The Recieving of the Boot(s)

Most curious she thought after noting her surroundings bore quite the resemblance to where she had entered from. The Triy remained every bit as malnourished as she remembered it, though it really shouldn't have been a surprise considering the last time she'd seen it was not too long ago.

"The world often works in mysterious ways," replied Fethar sagely.

Polly felt that if Fethar had a beard, it would be stroking it. The pair journeyed down the path and through the foliage in search of anything that would hint at the location of a few captive rebels. Unfortunately for the captive rebels, Polly had never had the biggest of brains, and with little knowledge of the situation there was only so much Fethar could do.

"Mayhaphs they're under a bush. Isn't that what all birds these days do?"

"Unlikely," replied Polly. "They don't seem like your basic bird to me. I'm thinking lying in ambush somewhere, but where?"

"On an occasion like this I'd say your guess is better than mine, but your guess really isn't one, so I suppose it's just about as good as mine."

"Alright."

They journeyed deeper into the forest.

A shrill caw pierced the air, and even Polly was able to figure out that it was some sort of signal so she began jogging toward its source. After barely ten paces, the icy kiwi, who Polly now recognized as The Dictator, appeared with Ed, SAT, and Wiki in tow. The three rebels had been stuck in a burlap sack that was somehow being dragged by two unusually buff birds.

"I figured a scheming Sea Island 7-er like you would have something devious like this planned. To think you'd try 'n turn my own folks against me. I just can't believe you have the nerve to be roamin' about even after I've given you the boot."

Polly suddenly recalled she was a mere passerby on this island with a boat to return to. And then of course there was the matter of now having to either defend her honor as a good, obedient follower of orders or snitch on the silenced captives.

"To be frank, you don't have much face left to save," advised Fethar. "That kiwi's opinion of you is about as likely to go up as you are to outgrow your boots. Also, is it not practically law that snitches get stitches?"

There was no denying the obvious validity of Fethar's statement and so Polly nodded solemnly in response. Yet just as one would suspect, the watching kiwi was not privy to their conversation and her eyes narrowed from rocaille beads (the classic round beads) to bugle beads (the skinny noodle looking beads).

"I never thought I'd see a pirate confess to their crimes but here we are. It really is as the lads say: there's a first for everything."

"Good sir, you misunderstand," said Polly, her formal language an attempt to appeal to the kiwi's hopefully existent better nature. "I was just talking to Fethar, the trusty soul you might see here in my hair, in my head and agreeing with what they said. Staging an uprising? Could never be me."

The Dictator nodded in a manner that could be interpreted as understanding. It was evident she had reached a conclusion.

"So the boot wasn't effective, which means lads, bring out the boot."

The chiseled creatures standing at attention released the bag holding their prisoners and from the depths of their feathers, each managed to produce a bewilderingly behemoth sized boot. And just like that, Polly knew it was game over.

Before she had a chance to close her eyes and pick a star to wish on, SAT managed to free themselves from their restraints and squawk out, "STOP!"

"The fledge is innocent, there's no need for the boot. Why it was us who dragged her into these shenanigans. It's not her fault she has a weak will and easily agrees to whatever others suggest to her."

"Right on," agreed Polly with an empathetic nod.

Wiki and Ed took the next few moments to release themselves from their bonds as well.

"You're always so against outsiders," frowned Wiki. "That's why we had to rebel; you left us with no other choice. Our economy might as well be America in the 1800s after Thomas Jefferson's Embargo Act."

"Outsiders bring pollution and ruin to Sea Island 4. I'm doin' what I've gotta do," snarled The Dictator. "If you want to go dilly dally with some foreign fools then be my guest and receive the boot alongside the outsider."

"You can't let hatred consume you. You can't become the enemy you've always fought against. Don't you remember you were once one of us?"

It appeared the source of the conflict between the birds was a lot deeper than Polly had originally thought. As she had never been a particularly deep person, she was more of a kiddie pool type of gal, Polly was quite unsure of what to do besides watch and wish she had some food to enjoy the entertainment with.

"I left y'all behind when y'all turncoats sold the location of the Sacréd Spicés for money to fund your sandwich addictions. Why I knew the addiction was bad, but I didn't know you were willing to bring us right up to ruination for it. If I hadn't stopped those foreigners from coming they woulda bled us dry of our greatest goods."

"First of all, you're wrong," snapped SAT. "We've been loyal to Sea Island 4 for as long as we've had feathers. We'd never do such a thing. We were simply retrieving some of the Sacréd Spicés so we could try out a new recipe, and it was only when we had reached the Sacréd Sité that we realized we had been tailed the whole way. I'll have you know we've been living with regret ever since."

"Regardless of your intention, it's no longer safe to allow those dangerous, overseas outsiders onto our land. Our resources are for our people first."

"How can you say such a thing when you've been treating our fellow feathereds so cruelly," cried out Ed, impassioned. "Last I heard you wouldn't let them eat anymore than five meals a day! How could our people possibly achieve maximum plumpness under such cruel conditions?"

The Dictator looked almost apologetic for a moment before her eyes regained their cold, plastic sheen.

"It had to be done," she said coolly.

"Oh did it now," sneered SAT with the addition of a few choice words.

The stacked specimens weren't all too pleased with the colorful bird's colorful language and decided that that behavior wasn't going to fly.

They moved menacingly towards SAT, every muscle in their wings primed and ready for action. In Polly's eyes it was not unlike watching the sides of a garbage compressor closing in on a defenseless trash bag. Polly had never been the kind to toss what could be recycled, and because of that principle, she decided it was time to wing it. Without even stopping to consult Fethar for advice, Polly soared in on a flawless leap to pull SAT from the wall she had almost been trapped behind.

