The Assassin luckily got a spot on a ship right before it headed out of port, the very soon to be locked down port once news of what had happened spread. The captain had welcomed him as long as he would help them on the seas. The Assassin put his climbing skills to good use, earning himself passage out of the town before anyone knew of what he had done. He relaxed in the small room he had been given. Barely big enough for the bed in it and a false wall concealing the door. He pegged the captain for a smuggler and this only confirmed his suspicions. Still his guard was up. Just because this captain did business with people who liked their comings and goings to remain unnoticed didn't mean he could be trusted. The bag of money he placed in his hand had done as much as earning him a spot on the ship as his skills did, he didn't doubt that he would be betrayed if the right price was offered. His weapons didn't leave him, adjusting them on his person to sleep semi comfortably.
The situation wasn't the worse the Master Assassin had found himself in so that was a positive. It seemed like the only one but it was something.
He should've known that the universe would see to it that it became his worse experience on a ship.
The ship slowly approached Kyoshi Island. The ship going far too slow as it approached the island. Everything about it screamed that it was under the control of a very inexperienced crew. There was no one running on the deck trying to get the crew in order though. The deck was silent except for one voice. One very angry voice.
"You guys just had to be Templars. Just couldn't be freelance. Nope had to be made up of Templars." He said with frustration obvious as he turned the wheel frantically in an attempt to steer the ship singlehandedly. The rest of the crew lying all throughout the ship. They had thought that taking out the Assassin on board would be easy if they had slipped something in his food. That would only work on an amateur. Order members had a vast understanding of poisons before they even took up the Hidden Blade. The crew unfortunately learned this the hard way after they had tried to subdue him after he was believed to have been poisoned. They were easy to take care once he took out the more experienced of their fighters.
His train of thought stopped as he looked out and saw the island getting closer and closer. He didn't truly think he could explain to Suki or Oyaji why he beached a ship on their island without bringing them back to it. One look around the deck quickly told him that was a bad idea. The bodies had already been there for longer than they should have so he had to think of another idea that would get rid of the ship and bodies in one action. He could just let it sail but it would most likely end up hitting one of the numerous islands around Kyoshi Island. That only left the option of beaching the ship because it had cargo that the island could use if the last letter he got from Suki was any indicator of how trade was drying up from the Fire Nation blockades in shipping lanes. He would have to get rid of all the bodies somehow after he managed to beach the ship.
He gripped the wheel tightly as he tried to figure out the right spot to beach the ship in the limited range he had. There was only a small section of beach that looked long enough to hold the ship…
"Die!" he heard someone yell from behind him as he heard the unmistakable sound of a sword cutting through the air as he crouched low to the ground to avoid the weapon that was aimed at him.
He saw a cutlass embed itself in the wheel and send the ship more to the left then he had wanted as he activated his Hidden Blade to fight whoever he hadn't managed to kill. His eyes landed on a group of more than half of what the crew originally was as they rushed out from below deck. Only one had thought of coming up behind him. He stabbed the first man to attack him in the stomach with one blade before using the second to slit his throat as he swiped it across. Apparently he had slacked off more than he thought if so many people were still able to stand yet alone fight. They were wounded yes but wounded was not dead. Some of the wounds even looked like they hadn't even been that serious. His teachers would never let him hear the end of it if they got word.
"Let's do this quick." He said as he set the ship back on its course without looking at the wheel. He drew his sword from his back and a dagger from his belt as he looked at the gathered sailors.
He launched himself off of where the wheel was and onto the lower part of the ship to permanently end the traitorous crew this time. And still have enough time to steer to ship on the correct course. On second thought maybe the crew could be persuaded to man the sails. Either way he had some work to do.
His blade was deadly as he fought, showing why he was a Master Assassin and had earned the rank like so many others before him. While parrying one attack he was still able to launch a throwing knife from his belt. Dodging another and he used the Hidden Bolt to send his opponent down to a knee. He never stopped moving though, not letting them close him inside a circle. He could've broken out of one but he didn't want to risk someone getting a lucky shot because someone managed to hold him inside for a few more seconds than he planned.
