shinybaubles | IC Inbox

[ it isn't a woman's work, stone and wood. or the work of nobles, either. but claudia adapts, and the coin earned in construction is enough for a start. (she would have preferred to steal, truth be told. but the village is too small, and she imagines someone would have posted reward to catch a village thief in short time. perhaps traders...) — harder work than wenching but less humiliating as far as she is concerned and less dangerous than biting roses, too.

claudia's hands haven't been soft since she was a child, besides, and she wears brown leather trousers as though meant for her. (it feels strange, still, to wear them at all. she learned to wield her blades in a gown.) her blouse, two shifts for the sheer cheapness, is damp with sweat. that deserves a moment's pause, and she sits on a load of wood: leaning on her elbows and crossing her ankles and watching edward.

his blade, the one he had shown to the mirrors, is curious. — enough for her to want to follow him but he had called for others, and it would be her luck she would lead herself to templars with stolen weapons. it could be a coincidence, too. wrist blades are a convenient weapon; the assassins cannot be alone in realizing that, and she has learned the world is so much larger, now... claudia decides it best to ask among witnesses. ]

Do you have that blade, still?

[Edward is beyond surprises at this point - or so he tells himself. It's a mild surprise to see Claudia working alongside him and the others in the construction. Not that he is surprised by the fact that she is a woman doing men's labor. He has long learned the different strengths of women, but honestly, it is like seeing Caroline building a house. Claudia has that kind of air around her, a woman who has known a better life.

Then again, Caroline had proved that she could work beneath her, hadn't she? It was always Edward who had thought himself better.

He shakes himself out of the reverie before it overwhelmed him, catching Claudia watching him in time to hear her question.]

I spent a small fortune on the bloody thing. I best still have it. Why?

It is only that I haven't seen one like it. [ what a liar. ] Is it the blacksmith's design?

I would say that it's because of the price of dragon bone, really. [He's assuming what it's made out of and not that it's a dagger so much. Then again, how many people go around with blades hidden at their wrists.] No, it's based off a design back home. I had two before I made a deal with Fox.

Two. [ and she can't hide the surprise. claudia only knows her brother to wield more than one. ] Where did you get such a thing?

[There's an obvious look of smug pride on his face.] Sometimes two is not enough. [A beat and then he shrugs.] A dead man who had no use of them any longer.

[ claudia straightens on the wood. slow and purposeful because for a moment, her greatest fear seems sharp and real. — ezio taken from her like the rest of her brothers but he is mentore, and there must be others that wield two that she had not realized. (edward, however, is more suspicious than she thought. a good thing she hadn't followed him.) ]

Well, how fortunate you found him. [ she forces a smile. ] A blade like that? It must be so useful. But I am happy with my own.

Aye. [He pauses for a moment, rubbing his chin. He thinks about Walpole then, not for the first time in these last nine years or so. Had he not run the man down, how differently would his life be now?] In some ways, the man made my life better with his death.

[There's no shame in admitting that.] Only when there is a good use for it. Not much to be had here, I'm afraid. I'll stick with my sword until then.

[Edward, you are so fucking dense.]

Oh? [ claudia stands, now. wiping her pants as though not dirtied and reaching for a hammer. she had her moment's pause. she is a hard worker for all her disdain of it. ] Was he hunting you? An adventurer like you, you must have some enemies.

That is more true than you know. [Too many men he had hunted turned the tables right back on him, but Walpole was not one of them.] No, but he did attack my ship and sink the whole bloody thing. [He growls and shakes his head.]

Your ship! You are a captain, then. [ despite her suspicions, claudia sounds fascinated. sailing is exciting business for a woman behind a desk. ] How far have you sailed?

Aye, I am! Not much of one now unfortunately. [He misses the ocean so keenly, he feels it as much as he does the absence of his daughter. With a sigh, he begins hammering the frames of the wall together.] From England to the West Indies, from there to Africa. Many people in the Atlantic know the name of Edward Kenway.

The West Indies, where in l'Atlantico is this? — and what is it like? [ a wave of her hand, ] Tell me everything.

It is by the Americas, in the West. [If she doesn't know where it is, though, she probably doesn't understand what the Americas are either. He pauses in his work to think about how to best describe it.] There is a whole other land opposite from us, but in its warm heart there are these islands with small port towns perfect for a sailor. Havana, Nassau, the Caribbean is a beautiful place.

[He leans against a post.] Some of the islands have large plantations on them. [His lip curls.] Slavery is a huge trade, along with sugar. But on Nassau, any man could be free. Or woman. We lived by our own laws, outside of our kings and masters and those who would take away our will.

[ that... would be a templar's nightmare, wouldn't it. and it could be sailors are natural allies of the assassin, nothing more. (though she knows he is more than a sailor.) but he has a distaste of slaves, an emphasis of will, and not all that find dead men have done the deed. how does she ask if he is not assassin or templar? if he is either? dare she risk it? ]

I know of people like this. They live their lives by a simple saying: nothing is true...

