Ardent Flame, Pure Ice
"Her eyes sparked with a million lighting flashes."
The sky was sobbing, pleading for the passing guests to walk under its tears and embrace every droplet with their open gloved palms. Every dark cloud, that trapped the indigo eyes under their thick gray coats, had a story of its own to tell. All of them, united in one slow dance of the endless rain that seemed to have no mercy on the grumbling individuals under it. It kept weeping, screaming with thunder, and hinting on its near rage with lightning. It was soon to become a storm that every being would be forced to recall back to every time the weather would return to its wicked mood. It was a storm that would never leave one particular man, even when the sun would come out to welcome a blossoming dawn. A special tempest as he would soon call it.
Conversely, Charles considered this day to be one of those usual tedious hours when the work was pushed aside and a pause was needed. After all, the man has read so many documents that his eyes started seeing the words solidly stuck in the air before him. He could say the contents of a long letter by memory, recollecting every detail the Grand Master has so kindly ordered him to pay his attention to. And Lee did, he obeyed with no second thoughts of doubt, he would never bet against Haytham's decisions, simply because each one was perfected and strict in its nature. All Charles had to do, is to make sure everything was strong and precise enough to make it work. And once again, he did it with no hesitation. Thus, the Master has granted him a treasured day off saying that Lee could go one and enjoy his day forgetting about the Templar affairs, but never abandoning its principles and morals.
Now, that the man sat on the squeaking chair in the tavern, he watched the outside world being covered in nature's tears. One day off, and the weather by legend is wicked. How nice is that? He receives this wonderful time to rest, and gets the opportunity to spend it in a tight stinking tavern listening to the sound of thunder as it shakes the fragile walls. Wonderful.
"Aye mate, wanna see who can drink more?" A moron asks, thinking that Charles is one of those men who will happily accept his proposition in order to escape the weather's feminine mood outside. This drunken fool has no idea who sat before him at the moment, but that is alright, Lee will forgive this scum. They are all stuck in here by their will and not; sometimes you have to sit in a tight box with rats waiting for the lid to slide open so you can fly away.
"No, but thank you for the kind invite, perhaps I shall accept it some other time." Charles says in a sudden outburst of kindness and manners that he never showed to the kind that is smiling at him in the face hoping to grasp another reason to spend all money on the alcohol. Lee simply does not want any fights occurring during his break, he is far too comfortable in his chair, and leaving this warm spot is the least thing he longs for. Though, no matter how politely the Templar has refused the sloshed man's proposal, his eyes never changed with his words. The light blue orbs flamed with maleficence and a certain promise that one wrong word will cost the drunken stranger his life, that Lee was sure, the man did not want to lose for the lack of soberness.
"A-aye…" The man nods as he slowly backs away, his lips widening in a frightened grin as he then rushes to get away from Lee's table. The Templar triumphs with a smirk and a good gulp from his tankard. The warm liquid spreads in his stomach and chest sending a wave of a moment bliss to his brain and forces the man to relax and sit back. What a hideous day it was, truly the worst for relaxation. Nonentity seemed to hint on something usual, something that would bring the war general a delight to enjoy anything. Until an exception has made its presence known.
The heavy door leading into the tavern was slowly pushed open as a new visitor has stepped their foot inside. The for a slight second everyone could hear the harsh rain beating the ground madly and refusing to back off from the unknown punishment. The figure finally closed the door, letting the warmth return to the room surpassing the cold that they dared to let in from the outside. All eyes were now glued to the stranger as if they have never seen a guest of the pub before. However, when Charles turned his head to look at the culprit of the sudden dead silence in the wide room, he knew the reason right away.
Not always can one observe a soaked Native American standing at the entrance of the inn, clutching the wet clothing on their body, and glaring back at every pair of eyes on them at the same time. Not frequently Charles saw such scenery in public, especially when this particular savage came out to be someone he has known from the very beginning of Haytham's affectionate shenanigans, after their plan of capturing the slave convoy for Silas turned out to be a wonderful success.
It was her, the Native woman, whose name was imprinted in Lee's memory like a hateful curse, a punishment for being the enemy of her people. Ziio, one name that made the Templar shiver in disgust, sparking one true desire to kill every Native that dares to originate from the land of the new generation. Those savages are supposed to hide in the woods, clinging for their worthless life, and screaming for mercy. And yet, here she is, standing, no, already making her way to a chair despite the murmurs and hateful complaints raining over to her. And why does she have to land on the chair at the table right across Lee's? She has made a mistake already by deciding that a tavern full of white men would bring her safety, the other mistake, is falling into the Templar's radius of privacy, which was much greater than the man thought.
After the cacophony of unpleasant drunk threads fell just as quickly as they rose, the men completely forgot that Ziio has ever come inside. Their beverages were far more important that some Native woman that wanted to dry off and stay away from the rain. Everyone was now busy with their business, except for Charles. Oh no, this man will not tolerate an intruder in his space, especially not her.
The Templar leaned over in his chair, pressing his elbows against the table top and staring at Ziio as if he was trying to ravage her with his stare. It was a shame that such a perfect plan did not work, so Lee decided to get her attention by clearing his throat. A pair of dark cold eyes landed upon him, slightly widening in the same surprise that Charles has received moment ago from her entrance. The man tilted his head to the side trying to get a better view of the woman, wounded by the weather outside.
"Looking for your lover?" He asked with his usual monotone that meant a thousand hateful things just in a few words. Charles despised this woman; she has dared to take away the Grand Master's mind off of the Order's errands, making him her slave of their amorous feelings. Thankfully, Haytham was absent in New York, so there was no chance she could charm him with her eerie sorcery again. Gods, Charles only hopes that Ziio would perish before Kenway returns, but by natural causes. In reality, Lee could not even touch the woman because of the fear and respect to the Grand Master.