He led them all over the deck, all the while cutting them down one by one as he should've done earlier. His blades making short work of anyone who came at him. Never spending more than a few moments on an attacker before he was either thrown back or killed. They kept coming though, believing in some vain hope that they could strike down the Master Assassin with their amateur skill level. Believing that living life on the sea had prepared them for anything.
Part-time smugglers did not come anywhere near a Master Assassin. Their numbers meant nothing against such skill. Their few experiences fighting pirates was dwarfed by his own fighting experience.
Soon enough only a handful remained able to stand under their own power. The others strewn across the floor of the ship. The Assassin simply wiped his blade with one of his sleeves. Flicking the rest off to land at their feet in splashes.
"So," he began, using the sword as a cane almost as he looked at the huddled group of survivors. "Do the rest of you want to die?" some shook their heads while others simply stared back at him. "Well then help me get the ship to the island in one piece and I'll allow you to go free, on the lifeboats. The ship is now mine." Some opened their mouths to protest and his arm rose with his sword, pointing the deadly instrument at them. "It's either that or die here."
"That sea monster will kill us!"
"You could always sneak by it. Obviously you know you can't do the same with me." he rolled his neck, one hand gripping his sword. "Now you can either die here or maybe survive out there." He jerked his thumb towards the sea. "Which is it?"
He wasn't surprised when most threw down their arms and forced those too stubborn or prideful to initially do it to do the same.
Sailing the ship with the survivors was far easier than running around the deck trying to do everything himself with his basic knowledge of the task. He expected a few of them to try and kill him but that never came to pass. They tried to object when they saw he was beaching the ship but he quickly reminded them that it was his ship now. Their protests fell silent then. He saw them grit their teeth when the prow of the ship hit the sand. He left the wheel and strode to the front of it then. His reluctant crew looking at him with a mix of fear and anger as he passed them.
"This ship is mine. You all can still take the lifeboats. Leave anything else." He leaned back against the railing. "I recommend taking the dead. They'll be a good distraction for it. Save the wounded if you can but don't try and come back here unless you're looking to die." They hadn't moved. "I recommend you do so now. They don't take kindly to people that come to the island not going through the port."
That got them moving then. They quickly gathered up the living and the dead that laid throughout the ship, taking them to the lifeboats he had let them have. He knew they snuck out a few provisions as well but he didn't care. They didn't take anything of true value in his eyes.
They fled in several of the small boats, the Assassin walking to the back of the ship as his eyes tracked their progress. Several of them trying to hold his stare but failing miserably. He saw panic in their faces even from the growing distance between them at the form in the water. Saw them hastily dump a body in the water, saw the red stain the ocean as the body was snatched underneath. He turned away as they frantically rowed for the open sea. Hopefully the Unagi would follow them. It always followed noisy prey.
He headed towards the captain's quarters, kicking open the hastily blocked doors. It had been poorly done but able enough to keep the crew out of it when they were loading the lifeboats. He barely took in the lavish accommodations the captain lived in. Walls lined with bookcases, a rope barrier keeping their contents from spilling onto the floor in choppy waters, and expensive rugs, stained with droplets of blood. His feet carried him to the desk, noting the captain still face down in a puddle of blood. The man being the only one he had killed like so. He shoved the cold body out of the seat and onto the floor and began looking through the drawers.
Maps and reports was what he mostly found. He put them in the satchel at his side but he kept searching. The necklace he had snatched from the man proved that there was more though. The Templar Cross always promised something else. He was surprised he hadn't noticed it when he has first booked passage on the ship. It should've been a dead giveaway but he was in a rush and the cross had been buried beneath the captain's clothes. His fingers ran beneath the desk, looking for something to open a hidden compartment. They came away with nothing and he trailed a knocking fist down each side of the desk, looking for a hollow place in the solid wood.