Edited 2014-05-05 00:54 (UTC)

[Edward nearly drops the hammer in his hand, his reflexes quicker than his surprise.] Everything is permitted. [He finishes the creed automatically, these very words having haunted him for years before he could even begin to understand their meaning.]

You are an Assassin?

[ heaving a sigh, ] Grazie a Dio. [ she leans closer. ] I almost thought you were a Templar.

[He laughs.] A Templar, lass? I've been a thorn in their sides for years now.

Are there any here? In Loria?

[A quick shake of his head.] None of the ones that I know, at the very least. They're not so easy to pick out of a crowd, though.

[ a sigh through her nose as she nods. that is true enough, but the templars of italia make themselves known in their ambition. obvious as a damn peacock. ]

You spoke names on that mirror. [ anne. mary. connor. claudia has no faces to those names, but she remembers the names, all the same. if he had been templar, knowing his allies would have meant her survival. ] Are they Assassin as well?

[He crosses his arms over his chest, giving another nod even as his gaze flickers around them. It's not as though he believes there are Templars here, after all, but you can never be too careful.]

Kidd - Mary, that is - has gone back to her coffin. But Anne and Connor are. Or well. [He offers a bemused smile.] At my particular point in time, Anne has decided to not pursue a life with the Assassins, and Connor is from the future.

[ a moment of silence, claudia lowering her chin and pursing her lips, as she attempts to understand. she has suspected that several worlds differ in time. — the villagers' own suspicions helping her parse as much but in the end, magic or science, it is lost to her. claudia raises her head, shutting her eyes, and waves a hand in dismissal. ]

Allies, then.

Good ones. I would trust them with my life. [He speaks with conviction. There are so very few people in the world that he has found he can trust, not knowing who they are in disguise.

He glances around them, making sure that nobody is paying attention, but still, he lowers his voice.] I have put forth the idea of starting a brotherhood.

[ of four? but rome began with as much as well... are there resources? claudia turns from their work, now, her voice as low when she speaks. ]

Do you think the villagers will appreciate its cause?

Look at them, Claudia. [He gestures around the village.] Before us, they were content to let their lives be led by simplistic means. They didn't venture too far into the forest. They had no idea there were other people outside of us. A lot of it has come with a price, but... [Edward shrugs.] Freedom does. You cannot hope to be wise when you don't have all the answers.

I see tired men and women, Edward. Hungry children. Is it freedom they need? Or someone to show them how to hold a blade? [ she had seen the same in rome, though, hadn't she. claudia shakes her head. ] I am not opposed, but it is a great task to build a new Order. — and in Roma, we had more than this village.

It's all part of that. Show them one, and the other pieces come tumbling into place. There are no Templars here, I know, but Jaysus. Look at them! They are ruled by their fear. The fear of the beasts in this land, of the Fox, of the unknown. [He grits his teeth for a moment.] Fear is not a bad thing, but it can be when you allow it to herd you along.

[The task doesn't daunt him, even if he knows that it should.] Aye, we had more as well, but we are a small population in a closed island. And besides, who is to say that we couldn't recruit?

[ he has a fair point: teaching the villagers to hold their blades will make their hearts stronger. strong hearts will see them to freedom, sooner or later, and if the order would teach them the former, is there reason to argue? and if the curse leads to war, as it had, is it not best to begin now than when it is too late? claudia nods. ]

I am best with coin and knowledge. The coin, I do not have... But I listen to what the tavern has to offer. The traders as well. I can see what women will follow. [ beat. ] This will be slow, you know.

You're talking to a pirate, lass. Coin, I know. Coin I can get, through one mean or another. [Maybe he'll steal back that goose, nobody has to know. His hand rubs along the blond stubble on his face.] I have a candidate of my own I might try. She's a good girl with a thirst for adventure. [And another casual shrug.] I have no doubts that we will be here for some time. I can manage slow.

Good. If you are to build a Brotherhood, you are to be its Mentore. — and that is a task that requires patience as well.

Edited 2014-05-22 21:53 (UTC)

[He makes a face.] I suppose I've been a captain long enough. It'll be slightly similar.

[ smiling, still, but claudia doesn't speak. he reminds of her ezio in that moment, and what more need be said? she nods to their current work, then, before their coin is lost. ]

Inside of Edward's mailbox, he will find a plain black sack. Inside of it are pieces of candy of assorted sizes, smells, and colors. They're all poisonous in some way. Some will kill, others will make people violently ill, some can cause temporary paralysis, etc.

Good luck with that one.

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HELLO FIFTY YRS LATE dated for the twelfth??

SOUNDS GOOD TO ME

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sure did break my html there

it's okay, I'm used to it because of Hannah :'D

does she know ur talking behind her back

she wouldn't be surprised tbh

terrible

i'm the best

obvs

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