The woman's eyes narrowed at the man, already judging every living cell in him, showing that she was as well unhappy with this sudden situation. She was ready to stand up and leave in a search for a new table, until his question nailed her down to the chair she has picked the first time. She was ready to claw at his face, sink her nails into his eye sockets and make him bleed until he would confess an apology for his existence. But she stayed quiet and only turned her head away. Starting a conversation with this man was not on the list of the things she wanted to do. He disgusted her in every way, and being stuck here with him, alone in the crowd of many, was maddening. But it seemed as if Charles was not going to stop one question.
"I see that you are cold," he started already smirking at the woman, making her long to slice that grin off of his face and make him beg for mercy. "I thought you savages were never bothered with that." Lee's eyes glided over her damp clothing as if trying to prove the point of the protective fur every Native was usually unidentified by. Ziio snapped another dirty look at him, now trying to send Lee to hell, where he was supposed to be. But she can only slay him in her mind; any physical abuse will do only worse for her in terms of a relationship with Haytham. Charles was his loyal associate, and if she dared to draw blood, there would be a problem. She knew that Lee had the same thought in his mind, and as for now, she could only snarl at him and rain offences.
"Shut your mouth, Lee." She finally spoke after a long moment of silence. "It is raining outside, and I was too far to get to my village in time, thus, stopping in the tavern was my best bet." Ziio explained with no desire to do so; the woman wanted to have nothing intertwine with Charles, and he already ruined her day enough, just as well as she crushed his.
"And where were you, may I ask? You savages are supposed to-"
"You call me that one more time, I am going to slice off your tongue and feed it to the dogs!" Ziio snapped cutting Charles off in the mid sentence and slammed her fist on tabletop attracting the attention around them in no time. Lee held his hand up in a silent hint that there was nothing to worry about, the least he wanted right now is getting into a fight because of her.
"Keep it down, I am sure you came here to dry yourself off, not fall into a fight between dozens of drunken idiots, hmm?" Lee nodded his head toward a trio of men trying to balance on their rubbed limbs, swaying from side to side and spilling their bitter beverages on the wooden floor. One of them managed to slip and collapse down, causing a wave snorting laughter from others. Ziio pursed her lips grimacing at the scene before them before she turned to face Charles.
"I want to get out of here, but I cannot walk in the rain to my village." She sighed heavily, her eyes gliding toward the window covered in the droplets of endless tears. Lee watched her silently, also becoming sick of this place. He would be more than glad to stand up and leave, go home and finally forget about the rain outside, but now that Ziio was glued to the chair, unable to leave, he became concerned. If he takes his exit, the men around would not hesitate but to bully her, and no matter how strong Ziio could be, a dozen would grow in number and who knows what will happen if they overpower her. Haytham would not be happy if he finds out that Charles has abandoned the Native woman in the middle of the chaos and has let her get hurt. So now, Lee had no choice but to clear his throat and stand up from his chair, asking for Ziio's attention on him, that she seemed to have a trouble with. Yet, she did turn her head slightly, now glancing at the Templar from the corner of her eye.
"What do you want?" Her cold tone let Charles know that he will have to be worth her time, in order to keep her attention on him much longer. The man sighed and motioned her to get up, the woman refused silently, arching her brow in a perplexed expression.
"You want to dry off, and I am sure that a more peaceful place than this will do good for both of us. I am to take my being away from here, and return home. You have a choice of either coming with me, or staying here and praying for the men to not gang up with you. Though…" Lee looked over to singing drunks that were surely no to be trusted with a proper woman at all at the moment. "I doubt that your spirits will hear you, these men are quick when they see an easy prey."
Upon hearing Lee's proposal, Ziio was ready to refuse right away. Coming with this monster sounded like a suicide, was she out of her mind to agree? Certainly not! But his following statements made her slow her outburst and think for a moment. He was somewhat right; she could take a couple of men, but a rising number of powers against her did not sound so inviting. Even when she was sure with her abilities, she always had doubts in the back of her mind, and right now, they were boldly yelling that she listen to Charles, no matter how much she did not want to betray her pride. And so, with a sigh of frustration, Ziio stood up, glaring at Charles.
"Why should I trust you?" She asked seeing Lee's face light up as if he already expected the question to come from her. The Templar took a step back and smirked with a low chuckle, opening his arms to the side as if to show that he was harmless, which was oh so very false.
"Haytham is the answer, Ziio. You and I both know that if I touch you, he will certainly kill me, and if you touch me, you will have issues falling on your head, one of them may be death as well." He shrugged his shoulders and motioned to the door of the exit from the inn. Ziio was thinking again. Charles was right in this situation, she had to admit it whether she hated herself for doing it, or not.
"Fine, but if you touch me, you will regret that you have been born..." Ziio warned with a sharp reply and glared up at Charles. At that moment a bright flash hit the sky turning the darkened street into a white emptiness for a split second, just then Lee could see the woman's dark eyes lighting up with the spark and reflecting a great inferno sitting deep inside of her that would easily spread its mortal tongues if something was wrong. It repelled and attracted at the same time, and the man cold not surpass the urge to freeze and stare into her eyes until the sudden blaze was gone. Lee quickly looked away blinking a couple of times before gathering his thoughts together again. His odd behavior did not escape Ziio, and now the woman gazed at him with a confused expression. Charles only waved his hand at her as if it was no big deal.
"Let's get out of here; I think this place is driving me insane." He commented quickly making his way to the exit. The Kanien'kehá:ka woman only shrugged her shoulders and followed the man, shaking off his odd shenanigan that occurred moments ago. Though she was not entirely sure why he came out to be so kind and let her come with him.
What a strange man he was.