piratejournal | A Written Warning

WARNING:

I will no longer condone the continued harassment of local innocents nor the willful and callous destruction of their property.

The next one of you who throws a temper tantrum that causes harm to homes, stores, livelihoods, or scenery that do not belong to our enemies THE NAVY will find yourself tied up and punished in the same manner of your wanton destruction.

Davy Jones can bring you back from being murdered, but let's see what he can do with someone who is burned almost to death, shall we?

If you do not have respect for the sanctity of the lives of those around you, then I shall have no respect for you.

This is a promise.

Signed,
Elissa Cousland

[Elissa doesn't use her usual blue, ballpoint pen for this entry. While she may be overly enamoured of the wonders of plastic pen technology, a noble just doesn't make a formal proclamation with such an implement. Since she's long since rid of her old quill and ink, she has borrowed Haytham's to write out this decisive statement of warning. In it, she uses a formal, calligraphic font that is almost Celtic. It is signed with a bold, angry flourish.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Ace listened to the journal, genuinely confused. Marco was coming at him from a weird place and his only response was--]

If my wants ever turned into that, Marco--

[He didn't like the idea of being thought that way by Marco, really. It left a bad taste in his mouth. The only thing Ace could think of was the Marine base island.]

I destroyed one island to protect my crew, already, and I'd do it again to ensure the same thing, but--'destroying islands' isn't my goal. My crew is my happiness and all my selfish desires pertain to it, already.

In the end, the answer's simple. If I decide that 'destruction' is my selfish want, then you can leave my crew. Declaring war was supposed to be both mine and your declaration that we would protect everyone allied with us. If you're starting to doubt even your own words, I don't know what to tell you.

Idiot...

That's not it at all!

[As if Marco would ever leave Ace. If he ever does disagree, he'll just kick his ass. He was trying to explain Elissa's point and how did it wind up so stupid?]

[HOW DOES IT ALWAYS WIND UP SO STUPID?]

[D factor.]

Between the two of us, you've always protected more lives than I can ever begin to care about. [Not that Marco wants to admire that... but he does. Because it's like their Pops, and not something Marco can achieve, yet a sign of strength in its own right.] You'll never be like Blackbeard, moron.

So quit acting like you are. Who are you trying to put this show on for?

I'll always protect you and the islands, and anyone else you name. You needn't ever even ask. [This is confusing him again, and getting off track.]

But don't dismiss another person's desire to protect islands like that. [Shit, how does he explain this? Words words words...]

We protected Pops' islands from jackasses who'd destroy them for no reason. [Like Blackbeard would do now for power and others would for reputation and -- really he has GOT to stop letting this bother him.] Don't confuse it for justice.

I don't agree. That woman was acting as if doing something 'evil' was fine, because she wanted something 'good' to be the end result. I can respect someone wanting to protect their territory because they want those places to be safe, but acting like burning someone near to death is 'good' is nonsense.

[Ace leaned back against the Sun's railing, staring over at the Moon. He wondered what kind of freaky mood Marco was in.]

What kind of hero are you trying to be, Marco? One minute, you're gung-ho about fileting the Navy and another minute you're trying to defend some lady who's spouting nonsense about 'the greater good' just like them?

Hey, now, come brothers. We're men of the sea. Words are fairly meaningless when actions are louder, aye? As long as we understand each other's intentions, there's no reason to debate nuance.

See!? Marco!! The hair is right!!

[He was now leaning over the railing, pointing desperately at the Moon.]

[as the hair often is, and he will comb it absently, but not say anything one way or the other until he sees which way the wind blows back]

Are you an idiot? Of course Thatch is right. He always is.

I'm all for burning someone near to death if they run around fucking up islands for no reason. Elissa didn't call it justice any such shit, she's saying "stop fucking shit up so that no island has any respect for pirates and only fears off-worlders." What the hell is wrong with you that you can't even see that common sense?!

I know it's common sense, but you gotta stop acting like I'm gonna believe that crap after the things I've known and seen. She's just another criminal, making excuses and trying not to get a bad reputation about it. I don't see the difference between her and Kodachi.

Unlike you idiots, I'm fine with my reputation being bad. Pops loved me because I was his son and didn't care about things like that.

I'll forgive you for insulting me, Marco, but I'm not going to agree with you.

[He rolled up his notebook, stuffing it in one pocket.]

Back off Portgas.

What makes you think she gives a fuck about her reputation either? Elissa is as much a pirate as the rest. I don't give a damn about what Kodachi did or who she did it to, but the rest of these god damned punks are fucking shit up for everyone because they haven't got a clue what being a pirate is about.

And you aren't sounding far from it.

A Written Warning

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