrender! Go spread the word! Let every pirate assembled know the bald truth! Let each of them search his own soul! And while you're at it… search your own."
"My men will leave with me," said Cractus. "Rudyspeed, Syrup." With that, he and his men were gone. Within half an hour, they had scaled the cliff walls and had begun marching for the ocean, hoping to circumvent Tatanga's armies. Throughout it all, Syrup was unmoved. When not the last pirate from the Emerald Passage was in sight, she addressed her men.
"Rudy favours you all, the new Rool favours you all," she told them. "Tomorrow, we light a fire that will burn in the hearts of all free men for centuries." The pirates stomped on their sailboats in unison. "No retreat, no surrender. This is the Lockjaw Code." Syrup moved in front of her men, reaching into their will and stirring their souls. "And by the Lockjaw Code we stand and fight and die." The warriors erupted, pounding their shields and raising their weapons toward the star filled blanket above. "The Lockjaw Code. We do not sacrifice the Lockjaw Code to the will and whim of Tatanga. That is the old way. The way of Tatanga, Rool, Bowser and every creature like them." Syrup stood in front of her brave men. Her red cape lifted and floated with her every impassioned gesture. "A new age has begun. An age of great deeds. An age of reason. An age ofjustice. An age of freedom. And all will know that the pirates of Kitchen Island gave their last breath to defend it!" The pirates roared.
It was in the bloodiest and darkest corner of the River Twygz that Syrup found the Wolfenboss. Like a specter of death, his face and body were smeared and covered with a mixture of ash, soot and his son's blood. "My friend," said Syrup and she reached out to him.
"I have lived my entire life without regret until now…," the Wolfenboss told him. "It is not that my child gave his life for his country." The Wolfenboss shook his head slowly from side to side in wretched agony. "Only that I did not tell him I loved him the most, that he stood by me in honour… that he was what is best in me."
"My heart is broken for your loss," said Syrup and the Wolfenboss nodded.
"Heart? I have my heart filled with hate," he groaned, looked into flickering flames and then back into the eyes of his captain.
"Good," was all she could say. The Wolfenboss' eyes searched deep into the valley, to the raiders not so far away. "Awabo, let's take a walk," said Syrup, approaching him.
"Yes. My captain," he nodded and immediately got to his feet, walking over sailboats with her until they made it to a rocky patch of beach away from the rest.
"Awabo, you must go back to Kitchen Island and from there, to Dinohattan," she told him. "I know you know the truth, you know what must happen. You know."
"But… but… but sire… I am fit," he pleaded. "I am ready for combat."
"That you are," she agreed, "one of the finest. But you have another talent unlike any other pirate. You will deliver my final orders to the council will force and verve and then you will go to Dinohattan. Tell them our story of honour, duty, glory and freedom. Make everyone know what happened here, you will have a grand tale to tell." Then, Awabo felt the weight of responsibility. His captain's eyes were bright and clear. "A tale of victory."
"Victory?" asked Awabo, shaking his head slightly. Syrup let the moment stretch and smiled at him. She squeezed his shoulder and then let him go. "Captian, any message for…?"
"For Shokora?" asked Syrup and for a moment, she was gone. She was transported by thought, across time, set free from the bonds of politics and responsibility. For a fleeting moment, she was just a woman, separated by circumstance from her reasons for living. "No… none that need be spoken." The storyteller turned and left his captain alone, prepared to go back to Kitchen Island.
A false dawn came slowly with faint blue rising along the coastline. Awabo had gathered his shield and helmet before he started his slow sail back towards Kitchen Island. He felt the eys of his fellow pirates and chanced a look at his brothers, silhouetted against the morning sky.
"Pirates!" summoned Syrup, and readily, they all came up before her, ready to hear whatever grandiose speech shehad devised this time. As soon as they had congregated, there was a deep war cry that was angry, deep and full of reverence for their captain. "Ready yourselves and eat hearty." Syrup raised her devolution gun and bared her teeth. "For tonight we dine with the Boolossus!" The few hundred devolution guns left were all thrust up in unison.
In the Kitchen Island council chambers, the chatter and conversation of the assembled was prominent from the old pirates, turned from using war to using words. It was a transition that few were good at, but all within carried its burden and responsibility. Shokora entered the chamber from a carved penetralia, going alone before the lawmakers of Kitchen Island. The advocates, statesmen and partisans settled into the primitive seats that coiled around the stone floors, thrusting forth a stage for Shokora to offer her words.
"May I give the floor now to the apprentice of Captain Syrup," stated Carpaccio, slightly bowing towards Shokora, hoping that her plan would work. Shokora nodded at Carpaccio and he returned to his seat patiently awaiting her words. Shokora stood, radiating not only beauty but sheer internal strength. She scanned the faces, appraising the crowd. She knew them all. Her eyes even scanned Doll Boy. She showed not a trace of emotion as she cleared her throat and began.