He found it. He stepped back and took a borrowed hatchet to the desk. He made a hole large enough to get his hands into and pried off the wood with no small amount of force. He carefully looked for anything in the new hole. He smiled as his hand brushed against something and pulled it out. The most valuable treasure on the ship was now in his hands. The Templar Cross on the scroll was more than enough for him to know that it was valuable. It went into the satchel at his side. He went back into the newly made hole and pulled out scrolls and parchments. He hoped one would be the key to decipher whatever was within the messages but he trusted that it could be done eventually without one.
A few more scrolls and a few more documents he was moving on from the desk. Snatching the necklace from the captain's body he went in search of more. Knocking books and logs to the floor, pausing only to flip through some of them, shaking pages hoping for something of note to fall out. His search continued. Pressing the necklace into places, hoping something would reveal itself. He even searched the captain's body again. Looking for a key to whatever else might've been locked away on the ship.
The cross broke in half to reveal a key.
The captain's cabin was soon an absolute mess. Papers and books strewn about the floor from the Assassin's search. Still he looked on. His gut screamed that there was something here. Something he could use. He started throwing the rugs that covered the floor onto the deck, looking for a hatch. The bookcases were next if he didn't find anything hidden underneath the floor.
"Bingo." The Assassin said as he came across a covered hatch.
The key was finally put to use as he opened it and grabbed a lantern hanging behind the captain's desk. He drew a dagger from his belt and quickly but cautiously went down the steps, his eyes scanning the darkness. His normal vision useless to him past his small boundary of light. He activated the Sixth Sense and looked around. His new vision showing him nothing that posed a threat to his person. Still he carried on cautiously, not trusting that the captain hadn't rigged any traps in the room, the boat seemed to be Templar made for a Templar captain. He slowly lit a nearby torch and relaxed as several others sparked to life as well, lighting the hidden room. He hung the lantern on a nearby hook and crept on. The room was small but packed, crates littered the floor and scrolls lined the wall. He circled the room several times before rising back into the captain's cabin and shutting the trap door behind him. The Assassin spared the captain's body a glance before leaving the room and returning to the deck. His search has taken a few hours it seemed. The thought crossed his mind as his eyes took in the setting sun, and the new arrivals on the deck.
It was seven against one but he doubted that was it. There was probably more in the tree line, invisible to someone not already searching for them. His hands rose to his side as he walked forward, undeterred by them. The Kyoshi Warriors simply looked on with impassive faces, the look aided by the makeup they wore. He looked behind him and sure enough there was a group of them watching him from above as well.
"Do we have to do this every time I show up with a beached ship?" he smiled and several of them brought a hand up to muffle their laughter before they were silenced by a single raised hand from their leader.
"It's sad that this is a common thing for us Sokka." She stepped forward, eyeing the bag at his side as her hand rested on the katana as her side. "I probably shouldn't even ask for an excuse."
"I'd love to talk but this ship needs to be looked over by the others before anyone else notices it." Sokka's eyes turned back to the sky. "It's definitely been a while and anyone walking the beach could've noticed it."
"You still owe me an explanation but I'll just get it later." She turned around and motioned to her warriors who promptly left without another word. Sokka still didn't have their hand signals down.
"I promise but I need to get others to comb over the ship. It's a decent haul."
"I'm sure." She turned around and started walking towards the edge of the ship. "I know a shortcut back from here."
"Thanks Suki."
"Thank me later Sokka."
Kyoshi Warrior and Master Assassin quickly dropped to the beach and vanished into the tree line, one following the other in the quickly darkening forest.
AN: Hopefully you enjoyed this and found it interesting instead of terrible. Any type of feedback is helpful and any questions are free to be asked either in a pm or a review. Please let me know about any mistakes or if something just doesn't seem to flow right.