"In swooping in it appears you've decided to go that path," sighed Fethar.

"What path?"

"That path."

Fethar needed not to explain more as its meaning was all too apparent when a stupendously sizable shoe was hurled her way. It was time to blastin' go fastin'.

Polly had been confused in the beginning, unsure of which side of the conflict she belonged on, but now she knew. She was on the side of dipping, and if any of the birds were along for the flight, then they were along for the flight. With SAT somewhat in her arms, and Wiki and Ed not too far behind, Polly zipped away through the trees.

She had no idea where she was going, but fortunately, Fethar did. This was practically a given though, as even the most entry level of hats were supposed to be able to find a destination without having ever been there or knowing the land they would be traveling through.

"Next would be making a right turn, but not too sharp of a right turn, at the next tree with four visible roots."

"Roger that cap," huffed Polly. She was puffing like mad. The poor pirate hadn't run so fast in so long she had almost forgotten it was something she could do.

"I think we'll be approaching the water in a few moments, and there we should be safe. Will you be taking the birds, and uh, me, back with you to The Birbalinda?

"I'd think that you coming along with me was certain. I mean aren't we already the yeast to each other's dough, the rock salt to each other's DIY ice cream, the graphite to each other's pencil?"

"Yes, yes, of course. Please forgive my foolishness. But the birds?"

"I guess they'll join us if they want to? I wouldn't mind the company. Boating by one's self can get pretty lonesome, ya feel?"

"I most certainly do feel, though I can't say it's something I've ever experienced."

Polly made the right turn beautifully, an experienced NASCAR racer couldn't have done better with a car, and lo behold the shore was in view. She no longer felt the ominous presence of the furious fowl and decided that it was an optimal time to take a pause. For a moment, taking in the sweet, sweet oxygen around her was the only thing on her mind.

"Mind letting me down fledge?" squawked SAT. who Polly had near forgotten she was holding.

Despite her exhaustion, Polly was far too polite to drop the bird like a bowling ball, and so she set them down gently as one would a crystal ball. SAT nodded curtly in appreciation before proceeding to dust themselves off.

"So what do we do now?" asked Wiki. "It looks like we might as well start speaking about our time on Sea Island 4 in past tense."

The bird seemed to have aged a thousand years in one and looked about a second away from melting into a sad pool of sorrow.

"I thought she'd be more reasonable," sighed Ed mournfully. "The wise ones weren't wrong when they said you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

"I suppose she only wants what's best for home, but the way she's going about it... I guess it is what it is. Anyways, thanks for helping us out, you really did us a solid," continued Wiki, turning to Polly.

"Oh, me? I don't think I did much but get some long overdue cardio," replied Polly in a grave tone that matched theirs. "But, and I sure do hope this offer isn't a mile out of place, if you need a place to go I have a ship and no company."

The birds exchanged a look and then proceeded chattering rapid fire in their native language. It seemed the conversation would stretch on for eons, but then there was a thumping. Polly had seen many a thing in her day, and this trip to Sea Island 4 had added much to her list, but the sight before her was completely new. She thought she had seen it all after the water bending acrobatics of the bowl cut band, but the boots before her were saying something else.

It appeared the boots the crownies had been wielding earlier had grown in size, and to say they had become monstrous was an understatement. The towers of tall stretched far up, nearing the heights of the glaringly green trees, and the trees were far from small. Compared to them Polly and the birds were practically pea sized. The Dictator was perched gloriously atop the left boot which was balanced atop the wing of one of the brawny birds. The right boot, that had a spur at its heel, was being effortlessly carried by its partner.

"I thought y'all'dve been smart enough to blast while y'all had the chance but it has come to this. Do it boys."

Although SAT had said the Dictator didn't have a body count, Polly wasn't sure if she was ready to stake her life on the words of a bird who was, as of now, a vibrating lump of fear.

With strength that no mortal being rightfully ought to possess, the right-boot wielding bird flipped the footwear a few times and then sent it whirling towards the quartet. Polly's fight or flight response might as well have been a power-up. The opportunity arose, she activated it, and then she was herself but with +100 speed and +50 power.

"Send it flying with a swift strike," instructed Fethar, all business. Polly knew she had no time to be thinking her own thoughts and did as Fethar said, using a mighty roundhouse kick to knock the mass away.

"Now beat it."

Polly didn't have to be told twice. She made eye contact with the three quivering balls of feather and both parties knew what had to happen. The pirate snatched them up, and sped towards her ship. The trip that had previously taken an hour took the new and improved Polly a mere fifteen minutes. Her intense speed birthed a blazing trail beneath her feet that turned the water she ran on into a haze of steam. The haze would have been her and the kiwis' end if it weren't for the unrivaled abilities of Fethar who positively screeched, "INCOMING!"

This gave Polly the fraction of a second she needed to spot the shadow of the left boot hurtling toward her and snap her ponytail back. The waves created by the powerful whip reversed the course of the shoe. As the accessory flew backwards it cleared a path in the gray surrounding them. From her spot near The Birbalinda, Polly watched the projectile return to whence it came. Only after there had been a few minutes with nothing flying toward them did Polly feel comfortable enough to jump onto her ship with the three brown puffs in her arm.

"I'm mighty glad I have you guys alongside me," said Polly, splayed across the deck. "I don't know if I'd want to relive that ever again, but I sure am looking forward to sailing with you guys."

"Thanks for having us," replied a frazzled Wiki. "I don't know how much help we can be but, but we'll try and make ourselves useful."

"We're pretty good at making sandwiches," piped Ed.

And that, was that.