"Councilmen, I stand before you not only as your next captain," she started, shifting into the amber light that then filled the chamber. "I come to you as a sister. I come to you as a woman. I come to you as a pirate of Kitchen Island." The chamber quieted to her voice as she walked to the stange and looked to Doll Boy, locking eyes with him until he pulled away from contact. Yet, he leaned forward, listening carefully to her words. "I come to you with great humility. I am not alone in this room." She looked at Doll Boy again, but pointed just past him to an elderly statesman. "You, your son fights at his captain's side." The statesman just nodded to Shokora as she turned to another. "Have you forgotten your boy?" The partisan pointed to just shook his head, thinking of his young. Shokora turned again, using all caution with her words. "I am not here to represent Shokora. Her actions speak louder than my words ever could… I am hear to speak for all the voices that cannot be heard. Mothers, daughters, sons, fathers." Shokora took a breath, centering her thoughts. "Hundreds of families that bleed for our rights and the principles this chamber was built on." Shokora looked to the members of the council. "You must not forget from where you came. All in this chamber once carried arms, to defend Kitchen Island. You are men that now balance peace and war. That balance has been challenged. We are only free because some fight to ensure it." Shokora walked slowly, building her strength. "We are at war, gentlemen… we must send the entire navy to aid our captain in the preservation of not just ourselves, but our children." Shokora had begun delivering her speech with all her conviction and compassion. "Send the army for the preservation of liberty… send it for justice… send it for law and order… send it for reason… but most importantly, send it for hope. Hope that a captain and her men have not been wasted to the pages of history. That their courage bonds us together. That we are stronger by their actions and that your choices today will reflect their bravery."
Men leaned together, some whispered into each other's ears and confidences were passed freely among them. Yet it did not take long for Doll Boy to rise to his feet and start clapping. "Moving, eloquent, passionate!" he mocked, the tone of his words not clear to all in the chamber. Then he rested his hands and scanned the faces in the chamber in silence. "Why do you waste the time of these important men?"
"Do we waste your time?" asked Shokora, turning to the voice of arrogance. "Each man in this council is no important than the next."
"Do you insult the council?' asked Doll Boy.
"That is not my intention," she retorted.
"What is your intention?"
"Only to remind us," spoke Shokora to the council, with clear words, "that each day we determine our course."
"Course?" scoffed Doll Boy.
"Yes," she nodded. "These days are mens' true riches and they're being fought for at this very moment as we choose words."
"Your captain has brought war upon!" cried a statesman as he rose up in anger, but Shokora looked at her and just shook her head.
"You are wrong," said Shokora. "Tatanga brought it forth and before that, Rool did against the entire Lockjaw Council. Our enemies will not stop until the only shelter we find is rubble and chaos."
"This chamber does not need a history lesson," said Doll Boy as he started to walk to the stage, Shokora watched him carefully as he descended the stairs.
"Then what is the lesson you would like to leave?" asked Shokora as Doll Boy pressed on. "Shall we begin to enumerate all of them? Honour. Duty. Glory."
"You speak of honour, duty and glory," said Doll Boy as he took the stage from Shokora. "What of chastity?" His voice boomed into the chamber and a hush was leveled onto the listeners. Shokora's eyes were widened, shocked by the extent of Doll Boy's treachery.
"How dare you speak out in such a manner!" decried Carpaccio.
"How dare I?" laughed Doll Boy as Shokora searched the chamber for friend and foe. "Watch her carefully, she is a trickster in true form! Do not play with the members of this sacred room, Shokora. It has not been so long since you lay with me." The chamber immediately went wide at his telling. "I still have your scent on me."
"This is an outrage!" roared Carpaccio as two pirates appeared from the depression of the antechamber and flanked Shokora from the left and right.
"You look shocked," mocked Doll Boy. "A bribe of flesh I was given as her captain promotes anarchy and war!"
"I… you…," stammered Shokora, inadvertently revealing the veracity of Doll Boy's claims.
"Words escape even the cleverest tongue, my little whore," taunted Doll Boy.
"You… bastard," hissed Shokora, her eyes burning with fire fed from the pit of her stomach. She swung at Doll Boy, but a guard grabbed her before her blow could hit.
"What captain-like behaviour," mocked Doll Boy, his laughter was incredulous… even Carpaccio found it difficult to move. Perhaps the thief noble blamed himself.
The pirates held Shokora back as she pulled at their arms, struggling to free herself. The entire room watched, frozen by the spectacle before them. "You will soon feel nothing!" spat Shokora.
"Remove her from the room before she infects her sisters with her shabby and inglorious self," ordered Doll Boy, but Shokora managed to throw one of the pirates off of her. Spinning behind the other pirate, she drew the man's short blade. Kicking the pirate clear, with one quick step, Shokora buried the blade deep in Doll Boy's midsection.
"I am your captain now," she declared as Doll Boy buckled, his weight brought forward onto Shokora's bloody hands, which still held the blade that felled him. She cut across his waistline and from beneath his elaborate frock, gold pieces fell and danced onto the floor. The WarioWare symbol was forged clearly upon them for all to see. "It seems every man does have his price!" Shokora leaned down and whispered into Doll Boy's ear, "When your bones are dust, I will lead us into war." She twisted the short blade deeper into Doll Boy. "This will not be over quickly. You will not enjoy it." She remembered his cruelty untoward her. "I am your captain."
With those pile of words said, she twisted her blade out and Doll Boy fell onto a pile of his own blood and entrails. The council members stood around Shokora, some sifting through the gold, nodding at the traitor's death. Most of them followed Carpaccio's lead, standing in admiration of Shokora.